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The Situation Room
What Will Happen to New Orleans?
Aired September 06, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 5:00 p.m. here in Washington and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where news and information from around the world arrive in one place simultaneously.
Happening right now, it is 4:00 p.m. Central Time in New Orleans where fire and disease are posing new threats to a city already devastated by the hurricane and the flood.
New rescues more than a week after the hurricane hit. Our crews are there as rescuers finally have reached an elderly woman and her dog. We're going to show you this emotional story.
And the monumental task of dealing with the dead. It's awful. We'll show you, though, what's being done.
I'm Wolf Blitzer and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Along the Gulf Coast, the relief is now in full swing, but the mission is no less critical. Now helping the most vulnerable among the victims, the children. In addition to finding, feeding and clothing them, the president of the United States says the federal government is working on a plan to make sure no hurricane-devastated child is left behind. The plans include getting children back to schools in other states.
Meanwhile, with broken levees now plugged, there's still work and lots of worry. Engineers are pumping out the water, but many are worried about frightening finds when the streets are dry.
And as if bodies in the water weren't enough of a concern, it's also now likely that the water is contaminated with toxic waste, perhaps even E. coli which can cause serious illness and death when found in drinking water.
Now the situation in some of the states, let's check what's going on.
In Mississippi, for example, at least now 100, at least 100 looting suspects face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Also up to 5,000 Navy personnel and 500 Marines are based on the beaches in Biloxi trying to restore water, plumbing, and serving meals.
In nearby Texas, the planned evacuation of 4,000 evacuees onto cruise ships has now been postponed because many people housed in the Astrodome apparently don't want to leave. Also U.S. Customs and Border officials are delivering 100,000 pieces of clothing they seized to hurricane victims. Let's move over to Louisiana. Right now in New Orleans, police estimate that fewer than 10,000 people are left in that once beautiful city. The mayor of New Orleans says it could take eight weeks to restore power.
We are going to get right back to the devastation resulting from this hurricane. But first we're getting some breaking news, potentially significant breaking news coming in from overseas.
For details let's turn to CNN's Zain Verjee. She's standing by at the CNN Center. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, is saying this -- that Saddam Hussein has apparently confessed that he gave orders to execute thousands of Kurds back in the 1980s. He gave an interview to a state-funded broadcaster where he said that he had spoken to one of the Iraqi special tribunal judges that was involved in the investigation.
Apparently the judge told Talabani that -- quote -- "he said he was able to take important confessions from Saddam Hussein," and that Saddam has signed these confessions, and there is video and audio recordings of these confessions as well.
Talabani said that the judge told him Saddam confessed that he gave orders for the executions and the military operations that were directed against the Kurds in the late 1980s.
That came to be known as the Anfal Campaign, a campaign of mass killing, of ethnic cleansing, of gas poisoning, the use of chemical weapons against Kurds in northern Iraq. Halabja is a place where thousands of Kurds were killed as chemical bombs were dropped on them by the Iraqi air force.
But this just coming in to CNN. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani saying Saddam Hussein has confessed. He gave orders to execute thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Zain. Thank you very much.
Let's get back to the hurricane coverage now. Ali Velshi is getting another potentially significant story coming in right now. Ali, what are you picking up?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: How many times have we heard, we heard from Jack earlier, but we have heard it from a lot of people, whether it's called the blame game or whether the government did the right thing.
Now Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia, has said that a committee, the House Government Reform Committee, will start holding hearings next week into what went wrong. He's saying that the reaction has got to be fast and they have got to understand what went wrong. House hearings, according to Representative Tom Davis, to begin in Washington next week into what went wrong in the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Wolf.
BLITZER: There will be hearings in the House. There will be hearings in the Senate. And they're moving very quickly on this front. Thanks very much, Ali, we'll get back to you.
In New Orleans, engineers are finally pumping out the flood waters. You saw it live here on CNN 24 hours ago when those first waters began to be pumped. We saw them going through those pipes, emerging from this city. But much of the city is still submerged, unfortunately, in a cesspool of deadly germs and chemicals. And amid all that water, fires are now raging.
Let's go to CNN's Nic Robertson. He's joining us now on the phone from New Orleans. He has got the latest developments. Nic, what are you picking up?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, one of the problems with the receding flood water now, I was out with the National Guard here from Oklahoma just a couple of hours ago, they're encountering more looting.
They are saying there are groups of looters who are taking advantage of the fact that the flood waters that are receding and trying to break into houses that are now becoming clear of flood waters.
This is after sources within the mayor's office have said that the E. coli bacteria is present in the flood waters in the city. E. coli, of course, could come from raw sewage, but certainly if ingested it could lead to serious littleness, even death.
There are several thousands, many thousands of the city's residents still holding out, some of them quite literally in their houses, living, standing in the water, cooking outside their houses. We have seen them while standing in the water. So it presents a very, very serious health problem here.
The mayor has reiterated and reaffirmed his mandatory evacuation record. He has not yet, however, commanded the National Guard and the police here military to begin a mandatory, a forced evacuation that would stretch the rescue and recovery resources that are operating here in the city.
There are some 300 helicopters deployed in the post-Katrina operation. We have seen dozens of those over the city today. Several of them working on fires, one in the Garden District of New Orleans in the early hours of this morning; a fire in a house there set, we were told, by a candle burning in the basement. There were several fire trucks there on hand. National Guard were providing security in the area.
And later in the afternoon, close to the banks of the Mississippi, we saw another huge fire there. That one appeared to be successfully put out again by helicopters picking up huge buckets of water from the river, dumping them right spot-on for that fire.
Wolf.
BLITZER: There is still confusion still, Nic, on this very sensitive issue, whether or not authorities are refusing to provide water in New Orleans to individuals who are refusing to leave. What do you know about that situation?
ROBERTSON: I think the situation does appear to be mixed. And certainly the National Guard, who I were with today when they were encountering people who said that they needed food, said that needed supplies, said that they needed help, the National Guard men I was with were offering to give rides to the residents to take them down the Superdome or the Convention Center where they said they would be able to collect food and water. They said that the people would have to find a ride back to their homes themselves after that.
But it was very clear from the conversations I witnessed just a few hours ago that people were being told, residents here were being told that they could still continue to get food and water.
However, communications are not perfect here between the different security forces in operation here. The police are here, of course, DEA, FBI, many different agencies are here, the National Guard is just part of that operation. And it is entirely possible that different groups are perhaps not all getting the same information at the same time. That the people I saw today were being told they could continue to get food, could continue to get water.
We heard the police yesterday, however, saying that that was something that they couldn't conceive supporting in the long run.
Wolf.
BLITZER: About 10,000 people still in New Orleans according to the mayor. Nic, we are going to get back to you. Thank you very much.
Let's check in with CNN's Jack Cafferty, once again in New York. He has got a new question for this hour. Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to play a little game on the "Cafferty File" called "Recognize the Resume." It's kind of like "Name that Tune."
From 1991 to 2001, he was the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association in Colorado. He was asked to resign from that job because according to the group's president -- quote -- "he didn't follow the instructions he was given" -- unquote.
In 2001 he was called to Washington to work for FEMA as deputy counsel, general counsel, and deputy director.
Last week he was in charge of the agency that botched the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
Of course, we're talking about FEMA's director, Michael Brown. In the past week, there have been many critics of Mr. Brown, and rightfully so. Louisiana's largest paper, the "Times-Picayune", has called for every FEMA official to be fired, especially the director. Brown's defenders say he's just being made a scapegoat.
The question this hour is, should FEMA director Michael Brown resign? E-mail us at CaffertyFile@CNN.com.
BLITZER: I'm sure we're going to get a lot of good e-mail from our viewers on this. Jack, thanks very much.
We are getting some live pictures now into CNN. I want to show our viewers what we're seeing. These are live pictures coming from our helicopter pilot and reporter J.T. Alpaugh. He's headed towards St. Bernard Parish area and he's going to -- he just got back up there. Let's listen in to J.T. Alpaugh. He was on this program in the past half hour, but he and his crew are back over the skies over New Orleans.
Let's listen in.
J.T. ALPAUGH, POOL PHOTOGRAPHER: There were some fires out through the areas in and around downtown within the past day. We do not see any of those fires burning at this particular time.
We had just come back from a trip down the Mississippi River to view some of the damage up and down the small towns up and down the Mississippi River, the fishing towns, the towns that the refinery workers live in. It's just complete devastation and destruction all the way up and down that river. We will be feeding that tape directly after this one-hour live feed.
So we're working our way east and southeast away from the downtown area. Again, it is a very clear day unlike yesterday, it was extremely hazy. There is great visibility today. We can see at least 15, 20 miles as we pan (ph) up a little bit to show you the horizon.
But down below you can see still all the flooded areas. Out down below us, it is just -- the waters are just -- the destruction is still so widespread. And it's just -- we were hoping to see some changes by now that the water would find some way to flow in and out of these areas, but it's just not happening.
Just absolute abandonment here. There's no one here. And anybody that's here is in grave danger of still being seriously injured by the water-borne diseases. As we come through the Arabi area, we were by here yesterday, again, no visible change in any of the flooding areas.
You can see the shopping area completely under water. This is the area just between Arabi and Chalmette. That is, let's see, the Home Depot there just surrounded by this rotting water.
It is -- again, just every time we go up, you think after a while you would start to get used to seeing this. But this is something that you can never get used to. Just everywhere you look, just complete destruction. And again, we're moving our way through -- out of the Arabi area, flying east-southeast bound, towards the Chalmette area. We want to work our way out towards the St. Bernard Parish province that we have heard so much about. Time after time we're hearing a lot of people out from this area asking about, what does it look like out there? Cam we get in there? And we just tell them, there is no way to get here unless you have a boat or a helicopter. It's just absolutely destroyed and no access to it.
Now, coming by the refinery here that you see in the lower part of your screen that is on the eastern edge of Chalmette as we work our way towards the Meraux area. We are on the northwestern banks -- correction, the northeastern banks of the Mississippi River as it winds through the New Orleans area.
We're seeing a lit bit of -- you see the area right in front of us here, you're seeing a little bit of what looks to be like the water is starting to recede out of the Meraux area. But still, it's got a long way to go. That's happening from all these pumping stations that we showed you yesterday that are pumping these waters out of this area back into the wetlands just north of the Mississippi River, between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.
We're going to -- left -- back left, (INAUDIBLE) out to the -- I'm sorry, back right, I apologize, out into this, and you can see that some of the -- some of these areas -- you know what, Dave, we're going to slow down just a little bit, Allen (ph), and we're going to tilt down, Dave, just to show you some of the -- you can see some of the areas here.
The water is -- it looks like -- you can see the muddied grounds and you can tell that water is -- we are going to kind of slow here. We're going to pan up and left, turn this way a little bit. You can see as you tilt up and pan towards this area here that the water level is -- we're getting a lot of noise in our audio (ph) port from another frequency, so we're going to be turning that off.
But you can see that the waters are starting to push their way out of these areas, back towards, as we tilt up and pan right to show you that the wetlands that we have been talk about.
Now all these waters being pumped out by a couple pumping station that we have seen here on this levee area, pumping it out into the wetlands that are out in front of our aircraft. We are flying at a northerly heading, as you can see, because we have better visibility. And we are going to tilt up and show you the background opposite our 1:00 position.
That's Lake Pontchartrain in the background. You can see the eastern shore of Lake Pontchartrain and the wetlands in the foreground. They're trying to push this water from the south out of the areas of Chalmette and Meraux back onto the wetlands.
We're now going to continue our journey towards the Parish Saint Bernard area. BLITZER: We've been listening to J.T. Alpaugh, our helicopter reporter, who is up flying up over New Orleans. Once again, we're seeing these devastated scenes.
Tom Foreman is here in THE SITUATION ROOM with us. Where are all these locations that J.T. is talking about?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The places he is talking about are generally south and southeast of New Orleans. I want to point out something we just saw a moment ago there. The river there, where you saw those ships on the river, the important thing a lot of people don't know, the Coast Guard has actually opened parts of the river to commercial traffic already. There are ships carrying cargo back and forth to the middle of the country right now.
The big news, let's take a look at the map and see what we're talking about though. When you talk about New Orleans, one of the things you often hear people say is the West Bank. I want to show you what the west bank is. This part right in here is the part we've been talking about the most, Superdome, downtown, the French Quarter, all of that. You see the river over here, if you pull back a little bit, all of this over here is called the west bank, although it's to the south. Everybody calls it the west bank.
BLITZER: The west bank of the Mississippi River.
FOREMAN: Marrero, Gretna, Terrytown, places like this. And if we just sort of flatten the picture out here a little bit, I think you can sense of what I'm talking about, this is where you see the river -- the lake is up there to the north like that. You come down this way to the town. There is the river. And now you're on the West Bank.
This is the area that we've been looking at. And if I were to just fly down this way a little bit, this is where he's flying right now with these pictures. We're moving out into Chalmette, which he mentioned sort of on the fly. A lot of this is old New Orleans, but different than uptown old New Orleans.
These are many families that have been there a long time. And quickly it gets into very working class neighborhoods and out into rural areas like right here. You see where the river bends all around. The river will wind all around this way for miles and miles and miles. Look at this, down south, further down. You see the land around it, which is largely -- a lot of this marshland is gone, that's part of what people were talking about when they talk about the barrier protections.
But there are little communities all along in here, down in here to Plaquemines Parish, up here in St Bernard Parish. And there are a lot of people in there and a tremendous amount of water.
The people that I know in New Orleans, they keep looking at these images of the water being pumped out from New Orleans and they're saying that that is the single most important thing in this story right now. It may be boring for other people to look at, water being pumped out of a neighborhood all day long, but for them, it is just a great pleasure to see that water moving. Because...
BLITZER: Tom, stop for one second, because I want to bring Ali Velshi in. He's been checking the situation along the river. Ali, a lot of our viewers may not realize how vital the Mississippi River and New Orleans is for the entire country.
VELSHI: Sixty percent of all our agricultural imports go out through the Port of New Orleans, which was devastated by this. And that doesn't include the stuff that's sitting there that's not coming into the country as a result of that port being devastated.
So these incremental drops in the water level and the fact that, as Tom pointed out, the Coast Guard has opened up that Mississippi waterway, this is the main method of transportation around there. Things move on barges up and down the Mississippi River. And a number of those barges -- the Coast Guard said about 100 barges had either sunk or run aground.
I don't know if you saw the other day when I was in Port Fourchon, but we showed a barge that had just been lifted out of the river right into the roadway. So this is a very, very big problem. It doesn't sound like it's -- it doesn't have the gravity, obviously, of having to save lives, which has got to be the first priority, but in order to get a lot of those people back into New Orleans to work, to pump out the water, to get the electricity back on, they have got to clear the Mississippi River. And that is starting to happen.
BLITZER: You know, Tom, as we listen to Ali and we look at these pictures coming in, it's really an amazing scene to see the devastation day after day after day and now day eight, I believe, it's still awful.
FOREMAN: Oh, it's unbelievable. And in fact, interestingly enough, when we talk about river traffic here, one of the things the Coast Guard has been dealing with is 70 percent of all the channel markers, the buoys, the mile markers, all of the things that these giant ships use and these barges use to come up and down the river, were wiped out by the storm.
So they have crews, in addition to all the rescuing they're doing, out there working around the clock, putting these markers back in so that this channel becomes fully functional. Because, we have said it many times, and we'll say it many times more, getting this working is important not just to New Orleans, but to the entire nation because I'll guarantee you no matter where you are in this country right now, no matter where you're sitting, something within your life, probably within arm's reach, came through New Orleans.
BLITZER: And look at this, these neighborhoods, block after block after block, still plenty of water, unfortunately, even though the water is being pumped out slowly but surely and eventually all will be pumped. How long it takes, no one really knows. But as we look at these pictures we can still see the devastation.
FOREMAN: I'll make the point, Wolf, too, you know, a couple of days ago, these areas we're talking about right down in this area, this is where -- you know, a few days ago they were worried about the great singer Fats Domino disappearing. Fats' house is down in this area.
BLITZER: He's OK, I want to reassure our viewers.
FOREMAN: He is OK. And we used to drive past his house all the time when you were out there on stories. You always knew where Fats lived. So when I heard that, I thought, ah, that's one of those neighborhoods hit really, really hard.
BLITZER: Hold on a second, Tom, I want to bring in our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. She has been watching all of this. Many of us were alarmed.
We see these flood waters. For days we have been concerned about disease breaking out, Elizabeth. Now there's word that E. coli may have erupted in New Orleans. What are you hearing?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What I'm hearing, Wolf...
(AUDIO GAP)
COHEN: ... that there had been anecdotal reports that...
BLITZER: I'm going to interrupt you for a second. Pick it up from the beginning because you dropped off for a second.
COHEN: Oh, here I am again, all right. Well, we have heard from a doctor who serves on an advisory committee for the CDC, is that there have been anecdotal reports of outbreaks of diarrhea. Not particularly surprising.
CNN also has been wondering what is in this water? You can see the debris. You can't see viruses and bacteria. So what we did is we asked a lab at the Louisiana State University to take the sample and test it.
What they found is really pretty remarkable. They found in a 200 milliliter sample, 200,000 colonies of fecal coliform. Now normally, in this kind of runoff, you would expect to see -- you're not supposed to see more than 200, and they found more than 200,000. They can't tell us how many more because of the way the tests are done, but it's more than 200,000. And it's supposed to be 200.
And that's what they found in the tests at -- in the tests from Louisiana State University. They are also going to be testing for chemicals. And those test results should be back pretty soon. Normally, actually, they're not supposed to find any more than 20,000 and they found 200,000.
BLITZER: All right, Elizabeth, that's very disturbing. But stand by for a moment. I want to bring in two guests right now from New Orleans, the FBI agent in charge, Jim Bernazzani; and the New Orleans police chief, Edwin Compass.
Thanks to both of you for joining us. You have an awful, awful job, and a critically important job.
Chief Compass, let me give begin with you. What is the latest as far as your police officers are concerned? Because as you well know and as our viewers now, there have been some horror stories out there, understandably perhaps over these past eight days.
CHIEF EDWIN COMPASS, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, you know, our police department, our police officers have done an outstanding job. Never in the history of the world (INAUDIBLE). The only thing I can make it analogous is the how the Greeks (ph) fought at the battle of Thermopylae, except we won.
This police department has overcome overwhelming odds. We didn't have any food. We didn't have any water. We ran out of ammunition, no communications, no vehicles. And we still endured, we still held this city. My deputy chief, WJ Riley (ph), stayed at the Superdome with 30,000 people and about 60 police officers and about 300 Guardsmen, and held that facility for six days without any relief.
These are the type of things that this police department has been asked to do and this police department has done.
BLITZER: What's the situation, Chief, on the streets like right now?
COMPASS: Well, right now it's really quiet. We have our officers in place. We have patrols in place. We have the National Guard in place. We have other local agencies in place. And really, you know, we have some type of semblance of police work going on. We have created a very basic police reporting arm. And we are making arrests. We have made the train station into a holding facility. So we're getting back to doing police work.
BLITZER: Let's bring in the FBI agent in charge, Jim Bernazzani. What exactly is the FBI's role in New Orleans right now?
JAMES BERNAZZANI, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, Wolf, the FBI is here committed to supporting the New Orleans Police Department and our law enforcement partners, whether it's the Louisiana State Police, and those components of DOJ, and Department of Homeland Security in trying to bring this crime problem down to a point where we can rebuild this city.
Initially -- our initial response right after the hurricane, because the FBI did not leave, is that we had to secure critical assets within this city -- some of those assets important to the infrastructure of the United States. And if they fell into the wrong hands, they would have had a debilitating effect for segments of the country, most notably the Southeast United States.
We also respond to specific law enforcement requests for officers down, or emergency responders receiving fire. And tactically we want to insert these teams, neutralize the threat, and move these individuals to safety.
We have now reconstituted our gang task force and working very closely with New Orleans PD. We are assessing intelligence which will drive our operations designed to identify those violent felons and get them off the streets.
BLITZER: Did you succeed in securing what you described as these critical infrastructure locations in New Orleans? In other words, has anything happened that could undermine the national security of the United States?
BERNAZZANI: The national security of the United States is our number one priority and we have succeeded 100 percent. Those critical assets are in safe hands and they continue to operate.
BLITZER: What were they, if could share that information with our viewers?
BERNAZZANI: I can't get into the specifics because of national security considerations. But an example would be if one of these assets fell into the wrong hands and the integrity was violated, the disruption of moving information throughout the Southeast United States would have happened.
BLITZER: All right. Let me bring back Chief Compass. Chief, you know the mayor, Ray Nagin. You obviously know him very well. Let me read to you what he said. I've got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized. We know those stories. How many police officers do you have on the streets working for you right now?
COMPASS: Right now we have about 1,200 officers that's accounted for. You know, some of those officers that they say are on account of -- they may have been victims of this disaster you know. If you look at our communications went down and our vehicles went down. There are very mixed reports going on. They say that 150 officers deserted. Those officers were trapped in eight feet of water. Once we sent boats to get those officers, they realigned themselves with our main command folks and took over a section of the city.
So you understand that because of the terrific results and magnitude of the destruction of the storm, we are going to have a very difficult time to find out exactly where some of our police officers are.
BLITZER: Chief, I was going to say --
COMPASS: Hopefully they're not victims.
BLITZER: Go ahead. But let me just follow up on a sensitive issue that I'm trying to get a specific answer on. What is the policy on your orders, as far as the police department is concerned, in providing water and food to individuals who are refusing to leave?
COMPASS: Well right now we are trying to evacuate this city. You known, we are in a planning stage right now to get this moving in the most expeditious and efficient manner. We have a lot of resources that's coming in, a lot of manpower that's coming in. And right now we want to utilize our manpower and resource to optimum efficiency. So we are getting many individuals off the street. And individuals that refuse to leave -- and we are going to evacuate these individuals with or without their cooperation. But we're going to get this city safe. We are going to get these individuals evacuated. Then we're going to get about the business of getting the criminals out of our community.
BLITZER: And there are about 10,000 people left in the city, according to the mayor. Is that about right?
COMPASS: That could be about right. It could be up to 10,000.
BLITZER: And when you say you're physically going to remove them, are you going to lift them up and forcibly put them on boats or cars or vehicles and helicopters and get them out of city?
COMPASS: If that's necessary. We have the manpower to do it. We have the National Guard here. We have local and state federal agencies in there. And if we have to do it, we're going to do it. We are going to do everything it takes to keep the city safe. These people don't understand that they're putting their self in harm's way. If someone were to try to do something at their residence, they really can't call us, because the communication systems are not where they should be at. They can't ask for help. So we're trying to save them from themselves.
BLITZER: Let me bring back the FBI agent in charge, Jim Bernazzani. Have you been based in New Orleans for some time? Have you been the FBI agent in charge of the New Orleans area or have you just been brought in?
BERNAZZANI: I have been the special agent in charge since April 13.
BLITZER: Hold on one second, Jim. There's planes moving over. I'll wait until it moves so we can hear you.
BERNAZZANI: Yes, Wolf, I've been the special agent in charge here since April 13. And myself and our colleagues coming in from around the country are committed to helping out the New Orleans Police Department.
BLITZER: Well good luck to both of you. Good luck to all of the men and women who work with you. You're doing incredibly important work. Our heart goes out to you, and we wish you only the best during these critical moments. The FBI agent in charge Jim Bernazzani and Edwin Compass the New Orleans Police chief.
Let's go back to J.T. Alpaugh. He's the helicopter reporter, the photographer, who's been sharing his thoughts as he flies over New Orleans.
ALPAUGH: Figure out exactly what the devastation numbers are throughout this area, and start getting towards the task of getting these areas back to rebuilt. God knows how long that is going to be.
But, again, just doing a tour out here between the banks of the Mississippi River and the marshlands and bayous. The parishes, we have Poydras, which is out here, Violet, we have Meraux and all the small isolated communities --
BLITZER: All right. We'll have much more of J.T. Alpaugh. We're going to continue to watch what he's seeing together with his crew aboard this helicopter. We'll get right back to that.
We'll take a quick break.
Also our Karl Penhaul is standing by live. He's embedded now with the 82nd Airborne as they try to save lives as quickly as they can.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: These are live pictures you're seeing from New Orleans. You can see these roofs. You can see the water. You can see the area still pretty much under water. The helicopter pilot reporter J.T. Alpaugh is narrating what he's seeing.
Let's listen in briefly.
ALPAUGH: --areas above Lake Pontchartrain. And they had to --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALPAUGH: This pumping station, again, just north the Violet area working waters out of this area. Right now, just to give you some orientation and reference, we are south of this looking north. Everything above you -- go ahead, Dave, just pull out real quickly and give me another wide shot so I can demonstrate this --
BLITZER: We're going to keep these pictures up on the screen. J.T. Alpaugh there. A reporter aboard a helicopter flying over the city. We're going to get back to listen to more of what he's seeing.
In the meantime, though, something many of us probably never thought we'd ever see in our lifetime. Paratroopers from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division using small boats now to navigate flooded areas of New Orleans as they launch a new search and rescue operation. This is not Baghdad, this is New Orleans.
CNN's Karl Penhaul is joining us now from the New Orleans Airport. You spent some time with the 82nd Airborne. Tell our viewers what you saw and heard.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well we were down on the ground with the paratroopers from 82nd Airborne, down in the French Quarter, down on Bourbon Street today, Wolf. So far they haven't got too many of those search and rescue boats in the water. Those are being brought in over the next couple of days and they expect to start those operations as soon as tomorrow.
But what those paratroopers have been doing so far, is what they call 'presence patrols.' That's to go along and reassure the population, the stragglers who've decided to stay behind in New Orleans and also help them with rations and water.
Now, of course, U.S. troops can't act as law enforcers here in the United States, so they are patrolling with guns, but no ammunition and no magazines in those guns. And as you say, a very strange sight. And the war comparison, probably even more accurate with some of these paratroopers, because many of them were telling me their last active deployment mission was in fact, in Iraq. I met a couple of paratroopers there, in fact, that I was embedded with in Fallujah, Wolf, and they're walking down the street.
They're saying of course this is not a war zone. They're very different humanitarian missions. But nevertheless, they realize that this relief mission for them, is going to be a struggle and certainly not a leisurely stroll.
Wolf.
BLITZER: On this assignment that you were on earlier today, Karl, did you find survivors? Did you recover bodies? Give us a sense of the balance between those two developments. And if you can lift the microphone up a little closer to your mouth, we're -- there's a chopper flying over you and we'll have a better chance of hearing you.
PENHAUL: Sure, Wolf. Certainly a lot of noise going here. In fact, the area that these paratroopers were patrolling today was the French Quarter. Most of that wasn't flooded. But what there are rather than survivors there, a lot of the stragglers, a lot of these people who have decided they won't leave New Orleans.
So, what we had was this rather strange sight of uniformed armed paratroopers handing out meals ready to eat, rations to clients to patrons in Johnny White's Bar on Bourbon Street. That bar really hasn't closed since the hurricane struck. And in come the paratroopers to hand out meal rations. Some might say that could be a waste of paratroopers' time, because these people are quite happy to stand there and drink but can't obviously get their own food and water.
In fact, one of the soldiers was saying to us, it's a pity that the paratroopers couldn't have gotten here earlier and done a little more of this work.
Further on down the street, though, they were doing some very good work there, Wolf, because they were helping an elderly man who has a bed-ridden wife and a schizophrenic daughter. They didn't wish to leave their home at all, because that would be too much upset, the man felt, for his wife and daughter. And so, the paratroopers were keeping him up to date with food and water, Wolf.
BLITZER: These are elite forces, these paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne. What kind of reaction did you find among them? Are they happy to be in New Orleans? Or would they rather be in actual combat, shall we say, in Iraq?
PENHAUL: Well, certainly a lot of the troops that I talked to today are Iraq combat veterans, but they're also very happy to be here. They realize the scale of the disaster here and they do feel that their organizational abilities and their muscle, so to speak, will be invaluable in helping here.
And also, some of the paratroopers there -- some of the older ones, also, did help out on humanitarian relief operations after Hurricane Andrew. They say, obviously, this mission is much bigger than that, but nevertheless, they do say some extra string to their bow, so to speak. They do feel that they are up to this mission; very different though from Iraq, Wolf.
BLITZER: Karl Penhaul, reporting for us; doing some excellent reporting as he always does. Karl, thank you very much.
Mary Snow is standing by in New York. She's been following what's going on as well. Mary, pick up the story from your perspective. What are you learning?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, one of major efforts going on outside of New Orleans right now, is an effort to identify dead bodies. And this is going to be a monumental task.
Outside of New Orleans, about 70 miles outside the city between Baton Rouge, there is a warehouse that has been transformed into a temporary morgue. And a warehouse is now -- you're seeing trucks going in there -- refrigerated trucks.
Members of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team -- it's a federal unit -- they're leading the effort. It's made up of medical examiners, coroners, funeral directors from around the country. They'll be working to identify the bodies brought to the morgue and they'll use photographs, dental records, X-rays, fingerprints, DNA samples; even things like pacemakers that carry serial numbers all will be used to try and identify the dead.
Now, information will be stored in a database. This, of course, in efforts to help relatives claim their bodies. The spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital says today, 'the team is prepared to process 140 bodies a day.' He says that state is now looking to buy a piece of land that they can used as a cemetery for bodies not claimed.
And just how many bodies there will be and how long the process will take, of course, is a big question mark at this time. Now, this team doing the work, spent nine months working to identify the victims of the 9/11 attacks -- attacks in Washington and here in New York.
Wolf?
BLITZER: All right. What a tough job that is. Thanks, Mary, very much.
Let's go back to J.T. Alpaugh and the live pictures that we're getting from his helicopter flying over New Orleans. These are live pictures. You see these homes. You see the devastation block after block after block. The flood waters, still very evident.
Let's listen to J.T. ALPAUGH: Now, we were so frustrated because we were trying very hard for nearly an hour to affect this rescue and get him out. They find him and he just doesn't want to go.
And I have to praise the brave work of the United States Coast Guard that came in and heeded our call and came in and vectored in and put that rescue swimmer down in that awful water that I -- and just again, without even thinking twice, they went in there to find him. But he just wouldn't go. So, another -- a story and I -- we got to meet and speak with Kim and her children and she was very grateful that we tried and that we would help her where no one else could or would help her. And at least she knows the status of what's happening and knows that he's OK and we're hoping that those waters in that area have receded enough for him to get out, so he can get to his family. But you know, I just don't understand it.
There's -- you know, maybe it's not fair for me to editorialize this or talk about it, but it's just -- you know, these waters are filled with water-borne diseases and illnesses that have been, from what we understand, have been verified. And to stay with your -- these homes and to stay with some property is just not worth your life.
You need to get out. And I don't know that these people are hearing me right now, except for someone maybe hearing us through radio networks on A.M. radio broadcast that they have access to a week's worth of batteries.
But you need to get out. There's -- you know, you survived the hurricane. You survived the floods for a week. You fought off hunger and thirst and made your way around, but the diseases in the water, you're not going to be able to get around.
So, it's just one more just sad, sad reality of this type of incident. But, again, I'm going to get off that subject and move on to showing you the news, showing you the areas.
BLITZER: All right. We're going to continue to monitor J.T. Alpaugh. He's aboard that helicopter with some dramatic pictures. We'll continue to show those pictures to you.
In the meantime, evacuees are being sheltered now across the country, including some that have just arrived here at the at nation's capital.
Our Brian Todd is over at the D.C. Armory and he's got more. Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there are 250-plus evacuees staying here now. Some of them have just triaged outside the building a moment ago and some of those -- about 11 of those, we're told, have just been taken to the hospital.
I'm here with one of evacuees, Gary Graham. Gary, you camped outside your truck for a week while the floodwaters rose; just evacuated yesterday. What's going through the minds of you and the 250-plus other who are in that building right now? GARY GRAHAM, HURRiCANE KATRINA EVACUEE: Well, I'm just glad to be alive, first of all. But I'm sure they're saying the same thing, too.
TODD: Were you ever told that you were coming to D.C. when you were evacuated? What was the situation at the airport?
GRAHAM: No. They told me that I'll be evacuated, but didn't know where I was going.
TODD: And what was the situation like at the airport? Were you guys upset about that or are people in there still upset about that? And what are they telling you now?
GRAHAM: I think we were concerned. We weren't upset because a lot of soldiers were around. So, they had it under control, but once we got on the plane, that's when I found out where we were going.
TODD: And what are your plans for now? What are you going to do?
GRAHAM: Well, since I'm here, I've met two gentleman, Cecil (ph) and Darrell (ph) from Children's Hospital and they are going to help me, you know, get my feet back on the ground.
TODD: Good luck to you, Gary. Best of luck. Thanks for joining us.
GRAHAM: All right.
TODD: Wolf, this story is repeated many, many times over here. Most of the evacuees we've spoken to, have said they were never told where they were going. They didn't know they were coming to D.C. until they were on the plane. Otherwise saying that they're being very well treated. But there's a lot of confusion here. A lot of them don't know where they're going from here or when they'll get out.
BLITZER: Thanks, Brian. Brian Todd, reporting for us. We're going to continue to show our viewers these live pictures -- horrible pictures coming in right now -- the devastation in New Orleans, still very, very evident.
We'll take a quick break. Jack Cafferty is standing by. He's got some of your e-mail on a sensitive question.
Zain Verjee is getting reaction to what's happening in the United States from around the world.
Much more of our coverage, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Looking at live pictures from a helicopter flying over New Orleans. You can see the devastation. You can see the debris. And we can listen in briefly to J.T. Alpaugh who is narrating what he's seeing.
ALPAUGH: Some of the homes and some of the shattered lives that -- you can see the refrigerator there just open. You can see the refrigerator in the center of your screen that made its way out of house when it buckled and cracked and opened up as it floated away from its foundation. Absolute devastation and destruction. And just one of millions and millions of stories in this area.
BLITZER: Let's bring in CNN's Ali Velshi. He's been following an important part of this story, the flood waters. And what are you picking up right now, Ali?
VELSHI: Well you see the picture was on the left there of the pumping going on. It's going on at quite a pace. Having fixed the breeches in the levees, or at least fixed the main breeches in the levees, what you're seeing, and J.T. is showing you, is a little bit of receding on the water levels. And that's important because as soon as they can recede enough they are going to try to take steps to get essential businesses running. The businesses everybody needs in order to start to rebuild or even get into their homes.
For instance there are eight Home Depots in New Orleans. Six of them remain closed. But they -- Home Depot is working very hard to get their stock from areas other than the Port of New Orleans, their lumber and things like that.
You are now going to see the first steps in trying to get essential services going in New Orleans. It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's not going to happen by the end of this week. But there are -- everybody's watching very closely to see how fast that water recedes and how quickly they pump it out.
Wolf.
BLITZER: That's encouraging. Thanks very much, Ali.
Zain Verjee is following a huge part of the story, at least from overseas. Hurricane Katrina being watched very carefully. And newspapers around the world, Zain, how are they reacting to what's happening here in the United States?
VERJEE: Well as the despair and the destruction here has been unfolding, the rest of the world, Wolf, has really watched with shock and utter amazement, wondering how is it possible that a country that can mobilize its armed forces around the world, can't respond to a natural disaster in its own country. I want to show you what some of the editorials of the newspapers around the world have been saying.
This one is from Australia. It's really empathizing with Americans. It says the impact of Hurricane Katrina is being felt around the world. Here in the far north, we've watched in horror the scenes from New Orleans feeling a strange empathy because we know that every wet season we risk being part of those same types of scenes.
In Canada, Vancouver's "Province" editorial today says it's astonished, saying as they count the dead in the drowned city of New Orleans, the enormity of the failure to contain the tragedy is terrible to contemplate. Even while we grieve for those who perished so needlessly, it's hard not to share the anger and the outrage of the victims who survived.
"Le Monde" in France says America's attention was elsewhere, and that was part of the problem. It says this is another lesson of the American tragedy, that despite its economic and military potential, it's oftentimes too quick to focus abroad and so is unable to face a domestic catastrophe of this dimension.
And finally, Wolf, the Saudi based "Arab News" editorial compares the chaos in the affected states to Iraq, saying now the people of America have the chance to learn what it feels like to have one of their own cities reduced to a helpless, lawless mess by a catastrophe. Maybe they will begin to understand the frustration and anger felt by decent Iraqis at the man-made destruction that Washington's bungled thinking has brought down on their heads. Just some perspective and just a flavor of a few of the international perspectives there, Wolf. But I just want to stress that most regular people around the world have been very sympathetic.
BLITZER: Zain, thank you very much. Very interesting.
Jack Cafferty has been reading your e-mail. What do you picking up, Jack?
CAFFERTY: The "Cafferty File" question this hour is should FEMA Director Michael Brown resign? Thousands of you have taken the time to respond. Not very many of you say no.
Steve in Wilton Manors, Florida. "No. They should take away his cell phone, his car, his driver, change the keys on his office door, and then fire him before he has the chance to resign. And no Medal of Freedom either."
Jack in Brooklyn, New York. "Perhaps he should stay on with FEMA. You never know, during the next crisis this country will face, his past experience with Arabian horses might prove beneficial."
Brenda writes, "No. I don't think Mr. Brown should be fired. Instead I think we should be looking at local and state leaders in Louisiana."
Clint writes in Atlanta, Georgia, "He ought to be fired, rehired, and then fired again just to make the point that we take this very seriously."
Max in New Hampshire writes, "Of course he should resign. If FEMA were a for-profit corporation and Mr. Brown performed his job with this level of incompetence, his board would demand his resignation or fire him on the spot. As in any business, contrary to physics, blame rolls uphill. I personally think more than one head needs to roll."
And then Pamela writes this. "You're an idiot, and you need to resign."
Thank you, Pamela.
BLITZER: I hope you don't resign, Jack, because you're very important here in THE SITUATION ROOM. See you tomorrow.
CAFFERTY: But not as important to Zain Verjee, Wolf. Now tell the truth.
BLITZER: All right. Never mind. We're not going to get in to that right now. Jack Cafferty, thank you very much.
The Internet offers a wide range of resources for pet owners who've been effected by the hurricane. This is a sensitive subject for many of our viewers. Our internet reporter Jacki Schechner is checking the situation online. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, by no means do we want to insinuate that people are not the number one priority, but there are a lot of people who have been through a tremendous amount of trauma and are looking for the family pet.
Wanted to give you some resources. The SPCA, there's a number that you can call to report lost pets. It's 1-800-HUMANE-1. You can go to the SPCA.org online.
Another place that is doing their part, the American Humane Association. They are actually currently conducting rescue efforts in the New Orleans area.
Also the Louisiana State University Veterinary Medicine School is setting up resources to help you house lost pets, and then they'll find the owners.
And then PetFinder.com currently setting up a database, Wolf, PetFinder.com with a tremendous amount of resources.
BLITZER: Thanks, Jacki. I'll see you tomorrow as well. We're in THE SITUATION ROOM every weekday afternoon from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT standing by to begin. Lou is in New York. Lou?
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