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The Situation Room

Rash of Bombings Permeates Iraq; Standing Water Continues To Cause Problems In New Orleans; Hurricane Ophelia Threatens North Carolina Coast

Aired September 14, 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: It's 4:00 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 now. Hurricane Ophelia on a slow but punishing path, drenching the North Carolina coast right now and threatening flooding. We're tracking the storm, in your hurricane headquarters.

And it's 3:00 p.m. Central Time in New Orleans, where hopes of re-opening parts of the city may have been dashed by new tests of the floodwaters Hurricane Katrina left behind. We'll have details.

And with Katrina still on his mind, President Bush addresses the United Nations Security Council and global flash points on a day of carnage in Iraq.

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

In our "Mission Critical" this hour, a new hurricane's onslaught under way on the East Coast, and the outgoing -- ongoing Katrina disaster still in the South. Hurricane Ophelia lashing North Carolina with heavy rain and gusty winds. Forecasters say the storm is moving so slowly, its assault could last -- get this -- up to two days.

The on-again/off-again hurricane now a Category 1 storm, a significant Category 1 storm. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of the North Carolina coast, and at least 40 shelters are now open. More than 50,000 homes and businesses already have lost power.

Over on the Gulf Coast, government test results released today show the floodwaters in New Orleans still are unsafe. The Environmental Protection Agency found dangerous levels of sewage- related bacteria and toxic chemicals.

Louisiana's attorney general says he won't hesitate to pursue more criminal charges in connection with Hurricane Katrina's rising death toll. The owners of a nursing home where 34 people died are now free on bond after being charged with negligent homicide. We'll hear from the defendants' lawyer. That's coming up this hour.

Ophelia is no Katrina, but it is soaking and threatening. It's a significant force on its own right. Dave Faherty of our affiliate WSOC is in Wrightsville Beach. And our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking Ophelia in the CNN Weather Center.

Let's begin with you, Dave. You're inside now, which is good because it's pounding outside.

DAVE FAHERTY, WSOC REPORTER: Yes, Wolf, I am inside. A situation room, I guess of sorts for us. I'm gathered here with our photographer. In between live shots, we talk about what we can and can't do. It was just too dangerous out on that deck area, but what we can show you here -- let me walk through this door.

This is the door we use to get outside. It's actually a parking deck right here. And when you go outside, you can see how the wind drastically picks up. But it's not just the wind that we're having problems with here this afternoon, Wolf. We're getting a ton of rain, anywhere in the neighborhood of a foot already in some areas along the Carolina coast right now. And that rain continues to come down quite hard.

If you look off behind me, I don't know if our photographer can show you this. Look at that surf just whipping up, and you can see those big sprays out there. I think Carl (ph) can show you that there. That spray that you're seeing is actually because the wind has now shifted out of the west because the storm has moved north of where we're at right now, Wolf.

BLITZER: Does it seem to be getting significantly worse, Dave, or is it sort of leveling out? It's going to be consistent for some time, we're told.

FAHERTY: That's what we're hearing, Wolf. We're hearing, we can see rain for another five to eight hours out here. And that, you know, on top of the foot of rain we've already gotten right now is going to cause flooding, not so much here at Wrightsville Beach but as you go inland. As you go inland around the Wilmington area, we've already heard reports of some flooding there, even bridges being washed out from the water that's building in those areas.

BLITZER: Dave, stand by for a moment. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is standing by. She's tracking this hurricane for us. Jacqui, what's the latest?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, here's Wrightsville Beach where Dave is. He's in kind of a little break here. The heavier showers and thunderstorms have pushed out of the region. So the rainfall itself is a little bit lighter right here on the beach. However, the winds are continuing to gust very strong.

Another development that we've just seen, Wolf -- we're tracking it, and this is kind of a little bit iffy -- but it appears based on some of the satellite images and the radar images that we've been watching is that it could be pulling a little farther to the east. What does that mean? Well, it maybe could just mean a little wobble. This storm has been kind of erratic and it's done a lot of different loop-the-loops, so it may not mean anything.

But if it continues to push farther off to the east and stays that way over the next couple of hours, that means it would be less likely to be making a direct landfall, especially in eastern parts here of South Carolina, and the Outer Banks looking more vulnerable. So the farther it pulls away, the lighter the winds will be on the shoreline.

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Jacqui. We're going to get back to you.

Let's go back to Dave Faherty. He's on Wrightsville Beach on the scene for us. Dave, if you compare this to the earlier hurricane that you covered, what's your assessment at least so far?

FAHERTY: Well, I covered two of them. I covered Isabel which was two years ago. And I was in the Myrtle Beach area when I covered Floyd. Floyd was a much larger storm -- much, much larger. It was a Category 2, and it dumped a lot of rain, 19 inches of rain, in the Wilmington area, but it was moving quicker than this storm is right here.

This storm has been crawling along the coast for the last three days. And the rain really started coming down early this morning after midnight. We started actually getting some of those outer bands come on shore before midnight. But since about, oh, I would say probably about 6:00, 7:00 this morning, we've had pretty steady rain out here. And it seems like it just continues throughout the afternoon. As your meteorologist mentioned, we are getting just a little bit of a break.

And boy, that surf. Let me just show you that surf one more time because I want to mention something else. We actually -- prior to the storm coming in, we got a chance to talk to some surfers here. And they're telling me as the wind shifted to the west which they're doing right now, that it's actually better surfing conditions. Now, I can't believe someone would actually go surfing in these kinds of conditions. But this is the type of conditions that they're looking for right now, not when the storm is initially coming up the coast.

Again, though, getting back to rain, over a foot of rain in some areas, especially around Wilmington. Heard reports of flooding. And again, the rain's just supposed to continue. We're just hoping that storm picks up and moves through this area, and gets out of here. And that's what everybody has been talking to me about today, yesterday. And they're just like hey, when is this going to get through here?

BLITZER: Dave, North Carolina residents along the coast, no strangers to hurricanes. These are pretty hardy folk, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, did most of the people where are you leave, evacuate, or are they trying to ride this out?

FAHERTY: Well, you know, I went out yesterday during the day, and I went out last night, checking the bridge that leads off of Wrightsville Beach. And Wolf, I didn't see a lot of people leaving. Now, they did set up two shelters in the Wilmington area. And I talked to the head of emergency management for New Hanover County, and he told me that they had more than 100 people staying at those shelters. But I didn't see a whole bunch of people evacuating earlier today.

I went out and drove around a little bit, and there were actually people trying to go out on the beach just to take in all the sights. But that wind that was whipping out of the north at that time., I mean, the sand, it just creamed you. It just hits you right in the side of the face. And a lot of folks, they get out on the beach and do a quick u-turn and get off the beach. Saw a lot of people in houses.

There are some power outages out here. I was talking to my photographer this morning, and we could see flashes in the distance. And I said to him, you know, maybe we shouldn't go outside. It looks like they have lightning off in the distance. He said no, that's not lighting. That's power lines coming down as the winds picked up through the morning.

BLITZER: Dave Faherty, of our affiliate WSOC is in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, doing a very good job for us. Be careful over there, Dave. And thank your photographer, your entire crew for us, as well.

Let's go back to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui, can you give our viewers a better sense if we know it, where this Hurricane Ophelia is heading?

JERAS: Well, the present moment from the National Hurricane Center, is that it's moving north/northeast. But as I mentioned, it's showing some signs that it could be possibly pulling a little bit farther off to the east. And obviously the farther east it does so as it moves on that northerly trek, the farther away from land that it's going to be. So that would be good news.

But regardless of whether or not this thing makes landfall, Wolf, it's still going to be a very significant event to coastal parts of North Carolina because it's a very slow-moving storm, only seven miles per hour. So if it makes it onshore, if it doesn't make it onshore, either way we're talking about very heavy rain, very rough surf.

We've already seen some damage and also extensive power outages around the Wilmington area and all that heavy rain, freshwater flooding. We could see as much as 15 inches plus in very isolated areas. Doppler radar has been estimating over the last two days 15 to 20 inches offshore, and now that the heavier bands have made their way onshore, we're going to continue to watch those numbers move up. They've been around an inch or two per hour with some of these heavier rain bands as they continue to move on through.

Also, the winds gusting -- they've been kind of erratic a little bit. The highest peak I've seen so far today over the last couple of hours was 61 miles per hour gusts, or 77 rather, 61 sustained, but 77 gusts at Wilmington. Right now the gust has dropped a little bit to 59 miles an hour. We've got 49 up toward Beaufort and then 37 up at Hatteras at this time.

Here's the forecast track of the Hurricane Center. We're going to get an update on this from them at 5:00 Eastern Time, so that will be coming in probably -- we usually get it maybe 15 minutes ahead of time. So we'll bring that to you if we see any significant changes.

But you can see the center of the track really kind of hovering here across the Outer Banks. And look at the time stamp here, this is tomorrow morning. Still kind of has it lingering in that area. It won't be until late on Thursday, before things are going to be improving very significantly across the Carolina coast.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Thursday can't come quickly enough for these people down there. Thanks very much, Jacqui. We'll stand by for the latest information from the National Hurricane Center. That's coming up later this hour. We'll bring it to you as soon as we get it.

Let's check in with CNN's Jack Cafferty once again. You got another question for our viewers this hour, Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed I do, Wolf. Americans traditionally are a very forgiving people. You say you're sorry in this country, you get another chance. Maybe that's what President Bush had in mind yesterday when he personally took responsibility for the federal government's anemic response to Hurricane Katrina. It's a first for this administration.

Over the past five years, they have never admitted a mistake about anything -- from the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal to the miscalculations on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. You may remember in April of 2004, Mr. Bush was asked during a news conference to name his biggest mistake as president. His response - quote -- "I'm sure something will pop into my head here" -- unquote. Never did.

Granted, it's all part of a plan to rehabilitate his image -- three trips to the Gulf now, a speech for tomorrow night out of New Orleans -- but it is nice to hear someone at the top acknowledge that things could have been done better.

Here's the question this hour. What's your reaction to President Bush's admission of responsibility? CaffertyFile -- one word -- @CNN.com. We'll read some of the responses in a half hour or thereabouts.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Jack. We'll get back to you soon.

And speaking of New Orleans, with new test results in hand, EPA officials are calling the situation in New Orleans right now -- and I'm quoting -- "one of the biggest environmental challenges in the agency's history".

Let's go live to CNN's Jeff Koinange. He's in New Orleans on the scene for us. You not only have to see this, Jeff, this flood water and all the toxins, the chemicals, you have to smell it, as well. How bad is it?

We're breaking up a little bit with that shot. Jeff, I don't know if you can hear me. That shot is breaking up. But let's take a break. We'll fix that shot with Jeff Koinange.

We'll come back. We'll go to New Orleans and get the latest on the toxins in that flood water. We're also watching other stories, Katrina, finger-pointing being directed at a more powerful target right now. The Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff shoved FEMA Director Michael Brown aside, but was Chertoff the one to blame for delays in relief efforts? We'll get some information on that.

Also ahead, we'll check back on Hurricane Ophelia's track right now, and warnings about the damage from this storm.

And attack after attack, killing after killing in Baghdad. A horrible, terrible day of terror in the Iraqi capital.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I want to show you some live pictures we're getting in right now from New Orleans. These are pictures coming in from a helicopter that's flying over, and it's shooting another helicopter. The photographer there part of the rescue operations, the recovery operations that are continuing nonstop in New Orleans. Still major parts of that city remain under water.

They're looking not only for survivors, but on a more grim note, much grimmer note, they're looking for bodies, as well. This is going to be a difficult, dangerous operation, this helicopter hovering over one area that clearly looks like it was under water. Those cars under water at some point. But now it's still -- continue to show these pictures to our viewers. And go there, go live in a moment.

In the meantime, though, there were some sharp words today from the former 9/11 Commission chairman about the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Former New Jersey Governor Thomas Cain says more lives could have been saved, if Congress and the Bush Administration had carried out all of his panel's recommendations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS KEAN, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER CHAIRMAN: It is a scandal in our mind that four years after 9/11, we have not yet set aside radio spectrum to ensure that police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians can communicate reliably during any kind of attack or any kind of major disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The finger-pointing continuing even after FEMA Director Mike Brown took the fall a few days ago. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was Brown's boss, and now is coming under fire for his scrutiny and for his involvement.

Let's bring in CNN's Tom Foreman. He's taking a closer look at this story. What's going on, Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are very unhappy at Homeland Security today. That's what's going on right now, because what's happening is Michael Chertoff is the head of Homeland Security. They are in charge of FEMA. The president has now said he takes the blame for what went wrong. Michael Brown at FEMA has now lost his job for what went wrong. And right in the middle is Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security. He has yet to say publicly, yet to give any great confession of here's what I did wrong, or here's the mistakes I made, or to say there were any mistakes.

And he's getting squeezed, particularly over a memo. This memo was released on the Tuesday after that stormy Monday. And his department publicized it widely. He declared it an incident of national significance. This is important, because under this national response plan, which was developed after 9/11, an incident of national significance triggers the highest level of federal response to a disaster.

Well, now, people have started saying why did he do this on the Tuesday after the storm, when he could have easily done it the Friday before, the Saturday before, any other time.

The problem is -- what they're saying now is, when I talked to his office this afternoon, they said, well, yes, we publicized it after that. Yes, we said he announced it then, but in fact, it really was already that way from days before. They don't want to take the heat for declaring it late, because the accusation is clear that precious hours were wasted. So they're saying it happened before that. Even though they publicized it later, it was all said and done. Nonetheless, it's very clear that people are nipping at his heels very hard right now.

BLITZER: The president's plane by the way, Air Force One, we can see that now -- some pictures coming in from Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington. It's landing after the president spoke earlier today at the United Nations, met with world leaders. He addressed not only the U.N. General Assembly, he also addressed the Security Council, met with the Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, met with the Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair. Had other meetings, as well.

Tom Foreman, we're going to check into the story that you're watching and get some more on it later. Thanks very much, Tom Foreman, reporting for us.

With new test results in hand EPA officials are calling the situation in New Orleans one of the biggest environmental challenges in the agency's history. Let's bring in CNN's Jeff Koinange. He's joining us live now from New Orleans.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, it's true what that report said, because if you look behind me, we're in a part called Chantilly in northern New Orleans. Look at this behind me -- if I could step away for a moment -- look at that, two weeks after this, more than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, this is what's happening in this one neighborhood. In some parts we understand from officials, the water is six to seven feet deep.

And there are rescue teams in there from the U.S. Coast Guard, a couple of California rescue teams known as Task Force 2 and Task Force 3. They've been working flat out the last 16 days day in, day out looking for people to rescue. Now you see all those helicopters above there, Wolf? There's probably a rescue going on there as we speak. And we've been waiting here. Apparently we're here -- obviously, the rescues have gone down dramatically, but yesterday there were two rescues. Today they've been going out most of the day. They're hoping to pull out at least a couple of people.

But again, speaking of that EPA report, it's not as bad as officials thought, but still it's early days. We understand in some places, the water is contaminated with toxins. Some of it has lead. Some of it has E. Coli. But these are only in areas which were reachable, areas which were accessible. In areas like this where the water is stagnant, smelly, dirty, mixed with sewage, it's going to take a long time to determine whether this area here, Wolf, will be habitable in the future.

BLITZER: We have a live picture of a helicopter that's flying, I believe, near you. And we're going to show our viewers this live picture. Jeff, if you can see that helicopter from where you are, I assume this helicopter is on another search and rescue operation, assessing the area. These are live pictures coming into CNN from another helicopter that's covering this story for us. You get a sense where this helicopter may be, Jeff?

KOINANGE: That's right. The area is called Chantilly. And it's in northern New Orleans. So, if you're up the (INAUDIBLE) somewhere in northern New Orleans, near the University of New Orleans, that's exactly where we are right now, Wolf.

And they're really concentrating, there are actually two helicopters now in the area. They are the air team, just supporting the folks on the ground because sometimes these areas are so difficult to access. And you know, it's so important now, 16 days into this post-hurricane period, there're not going to be that many people who are alive, Wolf. And that's the sad part. With the death count increasing every day, it looks like time is literally running out for people still holed out in their homes.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Jeff, thank you very much. We'll get back to you. We'll watch this helicopter. We'll watch all the developments happening in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast.

Also watching Hurricane Ophelia on the North Carolina coast.

Also coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the violence in Iraq. Every day, there's literally -- it's every day is a deadly day, but today especially ugly. We'll go to Baghdad for a live report. That's coming up.

And later, the chief justice nominee, John Roberts facing some more tough questions today. How did he answer them? We'll go live to Capitol Hill for a complete update.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In Iraq just a short while ago, a nighttime mortar attack by insurgents -- a bloody end to a day of extreme terror and carnage in Baghdad.

CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is in the Iraqi capital for a complete update on what happened today. Jennifer, it was an awful day.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. A day marked by relentless violence, a string of deadly attacks across Baghdad, mainly against this city's Shiite community. Suicide car bombers targeting two Shiite neighborhoods, one in Shula (ph), northwest Baghdad, four people killed there and dozens wounded.

But the most deadly by far, an early morning suicide bomb attack involving a minivan. Well, according to police, that van exploded near a meeting point for day laborers in Kadhimiya, also in central Baghdad. Witnesses say when that van pulled up, the driver called workers to his vehicle and detonated the bomb. Over 100 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. But Wolf, Iraqi civilians bearing the brunt of today's violence. But military and police also targeted this day. Two car bombs targeted at Iraqi army patrols, six soldiers killed there. And seven U.S. military convoys were attacked today, 10 soldiers injured in those attacks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And the suspect Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq, is that the suspect widely believed?

ECCLESTON: Widely believed because that's what they're telling us. Of course, the Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq says it is behind the bombings -- the response to Sunni deaths from a join Iraqi-American military operation in northern Iraq in Tal Afar. That claim was posted on an extremist Web site. Of course, there's no way for CNN to independently verify it -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jennifer Eccleston reporting for us from Baghdad. Jennifer, thank you very much.

Here in Washington, outside Washington, you're looking at live pictures, Marine One, the president's helicopter getting ready to bring the president from Andrews Air Force Base back to the White House. He spent the day, most of the day in New York today addressing the United Nations General Assembly as well as the United Nations Security Council. The president thanked the world leaders at the U.N. for their help in dealing with the battered Gulf Coast.

After more than two weeks at the center of the Katrina storm, the president's appearance at the United Nations took him back to some of the toughest global challenges he's been facing.

Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is joining us now live from New York. She traveled there with the president. And she has an update for us. Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, the president started his U.N. General Assembly address this morning thanking the 115 countries that have actually contributed, stepped up as he put it, to help the United States in the wake of Katrina.

And as you mentioned, certainly the president recently has been very focused on Katrina, trying to turn around the perception that he failed essentially in the time that he was needed as a leader. And he did that here in New York by turning to the one issue that perhaps he still gets the highest marks on when it comes to his leadership, and that is the fight against terrorism.

But his tone was a bit different at the United Nations today. He said it's not just about a war on terror on the battlefield, but about trying to fight poverty, a poverty that he says allows terrorists to flourish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We must help raise up the failing states and stagnant societies that provide fertile ground for the terrorists. We must defend and extend a vision of human dignity and opportunity and prosperity. A vision far stronger than the dark appeal of resentment and murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now to that end, the president also challenged the world. He said that the United States would eliminate tariffs and barriers if other countries would, too. He said that he hopes that that would sort of raise the stakes in the whole concept of ending poverty. Of course, he's a free market conservative. He believes that the freer the markets, the best hope there is to fulfill democracy around the world.

And again, the thrust of his talk here at the United Nations today was that the more democracy there is around the world, perhaps the less anger there is and the less terrorism there will be.

BLITZER: Well, Dana, the president tomorrow night will be addressing the nation from Louisiana, going back yet again to deal with this issue. What do we expect to hear from him?

BASH: Well, at the White House, they are saying that the president is going to have some substantive initiatives. In fact, I talked to one senior official who said that the "I take responsibility" line was first going to be unveiled in this address tomorrow night, but they decided to have the president say it yesterday because they understood it was going to be a big headline and they wanted people to really focus on what they hope will be sort of a general road map to rebuilding the Gulf coast.

The senior official I talked to said don't expect a State of the Union-type litany of initiatives, but he is going to try to talk substantively about how he believes the federal government can get involved in the rebuilding.

BLITZER: Dana Bash reporting for us from New York. And as we see Marine One, the president's helicopter getting ready to take off from Andrews Air Force Base to bring the president and his entourage back to the White House, we'll remind our viewers CNN will have live coverage of the address to the nation tomorrow night from Louisiana. That airs 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. on the West Coast. We'll be here in THE SITUATION ROOM to cover that.

Now to the deaths of 34 nursing home patients in Louisiana in Katrina's aftermath. The state's attorney general says -- and I'm quoting now -- "they did not die of natural causes. They drowned." And two people are now facing criminal charges.

CNN's Mary Snow is in the state capital of Baton Rouge. She's joining us now with more. Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, yesterday during THE SITUATION ROOM, the attorney general held that news conference where he announced those charges, Charles Foti saying that Salvador and Mable Mangano are both facing 34 counts of negligent homicide.

Today, the other side of the story. We're here with James Cobb. He is the attorney for the Manganos. Mr. Cobb, yesterday the attorney general said that 34 people drowned and he said it was the inaction of your clients that led to their deaths. Your response to that?

JIM COBB, ATTY. FOR ST. RITA'S NURSNG HOME OWNERS: He's completely wrong.

SNOW: How so?

COBB: He's wrong because in the first place, he has his facts wrong. We had an evacuation plan in effect. That evacuation plan was filed with the Department of Health and Hospitals and with the St. Bernard Parish. We never received a mandatory evacuation order from St. Bernard Parish.

And unlike what the attorney general has said previously, my folks were in the facility with the patients throughout. They saved 52 lives of folks in this storm, and their reward for doing that from the attorney general is to be arrested.

SNOW: It says the officials in St. Bernard's Parish say there was a mandatory evacuation in place, they say there was offers of help to evacuate including the day before the storm hit with buses and also that the ambulance service that was contracted out by your clients was not contacted to get people out.

COBB: Well, I don't know about what the St. Bernard Parish officials are saying. I can tell you this, that on the day, on Sunday, the Chalmette Hospital returned to us hospice patients by ambulance that they would no longer care for.

So it doesn't make a lot of sense to call an ambulance to pick up somebody to take them out if nobody's going to receive them. And the hospitals in Chalmette and the hospitals in New Orleans were getting rid of patients, not accepting patients, first. Second ... SNOW: So there were patients taken to the facility -- extra patients taken to the facility?

COBB: No, there were patients that the Chalmette Hospital sent, them, were our patients -- hospice patients they sent back to us. So it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to call an ambulance and say hey, come pick up folks to take them someplace. Those hospitals weren't accepting patients.

In addition, there was not a mandatory evacuation called for by the St. Bernard Parish officials in time for anybody to get out. I keep hearing you folks tell me they called for it. Could somebody please tell me who called for it, when, and how it was communicated to St. Rita's?

SNOW: We're going to have to leave it there, Mr. Cobb. Thank you for your time.

Wolf, we're going to go back to you.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Thank you, Mary, very much. Mary's on the scene in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Hurricane Ophelia drenching the North Carolina coast right now. Will massive flooding follow? We're tracking the storm. We'll have a live update. Also, we're expecting a new forecast from the National Hurricane Center. That's coming up.

Plus, hurricane politics. What does President Bush need to say to the nation tomorrow night? We'll get expert opinion in our "Strategy Session".

Much more from THE SITUATION ROOM when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting new video from Long Beach, Mississippi. Check this out. Pretty amazing stuff. Authorities are putting up four- and-a-half miles of rolled barbed wire fencing cordoning off the most devastated part of the town. Officials with the Long Beach Fire Department say the barbed wire is supposed to keep potential looters out. That whole area being cordoned off right now.

Remember, CNN is your hurricane headquarters and we want to go back to our other hurricane that we're watching right now, our top story of the hour. That would be Hurricane Ophelia.

Our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti is joining us now live from Nags Head, North Carolina with more. That surf looks pretty powerful behind you, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really not too bad here. The wind gusts, not very powerful at all. In fact, the sun is out right now. We've had a few sprinkles of rain but farther south around Wilmington, North Carolina, along the coast, Atlantic Beach, they are taking a pounding throughout the day this day. But we're in line to get it next. Probably not until very late tonight or early morning hours will we start to feel the tropical storm force winds. That's what we're projecting. Here at Nags Head, you're taking a look at the pier here, the fishing pier here, which just two years ago did suffer damage when Hurricane Isabel hit two years ago this week. They lost some of the top part of the pier, but the pilings we are told stayed in place.

They also took some heavy damage up the road in Kitty Hawk, not far to the north of where we are. And swinging the camera around here, you can see the ocean and of course farther up the line, there are other beachfront homes here. Again, they suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Isabel.

But this time, they are predicting a lot of rain, Wolf. A lot of rain, not so much from the ocean, but they're thinking from the rivers although they are at a lower level because it's been a very dry summer. Nevertheless, they expect to get anywhere from six to eight to nine inches of rain. Added to that the fact that Ophelia is moving so slowly, it could stick around for a couple of days and that will add to the total amount of rainfall they are expecting to get here.

Hatteras Island where we were earlier today, mandatory evacuation order and most people have cleared out. But here farther north, there is none, only a voluntary evacuation, no shelters open here. But 50,000 people without power so far, Wolf.

BLITZER: We see people walking around there, Susan, so I assume they think they can ride this out. Is that the prevailing sense where you are in Nags Head?

CANDIOTTI: They do. Of course, it's not being compared to a Katrina, but you do see people out here on the fishing pier, and walking around in shorts and T-shirts. So they're prepared to stick around and ride it out. That's what they tell me.

BLITZER: All right. We'll watch it with you, Susan. Be careful over there. Hope you got some rain gear. I'm sure you do. Susan Candiotti reporting for us from North Carolina.

A little hurricane going on here in Washington, as well. A lot less, but it's a political hurricane. Senate Democrats trying once again to press the chief justice nominee, John Roberts, to reveal his opinions on key issues. Once again, they're not necessarily getting very far.

Our congressional correspondent Joe Johns is covering the hearings for us. He's giving us an update right now. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, he's gotten a lot of questions about sticky legal issues, as you might imagine, today. And he has continued to be very careful in what he says and what he doesn't say. Quite frankly, you can make the argument, though, that he's been a bit more forthcoming than some of the Democrats are willing to give him credit for. For example, on the issue of eminent domain -- or the right of local governments to take people's property and bulldoze it, put up a parking lot. He says Congress has to decide what the law will be on the issue of separation of church and state. He says the courts need to come up with a more consistent approach.

Democrats, as I said, aren't giving him a lot of credit, including Senator Joe Biden who said, essentially, today that the Senate is being asked to roll the dice on Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: So you've told me nothing, Judge. With all due respect, you've not -- look, this is -- it's kind of interesting, this kabuki dance we have in these hearings here, as if the public doesn't have a right to know what you think about fundamental issues facing them. There's no more possibility that any one of us here would be elected to the United States Senate without expressing broadly and sometimes specifically to our public what it is we believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So he has talked a lot to the Senate Judiciary Committee about legal theory, things you'd find about in law school and so on. Mike Dewine, a Republican, actually told him great justices are more than just legal automatons. Great justices never forgot who they are.

Wolf, right about now, they should be picking up at the end of a break. Back to you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. Joe Johns reporting for us.

So what do the experts think? How is John Roberts doing during his grilling? We'll grade him coming up. That's coming up during our "Strategy Session".

Plus, President Bush gets ready to go prime time. What does he need to say to the nation tomorrow night?

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In our "Strategy Session" today, the Roberts confirmation hearings and the politics of Katrina. Joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM our guests, Democratic strategist Vic Kamber, Republican strategist Greg Mueller. Thanks to you both for joining us.

John Roberts -- what's your bottom line assessment, Vic?

VIC KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think Joe Biden got it right. We don't know enough yet. The president should be thrilled with him. Partisan Republicans should be thrilled. But frankly, as an American, I'm concerned. Let me just take a step back, because we've been spending the day on Katrina here. Had we done more investigation on Brown when his confirmation hearing came up, maybe he wouldn't have been confirmed. We have an obligation, that's what advise and consent is all about, to find out as much about the people who are being appointed as possible. And in the case of Roberts, we're looking at a 30-40 year appointment with health for him, hopefully. And I want to know more about him.

BLITZER: But the Democrats have had, what, three months to go back and try to find anything that might be controversial there.

KAMBER: Absolutely correct. And I'm not suggesting that the man's a crook or that we're looking for any controversy. I want to know his thinking. I want to know not only what's in his heart, what's in his head. How he makes decisions. How he comes up with answers, because he's going to affect my life, my kids' life, your kids' life, over the next 10, 20, 30 years. I want to know more.

BLITZER: What about from your perspective, I assume you're satisfied even though you might be a little bit more to the right than he is?

GREG MUELLER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Oh, no. I think Judge Roberts has done a fabulous job, Wolf. I think he's displayed every expectation we had. He's a brilliant lawyer, very qualified the court. I think he's giving a civics lesson to the United States Senate, and they don't like it.

I think the difference -- Vic's touching on a fundamental difference here. He's a Reagan conservative, basically, a Bush conservative, Bush II conservative. I'll admit that. But the approach to how they look at the courts is distinctly different, especially what you saw today. Biden and these guys, they want him to take positions. They're not politicians. These are judges. He's going to approach with judicial restraint he said. So I think you've gotten in his head. His approach to the court is not judicial activism, which the Democrats want. They want him to have a litmus test, Wolf. That's their strategy.

BLITZER: What about what he said yesterday? He believes the Constitution offers a right to privacy. Are there conservatives who fear he could be another David Souter or someone along those lines who's going to move to the center as he becomes a justice?

MUELLER: Absolutely not. I think that's wishful thinking by some, although the liberal groups aren't saying that at all. They're very upset with him, I think. And the conservative groups are very happy with him. He didn't say that. He never made a connection on Roe. He's not taking an official position. In fact, I think he opened up the door that Roe could possibly be overturned in the Supreme Court. It's very possible in what he said. What he basically said was Griswald was basically settled, but he never drew a connection to it, Wolf.

BLITZER: What do you want -- what do you think the president should say tomorrow night in his address from Louisiana on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that would satisfy you and many of his critics?

KAMBER: What you would really like me to -- what I really would like him to say he will not say, which is I'm leaving office and turning it over to somebody more competent.

BLITZER: You don't really expect him to say that?

KAMBER: I, of course, do not. And I'm being facetious there.

BLITZER: But you're a strategist, if you were giving him advice what would you tell him?

KAMBER: I frankly think he's got to come up with some specific answers. They're throwing money like crazy at programs. They have replaced Brown with what looks like a very competent very sturdy leader, but I think we need more. I think we need to understand exactly what is the plan over the next 30, 60, 90 days, the next year.

Several Republicans have opened their mouth, and put their foot in it by mistake. I don't think they intended to. I think the president should disassociate himself from them, and make it clear we're committed to rebuilding New Orleans. We're committed to rebuilding Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. Putting those people back, helping those people go back. All the things. And this, his most recent attack on organized labor, getting rid of Davis-Bacon -- stop this. This is not a time to be partisan. It's a time to rebuild America.

BLITZER: He did claim -- he did say I accept responsibility for the mistakes that were made yesterday, which, as you know, is pretty unusual for this president.

MUELLER: Well, I do think -- look, when any time a president on his watch has a natural disaster like this occur, it is very wise strategically for them to go out and say, look, this is happening on my watch. We made mistakes. We're going to go out and fix them. And that's what we're going to hear tomorrow night. Here's what we're doing.

But let's not lose sight of this. I know a lot of the focus is on the president, and he's doing the right thing by taking some responsibility here. But you have a governor and a mayor -- Democrats I'll admit, both of them -- who left buses going under water down there, who had evacuation plans that failed. There's plenty of blame, and it's all going around this town bouncing off of walls, Wolf. And the president tomorrow night is going to report to the American people, since being down there, what's going on, what action items I have in place. But we can't lose focus here. This isn't all about the president.

BLITZER: All right. We've got to leave it there unfortunately. We'll continue this conversation down the road. We'll watch the president's address tomorrow night here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Vic Kamber, Greg Mueller, thanks to both of you for joining us.

And as we just mentioned, President Bush says the buck stops with him. Coming up, what do you think of the president's admission of responsibility? Jack Cafferty reading your e-mail. He's standing by. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Good news, Jack Cafferty is back. He's got the "Cafferty File," your responses to his e-mail question of the hour. You know, our viewers, Jack, look forward to this part of the program a lot.

CAFFERTY: You know, that puts a lot of pressure on me, Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, we want to do that. We want to do that.

CAFFERTY: Yeah. I mean, that puts me under a tremendous amount of pressure to turn these segments into something more than they are. I don't know if I can handle it or not.

President Bush personally took responsibility yesterday for the federal government's anemic response to Hurricane Katrina. It's a first for this administration. Over the last five years, they've never admitted a mistake on anything from the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal to the weapons of mass destruction that nobody's ever found in Iraq.

So, we've been asking, what's your reaction to President Bush's admission of responsibility on this Katrina situation? We are getting as they say in the trade, a ton of e-mail.

Judy in Boiling Springs, South Carolina, "My response to Bush's admission that he dropped the ball, tell it to the dead, the homeless and the orphaned. It's too little, too late."

Ross in Paradise, California, "I think President Bush accepting responsibility is a good thing and the right thing to do. Now, if only the others who'd dropped the ball, like a certain governor and a certain mayor, could own up to their bungling, that would also be a step in the right direction, but I'm not holding my breath."

Larry in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, "Politics. He took responsibility because of the mid-term elections. Just more talk to counter the polls that he claims to ignore."

M. writes, "It was an admirable and wise decision to take responsibility. I think people can respect that more so than making excuses and dancing around the issue. In my opinion, it actually builds his credibility rather than detracting from it.

Ann in Texas weighs in with, "Bush didn't actually apologize. He never said that things went wrong. He used words such as, if, in talking about mistakes. And he never said it was his fault. I would have liked to have seen a real apology, something like I'm sorry, I let the country down."

And David writes this, "Hell has officially frozen over. This administration actually admitted a miscalculation. Unbelievable".

Wolf. BLITZER: Thanks, Jack. We'll see you in the next hour, Jack Cafferty with the e-mail.

Coming up, John Roberts may have played it safe, but bloggers say they found something surprising about his confirmation hearings. That discovery coming up.

Plus, Hurricane Ophelia, it's drenching the North Carolina coast right now. New warnings are in place and flooding fears are rising.

And criminal charges and Katrina. Louisiana's attorney general will tell us about his case against those nursing homeowners.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Getting an important story in. Let's go to CNN's Chris Huntington. He's joining us from New York. Delta Airlines, what's going on, Chris?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the word from the Associated Press and Reuters is that Delta, as has long been predicted and expected, today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Delta has $20 billion in debt this year already. It has lost more than $1.5 billion on top of the more than $5 billion it lost last year.

It was in last-ditch effort negotiations with its pilots to try and get wage cuts, wage cuts that it had already secured a year ago. But it needed more, it needed to go back to the well with the pilots. Apparently those efforts were not successful.

So as expected, as has been predicted in the financial press for several days, it appears according to the Associated Press and Reuters, that Delta has filed. Now we, CNN, has confirmed indeed that Delta has filed for bankruptcy protection.

So, what does this mean? Well, for the flying public, it means frankly next to nothing in the next few days and weeks. If you are a passenger holding a ticket, that ticket will be honored. If you have Delta frequent flyer miles, those miles will be honored. And in fact, we spoke with the FAA about safety concerns for airlines under bankruptcy protection. And the FAA told us that in fact they step up their inspections of carriers that are in bankruptcy protection, which as you know, Wolf, is unfortunately frequent now with US Airways, United Airlines and now Delta. And an expectation that Northwest Airlines may join them, perhaps even as soon as this evening.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Chris Huntington reporting for us, important information, Delta Airlines filing for bankruptcy. We'll watch this story. Thanks, Chris, very much.

It's coming up to 5:00 pm here in Washington. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where we're tracking the dangerous arrival of one hurricane and the deadly aftermath of another, happening now.

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