Michael "No Clue" Chertoff discusses US aid effort being criticized in New Orleans

HEADLINE: Michael Chertoff discusses US aid effort being criticized in New Orleans

Conditions and public order continue to deteriorate in New Orleans today. Looting and violence spread. Evacuation efforts moved slowly. Four days after Hurricane Katrina people were still being plucked from rooftops. Officials reported little progress in plugging the damaged levees and flood walls. President Bush has proposed $10 billion for the flooded city and parts of the Gulf Coast hit by the storm. Congress will return to Washington from summer break to approve it.

Heavily armed National Guard were evacuating people out of the squalid conditions of the Superdome. They were boarding buses for the Astrodome in Houston. But it emerged that people stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center about eight blocks away were in more than dire straits. We'll have more on that in a moment.

Earlier we spoke with Michael Chertoff, Homeland Secretary secretary, who's overseeing the recovery operation. I asked him what a Louisiana official told one of our reporters that there are just not enough National Guard on the scene and that this is a federal disaster, not a local one.

Secretary MICHAEL CHERTOFF (Department of Homeland Security): In fact, there is a significant National Guard presence not only in Louisiana but in New Orleans, and it's getting bigger every day. Let me tell that, as we speak, there are approximately 7,400 National Guard working on this in Louisiana; of those, there are 2,800 in New Orleans itself. Today, tomorrow and the next day we're going to be adding 1,400 additional Guard every single day. In addition, we are bringing federal and local law enforcement authorities from Louisiana and other parts of the country to supplement. There is, I think, going to be more than adequate--and there is a more than adequate--law enforcement presence in New Orleans.

SIEGEL: Let me ask you about images that many Americans are seeing today and hearing about. They are from the convention center in New Orleans. A CNN reporter has described thousands of people, he says, many of them--you see them in the pictures, mothers with babies--in the streets, no food, corpses and human waste. Our reporter John Burnett has seen the same things. How many days before your operation finds these people, brings them at least food, water, medical supplies, if not gets them out of there?

Sec. CHERTOFF: Well, first let me tell you there have been deliveries of food, water and medical supplies to the Superdome, and that's happened almost from the very beginning.

SIEGEL: But this is the convention center. These are people who are not allowed inside the Superdome.

Sec. CHERTOFF: Well, but, you know, there have been--we have brought this to the Superdome. There are stations in which we have put water and food and medical supplies. The limiting factor here has not been that we don't have enough supplies. The factor is that we really had a double catastrophe. We not only had a hurricane; we had a second catastrophe, which was a flood. That flood made parts of the city very difficult to get through. If you can't get through the city, you can't deliver supplies. So we have, in fact, using heroic efforts, been getting food and water to distribution centers, to places where people can get them.

SIEGEL: But if those people who haven't gotten them--if they ask our reporter, `When am I going to see those supplies? When does it get to me?'--what's the answer? How many days until it reaches them?

Sec. CHERTOFF: I think the answer is that we are as much as humanly possible--given the fact that we still have feet of water that have not drained out of the city yet, we are moving those foods and supplies as quickly as possible. People need to get to areas that are designated for them to stage for purposes of evacuation. We're contending with the force of Mother Nature and...

SIEGEL: But--and what is your sense? I'm trying--I mean, by the weekend do you expect that everybody in New Orleans will have some kind of food and water delivered by this operation?

Sec. CHERTOFF: I would expect that--unless people are trapped in isolated places that we can't get to, I would expect that everybody's going to have access to food and water and medical care. The key is to get people to staging areas. There are some people who are stranded but who are not in imminent danger. They are not people that we're going to necessarily rescue immediately. We're going to try to them, you know, food and water, so they can sustain themselves until we can pick them up.

SIEGEL: We are hearing from our reporter--and he's on another line right now--thousands of people at the convention center in New Orleans with no food, zero.

Sec. CHERTOFF: As I say, I'm telling you that we are getting food and water to areas where people are staging. And, you know, the one thing about an episode like this is if you talk to someone and you get a rumor or you get someone's anecdotal version of something, I think it's dangerous to extrapolate it all over the place. The limitation here on getting food and water to people is the condition on the ground. And as soon as we can physically move through the ground with these assets, we're going to do that. So...

SIEGEL: But, Mr. Secretary, when you say that there is--we shouldn't listen to rumors, these are things coming from reporters who have not only covered many, many other hurricanes; they've covered wars and refugee camps. These aren't rumors. They're seeing thousands of people there.

Sec. CHERTOFF: Well, I would be--actually I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water. I can tell you that I know specifically the Superdome, which was the designated staging area for a large number of evacuees, does have food and water. I know we have teams putting food and water out at other designated evacuation areas. So, you know, this isn't--and we've got plenty of food and water if we can get it out to people. And that is the effort we're undertaking.

SIEGEL: Just like to ask you, there is said to have been a report in, I think, 2001 which listed a catastrophic hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three worst potential disasters the country could face. As someone who inherited FEMA and who came to this obviously with 9/11 being the preoccupation that faced us all, have you had a plan somewhere in an office near yours that says, `Huge hurricane hits New Orleans. Here's what we do in case of that catastrophe'?

Sec. CHERTOFF: FEMA has plans for all foreseeable catastrophes. They've had plans for this kind of catastrophe, and they've exercised and worked on these plans. Recognizing this was a possibility over the weekend, we prepositioned an unprecedented amount of food and water and ice. This mandatory evacuation was ordered and begun. But at the end of the day, as with any titanic struggle with nature, a plan only gets you so far in the face of the reality of struggling with miles of cities that are under water.

SIEGEL: And our reporter said 2,000 people at the convention center without anything.

Sec. CHERTOFF: You know, Mr. Siegel, I can't argue with you about what your reporter tells you. I can only tell you that we are getting water and food and other supplies to people where we have them staged, where we can find them, where we can get it to them. And, you know, if you're suggesting to me your--that somehow the National Guard missed a group of people, I will certainly call up and make sure they don't miss them. But I'm not in a position to argue with you about what your reporter is telling us.

SIEGEL: That's Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, who spoke with us this afternoon.

Chertoff and Brown both had a tin ear when it came to understanding the political ramifications of what was going on.

Yes. But even without specifics he did not take a leadership role and oversee the organization and control of the entire disaster. He couldn't even take control of this interview.

People here are reacting to idiots in the typical het-Bush media and their stupid comments. My reasosn for seeing things this way are from being here at FR way back on the 30th and knowing that the entire city was being destroyed.

Chertoff and Brown never seemed to understand this and did not communicate the situation, even after two days, such as in this interview.

The leader needs to be as far ahead of the game as possible. Indeed he says in this interview they have plans for everything. But he does not ever even mention what is happening in terms of total destruction and total evacuation asap. Nor does he address the serious problem of armed thugs thwarting rescue other than to deny it, essentially.

This is supposed to be the top official for security in the event of an attack, or in this case a natural disaster, but he was reactive, not ahead stating the plan that has to be done over the course of given time periods.

Thanks for your response. It is obvious that there was a communications breakdown. But I still fail to see why something being mentioned on Joe Scarborough is something that should have "piqued the interest and attention" of the Sec of DHS (something mentioned almost in passing if you read the entire transcript of the show). What else was suppose to be done. DHS and FEMA had no police authority.The bus evacuation had already began, and that is what lead to the rapid increase in the number of people at the Convention Center. Not trying to be argumentative, just really trying to understand.

Thursday At around 10 a.m., the anger among many of those cooped up in the Superdome -- many of whom had been there since Sunday -- had hit the boiling point. Driven outside by the unspeakable stench, chaos and general misery inside, a sea of refugees filled up the wide apron between the Dome and the New Orleans Centre, through which they would have to pass to get to buses waiting to take them to Houston.
[snip] A few blocks closer to the Mississippi River, hordes of other refugees hoofed it to the convention center, hoping to catch a ride on buses staging there. Others tried to thumb rides, and others were breaking into cars, some of them in downtown parking garages, hoping to steal one. The feeling of anarchy was unmistakable as the desperation mounted. Some police acknowledged that the situation had gotten out of hand. One law enforcement officer who was bringing a canister of ammo said: "The problem is, they let those thugs get the best of them. Everyone says they want law and order, but they don't want no one's head getting cracked."

Times-Picayune

Here is where Bush stood up and stated the results are not acceptable and it marked a turning point:

_____

PRESIDENT BUSH HOLDS MEDIA AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING
CABINET MEETING

SEPTEMBER 2, 2005

SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

BUSH: Secretary Chertoff and I just finished a meeting with Secretary Rumsfeld, General Myers, other members of my Cabinet, as well as General Honore, Admiral Keating, in charge of NORTHCOM -- General Honore is active duty general on the ground in Louisiana -- and Mike Brown, who's the head of FEMA.

There's a lot of aid surging toward those who have been affected: millions of gallons of water, millions of tons of food. Making progress about pulling people out of the Superdome.

There's an issue right now at the convention center of New Orleans that General Honore briefed us on, trying to get food and medicine to the convention center.

Working with the governor and the adjutant general and the mayor to deploy 600 of the newly arrived MPs to secure the site so that the food and medicine and water can get in there.

BUSH: A lot of people working hard to help those who've been affected. And I want to thank the people for their efforts. The results are not acceptable.

I'm heading down there right now. I'm looking forward to talking to the people on the ground.

I want to assure the people of the affected areas and this country that we'll deploy the assets necessary to get the situation under control, to get the help to the people who've been affected, and that we're beginning long-term planning to help those who have been displaced, as well as long-term planning to help rebuild the communities that have been affected.

I'm looking forward to my trip down there and looking forward to thanking those on the ground and looking forward to assure people that we'll get on top of this situation and we're going to help people who need help.

Thank you. That's it.

END

>> "The results are not acceptable" <<

You said in an earlier post that "President Bush stood up and said they were slow." I asked you when he said that, and to provide a link. The above statement could mean anything. For example, it could mean "things could be a lot better if that stupid governor was not so obstructive; but I am too nice a guy to say that". We all know the President has extraordinary manners.

One point the FEMA bashers have been using is the belief that the Convention Center 'crisis' was reported a day or two before FEMA was notified. That may be an urban myth. See:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1479002/posts?page=39#39

We may have spoiled FEMA with the excellent capabilities of our governor, Jeb Bush. But there is absolutely no excuse for the locals' failure in NOLA. Local govts are the key to the way our system of response is set up. If we want to change things and take control away from the locals, we will have to look to a soviet form of govt to set up a new system. I hate socialistic govt and worry about one developing in this country far more than I worry about a category 5 hurricane, and I live in Florida.

Well said, waryone. Nice refutation of the hand wringers and naysayers. ;)

I'm sorry for what has happened to your area. I have relatives who live in New Orleans. Now many of them live with other family members in Georgia. They are not happy with their situation, but even they know that the main problem in New Orleans was not FEMA.

As I've already said, FEMA is not perfect, but they have to have something to work with. Louisiana has given them very little to work with and has in some cases hindered their work and the work of other relief organizations. It's unfortunate that so many of those whose duty was to protect you failed.

I think it is also unfortunate that New Orleans has taken on the position of squeaky wheel and is now getting much of FEMA's attention. Alabama and especially Mississippi were also hit hard, but due to the monumental failure of Louisiana, those other states have to suffer now.

When Andrew, a category 5 hurricane, hit south Florida 13 years ago, FEMA was even slower than they are today. They have improved quite a bit since then and the four hurricanes we suffered, including the cat 4 in Punta Gorda and Ivan in the Pan handle, were a challenge for FEMA. But they had help from the ground level. We worked together -- FEMA with state, county and city emergency mgt teams. There were communications difficulties and logistics concerns, but we locals did a lot of work taking care of those. Our law enforcement performed above and beyond what was required and everyone helped his neighbor. We are still working to rebuild in many areas, but for the most part, we have recovered.

We have a tropical storm sitting off our coast right now which is all par for the course down here this time of year.

I know it looks bad when you are sitting in the middle of it. But I am glad that you are alive and able to participate here on Free Republic. May God bless you. You and your neighbors are in our prayers.

Your need to make things up is telling.

His problem was not micromanaging. It was not macromanaging.

In this interview he stated ludicrous things, such as calling rescuers so they don't overlook people ("I will certainly call up and make sure they don't miss them") -- that is classic micromanaging. His job is not to micromanage but to be on top of the entire situation, lead and direct.

He provided no leadership or perspective, was reactive and a step behind, not at the fore as someone who claims that "FEMA has plans for all foreseeable catastrophes" ought to have been.

President Bush stated the response was not acceptable after his meeting with Chertoff and Brown and others on the 2nd. Bush is currently stating:

What I intend to do is to lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong. And I'll tell you why: It's very important for us to understand the relationship between the federal government, the state government and the local government when it comes to a major catastrophe.

And the reason it's important is that we still live in an unsettled world. We want to make sure that we can respond properly if there's a WMD attack or another major storm.
-- from yesterday's post Cabinet meeting comments.

I am in agreement with the President and share his reasons for concern.

But I still fail to see why something being mentioned on Joe Scarborough is something that should have "piqued the interest and attention" of the Sec of DHS (something mentioned almost in passing if you read the entire transcript of the show).

It was not only mentioned on Joe Scarborough. There werr other media reports on Tuedsday, August 31 about the chaos at the convention center. The police were also aware of it having sent people there in an attempt to quell the violence and restore order, (see posts #94 and #95). DHS and FEMA should have people monitoring the MSM on a continuing basis.

What else was suppose to be done. DHS and FEMA had no police authority.The bus evacuation had already began, and that is what lead to the rapid increase in the number of people at the Convention Center. Not trying to be argumentative, just really trying to understand.

They should have done what was accomplished on Friday and Saturday, i.e., the mass evacuation of 20,000 people via helos and buses. They could have lanced the boil before it got blown way out of proportion by the MSM. At the very least, they should have inserted more troops to restore order at both places as well as on the overpass near the Superdome.

Chertoff and Brown had a tin ear when it came to PR. The President and Honore had to intercede publicly to show that the operation was back on track and they were in charge. Honore's eight mile convoy entering the city on Friday provided the image that the cavalry was there to save the day. The President's return trip to the area in the space of a few days reinforced that perception. Rumsfeld, Gen Myers, Condi, and other Cabinet members followed suit. Somettimes, perception is more important than reality.

Not sure about Brown, but Chertoff is most certainly NOT the type Hillary would appoint.

Chertoff was Republican counsel to the Senate Whitewater committee, so she definitely would not pick him personally!

Mike Chertoff is a brilliant man, and a man of integrity. I might agree that he doesn't have the confidence-inspiring "face" the sheep-like public seem to need in a disaster, like Rudolph Giuliani's; but he is an extremely capable man.

Hillary would never appoint a Chertoff. She'd more likely pick a Craig Livingstone.

And btw, Mike Brown is not the total incompetent the media is portraying him to be, either. He had much experience in a lower position in FEMA before he was appointed to be head.

And it is a media lie that Brown was a "college roommate" of former FEMA head, Joe Albaugh.

I heard Albaugh himself say on the Laura Ingraham program that not only were he and Brown NOT roommates, but they weren't even in college together.

Ahem. You said right off the top of the thread:

[Chertoff said]"And, you know, if you're suggesting to me your--that somehow the National Guard missed a group of people, I will certainly call up and make sure they don't miss them. But I'm not in a position to argue with you about what your reporter is telling us."

Missed a few people? He'll make a call, tell them not to miss Joe Smith on Elm street.

Chertoff had no clue -- none. His job and only job is to know such things. (emphasis added)

So you say on the one hand he was supposed to know "such things", and now you say he shouldn't? I'm sure it makes sense to you, but to me it sure sounds like someone shootin' the sheriff 'cause the deputy let the horse thief get away.

Of course Chertoff must take responsibility and lead. I think that is what he's doing. You obviously are in a tizzy over his press performance...I don't let that bother me too much. If at all.

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