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CNN Live Sunday
Interview with Russel Honore, Interview with Johnny Dupree
Aired September 04, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Look at this. He doesn't look very secured there, but he's hanging on for dear life. And this has been the scene all morning long.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It certainly has, and we've really gotten used to seeing this scene but each time it seems that much more remarkable than the next. You've seen the scene play out all day yesterday and taking place again all day today and again the pool photographer, J.T. Alpaugh is in part responsible for helping to bring these images to us so that we can get them on the air live.
HARRIS: And Fred, we have seen a number of shots, scenes just like this, from this morning, rescue helicopters touring the city of New Orleans, looking for folks. We saw one rescue a little earlier this morning, where people were actually on the roof of, I believe it was an elementary school or a high school, a school, on the roof of the building, and at first what we saw was the rescue helicopter come in and drop supplies down for folks who were not only on the roof, but also inside the building, and then we saw the basket that brought down the supplies actually take an elderly woman up into the helicopter and fly her away to safety, and this rescue effort continues right now.
WHITFIELD: Remarkable stuff, and yet they're helping to rescue yet another person, seemingly a bit older than what seemed like a child a bit earlier, securing them around this buoy-like fixture, and then securing him with a tether before then lifting him way above that structure there. It also looks like they're on some sort of maybe a dock attached to that building right there, and I'm seeing that structure there on the right, some kind of a temple.
There is a very significant Vietnamese community, significantly large Vietnamese community in the New Orleans area. Economically, a very flourishing community, and it appears it just might be that area where you saw that temple there in New Orleans.
Not everyone was able to get to the Convention Center, and the dome, as we've been learning over the course of the past few days, we're coming up now on the seventh day.
HARRIS: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Almost exactly a week from when Hurricane Katrina hit, but everyone was able to make their ways from their homes or their businesses to those downtown buildings that were set up for evacuees, and so now we're seeing the results of that, people still being plucked to safety. HARRIS: That's right, and Fred, as you know, there are still - and certainly the folks at home know there are literally thousands of people still yet to be rescued, and many are probably wondering when is it going to be my turn? There are many people who do want to get out. We understand there are still folks, stragglers, is that J.T. Alpaugh, should we listen in? All right. Let's listen in.
J.T. ALPAUGH, PHOTOGRAPHER (voice-over): A couple of miles away from the Lakefront Airport, and this is an Asian-Catholic denomination church. National Guard Black Hawk helicopter effecting this rescue but at least seven people of this church, including the priest, who just was rescued into the aircraft. You can that see the rescue operations still continuing. We have one additional victim left down here who obviously has something very important in that briefcase.
He doesn't really have a good seat on there, the rescue workers are asking him to wrap his legs around him. That briefcase really adding a lot of space between him and the rescuer, but that rescue worker, that soldier has got a good handle on him and wrapped a safety strap around his other arm to keep him strapped in. He's got some carabiner clips that he's going to put right into place in the middle of that mount, that rescue seat, he's hooking on as well to be safety mounted with his carabiner, D-ring (ph) onto the top of that, safety thumbs up, international sign to get him out of there.
Black Hawk helicopter turning on the winch, taking the slack out and away they go. Absolutely. Alan Cohen (ph) points out something very important, this could be some kind of very sacred documentation of some sort inside that briefcase because he looks very, very intent on taking that with him. Starting a little bit of a spin here which is always dangerous on these rescues.
Getting him inside this aircraft here. And the other survivors that were here, this Catholic denomination church in the lakefront area. They are all giving each other hugs, and shaking hands. You can see that, shaking the hands of the rescue workers, as the door closes, and boy, they're happy now.
They have the chance to drop some water and food to people like this, with the looks on their faces and the smiles and the handshakes that they've given to us are just all we could ever ask for. It's such a great feeling to be able to help. So again, we're at the lakefront area and my name is J.T. Alpaugh along with Alan Cohen (ph) and this church has just been, as you see in your screen right now, has just been evacuated.
WHITFIELD: All right. Hello everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield along with Tony Harris here in Atlanta. You've been watching these dramatic rescue efforts taking place. They continue even as we are in day six after Hurricane Katrina hit. In this particular area, we heard from J.T. Alpaugh, who is the pool photographer on board the helicopter taking images of what we've been seeing. He says this was in the lakefront area.
We're talking about a multicultural city of New Orleans. In that community that we were seeing in New Orleans east, as well as Algiers, across the river and in Avondale, we have got 12,000 Vietnamese citizens there in New Orleans, and you heard from J.T. Alpaugh, which described that those people are being plucked from an Asian Catholic Church. Most of the Vietnamese there are Catholic and this is a very tough situation throughout, the board because we're seeing that the rescues aren't just taking place if in what has been called the Ninth Ward, but it really is throughout, because so much of New Orleans is underwater, still, four feet of water in some places, eight feet of water in others.
We've been watching these dramatic rescues, as has our correspondent, CNN's Jeff Koinange, who is there on the ground in New Orleans, and over the past 24 hours, Jeff, we have seen some remarkable rescues taking place under the most dire and desperate of circumstances.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you know what, Fredricka, this reminds me of a situation. You'll appreciate this. In 2000 in Mozambique, remember when there was flooding all over the southern region of the country, it was village after village under water and there were these dramatic helicopter rescues by South African pilots, this is exactly what it reminds me of.
Remember the scene where a baby was born in a tree? This is exactly what's coming to mind right now. Unbelievable scenes, a week after this hurricane swept through this city. Look where I'm standing right now, I can tell you in the middle of Canal Street I'm under at least two feet of water, unbelievable, seven days later the water hasn't abated at all. And those dramatic rescues are people who have been holed up in their homes, hoping the water would recede and it hasn't, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And for some reasons, Jeff, people chose to stay in residences or buildings or the really had no choice, they had no mobility, they had no access of transportation, just simply couldn't get out. As -- where you're standing, you describe that there's still about two feet of water, and where you are right now, is that demonstrative of some water that has receded or are you seeing it really is stagnant water, it has not receded in any way, shape or form where you are?
KOINANGE: I tell you what, Fredricka, if it has receded, and we can see looking at the walls to my right, if it's receded it's maybe a foot or so. So this could have been at least three, four feet at some point. And look, this is a week later, and this is what we're talking about when we talk about these people. All of these apartments above me, above the stores are apartments where people still are staying. They have probably bought supplies that will last them a few days. They probably didn't realize this will go on for a week and will be going on for the next few weeks and they were hoping against hope that the water would recede so they don't have to go to the Superdome or Convention Center because their lives' possessions, their entire homes they wouldn't know what would happen to them once they left the city.
This why I think most people who are still in their homes decided to stay, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jeff, did you say you were on canal street?
KOINANGE: I'm right down on Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in Downtown New Orleans that separates the CBD from the French Quarter and where I'm standing, under two feet of water. Stores have been looted on either side of the street where I am. It's unbelievably and eerily quiet. It's unbelievable the way it is right now, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Okay, and as you walk then, I understand you also have someone you're going to be talking to there, Jeff.
It appears as though there are pockets of the French Quarter that are almost dry, there are parts that are still under water. You appear to be on the side of Canal Street opposite of the French Quarter side of Canal?
KOINANGE: That's right. In fact, facing Bourbon Street right down the road from me. Part of Bourbon Street is under water but part of it is dry at the same time. But again, Bourbon Street, the most famous street during Mardi Gras, especially, that street would be filled with people as we speak. Look at that, hardly a person down that street. Yes there is a bit of water and part of it has been salvaged. But I can tell you for the most part a lot of those restaurants and bars have been looted. And right here, standing with me is Chris Owens (ph), a resident of New Orleans, famous I might add, a very famous resident of New Orleans. Chris, you own a very famous club here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KOINANGE: Your thoughts at this time, a week after Hurricane Katrina came?
You know, my building is like a fortress so I stayed through the whole hurricane, and I think you know, everything in the French Quarter is like unscathed, there's little damage to the corridor but to see the outer limits of the corridor and it's, to see the devastation, you know, it's very upsetting, but you know, New Orleans is a great spirit and I know we will rebuild and it will be even more beautiful city after this. It's just shocking, you know, to see, because when you're in the French Quarter you really can't see the devastation. I didn't get any water whatsoever, because from my block, St. Louis and Bourbon all the way to the river and back to Esplanade, it's literally dry.
KOINANGE: Chris, you're very optimistic, obviously, for a resident of New Orleans. Look around at the destruction, look at the water levels, sometimes up to waist level, sometimes up to your knees. What do you think, what are your feelings about the city?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My feelings it, will rebuild. We will rebuild and everybody has to be optimistic about it, and but I think once the water gets out and we can get the power and everything back on, that with he will be back in business.
KOINANGE: A lot of people have been angry at the city fathers saying that they were slow to respond, the federal government as well, saying why did it take this long for the National Guard to be brought in? What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think we were waiting for an okay from the governor. But Bush acted fast and efficient and said that we will make it a more beautiful city, and more entertainment, and more fun city as always.
KOINANGE: Your club, was it affected at all?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not whatsoever. My club is like, would you go inside and think you're ready for business. The only thing on my building, a couple of awnings that are lost. And that was the only damage that we had.
KOINANGE: How soon do you think you'll reopen for business?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as they get power back again. And if you see a lot of the trash and all of this is sort of like Mardi Gras, after Mardi Gras we had more trash and it only took seven hours to clean that up. So I think once the water's receded that we'll be back in business.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you very much Chris Owens and good luck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, we need that.
KOINANGE: Fredricka, you heard that from Chris Owens, who owns apparently one of the most famous clubs here in New Orleans, optimistic she will be able to reopen as soon as there's power in the streets of New Orleans. That's a very optimistic mood. This is the first time I'm hearing someone talking about this. Everyone else has been so bitter and angry, complaining about why the government and the city was allowed to get to this stage. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Jeff Koinange thank you so much, and demonstrative of Miss Owens, New Orleans trying to show that they are so resilient even in these very tough times of hardship. Thanks so much, Jeff. Tony?
HARRIS: And Fred, right now we want to join CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. She has a special guest, Lieutenant General Russel Honore. Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, actually, Tony, it is going to be just me at the moment. General Honore has stepped back into a briefing. We are traveling today with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with General Honore. They've come to Biloxi to get an update on what the military situation is here in this part of the country as active duty forces begin to move in.
They are trying to put people into position. Tony, I'm going actually as we speak make a switch here and I'm going to attempt to hand the cell phone to General Honore so he can talk to you live on the air if you could hold for a moment please.
HARRIS: Wonderful. Wonderful.
LT GEN RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (via telephone): This is Lieutenant General Honore, over.
HARRIS: General Honore, good to talk to you. In just a few moments ago in the press conference with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld you laid out a chronology of the events leading up to Katrina making landfall and in doing so you strongly defended the response of the federal government, of Homeland Security, of FEMA, set forth that time line, as you described it a few minutes ago for us now, please, if you would.
HONORE: Yes. I was not giving the impression of defending. I was attempting to explain the complexity of the operation and the impact the storm had on the entire region over about an eight state area, is what I was attempting to do. And our timeline started early last week on Friday. Our first response always is to get the defense coordinating officers, which is one of my brigade commanders to go to the state headquarters and we had those in place prior to the storm arriving.
So they would be there to determine the needs of the state governor and the adjutant general. Those people were in place. We have communications with them and they have emergency communications where they can communicate with my headquarters 1st Army and that was done before the storm arrived. So they were in place.
What was not in place was our helicopters and others, as those helicopters are flown away before the storm arrives to protect them. Once the storm came through, as you know, when you look at Mississippi, which the storm affected right south of Highway 20, it devastated Highway 59 and Highway 49. And for the adjutant general to get from Jackson, Mississippi, to Biloxi, he literally went through with a team of engineers and cut a path south of - correction, about 50 miles north of Hattiesburg down to the Gulf Coast to Biloxi Gulfport International Airport.
HARRIS: I see.
HONORE: So it was a function more of getting the assets there and keeping them protected from the storm and it takes time when you have to do that. No one envisioned the total destruction that you see from Pascagoula, Mississippi, all the way to New Orleans.
HARRIS: I see.
HONORE: The estimate just went beyond.
HARRIS: General, let me ask you one more question about hindsight and then let me move forward to the work you're doing right now. This last question, in hindsight, given all of the logistical problems that you've just sort of laid out to us, one the storm made landfall, shouldn't those kinds of problems have been predicted and, in terms of moving man and materiel to the area, should we have moved more pieces of equipment to, say Shreveport, other areas of Louisiana, other parts more inland in Mississippi, in preparation, in advance of the storm making landfall on Sunday, sometime on Sunday, after it was known to all of us that Katrina had gone from Category 4 to 5?
HONORE: Again, we'll have a lot of time to re-look, but again, that storm was affecting Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. And now, we can speak with authority that we knew where the storm went.
HARRIS: Um-hmm.
HONORE: But I think even in the best technology we had, at one time we thought the storm was going right into New Orleans, it didn't. But the bigger effect the storm had on New Orleans was the flooding that occurred when the levee broke. And the fact of the levee breaking, it created an entire expanse of New Orleans that flooded out. It wasn't necessarily the rain that caused the expansive flooding in the city itself, but the water that arrived in the Ponchartrain that as a result of some power going out and the pumping station, when you lose the pumping stations in New Orleans, it will flood. And the pressure was on the levee, and levee broke.
So we had cause and effect in both ways here. We had the initial effect of the storm, it destroyed Biloxi area and Gulfport on the coast, and it created a 28 to 30 foot wave in that area and totally destroyed it. Had that hit New Orleans we would have had more devastation because of the number of people that had remained behind.
That being said ...
HARRIS: Yes.
HONORE: The flood created itself an obstacle in the City of New Orleans, in an urban area that is below sea level. Now, you're talking about the response, should we have positioned further up? Again, when the storm hit landfall, we knew from the modeling it would probably take a hook right and that hook right didn't happen until it passed through Mississippi, and spun out the tornadoes 150 to 200 miles off the eye of the storm.
So this was a historic event, a biblical type event that happened way beyond our ability to anticipate, and the point about moving men and equipment close to the storm, remember, the Coast Guard and the National Guard, the Coast Guard was able to reposition some stuff away, and were able to maintain a situation awareness and were able to get a couple of helicopters there, but they were working off the coastline away from the storm.
The rest of our helicopters had been moved two to three states away. When we realized the devastation that occurred, we immediately started to move in the National Guard, which is the first responders.
HARRIS: And general that, feeds into my next question. This is your area. This is your home. And I'm wondering, the governor, Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana, has come under heavy criticism for her response time. Do you believe she acted in a timely fashion in ordering the call-ups of Louisiana National Guard personnel to handle the situation on the ground in New Orleans? HONORE: Absolutely. She had approximately 4,000 National Guards that went immediately into action. You got to remember the size of that storm, some of the National Guard members that had been evacuated themselves, because they live in that area, so they had to evacuate their families and immediately came out within hours. Literally hours they had been martially themselves at armories throughout south Louisiana and northern Louisiana and they responded quickly, they were there within hours linking up, trying to bring forward.
Again, it is time and space, it takes you five hours to drive from Alexandria, approximately, to New Orleans. That's when you don't have any congestion or road conditions. You had an enormous number of evacuees moving to Baton Rouge, Alexandria and those areas. Things were congested.
That being said, I wish I could have, we could have done this any faster than we have done it, and, but that being said, we've got an enormous task. We are blessed for those who survived. Today in 12 hours, when we've got all the resources lined up and the buses arrived, we evacuated 20,000 people yesterday morning, approximately 8:00 and by 1800 hours, they were all evacuated out of the Convention Center.
That is the capability we have but it takes time to get the resources pulled in and get the job done. Over.
WHITFIELD: General Honore, this is Fredricka Whitfield alongside Tony Harris. We're looking at pictures playing over and over again about with evacuees with small children with baby, handing them to you, handing them to other National Guardsmen, demonstrating the need for help. We've also seen pictures of police officers of New Orleans who have felt frustrated and feel a personal connection to see these young people suffering. They've been moved to tears.
So for you, personally, for some of your National Guards- personnel, how are they psychologically able to hold up, when they're looking at these kids in need, many of them are parents themselves.
HONORE: Look, we deal with this with a passion. This is what we do is to defend this country, regardless whether it's a national disaster or what. Uniformed members of the military, this is when we take our regardless of the situation and it hurts us to our heart, to every man, woman and member of our service who practice and train for the other end of our type missions, this hurts to the heart.
And I can tell you that myself, from walking the streets of New Orleans and seeing the people, if we could have done it faster. We're not stuck on stupid. It would have been done. This is America. This is why we have one of the best militaries in the world, but it took time to get there and at this point in time there will be a lot of time to review the process. The reason our democracy so long we have a process, we have amendments to our Constitution. It will get adjusted if it needs to, but in the time being, we've got a heck of a job, and I understand phase two of our job may be harder than phase one, because we will be dealing with those who were not so fortunate to be rescued and to be evacuated. This is hard, hard business and my heart goes out and my compliments to all of those great people who for days waited to be evacuated and their patience in concentrated areas like the Superdome and in the Convention Center, people living in filth, as I might describe it. Not wanting to, but the conditions prevented them from doing anything else, and willpower to take care of one another. Over.
HARRIS: General, I'm interrupting a general, do you believe this, of the U.S. Army. I just -- we've flat run out of time but I just want to say to you we feel your energy. We feel your passion, both of us here, and I'm certain everyone at home feels how much this means to you to get this job done right. It may have taken a bit longer than anybody wanted for it to get started, but thanks to people like you, we can see and feel that this process is fully engaged now. Lieutenant general, thank you very much.
HONORE: And the first responders did a significant, magnificent job in both Louisiana and Mississippi, and our hats go off to them and all you have the great National Guard. And women who answered the call of duty. Thank you.
HARRIS: General, thank you. Thank you very much.
WHITFELD: Hopefully they are all getting this message and this hitting close to home because General Honore is from Louisiana.
HARRIS: Did you feel that from him?
WHITFIELD: Certainly felt it and he's passionate about his job, as he put it, as well.
Well, a nearly year-long battle with thyroid cancer ends taking the life of the U.S. Supreme Court chief justice. A look back at the live and legacy of William Rehnquist and looking forward to the search for his replacement.
Next.
HARRIS: And if you're looking for a loved one displaced by Hurricane Katrina we can help. We'll check in with our victims and relief desk later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast the recovery process is in its earliest stages. But the situation appears to be removing and storm victims there are taking time to remember those that died in the storm. About 30 people showed up for church services this morning at a flattened Episcopal church. Let's get the latest now from CNN's Ted Rowlands in the battled city of Gulfport, Mississippi -- Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is what's left of St. Mark's Church (ph). It's tough to tell it is a church except for the Episcopalian flag but today it was filled with about, as you mentioned 30 plus folks for a full service, which included the bishop, and it was a time for a lot of these folks to come together for the first time since Katrina ripped through here and devastated this area. They shared stories and shared a mass together.
It was one of many churches up along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that has been ravaged. We saw another church also in Gulfport, down about a mile from here, in a church that was St. Peter's Church (ph) and just the frame of the church is left. People gathered there as well, and talked about the storm and the devastation, thanked -- thanked their God in this case for their lives and also remembered the ones that they had lost.
Meanwhile, as people were praying, not far away on the beaches, the search continued for bodies here and the body count continues to grow with each day. Officers and firefighters on ATVs from around the region are still here going through the difficult, difficult retrieval problem. They're going on the beaches, they fear that there are bodies there, looking under mattresses and debris and they say it is going to be a very, very long time before all of the bodies can be dealt with. They are just simply overwhelmed.
Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands in Gulfport. Ted, before I let you go, when we talk about the rescue and recovery efforts, has there been a list of priorities that's been expressed there in terms of are they looking recover bodies or are they still looking for those who are living or are they trying to simply make some of these roads more passable, trying to get aid in?
ROWLANDS: They are clearly still looking for the living. We talked to search and rescue team member today that said they found three people alive in Waveland yesterday afternoon. They're not sure if those people are going to end up making it but they were alive, they stabilized them and flew them out for medical attention.
He also said they are marking a lot of bodies, marking the spots, tagging them and they're being picked up later. Because they are still looking for signs of life and they are overwhelmed with the amount of bodies. They have help coming in but it is a slow process and you have on the other side people looking for their missing loved ones and it is a grueling wait and in most cases turning out to be bad news.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much, from Gulfport, Mississippi. Tony?
HARRIS: Fred, the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center are now mostly empty but people are still showing up. Many of them are being taken to the Louis Armstrong International Airport just outside the city. CNN's Rick Sanchez is there. Hello, Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you were mentioning most of the people were gone from that part of the city. But we went out there yesterday, Tony. We accompanied some paramedics from Harrison, Arkansas, who have been deployed into this area into parts of New Orleans, we went there by airboat and what we found is there are several types of people still out there. Those who are desperately wanting to be rescued. There are also those who have simply perished. They weren't able to make it.
Then there are those who are saying no, I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay here no matter what, and then there are still another group, and that's the group that says, well, at this point, I'm not really to leave but I may change my mind tomorrow. That's what some of these National Guardsmen are up against as they fly in helicopters and try and figure out what it is some of these folks on rooftops want or what they don't want and they're being assisted by some of these agencies that deployed different types of paramedics, many of them specialized boats from some of the neighbors states.
Now we did get a chance yesterday to talk with some those who are simply refusing to leave. Here's what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do not treat you with hospitality, not at all.
ROWLANDS: How do you know that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just talked to two that went to Texas. They came back.
ROWLANDS: Give me a description of what goes wrong. What are they doing wrong?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't get you want when you want it. You got to go along with their program because you're on their turf. I mean, that's understandable, but I ain't trying to go through that. I'm in here more comfortable than they are, even with this.
ROWLANDS: How long can you last under these conditions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as I got food and water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: That's what's so difficult, is at this point, it's hard to figure out what it is that they're going to do and that's why you're hearing many officials from FEMA saying that's becoming a big problem for them because they're having to do the same areas over and over again to get people who today don't want to leave but may change their mind tomorrow. There is a definite frustration in this town. And it hasn't started just in the last couple of days.
It started, in fact, earlier in the week by one character in particular who we have been monitoring since we have been here, his name is Aaron Broussard. Aaron Broussard is the president of Jefferson Parish. Jefferson Parish is part of that area we were just in some of the area we were showing you from, just next to Orleans Parish, a little bit to the west.
He has been saying things like the federal government has just not responded fast enough. At one point he actually took to the air waves and said that he wanted to declare Jefferson Parish a separate country from the United States because he's convinced if it were a separate country they would probably get more assistance. Well, this morning he made another statement, he was on MEET THE PRESS with Tim Russert and here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROUSSARD, PRESIDENT, JEFFERSON PARISH: The guy who runs this building I'm in, the emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard Nursing Home and every day she called him, and said, "are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" and he said, "Yeah, mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." and she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.
TIM RUSSERT, NBC NEWS HOST: Mr. President ...
BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary's promised, everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God's sakes, shut up and send us somebody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: We were out there yesterday, and we know what the president of Jefferson Parish is talking about, because we witnessed scenes like the ones that he describes with our own eyee, as we were accompanying the paramedics from Harrison, Arkansas. Behind me the air lift continues. They are still processing people, they are trying to get them out as fast as they can, in many cases, though, it's destination unknown. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tony back to you.
HARRIS: Rick, hang on just a second. As you were walking us up to the sound byte from Aaron Broussard I thought you were going to tell us that he was just making a statement to get attention to his parish, but you play that sound byte and he absolutely believes that in large measure his parish has been abandoned.
ROWLANDS: Well, Jefferson Parish lies in a part that was essentially flooded by the 17th Street canal breach. So it was a part of the area that was unexpectedly, suddenly caught in a crisis. He seems to feel and has been expressing these words repeatedly that that should have been expected and that the feds should have been prepared and should have had a scenario in place to be able deal with it.
That's what he keeps saying. He's telling the people, leave the area, now, don't come back for another 36 days because that's how long it's going to take at minimum to get the water out of there.
HARRIS: All right. CNN's Rick Sanchez for us, Rick, thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: And as we continue on, you're going to continue to see pictures just like that, live pictures of continued rescue efforts there throughout New Orleans. Mark Moreale is a former mayor of New Orleans. He led from 1994 to 2002 and now at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. On his way to Houston to-to-see firsthand some of the tens of thousands of evacuees from New Orleans. He joins now us by phone. Thanks so much for being with us. Thanks so much, Mr. Mayor, for being with us and we've caught you at a tough situation when you're at the airport on your way to Houston and it looks like we've lost that phone line.
Okay, are you there, Mr. Mayor?
JOHNNY DUPREE, MAYOR OF HATTIESBURG: I am Johnny DuPree from Hattiesburg, not the former mayor of New Orleans.
WHITFIELD: Okay, well, Mr. DuPree, thank you very much. Mayor Mark Moreale has dropped off the line, possibly to catch his flight, making his way from Washington on to Houston. He says he wants to go there to see firsthand some of the evacuees there in New Orleans. Tony, I guess you're going to take this.
HARRIS: Yeah, while we have o you on the line, Mayor DuPree, let's spend some moments with you if we can and first of all, thank you for being with us.
DUPREE: Yes. Thank you for allowing me to.
HARRIS: Give us a sense of the scene on the ground where you are. You are the mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Give us a sense of what kind of damage you're seeing in your city.
DUPREE: We're assessing the damages right now. We probably have 87 structures that were demolished and anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 structures that either have minor or major damage. We probably had about 2 million square feet of trees that are down and we have to do something with. And we have 2,000 stranded visitors from New Orleans or the Gulf Coast here in Hattiesburg, the first major city coming north out of New Orleans.
HARRIS: What is your proximity to Gulfport and Biloxi?
DUPREE: We're called the Hub City because we're about 70 miles from Gulfport, Mississippi, about 95 miles from New Orleans, the same distance from Mobile and Jackson, Mississippi.
HARRIS: Did you lose any of your citizens?
DUPREE: There are reports that we had somewhere between maybe five to seven fatalities. The coroner said they were not associated with the storm, but we had five to seven fatalities during that period of time.
HARRIS: Is FEMA in your city?
DUPREE: Who is FEMA?
HARRIS: Oh, boy. Federal Emergency Management Agency? DUPREE: Oh, I've heard of them, but you know, I don't really -- I'm being facetious, Tony. We have 50 water and ice trucks stationed in Camp Shelby which is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and we're supposed to get "x" amount of water and ice trucks every day and we have 50 trucks sitting down there that will not be released by, who do you call that agency, FEMA?
HARRIS: FEMA.
DUPREE: I'm being facetious again.
HARRIS: I understand where you're taking us.
DUPREE: They're sitting down there right now because one person from FEMA won't take the call to say release those trucks to people in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and other cities so they can have ice and water. I have 65 percent of the people in my city do not have power right now. For three and a half days we had 100 percent no water, 100 percent no power, 100 percent no communication and two FEMA representatives came from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, yesterday to ask me if we needed help.
HARRIS: So, what do you do? Do you call your governor? What do you do?
DUPREE: You tell me. We've called the governor. The governor came down a couple of days ago, and when they finally came, we've been asking for additional help in relation to National Guard, and the evening after he came we received 25 National Guard. So if he hadn't come we wouldn't have received those.
But I don't know where it's broken down, Tony, but you know, mayors are not in the, you know, when we took the oath it wasn't for disaster relief. We're not specialists in disaster relief. We've had excellent help from churches and organizations, Red Cross has done a great job. We have one representative from Red Cross here on a national level. He has done a great job and our local Red Cross has done a great job. Our churches have done great jobs, people from all over America have come in to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to help us but the people who get paid to do this haven't done what I think they should have done in order to protect or take care of the citizens here.
HARRIS: Well, I think you are sufficiently on the record now with your outrage, Mayor DuPree. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us.
DUPREE: Thank you, sir.
WHITFIELD: All right, Tony, we're going to try this again. Former mayor of New Orleans, Marc Morial, is in Washington, DC, on his way to Houston. He was is the mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 and he still feels a strong connection, family connection, friends there in New Orleans, as well as the political connection, he has for many decades had with that that city. He is on the phone from Reagan National airport. Mr. Mayor, thank you for taking the time out. Before you catch your flight to Houston why is it so important you see face-to-face some of the evacuees? Why is it so important for them to see you?
MARC MORIAL, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS (via telephone): To ensure they're not forgotten, tens of thousands of New Orleaneans, people from Louisiana who evacuated to Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Baton Rouge, small communities in Louisiana.
I understand people in Monroe, and Vastruck (ph) and Appaloosas (ph) and Lafayette, to ensure that they are not forgotten and the continuing effort to make sure they're provided with food and shelter and water, and also we've got to go, because many people are still gravely concerned about their family members that they've not been able to locate.
The rescue effort that I just saw on CNN continues, and we want to make sure that that continues with all due dispatch and speed. This is a continuing tragedy that requires the nation's attention.
The other thing I would mention in my current post as president of the National Urban League, our affiliates in places like Houston and Dallas in working to help the people evacuated and who have in fact been displaced and this is what all of us can do, churches and community groups, but the government of the United States has got to step up in a way it's never stepped up before for the people of this nation. This is unprecedented.
And we may have over a million Americans, and they are Americans, they're not refugees, they're American citizens who have been left homeless, not to even mention the number of lives that are have obviously been lost, a toll that we don't even know at this time.
WHITFIELD: And now to be able to use your power as a national figure as the present CEO of the National Urban League, do you feel as though you might be able to help impress upon various organizations, federal agencies, to help out New Orleans, like perhaps you wouldn't have been able to do as a mayor?
MORIAL: I really don't know. I think that, what we're doing now is what every citizen, everyone of any concern, care, ability and power ought to be doing and that is focusing on what we can do. There are many calls. Americans have been generous. We've helped out with so many natural disasters, and other sorts of disasters around the world. This is an opportunity, a chance, a necessity for all of us in the United States to step up.
It's a natural disaster which has affected Americans of all races, but it has dramatically affected poor African American residents of New Orleans, many of whom didn't have the wherewithal to evacuate and it's just been a painful, difficult week. The other thing is, while there's a lot of fingers being pointed, I just think that we ought to understand that the people on the ground in New Orleans, from Coast Guardsmen to policemen, to firemen, to city and state officials who have been down there, have been, have given every single thing that they have under very difficult circumstances, but I don't want anyone -- this cannot be something that's off the news and out of mind, out of people's minds in two or three days or even two or three weeks.
WHITFIELD: Well, before we let you go, mayor, quickly, you talk about those who couldn't evacuate and that was something that you learned firsthand after Hurricane Georges during the evacuation orders there. A lot was learned about the people who would not be able to get out. You have been on the record as saying even after that, after mandatory evacuations, there was a significant part of the population that wouldn't be able to get out, so that being said, it was on the record. It was noted, might that have been passed on to enough people and various agencies to know that there was still going to be 25 percent of the population who would not be able to evacuate that city, regardless of any mandatory evacuation order?
MORIAL: It was clear after Georges in 1998 there was a significant portion of the population that could not and there were some that would not evacuate, and the planned modification of the plan to take advantage of that is something that I wonder if it took place in the sense that everyone knew ...
HARRIS: Mr. Mayor, let me just interrupt you for a second. There's a dramatic rescue taking place on the rooftop of this home. You have got on the other side of this right corner of the house, we for a moment saw a person emerging almost seemingly trying to climb to the roof top as this cage with the rescue personnel being dropped to the rooftop.
Now we don't see that resident or that person in view but we are seeing a thumbs up from the rescue personnel in the cage. Perhaps they're going to try to make another attempt to try to rescue this person on the roof top. We're going to continue the live picture as I'll let you wrap up your thought, mayor.
MORIAL: And the only thing, Fred, is there's a lot of time for post mortem and evaluation and examination of what may not, did not go right. There is a lot that obviously did not go right days immediately after the storm, but I want people to keep their focus on the need for the continuation of rescue efforts. There are still many people in their homes and also, the needs of those who have to evacuate, who are the hundreds of thousands indeed a million from Louisiana and Mississippi who are going to have to rebuild their lives. We must help them rebuild their lives. And rebuilding the city of New Orleans has to happen and rebuilding their lives is what has got to be paramount.
WHITFIELD: And that seems it's got to be the focus from here on out. Mayor Marc Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, now the CEO and president of the National Urban League, thanks so much for taking the time out before you board your flight heading on to Houston to meet with evacuees. Thanks so much.
MORIAL: Thank you.
HARRIS: And of course, Fred, we'll continue to show you the amazing rescues ongoing in New Orleans throughout the afternoon. Thousands of evacuees are trying to find their loved ones. Certainly these people being rescued. We'll check in with our victims and relief desk when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRY ELLIS, LOOKING FOR WIFE: My name is Harry Ellis, and I'm looking for my wife Alla (ph) Ellis and the rest of the family. I'd like them to know that I'm alive and I don't know where I'm going.
ALVIN SEYMOUR, LOOKING FOR CHILDREN: I'm Alvin Seymour, I'm talking to my children. I'm fine and okay and your mother, she is fine and okay. I'm going to try and get in touch with you. You get in touch, I don't know how but I'm looking for you.
JOHNNY PATTERSON, LOOKING FOR FAMILY MEMBERS: My name is Johnny Patterson. I want to talk to my mama and my cousin and all y'all out there. Y'all see me, come down get me. I'm tired. I'm hurting. (INAUDIBLE) being here all the week. Will you all come help us . Please, somebody help us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. I'm Carol Lin from the victims and relief desk. We have been trying to link family and friends during this terrible disaster and also trying to help some stranded victims of the hurricane and help you help the people out there as well. Right now I want to give you a quick update on a woman we told you about, a 71-year-old Alzheimer's patient, her name is Ruth Biery, and we're happy to report her family, of family of Kelly Lyons (ph) reports that she is okay, alive, well and found.
We wanted to bring that to you. Also, right now, I'm joined on the set by Reverend Susannah Davis and Rebecca Wellman, both of them are from St. Paul United Methodist church right here in Atlanta. Welcome to both of you.
REV. SUSANNAH DAVIS, ST. PAUL METHODIST CHURCH: Thank you.
LIN: We've been really interested in different groups and even private homes who are opening their doors to so many of these evacuees. Folks I've talked to out in Texas are saying some people have 20, maybe 30 people in their houses. You have the ability to house 50. How is that going?
DAVIS: Well, we gathered together as a small group on Thursday, and it has been an effort of the church, of the Grant Park neighborhood of community at large to transform our church into a shelter space.
LIN: It's really neat, because when you got this idea you sort of thought let's see what the response is. We're going to send out an email and suddenly your congregation came forward and said yeah, let's do something.
DAVIS: It has been an incredible outpouring of love and concern by not just the congregation, but by the neighborhood, the community as well. It really has been.
LIN: What are you prepared to do? You know it's overwhelming when you see the busloads of evacuees all of them filled with desperate people who need a place to live.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are prepared to bring them into our, the confines of our church and to take care of them personally, individually. We're prepared to feed them. We're prepared to give them transportation, and we're prepared to transition them to ...
LIN: Like for how long?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To permanent housing. We are an emergency short term solution to the problem, but we are prepared to transition them to more permanent place.
LIN: Reverend Davis, does it scare you a little bit?
DAVIS: It scares me to death. It does. There are so many uncertainties of this, but we know it's the right thing to do, and everybody around that church and that neighborhood knows it's the right thing to do. These are people who are hurting and who are in need, and we have a great opportunity ahead of us, and trust that it will work.
LIN: Kind of neat that the history of your church dating back to the Civil War, helping war veterans and here you are in the midst of a war for humidity. Thanks very much. Good luck with the endeavor.
DAVIS: Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Carol.
LIN: Back to you Fred and Tony.
HARRIS: And we're joined by the former U.S. surgeon general of the United States, Dr. David Satcher. Good to see you sir. Thanks for being here.
DAVID SATCHER, FORMER SURGEON GENERAL: Good being here.
HARRIS: Let me ask you so many questions, but first, let me ask you about the immediate short term concerns that you have as we take a look and we'll roll them in a second, some of these pictures coming out of New Orleans, out of Biloxi, Gulfport, Mississippi, and also in Alabama.
SATCHER: Well, the people who remain in these areas are a major concern to me in terms of their health. They're are major risks associated with the standing water, those risks increase by the day and I want to say again clearly to people, the danger of ingesting flood water, brushing your teeth or washing your hands.
HARRIS: Don't do it.
SATCHER: Don't do it, very dangerous. So try to limit your water to bottled water, boiled or treated water. By the same token, I know some of you have food that's been around for awhile. Very dangerous. If the refrigeration has been off or three or four hours, very dangerous to consume food. Even channel food can become dangerous in these situations. Be careful about ingesting canned food. People really need to protect themselves and their children if they're still there.
Injuries are really a great risk in this situation in terms of houses that have been affected by the water. When we did Hurricane Floyd, there were 52 deaths in North Carolina, but what I remember is that, once the water has been there, going back into those buildings can be very dangerous, because of injuries, you know, loss of structure, but also the mold that's there, if a person has allergies, asthma, can be very dangerous. And in general to people mold can be very dangerous so very concerned about that. As long as we, as long as the situation exists, then we begin to run the risk of mosquitoes breeding and in that area especially West Nile virus is a risk, ongoing risk.
HARRIS: So there are just so many concerns.
SATCHER: A lot of concerns. Let me say I think the public health infrastructure is really what's critical here. There are people who have been delayed in their ability to get into these areas and be helpful.
HARRIS: And why is that?
SATCHER: I think overall FEMA response impacts everybody. I remember that we always took our direction from FEMA in terms of when to move, when we could move and when we could set up. And so the same story you've heard about the delay has affected public health. A lot of people have died already. We don't know how many. A lot of people died from drowning. There are people who died because they couldn't get their medications, so we won't know until later all of the deaths and the causes of those deaths. So that's a major concern immediately.
HARRIS: People with existing conditions who have been transported out of their home city and away from their medicines, I know that must be a concern as well.
SATCHER: Well, this is an area, New Orleans as well as this area of the country, where diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension are major chronic diseases. Some of these people are at great risk if they're separated from their medications for a period of time.
So we have tried to make it clear to everybody concerned is that be careful about people who are separated from their medication. Older people especially. But in general, I think people separated from their medication have major concerns here.
HARRIS: Doctor Satcher, thank you so much for your time.
SATCHER: You're quite welcome. HARRIS: We'll take a break and when we'll come back the latest comments from the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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