AMERICAN MORNING
Interview With Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; Interview With Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour
Aired September 1, 2005 - 07:31 ET
CHERTOFF: Well, I don't think that's correct, Soledad. I think people were prepared. But I think a natural disaster has certain physical realities about it. The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster. Quite rightly, the officials -- local and state officials called for a mandatory evacuation. Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part. Once the water is there, the physical reality is something that you have to contend with no matter how well-prepared you are.
The governor of Mississippi is Haley Barbour.
BARBOUR: I really don't. And I think it's very unfair for the federal government, for you to say we knew this was a great powerful storm. This was a category 1 hurricane when it hit Florida. Now that's the truth.
M. O'BRIEN: Governor, it was a category 5 storm.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/ltm.03.html