Schumer: I Trust Disaster State Republicans Will Join Dems On Monday

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:34)

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Senate CR Excludes Job Killing Offsets, Says Schumer

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:29)

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Reid: GOP Leaders Moved Towards Tea Party, Not Middle

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:46)

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Dems Now Agree On GOP Figure For Funding FEMA, Says Hoyer

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:26)

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Durbin: We Shouldn't Play Politics With Disasters

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:42)

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Durbin: If Boehner Thought He Was Leaving, Think Twice

Following the Senate’s rejection of a House-passed spending measure that would fund the government through Nov. 19 and keep FEMA afloat, Democratic leaders tell reporters that a new bill in the Senate, which excludes spending cuts, is a more bipartisan proposal that Republicans in both chambers of Congress should be able to agree on. (0:22)

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Hurricane Earl Poses Number Of Threats To East Coast, Says NHC Director

National Hurricane Center (NHC) Director Bill Read says the biggest threats Hurricane Earl will pose against the East Coast will be extremely high waves, surf and rip currents and the evacuation of east coast tourists. (0:12)

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Obama: Administration Dramatically Reduced Numbers In Temporary Housing In New Orleans

President Obama expresses his pride in having moved many from temporary, FEMA-sponsored housing in New Orleans, into permanent housing since taking office nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. (0:33)

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We deserve a better FEMA, says Sen. Landrieu

At a hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) delivery of relief donations, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says FEMA must move away from stubborn requests and must proactively identify problems on the ground. Landrieu says FEMA should be more collaborative and that Americans deserve a better FEMA. (0:49)
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838,000 pages of documents not a good foundation?

At a hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) post-catastrophe housing needs, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says that the Homeland Security Committee called 325 witnesses, 838 000 pages of documentation and 22 public hearings after Hurricane Katrina. She says the government thought it was a good foundation to give FEMA a head start to come up with strategies to implement for post-catastrophe housing but all that FEMA produced was a late report with blank pages. (1:09)
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FEMA submits late report with blank paper, says Sen. Landrieu

At a hearing on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) post-catastrophe housing planning, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) says that it is hard not to conclude that someone instructed details not to be filled in the report. Landrieu says the law required FEMA in clear terms to come up with strategies but FEMA merely turned in a late report with blank paper. (0:46)
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Sen. Landrieu (D-La.) determined to get aid to disaster victims

Chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) describes her frustration with bureaucratic tediousness that prevents disaster victims from receiving aid.(0:45)
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FEMA ripping away bureaucratic red tape says Deputy Administrator

At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Disaster Recovery Subcommittee hearing on FEMA's progress after Katrina, FEMA's Deputy Administrator, Admiral Harvey E. Johnson, says the Administration is working hard to remove bureaucratic red tape. He says FEMA released a national response framework to create more streamlined, efficient responses. (0:54)
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Interview with Cedar Rapids resident Kathy Alter

Kathy Alter, web content editor for The Gazette Newspaper in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, tells her personal story of being evacuated from her home and the resulting problems with going back in to her home (she says there are 12,000 people displaced), dealing with FEMA, her disabled mother (she got stuck in the bathroom in the hotel because it was not handicap accessible), and issues with needing dialysis available only on the other side of the river (Kathy is an end stage renal disease patient). “The stuff that was there was just stuff,” she says, “the important thing is that we both came out of it and we both came out of it relatively healthy.” (8:04)
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Interview of Cedar Rapids resident Ashley Sheda

Ashley Sheda, a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, says that she has been let back into her home and has tried to start cleaning it up. However, all of her children’s things have been ruined, and they cannot actually been able to move back in the house. With her family, she said, they’ve been in a hotel room with three children, and all the things her neighbor had put in her garage to be safe from the flood had been lost. She had renter’s insurance but because the house was not in the “five hundred year plain,” they didn’t buy flood insurance. Upon learning that the house might go under water, she says they tried to call the insurance company to add flood insurance but was told it would take 30 days to activate it. (1:37)
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Michael Chertoff says that FEMA trailers, just like every other trailer, has formaldehyde

Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) asks Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff about the FEMA trailers, referring to them as "Formaldehyde Trailers." Chertoff says they are trailers sold on the open market, and Waters asks if they have formaldehyde in them. Chertoff says like every other trailer sold, yes, and Waters says "then they are formaldehyde trailers." You've got families in those trailers, she says, and Chertoff says that he would like to answer but he keeps getting interrupted. The Chairman tries to intervene, and Waters says that she didn't interrupt anyone else's question and would appreciate if they didn't interrupt hers. Chertoff says yes, like every other trailer sold on the open market, there is formaldehyde in them. They are using every means at their disposal, he says, to get people to leave those trailers. (1:30)
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Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Criticizes FEMA, HUD, and Government Spending at Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery Hearing

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) criticizes FEMA, HUD, and government spending following Hurricane Katrina at Senate Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery hearing entitled "Is Housing Too Much to Hope For?: "FEMA's Disaster Housing Strategy." (0:42)
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