it was rough. >> narrator: hurricane katrina had hit the new orleans police department hard. >> katrinaon august 29, someme m-day on august 30, we lost colete communications. >> narrator: warren riley was second in command of the nopd at the time of the storm. >> we were unprepared. the city was covered by water. we had no power, no lights. our radio system went down, our backup system failed. and we lost complete command and control of the police department. >> we were dealing with a police force that was completely inundated with lack of resources. and it was clear that we were having some civil societal breakdown. >> tension mixed with temptation on tuesday as those trapped in a city of rising water took survival into their own hands. >> narrator: quickly news reports were saturated with a lasting image of katrina-- the looter. >> looting in new orleans. shots have been fired. >> downtown new orleans became a looter's free-for-all. >> they represent a frightening breakdown of law and order. >> narrator: but early media reports were exaggerated. >> there was chaos on canal street for

this is something that we have done today after katrina. it is something you can do now as well in the event a disaster does strike. again, i told you about other things, the ride share program we have created now. it's aiding residents to get out. as i mentioned there is no place of last resort. again, it's the neighbors who are responsible for one another. we have residents can sign up to take an elderly out. we can take kids out or whom ever needs a ride, pets, things like that. a lot of people in broadmoore and in the city of new orleans because of their pets. pets are our family. i had a beshon that went with me and i wouldn't leave him or plan to in the future. tailor the information to the residents that live within your community and give them the information that they need to make sure they survive. and that we continue to help one another. it's all about what we can do not only for ourselves but for our communities. in closing, i want to leave you with some additional points that i have made throughout the presentation. just it's

tavis: you were obviously working on this when katrina hit. were you seeing parallels in your writing and what you were watching on tv? >> i did see parallels because you saw people displaced from their home and also -- what's also a parallel is that the people did not want to leave. and one of the things that i think that the descendents of the migration have to realize is that they were living in an untenable situation. but they had to leave mother, father, grandparents, the land that the forbears had built for free. they had to leave a lot. and there were many sacrifices that they had to make. the same thing with katrina. people didn't want to leave new orleans. they didn't want to leave that area. but they were forced to. and in this same way these people made the ultimate sacrifice to leave the only place they'd ever known. and i'm humbled by the idea, the courage that they had in doing so. tavis: speaking of courage, these folks had a lot of courage. as i said earlier, you tell the story of the migration, these migration, i should say, t

we don't have trials like what happened with katrina. so many of you that have been sparks of hope and imagination, people that are engaged we have someone that will talk about how she has sparked the imagination and engagement of a city that was ready to abandon, not just her but the entire broadmoore community. in fact, the mayor who is a friend, this is not a critique, put together after the challenges in katrina, put together a diverse group of what we say the best and the brightest. came up with a bad idea. we don't always get it right. they said broadmoore had been wiped out. they said, it ain't worth bringing back. we are going to make it open space. and the speaker i will introduce in a moment she like many of you said, wait that's my community. that's my neighborhood. you made that decision without us in mind. the community was forced to leave. they were not part of this discussion. and she said, like so many of you said to me and others, no that's not the way it's going to be. she stepped up and stepped in and she was heard. an

for more let's bring in katrina vanden heuvel editor of "the nation." katrina, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you, ed. >> if you had been there, what would have your advice been there today. >> i think that president obama has shown that he realizes he needs to remobileize the base that he demobilized after his powerful campaign based on people power from below. he's been out there on the stump speaking to people's concerns and i think those going back to their districts need to bring back a smart, populous message about job creation, about protecting social security, and about standing against the rapacious deprivations of wall street, and finally, exposing the republicans for what they are, putting wall street cronies. and the job-killing agenda, that john boehner and others have put forth and just expose, expose and propose, because this country is looking for fair minutes. dnc put out an ad today targeting boehner. here it is. this is the strategy. >> first, the tobacco industry came calling and republican john boehner did their bidding

personally, the plan came into affect during katrina. my family is from new orleans. they were born and educated there. my grandparents are buried there and my sisters lived there. my sister did not evacuate until the last minute. she didn't voluntary evacuation and got stuck in a traffic jam and her car ran out of gas and had 2 kids in the back and was scared to death after that. when they said hurricane warning she was gone. she would pack up the kid in the car and the dog heading to dallas, texas where we have relatives and did that every time. there were times she would get 75 miles out of town and they would say, turn around come on home. and they said cheryl stay come to our hurricane party. they always say new orleans will flood. she said. i was wrong this time but i only need to be right, once. when they called the voluntary evacuation with katrina and when the levies broke we knew she was safe. she had her disaster kit and family. the only one missing was the nephew. he knew his out of state contact and knew where his family was and knew how to get there much

i saw this firsthand, i went down to help out with katrina thing in september. it's weird. because you are dealing with people that lost everything and it's kind of hard to imagine that if you haven't done it yourself. basically, you know, she's looking at her curtains here, she probably hand-stitched those things. maybe they have been hanging there the last 5 or 6 years. everything in the house is wrecked, photos, keepsakes, it's a tough thing. and people deal with this kind of stress in different ways. we as disaster workers, we see it all the time. but we have a word we use, professional. we try to be professional around people that have suffered a loss like this because they don't want us to come -- you don't want to go into somebody's house and be joking and having a good time. it's unprofessional. when you are dealing with somebody who has a loss like this, just think of the word professional. that's what we try to do. this sort of body language here, she's trying to comfort here, do you think she's buying it? not with that body language. she's not really buying it. s

are we building another katrina in the delta and are we doing so that increases the delta failure that has profound water shortage implications and we have them claiming yes climate change is real, yes, it has implications, but, no, they would not evaluate them. so being the reasonable people we are, we sued them. but we think it require as real analysis especially when agencies are making long-term issues with profound effects for public safety and we hope the courts resolve that rapidly and the legislature can do that as well. >> as far as regional exercises, i think i'm all for it. they do have their limitations but the way to improve these models and to understand their capabilities is to use them and try to confirm that they work on big events that we actually have observed, and so you know, typically, we look retrospective simulations and try to introduce as much independence in the tests that are used, in order to gain confidence that the models work in future situations. i'm not familiar with the environmental quality act or activity that you mentioned but i think it's worth di

army corps of engineer autos there is an overreaction to hurricane katrina? >> i think so. i think the army corps was really pummeled. and in this hurricane katrina and new orleans situation. they want to cover their back side. fine. okay. doesn't make sense here in california. >> in 2005, after hurricane katrina there were catastrophic levy failures. engineers determining the trees long the riverbanks compromised levies. in the bay area there are 100 miles of levies impacted including those along creeks from san pablo to coyote creek. removing vegetation will threaten fish and endangered species. >> the stated purpose is to enr increase flood protection. however, we don't necessarily agree with that. there are studies showing vegetation in california improves the safety of the levies. and we cut trees down from here down the lookout. >> this wild cat treek is a prime example. and this is in another thousand remove ntd county complies. >> and this is is all rej vegetation that will be destroyed. >>> a spokesperson told us this afternoon the agency is in the middle of a two

. >> a group of refugees displaced by hurricane katrina are finally back in the gulf coast.e have more on how they started their emotional return home. >> it was a long day for this great -- a brave group, but nothing could have brought them more jordanne what brought them here in the first place. >> packed and ready, they were up before the sun. >> it is the journey, not the destination. >> and their journey actually began five years ago when hurricane katrina wiped out their armed forces retirement home in gulfport, mississippi. they were moved to washington where they will wait -- they were moved to washington where they waited and waited. they admit it was not always easy. the missed family, and friends and this down south. -- and that's down south. -- of the slower pace down south. then came word that they would return home. >> i hope that someone told me where i can kiss the ground because i'm going to kiss the ground when i get there and i do not care what is on the ground. and with that, they were off. learning that it may be the journey, but also the destination. >>

since hurricane katrina wiped out the center in gulfport. today she is on her way back. >> i hope that i can kiss the ground when i get there. i don't care what is on the ground. >> early this morning 140 residents lined up and boarded buses in the rain, including robert. >> this will be a homecoming because i am a hurricane katrina survivor. >> they are embarking on a trip back to home, the gulf, and a brand-new building with a view of the ocean. >> very excited. are you kidding? five years i have been written for this. >> some have missed the seafood and casinos. they also that they miss this of life there. >> i miss the water, the fishing, the small town. that is what i love the most. i am a small town boy. >> there are a lot of hugs, too, as they prepare to pull away. it is bittersweet, a good buy for new friends, and the city that will come to them in their time of need, and embrace them for five years. >> leaving france i have made up here. i have made some good friends. -- leaving fiends. i will miss them, and hopefully they will miss

>> as we discovered in katrina the out of area contacts are important for communication. because no one you couldn't call a new orleans area code it was not happening. he was able to reach myself in california and our aunt in dallas,texas on a land line. how many know their relatives phone numbers. i'm not meaning picking up your cell phone and clicking, mom. the red cross has a wallet card there is your emergency contact plan where you write down a land line number. we're discovering that text mess anning and e mails work. having the information in your son's back pack or your purse or the car in multiple places so you community with your out of state contact and through that you coordinate your reunionification. >> you have to speak into the microphone. >> it says all the communications will probably be down. >> on your pile of rubble that's your house there is no reason why you can't put a note saying this is where the family is. when you listen to the radios and the radios tell you where the shelters the first thing we set up is communications. you can go there and ge

. >> sort of over reaction to katrina 8. i think so. i think the army corps of engineers was really pummelled in the katrina and the new orleans situation. they wanted to could have their back side. fine. okay. but doesn't make any sense. doesn't make sense here in california. >>reporter: in 2005 after hurricane katrina there were catastrophic levee failure. engineers determined the uprooted tree along the river bank compromise the levee. in the bay area 100 males of levee that would be impacted. including this is along the russian and napa rivers and creek from san pablo to coyote creek in the south bay. removing the vegetation will did east industry the habitat here and threaten fish and endangered species. >> stated purpose is to increase protection however we don't necessarily agree with that. there are studies that show that vegetation the especially in california actually improve the safety of the levees. >> we cut tree down from here down to the look out at the en end. >>reporter: wildcat creek in north richmond is a prime exampl

. >> is there an overreaction to "katrina"? >> i think so.hink the army corps of engineers was really pummeled in the "katrina" and the new orleans situation. they wanted to cover their backside, fine. that doesn't make sense. doesn't makes sense here in california. >> in 2005 after hurricane "katrina" there were catastrophic failures. they compromised the levees. in the bay area there are 100 miles of levees that would be impacted including those along the napa rivers and creeks from coyote creek. >> we don't necessarily agree with that. there are studies that show vegetation especially in california actually improved the safety of the levees. and we've cut trees from here down to the lookout at the end. >> wildcat creek in north richmond is a prime example of how the clear cutting would affect a local environment. in july county crews mistakenly cleared 25 trees from the banks of the creek. another thousand would be removed as the county complies with the federal mandate. >> we call collectively on the army corps of engineers to change its

. >> is this an overreaction to "katrina"? >> i think so.ineers was really pummeled in the "katrina" and new orleans situation. they want to cover their backside, fine, okay. but it doesn't make sense here in california. >> in 2005 after hurricane "katrina" there were levee failures. engineers determined the river banks that compromised the levy. there are 100 miles of levee that would be impacted including the returning and nap that rivers and coyote creek in the south bay. removing the vegetation will destroy the habitat and threaten fish and engangered species. >> the stated purpose is increase protection. however we don't necessarily agree with that. there are studies that show that vegetation and especially in california, actually improve the safety of the levees. and we cut trees from here down to the lookout at the end. >> wildcat creek in north ridge is a prime example how the clear cutting would affect the local environment. in july county crews mistakenly cleared 25 trees from the banks of the creek. another thousand would be remov

katrina, nice to have you again with us tonight.n the heels of the rally what has to happen in the next 20-plus days? >> i would say what they say in texas, dance with those who bring you. what you saw in washington on saturday was a great rainbow coalition of the base. those, the rising american electorate who help elect obama. they left washington with voterless commitments to get out the vote and i think that the president needs to rouse the base with bold politics, moxie passion, and let's stop the complaints out of this white house. this is not a time for whining, as bill richardson said. it's a time for organizing, but at the same time you don't rouse the progressive majority by complaints about its ingratitude. work to champion its causes. that's what needs to happen. >> i thought there was just a tremendous energy through the crowd on saturday. and i've never been to anything like this before. >> well, there was -- >> i've just never been -- and to be up there and to go through that crowd, i mean, if they go home and do what

katrina, nice to have you again with us tonight. the rally what has to happen in the next 20-plus days? >> i would say what they say in texas, dance with those who bring you. what you saw in washington on saturday was a great rainbow coalition of the base. those, the rising american electorate who help elect obama. they left washington with voterless commitments to get out the vote and i think that the president needs to rouse the base with bold politics, moxie passion, and let's stop the complaints out of this white house. this is not a time for whining, as bill richardson said. it's a time for organizing, but at the same time you don't rouse the progressive majority by complaints about its ingratitude. work to champion its causes. that's what needs to happen. >> i thought there was just a tremendous energy through the crowd on saturday. and i've never been to anything like this before. >> well, there was -- >> i've just never been -- and to be up there and to go through that crowd, i mean, if they go home and do what they can do,

for more, let's bring in katrina vanden heuvel, editor of the nation.ocrats this year. is there a clinton factor in your opinion? what do you think? >> everything is in high gear and i think it comes down to just a few seats a few thousands of votes difference between speaker pelosi and speaker boehner. bill clinton is the comeback kid, come back so many times, we forget in this country, but he was really the one who resurrected kendrick meek's candidacy in florida for the senate race shall as you know, ed. out there stumping, out there also in a definitional way, whether you like it or not, not in arkansas and in colorado, but he is someone who has a lot of affection mon among core constituencies of democrats and he is someone who we shouldn't forget, people talk about him moving to the center but when really came back in '94, it was when he took on newt gingrich and when he fought hard to protect medicare, medicaid, the environment and fought hard for the economy and i thank you is a lesson worth anything about these days. >> i'm disappointed so many

no one will ever come clean of the katrina of the new orleans and the stinking house of the setting sun. but it's the black and the blue of the loving on the shoes, let alone a dime or water, america, you are always scotched earth in our mouth. always a rain of disaster of streams of our broken eyes. now the rags are the most turn. our pores the poorest that can be worn in the souls shop. now that all is lost and there is only nothing to lose. long live the courage and the poor. they begin to waiver. [applause]. >> vennetia. i was enranged at your body enettia. chicanery that cried out of an awfulor gast. slowly i found you should side streets where you practice a strolling stillness without any engine sounds and the skies turning on into color and then eternal magnificence of twilight, it accompanies your every move and theirs

y recordó que durante el rescate de katrina opacó tener una estructura de primer mundo. >>> tiene questados unidos fue un desastre en estados unidos con el huracán. >>> ayer celebraron victoriosos. >>> lo hicimos a la chilena y eso significa que lo hicimos bien. >>>periodista: cuando muchos celebraban un cauteloso ministro dijo que las gallinas son sabias y no cacarean hasta poner el huevo. >>>josé díaz balart: claro que sí, me uno a eso. y al llegar a la superficie dieron gracias, otros resaron, hubo también quienes bromearon, y escuchemos lo que dijo yanez cuando el presidente le pregunto cómo estuvo el viaje. >>> como un de poder vivir en libertad después de 70 días bajo tierra. y vamos continuando con la cobertura en equipo, idaly estuvo ahí y nos tiene el reporte de como lentamente lo que había ahí durante 70 días va desapareciendo. >>>idaly: conforme trascurran las horas aquí en la falda de la mina las cosas vuelven a la normalidad, pero nunca se ira la esperanza. >>> hoy la familia segovia al igual que las otras decidieron dejar el campamento la esperanza, el lugar que se convi