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CNN Live Sunday

Some Refuse to Leave Homes in Flooded City; New Orleans Mayor Estimates Dead in Thousands; Coast Guard Works Tirelessly to Rescue Survivors; Church Services Carry on Without Church; Bush Considers Supreme Court Options; Astrodome Process Thousands of Survivors

Aired September 04, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CO-HOST: A grim picture is being painted about the possible death toll from Katrina. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin tells CNN fatalities in his city will be in the thousands. It's feared many bodies will be found in flooded homes and attics.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CO-HOST: Much of New Orleans is empty now, but the dramatic rescues continue. Storm victims are still being plucked by helicopter from their homes, and while the Superdome and the convention centers in the downtown area have been cleared out, people are still showing up at some of those sites.

HARRIS: And Fred, three Carnival Cruise ships, like the one seen here, are heading to Alabama and Texas. They will temporarily house up to 7,000 evacuees for at least the next six months. They're being chartered by the federal government.

WHITFIELD: And work goes on along the storm-battered levee system in New Orleans. Officials say it will take up to 80 days to get the flood waters out of that city.

Welcome back. You're watching CNN special coverage of the state of emergency along the Gulf Coast. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Good afternoon, everyone.

Live pictures now of one of the levee breaches. And we can see -- we saw just a moment ago, we lost the picture, as you can tell, of sandbags being air lifted and dropped into that area. The Army Corps of Engineers doing the best it can.

More sandbags coming in, as you can see, by that military chopper, being dropped into that levee breach. Army Corps of Engineers making progress, as we can see. The work is going along slowly, but steadily, progress is being made.

There it is. That's it. That's what's being done right now.

That's an example, as vividly as we can show it to you, of what's being done now to try to fill the gap, the breach, in the levee, to close that gap, and to seal that area off once again. Much work still to be done, as you can see.

After days of chaos and horror in New Orleans, the federal government claims it now is in control of the city, but major challenges are still ahead.

CNN's Jeff Koinange is with us from the heart of New Orleans -- Jeff.

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. Make that in the middle of a lake on Canal Street.

Now look behind me, Tony. This is a Walgreen's that's been looted, and it's been flooded. The same thing with stores up and down these streets. And I know, Tony, that in some parts of the city the waters are about maybe eight to 10 feet high.

This is Main Street. This is the busiest thoroughfare in this whole city. When you hear it's going to take 80 days to drain the water from the city, this is what we're talking about.

It's going to take more than two months to get this water out of here and to get people back in, businesses up and running. It's going to take awhile. And this is the way it is. In some parts, this is three, four feet high in the streets, as we go inside the city. This is unbelievable.

Look, it's getting deeper and deeper, as I'm walking towards the camera, Tony. This is something that a lot of people did not anticipate. They didn't think that the hurricane would leave such a huge chunk or a huge lake of water across the city. And in many parts, it is stagnant water, and this is dangerous, Tony.

HARRIS: Jeff, have your camera person sort of move to our right, your left there, to show us the shot down the street. That vantage point...

KOINANGE: Yes, OK, Tony, if we could just move this way.

HARRIS: Yes. That vantage point is absolutely amazing.

KOINANGE: All these buildings have been abandoned. There are some people living in some of these buildings, but they will not come out, because they don't want to be taken anywhere else. They want to stay in their own city.

So a lot of them are holed up in there. They have supplies to last them days, sometimes weeks. And they're not moving at all, despite the fact that officials, National Guardsmen, all kinds of officials are telling them, move out of the city. We need to evacuate so that we can move in and begin the clean-up campaign, Tony.

HARRIS: Well, what are they going to do? What are they going to do for supplies? What we heard from the secretary of homeland security, Michael Chertoff, is that it is an untenable situation to continue, A, to try to get folks out, and then be responsible for dropping supplies in.

KOINANGE: Exactly. Isn't that a catch-22 if you ever saw one?

Here's the deal. Many people did buy supplies. Many people did not anticipate that this situation would last this long. At some point, Tony, it's going to have to reach a breaking point.

As you well know, everyone is still numb to the situation right now. When the numbness wears off, people will realize the extent of the devastation and destruction. Then, hopefully, a lot of them will be able to vacate these buildings and go somewhere else so that the clean-up can begin, because this is going to be a huge, mammoth clean- up effort, Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Jeff Koinange for us, as we take a look at those live pictures there on the left of your screen of the Army Corps of Engineers, the helicopters dropping in those sand bags.

And you see the work, the space between the sandbags and the other side of that levee that has to be closed to fill that breach of a levee that gave way. We don't know which one, which street levee it is. We know that the 17th Street levee gave way, and there were at least two other levees that were breached.

But as you can see in this wide shot, there is still some work to be done, but clearly, clearly progress, Fred, is being made.

WHITFIELD: Boy, it's painstaking, a painstaking process.

HARRIS: It is.

WHITFIELD: But we're watching it unfold as it's happening.

The mayor of New Orleans has insisted that he never abandoned the city, staying in the high-rise Hyatt Hotel next door to the Superdome before, after, and during Katrina hit. His ongoing challenge, trying to figure out what's next for his battered city.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Nic Robertson this morning, Ray Nagin talked about the disaster, and he made a grim prediction about the final death toll.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAY NAGIN, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS: AT the top of my agenda today is I've got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized, and we've already had a couple of suicides, so I am cycling them out, as we speak.

But we have a problem. I can get them to Baton Rouge, but once I get them to Baton Rouge, there's no hospitals. They need -- they need physical and psychological evaluations. There's no...

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the police and the firemen?

NAGIN: The police and the firemen. They've been holding the city together for three or four days, almost by themselves, doing everything imaginable. And the toll is -- it's just too much for them.

So I need to get them out. And we've been trying to figure out where to take them so they can reunite with their families. And hotels are an issue, so someplace like a Las Vegas, that has a tremendous amount of hotels, we're trying to figure out a way to get them to those locations.

ROBERTSON: Are you getting any positive movement on that?

NAGIN: We just started last night. You know, we ran into a little bureaucracy about what FEMA can pay and -- I told them, screw it; I don't care what they can pay. I'll pay it and then we'll figure it out later, but I have to get these men out.

We have to drain this city. We have to get these dead bodies out of the water and out of the homes.

ROBERTSON: How many bodies are there?

NAGIN: I don't know, man. It's thousands.

ROBERTSON: Thousands?

NAGIN: I think so, thousands. If you do the math, there's 500,000 people in the city. We probably evacuated 80 -- 80 percent after the mandatory evacuation. First time we've ever done a mandatory evacuation.

We probably have moved about 50,000 people out as it relates to 50 or 60 of these shelters of last resort, so you probably have another 50,000 to 60,000 out there.

You do you the math, man. What do you think: five percent, is that unreasonable? Ten percent, 20 percent? It's going to be a big number.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: As the tragedy unfolded, Nagin accused federal officials of thinking small and dragging their feet in response to his city's urgent needs -- Tony.

HARRIS: Hang bright sheets or towels to help rescuers locate you. That's the latest word from the U.S. Coast Guard for anyone trapped in their homes or buildings in New Orleans.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is with the Coast Guard rescue teams and has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going down.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Coast Guard rescue swimmer drops out of a helicopter into the murky flood waters. The chief of New Orleans' Coast Guard station says his crews have saved almost twice as many lives since Hurricane Katrina struck than they have in the last 50 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, she's got a dog with her, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative. That's fine, let her bring the dog. That's fine.

PENHAUL: A happy ending for some, but down below, others face an agonizing fate. The Coast Guard say many citizens who survived the deadly winds and raging flood waters are now dying of heat and starvation because the rescue effort is just too slow.

BRUCE JONES, U.S. COAST GUARD: My guys are coming back and they're telling me, "Sir, I went into that house through the window, and there's three elderly people in there, in their beds, and they're looking up at me gasping, and they're dying."

And we got calls today from the overhead coordinator, "We need to you go to a place in St. Bernard Parish, a hospice, and there's 20 people in there."

And we go there and there are 10 dead and 10 that are dying, but those people were probably alive yesterday or the day before. And there simply aren't enough resources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, I've got 100 people that need food and water. Do you have any heavy aircraft to divert?

PENHAUL: The Coast Guard operations center is overwhelmed with emergency calls. Pilots and crews are red-eyed and exhausted, but they refuse to rest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks a lot. That's awesome.

PENHAUL: For every person that is rescued, hundreds more are still waiting. And as they wait, they're dying, a thought that's haunting rescue swimmer, Chris Monville.

CHRIS MONVILLE, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's an awful feeling to know that you can't get -- that you haven't got everybody in time. We're doing our best to get everybody we can, and as fast as we can, but, unfortunately, just like with the temperatures down here, and the lack of food and water, the weak and the sick, they expire first. And it's -- that tears at you.

PENHAUL: He says he rescued 126 people in a single day. His comrades have similar stories to tell. They've been using axes and chainsaws to bust through roofs.

MONVILLE: You're pulling pregnant women and babies through the rafters in the attic, you know, and onto the rooftop, and that's when it's just -- you know, it makes -- that's the most difficult rescue.

PENHAUL: Another rescue swimmer, David Gray, has just returned from a mission to a hospice for mentally handicapped adults.

DAVID GRAY, U.S. COAST GUARD: You go room to room, get everybody together outside, there were deceased people inside. PENHAUL: Out in the hangar, maintenance crews are working round the clock, too. They say they don't know what day it is anymore. They do know, though, that their task is far from finished. They know, too, that even when the helicopter rotor blades finally stop whirring, the nightmare will not be over.

MONVILLE: How is life ever going to be the same in New Orleans? There's so many people who lost every single thing they have.

PENHAUL: Karl Penhaul, CNN, New Orleans Coast Guard station.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, life goes on amid the devastation. CNN's Ted Rowlands is with us now from Gulfport, Mississippi.

What's the focus there now, Ted?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, talking about the numbness wearing off earlier, where it hasn't worn off in New Orleans, it's just starting to wear off for people here. And we saw examples here at St. Mark's Episcopal Church today of people, I think for the first time, really letting go and breaking down.

There was a service here held today. There's no church left, but they had service anyway. It was the first opportunity for many of these people to see each other since Hurricane Katrina came in and ripped apart the Gulf Coast.

And you can see the emotional release through a lot of people as they we want openly throughout the service. This was going on across the entire region, church members coming together to whatever was left of their church.

In one example, we went down to a church about a mile from here, and the church was completely gutted, but they still had a service there anyway. They didn't have a reverend. Someone from the federal government happened to be passing by who was a reverend, an Episcopal reverend. He stepped in and conducted the service for these people that he had never met in this church he had never been in.

Meanwhile, the search and rescue operation does continue here. And they had some good news yesterday, or at least they did find some signs of life yesterday.

Along this Gulf Coast, they found three people, according to one rescue worker, and in the town of Waveland. Unfortunately, those folks were in pretty bad shape, and they're not sure how they're going to fare.

But they're still searching. And they're also searching for the dead. The ATVs are out along the beachfronts looking under debris. There is just tons and tons of debris that has been left behind. And they are trying to locate as many bodies as they can -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much from Gulfport, Mississippi -- Tony.

HARRIS: The U.S. Supreme Court faces another vacancy. What does the passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist mean for the future of the land's highest court? A live report from Washington is next.

And our coverage of Hurricane Katrina's devastation will continue. We'll head live to Texas to show you how evacuees are living day to day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Bush is promising to work quickly to choose a successor to Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Rehnquist had been in declining health with thyroid cancer and died last night at his home at Arlington, Virginia. He was 80.

CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House with more from on the president's challenge of filling this second now vacancy -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

Well, a busy time for the Bush White House, now dealing with a number of major national events. Of course, the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, also though, the Iraq war ongoing, the larger war on terror, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Now on that front the president today visited the Red Cross here in Washington. The president continuing to try to send the message that the government is firmly in control in the wake of the disaster. He made that stop just a short time after an appearance in the Roosevelt Room here at the White House, in which he expressed his thoughts on the chief justice and he also described somewhat how he intends to proceed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are now two vacancies on the Supreme Court, and it will serve the best interests of the nation to fill those vacancies promptly. I will choose, in a timely manner, a highly qualified nominee to succeed Chief Justice Rehnquist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, timely manner is the key phrase there. Tuesday confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin for the president's pick to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but with memorials and a funeral now expected, the Senate Judiciary Committee could postpone the hearing for Judge John Roberts.

With two vacancies now, the president has a number of options available to him, which could certainly affect the time line. One of those, he could choose to make Roberts' nomination for chief justice instead of an associate justice and ask Sandra Day O'Connor to stay on, but it's expected that would result in a delay and even more of a contentious confirmation battle.

But Fredricka, at this point unclear exactly which way the president might be leaning, but he certainly has now a wider range of options available to him -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you so much.

HARRIS: After days of living on the edge, Louisiana evacuees are finding food and shelter, hundreds of miles from home. Up next, we'll go live to Houston, Texas, to show you how people are trying to get their lives back on track.

And could Katrina just be a sign of things to come? We'll tell you about an updated hurricane forecast for the fall that's not good news for the U.S. coast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: If you didn't already have a sense of how devastating the power of this storm is...

WHITFIELD: The storm surge, my gosh.

HARRIS: The storm surge, exactly. Take a look at these live pictures out of New Orleans now. Boats tossed around. I hope we get a wider shot of this so you can see just the number of boats we saw just a moment ago, Fred, and hopefully we'll get this picture widened out a bit.

Boats on top of one another, tossed around like children's toys. Just further evidence of just how powerful this storm was when it made landfall, Category 4, those winds well over 100 miles an hour. And now more evidence of what that kind of wind speed can do to everything.

WHITFIELD: Sure.

HARRIS: Boats, buildings, homes.

WHITFIELD: Wind speeds between 155, 165 miles per hour, depending on which indicators and where along the Gulf Coast you're talking about. Storm surges up to 28 feet in some parts.

It is remarkable to see this kind of damage and destruction. And that's on the coast. And we're seeing images of destruction taking place miles inland.

HARRIS: Miles inland.

WHITFIELD: That's how powerful this storm was.

HARRIS: So -- so no surprise when you see the devastation farther inland.

WHITFIELD: There's your wide shot now. HARRIS: There you go. And the thousands of people who are still in that city, in buildings that can't be saved.

But the good news is that so many of those folks have been moved to higher, safer ground. And the first stop for many of those evacuees is Houston, Texas.

CNN's Sean Callebs joins us live now from the Astrodome.

Sean, what can you tell us?

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, Fredricka, certainly no shortage of amazing stories of survival, and now we are hearing firsthand the heart-breaking stories of families that have been disconnected, virtually legions of people every few minutes coming by.

Inside the Astrodome, Houston doing everything it can, very crowded conditions. Yesterday evening, I had a chance to walk through the floor and get a firsthand look at just what the place is like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: This is a close up and personal look at this instant city. Right now inside the Houston Astrodome, as many as 16,000 pods. You can see they're crowded right next to each other, people doing what they can, getting medical supplies or a wheelchair here.

All these cots squeezed basically right next to each other, but if you ask the people, the living conditions so much better than they had to endure in the time Katrina blew through the New Orleans area and immediately thereafter. So many people getting their first meals here, getting back on their feet, getting medical attention.

Now, certainly FEMA and the Red Cross thought they could squeeze as many as 24,000 cots in this cavernous facility. It didn't work out that way. They say this is a plan; it's very fluid. They are adapting.

Of all the thousands of people that had to be brought here from Louisiana, about 3,000 have needed medical attention. About 100 of those have been hospitalized.

But right now a big concern, just because of the situation everybody had been in, and because they're packed so closely together, is the spread of infectious diseases. So emergency workers, medical teams are keeping an eye on that. They say at this point it is not a problem, but it certainly is the kind of thing they are going to be watching for in the immediate future.

If you take all these evacuees together, add them up, this would basically become the size of the city of Beaumont, Texas. There is a tremendous number of people who have been brought here.

But how long they will stay, that is uncertain. Without question, Houston would like to help these people, certainly, get a better quality of life. A number of people have been moved out to apartments and -- and other places around the city, but so many more are going to be here for the immediate future.

In fact, they're expecting hundreds of more people to come here, as well. The Texas governor has mandated that this will be the first stop-off for all of the evacuees who come here from Louisiana. Now, where they end up after that is anybody's guess.

We have talked to so many people, simply traumatized by what they've had to go through over the past several days. So many have vowed that they will never, ever go back to the city of New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And indeed we're seeing that play out here today. So many people taking their first steps, seeing Social Security folks, getting post office boxes here. Many of the 250,000 estimated evacuees here are taking the first steps, Tony and Fredricka, toward making Houston their permanent home.

HARRIS: Sean, a couple of impressions struck me as we were watching that, that wonderful walk and talk through the Astrodome.

First of all, after a couple of days in close quarters with one another, folks tend to get a little edgy. I'm wondering if you've seen any signs of restlessness.

But as soon as I was thinking of that, I saw so many smiles and laughter. I could hear it; I could see it behind you. There was laughter. But I'm curious as to the mood and the spirits of the people in that Astrodome.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a lot of people, Tony -- there's no easy way to say it -- that are simply suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress. And they're having a very difficult time.

They're getting medical attention right now. There are psychiatrists on hand.

But you're exactly right; we're seeing kids playing with toys, something they haven't had for so long. There are nurseries there to give parents somewhat of a break after worrying about the safety of their children for so many days. Now they can give those children -- know they're in safe hands; know the parents are going to get some rest.

But it is agonizing. Almost everybody in there simply doesn't know what they're going to do in the next hour, let alone the next day: where they're going to live, what they have left, if they even need to go back home. There are so many different emotions, really, flowing around here right now.

HARRIS: Sean Callebs for us at the Astrodome in Houston. Sean, that's great reporting, great work. Thank you.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CO-HOST: Everyone has been working around the clock, including the Coast Guard. And the Coast Guard particularly has been trying to rescue the many people who have been left or chose to stay for whatever reasons in New Orleans.

But guess what? They've run up against an unexpected problem, people who are refusing to leave. We'll have that story coming up first.

But first, more messages from families separated by Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATHAN CHAPPOUT, LOOKING FOR AUNT: I'm trying to get a hold of my auntie, who's here in Houston, Charlene Williams, staying with Billy and Jeanetta (ph). I'm at the convention center. Please come and get me. I've been waiting. I'm safe.

MIKE GAUCHE, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: My neighboring is Mike Gauche, and I'm here from New Orleans. I want everybody to know that I am trying to contact Dorothy Hampton. I'm at the George Oral Brown (ph) Convention Center.

YADIRA PAGAN, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: I'm Yadira Pagan, and I'm searching for five of my family members, the Miranda family. Please call us. We're worried, desperately. Thank you.

MARTINE WEBB, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: Hi. My name is Martine Webb. I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana. I'm trying to get out to all my family who I'm missing, like my father and my cousins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: CNN has been trying to help family and friends find and talk to people stranded or missing after Hurricane Katrina. We have set up a victims and relief desk. And Carol Lin is manning that right now -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Fredricka, our crews are on the ground, and they're still making every effort to help people get word out to their missing loved ones. In fact, here are a few people we've been talking to so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD WHITE, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: My name is Arnold White and Jamal Michael Lewis, and we would like to tell you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that we're doing just fine.

LAKEISHA TAYLOR, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: My name is Lakeisha Taylor, and I'm looking for my grandmother, Verlene Baker (ph); my momma, Janelle Taylor (ph); my baby, Juwan Taylor (ph); my little sisters and brothers, and everybody else, Gloria Hayes (ph) and everybody. I just want to tell you that we're safe. We made it, and I hope we find y'all.

STEPHANIE HAYNES, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: Hi. My name is Stephanie Haynes, and I'm looking for Oriental Hayes and Sharon Haynes and Brandon Haynes, and I want them to know I'm all right and I hope they're all right. And God bless them and I love them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: And here is a story that really struck a chord with us. Two elderly twin nuns apparently are refusing to be evacuated from New Orleans. Canice and Canisius Lastrapes are on the second floor of the Sisters of the Holy Family Convent.

Joining me now on the telephone from San Francisco is their niece, Carolyn Samiere.

Carolyn, why was it that the -- that your aunts did not evacuate with the rest of the sisters?

CAROLYN SAMIERE, NUNS' NIECE: Well, we don't know exactly. But our concern is that, perhaps, they were not in a position to make a reasoned decision about evacuation. They being elderly, they may have some diminished capacity to really understand the gravity and the seriousness of this situation.

LIN: Yes. I want to bring you in the loop also, because we've been making some telephone calls to the retreat center, where the rest of the nuns are housed, along with the mother superior.

And the folks there tell me that your aunts refused to leave, that they wanted to take care of their pets, and that, in fact, the Coast Guard had sailed up to the window of the convent, tried to get them out, and they would not go. How do you explain that?

SAMIERE: Well, you know, that should tell everyone that something is going on here that needs to be addressed and certainly they're not the only ones in this situation.

You know, the nuns have experienced hurricanes and floods before. Do they know that city services have been terminated? They don't have access to newspapers. They don't have access to television. You know, we just don't know what their state of mind is.

LIN: Right, right.

SAMIERE: And certainly family members cannot penetrate the city borders. In the usual situation...

LIN: Right. There are checkpoints set up. I know that there are national checkpoints set up. There's a curfew set up. And you're right, I mean, your aunts lead a very cloistered life.

I want to let you know, also, that the mother superior passed a message on to me that it's her understanding that the senator, Mary Landrieu, as well as the archbishop of Louisiana, are actually en route to the convent right now as part of some kind of rescue mission to get your aunts out. They may actually be heading to safety as we speak.

SAMIERE: That would be wonderful if that were the case.

Now, what we also have to establish is some kind of a connection once they're out of the convent.

LIN: Right.

SAMIERE: You know, certainly, it's going to take a long time and great effort to locate -- to find them at their relocation center.

LIN: Right. Well, OK, the relocation center is about two to three hours outside of New Orleans at a place called Pineville. I've got that telephone number. As soon as I get any more information or even confirmation from the senator or the archbishop's offices that this is, in fact, happening, I'm going to let you know, all right?

SAMIERE: Thank you.

LIN: Carolyn, good luck.

SAMIERE: Thank you.

LIN: We hope your aunts hang in there.

SAMIERE: Thanks so much.

LIN: Right here at CNN, you can e-mail us at HurricaneVictims@CNN.com. We have tremendous resources available to you, as well as a list that you can register on to let your families know that you are. So it's all online at CNN.com/HelpCenter.

Tony, we're hoping for the best for those two sisters.

HARRIS: Sure are.

LIN: They've been there for a week now, no power, water, or food.

HARRIS: Fingers crossed, yes, hoping for the best. Thank you, Carol.

The newly revised hurricane forecast doesn't look good for the U.S. coast. Meteorologist Brad Huffines joins us with that and a look at another storm, Brad, churning in the Atlanta?

BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. This is a Hurricane Maria now and it's in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Maria now has winds. When I did this graphic just a few minutes ago, it was 75. Hurricane Center just announced moments ago now this is an 85-mile-an-hour hurricane.

The good news about Maria is it's headed north and northeast toward the shipping channels along the north Atlantic, so for shippers, those on ships, that will be a problem. But we also have two disturbances off the shore line of Florida, near the Bahamas, in and around Katrina's birthplace. There's one there over the Bahamas. There's one to the northeast of the Turks and Caicos, ones that we're concerned about, watching for development. Either of these could possibly become depressions, and they're forecast to move toward the west.

Then after that there's a large area of uncertainty. The movement of these storms could either be to the north across the southeast Atlantic coastline or, possible, into the Gulf of Mexico, if that continues. They're watching these computer models right now, are split on their opinions.

Meanwhile, as this moves towards Florida, there is flood potential for central and south Florida. Remember now, parts of Florida with Katrina's first visit had some rainfall amounts over 30 inches in parts of south Florida.

We're also carefully watching this disturbance. This is in the birthplace of storms like Ivan. Again, watching these four areas, Maria, this disturbance, and these two as they're continuing to move in the Atlantic Ocean.

Now remember, Dr. William Gray, the one from Colorado State University who usually fairly accurately predicts hurricane seasons, his 2005 update for September, five named storms, four hurricanes, and there's a 43 percent chance of an intense hurricane hitting the U.S. this month. And in October his prediction is for another two major hurricanes, and hurricane season doesn't end for another two months.

So the outlook is not the best for the U.S. as far as the larger outlook goes, Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, that is about the last thing we wanted or needed to hear right now.

WHITFIELD: No kidding. And Brad, this typically is -- we're reaching the peak portion of the Atlantic hurricane season, so while it's alarming to hear that, it also in some parts should not be any surprise.

HARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: That the active part of the season is still here around the corner.

HARRIS: And still ahead, the federal government is facing, well, a lot of heat for the way it first responded to Katrina's aftermath. Up next, I'll speak with a representative from FEMA about what is being done today to help Katrina victims get back on their feet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Houston, Texas, is serving as a major hub for storm evacuees; 18,000 alone are holed up in the Astrodome complex. Ed Connelly is a FEMA liaison inside the Reliant Complex at the Astrodome. And Ed, what are the conditions like inside?

ED CONNELLY, FEMA LIAISON: There are more than 15,000 people at the three shelters that we're operating from and more than 200,000 people in the greater Houston area.

I think that the morale has greatly improved since people have arrived. And that's due to the incredible effort that the city and the county and the voluntary agencies working side by side with the state, FEMA and other federal agencies have done.

We're a team. We're working together to do all we can to provide comfort and emergency assistance to the people here.

HARRIS: You know what, Ed, I'm not going to beat up on you. You know, there's a lot of criticism out there of FEMA's response, but you know what? You look to me like one of the worker bees on the ground there.

So let me ask you, if you would, to sort of walk us through the process of what -- what life is like for these evacuees once they arrive at the Astrodome.

All right. I've just gotten off the bus, and at what point -- what happens to me once I get off the bus, and at what point do I come in contact with someone from FEMA?

CONNELLY: Right. The first thing, once people arrive here, is they're greeted. We have an emergency medical team that FEMA has brought in, working side by side with local emergency responders. For those who need special attention, medical care, that's the first priority.

Other people, we want to make sure that they have water, they have meals, they have a cot, and then make sure that we keep families together. That's very important.

After that, we make sure that people are as comfortable as they can be. And then we're beginning the process of working individually with each family to talk to them about federal assistance and how to begin the process of registering for that assistance, and what that assistance entails.

HARRIS: So first and foremost, I am -- I am -- I'm directed to the food and water, and my immediate needs are taken care of?

CONNELLY: Right. Immediate needs first, that's always the top priority in disasters, especially considering the conditions that people have arrived from.

HARRIS: OK.

CONNELLY: So we want to make sure that any medical needs are addressed, and that, of course, food and water and a safe place to sleep is provided.

HARRIS: All right. And moving forward now, Ed, this registration process, this getting into the FEMA system, what do I need to provide once I come off the bus and this registration process begins? Do I need to provide you with some identification? And if I don't have it, what next?

CONNELLY: We understand that people are going to be arriving here with various forms of information. A lot had to leave at the last minute. We're going to work individually with every family. What we ask is their name, your Social Security, basic information.

What it boils down to is, tell us your story, tell us what happened to you, and let's begin working with you and see what sort of assistance we can provide.

HARRIS: And Ed, are you providing folks ultimately with vouchers?

CONNELLY: What we do is we get them into our system. There's such a wide range of federal and state programs. And we try to tailor a package of assistance based on the needs of the family, whether that's housing assistance, disaster, unemployment assistance.

There are just so many different programs, and the needs of each family is going to be different. So the type of assistance really is tailored to try to meet as best as we can those emergency needs of the family.

HARRIS: Do you have cash on hand, I guess is what I'm asking? Do you have cash on hand?

CONNELLY: Yes, we do.

HARRIS: OK. All right. Ed Connelly, thank you very much. Thanks for your time, Ed.

CONNELLY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Hurricane Katrina, it didn't strike New Orleans out of the blue. After all, there was at least two and a half days' notice that it would be a storm of at least Category 4. So why did the federal government seem so surprised by this storm's powerful destruction? "CNN PRESENTS" takes an in depth look at the top of the hour.

And up next, some of America's biggest stars rally around the victims. We'll show you some highlights from last night's special "LARRY KING LIVE."

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HARRIS: And coming up at the top of the hour, "CNN PRESENTS: SUDDEN FURY IN KATRINA'S DEADLY WAKE." We'll bring you an in-depth look at stories of survival and loss from this devastating week along the Gulf Coast.

WHITFIELD: Many hurricane victims survived with only the clothes on their backs, and now they must start rebuilding their lives.

HARRIS: And last night an all-star lineup joined Larry King for a three-hour edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." The purpose, to ask you to help Katrina's victims. Here are some highlights from the emotional broadcast.

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JOHN GOODMAN, ACTOR: A home is a home; a house is a house. A family is fine. It's -- I don't want to be glib, but I can always get new stuff. It's just knowing that everybody is safe.

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SELA WARD, ACTRESS: There is no color. Colorblind is the state of affairs. There are now black people helping white people, white people helping black people. There's an extraordinary outpour of heart and humanity.

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BILL COSBY, COMEDIAN: Nature. Here's a picture of nature: what it can be like, what it can sound like.

Here's a picture of nature and what it can do and what it did. Devastation, frustration, but all very, very for real. Things that people never thought or even dreamt of. It's happened, here in this United States.

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CLAY AIKEN, FORMER "AMERICAN IDOL" RUNNER-UP: The American people were without a doubt the most generous they've ever been when it came to the tsunami. And it's amazing. The American spirit is really amazing.

And knowing that that type of help from the American people helped rebuild areas like Indonesia and Sri Lanka and Thailand, and is going to be able to do that here as long as people step up and support in whatever way they can.

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BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, the American people are never a problem. They're always there when you need them. They're always there. And the rich are, the poor are, the middle class are. We're coming forward.

RICHARD SIMMONS, FITNESS EXPERT: When we rebuild the city of New Orleans, we're going to name something very big after you.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE: Oh, stop.

SIMMONS: I mean that, seriously.

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CELINE DION, SINGER: There's people still there waiting to be rescued, and for me it's not acceptable. I know there's reasons for it. I'm sorry to say I'm being rude, but I don't want to hear those reasons.

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DION: God bless them all.

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WHITFIELD: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. A special edition of "CNN PRESENTS: SUDDEN FURY IN KATRINA'S DEADLY WAKE," starts shortly, but first a look at today's headlines from the devastated Gulf Coast.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com