tv America the Courts CSPAN August 28, 2010 7:00pm-8:00pm EDT
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that your special brands you have been developing. over the past couple years, with the economic downturn, advertising, how has it been affected? guest: so far, what is sustaining as is here we are at the national cable television association and there is a robust 10 3 million paying customers in america. -- 103 million paying customers in america. that stream of revenue is what allows us to develop some many really wonderful, high-quality programs. the other thing and are radar is the question of whether that model will remain -- on our radar is the question of whether that model will remain. will they continue to subscribe? ultimately, as we get revenue
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from both, i think cable is still in a growth mode. i will say there will be a limit. on an individual basis, when i put a television show on the air, no matter how high the ratings, i cannot pay for it with advertising. fundamentally, on an advertising-only basis, a channel like fx loses money on every program that it puts on air. why do we make so many really good programs that cost so much? we do it so that we have some unique value propositions for our consumers who are paying a portion of their subscriber fees. right now, that is working well. there is a diminishing set of returns. i just calculated for "justify" what the net financial implications of dvr are that one show. it is about $6 million for that one show over one season. we are still a very profitable business. it is still eminently worthwhile to put these shows on the air.
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a lot of people watched them. that is what brands fx. it has a unique value. i wish we were getting the revenue. we're getting the eyeballs, but not the commercial revenue. >> when you make reference to a monthly subscription fees, that is a continual debate in washington, d.c. every so often, the solution is allowing people to personalize their menu and only pay for what they what to watch -- want to watch. would your counsel be about that solution? -- what would your counsel be about that solution? >> i think what gets lost in that debate is the profusion of high-quality television that has developed in america over the past 20 years. people are paying for the service that they used to get for free. when they used to get it for free, they had a choice of three
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networks, later four, and local channels. if you look at the sheer volume and range of high-quality, original program available -- original programming available, it is 10 times what it was 20 years ago. american consumers would not be happy if the profusion of value and quality went down. this ecosystem is sustaining an incredible explosion of high- quality programming. one of the reasons that is happening is that there are so many challenge that are in nearly 100 million homes, so you have a very large number of channels. they are widely distributed. each of them can pay for excellent sports programming and excellent news and public affairs programming, excellent reality programming, documentaries, quality, theatrical feature films, ceres, original series.
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if you diminish the number of networks in that, you would radically diminish the number of networks that could sustain that programming. the american consumer would not be happy. >> we go back to reading a product that people want to have. in having these high-profile series, what is the right way to brand as a series for the network and individually? >> i understand. i think one of the things that cable is able to do. fx is in about 97 million homes. that is a large agenda and it is widely distributed. we do not have to reach everybody in every home with the same sort of broad brush that a broadcast network has to. what that allows us to do -- and
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i think many channels have taken this leeway and run with it in positive ways -- it allows us to pursue a specific brand sensibility. in coming back to your question, artistic license and greed of freedom are important parts of that sensibility -- and creative freedom are important parts of that sensibility. what will people between the ages of 2 and 80 and men and women of all ages think of this choice? we do not have to go through that brought a sensibility. we can say -- broad of a sensibility. we can say, this person has a unique vision and specific story for character is pure energized by that vision. it entertains us. it moves us.
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it asks interesting questions. larger amount of creative freedom. that is one of the reason that the marketplace is so vibrant. you often hear that this is the golden age of television drama. ask yourself why. the answer is because not only our broadcast networks making very broad-ewing dramas that appeal to broad swaths of the public -- broad-viewing dramas that appeal to broad swaths of the public, but you have basic cable networks like fx and tnt and usa also going after very high-quality offerings. what we tried to do from an fx standpoint is occupy a unique space in the landscape. we often ask ourselves, on
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whatever channel, how do we get someone to change the channel and come find us? the networks are 2, 4, 7. we are 248. we have to offer something extraordinary and extremely original. we have to have a specific sensibility, a specific brand that can be communicated to the consumer over and over again, so that the people who are not aligned with us -- we program to men, women, adults of all ages from 18 to 80. people that come to our channel want something a little bit riskier and a little bit more artistically risky and original. as the space that we occupy. fortunately, we do not have to be in all things to all people. >> what is your hd philosophy?
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>> we have purchased a lot of theatrical films. the last two years, we have bought 11 of the 20 largest box- office titles in america. it is important to be able to offer those movies -- "iron hd. and "avatar" i-- in as hd sets roll out, and the capacity to receive programming -- we started with a very small portion of our programming in hd and now most of it is in hd. "it's always sunny in philadelphia" -- it's an original comedy we are producing. it's in hd. >> we have talked to an executive from showtime to
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explain that they have moved off producing movies because there is so much competition in that space. -- purchasing movies because there is so much competition in that space. perspective? >> we think the bill -- some people want to consume movies over and over again. one reason the box office is doing so well is because there is very little piracy. if you want the theatrical experience, you have to get in a 6-week or 7-week period. after that, there are a variety of ways you can purchase the film. there are various paid services. what we offer an is the exclusive window to watch the film free in a commercial- supported context. what we find is that no matter
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how many movies you put in an alphanumeric bin -- 15,000 movies, a very large offering from netflix -- there are a lot of times when an individual or family does not want to say, let's start watching the movie and watch it from the beginning to the end. what genre? let's look through the movies alphabetically. let's figure out which one we want. by the way, i have to go to bed. i will pause this halfway through the movie. with a comeback tamara and finished -- we will come back tomorrow and finish it. you come home, you turn on the tv, you ask yourself what is on. you know you want to watch local news at 10:00, or you have to be in bed at 10:00.
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you join the movie in progress. you are glad it will be over at 10:00 or 11:00. nothing that we of seen in all the other consumption windows has done anything -- we have seen in all of the other consumption windows has done anything to change this free, advertising-supported window. as long as we have this offering, we'll feel confident that the ratings will hold up well and we will do well with that strategy. >> you sound very bullish about linear programming, even as there is more diversification and was among the consumers. -- and the choice among consumers. >> younger people consume television differently than older people. they are more likely -- partially because they may have grown up with a snap your -- with napster and other illegal
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means of acquiring a musical content -- acquiring musical content -- now that has continued to television. they are willing to spend time to find content, load it into these devices, and watch it outside of television. older people -- i fall into this category -- have the habit of sitting down and watching the tv. as younger people age -- when you are young, you do not have that much money and you have a lot of time. as you get older, you have more money and less time. nothing is as convenient as a subscription to cable television and having it all there with a really good interface. my question is, will these young people who have a different pattern for consuming media revert more to the pattern that their parents use as they get
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older, when they have less money and more time and want the convenience? or will week as an industry continue to have to shift radically and terms of how we deliver media to them? anecdotally, as much as people want content when and where they want it on any screen they want -- from a portable device, a computer, television -- an awful lot of people seem to want to sit down in front of the tv, turn it on, and see what is on then. we see all of these things that are nibbling away at the linear ratings. obviously dvr is one of them. there is fragmentation. one person's fragmentation is another person's proliferation of choice. there is more consumption of video delivered over the internet. there are people consuming
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through netflix. we have then -- a xbox connected to netflix. the primary motive still remains -- turn on the tv. it is the same proposition. we have to provide value to the consumer. we have to provide them with an experience that makes them want to invite as into their home, take their free time and devote it to our channel. if we continue to do that, we think we will be a viable and vibrant business well into the future. >> that sounds like a good closing. thank you very much for being with us on quotie communicators -- "communicators." >> if you are interested in seeing more of this, go to our web site -- website.
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>> we are now coming up to a generation that did not have much art growing up. i am very concerned about that group of people. it is not clear to me when they get to be older that they will come to the arts. >> michael kaiser heads the kennedy center for the performing arts. he will talk about struggling performing arts organizations and the future of the arts in the west on c-span's "q&a." >> yesterday, i signed a declaration for the state of emergency in louisiana. i signed a disaster declaration for the state of mississippi. >> as we mark the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina, look back at the response to the crisis. it is online at the c-span library. washington, your way. >> now, a conversation on the state of the levees in new
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orleans five years after hurricane katrina. from today's "washington journal," this is about 45 minutes. host: joining us from new orleans is karen durham- aguilera, the task force hope leader for the army corps of engineers. guest: thanks for inviting me here today. this reduction system we are building for greater new orleans and the surrounding parishes, i oversee the program and look at the budgeting aspects. one of the things i enjoy the most is the tremendous stakeholder engagement between our levee authorities and the
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public in louisiana and the parishes. especially the public, they are so involved in what we did and did give us a lot of help with input and solutions. host: how would you tell someone the difference between the levee system now and five years ago? guest: five years ago, we did not know as much as we know today. there is a task force of levees and stations and flood walls. and maximum probable storm. there is a storm -- it was a landfall. it was something no one had ever thought of. a surge of over 32 feet. before katrina, it was the one form that happened in the past. now almost 150 storms with the
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numerous tracks anywhere from a 25 year to a 5000 year frequency. we look at all of those storms and the possible ways they can come on land. then we estimates the consequences of the storm. that is what we design for today. the work we are building, its dramatic example is around the eastern part of the system. we have a new wall with a difference in height and magnitude. we are not in the same universe anymore when it comes to the practices with how we deal with this complete system. >> if you want to talk to our guest this morning and ask questions about the system in
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new orleans, call the numbers at the bottom of your screen. earlier this week on our show, we spoke with a governor who is with the center for national policy about the same levee system. he has some critiques. listen to what he had to say in response to it. >> the maintenance has improved. it is still only prepared for a one in 100 years storm. the reality is there should be a 300 years storm. we are talking category three. one thing people do not realize is as big as katrina was at the last minute, new orleans did not take a direct hit. the system still fails.
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we were talking about a much more direct it. we do not know how well the levies will work. host: will they hold up for a direct hit? caller: they will. what was a huge lesson for katrina and to the corps engineers and those that work on these things is you cannot relate the size of the storm by the wind speed. let me give you an example. at landfall, katrina was category three by wind speed, but the search it brought in was bigger by hurricane camille which was category five. one of the things we do now that we did not do with katrina is of all the different possibilities that the hurricane could hit the gulf coast, there were
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literally 63,000 combinations. we do know the difference raise that water can come into this. host: when you talk about the modeling, have some criticize the type used to develop how these levies would be rebuilt? caller: this was done with external peer review. there were numerous people involved all around the country. we as people from other nations, united kingdom, canada, the netherlands. the design criteria is dramatically different from what we used to do in the past. not only do we have a system we are building today, but higher level reduction throughout the gulf coast. this is truly a state of the art way we have gone about it.
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we can always learn more. we design for a 50 year rise. this area has a huge record with different rates in different areas. we factor all of that in. we also have different factors of safety to account for different combinations that could overtop the system. host: what has changed in five years in terms of the bedrock? caller: the engineering criteria we have used for the dirt to make the curtain of levees. -- earthen levees. rick are building this over the navigation canal -- we are
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building this over the navigation canal. have in new structures to give you structural strength. [unintelligible] several new things compared to the way it was designed before. there are areas with stabilization techniques in areas that had difficulties with the soil. this is a way of stabilizing the soil in place and take some of the water out that we build upon. another thing we have done is probably the largest operation in the world where we bring in a mix that will stabilize the soil there and use recycled material
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for levies. in the mississippi river, where they intersect, the hurricane system, we have some projects for stabilization. we know it can stand up to heavy conditions. host: she is the task force coast director of the army corps of engineers. we have some lines that you can call at the bottom of your screen. there is a line set aside for new orleans residents. fort worth, texas, you are up first. caller: thanks for taking my call. my comment is hurricane katrina,
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this happens over five years ago, mississippi, alabama, and all of these other states affected have moved on. i do not understand why louisiana is having such a difficult time. the government did give them money, like a $30 million. they took that money and build a casino instead of using it for buses. while this is going on, i was seeing on the news, people running around stealing tvs and everything else while this was going on. host: we are talking about the levy system. do you have a question about that? caller: no, i think they should move on from it. host: you have talked about the
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timeframe of these products involved. louisiana was much harder hit than other areas. some of the work has 30 started. i have been here for almost four years. working at the brooklyn institute and the kaiser foundation, it shows that residents have and optimism and feel they are confident about the work. that is the overhaul in the education system but also with the hurricane system. as far as the time frame, the first thing we did was repair the existing levy system. that was completed june 2006. we also put in interim pumps so
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that we could keep water from coming in and around firm is concentrating in the city. we continue to make improvements on that. that work stands today. it will be 2014 before we have construction on a permanent placement. the other time frame was developing a new design structure. it takes time to run different hydraulic systems and design around it. then figuring out the overall cost of the system, doing the estimate and trying to get the appropriation from the administration. the other thing we have had to do is -- we had to know what type of soil we were dealing with. what i think about the size of this construction program, it is
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60% of the panama canal, to give a perspective of it. an incredible amount of work has been done in a short time. having the right teams, construction contractors, engineers, all of these factors you work with is what -- as well as our public partners. small businesses and large businesses -- a team is working seven days a week. some contractors working 2 shifts, 20 hours a day. an incredible amount of construction program in a short time. host: our next caller is from colorado on our republican line. caller: good morning. i am from a huge indian reservation. there are issues in the past where undocumented workers
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apparently have a priority for jobs. have a mechanism for they wanted equal opportunity for everyone there. guest: we spend a lot of time on the industry days with small and large businesses. a veteran zone. we have awarded billions to small businesses. overall that is 30% of the structural work -- construction work. as far as a question, as far as
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court engineers, we have all of them adhering to federal law. we also have people working out here for the designers as well. >> as far as a completion date, when should this be completed by? guest: congress did mandate to this. our goal is to have a system in place by next year. there are other parts of this program that have improvements to the pump stations. kermit, construction, interior drainage. there is -- permanent pump construction, interior drainage. host: fayetteville, north carolina caller:.
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a. >> how has the war in iraq affected the corps of engineers? some members of the national guard was in afghanistan during the time of katrina. the technology was less than what we have now. the corps of engineers has really been affected. guest: people do not realize the u.s. corps -- u.s. army corps of engineers the ploy is people. i was deployed in iraq and i was over st. the reconstruction of the schools and electricity and water treatment plants.
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-- overseeing the construction of the schools and the electricity and water treatment plant. we have a lot of people their right now. it has affected us, but in a good way. we have used the way we do large construction programs to thousands of construction and design activities. many deployed and come back home to louisiana and apply some of the things we have learned from over here. rhee really believe in public service. that is why we deploy civilians along with our military.
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we tried to apply those programs here at home. host: washington, d.c. good morning. caller: thanks for your service. there were a couple of questions raised at the book signing of kathleen cooke the other night. one was, a charge that the core and the partners had billed the levees are and they are sounder and more strong than the ninth war. i was like to get a response to that. -- ninth ward. i'd like to get a response to that. can you make a contrast or comparison america protecting new orleans from hurricanes and
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the dutch from certain storms? guest: i will do the best i can. our engineering criteria is regardless of what perish we work in. one thing we learned from katrina is it is only as good as the weak link. everything connects. the criteria is consistent. we often are criticized on our levy's i did not have a problem with katrina, why do you not have the same standards? we know we need an improvement in standards. the second thing is -- i will talk about the dutch connection first. a couple of days ago, the system
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in the netherlands was just completed. it took them 57 years. we are hoping to beat the record by 52 years. the second thing is we have a lot of people on our team from the netherlands. these conditions in louisiana are much stronger storms. that is a pretty good description. the maximum storm surge was 11 feet. there was a surge of 12 feet. there is no comparison in the search. those types of conditions, they do not have that same level of
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protection across the country in the netherlands. the level of this consistently applied across -- as far as i know, there is no lessening of standards to where we work. host: next caller. caller: i am an engineer from arizona. 30 years have maintained the structural rights up to a few years ago when i closed my office. i am doing consulting for litt haïtian. i spent a year and a half down at hurricane katrina. flying back and forth every week in doing reports.
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we have probably done 300 or 400 reports of all types of residential construction. my concerns are a little bit different than knowing the history and studying the history of the flood walls involved in state governments and falling the corps of engineers in the federal government. is pushed tot's louisiana, we are basically never used for flood walls, but bureaucratic things and also the airport. the basic problem that she is
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going to have and does not address is that even though they do these concrete systems, toward the airport side, there are areas that probably will not be brought up at all. after talking with consultants in the area, if they have the same level hurricane 3 more lanes, they claim it will not have much left. guest: i will talk about the part that involves the army corps of engineers. we were putting in a system around the perimeter that includes the west bank and intersections with a certain parishes. there is a connection around the perimeter that is out near the airport.
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it is on the other side of the river as well. the hurricane system that started out was incomplete. that was due to a very low level of funding as well as not a sense of urgency from everybody. that program was only 30% complete. it was only 60% complete on the other side. even though we are not finished, it is better. it is as well as some of the outlying areas in surrounding parishes. host: linda, thanks for waiting. go ahead. caller: i grew up on an island. there was a lot of damage done during a hurricane.
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after time, the spirit in people want to work. i want to know, have businesses that were damaged been destroyed so that people can go back to work? i understand that $20 billion was sent to another country to make batteries for the united states, when we need jobs here. why can't those batteries be made here? that is an example. host: as far as the way you went about building this, what questions did you ask yourself going into this? what kind of information did you have to take in as far as redesigning? guest: one thing about the
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contributions to the area, many indirect jobs of people in the field for us. there is a huge economic boom that is part of the hurricane recovery. to get back to your question, we have 18 with a review of over a hundred 52 members. they did the engineering and they did risk analysis as well as what i talked about earlier in terms of the fleet of storms that they had to deal with. we had to get out into a
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complete physical of the area. all of the pieces in the ground is what we needed to build. we had to apply the design criteria to that. the engineering characteristics of the soil, all of the difference heights that exists here -- one thing that is interesting is a graph from the '70s. what is high ground and then it is high ground now. they were clustered around the french quarter. but those outlying areas were marshlands. it was saved up with people and a very good system with conveniences that carried water
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out of the system to the lake. we also learned a different way to do this through and out -- throughout the entire metropolitan area. one house did not a flood during katrina. they found a natural way on higher ground to deal with it. we learned host: what is happening as far as the neighborhood's where the of levies are being rebuilt? guest: it depends where you go. there is one active area where they put everything back the way it was. if you go out too late to you, there has been a tremendous boom in the building. people are elevating their homes. it is a mixed bag as you go out to some of the other areas like
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saint bernard and the ninth board. --ward. there are areas of new orleans that are still vibrant. this will be reported by the brookings institute and the kaiser institute. there are a lot of differences. i was reading comment the other day by a man who bought house on the 17th straight canal. he did that because he felt confident in what was being put in the ground now compared to before. that is a measure of the choices people are making. host: are democrats line, go ahead caller: i would like to say first that i am from new orleans. i have been back several times since the storm. [unintelligible]
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i think it is redesigned to withstand another katrina if it comes to that. i think you all are doing a great job. guest: i appreciate your call. we are putting in a system that is resilience to buffet a storm. if it is a bigot of storm, the system will stay there. -- if it is another big storm, the system will stay there. we appreciate you coming back and forth to new orleans. host: our guest is with us for another 10 minutes, are democrats line is next. caller: how are you doing? my brothers ex-wife came from louisiana, from the orleans. i used to go there and i am 45 years old. wife -- i used to go visit her in the 1980's and
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1990's. i always noticed that the bodies in the cemeteries were injured above ground. i was not surprised at the disaster that when katrina hit because a lot of people would tell me back in the 1990's and 1980's that we buried the bodies above ground because the water level here is like 6 feet under the ground. new orleans was built by french engineers hundreds of years ago. what percentage of the damage to the city was due to the water level being so close to the surface? caller: the water level is very close to the surface. many times you will hear that new orleans is below sea level. part of it is below sea level. compared to the midwest, you will not seek homes with basements because of the water level being so close.
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if you go to the cemeteries, the tombs are above ground. as far as the damage that was done by katrina, there are numerous aspects of that. there is engineering and forensic reports that have been issued. there is a hurricane decision committee that performs real forensics. all the decisions that were made by federal, state, and local governments that led to the state of an incomplete system when katrina hit. the damage done by katrina beside there was a big problem with lateral fo facilitate. that is why we change the way we go about constructing levees. we have t-walls that have a large basis for stability and are sitting on piles and can go down as much as 200 feet to
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counteract a storm surge coming in. host: one question of e-mailed -- what were the levees not examined for all the problems before 2005? what about refurbishing the marshlands and the hurricane protection? caller: let me answer the second question first. we have multiple lines of defense. there's a structural solution. non-structural was things like elevating homes and evacuation plans and choosing areas that will not be developed. there is the environmental part. along with the state of louisiana, we're working on marshland restoration as part of the areas we build across the lake. we had over 700 acres of marshland to be re-marriage. we have created 25,000 actors of
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new marshlands. there is a lot of work to do in that area. we have more work to do by the end of the year. as far as the first question, there was a rigorous system of construction but also the inspection. what was done for katrina was not done enough. we have the inspection system of the work and the marsh system had to come afterwards and that is dramatically different. that was the lesson that was learned across the lesson. states like louisiana, california and so forth have a very robust inspection systems of completed work that did not exist prior to katrina so people can get a better understanding about these levees and so forth react across time. host: conn, independent line, go ahead. caller: i want to thank your guest or her service to the country. all the money that the corps of engineer received from the
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federal government, how much is going toward the development of the levees and dikes in new orleans and the restoration project? guest: the corps of engineer's civil works program is roughly $5.5 billion per year. the construction piece of that is about $2 billion per year. the recovery act added an additional $4 billion to the program for operation and maintenance of our dams and our flood damage reduction structures and another $2 billion for construction. the program for greater new orleans which is both the 100- year system as well as work in the outlying areas and an improvement to the interior features is about $15 billion. that means it is over three times what their normal program is for the nation. as far as the coastal system
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restoration, there have been ongoing programs in louisiana for quite some time. we are hoping to be able to increase that with the engineering studies we are trying to complete by the end of this year. host: new orleans, go ahead. caller: 50 t-wall --if the t- wall areas -- i was in new orleans east and i was told that that area that flooded and we got between nine and 12 feet of water. guest: if you live in new orleans east, you would be now inside the perimeter of the new 100-year risk reduction system. when you go outside the perimeter, there is a two-fold
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levee system. there is the the river levees and as you, and further into the greater new orleans area, there is a hurricane system. some things we are doing is part of the program is to bring the non-federal levees into the federal levee system. that means using new design criteria. we will make those levees higher and broader and stronger. we are also looking at where the mississippi river levees and that tributaries system intercepts by hurricane system and to make improvements for that. there is the factor of the amount of surface that can come up a river during a hurricane. we have two projects going on right now where the mississippi river levees may cover consistent. host: port arthur, texas, on our independent line, go ahead. caller: i am impressed with what you are doing in new orleans.
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bridge city is next to stored to a spirit -- is next door to us. our seawall has cracks in the but the city does not have a sea wall. what is the possibility of having a levee built here by -- like what your doing in new orleans? guest: as far as texas, there are improvement projects that are being looked at throughout texas as a result of hurricane ike. right now, i don't know the status or if those projects will be funded. i can tell you that they are being looked at to improve what is in that area. host: what is the manpower like in new orleans? guest: are we able to get sufficient labor? host: i am more interested in how many people are involved guest: there are thousands of people involved record team on the ground as over 1000 people. because the project is so big,
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we are using people across the corps of army engineers across the nation. we have the work force of our architects/engineers to design this. the construction work is being done by a construction agency. we don't even count all the people who are helping from afar. host: do you coordinate with federal offices? guest: absolutely. we have numerous interaction with our other parts of the federal government. we have exercises with fema so we are ready of another hurricane should hit. that involves the coast guard and the local responders, fema, the american red cross. there is a federal, state, and other agency habitat evaluation team. they are working together and all of the coastal and ecosystem restoration.
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that will include non- governmental organizations. they help with solutions on improving the ecosystem i have worked in a lot of places around the country as well as overseas. i have never seen the amount of engagement both inside the federal government, with state governments, and especially with the public that we have here in louisiana. host: on our republican line, from port st. lucie. caller: how is the elevator industry keeping the machines working there, how is that
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monitoring? there is a night -- there is a high level of usage and break down because of the rusting that occurs in the ropes on the elevators. guest: that is way outside the work of the army corps of engineer is doing. i cannot answer your question, sorry. host: jerry, on our democrats line, go ahead. caller: i appreciate her expertise. i know you know what you are doing. for the outlying parrish's like the one i live in, and that water has to be diverted somewhere. are you doing anything to help
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the places that do not have levees like where i m. am? places without levies -- are you diverting the water? guest: first, we completed a project to improve the levees in tarribone and there is an environmental aspect of that that is going on now. we have improvements in grand island most of that is done before everybody was hit with the oil spill. we have work that we will have under way in the venice area and others. all the areas i just mentioned right now are outside the authorized reduction. we are making numerous improvements to the levees. there are additional engineering studies on going.
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there are divergent structures and certain ones we talked about. these are studies we are trying to get completed by the end of this year. this is so congress can appropriate the funds and start them together with the state of louisiana. there is a lot happening here and there is more to follow. host: as far as the time line of finishing next year, what is the next major milestone that comes up as far as this project is concerned? calle guest: we are building two-miles of the new t-walls that need to be complete. we have the last surge gate to be completed. that will be along the western and cloture complex. we have the titans on the eastern part of the system. we will have improvements where
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the causeway that goes across lake pontchartrain will be on the south side. there is more to do. we are pretty amazed by the progress we have made and we will continue to make. it is a good place to be right now. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," we mark the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina with allison plyer. you talked about local education system with shannon jones -- we will talk about the local education system with shannon jones. also, prof. steve striffler will discuss demographic changes. discuss demographic changes. that
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