Jackson Free Press

Biloxi, Mississippi
12:15 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: (In progress) -- I'm proud of -- (inaudible) -- the
governor and the senators because, in spite of this terrible tragedy,
their spirits are high. It's hard to describe the devastation that we
have just walked through. I just talked to a fellow who was raised in a
house that used to be, and he's got rubble surrounding him, and I said,
"Are you doing all right," and he said, "I'm doing fine, I'm alive, and
my mother is alive." I talked to a fellow who runs a wrecking service
-- I think it's a wrecking service. He said, "I witnessed Camille. We
went through Camille, and we'll go through this storm, Katrina."

You know, there's a lot of sadness, of course. But there's also a
spirit here in Mississippi that is uplifting. I want to thank the
governor for his strong leadership. He set some clear parameters, and
has followed through on helping calm everybody's nerves. I want to
thank the mayor. Neither of them asked for this when they got elected.
Now they're called upon to help solve the problem.

And I've come down here, one, to take a look at the damage first hand.
And I'm telling you, it's worse than imaginable. And, secondly, to tell
the good people of this part of the world that the federal government is
going to help. Our first job is to save life. And earlier today, I had
a chance to meet with some chopper drivers, guys dangling off of cables
that are pulling people out of harm's way. And I want to thank them for
their hard work.

We're going to stabilize the situation, and then get food and medicine
and water. I traveled today with the head of the Red Cross and the
Salvation Army, and people here are going to see compassion pour in
here. There's a lot of folks in America that want to help. If you want
to help, give cash to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. We can ask
for other help later on, but right now we need to get food and clothes
and medicine to the people. And we'll do so. And one of the main
delivery systems will be the armies of compassion.

We're going to clean all this mess up. The federal government is going
to -- will spend money to clean it up. The first down payment will be
signed tonight by me as a result of the good work of the Senate and the
House, $10.5 billion. But that's just the beginning. But the people
have got to understand that out of this rubble is going to come a new
Biloxi, Mississippi. It's hard to envision it right now. When you're
standing amidst all that rubble, it's hard to think about a new city.
But when you talk to folks that have been through Camille and have seen
what happens, and you listen to the spirit of people, you realize, Mr.
Mayor, that after a lot of hard work, people are going to be -- people
will be proud of the effort. And I want to thank you for your
leadership here. And Haley, I want to thank you for yours.

Again, I want to thank Trent and Thad. They're going to be very
important members of the -- they are important members of the Senate,
and they're going to be an important part of this -- making sure that we
fund this recovery effort.

I'll answer a couple of questions, then I'm going to go.

Q Mr. President, -- (inaudible) -- vastness of the destruction?

THE PRESIDENT: I don't think anybody can be prepared for the vastness
of this destruction. You can look at a picture, but until you sit on
that doorstep of a house that used to be, or stand by the rubble, you
just can't imagine it.

And we took a low -- we took a low chopper ride from here -- to here,
and we're going to take it on over to New Orleans here. And the
destruction is unbelievable. And it's destruction on the coast, and
it's destruction off the coast. And we've got a lot of work to do.

Terry.

Q One of the things you hear is people saying a lot of resources are
being devoted to Iraq, now this country needs them. And they're
frustrated about that. What do you say to the people who say, there's
too much money being spent on Iraq and it's time to bring them home?

THE PRESIDENT: I just completely disagree. We've got a job to defend
this country and the war on terror, and we've got a job to bring aid and
comfort to the people of the Gulf Coast, and we'll do both. We've got
plenty of resources to do both.

Somebody questioned me the other day about -- do we have enough National
Guard troops? Of course we do. These governors have got compacts with
other states. If they need to call upon another state, the state will
send Guard troops. And the people have just got to know, we've got what
it takes to do more than one thing, and we'll secure our country from
the terrorists, and we'll help rebuild this part of the world.

Q This morning, when you said the results are not acceptable, what
specifically were you talking about?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm talking about the fact that we don't have
enough security in New Orleans yet. Results are acceptable here in
Mississippi. You know, the results are acceptable in New Orleans when
it comes to the hard work of the Coast Guard. But we need to get troops
-- we had 1,200 troops arrive yesterday, I'm told. We're going to have
1,200 today, 1,200 more. These are troops especially trained for
military police work. They need to get in there. They need to
stabilize that situation. They need to make sure that the food and
medicine that is in place is given to the people that need the food and
medicine.

I got a good report today about food and medicine getting to people that
weren't getting it, but we'll find out if it's true when we get to New
Orleans.

You know, this is a huge task that we're dealing with. And our jobs, as
people in positions of responsibility, is not to be satisfied until the
job is done as good as it can possibly be done. And that's what I was
referring to. I'm certainly not denigrating the efforts of anybody.
But the results can be better in New Orleans. And I intend to work with
the folks to make it better.

And again, in Mississippi, we've got a different situation. We've got a
Guard that is in place, activated. Haley made some clear rules and is
following through on them. But the task, in both places, the tasks are
enormous. And it's going to take a while. This is -- our fellow
citizens must understand that we're talking years. Now, we're not
talking years to get people rescued, we're talking days. And we're not
talking years to get infrastructure back up here. We're talking weeks
to get the electricity running.

I got some good news on the pipeline, the Colonial Pipeline. We thought
it would be at 47 percent, at least I was briefed that yesterday. I'm
told it's going to be significantly more than that, which is good news.
It means that one of the problem areas that Haley was talking to me
about is how -- and the Mayor -- was how do you get fuel to these
communities. And obviously, the more fuel going through pipelines, the
more fuel will be available not only here in the affected areas, but up
and down the Southeast of the country.

And, listen, we're going to have a problem this weekend when it comes to
gasoline, just like they've got a problem here. But we're addressing
it. We're -- the EPA suspended rules so that we could use -- which
attracted -- suspended rules for types of gasoline which attracted fuel
from overseas. That's good. We're swapping oil out of the SPRO. We're
making sure that there's oil to be processed in the refineries. They're
working hard to get these ports open.

Trent was telling me that we got to get that port of Pascagoula open so
we can get ships of foreign crude oil to the refinery. And we're -- we
just got a lot of work to do. The good news is we know what we're going
to do, and we're going to get it done.

Jennifer.

Q Sir, you talk about fixing what's wrong and you talk about the
results not being acceptable, but there are a lot of people wondering
why you weren't fixing the problems yesterday or the day before, and why
the richest country on Earth can't get food and water to those people
that need it?

THE PRESIDENT: The levees broke on Tuesday in New Orleans. On
Wednesday, we -- and Thursday we started evacuating people. A lot of
people have left that city. A lot of people have been pulled out on
buses. It's -- I am satisfied with the response. I'm not satisfied
with all the results. They started pulling people off roofs
immediately. They started rallying -- we started rallying choppers to
get people off rooftops, started savings lives. I mean, thousands of
peoples' lives have been saved immediately, and that's good news.

This is one of the worst storms in our nation's history. New Orleans
got hit by two storms, one the hurricane, and then the flood. And it's
going to take a monumental effort to continue moving forward, but we
will. And this is a nation that has done a lot of big things before,
and this is going to be one of the biggest, which is to recover from one
of the worst storms, if not the worst storm. Haley called it the worst,
I'm calling it one of the worst storms in the nation's history.

Yes.

Q Mr. President, thank you for coming. We appreciate it very much.
There's a need for immediate housing and long-term housing. Many people
right now have no shelter, and on top of that, many people do not have
flood insurance. They never expected a tidal surge of this magnitude.
What can you say about housing efforts?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. The -- FEMA will be providing
a lot of temporary housing. And that's one of the responsibilities that
FEMA assumes, to find shelter for people.

And in terms of the longer term, the government has got the capacity to
make low-interest loans and help businesses get back going. And there
will be a -- again, once the situation gets stabilized, there will be
the appropriate authorities here to start passing out the forms
necessary for people to apply for the relief and the help they can get.
But the federal government will be providing the temporary housing.

Q Mr. President, I realize the first priority is, obviously, saving
lives. But let me ask you about long-term planning in New Orleans.
There are some who are starting to say that since we're going to be
spending billions in tax dollars to rebuild that great city, that we
might want to think about building it in such a way where it's not below
sea level again, whether it's somehow moved around or relocated or moved
up. What are your thoughts on that?

THE PRESIDENT: My thoughts are, we're going to get somebody who knows
what they're talking about when it comes to rebuilding cities. I'm
going to delegate. I'm going to call upon the best experts, starting
with the people of New Orleans, and get opinions as we work with the
local folks. We're going to help people rebuild, Stretch. That's what
we're going to do. And we're going to listen to people who know what
they're doing.

But my objective now, of course, is to save lives and get people out of
New Orleans, and then -- and make sure that those who are out of New
Orleans and in New Orleans get food and help, just like in Mississippi.
Mississippi people have got to understand that I know a lot of the focus
is on New Orleans, but I'm thinking about Mississippi, as well. I'm not
only thinking about coastal Mississippi, I'm thinking about rural
Mississippi, places in this part of the state that are remote and don't
have electricity. And they just got to know that the governor talked to
me about it, and I listened very carefully about the problems facing
these good folks. And one of the things we're going to concentrate on
is getting these -- getting these electric plants up and running and
getting the power to the people so that they can have the electricity
necessary to live a more normal life.

It's -- these are tough times. This is a storm the likes of which, you
know, I pray I never see again. It's the like -- it's a storm the likes
of which the people who have been through Camille, they said, you know,
Camille was terrible; we're never going to see anything like Camille
again. Camille was in '69. And a guy said, you know, we felt safe here
in this part of the neighborhood because Camille didn't hit it. And
sure enough, we witnessed a storm worse than Camille.

And again, I want to thank all the people that are working hard. You --
we've seen line crews, we've seen firefighters from around the country.
People around here are going to be amazed at the compassion that pours
into this community. First things first, we've got to make them safe.

Mr. Mayor, again, thank you for your hospitality, thank you for your
compassion.

MAYOR HOLLOWAY: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Governor, thanks for your leadership.

GOVERNOR BARBOUR: Thanks for your help.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.

Previous Comments

ID

134178

Comment

The Grand Pork Chop, Haley the Barbourian just had an interesting exchange on TV media conference at around 4:45pm. A reporter asked him to comment on suggestions that the national guard and troop resources now in Iraq could be better used in Mississippi and New Orleans. Angrily, Barbour said "who are you with?" Reporter: National Public Radio [I think]. Barbour: "That's what I thought." Then he went on to say that the only people mentioning Iraq in the context of the hurricane are reporters. Hmmm. I heard LOTs of folks saying that the immorally slow response of the feds may be due in part to most of our national guard being in Iraq . . . Never forget: they let babies die of thirst in New Orleans. I have lots more to say about our generous, hard-charging man of the People, Haley Barbour. Let's let him have his own special thread? By the way, an important thing to remember is that the feds declared Mississippi and Louisiana disaster areas BEFORE Katrina hit. So why did Blanco and Nagin have to beg over and over for federal help?? Notice that Haley the Barbourian never asked for federal help. He has his lips permanently pressed to Bush's arse, and told George today how helpful he's been to the poor people of the gulf coast. But according to MSNBC and the Biloxi Sun Herald- the calvary had NOT arrived even yet. NO sign of government representatives ALL WEEK, said a Biloxi police officer TODAY.

Author

Towanda

Date

2005-09-02T17:14:21-06:00

ID

134179

Comment

Towwwaaannnnnddddaaaa, please stop the name-calling. I just don't have time to do a lot of deleting and moving the TrollBlog right now. Give the info and criticize if you want, but please don't call people names. That said, unbelievable comments you're repeating. What is this: "Who are you with?" thing? Hell, Newt Gingrich is criticizing the president today. Good Lord. I'm tired of all this messinger-shooting for mistakes that our public officials are making.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-02T17:18:57-06:00

ID

134180

Comment

Hmmm. Now Trent Lott is on CNN telling Anderson Cooper that only reporters are asking about national guard not available due to Iraq. Anderson Cooper said that is not true at all, that he has had gulf coast survivors ask that question. Where are the national guard troops? When are they coming? Is it because they're in Iraq? Sounds like this is the republican sound bite: "Only reporters are asking that question . . ." Also, our great senator said he is happy with the federal response so far. CNN's Anderson Cooper is doing a fabulous job asking questions- good, tough questions, and Lott thinks answering tough questions are beneath him. Lott, Barbour, are too big for their britches! People are suffering. Ooo, Trent is mad at his questions. Frankly, says Trent, there are too many press conferences . . .

Author

Towanda

Date

2005-09-02T17:27:06-06:00

ID

134181

Comment

I didn't even curse, "arse" is not offensive. How about "behind." "tush"? I tried . . .

Author

Towanda

Date

2005-09-02T17:28:49-06:00

ID

134182

Comment

oh , Did you mean "pork chop"? or " the Barbourian?" jeez, Donna, this is America? He is a pork chop? How much did Barbour GIVE to Northrup Grumman, total, and how many Mississippians have they laid off since getting the money. Sounds like pork . . . sounds worse than that actually.

Author

Towanda

Date

2005-09-02T17:32:34-06:00

ID

134183

Comment

Folks are buzzing about this right now: Kanye West's unscripted remarks on the NBC disaster relief program/concern tonight: MIKE MEYERS: (READING TELEPROMPTER) With the breach of three levees protecting the New Orleans, the landscape of the city has changed dramatically, tragically and perhaps irreversibly. There's now over 25 feet of water where there were once city streets and thriving neighborhoods. KANYE WEST: (CLEARLY OFF SCRIPT AND EMOTIONAL) I hate the way they portray us in the media. We see a black family, it says "They're looting." You see a white family, it says "They're looking for food." And you know... it's been five days... because most of the people are black... and even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite, because I've tried to turn away from the T.. TV because it's too hard to watch... I'd even been shopping before I'd even given a donation, so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what's... see what is the biggest amount I can give, and... and... Just to imagine if I was... if I was down there... and those are... those are my people down there... So anybody out there... that wants to do anything that we can help... with the setup... the way America is setup to help the poor... the black people... the less well off... as slow as possible... I mean this is... Red Cross is doing everything they can... We already realized a lot of the people that could help are at war, fighting another way... and they... they... they've given them permission to go down and shoot us. MIKE MEYERS: (BACK TO PROMPTER) And subtle but in many ways even more profoundly devastating is the lasting damage to the survivor's will to rebuild and remain in the area. The destruction of the spirit of the people of Southern Louisiana and Mississippi may end up being the most tragic loss of all. KANYE WEST: George Bush doesn't care about black people. Cut to a confused Chris Tucker.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-02T19:20:45-06:00

ID

134184

Comment

Times-Picayune is reporting: Gov. Kathleen Blanco Friday night called on President Bush to order the expeditious return to the state of the 256th Brigade Combat team of the National Guard which is now serving in Iraq because they are needed in Hurricane Katrina cleanup and rescue efforts. The unit, based in Lafayette, is expected to be phased out of Iraq and return to the state in the coming weeks. ìThey are urgently needed needed here at home,íí Blanco said. She told Bush that the unit is needed to become ìpart of the recovery efforts in their home state.íí Blanco also called on Bush to have military officials set up another base for humanitarian relief in Baton Rouge. The only one that is now in operation is in Pineville in central Louisiana. She also asked for communications assistance for governmental agencies, including radios with higher capacity, 25 more frequencies and 1,000 additional portable radios. ìI want aerial and ground firefighting support to address the growing danger of fire,íí Blanco told Bush in the two-page letter. She also asked for a more military trucks and other vehicles as well as 175 generators and additional fuel.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-02T19:56:41-06:00

ID

134185

Comment

I just heard the head of Mississippi's national guard on FOX cable news. He said that this will be the second night they are going without sleep, working on getting diesel fuel to trucks trying to bring food into the gulf coast. Why does it take two days to get fuel to trucks? Why don't they have more soldiers helping? This is a failure in leadership by Barbour, and I think he is far too "detached" to be a governor in charge of the public welfare, in charge of lives. Do you really think that Haley Barbour would even think of letting his child go without medical care, water? Then why should others go without when it is not necessary? Why should others die for lack of help when it is not necessary? This is immoral. This is deliberate indifference. There are still thousands of people in New Orleans tonight, still waiting for rescue. Do you think that Barbour and Bush saw what we saw on television Tuesday night? The elderly dying? The babies needing water? The people in tears, begging for help? Why weren't they moved like you and me? Why weren't they moved to help? Remember the Good Samaritan? Remember Jesus's words, "I thirst." Then Wednesday night, do you think George W. Bush and Haley Barbour knew, like you and I knew, that the people were still begging, and that bodies were floating in the water? Did they hear Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin begging for help? What were Bush's thoughts when he saw the suffering and heard the pleas for help? The people in the open, in the hot sun, on overpasses with no water. The diabetics with no insulin. There was no security on day three. Little girls were raped by roving thugs. Nagin begged for help. A man in New Orleans told a reporter yesterday, "I saw two babies die of dehydration today. I can't take it any more." Then yesterday, the Sun Herald, signed by every member of the editorial board, said they don't have water, medicine, ice in Biloxi. Tonight on WAPT, a man interviewed in Biloxi was crying because he said they don't have water, ice. Yet Barbour said we have all the help we need. Today Trent Lott told Anderson Cooper on CNN that he is happy with the federal response. A friend in Baton Rouge called tonight. She voted for Bush last year. She said she wishes this were an election year. He would be gone. Thank God for the Congressional Black Caucus speaking out today. Finally some leadership calling it for what it is - miserable failure of George W. Bush. And I add Haley Barbour to that condemnation. Criminal neglect. Deliberate Indifference. Hold them accountable.

Author

Towanda

Date

2005-09-02T21:24:54-06:00

ID

134186

Comment

Towanda, I heard that comment by Barbour (he repeated it so many times I got sick of hearing it). Then he went on to say that Trent Lott's house was gone, that he lost everything. I'm not going to comment on that and how it sounded compared to what others have lost, but I thought it was interesting, hearing this on PBS and hearing the interviews with people that they followed up with. A couple of them mentioned that they thought the soldiers could be doing a lot more good here than in Iraq. Plain ole people with country accents who have spent the last few days in hell on earth, not reporters.

Author

C.W.

Date

2005-09-02T21:52:19-06:00