Repairs Completed On Major Levee Break

BATON ROUGE, La. -- There has been major progress in efforts to get floodwaters out of New Orleans.

Officials say repairs have been completed on the 17th Street canal levee breach. And water is being pumped out of the canal and into Lake Ponchartrain.

The break in the levee was one of the largest and is blamed for much of the flooding that occurred.

Bush Wraps Up Visit

President George W. Bush has wrapped up another visit to the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast states.

His last stop of the day was in Poplarville, Miss., where he met with Gov. Haley Barbour and other state and local officials at a community college.

He also walked a middle-class street of tidy ranch homes and commiserated with residents. Many of the homes were intact, with downed trees and power lines the only evidence of the storm.

Earlier, Bush was in Baton Rouge, where he stopped at an emergency operations center.

He said the disaster would test American's spirit, but added: "We're going to show the world once again that not only can we survive but we will be stronger and better for it."

Bush has made three visits to the region, two on the ground.

Tension Evident Between Bush, Blanco

As President Bush visited Louisiana, it was hard to hide the rift with Louisiana's governor over hurricane relief efforts.

Both leaders have been talked to people in Baton Rouge Monday, but not always with each other.

At the Bethany World Prayer Center, Bush and Kathleen Blanco seemed like estranged in-laws at a holiday gathering, keeping their distance as they walked around.

According to Blanco's office, the governor wasn't informed of the timing of Bush's visit, nor was she immediately invited to meet him or travel with him.

However, the two leaders appeared to put their differences aside later, with Blanco joining the president during a stop at an emergency operations center. At one point, Bush even planted a kiss on Blanco's cheek.

Behind the scenes, state and federal officials have each suggested the others are to blame for a slow response to the crisis.

Lines Remain Long For Basic Necessities

The mall wasn't open for business, but the National Guard was.

Troops have been using a shopping mall parking lot alongside a busy Mississippi highway as an area to give out water, ice and food to thousands of residents.

There's no limit to how much water and ice people can get, but the troops are having to ration the MREs, or meals ready-to-eat, based on how many people are in a family.

The troops were asking what each person needed, and got back simple responses -- such as the woman who told them "everything."

They were rewarded with lots of smiles, thank yous and God bless yous.

Some people were also directed to another lot that was giving out women's health items and basic toiletries.

One little girl asked a soldier where she could get a tetanus shot, after being bitten by a spider.

NO Mayor Estimates 10,000 Deaths From Katrina

There is a grim estimate from the mayor of New Orleans.

Ray Nagin warned that "it wouldn't be unreasonable" to have 10,000 deaths from Hurricane Katrina and the storm's aftermath.

He made the comments Monday on NBC's "Today" show.

A week after the storm, it's still not clear how many people have died, but bodies are everywhere. Some are floating in canals, others are abandoned on highways and hidden in attics.

Still, the mayor is sounding more upbeat than in previous days, when he railed against the federal government.

Nagin said officials are "making great progress," and critical tasks are being completed.

The mayor also said he's arranging to rotate out emergency workers who have been working virtually around the clock since before the storm hit.

Military Commander Defends Response Time

Even before Hurricane Katrina arrived on the Gulf Coast, a top military commander said that U.S. troops were on their way to the region.

But as he defended the federal response against charges that it was too slow, Admiral Timothy Keating told reporters that it would have been a mistake for the troops to arrive ahead of the storm.

Still, he said the Pentagon will look at what it could have done better.

Keating, who heads the U.S. Northern Command, said there are now nearly 13,000 active-duty forces in the hurricane-damaged area, along with 38,000 National Guard troops.

Keating also said the U.S. military isn't letting down its guard against terrorism, even as thousands of troops take part in the hurricane relief effort.

Police Chief Warns Remaining Residents To Leave

New Orleans' deputy police chief is urging those residents who haven't yet done so to leave, saying the city has "completely been destroyed."

Warren Riley said thousands of people remain in the flooded city -- many of whom don't want to evacuate. He says officers are trying to convince them there's no reason to stay, noting a lack of food and jobs.

At a news conference Monday, Riley also said authorities are making progress maintaining order across New Orleans.

He said there are now about 4,000 law enforcement officers in place -- including National Guard and other military troops. Still, he ackowledges a number of police officers have gone missing.

Some Evacuees Allowed Back

The people being allowed back into an area of suburban New Orleans Monday need to have food with them -- and a full tank of gas. And, they can't drink the water.

Residents who are showing an ID proving that they live there are being allowed back into Jefferson Parish Monday.

They'll be able to stay until Wednesday, but a curfew begins at 6 p.m. each day. And the president of the parish is recommending that women not come alone.

Lines of vehicles stretched for miles this morning, as people tried to get home to see what was left.

Many found that their cars would only get them part of the way, since the water was still up to the rooftops of some single-story homes.

Elder Bush, Clinton Announce Katrina Relief Fund

Former President George H.W. Bush announced in Houston Monday that he and former President Bill Clinton hope to raise millions of dollars for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Clinton said nothing they do would be an adequate response to the misery the hurricane dealt to southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

However, they announced that private corporations have promised support, including a $23 million pledge from Wal-Mart Stores.

They also said that their presidential library funds will donate to the cause -- and that other presidential library funds have also promised support.

Former first ladies Barbara Bush and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the news conference at Lackland Air Force Base, which their husbands announced the fund-raising effort.

The announcement came at the Reliant Park complex in Houston, where thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees are sheltered.

Both helped raise $11 million for tsunami victims.

Death Toll Mounting

A police commander in New Orleans said he would not be surprised if the body count from Hurricane Katrina reaches 20,000.

Federal officials have said they're expecting an "ugly scene" as bodies from the disastrous flooding are recovered. One has said the toll will be in the thousands.

Recovery crews by air and boat have been searching flooded neighborhoods for survivors.

Federal officials are urging people still in the city to get out for their own safety, though some are refusing to go.

Police, now assisted by the National Guard, are struggling to regain control of the ruined city.

One man evacuated from a dry stretch of highway by helicopter says people don't want to leave New Orleans, but he said, "We need to go somewhere where we can have a life."

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Note: In a distributed breaking news alert, we cited an Associated Press report that said contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were shot and killed by New Orleans police. The AP later revised that story to say that the people who shot at the contractors were killed by police.

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Gunmen Fatally Shot

New Orleans police say they shot and killed some gunmen who had fired upon a group of contractors traveling across a city bridge while on their way to make repairs.

New Orleans Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people, killing five or six of them.

A spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers said there were 14 contractors on their way to repair a canal. They were traveling across a bridge under police escort when they were fired upon.

The contractors were on their way to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain to fix the 17th Street Canal.

The shootings took place on the Danziger Bridge, which spans a canal connecting Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.

Gulf Coast Marks Somber Labor Day

Hurricane Katrina has made for a somber Labor Day in the Gulf Coast region.

Analysts said hundreds of thousands of people are out of work because of the killer hurricane. They also said it will probably be months before people get back to work in hurricane-ravaged areas.

Some workers may not have jobs to return to and others may decide to move away and find work elsewhere.

In Biloxi, Miss., Waffle House waitress Dina Espinosa is among the lucky ones.

The restaurant where she works reopened four days after Katrina. Espinosa said she "never been so happy" to see her job.

Severe Coast Damage Still Evident

A week after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast damage remains stunning.

The sights have become all too common, huge tree roots standing upright, crumpled cars along the road and long gas lines.

In Mississippi, utility crews are all around, with workers in cherry pickers trying to get power back to thousands. The beachfront remains a disaster.

And there's no telling when Biloxi's famed riverboat casinos will be back in business.

Group Reuniting Children, Parents

Efforts are under way to reunite children and their parents along the Gulf Coast flood zone.

Ernie Allen is president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

He said the group's representatives are gathering information that will be put on a Web site in hopes of finding out who's missing and then get them back to their families.

Allen said photos on the site is the key.

The work is paying off already.

Allen said they were able to identify seven children who were separated from their mothers after being rescued by helicopter from a rooftop in New Orleans.

More World Aid On Way

Offers of help keep pouring in from countries all around the world in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Greece said it's offered the U.S. the use of two cruise ships "for several months" to help house thousands made homeless by the storm.

Greece is also offering relief supplies and emergency crews. Greece is experienced in rescuing victims of earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Spanish officials say they can help too. They said they've received a laundry list of needs from the U.S. ambassador that include oil, canned food and medical equipment.

The ambassador also highlighted the need for logistics specialists.

France is sending additional Red Cross logistics specialists as well as aid supplies like tents, camping beds and medical kits.

Rebuilding The Gulf Coast

Scientists are hoping that when the federal government gets around to rebuilding New Orleans, it will also fix an environmental time bomb, the eroding coastline.

Scientists say Louisiana has lost nearly 2,000 miles of marsh and swamp in the last 75 years.

Most of it was protective land south of New Orleans. The scientists are calling for a major effort to reverse the loss.

Even before Hurricane Katrina struck last week, state and federal agencies had estimated the 30-year cost of restoring the coast at $14 billion.

The White House scaled that back to $2 billion and even that got stalled in Congress.