Transcripts, tape show Bush, Brown warned on Katrina

[Fengzi]

Transcripts, tape show Bush, Brown warned on Katrina
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 10:48 a.m. EST (15:48 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A newly released transcript from a video conference the day Hurricane Katrina struck seems to reinforce arguments that governments at all levels identified the potential dangers from the storm but were under-prepared for the devastation.
In the transcript released Wednesday, Michael Brown, then-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seems confident the emergency response is well in hand as he leads the August 29 briefing.
Brown praises Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and others for "doing a good job" and assures officials that President Bush, who was vacationing at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, is in close touch. (Watch for Brown's warning and Bush's assurances -- 2:10)
Hurricane Katrina, which had been a Category 5 storm a day before, hit the Gulf Coast near the Louisiana-Mississippi border early August 29, a Monday.
Bush has been accused of showing poor leadership after the disaster, and for indicating, along with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, that no one could have anticipated that the flood protection system for New Orleans, Louisiana, would be breached.
However, transcripts from video conferences on August 28 and 29 show that National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield expressed concern that Katrina might push its storm surge over the city's levees and flood walls.
"I don't think anyone can tell you with confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very great concern," Mayfield says in one.
In a September 1 television interview, Bush said, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," a statement Chertoff agreed with three days later.
In an apparent effort to deflect criticism from the administration, Department of Homeland Security officials highlighted transcript parts that showed any weakness by local officials.
For instance, although some levees and flood walls failed early August 29, Blanco is unaware of this development during the midday briefing.
"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees. We heard a report unconfirmed. I think we have not breached the levee," Blanco tells the group.
Brown stresses that Bush is heavily involved.
"I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One," Brown tells those at the briefing. "He remains very, very interested in this situation.
"He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome [Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans]. He's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask," Brown adds.
Bush, who participated in the August 28 FEMA briefing, reassures officials that everything is under control.
"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm to help you deal with the loss of property. And we pray for no loss of life, of course," he says.
Bush did not participate in the next day's briefing. By that time, 11 inches of rain had fallen in New Orleans, the massive storm surge had damaged the flood protection system and about 15,000 people were in the Superdome. That figure eventually doubled, leading to days of intolerable conditions before residents could be bused elsewhere.
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs requested the video from the August 29 briefing in its investigation of the federal government's response.
Brown resigned September 12 after being recalled to Washington under a barrage of criticism over his job qualifications and FEMA's response to the disaster. Recently, he has accused the administration of using him as a scapegoat.
In response to the August 28-29 videotapes, the White House said Wednesday the briefings represented only a snapshot of what went on behind the scenes. Bush was fully engaged in emergency preparations, the White House said.
At the August 28 briefing, Brown tells Bush he is concerned that the roof of the Superdome -- the shelter of last resort for New Orleans -- would be unable to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
Katrina weakened slightly as it approached the coast and was a strong Category 3 when the center of the storm made landfall southeast of New Orleans near Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Brown voices concern about the ability of national response teams "to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe." He says he had heard that there had been no mandatory evacuations of patients from hospitals and inmates from prisons.
On Wednesday, Brown's attorney, Andy Lester, said the most recently released tape "shows that Michael Brown was sounding the alarm" with the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.
"He was repeatedly saying move things forward, push the envelope, jump over the envelope," Lester said in a written statement.
"Michael Brown was on the job, was doing his job and was making sure people above him at the White House and DHS were fully aware of everything that was going on in an extremely timely and urgent manner," Lester said. "It paints a different picture than what we have seen painted thus far."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the ranking Democrat on the Senate committee, said the tape "demonstrates for all to see what our committee discovered during its investigation of the preparations for and response to Hurricane Katrina."
"Government at all levels was forewarned of the catastrophic nature of the approaching storm and did painfully little to be ready to evacuate, search, rescue and relieve," said the Connecticut lawmaker, who had accused the White House of stonewalling the committee.
More than 1,300 people were killed by Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida -- where the storm first hit August 25 as a Category 1 hurricane.
A special House committee concluded last month that the response to Katrina at all levels of government was dismal, poorly planned and badly coordinated, showing that "America is still not ready for prime time" more than four years after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Fengzi Reviewed by Fengzi on 03-02-2006. Transcripts, tape show Bush, Brown warned on Katrina Transcripts, tape show Bush, Brown warned on Katrina Thursday, March 2, 2006; Posted: 10:48 a.m. EST (15:48 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A newly released transcript from a video conference the day Hurricane Katrina struck seems to reinforce arguments that governments at all levels identified the potential dangers from the storm but were under-prepared for the devastation. In the transcript released Wednesday, Michael Brown, then-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seems Rating: 5

[Fengzi]

So how many times do you think Dubya said "Fuck" in the first five minutes after he learned about the video tape?

Sure we can blame the people who didn't leave. Sure we can say that a hurricane is an act of nature and their really was nothing the Gov't could do to stop it. This won't change any of that.

What this does do is prove to the American people that G.W. Bush is a liar. His defense to the gov'ts slow response was that they didn't know it would be this bad and he set up Brown as a scapegoat. No we all know, without a doubt, that Bush did know about it and that Brown tried to warn him. Instead of doing anything, however, Bush just kicked back in Crawford and never even asked any questions during the briefing. He didn't look interested and just gave a canned response at the end, complete with that shit eating grin of his that you just want to smack off of his fucking face.

Will Dubya suffer for this? Most likley not. He'll come up with some excuse about how he forgot about the briefing because he was "fighting terror" and if you disagree your a terrorist too.

[Myth1184]

ok..so what was bush gona do..tell the hurricane to go somewhere else?
If you remember..it was because people refused to leave that problems started. Mostly black people

[Fengzi]

ok..so what was bush gona do..tell the hurricane to go somewhere else?
If you remember..it was because people refused to leave that problems started. Mostly black people

Read my 2nd post you racist twit. I know the Gov't couldn't stop the hurricane. LOL. The point is that Bush lied about having no prior knowledge of idea how bad it was going to be and lied about having no prior warning about the levees. Now his lies have been exposed.

[amsterdam]

The entire country was warned about Katrina for like a week before it hit. Blah, blah, blah. What a sad ass story this is.

[Fengzi]

LOL, how did I know Amsterdam would jump to defend good ol' Dubya. Why is this a sad ass story? Because Georgie was caught in a lie? Well, I guess that would be sad for you Amsterdam.

[amsterdam]

I never said he didn't deserve some of the blame on the slow response, but it is the local officials who are to fully blame for leaving their citizens starnded while 1100 city buses sat underwater. Blanco and mayor Chocolate jack-ass won't be in charge much longer anyhow, and W will be relaxing at his pimp ass ranch in Texas.

[amsterdam]

LOL, how did I know Amsterdam would jump to defend good ol' Dubya. Why is this a sad ass story? Because Georgie was caught in a lie? Well, I guess that would be sad for you Amsterdam.

The story is sad because all the MSM are repeating the exact same report the A.P. put out yesterday with many factual errors. It seems the A.P. "confused" breaches of the levees with overtopping of the levees. President Bush said it wasn't anticipated that the levees would be breached; the famous video that everyone keeps watching dosent even contradict that statement. It talks only of the possibility of the levees overtopping.

Is it possible that all of these reporters (and you apparently) somehow missed all of the post-Katrina discussions about the important differences between levee overtopping (Widely predicted before Katrina hit, including by CNN), and breaching of the levees, wich apparently resulted from design or construction defects??? It seems almost inconceivable that all of those involved in misreporting the video can claim ignorance.

[amsterdam]

More here:
http://newsbusters.org/node/4243&s=newsbusters

The L.A. Times has already admitted that the A.P. selectively edited the video. Are you that big of a sucker? Wake up sheepie.

[Fengzi]

Ahh Amsterdam. Always the good Republican. They could find Dubya in a Thai massage parlor with a 12yo prostitute and you'd still support the guy. "She was suspected of having links to terrorists and he was "interrogating" her" . Good to know we have good American's like you out there.:thumbsup: