New Orleans to Lay Off Workers; Bush Holds Press Conference
JOHN KING, HOST: It's 5 p.m. now in Washington, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information from around the world arrive at one place simultaneously. Happening now, it's 4 p.m. in New Orleans, where some city workers will soon be out of a job. Mayor Ray Nagin says the city is strapped for cash and must lay off those workers. It's among our very worst fears, bird flu in the United States. One expert says it's not a matter of if it will come here, but when? Estimating millions of deaths worldwide. The president now focused on avoiding an epidemic. And it's a CNN exclusive, keeping drugs out of your children's hands. "Just say no" is being replaced with aggressive campaigns of sweeps and arrests. We'll take you along for an exclusive ride. I'm John King. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for joining us. Wolf has the day off. Now the developing story we're following. That's a problem on top of many other problems for the mayor of New Orleans: how to kick start the city's devastated economy while putting even more people out of work. Mayor Ray Nagin has just announced the city will lay off some 3,000 city workers, because, he says, there's not enough money to pay them. Our Lisa Sylvester now with the latest -- Lisa.</s>LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, many of these residents lost their homes, lost everything that they own. And now they're being told that they may lose their jobs. The problem is that the city is running out of money with no tax revenue coming in.</s>MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Unfortunately, we have searched high and low. We've checked the federal sources. We've checked the state sources. We've talked to local banks and other financial institutions. And we are just not able to put together the financing necessary to continue to maintain city hall staffing at its current levels. So after weeks of working to secure these funds to make payroll, the city of New Orleans today announces it has been forced to lay off up to 3,000 classified and unclassified city workers as a result of the financial constraints in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.</s>SYLVESTER: Now the kinds of jobs that they're talking about, accounting jobs, secretarial jobs, the people who deliver summonses, clerk positions. And all in all, the mayor says it will save anywhere about $6 to 7 million of the $20 million payroll. And these layoffs are expected some time in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, Governor Kathleen Blanco is trying to get a change in a law. She's trying to get a change in the federal law that will allow the federal government, FEMA, in this instance, to pick up more of the tab and to pay for the base salaries of essential workers -- John.</s>KING: Lisa Sylvester, live for us in New Orleans. And here with us to talk more about these layoffs and other challenges facing the city of New Orleans, joining us on the phone is the president of the city council, Oliver Thomas. Mr. Thomas, thank you for joining us in THE SITUATION ROOM. Let me just begin with a simple question: the right call by the mayor today?</s>OLIVER THOMAS, PRESIDENT, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Well, you know, I think the mayor has been like a contestant on the Monte Hall show. And every door he's looked behind, there was private banking. There was no prize. There was the state, and there was no prize from the government behind door number three, no prize, no relief. So at some point, everyone knew that these chickens were going to come home to roost in terms of how long we would be able to continue employing the same people without any new revenue. So our situation is no different than the business operating without bringing in any new revenue, any new money to meet their expenses.</s>KING: And is there no way, sir, whether it's through the state or the federal government to essentially tell these workers, you have to stay home but you will be eligible for some help, part of their paychecks? Or do they have to now go seek federal aid?</s>THOMAS: Well, I would hope so. The one thing that city council is going to do, and I initiated today when I met with Dr. Hatsfield, the CAO, is that we're going to put together a job fair with all of these hundred million dollar employees. They're going to need a lot of help. We're talking about anywhere in the next few years, 10,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 new workers being in the city with this hundred billion dollar effort. A lot of those city workers could be absorbed by a lot of those companies, especially a lot of the skilled laborers. Those who used to work on our roadways, working in our infrastructure, park and parkway, you know, road maintenance, sewer and water. These $100 million, billion dollar companies, can easily absorb those employees, because they provide the same time of service.</s>KING: And how...</s>THOMAS: This has been another hurricane. We had Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita now we have Hurricane Layoff.</s>KING: Is...</s>THOMAS: Very little relief for the people in our region.</s>KING: You mentioned very -- very little relief, sir. Excuse me. Is there any way to guarantee these jobs to people who at least used to live in New Orleans? Obviously, many people can't return home now. But when I was there last week, people were saying that essentially Baton Rouge has become like a suburb. And people are driving the 65, 75 miles every day, because they can get jobs cleaning up, paying them $10, $12, $15, sometimes even more an hour. And they're now commuting back and forth. Is there any way, once the residential situation is stabilized, to say those who lived here get first priority?</s>THOMAS: Absolutely. That's what we should be saying. I mean, that's what our congressional delegation, our U.S. senators. You know, that's what they should be mandating, that these federal contracts not be released until southeast and southwest Louisiana people have priority. We're going to have $200 billion invested in this area. That's enough to pay people who are laid off more money than they make right now and build the middle class we never had before. That just can't come from parish president Rodriguez, the mayor, or myself. We need the federal government, basically, I mean, you know, just really hollering, screaming from the loudest mountain top about take care of their people first.</s>KING: Bit of a catch 22, sir, though, isn't it? That you can't hire somebody from New Orleans if there's no place for that person to live?</s>THOMAS: Yes, but that's absolutely correct. And we heard parish president Davis over in St. Tammany basically saying he's been begging for trailers, because he has jobs. His problem is not as severe. They only got a couple of hundred trailers, and he's been trying to get 20,000. So you know, everybody is screaming the same song. But every time we turn around there's another storm. There's another storm in Louisiana. And it's not a natural storm. It's a bureaucratic storm. It's a storm of neglect. So at some point, give us -- look, these are American citizens. A lot of them have been paying taxes for a long, long time. And have gotten very little for their tax dollars. So we're not really giving them anything anyway. We spend more money than this in foreign aid every month.</s>KING: City council president Oliver Thomas in the city of New Orleans. Sir, thank you for your thoughts today. An issue we will continue to follow in the days, weeks and months, probably years ahead. Thank you, sir. And now to an event not held in four months at the White House. President Bush holding a news conference, discussing energy prices, hurricane damage and his relatively unknown Supreme Court nominee. On Harriet Miers, Mr. Bush says he knows her well, even if the rest of the country might not. CNN White House correspondent Susan Malveaux has more.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, of course, what was really important here, there were two audiences the president was addressing, first the American people but also his conservative base, and perhaps that was the more important audience, trying to reassure them in this case here the selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court justice position. They are very concerned, some conservatives, that she will change the balance, the ideological balance of the court, be more like a David Souter. Of course President Bush's father's selection that he chose for the Supreme Court who ended up being much more liberal than many of the conservatives were comfortable with. Well today, President Bush made it very clear to that particular audience, saying, "Yes, I'm a pro life president despite the fact I have not spoken with Harriet Miers on the subject of abortion." He believes very clearly that she'll be in line with the conservative thinking.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She's an enormously accomplished person who's incredibly bright. Secondly, she knows the kind of judge I'm looking for. After all, she was the part of the process that selected John Roberts. I don't want somebody to go on the bench to try to supplant the legislative process. I'm interested in people that will be strict constructionists.</s>MALVEAUX: And, John, of course a lot of people looking at the president this time around since May, looking at someone they believe to have been weakened by a number of developments. The president still coming forward very strong, saying and urging Americans to support him when comes to his foreign policy in Iraq but also making a very big concession here, saying that he believes the Social Security program -- this was the centerpiece of his domestic agenda -- has actually stalled -- John.</s>KING: And he passed up an opportunity, Suzanne, did he not to criticize his father for the Souter pick?</s>MALVEAUX: He did. He said, "I'm not going there."</s>KING: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you very much.</s>MALVEAUX: Sure.</s>KING: In a worst case scenario, it could kill millions of people. So what is the government doing to prepare for a bird flu outbreak? President Bush weighs in. Also cries for help: 911 calls as that tour boat sinks on New York's Lake George, killing 20 people. Plus, fighting hurricanes. Some unusual ideas for averting disasters.