good evening, i am tavis smiley. we continue our look at new orleans five years after hurricane katrina and the story of one family's struggle to survive. i traveled to new orleans with an oscar winner for the look at lives of those affected. we introduce you to the adbulrahman zeitoun family. he helped to rescue fellow neighbors, but he was locked up by authorities for almost a month suspected of being a terrorist. they tell their story in their own words. our look at new orleans after katrina coming up. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james.

>> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports tavis smiley. tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy. nationwide is on your side. >> and contributions from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: when hurricane katrina began to enveloped northlands, a fisherman named adbulrahman zeitoun went into action. he grabbed his canoe and began

rescuing neighbors. because of his ethnic origin, he was detained and held for almost a month after the storm. i began my visit by asking him to recount the details of the approaching storm five years ago. the family is all together as the storm is approaching. give me an understanding of the process a husband and wife go through trying to figure out what their strategy will be. every family had decisions to make about what they were going to do. bring me inside this house as the storm was approaching and what your decision making process was. >> they call them storms in his country but we phrase them as hurricanes.

i did not want to take the chance of having my children here. my children come first. at the last minute we decided we were going to leave. we did not really pack anything. the kids brought one outfit of clothing. t tavis: why did you decide to leave? >> we are used to this kind of weather. with my experience -- i have plenty worse than katrina. tavis: because you had seen worse you were not afraid of what was to come. >> by the late -- i believe [unintelligible] tavis: days later you are still

here and the water has come into the city. how high? >> [unintelligible] we only have a few broken glass. we don't have too many damages. i called my wife and said you can come back. i take my canoe outside. i go one block out and i saw a few trees down. when i come home i call my wife and said the water is going lower. you have to get up very early and i see the sun shine in my house and i hear the water around the house. and i hear water under the

house and i see the water coming. i called my white saying you need to find some place for the kids. when i saw the water come and it came to my head. [unintelligible] i see the water coming and the levee broke. tavis: explain how it felt when your husband calls you one day and said it is not so bad, come home. 24 hours later he says get the kids in the school, it will be a long time before you get home. >> i said we are going home and told them we would leave the next day. the second phone call i got about the levy. he told me the water was

already to the bottom of a stop sign. i am trying to imagine how high that water is in my house. i started to panic, but said you need to get out of there. he said i can wait and see what i can do. just tough it out and we will play it by ear. i did want him out of there. tavis: at that point with the water is rising people were on top of buildings. any person with a canoe is sought after. >> when i left my house i don't see anything yet. [unintelligible]

maybe three blocks away and he is outside with his wife. he said do you have a cigarette? i said i don't smoke. what is going on? tavis: he is about to drown and once a cigarette. >> there is no place open for cigarettes. i keep going to where i am going. i saw an old man sitting on the porch with his wife. tavis: how many people can you hold. >> two or three. it is easy to flip. tavis: but for folks in decent shape you were rescuing them. >> and nobody in a helicopter.

i go a few blocks and hear a deep voice. i saw the house. soon i got to this house. this lady has not [unintelligible] it looks like flour. i saw my grandmother. i saw my grandmother in this house. i come straight to her. she said please give me an out of here. when she sees me i said [unintelligible] i will get you some help. she said leave me alone because i cannot stand on my foot. i see two young guys and i go to them.

we tried to figure out [unintelligible] she says she has won in the back garage. i put the letter against the post and i wanted to climb. i [unintelligible] [unintelligible] tavis: you got her out. >> on the way back we had a couple calling for help. we got almost eight of them. tavis: you are saving lives with your canoe and other people. this story takes a strange turn.

you are trying to rescue people with some other gentlemen and you end up in jail. >> i feel like i went to the wrong person. someone does not like where i come from. he saw my name and when these guys walked to my house and ask what we are doing i said it is my house. i showed him my id and he never asked me anything. he said you can't talk to my boss. before we left the house i have a piece of paper and the phone number where my wife is staying. he looked at his friend with the machine gun facing me and he

said no. he never let me take the piece of paper off the table. i tried to make a move to see what they were doing and he raised to shoot. tavis: they are rounding people up who look like you. why do you think? is it because you were not raised here? >> this is like a war zone. this was a way of being [unintelligible] some of them come from iraq or afghanistan. he sought an iraqi terrorist. i don't know what his vision is. he treats me like he catch big head.

the way they guy del with us was weird. tavis: they take you to a makeshift prison where? >> they had a station [unintelligible] [unintelligible] and soon we got there and there were three of us each one of us [unintelligible] soon we got to the van and one guy comes behind the wheel. what is going on? the only thing he can tell me is we are doing our job.

we said -- the van took off and brought us to the station. they were full military base. they lined us up and want us to sit. open your leg and they have one guy with a machine gun. tavis: how long did this go on? obviously he is not allowed to use his cell phone. what is happening to you and your kids who cannot communicate with him? >> we went into nervousness. i was worried at the time. i did not know if he was alive or dead. you keep hearing all these things on the news and it played havoc in the household.

every time the phone would ring i would run to the phone. after the second day after i did not hear from him we filed a missing person's report. we gave them pictures so any place he goes they could contact me. it affected my daughter's horribly. she just turned 5 and we have 10 feet of water in the street. every time the kids would ask me and they would ask me some many questions. his family is very worried as well. you should be doing more. there is no way i can get down there. how will i find him? if i go down there by myself

what will happen to me? the hardest thing i have ever done was wait. tavis: homeland security called u.n.? >> it was almost two weeks. tavis: you have gone for almost three weeks, not knowing where your husband was. >> i did not hear from him after he got out of jail. homeland security called me after the third week. they told me he is here come out we believe charges will be dropped. i said that is great, let him out. we called the prison trying to get the information and it they did not have any. maybe somebody got really nervous or had a bad memory and shot him in the back.

then you have -- his family is calling me constantly trying to find out. he has 13 siblings. i am already nervous and sick. it was hard. i had so much anchor. i am not an angry person. it takes a lot to make me angry. i could not get over it. i could not get over the frustration. i would have to drive past that camp greyhound and this rage would consume me. i really feel i had a nervous breakdown whenever i was trying to find the address.

they would not give me the information. how are people going to pay the ticket if it is private? i am having this dispute but i am trying to keep calm. how will people pay their tickets it you will not give me the address? that is private information, we cannot give you that. i need to talk to somebody else. they must have only had one employee that day. finally, on my third phone call i snapped. it did not end as nicely as the other ones have. i don't think i have ever wailed, but it felt like my soul was ripped out. tavis: from the time that you

went to bat larouche to seek safety to the time you saw your husband, how long? >> 23 days. it should have only been 23 but they did not have the paperwork. they send the paperwork to release him on the 23rd day. tavis: let me ask a personal question. what did that specifically do to your marriage? >> it did a couple of things. he was very bitter with me because he thought i forgot about them. he thought i was having so much fun that i will get him out eventually. he had no idea about the system. it broke my heart that he would

think this thing about me considering how long we have been married. it was more the fact that it was not towards me as he lost all hope in there. he lost all hope he would ever get out. i feel like it is my duty to protect him. i became more of a mother earth and a wife. if you have anything to say, say it to me. if it is a defense thing. tavis: when you look back on this now, did the turmoil you had to go through make you think differently about america? here you were doing your part

trying to help other people and i am listening to kathy tell me not only were you trying to help people then, it sounds like you have not changed a lot on the inside. has it changed your views about america? >> one thing i would like people to know is we are almost 1 billion muslims in the world. [unintelligible] western people think about the muslims. you have [unintelligible] most people look to all of us and -- >> we are stereotyped. >> if i go with the same look to

america we would be the same. these two, three guys made mistakes. [unintelligible] we work together, we eat together. >> in it is not because we look at them as this. there is my neighbor with a good heart. tavis: when you look back on what happened five years ago and the government's response or lack thereof, it makes you feel how? >> disappointed. i feel they were misled. i did a lot of soul-searching. i feel the soldiers who came here were misled. i believe they came here with

the intention of having the same situation as in iraq. they should have been on a search and rescue mission instead of let's get everyone off the street. i think everything could have been a little different. the good thing that can come from this is maybe next time they will be search and rescue instead of hunte and destroyed. tavis: you were going to washington for what? >> for an award. there was an honor banquet. he was one of those honored for his actions during katrina. tavis: our ambassador personally thanked him. after all you have endured, it ends up with you being invited to washington honored at the

request of our ambassador to the un. not a bad ending. >> this is a very good feeling. anything i did here not because -- i did it is it because we -- how we grew up back home, to help. we have -- [unintelligible] how will i feel relaxing when somebody needs my help? this is how we grew up back home. muslim means peace. everything about peace and hope, nothing about kill or destroyed. if any bad intention [unintelligible]

somebody has to know about this month. now we had in the dictionary islam means killers. this is bad picture about muslims. to be a muslim you have to be a good believer. if anyone harms anyone [unintelligible] tavis: his story caught the attention of a best-selling author and became the subject of a new book. the family continues to live in new orleans. when i asked him if he would stay in your lance with another store -- if he would stay in new orleans with another storm, he said yes. that is set for tonight. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org.

tavis: join me next time for a conversation with rob reiner his latest project. that is next time. we will see you then. >> all i know is his name is james and he needs help with his reading. >> time james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference, you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance bradley supports tavis smiley. working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> be more, pbs. >> be more, pbs. >> been more, pbs. -- be more, pbs.