CNN Late Edition - Transcript
CNN Late Edition - Transcript
Sunday, September 4, 2005
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BLITZER: Ed Lavandera is at the Louis Armstrong Airport for us.
Thank you very much, Ed. We will be checking back with you.
One of the key questions to emerge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is what role race and class may have played in the government's initial response. Lots of debate on this issue right now.
Thousands of the storm's displaced victims in Louisiana and Mississippi are African-American. Many are also very, very poor.
Joining us now to talk about that and much more is the ranking Democrat of the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi.
Congressman Thompson, welcome to "Late Edition." I wish we were speaking under different circumstances, but give us your immediate reaction to the way the federal government responded to Hurricane Katrina.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Well, I don't think there's any question, Wolf. It was too little too late. The initial response was very slow, very inadequate, and it basically said from a planning standpoint that we missed the mark.
BLITZER: Why did that happen? I know there's going to be a lot of investigations down the road, a lot of finger-pointing. But in your initial thoughts -- and you've studied this for some time now as a member of this committee -- why do you think the federal government was caught flat-footed?
THOMPSON: Well, it's twofold. One is, you know, we merged FEMA with the Department of Homeland Security. For a long time, it was a freestanding agency with the freedom to respond accordingly without politics.
The other thing is, with the shift on the war on terrorism, the domestic preparedness effort for situations like Katrina took a back seat. And so what you have in New Orleans and Mississippi is clearly what happens when domestic preparedness takes a second seat.
BLITZER: Listen to what Kanye West, the artist, said the other night on NBC at a fund raiser for relief victims. I'll read it to you, and I want your reaction.
"I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family -- it says they are looting. You see a white family -- it says they are looking for food. And you know, it has been five days because most of the people are black. George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Controversial remarks, but I'm anxious for your reaction.
THOMPSON: Well, I think the response from FEMA and the United States government was slow. I've heard that from a number of people, not just Cornell West.
BLITZER: That was Kanye West, not Cornell West -- Kanye West.
THOMPSON: Oh, OK. Well, I've heard it from a number of people.
The real problem associated with this is why did it take four days to amass the kind of response necessary to deal with the situation? We have all the assets necessary to do this.
We could have staged them in an area and said, as soon as the storm leaves we can move forward and assess this situation in a better matter. If CNN can get its news crews into New Orleans and Biloxi and Gulfport in a timely manner, why can't we get the assets of FEMA and the United States government there to help the people?
BLITZER: And what's the answer? THOMPSON: Well, we failed on that test, so what we have to do is continue to support the men and women in the rescue, to make sure that we get people out. But at the end of the day, somebody has to be held accountable. The president was absolutely correct. FEMA and DHS failed in its adequate response to this dilemma.
BLITZER: Listen to what your colleague in the Congressional Black Caucus, the immediate past chairman, Elijah Cummings, said earlier this week on Friday here in Washington.
He said, "We cannot allow it to be said by history that the difference between those who lived and those who died in this great storm and flood of 2005 was nothing more than the poverty, age or skin color."
You know, a lot of people believe that if this had hit another area -- at least the accusation is -- perhaps the federal government would have been more attuned, would have been better prepared.
THOMPSON: Well, all the records indicated that every time we've had such a disaster as Katrina we've responded in a far superior manner than we responded in this point. So, Congressmen Cummings and my colleagues on the Congressional Black Caucus are absolutely correct.
That does not take away from the men and women who responded. We just did not respond in enough fashion to deal with the situation, so what we're having to do now -- we're moving assets into a situation that should have been there five days ago and that's why we are in such a dilemma and I think people are absolutely proper to be incensed at how we've done.
The president was absolutely correct. He had to take control of the situation from his own people to get the assets into the area necessary.
BLITZER: We're going to have to leave it there. Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, good luck to you. Good luck to all your friends in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. I appreciate it very much.
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