MR. RUSSERT: Hold on. Hold on, sir. Shouldn´t the mayor of New
Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility?
Couldn´t they have been much more forceful, much more effective and much
more organized in evacuating the area?

MR. BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The
cavalry´s coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry´s coming, the
cavalry´s coming, the cavalry´s coming." I have just begun to hear the
hoofs of the cavalry. The cavalry´s still not here yet, but I´ve begun
to hear the hoofs, and we´re almost a week out.

Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver
three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back.
They said we didn´t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000
gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The
Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there
with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don´t give you the fuel."
Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency
communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry
Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our
line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee
said that if America--American government would have responded like
Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn´t be in this crisis.