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The Situation Room

French Quarter on its Way to Return to Normalcy; Bush to Address Nation Tonight

Aired September 15, 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: Happening now. New Orleans' famous French Quarter soon will be getting back to business, at least trying so. The mayor giving the green light for parts of the city to reopen, but how many people will want to come back?
President Bush appearing in Mississippi this hour, a warm-up for his primetime speech on Katrina recovery, that's coming up later tonight. What will he say and how will it play with Americans still angry about his disaster response?

And the North Carolina coast soaked, windblown and powerless in many places. We'll tell you where Hurricane Ophelia is right now, who is getting hit, and who is dodging what one mayor calls a big slow- moving bullet.

I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

North Carolina's Outer Banks islands, still at some risk this hour from Hurricane Ophelia. The storm's center is forecast to move parallel to the Carolina coast but stay offshore. Somewhat weaker, Ophelia is still packing heavy rains and strong winds. There's flooding, but less severe than some had originally feared. At last report, 80,000 homes and businesses have no power. We'll have live reports from the storm front, and from our weather center. That's coming up ahead.

Moving onto Hurricane Katrina. Just a short while ago, national weather officials confirmed what many suspected, Katrina is the most destructive hurricane ever to strike the United States. That's what NOAA is saying.

In New Orleans, the mayor says the historic French Quarter is high and dry and will reopen within the next two weeks. Ray Nagin says some 182,000 residents will be allowed to return to their homes and businesses -- a first step toward recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

President Bush makes his fourth trip to the battered Gulf Coast this hour. And tonight he talks to the nation about his plans to try to help the region recover and rebuild.

Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us now live from Jackson Square in New Orleans where the president will be giving a speech, what, in about five hours or so from now?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And his first stop, of course, is in Mississippi. We understand the Air Force One just touched down at the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Airport. He's being given a tour to survey the damage and the recovery, onto Pascagoula, Mississippi, where he'll do the same, and then make his way to the French Quarter, the heart of New Orleans, what is seen as Ground Zero of Hurricane Katrina.

Now the president, of course, has been preparing this speech, really considered to be a defining moment, a chance to lay out his vision. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan giving us a general sense of what the president is going to say. He essentially is going to talk about a strategy to move forward, and also say he remains open to al ideas from local as well as state officials. And he will also acknowledge that there are lessons learned here.

We have seen a strategy from this administration evolve in the last couple of weeks, even the last couple of days, after much of that criticism for the federal response being what many have seen as very, very slow. The president just two days ago taking some responsibility for that. Expect to hear the same kind of language from the president tonight.

Wolf?

BLITZER: Suzanne, any indication he's going to name a czar, in effect, a Colin Powell, a Rudy Giuliani, someone to take charge and oversee this relief operation?

MALVEAUX: Senior officials say that is not going to happen tonight. That's something they're considering, but so far they're putting that on the back burner. What we are going to see, however -- sorry, a little bird got in the way there -- but what we are going to see is an unprecedented amount of money, essentially, that the federal government is going to be allowing the states to use, local officials to use, as well as those who have been a victim of the hurricane. They're going to talk about education initiatives, tax credits for businesses, housing opportunities, things like that.

Wolf?

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you very much. Suzanne will be covering the story for us.

And stay with CNN tonight for complete coverage of the president's address on hurricane recovery. I'll be right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll bring you the president's speech live.

We're getting some live pictures -- speaking of live -- coming in right now from New Orleans. Take a look at this. These are pictures just coming into THE SITUATION ROOM, flying over -- we're going to continue to monitor these pictures throughout this hour, the next hour, and bring you anything dramatic.

But the clean-up operation clearly continuing, the dirt, the mud, the sludge, if you will -- what a mess -- remaining in New Orleans. You can see those cars stacked up one on another. They're going to try to remove those cars one by one by one, and a lot of cars were destroyed.

The president will be landing in a clearly a more hopeful New Orleans now that the mayor has announced plans to try to reopen parts of the city and, in his words, let it "start to breathe again".

Let's bring in Mary Snow. She's on the scene for us once again in New Orleans with more. Mary?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Mayor Ray Nagin said today that this is a good day for New Orleans, saying we are bringing New Orleans back, and this is the first step. He announced today that there will be about 182,000 residents who will be allowed back into the city over the next few weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS: The city of New Orleans, starting on Monday, starting this weekend, will start to breathe again. We will have lights. We will have commerce. We will have people getting back into their normal modes of operation and the normal rhythm of the city of New Orleans that is so unique.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: Now, business owners will be allowed to come back in -- selected business owners, that is, in selected areas -- over the weekend. And then on Monday, residents of certain areas will be allowed to start coming back in.

The mayor also pointed out that the French Quarter is high and dry. However, there are concerns about the power there. He said he wants to keep people away for a bit until the power is restored because he's concerned about fires, and because it's such a historic district. He's saying that the French Quarter should reopen by September 26.

Now Wolf, as you know, the original expectations were that New Orleans could be a ghost town for several months, so this is certainly much quicker than the earliest expectation. Also, the mayor said that the water from the city may be drained by early October.

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Mary, thank you very much. Mary Snow in New Orleans for us.

Let's check some other news about the disaster zone. The commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged mistakes in responding to the Katrina catastrophe. He says the government should have been more ready with sandbags and helicopters, so repairs on broken levees in New Orleans could have started sooner.

The Katrina death toll, by the way, is now up to more than 700; 474 killed in Louisiana, 218 in Mississippi. New Red Cross figures, by the way, show more than a third of the homes in the state's most southern counties were destroyed by the storm. Mississippi's attorney general responded today to reports insurance companies may be taking advantage of Katrina victims. He filed a lawsuit against five insurers in his state.

Now to Hurricane Ophelia's assault on North Carolina. Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Nags Head on the Outer Banks. Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is at the CNN Weather Center.

Let's start with you, Susan. It looks like it may be calming down a little. Is it?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is right now. No bands, we're not feeling those at the moment. But I am hearing myself in the ears. There, it just went away so we can talk more clearly.

In any case, we're at the water's edge. And Wolf, we're just about a couple of hours away from high tide, so you can see how much closer the waves are approaching shore. I'm at the base of these sand dunes that run about 35 feet high. And you can see how well they protect these ocean-front homes. Most as you look down the row there, did not board up for this storm, this Category 1 storm.

Now, of course, structural damage does not normally happen during a Category 1 storm, and we are hearing some reports, however, of minor to moderate damage throughout the state, primarily on the south end of North Carolina, in the Wilmington area, Camp Lejeune, that area, and some reports of flooding. However, the waters are said to be receding.

As you make your way over to the pier, where we are here in Nags Head on the Outer Banks, it's been holding up pretty well. They weren't expecting it to suffer any damage, and so far it has not. You can see possibly at the end of the pier some people are out taking walks at this hour as well.

They predicted -- I don't think they're getting as much rain as they had talked about as well. So, so far so good, for Hurricane Ophelia. The problem is, is that it is going so slowly.

One other thing we want to point out, state officials continue to say that they have at least 1,000 National Guardsmen, members of FEMA, as well as state highway patrol standing at the ready to come in, if need be.

And we haven't heard this much publicity about that, certainly, in months. But in light of what happened with Hurricane Katrina, clearly they want to make sure the words get out that they are ready to help if their help is necessary.

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Susan. Thank you very much.

Let's check the latest forecast. Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider standing by at the CNN Weather Center with more on that. What are they saying specifically, eventually? Explain to our viewers, Bonnie, what could happen in eastern Long Island, New England, Canada for that matter, because this hurricane is not necessarily completely going away.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, absolutely not, Wolf. And that's really a concern for us in the future. And this storm has a history of wobbling back and forth, back and forth, and even doing loops. So that's one of the reasons it's been so challenging to forecast. In fact, right now, the storm is sitting offshore, the center of circulation, and it's stationary right now. We are expecting movement to the north-northeast later tonight. But the bulk of the precipitation is offshore, which is good news for the Outer Banks of the Carolinas.

But I want to note there is still some rain coming down, and we could see another couple of inches of rain before this storm finally pulls away tonight into tomorrow. But as we said, it's a slow mover. Right now the movement is stationary. It's not moving at all. In fact, if we show you what's going on, we have a hurricane warning that's up from Surf City up to the Virginia-North Carolina border. So we are watching that closely. We still have that warning in effect that continues for now.

The track, though, takes the storm eventually out to the north and to the east. And your question about long island and the cape in Massachusetts is a good one, because you can see this cone of uncertainty shows the storm may, indeed, get close enough to the shore line to bring heavy rain, wind, and rough seas to the cape, to the islands, and to Eastern Long Island, even eastern Rhode Island as well.

So we'll be watching the track of Ophelia closely to see which way this does occur. Right now we're forecasting this to be a weekend event which may bring rain to New England.

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Bonnie, thank you very much. Our viewers, I'm sure, are anxious to know what's going to be happening with this hurricane.

Let's get a little bit more on what's happening to Ophelia.

We have an affiliate reporter, Craig Civale of WVEC in Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina, where it looks -- I guess it looks sort of windy. What's the latest there, Craig?

CRAIG CIVALE, WVEC CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We, in fact, just moved to the Nags Head area just a short time ago. And here in Nags Head, Hurricane Ophelia has been consistently strong throughout the day, strong enough to blow you around a little bit, strong enough to kind of move around debris, like this piece of lumber that we found floating in the ocean a short time ago.

But it hasn't been strong enough, as we've been hearing, in this part of the Outer Banks to actually cause some of those problems we've seen in different parts of the state -- the power outages, the flooding, and some of the major damage that we've seen just south of us right now. Take a look, and out here you can see the waves out here along the Outer Banks in Nags Head are still racing along here. They're violently crashing into the shore here. Much of the Outer Banks is protected by the large sand dunes here. The one we're looking at right now, just in front of us, is about 20 to 30 feet high, so that's what's protecting us from those whipping waves right now. In talking with a lot of the -- of the residents out here, especially a lot of the long-time residents out here, they're used to these storms and have weathered so many over the years. In fact, in back of me you can see some of the folks out here watching what's been going on.

That's what we've been seeing most of the days. Many of the residents that we've seen our here feel like they have actually -- they've actually really dodged this bullet in Ophelia, especially here in the Nags Head area. But obviously, as you can tell, Wolf, the winds have not stopped up whipping, the waves have not stopped crashing. And this storm is far from over and residents out here will not be happy until it's back off to sea.

Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right. Craig Civale of our affiliate WVEC. Thanks, Craig, very much.

We're getting some new pictures in from the other hurricane, Hurricane Katrina. Check this out. These are pictures we're getting in. These are bulldozers, in effect, that are trying to clean away some of the sludge. This was under water. The mud, the dirt, the debris is clearly, clearly spilled very, very thick.

You see those pipes over there. We're told those pipes are trying, trying to get some of the sludge or mud out of that area. It's sucking -- that process over there. We're going to watch these pictures unfold. Those workers in their boots. They're up almost to their knees in that sludge. This is a major, major operation, but clearly, critical to trying to reopen New Orleans and get this city back on track. But this is going to be a long, long drawn-out process.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration here in Washington now saying this is the most destructive hurricane to have ever hit the United States. We'll get back there in a moment.

But Jack Cafferty is watching all of this with us, as he always does, and he has got another question in this hour. Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing, Wolf?

A couple of minutes ago, Suzanne Malveaux talking about that speech that President Bush will give to the nation later tonight from the French Quarter in New Orleans.

In all likelihood that speech is going to be a tough sell for the nation's chief executive. Hurricane Katrina is expected to cost as much as $300 billion, and result in the permanent loss eventually of up to 400,000 jobs. There are already analysts are saying this emergency spending combined with earlier budget decisions will devastate government finances for years to come in this country. Others point out that companies with ties to the White House have been getting some of the first no-bid reconstruction contracts, so that part of the deal is business as usual in Washington.

Here's the question this hour. What do you want to hear the president say tonight? You can email us at CaffertyFile - one word -- @CNN.com. We'll read some of the answers in about half an hour.

BLITZER: I think you should get ready for a ton of email. A good question, Jack. Thanks very much. We'll check back with you.

Coming up, the president and the road to recovery along the Gulf Coast. Two of our political reporters will preview what the president might say tonight, whether he'll tell a wary public what they want to hear.

Also ahead, the Democrats trying to preempt the president's speech with their own take on the disaster and the relief. Is there any hope for bipartisanship here in Washington?

And the public cross-examination of John Roberts is over with after some three days of heated discussion. Did the hearings shed any real light on what kind of chief justice he would be? We'll discuss that and more.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Just hours after President Bush speaks to the nation tonight about Hurricane Katrina, the Senate Republican and Democratic leaders make their own trip to the Gulf Coast tomorrow to see rescue and recovery operations firsthand. Twelve other members from both parties will travel with them, but that spirit of bipartisanship appears to have its limits.

Let's check in with our congressional correspondent, Ed Henry, as we continue, Ed, to take a look at these live pictures coming in from overhead over New Orleans. You see this vehicle simply stuck over there. I tell you, the more you see of these pictures, the more you realize how awful, awful this whole area has been. But tell us a little bit about what's going on with this Senate leadership.

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, just a little bit of bipartisanship, as you mentioned -- the House and Senate easily passing relief packages for Katrina victims. Also, Democrats and Republicans in the Louisiana delegation coming together to once again lay out an ambitious plan for billions and billions of dollars for education, jobs, health care to rebuild the region in advance of the president's speech. Also a lot of money for coastal restoration to try to avoid another disaster.

But you're right. That's about where the bipartisanship ends. In a prebuttal to the president's speech tonight, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stuck a finger in the collective eye of the president and congressional Republicans up here, questioning the priorities on how they're going to spend the money to rebuild the region. Also Senator Reid coming out very hard and writing a strong letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, saying he will not participate in this joint House-Senate investigation of what went wrong.

Democrats see a political opportunity and they're playing hardball. Here's Senator Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) MINORITY LEADER: They're not fair. They're a whitewash. They're not fair. And so that's why Nancy and I and all of us believe we need an independent commission. And not only do I believe we need one, we're going to have one. It's just a question of time. And if the president wanted to really do something for the American people tonight, what he would do is say, they're right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, Senate Majority Leader Frist now blasting away at the Democratic leaders, saying that they're playing politics here with this hurricane relief, also saying that his investigation, in the words of his staff, should not be outsourced to an independent commission. Instead, Congress should take care of it.

Basically, the bottom line is the joint investigation is stalled. But in the Senate, Senators Lieberman and Collins are moving forward with their own hearings.

In the House, Republican Congressman Tom Davis also kicking off hearings today. But we're not seeing a coordinated effort and that's why Republican leaders are frustrated. So that trip tomorrow between Reid and Frist is going to be quite interesting. They're at each others throats right now.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Well, at least they're going together, the leadership, down there. I guess a small, tiny step, but at least it's a step, showing a little bit of bipartisanship. Ed, thank you very much. Ed Henry is our congressional correspondent.

The president tonight in primetime, what does he need to say about the response to Katrina? CNN's Candy Crowley, John King, they are standing by. They will assess what the president needs to do.

Plus, the grilling's over. Did the chief justice nominee, John Roberts, pass the test? We'll go live to Capitol Hill.

Much more of our coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: These are live pictures you're seeing, Marine One touching down in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the president making his first stop, once again, back in the area, his fourth time since Hurricane Katrina struck. Tonight he addresses the nation, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, knowing many Americans are not necessarily satisfied with the job he's doing. As a result, he's got his work cut out.

New polls, in fact, out this week showing the president's approval rating ranging from a low of 40 percent to a high of 46 percent. When you average all of those polls together, 42 percent of the American public giving the president a positive review. That's pretty low.

We're joined now by our chief national correspondent John King, our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley. John, I'll start with you. You've been speaking to a lot of people in town. What does the president need to do tonight? All of the networks, all the cable networks, they are all going to be taking him live. A lot of people are going to be watching.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, leadership. The president needs to convince the American people, especially the people from the affected area -- at least those that have been displaced who have a television, wherever they might be staying -- that he gets it, that the federal response was inadequate. The president said that himself. He took responsibility. Maybe the local response was inadequate as well.

The president has to say, we're turning that page. From here on out, you'll get everything you need as quickly as possible. The federal government will come up with any money that is necessary. We will rebuild this area. And if you're mad, be mad. But from here on out, I'm in charge. I get it.

BLITZER: The president does take a certain risk, Candy, if he lets down people. If the speech is not a home run tonight, people emerge and say, I've heard all that before, I don't know what he needed that primetime speech for, it could hurt him.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It could. And the problem is that so much is, because it's been so bad up to now -- and by "it" I just mean the response by local, federal, and state -- because it's been so bad up to, say, a week ago, so much is being put on this speech. He cannot turn the corner. He cannot turn the corner in a single speech. And yet we get this billing, this is where -- now he can start to do it.

It sounds like there's this Marshall Plan thing coming up where they're going to sink money into it. Nonetheless, any kind of immediate reaction, how long is it going to take them to rebuild? It's going to take them a very long time. They're not going to be able to do this in a single night.

BLITZER: He has to reassure the American public. Marine One now in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The president will be touring Mississippi once again -- Pascagoula, the hometown of Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader. He lost his own home in Pascagoula, like so many other people along that Gulf Coast.

The format tonight, John, it's interesting. He's going to be looking into a camera and speaking. There's not going to be like a live audience out there that he's going to be addressing.

KING: And that is not this president's best setting -- his own aides would concede that point -- when the president is speaking in a quiet setting. He will be in the disaster zone, which they hope will add atmospherics to it. But it is not the president's best setting. Contrast the days immediately after 9/11, his speeches at the Oval Office, his speech at the White House that night was not terribly well received.

You see the president waving there with Governor Barbour of Mississippi. When the president is in that sterile setting, if you will, he tends not to perform as well as when he's out with a live audience. Contrast the Oval Office speech on the night of 9/11 with him climbing up on the rubble at the World Trade Center three days later on September 14. That was his definitional moment out at the World Trade Center.

This is not the ideal setting for this president or any president, but he needs to give this speech.

CROWLEY: You can't make up a bullhorn moment. You can't make it up. That's the problem here. The spontaneity is gone, let's face it.

BLITZER: They tried to do those moments in the first three trips and it doesn't necessarily work.

CROWLEY: It just has a hollow ring to it. The problem is, yes, this is the president's -- not his strong suit, the arena. The fact of the matter is, I've talked to so many Republicans that said, he needs to talk to the American people, not with a bunch of people around him, not in a news conference. He has to make that connection -- Reagan, Challenger; FDR during the war -- that sort of speech.

So he doesn't have much of a choice. People have been advising him for some time. There was that talk about maybe he could give a speech to Congress. All of his advisers are going, no, no, no, no, no, bad idea. He needs to connect with people, remind them why they thought he was a leader to begin with.

KING: It's hard at a moment like this, a healing moment like this. You mentioned Reagan Challenger -- after Oklahoma City, Bill Clinton; after 9/11, George W. Bush. But you had an enemy then. Somebody blew up the buildings in Oklahoma City. Somebody flew the planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This is Mother Nature and it's the government's response that people are mad at.

George W. Bush can't say we will get anybody. He just has to say we will get it right. BLITZER: And his first stop, by the way, as we see his motorcade leave that little helipad in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the first stop, Candy, will be a Chevron refinery, which brings up this issue.

Going into Hurricane Katrina, gas prices were high. The situation in Iraq looked awful by all accounts. There were so many other problems he was facing and this merely exacerbated a lot of that, hence those low job approval numbers.

CROWLEY: It did. In fact, those numbers are not that far off from where they were before Katrina. They are consistent -- although 40 is pretty low. But we -- he had dipped below 50 in the polls before that, largely because of Iraq, some gas prices, but Iraq had just turned so sour before Katrina came along.

So we're seeing the continuum here more than just he was at 58, and all of a sudden now he's down. This is just more on top of what they'd already seen.

BLITZER: We have to go. But one point you made, he's going to look in the camera. I assume he's going to read from a teleprompter.

KING: Of course the president will read a prepared address from a teleprompter. It won't go all that long. It's a tough challenge, but he's the president of the United States.

BLITZER: He can do what he wants. John King, thanks very much. Candy Crowley, thank you to you as well.

Up next, the other man in the spotlight. The questioning ends, but did the chief justice nominee, John Roberts, give the Democrats the answers they were looking for? That story coming up next.

Plus, what do you want to hear from the president tonight? Email us right now at CaffertyFile@CNN.com. Jack's standing by. He's anxious to read what you have to say. If John King wants to email Jack Cafferty, this is a good time to do so.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: This hour, the chief justice nominee, John Roberts, is a step closer to confirmation. His three-day public grilling by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee is now over. And while some Democrats remain skeptical, Republicans see a clear path ahead.

Let's get the latest from our congressional correspondent, Joe Johns. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, the testimony for John Roberts has wrapped up. And Republicans, frankly, are becoming increasingly confident. They're now talking about the vote margin on the Senate floor. They say they're hoping for an overwhelming vote. They say Roberts has proven himself in these hearings. Democrats, of course, continue to be reticent. They're not so sure. They think in some cases he's been evasive, hasn't answered all of their questions. This is summed up, if you will, in an exchange that occurred earlier today between Senator Dianne Feinstein, the only woman on the committee, and Judge Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D) CALIFORNIA: I would very much like if you would respond, particularly to the con side -- the pro side speaks for itself -- and many of us are struggling with exactly that, what kind of a justice would you be, John Roberts?

JUDGE JOHN ROBERTS, US SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE NOMINEE: If you've looked at what I've done since I took the judicial oath, that should convince you that I'm not an ideologue. And you and I agree, that that's not the sort of person we want on the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, one area where Democrats thought he could have been vulnerable was in the issue of civil rights, affirmative action. He got a lot of questions on that from Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. And John Lewis, the Congressman from Georgia, also a big civil rights advocate, testified today he was concerned about this nomination. Still, it's not expected to be enough.

A lot of people are saying John Roberts certainly will be confirmed. The question is how many votes, how many Democrats will go along with Republicans to put him in the Supreme Court, Wolf?

Still, all of that expected to come up for a vote before the committee sometime next week. Back to you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much. Joe Johns reporting for us on Capitol Hill.

What should the president say tonight in his prime time address to the American people? We'll get some expert opinion in our "Strategy Session." That's coming up.

Also, don't forget, we're tracking Hurricane Ophelia. We'll get an update on what is going on.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we've been reporting, President Bush addresses the nation tonight about Hurricane Katrina, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be bringing you live coverage of his speech from here in THE SITUATION ROOM, and also as part of our "Strategy Session" today.

Joining us now our guests, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, Republican strategist Bay Buchanan, both CNN contributors. Before we get to that, Donna, you just came back, you're a Louisiana native. How's your family doing? What did you see? Give our viewers a little update.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well thank you, Wolf. My family is doing quite well. My dad is -- they're all in homes. No one's sleeping on the floor. They're out of shelters. And that's really good news.

I have to tell you this, because it took a long time to convince my dad to open up a checking account. Today he did so. He also has a cell phone for the first time. He's 75 years of age. So he's adjusting to this very slowly. But they're doing well. And I know they're doing well because he cooked red beans and rice for the entire family last night.

BLITZER: That's good to know. Better late than never, with the cell phone and the checking account and all that.

BRAZILE: He's 75. I guess he can -- he can live with it.

BLITZER: All right.

BAY BUCHANAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: (INAUDIBLE) like better, though, you all.

BLITZER: You know, it's -- you can't go back. Once you get the cell phone, you can't go back.

BRAZILE: But there's a lot of damage in the area. I went to my hometown, and the water reached up here, and no -- the water's down, but mildew, mold -- and Katrina wasn't just an ordinary storm. She was a monster storm. Trees -- big, heavy elm trees, oak trees are on the ground. And the saltwater that swept up basically destroyed all of the vegetation.

BLITZER: Bay, what does the president need to do tonight?

BUCHANAN: He's got to show that he's in charge, that he understands what the problem is, he knows it, and lay out in big terms a vision type of thing that this is what has to be done for us to move forward and get this city back up and running. I think what's important that the American people feel confident that he does - he's in charge and he knows what he's doing.

BLITZER: He hasn't done that yet, is that what you're saying?

BUCHANAN: I think, especially the first couple of days, no. And he was real set back, as were all of us, in the sense we realized nobody was in charge the first four or five days. And now he has done -- it's started to come back, but I think he needs to keep talking to the American people because a lot has to be done.

He's asking the Congress for $200 billion, and I suspect it could be more. We want to know as Americans, how's that going to be used, Mr. President? What are you planning on doing with our money? And why is that important, and why do we need to do it, and why do we need to support this?

BLITZER: Donna, as someone who was just there, who's originally from Louisiana and has seen what's going on up close and very, very personal, if you had an opportunity to tell the president, Mr. President, this is what you need to do tonight, what would you say to him?

BRAZILE: He has to restore hope. He also has to tell the people in that area how they're going to rebuild their lives. He needs to reassure them that they will be able to move back into their homes in short order. And he also needs to tell them that he's going to -- he needs to promise them that the people of that region will rebuild that region, and that outsiders will get an opportunity, but first let the people from that region help to rebuild that area.

BLITZER: What do you think of his decision, at least so far, not to name a czar to be in charge, a Rudy Giuliani, a Colin Powell, someone of that stature to say, this is my guy, he's going to make things better, listen to him?

BUCHANAN: You know, I -- what you're discussing, a possibility of someone coming from the outside coming in and being named, I don't know that that's necessary. But somebody's got to be responsible, somebody who can be accounted for to check off where the money is goes and how it's being used and is it appropriate, somebody we can hold accountable for the way the money is being spent.

And I don't know that it has to be -- I don't believe it does have to be somebody outside the government. I don't know why he can't use somebody in the government to take this job over. So -- but there's no question there has to be a point person that all of it goes through.

And so when you spend that kind of money, we know, all right, this is what has to be done. Bridges -- how much? Who is going to get it? How are we going to contract that money out? So it's not another story six months from now, Wolf, about how this money was misused.

BLITZER: In that CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that we did as you know, Donna, there was a clear of difference of opinion between African-Americans, white Americans as to the racial overtones of the lack of response in the first few days. What did you hear when you were down there?

BRAZILE: Just extreme disappointment, anger at every politician that they can name. They felt abandoned. They felt that the country didn't respond quick enough. They're very upset with what happened to them personally.

They had no idea that the levees broke. And then when they learned, the water was already too high and they said no one came to help us. That's the sentiment, and I can understand why the poll reflects that sentiment across the board.

BLITZER: What do you think, Bay? BUCHANAN: I think that you -- you know, when you watch television, Wolf, and day after day after day you see the black community being in such difficult straits, it was clear that they're the ones that suffered the most. But I think it was a real mistake on the part of Democrats to raise the race card -- a very big mistake.

Because you take a lot of people, such as myself who are saying, listen, obviously the federal government failed in their responsibility -- a lot of other people did as well -- but then all of a sudden somebody says, well, it happened because they're black. It did not. We know that. And we know that that's wrong.

And so the Democrats do that, they get me out there supporting our people again saying, look, that is an outrageous position. And I think they hurt themselves in the long run. Middle America knows it has nothing to do with the race. It had to do with the hurricane.

BLITZER: Donna and Bay, take a look at those pictures behind you over there. You can see these are live pictures that we're getting in, the continued evidence of the destruction, the despair, trailer homes simply picked up and destroyed as if they were little, you know, nothing -- matchboxes or whatever. This is what you saw, Donna, when you were there.

BRAZILE: I saw it all across the area that I was able to get to. Look, Katrina was color blind. She damaged and destroyed everything along her path. But when we begin -- the country begins to rebuild this area, let's hope we rebuild it with the same soul and the same flavor that it had before, but clearly we want to rebuild it stronger.

BUCHANAN: Both parties should state, it's Americans that were hurt and Americans who are going to come together and rebuild this.

BLITZER: All right.

BRAZILE: Regardless of the economic status.

BUCHANAN: And regardless of color.

BLITZER: That's good advice for everyone. Thanks to both of you for joining us.

The death toll rising again in Baghdad. Up next, a look at some other headlines from around the world, including another awful day in Iraq.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Fredricka Whitfield joining us once again from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a quick look at some other stories making news. Fred?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks again. Good afternoon. President Bush has endorsed a plan to close 22 major U.S. military bases and reconfigure 33 others. That would put the ball in Congress' court now. Unless it rejects the plan in full, it will become final in 45 days.

A developing story out of Mexico City where a fire and series of explosions have destroyed a giant fireworks market. Mexican officials say as many as 300 individual stands may have been burned and they said they expect dozens of injuries. The market was believed to be very busy with people buying fireworks for tomorrow's Mexican Independence Day.

A new round of deadly insurgent attacks in Iraq killed at least 30 people. That number includes two policemen in the northern city of Kirkuk who died when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle. The latest deaths come on top of the more than 150 people killed in attacks yesterday. A U.S. military official in Baghdad called the increased violence predictable and linked it to efforts to draft that draft constitution.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says Palestinians have a right to freedom and their own country. Speaking at the United Nations, Mr. Sharon said the historic pullout from Gaza shows his country is ready to make peace with the Palestinians. But he added it's now up to them to eliminate terror and what he called the culture of hatred.

Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Fred. We'll check back with you. Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center.

Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He's been reading your email, getting responses to his question this hour. Jack?

CAFFERTY: Where's -- what happened to Zain Verjee?

BLITZER: She's on vacation in London.

CAFFERTY: Which one do you like better, Fred or Zain?

BLITZER: I like them both.

CAFFERTY: I do, too. The question this hour is, what do you want to hear President Bush say tonight when he makes that speech from the French Quarter?

Kay in Royal Oak, Michigan, "The president needs to comfort the people of the United States. And the only way he can do so is to completely own up for his enormous mistakes and specify a plan to not only aid the south in the wake of Katrina, but to ensure that such a devastatingly slow response to such an event never happens again."

Amy in Burlington, Kansas, "Maybe appointing people to positions for which they had no prior experience was a bad idea." I think that's a reference to FEMA.

Wanda in Ft. Worth, Texas, "I want to hear him say that all rebuilding jobs will be offered to the New Orleans residents first, and at fair wages."

Brian in Evansville, Indiana, "I want to hear solutions. How are we preparing ourselves for future catastrophes? What's he doing as our elected official to help all Americans? Or we could hear his resignation. I'd accept either one."

Tom in Surfside, Florida writes, "That's easy, Jack, he should appoint you head of FEMA so we don't have to listen to you whine about all this any more."

And finally this one, "Say it again, Wolf. I love the way you say my name. Signed, Ophelia."

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: You know, Jack, the president's going to be reading that speech tonight from a teleprompter, which you and I know is not necessarily as easy as it looks.

CAFFERTY: Not always, no. It can be a little tricky. But he -- you know, I -- I think that's probably a good idea in his case, that he have that teleprompter there.

BLITZER: I hope he has a piece of paper in front of him as a backup just in case the teleprompter operator, as you and also I know, screws up.

CAFFERTY: Well, I think they have better prompter operators at the White House than we do, I think.

BLITZER: Not necessarily. Do you remember Bill Clinton's first speech before a joint session of Congress?

CAFFERTY: I do. And the prompter simply stopped.

BLITZER: And he just ad libbed.

CAFFERTY: He can do that. I'm not so sure this president is maybe that strong in the ad libbing department. But I do remember that. And he carried it off pretty well. But that's everybody's nightmare who's working off a prompter, suddenly you look up and it ain't moving.

BLITZER: They better have a good prompter operator and good backup technology down there. I hope they do.

CAFFERTY: OK. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks, Jack. Jack Cafferty. We'll check back with him.

Up next, we'll check out Katrina relief efforts online when we talk to our Internet reporters.

Plus, Ophelia. Yes, Ophelia lashing out at the North Carolina coast right now. We're tracking the hurricane, where it's moving, up north. We'll have a live report, that's coming up. And later, one of the worst aftereffects of Katrina, parents desperate to find their missing children. We'll go live to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Much more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're showing you live pictures throughout the week of what's happening in Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. These are live pictures. What's happening in the aftermath of Hurricane Ophelia, along the North Carolina coast -- these are live pictures coming in. You see the destruction already coming in from Hurricane Ophelia. Much more of that coming up at the top of the hour, in the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM.

And here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we're plugged into virtually everything happening online. As people start to return to their homes following Hurricane Katrina, the Internet is filling up with pictures and firsthand accounts of the destruction.

Our Internet reporters Jackie Schechner and Abbi Tatton are standing by with more on that. What is going on, guys?

ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, people are returning to their homes in the areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but also insurance agents going down there to assess their claims. There's a lot of people who have had their lives devastated, their homes destroyed. And one blogger is also an insurance adjuster, and he's been documenting everything.

Max from Michigan has been deployed to the region. He blogs at Lapeerliving.blogspot.com. He's actually put a map there so you can the area under his jurisdiction, under his control. A huge area down to the coast of Mississippi there. The pictures on the site are quite devastating. He's posted so many homes destroyed, inside and out, but also areas where the homes have just completely disappeared.

He says he's also talking about what it's like to be an insurance adjuster down there, saying they're worried about threats against insurance adjusters. And they've even posted security by their offices. He says they're really trying to be sympathetic to the natives who he says are restless down there.

Sometimes he documents individual houses. This one was on the historic register, almost completely destroyed there. Fortunately, this house also had flood insurance, but he said many people did not, and were not so lucky.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: I want to take you to one house in particular, this one In Eden Isles, which is on Lake Pontchartrain just south of Slidell, Louisiana. We've seen a lot of exterior of homes. Here are some photos that were posted online. They have all of their belongings on the lawn.

Now, we want to take you inside some of these houses. Think about this, people are taking photos now to document for these insurance agents, but when was the last time we saw these mass posted like this on the Internet, where people can really show you the inside of their home with the mold, and the muck, and the dirt.

This is what it looks like now in the living room. If you look really closely, you can notice the mold on the wall. Think about your shower, and how long it takes the mold to grow. This is the mold climbing up the walls. More of this from the hallways. It's really sort of devastating.

Take a look at this, if you can see it. It's kind of dark. This is the mold on the wall in the bathroom and then a thick layer of dirt over in the corner there on top of the toilet bowl.

Speaking of mud, here is the garage. This is inside the garage. Just that unbelievable sludge and muck and mud.

What the houses in the area look like. Well, that one fared pretty well compared to the rest of the photographs coming out of the Slidell area and this particular Eden Isles neighborhood.

Take a look at that. That's just the corner of one of the houses still standing.

We got a lot of these photos through Brian Oberkirk's blog, slidell.weblogswork.com. He is from Slidell. Had evacuated to Dallas. And now, Wolf, that he's gone back in, he is documenting not only the damage, but the recovery efforts and how people are really coming back together. Send it back to you.

BLITZER: All right, guys. Thank you very much.

It's coming up on 5:00 p.m. here in Washington. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where we're following one dangerous hurricane hitting right now, and the deadly aftermath of another.

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