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The Situation Room

William Rehnquist Takes "Final Journey" Today; Floodwaters Slowly Recede From New Orleans; Interview with Delia Labarre

Aired September 07, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information from the hurricane disaster zone are arriving all the time.
Happening now, toxic waters and powerful threats.

It's 3:00 p.m. Central Time in New Orleans, where holdouts may soon be forced, physically forced, to leave. And draining floodwaters are carrying filth and disease with them. We'll get an aerial view this hour of what's going on.

Paying the price. As the human toll becomes more evident, President Bush is asking Congress to deliver billions of additional dollars to the Gulf Coast. Will that ease the finger-pointing?

And a final journey for the chief justice of the United States.

It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where William Rehnquist is set to be buried, now that the president and this capital city have said farewell.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

This hour, authorities in New Orleans are using their powers of persuasion to try to get holdouts to leave their homes. Evacuating the last 10,000 or so residents is a critical mission under way right now. Police say there still are many people who simply won't get out.

Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered officers to use force if necessary, but active-duty U.S. troops say they will not use force, they will not take part in that effort.

The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, confirms today that initial floodwater samples indicate high levels of E. coli and other bacteria, as well as lead. They stress no one should drink the floodwater, especially, especially children.

And the dollar figure is official. The president wants Congress to approve another $51.8 billion -- that's billion with a B -- to pay for hurricane recovery. That's on top of the $10.5 billion approved earlier, already in the pipeline.

On the security front right now, there are reports from New Orleans of shots being fired at workers on cell phone towers trying to restore some service. But New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass says lawlessness has subsided tremendously. Checking searches and rescues, what's going on right now.

The U.S. military is solidifying a plan for recovering bodies in New Orleans that includes dividing the city into grids.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force reports hundreds of Air Force reservists based in New Orleans or Mississippi are unaccounted for after Katrina.

And more on the financial impact of all of this. The Congressional Budget Office says Katrina cost the U.S. more than 400,000 jobs -- will cost the U.S. more than 400,000 jobs in the coming months, and cuts the nation's economic growth by as much as a full percentage point.

Let's get to New Orleans right away, where the mayor says the familiar sounds of jazz and laughter have been replaced by the whir of helicopters and Army vehicles.

CNN Jeff Koinange is in New Orleans. He's joining us now live with more. Jeff?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And you were talking about the mayor insisting that everybody evacuate the city, the police chief saying he's going to wait out a while, he's going to wait until the people volunteer to leave.

As you pointed out, Wolf, about 10,000 people still in this city, a lot of them in the French Quarter. The French Quarter, as you know, it is on higher ground, wasn't affected much by Hurricane Katrina.

But the most significant thing is, New Orleans is a bowl, and most of the water has accumulated in the CBD part of the city, and towards uptown. That means if anyone leaves their home and walks about, the dangers of getting diseases are high, everything from cholera to typhoid.

This is why all officials are insisting New Orleans must be vacated so that the job of draining the water, which has begun -- it's going to take anywhere from 36 to 80 days. That job is going to be difficult. It's going to be tedious. They want the city empty so that they could do that and the people return eventually.

Wolf.

BLITZER: There's a lot of concern. Environmentalists right now -- the Environmental Protection Agency and other environmentalists -- are concerned that all this dirty, filthy, toxic water that is trying to be drained, pushed out of the city, it will go into Lake Pontchartrain or the Mississippi or the Gulf of Mexico. That could seriously jeopardize drinking water and the entire coastal area for some time to come.

What are officials where are you saying, Jeff?

KOINANGE: They're saying the exact same thing, Wolf. But listen, this is the priority now -- get the water out of the city. They will deal with that problem when they get to it. And there are emergency services working on the water, working on the electricity, working on the sanitation.

What's immediate right now, Wolf, is that because that water is so fetid, it's filled with corpses, with sewage, with waste, with garbage, they need to drain that water out as soon as possible. Wherever they drain it, they will deal with the other problems as they become apparent, Wolf.

BLITZER: What's the latest on looting, based on what your own eyewitness account and what you're hearing, Jeff?

KOINANGE: Well, Wolf, right now, down to a minimum. Yes, there are patrols going on everywhere in parts of the city. And there are some parts of the city, which we've walked about, and we find some National Guardsmen from this state or that state, and they tell us, don't go beyond that point, because there's activity in a certain building.

But it's down to a minimum, Wolf. Looting happened, I think, mostly in the first several days. It's now down because the security presence is so massive, National Guardsmen, security forces, paratroopers -- state troopers from at least a dozen states from across the Union.

So again, it's down to a minimum. People more concerned now about their health, and not about anything else, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jeff Koinange. We'll check back with you, Jeff. Thank you very much.

Delia LaBarre is one of those New Orleans residents staying put. She says the city is not completely destroyed and should not be abandoned. She's joining us now on the phone from the Warehouse District, which is near downtown, and which is not underwater.

Delia, thank you very much for joining us. Explain to our viewers why you want to risk your life with all the filth and the toxic waste and the potential life-threatening diseases, why you want to risk your life to stay where you are.

DELIA LABARRE, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT (on phone): Mr. Blitzer, thank you. But I think you're exaggerating just a little bit. We're high and dry. It's not like that here.

A large segment of the city is not under water. Those areas are away quite a distance from us. And we're fine. You know, we're safe. We will have food. We have clean water. They turned the water back on. The electricity's supposed to be back on any moment. It's already on in some areas of the CBD. Central Business District is not under water. Uptown, it's all dry. So, you know...

BLITZER: So let me ask you a question, Delia. Why would you -- is the mayor demanding that you leave if it's OK? LABARRE: The mayor is -- I haven't heard this. I don't have batteries for the radio right now. I've heard a different story every day, almost every hour. State policemen say that, you know, they don't know. It's different every moment. Who knows? But, you know, he's demand -- I don't know, sometimes I think -- it seems like things need to be decoded. I don't know why they're saying what they're saying.

BLITZER: All right...

LABARRE: If they mean that for everyone, or just in the flooded areas...

BLITZER: Delia, hold on for one second. I just want to interrupt for a moment...

LABARRE: Sure.

BLITZER: ... because the -- as we're watching this story unfold, we're also watching another important story unfold right here in the nation's capital.

You're looking at these live pictures coming out of the church here, the Catholic Church, St. Matthew's in Washington, where the funeral service, the memorial service for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist has just concluded, the casket being carried out. Some of those individuals that I see there, I recognize as former law clerks of the -- of William Rehnquist, Supreme Court law clerks.

And there, the pallbearers, they're carrying that casket into this hearse, which will take the coffin, the casket, to Arlington National Cemetery here in Washington for final burial.

The service was about two hours, by my reckoning, maybe an hour and a half, two hours or so, the president of the United States speaking at the service as well as others, close family friends.

I believe our Joe Johns is there. Joe, where are you right now?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I'm across the street looking essentially at what you're seeing, the family now trailing behind the casket, getting ready to make their way over to Arlington Cemetery, a private service. This was, as you said, hour and a half, two hours long.

The president of the United States did give remarks, we're told, in part, spoke about nine minutes. He said there, it is a rare man who can hold a prominent position in Washington for more than 30 years and leave behind only good feelings and admiration. That's what William Rehnquist did. He carried himself with dignity, but without pretense. He earned a place among the greatest justices, Wolf.

BLITZER: We see the other justices walking down the stairs. You see Sandra Day O'Connor right there in the middle of the screen, Stephen Breyer, another justice, Clarence Thomas in the middle of the screen right now. Were all the justices, based on what you know, Joe, there, the other eight justices? JOHNS: I believe they were. I was told that, in fact, they would be here, although I didn't count one by one as they went in. Sandra Day O'Connor, we're told, also gave remarks inside. I wasn't able to get in, simply because they took down the magnetometers. And the president was coming, so security's very high here.

We are told she gave personal remembrances, told the story essentially of the life of the chief justice. Also, members of the Rehnquist family spoke, as well, Wolf.

BLITZER: The whole nature of this service, it was a private service at the request of the family. There were no cameras allowed inside. And burial at Arlington National Cemetery will be private, as well. What was the thinking behind that, do you know?

JOHNS: Well, I can tell you that the chief justice certainly did have an opportunity for the public to pay their respects. And the public part of this remembrance for the chief justice, as you know, occurred over at the Supreme Court starting yesterday at 10:00, 10:30, going into the night.

And frankly, I have to tell you, this is a big church, but not that big. Only so many people can fit into this church, and a number of members of the United States Senate, obviously, House of Representatives, colleagues from the law, pretty well filled up, from what I can tell.

So it may have just simply been an issue of capacity, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. This hearse will drive across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery for burial services there. That too will be private. Joe, thank you very much.

We're going to take a quick break. Much more of our special coverage, the state of emergency in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. We're going to get back to that story after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Now to the survivors of the storm, who found a home away from home in Houston.

CNN's Betty Nguyen joining us from the shelter complex over at the Astrodome. Betty, what's going on there?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's been a lot of developments out here today, Wolf.

One thing that was really quite surprising to us is the number of people who remain in these four main shelters here in Houston, which includes the Astrodome. We were hearing last night there were some 27,000.

Well, today we've learned, after a head count, that there are only 8,100 people remaining in these shelters. So it shows you that folks are venturing out. They are finding homes. And they're leaving these shelters, which is another reason why there was a big push today to get children enrolled in the Houston Independent School District. There are about 13,000 seats available. And today that registration started. Tomorrow school begins for those kids.

But amid all of this, of course, people are still looking for loved ones. And we have a man here with us right now who is looking for his daughter and his two grandchildren. We have George Parker with us out of New Orleans.

Now, the last time you spoke with your daughter, that was quite a conversation. Tell us about that.

GEORGE PARKER, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: Well, the last time I spoke to her, she called me Monday morning, that was the morning of the hurricane. And she told me, Dad, we're taking in water. The water is in the house now. And I asked her, well, how far is the water in the house? She say, up to my hip. I say, up to your hip?

NGUYEN: Wow.

PARKER: She say, yes. You've got to get, you've got to send someone here to get us out of here.

So I said, well, let me come over there and help you. So I tried to leave the Superdome, but they wouldn't let me leave...

NGUYEN: Because you were already in a shelter in the Superdome.

PARKER: Yes, I was in the Superdome. So they wouldn't let me leave. So I give my cell phone to the National Guard that was there. And he talked to her. And she explained to him where she was at, and the location how to find her. And that was the last time I heard from her. (INAUDIBLE)...

NGUYEN: So you don't know if they got her or not?

PARKER: I can't be sure. I can't be sure, because her cell phone went dead. And I haven't heard a word from her since.

NGUYEN: And she was there with your two grandchildren. Tell us about them.

PARKER: Yes, one, a little girl, the little girl is about 15 years old. The little boy is about 12.

NGUYEN: Goodness. You must just be heartsick worrying about them. Let's give a phone number out for people who may know them, who can contact you and let you know if they're alive. Or maybe, hopefully, they're watching this and can contact you.

PARKER: (INAUDIBLE) the cell number is 458-4412. And I have it open 24/7.

NGUYEN: The number again is 504 area code, 458-4412. George Parker, we sure hope you get to talk with your daughter and that your daughter and grandchildren are alive. PARKER: I hope so. I'm worried to death, however.

NGUYEN: I imagine you are. Thank you for speaking with us.

PARKER: Thank you.

NGUYEN: So and he is just one, Wolf, of many people we've spoken with today searching for their loved ones. Many of them are just really heartsick over the whole situation, and they don't want to leave here until they find them, because they're afraid, once they venture out and find other housing, they don't know how they're going to get in touch with those loved ones.

BLITZER: Our heart goes out to them, and we pray that they will be reunited. Thanks, Betty, very much. And wish our best to George, as well.

The war of words continues here in Washington over the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. But officials seem to agree on this much. A massive amount of federal money is needed in this disaster zone.

Let's go live to our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry. He's joining us now live. Ed, what's going on with the money part of the story?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a staggering pile of money, in fact, flowing from here on Capitol Hill to the Gulf region, President Bush now seeking an additional $51.8 billion on top of the $10 billion that was approved quickly by Congress last week.

They're expecting that this $51 billion will carry the relief efforts for another five weeks. That's about $1.5 billion a day. And take a look at the overall price tag. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist today told me he thinks that the total cost could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 billion, $200 billion. Big, big number.

This $51 billion piece of it expected to be approved on a bipartisan basis tomorrow by the Congress. But I can tell you, Wolf, it's probably about the last bit of bipartisan business we're going to see from the Congress on this issue right now.

BLITZER: And I take it, Ed, there was a dramatic few moments last night when Congress had some private closed-door meetings, and some Bush cabinet members were really grilled, grilled pretty hard, by not only Democrats but by Republicans, as well. What happened?

HENRY: That's right. They were grilled for about three hours, closed-door meeting on the House floor, the entire House of Representatives basically ripping into several Bush cabinet secretaries. At one point, we're told that one Republican stood up and basically gave a lot of the cabinet secretaries there failing marks for their performance in the early days of the relief efforts.

But also today, we saw a double-barreled assault from the Democratic leaders here on Capitol Hill. Senator Harry Reid, first of all, coming out and saying any Senate investigation of what went wrong should include a review of whether or not President Bush's vacation in Texas contributed to the slow response by the federal government. Republicans furious that he's doing that.

Then House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, at an event commemorating the fourth anniversary of 9/11 coming up this weekend, she basically compared that tragedy to the current tragedy, saying that from New York to New Orleans, the Bush administration has not kept the American people safe.

I pressed Pelosi on the fact that, in fact, President Bush says that this blame game, as he calls it, is not helping the relief workers, it's actually slowing down the relief effort, and it should not go on. Basically, Nancy Pelosi shot back that the president exercised poor judgment by picking Mike Brown as FEMA director, and she recounted a confrontation she had with the president yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: He chose someone with absolutely no credentials. And you know what? When I said to the president that he should fire Michael Brown, he said, why would I do that? I said, because of all that went wrong, with all that didn't go right last week. And he said, what didn't go right?

Oblivious. In denial. Dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Nancy Pelosi there suggesting that the commander in chief is dangerous to the American people. The Republican National Committee chairman, Ken Mehlman, just put out a tough statement saying that that is completely over the top, a sign that even over these relief efforts, there's real partisanship digging in here.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Ed. Thank you very much. Ed Henry reporting for us.

Bush administration and other GOP sources tell our White House correspondent Dana Bash that there's some talk out there about the president addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress about the Katrina disaster. But a senior official cautions those are just, his words, rumblings at this point, and nothing has been decided yet.

Jack Cafferty is standing by in New York, and he's asking for another -- you've got another question this hour, don't you, Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: 'Deed I do, Mr. Blitzer.

We've found a bit of a silver lining in this Katrina story, and it's as follows. For the first time in a very long time, television newscasts have not been littered with the tabloid garbage that tends to characterize a lot of them. Hurricane Katrina has rightfully bumped stories about Michael Jackson and a missing teen in Aruba and Martha Stewart's ankle bracelet right off the screen.

Matt Wells writes for the BBC. He writes this -- quote -- "American broadcast journalism just might have grown its spine back, thanks to Katrina" -- unquote.

The TV media have done a public service by reporting on the flooding, the devastation, the human suffering all up and down the Gulf Coast. But perhaps more importantly, they have honed in on the government's feeble response to one of the largest natural disasters in U.S. history.

So here's the question. Did Hurricane Katrina change your view of television news? CaffertyFile - one word -- @CNN.com.

BLITZER: I'm anxious, very anxious, to hear what out viewers think about that, Jack. Thank you very much.

Later this hour, Jack will be back, read some of your e-mails.

So what do you think? Will New Orleans ever completely recover? The results of our new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll may surprise you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We spoke with him last hour. We'll be speaking with him again live this hour, the helicopter reporter, J.T. Alpaugh.

But earlier today, he flew over an area. There was a store owner at the corner of Claiborne and Desiree Streets in the New Orleans area. The store owner wades through the water to his store. Watch this, and listen to J.T. Alpaugh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

J.T. ALPAUGH, POOL PHOTOGRAPHER: Getting a close look. There you go. That is Calvin. And hopefully he can see us. He's putting his shoes back on. I don't know if he's going to wade back in these waters to check on his store. That might be a possibility. OK, so, Calvin now wading in the waters back across to check on his store.

And it's -- again, we tried to get Calvin out and get him back to his wife, Kim, and his kids, but refusing. And he's just walking around. He doesn't understand that walking around these waters is really endangering his life. He has no idea the danger that he may be in right now -- exposed to right now. He has no idea of the danger he is just by being in the water.

He's put his shoes on. Now he is coming up to the truck and going back towards his store. Going into his truck. And we just wish that he would get out of that area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: He's clearly determined to stay put, at least for the time being, despite all the warnings that it's so dangerous to be in that part of New Orleans, especially to be in that water.

We're going to be speaking live with J.T. Alpaugh. That's coming up shortly.

For those who managed to get back into their communities, we're going to show you some of their photos right now. Our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner, is checking the situation online. What are you picking up, Jacki?

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, with all of this devastation, people are very much interested in finding out how their streets did, how their homes did, how their neighborhoods did. And that's one of the things the Internet has been incredibly useful for.

We start in Biloxi, in the Biloxi area. This is on Flicker.com, the group photo blog.

Take a look at this along Highway 90. I think a motel used to be here. Another one of these photos, it looked like a war zone. Blogs have been an incredible source of information, and now of photographs, as people end up back in their home towns.

This one, Brian Oberkirch started this blog from Dallas. He's from Slidell, Louisiana. And he was interested in sorting through all of the rumor out there, wanted to bring fact to the people from Slidell. He got back in over the weekend and was posting photographs.

For example, he doesn't know how the rumor that the water tower went down got started, but take a look, that water tower still standing. Also in the comments section of his blog, people were asking specifically about North Boulevard. Well, Brian took a drive down North Boulevard and posted some of those photographs.

We have a good success story for you from a blog. This is Hurricane Katrina Refugee. This is Laurel, who was staying with her family, went back to Slidell, Louisiana, as well. Doesn't know how she got so lucky. But take a look at her photograph here. This is their home. This is the after photo. They did not have as much damage as they suspected.

Now, not everybody can get back, but we wanted to give you this one resource at Nola.com, how did my neighborhood do? "What Happened to My Neighborhood?" You can head back over there, Wolf, and take a look at how your area fared.

BLITZER: All right, Jacki, thank you very much. We're going to get back to this story in a moment.

The motorcade carrying the casket of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist to Arlington National Cemetery has just crossed into the Potomac River into Virginia, Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. You see the escort, the police escort for the motorcade.

Our Jeffrey Toobin was inside the church for the memorial service. And give our viewers, Jeff, a little sense of what was said during that service.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: You know, Wolf, it was really a very personal service. It put a lot of feeling into the, you know, who William Rehnquist was, somewhat distant figure to most Americans. His, two of his three children spoke, a granddaughter spoke, as well as the president and Justice O'Connor.

And one of the things that was really very vivid in the service was how hard he fought this cancer and how optimistic he was. His pastor, Pastor Evans, from his Lutheran church in McLean, said that last Monday, six days ago, he was -- or a little more than six days, nine days ago, was expecting to be back on the bench, that his decline was that fast. He expected to be on the bench on Monday, and he was dead, he died on Saturday.

And, you know, the humor of William Rehnquist was much on display. He, in one of his many visits to the emergency room over the last couple of -- last few months, one of the emergency room doctors asked him who his primary caregiver was. And he looked at the guy and he said, my dentist.

You know, that's the kind of mordant humor that William Rehnquist specialized in. And you really had a very good sense of the man here at St. Matthew's Church today.

BLITZER: What was the message from the president of the United States?

TOOBIN: Well the message from the president was very much respectful in terms of how much he had accomplished, but also, again, a tribute to the man who cared as much for his family as he did for the Court. And the president called the chief justice one of our greatest chief justices. And he talked about how he struck out on his own in Phoenix, moving there after he served in World War II. And how he had contributed so much to the law.

But the message very much in court -- in church today was about William Rehnquist the man more than William Rehnquist the justice.

BLITZER: Jeff Toobin, thanks very much. Jeff's our senior legal analyst.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, certainly nature is responsible for the storm, but we want to talk a little bit more about the storm of controversy that has erupted here in Washington as well as all over the country over who is responsible for the response? Coming up, that's coming up.

Also, aid is in the disaster zone right now. But why did it arrive relatively late? We'll talk about that with two of our experts. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We'll check back with helicopter reporter J.T. Alpaugh who's been giving us some remarkable perspective of the disaster scene in New Orleans. He's joining us on the phone. Earlier today, when you were flying over New Orleans, J.T., we saw a deceased, we saw a dead body. And I want to roll that video now. You can see it. Tell our viewers where you were and what was going on.

ALPAUGH: Well, Wolf, we were over the areas of throughout the New Orleans area. I haven't been specifically looking for a lot of the deceased. We wanted very purposely to stay away from that. We understand that these waters are starting to recede, and some bodies are going to start surfacing. But we intentionally wanted to stay away from that.

What you're seeing here is the federal command post that's being set up as the morgue. They're bringing in these deceased and respectfully processing them and refrigerating the bodies to be transported to areas where they can be identified.

So, again, we're purposely staying away from showing the bodies, but this is the federal command post morgue that you're looking at right here.

BLITZER: Right on that little bridge and in the midst of all this flood water.

ALPAUGH: That's right. They're using that as a boat ramp to transport the bodies there. And, again, they're handling them very, very respectfully and processing them, trying to identify them and notify their family members. And it's a very detailed process, but it's going very well for them, as well as can be expected.

BLITZER: Now look at this video. This is something very, very poignant that's going to be very moving to many of our viewers. These -- some of these are firefighters from New York City who have come to New Orleans to help out. And it's almost the fourth anniversary of 9/11. Talk a little bit about why these men and women are there and they've risked so much to come there.

ALPAUGH: And absolutely, it was a very surreal moment for us when we pushed in and we saw their FDNY on the back of their turnout coats identifying them as one of the bravest firefighting teams in the world and departments. And again, like you said, Wolf, coming up on the fourth anniversary of September 11.

We were moved to see them come down here and help the New Orleans Fire Department fight some of these fires. But I can tell you they did an excellent fire on this little fire that was burning just south of the downtown area. They went in and attacked this fire, as you can see. And just helped them knock it down within a half hour, 45 minutes.

These brave firefighters coming in and after they've been through so much and putting themselves through this. Coming down to a disaster scene has got to bring back some very, very bad memories for these guys. But their willingness to help actually overwhelms and prioritizes over their personal mental stability bringing back bad memories of September 11.

BLITZER: J.T., we're going to see you up in the skies pretty soon. You heading back up there?

ALPAUGH: Absolutely. We're going to be launching here in about 20 minutes. We're getting some fuel here at Camp Helinet on the Interstate 10 freeway just a little bit east -- correction, just a little bit west of where you saw that federal morgue set up.

BLITZER: We'll bring your live pictures to our viewers. J.T. Alpaugh, thanks very much. Thank your entire team from Helinet over there for us. You're doing a remarkable amazing job for the pool, the news media pool. All of us are grateful to you.

Are Americans pointing fingers when it comes to the government's response to the hurricane? We polled across the country over the past two days. And our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is joining us now live with some results. So what do Americans think about the president's response to Katrina, first of all?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well the president does not get high marks, but not as negative as you might think given the torrent of criticism. Thirty-five percent say he's done a good job, 42 percent say he's done a bad job. And this response is intensely partisan. Republicans overwhelmingly give the president positive marks, Democrats overwhelmingly say he's done a bad job. So there's no evidence that the country is coming together behind the president in this crisis

BLITZER: What about the state and local officials? How do they emerge from this latest polls?

SCHNEIDER: Mixed reviews. Thirty-seven percent say they did a good job, 35 bad. But there is no partisanship here. Democrats or Republicans give state and local officials that same mixed assessment. Ask about President Bush, and you find a country divided. But the farther you get from the president, the less you find any division.

BLITZER: So who do Americans hold responsible for the problems that erupted?

SCHNEIDER: That's what we asked. And the number one answer is nobody. It's an act of God. After that, 25 percent hold state and local officials responsible for the problems. Eighteen percent say federal agencies. Only 13 percent say President Bush is most responsible for the problems.

BLITZER: Do Americans want someone to be fired?

SCHNEIDER: No, they do not. Despite all the criticism of federal agencies and bureaucrats, people do not think any top official in the Federal Emergency Management should be fired. The public doesn't seem to be in the mood for recriminations right now, except for one thing, gas prices. Nearly 80 percent say they think oil companies are taking advantage of the situation by charging unfair prices. That is where people see wrongdoing.

BLITZER: All right. Bill Schneider our senior political analyst. Thanks for those number as usual. Do you think New Orleans will ever completely recover? We also asked that question over the past two days. And only 42 percent of those polled in our CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll said yes. Fifty-six percent said no. But when asked if New Orleans should be rebuilt, almost two-thirds of those questioned say yes.

When we come back, the blame game. We'll have more on what is being done, what is being said. I'll speak with two of our analysts about the political implications. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A blame game to avoid or accountability that someone should claim. We're talking about that. The slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Congress will be investigating.

Joining us now in our discussion Democratic strategist CNN political analyst James Carville as well as our other political analyst, Torie Clarke, a former spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

James, first of all before we get to any of that, you're from Louisiana. Your family and your friends are they OK?

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. But my sister is from Slidell. We just did a piece -- she lost a house there, but she's staying with us. We're physically fine. Baton Rouge is where most of my family is located. In fact, all of it now besides myself. And we're overcrowded, but we're fine. And it's going to be that way for a while. I think everybody understands that.

BLITZER: Is it smart right now for Democrats to be calling for all these investigations in the midst of this recovery, this relief effort because they'll be plenty of time for recriminations and blame down the road. Is it smart right now?

CARVILLE: I think we're missing a point. I think Senator Frist asked Senator Collins to launch the investigation, too. Senator Bill Frist, Republican majority leader in the Senate.

Whether we got -- how can you not with something like this take a look at it? Whether we should do it tomorrow or whether we should do it next week or next month is something else. But sure, it's going to have to be done, and it's going to have to be done quickly. And I don't think there's any doubt about that.

Some people say, oh, it's a blame game. Other people say it's pointing. Other people said when is someone going to take responsibility? The truth of the matter is in any democracy, a byproduct of a democracy is that you have this kind of thing that happens.

BLITZER: The argument, Torie, is that the further you get away from the event, memories fade a little bit. Documents have a tendency to disappear and that you should get a hold on it right away before any of those problems could emerge. VICTORIA CLARKE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's completely appropriate. We have investigations, commissions all of the above. And they'd better be really, really inclusive, federal roles, state, local, role of Congress, include everybody because everybody has responsibility.

It is a matter of timing. And I don't know the date certain at which it is appropriate to start these things. But I know when we're seeing the kind of footage that we just saw on CNN, bodies still being taken out, still trying to rescue people, trying to help people who are in dire, dire straits, that is not the time to take the leaders of these various federal, state and local agencies out and haul them in front of Congress. It's just not the time.

BLITZER: Do you want to respond to that?

CARVILLE: It may very well be. But the time -- if I were some of these people, I would say it's never the time. But there's got to be accountability and responsibility. And the truth of the matter is, you know, when you do that, sure it's never the right time to do it in terms of when you mess up, there's never a right time to be held accountable for it. At some point they have to do this. And look, Senator Frist called for this. Everybody agrees that there's going to be one great reckoning here.

BLITZER: Torie, what's your advice to the president? How should he deal with the political fallout from this the strategy right now?

CLARKE: I don't think he should worry about the fallout. And I know he's not worrying about the political fallout. What he's worried about is making sure those people that we see every day are getting the help they should get.

I mean, people forget that A, he's not running for reelection. Even if he were, that would not be his focus. His focus would be on helping his people. That's exactly where it should be.

I think Congress needs to be very careful as an institution here. I hate polls, but they're not exactly doing great in the polls these days.

BLITZER: Well, the congress, as you know, is a Republican led House and a Republican led Senate.

CLARKE: I think Republicans and Democrats need to worry about how they act and behave in all of this. Are they going to be focused on results and helping people, or are they going to be focused on the blame game?

I mean, look at what you and Bill Schneider were just talking about. Overwhelmingly, people said now is not the time to be chopping off heads and firing people. Get the help to the people who need it.

CARVILLE: You can't tell a 4-year-old that you have to take responsibility for your homework and not tell people running the federal government that you shouldn't take responsibility for the greatest natural disaster we had, much of which I suspect and most people suspect could have been mitigated through some proper planning.

But, that's -- the larger point is, if we talk about timing, we're talking about weeks here. But we sure can't send a message to America that oh, we're not -- no one is going to take responsibility for this. Somebody will.

Again, I agree completely. You have to look at every layer, what happened, what happened in terms of the Corps of Engineers, the levees which I'm highly interested in. What happened in terms of the response of everybody. And you've got to have that, because you're never going to get people to take responsibility for their own actions if the government doesn't.

BLITZER: Listen to what Senator Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton said earlier today on AMERICAN MORNING here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: What I'd like to do is get it back to the level of competency and leadership that it had during the Clinton administration when it was independent, when the director had actual experience in dealing with disasters and when he had a cabinet rank level so that there was no doubt that when a disaster struck, he was in charge. And he was able to marshal all the resources of the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: She was referring to FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. What say you, Torie?

CLARKE: Well, I'll tell you, there's going to be a lot of competition for political opportunism here, plenty of competition for it. Again, I think everybody in Congress needs to watch that. But, if it weren't so serious I would find it amusing these members of Congress who start saying FEMA.

BLITZER: I'm going to interrupt for a second. You've got the Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert speaking on this very subject right now. I want to hear what he has to say.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT, (R-IL) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Congress will take up several bills to assist with the relief and rebuilding efforts including one that removes some of the normal restrictions and red tape so that those in need can get welfare and others aid quickly.

We also have bills to get our federal court system back up and moving. And to ensure that students forced to withdraw from college because of the hurricane aren't forced to pay their student aid or grants or scholarships back to the federal government.

We're also taking up a bill that gives FEMA the authority to borrow more money if necessary for the National Flood Insurance Program.

And we're looking at another measure that would allow FEMA to remove debris from private lands.

All of these bills have one goal, to get help to the people of the Gulf Coast and to get it to them now. It's a massive effort. And it's going to take continued effort from not just the federal government, but from the state and local authorities also.

Senator?

SEN. BILL FRIST, (R-TN) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your tremendous leadership. Let us be clear. We should not diminish in any way the fact that there were acts of heroism by individuals and victories by our first responders who risked their lives. I was on the ground for two days and got to see these great victories firsthand.

But we all agree that in many areas, the initial relief response to Hurricane Katrina was unacceptable at the local, state and federal level. That's why today, the House and Senate are forming a bipartisan committee made up of senior members. This joint committee will be tasked with reviewing at all levels of government the immediate preparation and recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The committee is to report its findings to the Congress no later than February 15, 2006.

Americans deserve answers. We must do all we can to learn from this tragedy, improve the system and protect all of our citizens.

Thank you.

HASTERT: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert, the Republican leaders of the House and Senate announcing that they're forging this bicameral House, Senate joint investigation. What do you think?

CARVILLE: That pretty much puts an end to the argument, doesn't it? There's going to be a joint committee looking into this. We'll see what kind of job they do. And I suspect that they'll be other ones.

But again, you cannot, you cannot have a failure of this magnitude without getting some answers and getting them quickly. And there are a whole bunch of aspects of this that we don't know. And hopefully this committee will do a good job.

BLITZER: One quick thought from you, Torie?

CLARKE: Sure. And I'll get lots of hate mail for this. But there should have been a Democrat standing there next to them when they made that announcement.

BLITZER: You'll get hate mail from Republicans but not from Democrats. All right. Torie Clarke, thanks very much. James, Carville, good luck to you -- to both of you.

There's lots of criticism here in Washington about how the U.S. government responded to this hurricane. But what are they saying overseas? That story when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina isn't just making headlines here in the United States. It's getting lots of coverage around the world. Our Zain Verjee is joining us from the CNN Center with a closer look. Give us a little of that international perspective, Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, the latest reaction was seen today, really mirrors the reaction here in the United States -- the shock, some real outrage and lots of sympathy.

In Canada, the "Halifax Daily News" in Nova Scotia is expressing solidarity today, writing this -- "Close friends may bicker at times and even kick each other's shins on occasion. But in time of need, Canada and the United States are there for each other."

South Africa's "Cape Times" writes, "Who would have thought that over a million American citizens would become refugees in their own country and flay their government for its failure to come to their aid? Or that in the most advanced society in the world, which gave us ER the TV show, the badly injured would be left for dead due to lack of assistance?"

"The Korea Herald" echoing really the same sentiment writing this, "Watching the tragedy New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, one cannot but feel for the world's strongest and richest nation."

Some British newspapers, meanwhile, are struck by plans to investigate the government's response to Katrina. Now the headline in "The Independent" is this. "Bush Launches An Inquiry and Puts Himself In Charge Of It". The article goes on to propose that the Bush presidency and his personal leadership are on the line.

"The Guardian" newspaper, a left leaning paper also giving that story prominent play with the headline Cheney called in as Bush says he will lead his own inquiry into Katrina. The story also notes that Mr. Bush is dispatching the vice president to the hurricane zone to expedite aid.

Well coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Katrina and TV news. How do you feel about what you've been seeing and about the reporters covering this disaster? Your answers just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jack Cafferty's been reading your e-mail on a subject, Jack, that hits very close to home.

BLITZER: Indeed, Wolf. The question this hour is this. Did Hurricane Katrina change your view of television news?

It's been pleasantly absent the tabloid garbage that tends to litter the TV screen, particularly on the 24/7 cable news networks. They got a lot of time to fill, and sometimes our selection of stories isn't the greatest in the world. Here's what some of you have written.

Dan in Freemont, Indiana, "For me the jury is still out. I'm used to TV news people serving up soft balls and failing to challenge the spin and the lies. We've yet to see whether their bodies will reject the spine transplants."

Tamara in Denver, Colorado, "Yes it's definitely changed how I feel about TV news for now. Without them, thousands upon thousands of people would still be suffering. The juxtaposition of what officials were saying versus the pictures and reports from journalist were a stunning contrast."

Don in Baltimore, Maryland, "You bet it did, and for the better. For once, you reporters actually questioned the official word, the lying politicians and the big-shot ineffectual heads of the various agencies. Keep it up. I might just tune in more often."

Paul in Ashville, North Carolina, "No. But I can only hope the Katrina disaster has changed the focus of news organizations. Instead of the runaway bride, we got honest gut-wrenching coverage of a runaway disaster. Please don't lose the sense of what's truly important in this world. Hint, it ain't Martha Stewart."

And Carol in Largo, Florida writes this, "It sure has changed my view of CNN. You guys are finally telling it like it is. Thank you. All of your reporters have been amazing. They should all get raises."

Let me read that last part again. All of your reporters are amazing, and they should all get raises.

BLITZER: You think they're listening? Do you think they're listening, Jack?

CAFFERTY: They won't listen. But it's a nice idea, Carol, thank you.

BLITZER: All right. Jack, thanks very much.

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