Text 1332, 510 rader
Skriven 2005-09-05 23:32:56 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (050905c) for Mon, 2005 Sep 5
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Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 5, 2005

Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana



9:28 A.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: All right, we'll begin by going over the President's day. I
don't know if you all heard his comments before the President left, but the
President began his day by meeting with DOD and Department of Homeland
Security officials. This took place in the Situation Room this morning. The
meeting lasted an hour, maybe slightly more than an hour. It began right
about 7:00 a.m. this morning.

The meeting included Secretary Rumsfeld; General Myers; Admiral Keating,
who is head of -- commander of Northern Command; General Honore, who is the
commander of the Joint Task Force Katrina for the military; General Strock,
who is the commander for the Army Corps of Engineers; Mike Brown; Secretary
Chertoff; Deputy Secretary Jackson; White House staff -- Andy Card, Steve
Hadley, Harriet Miers, Dan Bartlett and others. Secretary Rice was there,
as well.

You heard from the President. The President talked about -- this morning
before we left -- about how appreciative he was of the unprecedented
efforts from the federal government to respond to this natural disaster.
And I think you also heard in the President's remarks how deeply concerned
he is about people who are suffering in the region. The President has
continually been receiving updates throughout the week about the situation
on the ground, about the situation in the different states that have been
impacted, and about the situation in New Orleans, as well. And the
President is concerned about the results. He wants to make sure that we're
achieving better results on the ground.

Everybody is working hard, they're doing a great job, we've got a great
team in place. But as you heard the President say earlier today, the
results are not acceptable. And the federal government had -- and Admiral
Keating talked about some of these priorities, Mike Brown and Secretary
Chertoff talked about some of these priorities in the meeting -- there are
clear priorities set by the federal government. The first priority right
now continues to be saving lives. And that means focusing our resources now
on the most urgent needs. And that's what the federal government is doing.

We're working very closely with state and local authorities, we continue to
do so. The second priority that is going on concurrently with the first
priority is sustaining life. That means getting food and water and ice and
medicine to those who need it. And General Honore, in the briefing -- who,
again, is the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina for the military --
talked about the plans for getting National Guard -- more National Guard
troops into the area of the Convention Center. The Convention Center is
something that is a high priority right now from the standpoint of the
federal government. We're working to get supplies there -- food and water
and ice and medical supplies. And we're working to get more National Guard
troops in there. And those National Guard troops work under the direction
of the Adjutant General of Louisiana.

That's an important priority. There's some 25,000 to 30,000 people who are
at the Convention Center, and they are in need of help. And so there was a
lot of discussion about that. One of the things the President talked about
throughout the meeting and asked them was, are you getting everything you
need from us, meaning to the military and to FEMA -- are you getting
everything you need. And they also talked at length about the security
situation -- the security situation around the Convention Center, and the
security situation in New Orleans and elsewhere. And we continue to discuss
a range of options for addressing some of these ongoing security problems
on the ground.

And the President got an update on the evacuation efforts at the Superdome
and the progress that's being made there. There's progress being -- good
progress being made there, with the buses getting there and getting people
out.

General Strock gave an update on the efforts to address the flooding and to
fix the levees, as well, and the ongoing problem we have with flooding.
Remember Secretary Chertoff talked about this yesterday, I have talked
about it, as well -- that really, as the initial hurricane hit it caused a
lot of damage in the whole region. And then you had the second natural
disaster, which was the flooding that occurred after the hurricane hit. And
so those are problems we're continuing to work to address on the ground.

But again, the President talked about how he looked forward to going to the
region today to hear from those who are engaged in the ongoing efforts to
provide relief to people who need it, and to hear from people in the region
who have been affected. And as he said, he looks forward to assuring them
that we're going to make sure we're getting on top of those problem areas
and continue to get them the help that they need.

I'll come back to questions in a moment. I know you all will have some. But
again, this is a massive, round-the-clock effort by the federal government,
and there's a lot of great work going on. But this is also a major
catastrophe that covers a lot of area, and we've got to continue to focus
on the most urgent needs while also making sure we're getting people the
food and water and medical supplies that they need.

Following the briefing, the President had his usual intelligence briefing,
as well -- participating in those. At the White House before he departed,
he made the remarks that you all have. On the plane here, he took a call
from Secretary General Annan -- this was a condolence call. The Secretary
General offered his condolences and his support, as well, essentially to
say, whatever we can do to help, we will. The President said he appreciated
the call.

Here, shortly -- the President has been visiting with Secretary Chertoff
and others on board the flight. Just so you know who all is on, we have
Senator Cochran and Congressman Jefferson, Secretary Chertoff, Secretary
Jackson, Marsha Evans of the Red Cross, Todd Bassett of the Salvation Army,
and then the White House staff who is traveling with the President, as
well, today.

And shortly the President -- and he may be already, while I've been back
here -- will be participating in a briefing with Secretary Chertoff and
Secretary Jackson on the housing situation for those who have been
displaced or evacuated, and they'll also be talking about the priorities
for the short-term -- to meet the short-term housing needs and the
long-term housing needs. That's something that's been discussed over the
last several days and continues to be discussed.

Now, in terms of the schedule today, the schedule is -- depending on events
on the ground, I mean, it could very well change. I'll go through kind of
the general schedule for today, but just know it's subject to change during
the day. And one of our top priorities is to make sure that as the
President tours the region, we're not in any way being disruptive of the
ongoing response and recovery efforts. I think you all may be aware, but
anytime we go into an area, there are no flight restrictions on emergency
helicopter flights or plane flights or anything of that nature -- like
medical evacuation flights, or things of that nature. That holds for here,
as well. We're making sure that there's no -- there's flight restrictions
naturally in the region right now because the area is restricted to just
the emergency, search and rescue, and the medical flights that are going on
and things of that nature. But there are no additional flight restrictions
that we're placing on the area as we go into the region. And I just wanted
to make sure you all knew that. We're going out of our way to make sure
we're not disrupting any of the ongoing efforts.

With that said, the schedule for the day: When the President lands he'll
participate in a briefing on the hurricane damage in Mobile. Mike Brown
will lead that briefing, and Governors Riley and Barbour will be in
attendance. I expect there will be local officials there; I expect there
will be -- I mean, if they can get there -- the State Adjutant Generals
from Alabama and Mississippi. Following that, we're going to do an aerial
tour on the way to Biloxi, Mississippi. We'll land at the Biloxi Keesler
Air Force Base. And then we'll motorcade over to the Biloxi area where the
President will do a walking tour of a neighborhood in Biloxi.

Q What's the name of the neighborhood?

MR. McCLELLAN: Wendell, like I said, these things are all subject to
change. It's all been put together in a short amount of time. As we get on
the ground I'll try to make sure we get you more information, but these
things are happening as we're speaking and being finalized while we're in
the air.

Q Could I ask, when we're on the ground, since we might not know where we
are, could somebody just tell us as we're on the ground so we --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, absolutely, we'll do that. We'll do everything we can
to make sure we get you all the information. But this neighborhood is in
Biloxi, Mississippi. I expect Governor Barbour will be with him, the two
Senators, I expect Mike Brown will be with us. And the President may well
make some remarks at some part during that tour. And we may have another
stop in Biloxi. That's something we're seeing if we can do.

Then we're taking an aerial tour of the damage along the Mississippi
coastline as we depart Biloxi and head to New Orleans. In New Orleans the
President will be joined by Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin, and of course,
Mike Brown and Secretary Chertoff are with us throughout the day -- and do
an aerial tour of the hurricane damage in New Orleans. And then, on the
ground I expect he'll tour a hurricane damaged area of New Orleans, as
well. And then we'll go back to the airport and I expect the President may
make some remarks there, joined by the state and local officials, as well,
before we head back to Washington this evening.

Again, it's very flexible at this point, but that's what I expect right
now. I also want to mention that Mrs. Bush -- and she may already be there
-- she's on her way to Lafayette, Louisiana. She's going to the Cajundome
there -- the Cajundome has taken in evacuees from the New Orleans area. And
I have that there are currently about 6,000 people staying there and there
are more that are still continuing to be evacuated or transported to there.
I think some of the ones who are at the Superdome are being transported
there. And this center is being run by the American Red Cross.

Q When the President asked in the meeting this morning if they had
everything they needed, how possibly could their answer have been "yes"?
And also -- a federalized response --

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, in terms of operational details, I mean, we've got
the Department of Homeland Security that is obviously overseeing the
operational activities. The Department of Defense is overseeing the
operational activities from the military standpoint. These are ongoing
efforts; things change on the ground from hour to hour. And they're going
to be the best ones to give the latest and more precise information in
terms of the operational activities. And I don't want to try to speak for
some of these ongoing activities that they're engaged in. The people that
are responsible for that are in the best position to do that.

In terms of security issues and things of that nature, like I said, we
continue to discuss a range of options. We continue to be in close contact
with Governor Blanco in Louisiana, with the Mayor. The President spoke with
the Mayor yesterday. He looks forward to seeing both of them today, and
work closely with them to address the needs of the people in New Orleans
and the region.

Q When the President said, results are not acceptable, what specifically is
he talking about?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think -- and certainly all of us have seen it -- the
President has seen the images on our TV screens and he's received the
briefings -- you have, as I said, 25,000 to 30,000 people at the Convention
Center that are in need of assistance. They're in need of medicine, they're
in need of food, they're in need of water. We are deeply concerned about
the suffering. Those people are trying to get the basic life necessities
right now, and there are security concerns there.

That's why the military is moving to get the National Guard military police
there on the ground in larger numbers, along with local police. As the
President said, General Honore is working to get 600 National Guard
military police on the ground there. He is in close contact with the
Adjutant General and other officials in the region who oversee the National
Guard. But security concerns are something that remain a priority, as well.
And the President said in his remarks that we're going to get on top of
those problem situations.

Q Would it be too strong to say that he is angry? He almost looked angry
that things aren't happening faster than they are.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you have to step back a little bit and just --
you have to look at the overall efforts that are going on. There are a lot
of people that are working round-the-clock that are doing a great job. The
President made a point of stating that. There's a lot of agencies at the
federal government level that are involved, and I've talked about -- and
the President talked about them. I think you heard him say very clearly
that he's not pleased about the results that we're seeing in certain areas
and that those results are unacceptable.

That's not a -- I wouldn't necessarily view that as directed at anyone in
particular, just that this is such a massive catastrophe that covers such a
large area and that has affected a large number of people. Particularly in
a city like New Orleans, those people are doing everything they can to keep
going and make it through this very difficult and trying time. This is an
extraordinarily difficult, trying time for the people who were affected,
and for the people who continue to suffer. And it's going to take time to
get help to some of them -- that's why the federal government has
prioritized resources, and prioritizing how to get those resources to
people on the ground. The first one is saving lives, and right there with
it is sustaining life.

Q -- a brief follow-up. I understand part of his role is to sort of
champion the efforts that are going right, but does he also have a role of
sort of -- kind of knocking heads together in regards to the parts that
aren't going right?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, this is a federal, state and local effort.
We're all working in close coordination. The federal response is
unprecedented in nature and the President remains deeply concerned about
the people who are suffering on the ground and those who are in need of
assistance. And we're working to move heaven and earth to get help to those
people, and working in close coordination with the state and local
authorities to do that.

Q Did the President hear the remarks of Mayor Nagin -- the sharp and angry
criticism -- is he aware of them, first?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he looks forward to seeing Mayor Nagin later today.
He's going to be --

Q -- hear him on the New Orleans radio station --

MR. McCLELLAN: I just said, he's aware of the comments that have been made
by various officials. Look, this is a very difficult and trying time for a
lot of people. This is a time for all of us at the federal, state and local
levels to work together to respond to the needs of the people who have been
affected. And that's where our focus continues to be, and that's what we'll
continue to do.

Q So you're saying you we're very --- in doing that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Wendell, like I said, this is an extraordinarily trying time
for many people, particularly those who are in need of assistance right now
and not getting it. And we recognize that. We understand that people on the
ground who are suffering needed help yesterday, or the day before, and we
are going to address those ongoing priorities, ongoing problems, to get
assistance to them.

Q -- are you saying it was not possible to provide them with that help
yesterday or the day before, that that was an impossibility?

MR. McCLELLAN: Wendell, I don't -- I think you have to look at the
unprecedented nature of this catastrophe. Again, you had the initial
hurricane hit. There were many efforts underway prior to the hurricane
hitting, and people were monitoring the track of that hurricane after it
passed Florida and trying to look at where it might go. That's why federal
officials, under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security and
FEMA, worked to pre-position at that time in the region, to prepare to move
wherever that hurricane may be hitting. As it was coming closer, we were
getting a better idea of the area it was going to hit. So disaster medical
teams were deployed, search and rescue teams were deployed, authorities
were deployed to command centers throughout the region. We were working
very closely with state and local authorities to respond ahead of time.

That's why the President signed that disaster declaration -- or issued that
disaster declaration for all those states in the region that were affected
by it, ahead of time, and afterwards, as well, additional disaster
declarations. There was a lot of pre-positioning. This hurricane hit, and
as it passed the flooding came into Louisiana, and the New Orleans area --

Q Scott, I'll stipulate all of that. This is Friday. Yesterday -- or the
day before was Wednesday. -- it was not possible to get federal aid until
now?

MR. McCLELLAN: In a situation like this -- and I think you've heard from
federal officials, you've heard from Secretary Chertoff and Mike Brown --
they're the ones who have been -- well, Mike Brown has been in the region,
on the ground, working the problem, and he's in the best position to
describe the federal response efforts. What you have to do, from the
federal level, is make sure we're working in close cooperation and
coordination with state and local officials and state emergency operation
officials, that you are prioritizing what the needs are -- the priorities
have been laid out previously -- hang on, hang on -- and you've got to look
at what the most urgent, immediate needs are on the ground.

The Superdome -- people who couldn't leave New Orleans, people were moved
to the Superdome ahead of the storm, evacuated there. Those people are
starting to be evacuated from the city. The Convention Center is a problem
that has come up in the last couple days when people went there. That is
something that is a high priority for the federal government to help state
and local officials get on top of. And that's what we're working to do.
We're working to make sure the resources are going to the most urgent need
and that food and water to people who don't have it yet.

Q Scott, you keep talking about priorities being set and the urgent need,
and the resources going to those who need it most -- the whole point is
they're not. People are dying from lack of food and water -- not only are
they waiting to be rescued, but they're waiting for food and water and
they're not getting it. So -- why is the President not more angry about
that?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I've just described how the President -- as the
President said --

Q You said he's not pleased -- why is he not --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, as I said, he's not pleased at the results. He said the
results are not acceptable. He's deeply concerned about the people who
continue to suffer. I don't know how you can be more clear than that. But
there is a massive effort to see that it continues. It has been underway
and it continues. The President wants to make sure that the security
concerns are being addressed and that the assistance is getting to those
who continue to suffer.

Q -- does the federal government share in the blame for not being able to
move heaven and earth to help these people sooner?

MR. McCLELLAN: Steve, as we've said, we've focused on the most urgent needs
and prioritizing the distribution of those resources to those urgent needs.
We've deployed a lot of resources ahead of time. We're continuing to deploy
resources to address the ongoing problems. And that's why the President is
making sure they have everything they need -- - are you getting what you
need, do you need more. They talked about the plans, how they're deploying
more resources and getting more assets in there. And I'm going to let the
military and let FEMA talk from an operational standpoint about how they
are making use of some of that. They're the best ones because they're
overseeing it right now. It changes from hour to hour.

And I think one of the messages that they're saying is that we understand
you needed help yesterday, or the day before; we're working to get that
help to you. We're working hard -- we're working round-the-clock to get
assistance to those who are in need. It takes time to get to some people,
but we want to continue to move as fast as possible to get that help to
them. That's why I said the Convention Center is a high priority right now.
That's one of the problem areas from a security standpoint and from a
standpoint of people who are in need of food and water and medical.

And look, in terms of -- right now, everybody needs to band together and
work together to get help to the people who need it. There is going to be
time to talk about issues of that nature later on. Right now we've got to
continue to make sure we're doing everything in our power to help those who
are in need and get people the life-sustaining commodities that they need.

Q Hastert is suggesting that if we're going to spend billions of tax
dollars to rebuild we might want to think about building it not at sea
level or below sea level.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he made additional comments than just that, so I'll
let his office speak to that. We do appreciate Congress moving very quickly
to pass our supplemental request for $10.5 billion so we can make sure that
there's no disruption to some of the ongoing response and recovery efforts.

Q Is the President happy with the job Mike Brown is --

MR. McCLELLAN: The President believes they're doing a great job -- and they
are. They're working around the clock on these efforts. But again, those
who have yet to get help, it's not enough. They're hot, they're tired,
they're hungry, they're thirsty, and we need to get them help. And that's
what we're working to do, that's what they're working --

Q Why wasn't the President briefed three days ago? I mean, why did it take
until today to really work up to anger and say it's unacceptable?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Jennifer, I just don't know that I accept some of your
characterizations that are being made. The President has been concerned
about those who have been displaced, and those who have been affected,
those who are in need in the region well before the storm even hit. And he
continues to be concerned about them. And we are deeply concerned about
those who are continuing to need assistance and have yet to receive it.

Q -- make a stop on the ground in New Orleans, outside the airport, I mean?

MR. McCLELLAN: I said he's going to be on the ground and tour some of the
damaged area in New Orleans.

Q Bill asked about New Orleans. Does the President want New Orleans to be
built exactly the way it was? I mean, that's one of the issues --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- the short-term needs that we're focused on right now,
there's also the long-term planning that is going on to address that issue.
That's more of a longer-term issue right now. But the President is
confident we're going to rebuild New Orleans and that's some of the
planning that goes on, as well, but that's a longer-term issue.

Q One other thing on the security situation at the Convention Center -- did
Jennifer ask this earlier? What are these options you're talking about? I
mean, sending more troops? What are the options?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think, again, you're getting into some of the operational
aspects. I don't have anything additional to announce. I think
announcements of any additional steps would come from those who are
overseeing implementation of those efforts, whether it be the Department of
Homeland Security, or military, or another agency within the federal
government.

That's why we've been having the briefings the last few days with Secretary
Chertoff and other officials in the federal government. They talked at
length yesterday about the security situation, and they talked about the
additional National Guard troops that are getting into Louisiana and
Mississippi. The President got a briefing on the numbers in terms of
National Guard troops that are being deployed now and that are being
deployed to supplement efforts that are ongoing to address the security
situation. But if there are additional updates to make, I'll leave it to
those overseeing the implementation or to the President, if he has more to
say on it.

Q -- your answer to my question of if he is considering federalizing --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yesterday I talked in the briefing -- I'm not getting into
these specific areas -- again, this isn't a time when you're ruling things
out. You're looking at the problems and working to solve those problems and
looking at the range of options. And that was part of looking at the range
of options that were available to us, part of the discussion in the meeting
earlier today. And the President asked a lot of questions about some of
those options.

Q Questions about getting more security in the area, either National Guard
or active military?

MR. McCLELLAN: He talked about the security concerns and how we're
addressing it, and other issues, as well. I'm not -- I don't have anything
more to add --

Q -- range of options -- I presume that he's looked close at the option of
active duty military involvement --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there is active duty military that has been deployed
to the region, and being deployed. And we have ships in the region -- three
Navy ships, additional seven that are en route. You have 150 or so
helicopters, I think, that are there -- military helicopters. These are
active duty that are supporting FEMA's efforts, in support of those
efforts. And Coast Guard, search and rescue. And then you've got the
National Guard.

Now, National Guard is technically under the direction of State Adjutant
General, who is under the direction of the governor. That's why I say this
is all something that is closely coordinated with state and local
officials.

Q Is the President as shocked as everybody else at these scenes that we're
seeing from New Orleans of bodies in the streets, reports of rape and
marauding thugs? Is he shocked?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I mean there are a lot of horrible reports that you're
hearing, and certainly horrible images that we have seen on our TV screens.
Some of the reports turn out not to be true later; some do -- there are
some initial reports that later turn out to be wrong. That's why the
President is asking about the conditions in the briefings he's getting, the
images -- that's why the President remains, like all the American people,
concerned about the people who are in need --

Q Is he disturbed by these images, like a lot of Americans are?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we're all disturbed by the images. They're a
terrible thing to see. It's terrible to see human suffering like this. And
that's why we need to make sure we're getting help to those people.

Q Thanks, Scottie.

Q Thanks.

END 10:02 A.M. CDT
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