Actually, it is interesting that we here almost exclusively about helping New Orleans.
This storm devestated three states, and about the only place we here complaining about FEMA is New Orleans.
New Orleans actually came through the hurricane relatively intact. If the brand-new retaining wall on the canal had not collapsed (THERE IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED), the dome people would have been going home tuesday afternoon.
It was the rising floodwaters a day after the storm was over that caused the major problems. And even the mayor said he didn't know it was happening right away.
If FEMA was the problem, we would here these tragic reports from all the states. We don't.
If there had never been a hurricane, and that wall had collapsed the way it did, the situation in New Orleans would probably have been 10 times WORSE than it is, because there would have been no evacuation ahead of time, no warning.
That may be the real story. A terrorist could have sailed a single mid-sized barge up against that wall, blown it up, and probably killed a hundred thosand people in rising floodwaters, and caused billions of dollars of damage.
After days of bickering, Governor Blanco said that she and FEMA are a team now. And now after a second meeting that nearly didn't happen, Governor Blanco also says that she and the president have patched things up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Governor Kathleen Blanco and the former FEMA director, James Lee Witt, join us this morning.
Nice to see you.
Governor Blanco, let's begin with you.
Do you think the president was trying to snub you with that meeting yesterday? I mean, I heard from your spokespeople that you didn't even know about that meeting until you made the call. You saw it on CNN, apparently.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: Well, in the heat of battle a lot of things happen. And we feel like we're in the heat of battle.
That having been said, we had a great day together. The president came in, and we believe that he's solidly behind our efforts without a doubt.
S. O'BRIEN: Solidly behind your efforts, although there's been much written about kind of a power tussle between the two of you. Specifically, the mayor was telling us about a flight on Air Force One. And he said that you and he and the president were all in a room, and finally you and the president went separately to have a meeting.
Listen to what the mayor told us, ma'am, if you will.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: He called me in, in that office, after that. And he said, "Mr. Mayor, I offered two options to the governor." I said -- I don't remember exactly what -- two options.
I was ready to move today. The governor said she needed 24 hours to make a decision.
S. O'BRIEN: Twenty-four hours. Is that right? Was that what came out of that meeting on the tarmac with the president?
BLANCO: Soledad, the mayor was not in my meeting. And it was -- I'll tell you, it was a meeting that did not affect what was going on out in the field.
They were talking about paper organizations, nothing else. Nothing more. And they gave me a very complicated proposition to look at.
It didn't help our effort in that instant moment. I needed a little time to understand exactly what it meant.
We went forward, all of us. All the resources were there. Nothing stopped. We ended up coming to terms and agreements. And I think that the effort's going great.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming to terms, meaning that you rejected after that 24-hour window, that you didn't have any interest in federalizing the troops or turning power over to the president. Why not hand it over, Madame Governor, when the first five days -- and I think that meeting was on Friday, so the first several days of the recovery were clearly disastrous?
BLANCO: The first five days of the recovery were heroic. We had -- we were the people who took control.
The National Guard took control of the city, brought order out of chaos, because we have law enforcement authority. The federal troops do not. I was very concerned about giving up law enforcement authority.
S. O'BRIEN: Heroic, but by a very small number of people who were on the ground. In fact, I believe it was Friday morning when I was talking to the FEMA director, who had only just seen that there were tens of thousands of people at the convention center. So at least by Thursday, let's say the first four days, those people at the convention center were actually not getting anything. If it was not coordinated...
BLANCO: Soledad...
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, ma'am?
BLANCO: Soledad, the mayor and I were both asking for the same thing. We wanted troops, we wanted food, we wanted water, we wanted helicopters. We asked for that early in the week.
I asked for everything that we had available from the federal government. I got it from the National Guard. I got as much as possible. And the federal effort was just a little slow in coming.
I can't understand why. You know, those are questions that are yet to be answered.