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CNN Saturday Morning News

Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina; Domestic And Wild Animals Problematic in New Orleans; Sesame Street Helps Kids Cope; Man Delivered Eviction Notice After Taking In Evacuees

Aired September 17, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

HARRIS. The surgery is described as elective and will require a short hospital stay.
Two art masterpieces stolen five years ago have been recovered. The FBI says the self portrait of 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt found in Denmark during an international sting operation. The FBI says four men were arrested and "Young Parisian" a painting by French Impressionist Renoir was found earlier, this year in Los Angeles. The paintings were taken in a daring heist from a Swedish museum in 2000. They're valued at more than $50 million.

NGUYEN: The Humane Society says as many as 50,000 pets were left behind in Hurricane Katrina. But not every displaced animal was somebody's pet. Alligators, deer and birds all call the New Orleans area home, but their home has been contaminated with dangerous water.

So now, they roam the area looking for food. And some experts fear these animals, especially the alligators, will make their way closer to people. The situation is also growing desperate for the not so wild. CNN's Anderson Cooper has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In New Orleans, you stumble on heart breaking scenes. This one in the Garden District, a dog dead, decaying on sidewalk. A scene Humane Society volunteer Lee Bergeron can't put into words.

LEE BERGERON, HUMANE SOCIETY VOLUNTEER: It's hard for me not to cry, when I look at it.

COOPER: Cruising the streets for stranded pet, Lee finds two dogs, hungry, exhausted, but for them, its not too late.

BERGERON: Come here.

COOPER: Lee radios for help. This is exactly why he made the trip all the way from San Diego to save animals' lives. It is not always possible, however. In the next house, Lee finds dogs barking wildly inside, too scared to even show themselves. With no place to put dogs who come peacefully, there is nothing Lee can do but leave food and some water.

BERGERON: Hi, dog. COOPER: It's been like this for weeks now. The first days after Katrina, we found dogs stranded in trees, dogs on walls, pacing surrounded by water. This is what helpless feels like. Motoring in a boat, we found animals everywhere, adrift, abandoned by their owners alive or dead.

(on camera): So many dogs that you find that are just starving. You try to feed them as much as you can, but there's too many of them roaming around, it's becoming a health hazard.

(voice-over): Since then, teams of animal rescuers from all over the country have waded into dirty, diseased water, trying to coax stranded pets into crates and on to boats. The Humane Society says the operation has led to the rescue of some 5,000 abandoned animals.

Little Chip here is lucky. Cradled in the arms of an Army flight surgeon, rescued with his owner and air lifted to safety. This Shih Tzu, taking shelter at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where some 1,000 rescued animals remain.

New Orleans now struggles with staggering numbers of animals rescued, in shelters. How to house them, how to feed them, what to do with them? The Agricultural Department's animal health inspection service says of the 5,000 animals rescued, fewer than 700 have been reunited with their owners.

For those animals that didn't make it to safety, left in houses without air conditioning, left roaming or chained, there's not a lot rescue workers can do for them now. They just leave them some food and water trying to alleviate a few moment's suffering.

BERGERON: Two weeks without food and water, a lot of these guys went; we're just trying to get as many of them fed as we can. So we can buy time and rescue them later, maybe they'll open up the city and let the owners come back in to take care of the pets.

COOPER: Anderson Cooper, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So, if you want to help, you can contact the Humane Society or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Both organizations are spearheading animal rescue and shelter efforts along the Gulf Coast.

HARRIS: Insurance can be one of the most important lifelines for victims of a natural disaster. Why do so many victims of Hurricane Katrina say their insurance is leaving them high and dry? Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, on "CNN Sunday Morning", we'll get some answers from Louisiana's state insurance commissioner. That's live on "CNN Sunday Morning" 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

And time now to "Rewind" through some of the big stories of the week. Wednesday, both Delta and Northwest Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection. Both say they'll continue to fly passengers as usual, and stockholders probably see the holdings disappear. The move now means three of the four nation's largest airlines are operating in bankruptcy.

Thursday, AAA says the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline fell to $2.88, down from $2.91 the day before. Gas prices have moved lower since peaking at more than $3 a gallon on Labor Day.

Friday, the death toll from three-day barrage of shootings and bombings around Iraq surpassed 200. On Wednesday alone, 10 car bombings in and around Baghdad killed more than 150 people and wounded 300 others. It was one of the bloodiest days in the country since the U.S. led invasion began in 2003. The group al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.

NGUYEN: Tony, images of Katrina's aftermath, they are something that a lot of adults are having a lot of trouble handling, but what about children?

HARRIS: Now an old friend is stepping in to help young children deal with the trauma of a hurricane. Big Bird's help in the cleanup effort the storm ravaged Hurricane Katrina areas. The education specialist joins us live, that is next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my surgical table ready and applied the knife to my arm, and started sawing back and forth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, he was faced with a tough choice, cut off the right arm or die and the author of "Between A Rock and a Hard Place" joins live right here, in studio, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERMIT: Hi, Kermit the Frog here with a fast-blowing news story. A hurricane could be heading toward Sesame Street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: It's no fun and games. Hurricanes are a scary thought, even on Sesame Street, but the long-time children's educational show addressing the concerns kids may have and the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Welcome back.

So, what is the best way to calm the worries children may have in Katrina's aftermath? Well, the folks behind Sesame Street tackling that question and one of the minds behind the Sesame Workshop is Jennifer Kotler, director of research, she join us from our New York studios. Good morning to you.

JENNIFER KOTLER, DIR. OF RESEARCH, SESAME WORKSHOP: Good morning.

NGUYEN: First of all, talk to us about how Sesame Street is working to help children who have so many worries, a lot of stress that's come from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

KOTLER: Right. Well, Sesame Workshop has updated our Web site with information for parents, in both English and Spanish, about how to speak to their children about the events. We are also providing public service announcements to stations around the country which help parents and children talk to each other about the events.

And we're also working with our PBS stations as well as our partners to distribute materials to children in affected areas

NGUYEN: So you have a number of different ways. Let's tackle them one by one. The first one you mentioned was the Web site. And it is www.sesameworkshop.org.

KOTLER: Right.

NGUYEN: What kind of tips do you have on that Web site for parents, as children come to them worried, and with all kinds of different questions?

KOTLER: Right. Well, first we suggest to parents that they calm their own worries and to really understand how their feeling, so that they can best take care of their children. And then we suggest to make sure that children know that they're safe, know there are adults in their community, who are caring for them and working to do their best to keep them safe.

We also encourage keeping to routines and having parents and communities organize so that children do feel that they have some sense of routine. And, as well as encourage children to be proactive and how they can help and how they can make themselves feel better.

(CROSS TALK)

NGUYEN: You mentioned routine there. We're looking at some of the Sesame Street programming right now, and some of that routine for children is, indeed, watching "Sesame Street". When you have this type of programming on television, you indeed a series that tackles hurricanes, that came out for the first time in 2001. Which is really timely right now, but why did you create it back in 2001?

KOTLER: Well, Sesame Workshop is needs-based educational organization. And we feel it's our responsibility to respond to issues facing children, its not just letters and numbers. So we wanted to make sure that we created materials for parents and children to understand how to deal with stressful events. And we figured that this would be a good example of the stressful event that -- families and communities and children and families have to cope with. NGUYEN: Did you ever imagine back in 2001 that not only would this be very timely today, but it would be a source for children who are dealing with one of the worst natural disasters on U.S. soil?

KOTLER: Right. No. We didn't have that in mind, clearly. But we did know that there are going to be times, whether it's a hurricane or some other event, that children really are going to need help dealing with.

NGUYEN: And what kind of response are you getting from parents?

KOTLER: We have gotten phone calls and e-mails thanking us for providing this material because oftentimes there's not that much, especially for parents of young children, to understand how to talk to their children. As well as understanding ways to read their children and read their children's cues. So this is an opportunity both for parents and children to understand how to talk to each other.

NGUYEN: And Jennifer, aside from the Sesame Street series that we took a look at just moments ago, and the website, you're also working with relief efforts. Tell us about that.

KOTLER: Right. Well, we're working with our partners, like I mentioned, and with local PBS stations in affected areas, to see how we can distribute materials. So there's workbooks, there's other kinds of videos that we're providing information to children both about how to deal with stressful times, but also, to give them opportunities for regular, every day educational learning that might be interrupted at this time for them.

NGUYEN: Good information for children out there -- also for parents. I got to put up the website address, once again. It's www.sesameworkshop.org.

KOTLER: Right.

NGUYEN: You can get great advice on how parents deal with children and all the worries and stress that comes with an aftermath after such a powerful storm.

Jennifer Kotler, research director of Sesame Workshop, we thank you for your time and what you're doing.

KOTLER: Thanks very much.

HARRIS: Almost 2,000 children are still lost in Hurricane Katrina's deadly wake. Now, you can help reunite them with their loved ones, all weekend you can watch the pictures on the left-side of your screen there. And hopefully help Katrina's tiniest victims find their way back home.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

NGUYEN: Well, we have seen dozens of stories about how communities nationwide have opened their hearts and doors to the hurricane victims. HARRIS: Well, now, we have one where the doors may be closed. We'll have that story for you when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All across the country there's an outpouring of generosity for Hurricane Katrina evacuees, relatives, friends and sometimes strangers are taking them into the homes. Now one Atlanta man who that reached out to help his family is at risk of losing his home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REGINALD HARVEY, HOUSING LOUISIANA FAMILY: When we ask a person where do they live? They said, well, I live in New Orleans. No, that's where you're from. That is where you stay. Where you live is where you are right now.

HARRIS (voice over): Right now, nearly 40 members of the Harvey family are trying to adjust to living with relatives in Atlanta suburbs. Since they got here two weeks ago from New Orleans, everyone from 85-year-old Grandpa Samuel to the youngest members of the family, has been embraced by this community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More beans?

HARRIS: Until now.

HARVEY: The evacuees are being evicted.

HARRIS: Not exactly. But they may be forced to evacuate again. Just days ago, Reginald Harvey, a truck driver who has seven relatives from New Orleans now living with him in a two bedroom, one bathroom duplex, received a note from his landlord, George Camp.

It said that if he has to continue providing shelter for the people from New Orleans in his apartment, then he would have to move to a new location by the end of the month.

HARVEY: I was just surprised. I mean, I didn't think somebody would do something like that. I mean, that's just so hateful and just mean spirited to know what's going on and, you know, everyones' life from New Orleans right now. And then just to tell them that you have to move. Now they feel they got me evicted and it is not their fault.

HARRIS: His landlord sees it differently.

GEORGE CAMP, LANDLORD: I have compassion for the people. But I don't have a warehouse. I got a two bedroom duplex.

HARRIS: The family is outraged.

SHAWN SYKES, HARVEY'S NIECE: We had lives before we came here. Everybody in here had a job. You know, everybody had something to look forward to the next day in New Orleans. We are not here because we want to be here, we are here because we have no choice. HARRIS: But the fact is, with nine people living under his roof, Harvey may have violated terms of his lease. Meaning the landlord could be within his rights to end the lease and ask them to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the clause that you violated. Visitors can't stay but three days and two nights.

HARRIS: In fact, according to a local ordinance, landlords can actually be fined for overcrowding.

(on camera): There is what is legal and then what is right.

CAMP: I don't do nothing unless I think it's right. So if I file for the eviction, it is because I think it is right.

HARRIS: And that you have been taken advantage of?

CAMP: I certainly hadn't been showed the consideration that a landlord should be shown with the communication between the landlord and the tenant, rather between the landlord and CNN.

HARRIS: But even better communication might not resolve this situation.

CAMP: I don't really hold a grudge. The bottom line is, doing what's right, and I'll let the rest of it go.

HARVEY: I don't know if I can work it out with him. I don't think I could continue to pay him every month knowing, you know, he did something like this. It ain't like it's my friends. That's all my close relatives and I'm going to provide shelters when I can for them, and do what I can.

HARRIS: The family plans on spending the next couple of weeks finding a new home. But this is a situation that's likely to crop up again as evacuees continue to seek shelter and landlords are faced with difficult choices.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, it is not easy starting over in a new city. When we come back, one of the thousands of poignant stories of a family uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

HARRIS: Plus, some insurance companies are coming under fire this morning. A few facing lawsuits for refusing to pay for home repairs along the Gulf Coast. It is one of the topics on the docket for the legal team, live next hour 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: By now, almost all of us have seen the food and clothing drives for hurricane victims. And we may wonder where our donations end up. Well, CNN's Carol Lin found one evacuee who is putting her life back together with a little help from her new friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hundreds of miles away from the only city she's ever known, Terry Bacquet (ph) is always getting lost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bless your heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to be all right. I'm going to make it.

LIN: It took her two hours to get to work at Sandtown Middle School south of Atlanta, where she's starting a new teaching job. She interviewed with the principal wearing the T-Shirt and flip flops she wore escaping the hurricane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She never thought twice about the way I looked.

LIN (on camera): Because that's all you had.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, she walked me through the school.

LIN (voice over): At the same time, students had started collecting clothes and supplies to donate to hurricane victims. They ended up dressing their new teacher from head to toe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought her some clothes so that she could have something to wear to work.

LIN: Everything Terry has now, an empty donated house, her clothes, shoes, were given to her by total strangers. It was a far better situation than when she first arrived, applying for any job she could find.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And was literally begging the managers for, which I thought was a wonderful salary, $9 an hour. You know, to work at Blockbuster.

LIN: And here you are a certified schoolteacher.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a master's degree.

LIN: While she looked for work, her children lived apart from her with extended family so they could enroll in a school. She drives an hour and a half after work to see them.

Zachary, 14, is trying to be a good sport about the separation. It hit 16-year-old Kelly much harder. We showed them the latest news footage out of the old New Orleans neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at the Taco Bell sign..

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where I'm from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surrounded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the water line.

LIN: Terry wonders about her home, the arts and crafts bungalow she left behind and how she's going to the mortgage on a ruined house. But there are things money can't buy. Terry's family and friends are scattered over three states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When somebody calls me from a 504 area code, I just can't wait to pick up the phone. That's what I miss. I miss my community. I miss my friends.

LIN (on camera): They miss you, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss my family.

LIN (voice over): But Terry doesn't want people to feel sorry for her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want people to understand that we are strong people and we can do it. But right now, we need so much help.

LIN: For Terry, there's so much support from her new job. They'll do what they can to help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to get our map, so she won't get lost. We need a big map.

LIN: Carol Lin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Strong woman there.

Well, the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.

NGUYEN: Good morning, everyone. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, the 17th day of September. I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

Take a look at the left-side of your screen. For the next two days you will see pictures of children who have been missing or separated from their loved ones since Hurricane Katrina hit nearly three weeks ago now.

NGUYEN: We're working with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to help bring Gulf Coast families back together. So if you recognize any of the pictures, please call the phone number on your screen. It's 1-800-843-5678. That's 1-800-THE LOST.

We'll have a live report from Alexandria, Virginia in just a few minutes. But first, here's a check of the headlines.

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