CNN AMERICAN MORNING, 8:19 AM
VIDEO:
Transcript (Closed Caption):
ANCHOR: A question that's often asked in the days after Katrina
struck is this: how long did it take the Louisiana governor to
appeal for federal help? Carol Lin has a look this morning at how a
communications breakdown may have contributed to the delays in the
troops.
CAROL LIN: Governor Kathleen Blanco sent a letter to President Bush
asking him to declare a state of emergency in Louisiana. That was
Saturday, August 27th. Her letter did not include a request for
military assistance. Governor Blanco's communications director Bob
Mann said later, We always assumed the troops were pre-positioned
and ready to roll, but they were not. (Text on screen) The
governor's office said hours after the hurricane made is landfall on
august 29th. Blanco special with president bush special assumed her
request would get the state federal troops.
DENISE BOTTCHER: And she said, we need your help, we need everything
you've got. The governor genuinely felt at that time she had asked
for help.
CAROL LIN: But, she did not appeal for federal troops specifically
and her press secretary says she didn't feel she needed to.
DENISE BOTTCHER: You don't tell a dying man you're not going to give
him CPR unless he asks.
CAROL LIN: On the evening of Tuesday, august 30th, the governor's
office said Blanco ordered the commander of the Louisiana national
guard to request additional military system from General Russell
Honore. By Wednesday the situation at the superdome was rapidly
deteriorating. The governor was in Baton Rouge in-between TV network
interviews. In a communication over the satellite the governor and
her press secretary discussed what she said in a prior interview
about the looting.
GOV. BALANCO: I said we're not tolerating asking for more military
presence. I'm saying, good people --… I realize a call for the
military should have started that in the first call.
CAROL LIN: Sunday, we asked for an interview with the governor to
find out why she expressed that regret. If she felt she had already
asked for troops. CNN's Gary Tuchman was provided an interview with
her press aide who said the governor realized she should of been
more precise in her call to the president.
TUCHMAN: Now, on Wednesday in that TV interview between the
interviews I guess she was talking to you, right?
BOTTCHER: She was talking to me.
TUCHMAN: She said I really need to call for the military. I should
of -- what was your remembrance of that quote?
BOTTCHER: I need to call for the military. I should have made that
clear to the first call in the president.
CAROL LIN: the governor's office said after the interview on
Wednesday Blanco called the president to appeal for federal troops.
President Bush was not available. Instead she spoke to homeland
security advisor Frances Townsend. A CNN administrator official says
when troops started moving. Two days later as arguments swirled who
was responsible for the breakdown of law and order in New Orleans,
miles OBrien speak to the governor on cnn's "American morning".
MILES OBRIEN: Let's talk about that request for federal troops,
40,000 federal troops. When did you make that request? Was it on
your first phone call to president bush?
GOV. BLANCO: Okay. My first phone call or my first conversation with
the president bush was asking for all federal fire power. I mean, I
meant just send it.
MILES OBRIEN: But did you ask -- did you specifically ask, governor,
did you specifically ask for troops? Did you ask that the pentagon
deploy troops? That is a specific request that a governor need to
make as a governor.
GOV. BLANCO: We had troops being deployed. We had the first wave of
troops being deployed at the level of 12,000. But before we even got
to 12,000 i asked for 40,000. So, you know, i saw--
MILES OBRIEN: When did that make that request, though?
GOV. BLANCO: Miles, Im lost in the days.
OBRIEN: When did you make that request? Okay.
GOV. BLANCO: I don't even know what today
CAROL LIN: the white house confirms that it was only on Wednesday
that the governor made a specific request for federal troops. And a
senior administration official tells CNN National Guard troops were
the best option anyway because they had law enforcement powers to
deal with looting. Looking back Saturday night, Governor Blanco
admitted there were missteps. She insisted on all sides.
GOV. BLANCO: Did I ask the president early on for help? Yes, I did.
I asked him before the storm came because I know what a storm can do
to my state and I know that we need help. He wanted to help. We both
got caught in trying to make a bureaucracy work on something bigger
than it ever had imagined it would have to work on.
CAROL LIN: what's becoming clear is that the misunderstanding and
assumptions were also very large. Slowing the response to hurricane
Katrina and her victims. Carol Lin, CNN, atlanta.