CNN Late Edition - Transcript
CNN Late Edition - Transcript
Sunday, September 11, 2005
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
BLITZER: All right, Ed, thanks very much. We'll check back with you. And thank the crew for us as well.
There has been no letup in the criticism of the Bush administration's initial hurricane relief response. Concerns are being raised by Democrats and many Republicans alike, especially about the leadership of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its director, Michael Brown.
Joining us now from San Francisco, one of the more vocal critics of the administration's performance, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
Thanks very much, Congresswoman, for joining us. Welcome to "Late Edition."
PELOSI: Thank you, Wolf. Good morning.
BLITZER: Let's get to the issue right at hand. Despite the rather rough start, are you satisfied with what's going on right now, nearly two weeks after this hurricane struck?
PELOSI: I don't know what there is to be satisfied with. I'm certainly in praise of what we just heard from General Honore. It sounds like he's in charge and has the proper respect for the people that he is dealing with.
But before I go there, I just want to say this, Wolf. We all observed at 5:46 our time in California, just earlier this morning, the fourth anniversary of 9/11. When that happened, we promised the families of the 9/11 tragedy that we would get answers for them, and we would make the American people safer. We can't let anything eclipse the sorrow that we have, that we continue to have for what happened on 9/11. But it should have strengthened our resolve to make America safer.
Here we are, four years later, and we did not have real-time communication among first responders. That's something that we can do. It's a decision that was not made. It was made counter to that, rejecting all of the initiatives to fund real-time communication among first responders, which would have been helpful there. There's some issues that relate to what happened before Hurricane Katrina hit. And we can deal with that in an assessment, in a commission, I think an independent commission, that comes next.
But first and foremost, we have to finish this emergency relief. And many of us thought that what happened in the beginning caused a double disaster. First, a natural disaster, and then secondly, a man- made disaster that we are continuing to deal with now.
I'm so pleased that Michael Brown has been relegated to another set of duties. I don't know what they are. And I wish Admiral Allen much success in what he is doing, but there's so much more to be done. We've got to cut the red tape.
BLITZER: Let's specifically talk about what you want the federal government right now to do. Give us one or two things that should be done today, and tomorrow, that, for example, you believe are not being done.
PELOSI: Well, first of all, I think we have to cut the red tape. The Democrats have been saying this for -- since the tragedy struck. We must cut the red tape, so that people can have access to housing, to food, to whatever they are entitled to.
We have to create jobs in the region. Not only in New Orleans, in Mississippi and other regions affected by it, so we would hope that the rebuilding of New Orleans would be indigenous. Instead, we see the administration going down the path of contracting out and bringing others in to do the job. Well, we have to have a balance there, where there's a significant number of people from the region who are getting jobs. Third, we...
BLITZER: I was going to interrupt and say -- because we don't have a lot of time -- but you were among the leadership of the House and Senate that met with the president this week, and you emerged from that meeting suggesting he was really oblivious, I believe that was the word that you used, to what is going on. Give our viewers around the world an example of what impression you had. Why?
PELOSI: Well, I believe that the president was oblivious, because he said, you know, down the road there's plenty of time for us to find out what went wrong and how we can do better in the future.
But the fact is, we're in the middle of the emergency right now. And we were when he was speaking. And I said, that's fine for then. But right now, Mr. President, you must fire Michael Brown. To which he said, "why would I do that?" And I said, because of what didn't go right last week, what went wrong last week, because he's not qualified for the job. He brings no credentials to this important task. This -- FEMA is the link between the people and the government. It is -- it is a weak link, really, in terms of the people that the president has put there. He's made it the employer of last resort.
But anyway, when I said that he should fire Michael Brown because he's unqualified and because of what happened last week, and he said, well, "why would I do that? What didn't go right last week?" I found it necessary to go public to say, in order for us to do what is our responsibility, to meet the needs of the people affected by this, it's all about the people. Put the people first, and their families. That it was important to make sure that the president changed that leadership at FEMA. And I do think that some of the cabinet officers -- secretaries a bit removed from what their responsibilities are as well.
BLITZER: Let me ask you about a comment that Howard Dean, the chairman of your party, the Democratic Party, made to me in an interview on Friday. Listen to what Howard Dean said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: I do not think that this president cares about everybody in America. It's one nice -- I'm sure the president is a nice man on a personal level. His policies have been devastating to middle class and poor people in this country, white, black and brown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Do you agree with Howard Dean that, in his words, the president, this president doesn't care about everybody in America?
PELOSI: Well, I certainly think that the president -- I simply have to believe that the president cares about every person in America. I do agree that his policies are very hurtful to the middle class and to many people in our country. And I believe that his policies, his budget priority policies were hurtful to preventing some of the damage that happened in the Gulf Coast states.
But let's get on the positive side. A tragedy of this kind brings out the best in the American people, all of the American people. I was in Houston on Friday and saw something so remarkable. I don't know what other city in America could have risen to the occasion the way Houston did. Mayor White at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Judge Eckels, the commissioner for Harris County, Representative Noriega (ph). They did incredible work receiving hundreds of thousands of people coming from the affected area. It was an absolute blessing, again, to our country.
And I think everyone in America is concerned about this, concerned about every person. They're also concerned about how the tax dollar is spent. And that's why some of us have called for an anti-fraud commission to review the way -- the way contracts are given out, and to avoid price gouging, to avoid paying the price at the pump for consumers around America because of mistakes made following Katrina.
BLITZER: We're almost out of time.
But a final question on this, the investigation, the congressional investigation. Congress has a significant oversight responsibility, as you well know. The Republican leadership in the House and the Senate have called for a bipartisan, a bicameral committee to investigate and sort of solidify, consolidate the congressional role in all of this. If that was good enough for the Watergate investigation, why isn't it good enough for this investigation, in addition to a separate presidential commission that might be appointed down the road?
PELOSI: Well, I believe that what we saw on 9/11 was a good model for how we go forth. The 9/11 Commission was bipartisan, was non-partisan. It had the confidence of the American people. It went out there to do the investigation. Its report was a best-seller in our country. Its recommendations have in many cases been implemented by the Congress. And I think that serves as a better model. And so, that's why I would go that way.
I'm afraid of what the Republicans put together, why they call it bipartisan, it's their own creature, and I am afraid it will result in a whitewash.
Wolf, there is one other point I want to make, a different subject, but you discussed it with General Honore, and that is, if the National Guard troops were home, would it have been better in terms of the emergency relief. Another point to be made is, when these National Guardsmen went to Iraq, they took with them not only their own expertise -- many of them are first responders, or health providers and the rest -- but they also took some of the best equipment. They took helicopters, they took generators, they took communication equipment.
And that ends me up where I began, which is communication is vital here. Hopefully it took us two tragedies to learn, but we have to establish our priorities, where we can communicate with each other so that we can lessen the death toll, the loss of livelihood, housing and the rest.
I think we could have done better. I think America deserves better. I think the American people obviously better than we are in terms of keeping the focus on the people who are affected. That's our responsibility. They should hold us to that test.
BLITZER: Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. Thanks for joining us on "Late Edition."
PELOSI: Thank you, Wolf. My pleasure.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/11/le.01.html