Covering Katrina

White House Booth readers wanted to know how and why CBS News covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the way it did. Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts responds.

Chris - thanks for your e-mail. We have received many questions like this. I considered responding to them in an online column - but they infuriate me so much that I thought better of it. However, now that you have asked me directly, let me address it. First of all, the SINGLE helicopter that we used for aerial shots was a dedicated 'airborne camera platform'. It was SHARED between no fewer than 12 news organizations. It is a small helicopter -- not a cargo helicopter -- and is so jam-packed with permanently-mounted equipment, there is barely enough room to carry a pilot and a technician. There is no way that it could carry supplies in substantial quantities. And it certainly has no airborne rescue capabilities. Our goal in 'pooling' pictures from that helicopter was to do what the media does best -- bring the plight of the people to the nation and the world's attention so the authorities -- the people who ARE capable of delivering relief supplies in huge quantities do something about it.

As for what was happening on the ground, let me share with you the following. We were dispatched to the hurricane in such a rush that I brought with me only a few changes of clothing and a handful of breakfast bars. Our camera crews -- some of whom drove in -- brought little more than that, as no one thought this was going to be much more than a three day assignment. By Thursday, we were out of food and down to our last bottle of water. Our situation was becoming quite dire. Even so, when we came across people on the Interstate, and in the neighborhoods, we gave them what we could to help out. And when we finally got re-supplied (Friday morning), we freely shared water and snacks with people who were left high and dry with nothing. On more than one occasion, we gave away everything we had in our crew vehicle -- even though we still had hours of work in the hot sun ahead of us. Perhaps what you are complaining about is that we didn't make a point of telling our viewers that. It's not appropriate for us to blow our own horns. We helped people out of concern for their well-being, not to showboat. By Friday, the National Guard had set up a food distribution site near the convention center and was delivering food and water to people on the interstate, so the need for us to help folks out became quite diminished. But whenever we went out in our boat, we made sure that we took along enough supplies to do what we could for people who were still out in their flooded homes.

I'm sorry if I'm on a bit of a tirade here, but questions like yours are posited by people who have absolutely no understanding of the situation in New Orleans during those days. To a person, everyone whom we interviewed was thankful that we stopped to speak with them. So many official vehicles had passed them by. They wanted their story out, and they knew that we would tell it. And, yes, we did rescue several people -- and a lot of pets. Again, we just didn't make a point of it. We were there to report the news, not grandstand.
This question is for John Roberts. This isn't a "White House" question but….I followed the coverage of Katrina and thought that the CBS crew did an excellent job. My question is regarding the "behind the scenes" work. You were there right before it hit and all through it. How did you receive supplies, food, water, etc.? Did you take enough to cover the days that you were there or did more have to be shipped in? I thought I remembered you saying that you were staying at a hotel, but I read somewhere that several news networks had RV's. With all the devastation of New Orleans and other areas, I just wondered how you survived. How much of a physical and emotional toll was it?
Fran Milby

Fran - thank you for your question as well. Let me start by saying that any hardship we experienced during the hurricane and its aftermath absolutely paled in comparison to what folks who live down there -- who lost everything -- suffered through. They are the ones to whom we should be asking the question "how did you cope". I have only seen such suffering in third world countries, and never in my life expected to witness such scenes in the United States of America.

That said, this was one of the most difficult stories I have ever had to cover from a logistical and technical standpoint. We weren't thrown back into the Dark Ages by Katrina, but it was pretty close. As I responded to Chris Guss, we had only a few supplies -- enough to last through what we thought would be typical hurricane coverage. Even during Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo, there were areas close by that still had power, water and supplies. After Katrina, everything within 50 miles was completely shut down. Food and water were scarce, as was gasoline. At one point, most of our vehicles were close to empty, we were out of food and down to our last bottle of water (I had been surviving on Pringles and Beef Jerky -- my favorite hurricane diet -- lots of salt, carbs and protein). Relief came to us Friday morning when CBS managed to get a truck with food, water and fuel in from Florida.

While our cell and satellite phones served us remarkably well during and immediately after the hurricane, by Tuesday, nothing worked. We couldn't get a signal anywhere in New Orleans. We managed to communicate with the producers in New York via one InmarSat telephone in our satellite truck that worked only sporadically.

As far as accommodations go, we stayed in a hotel Sunday night (preceding the hurricane) -- then again on Monday (though the hotel had no power, was completely soaked and had suffered extensive storm damage). Fearing even more extensive flooding, on Tuesday night, we camped out on the high ground of Interstate 10, not far from the Superdome -- sleeping either in our vehicles, or right there on the hard concrete. I chose the concrete -- as I can't sleep sitting up. The next night, we stayed downtown. I slept on top of a van -- at least it had a breeze. By Thursday, we had found a motel (again, no power or water) out near the airport, but the rooms were so fetid and hot that I preferred to sleep outside. By Monday -- a week after Katrina -- we had hired a few RVs and moved back downtown to the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets where we set up a little CBS compound. By then, there were pallets of water and MREs all over the city, so eating and drinking wasn't much of a problem.

One of the best things we did was to buy a little bass fishing boat to get around the flooded areas. Fourteen feet long, flat bottom with a 25hp motor. It meant that we could work independently, and not have to rely on other rescue crews to ferry us around. We found some terrific stories with that little boat, making it well worth the 'hurricane premium' we paid for it.

All in all, I have to say that the whole experience was more difficult than being embedded during the Iraq war. Sure we were sleeping in holes in Iraq, but at least the desert gets cool at night.....

Amy de Miceli
Amy, the investigation continues -- despite the story having completely dropped off the news map. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has to be getting close to the end at this point, and so far there is no indication that anyone will be charged. Stay tuned though....these things have a habit of suddenly popping up again.

Chris, relations between the Press Corps and White House Staff range from cranky, to cordial to friendly -- and in at least one case, romantic. We socialize with them occasionally on trips, but I wouldn't say we're 'friends' with any of them. I had a casual friendship with a high-ranking official (whose name I'll withhold -- lest he be ostracized by his former colleagues), but there always seems to be a little barrier that prevents closer friendships. It's tough, because they don't want to be seen as too friendly with us (as they might be suspected of leaking) and we don't want to get too close to them (in the event we might have to report on our friends). However -- in one case (again-I'll withhold names here), a friendship developed into a romance and marriage. It's pretty rare in White House circles, but funnily enough, when I was down in New Orleans, I discovered a number of instances where city officials were dating -- or married to -- members of the media. Well, as the mayor said -- it IS a party town.

Thanks for the questions this week -- keep them coming.
John Roberts