in the atlantic with hurricane danielle and tropical storm earl. earl is expected to become a hurricane soon. and president obama's busy week ahead, beginning in a few hours with his trip to new orleans. and then his upcoming speech on iraq. but we're going to start with you, tamron, there in louisiana. >> reporter: thanks, alex. this morning we look back five years later as the gulf region struggles to heal, rebuild and reassess the mistakes we all watched so this will never happen again. right now i'm reporting from artillery park, across from jackson square. you see the beautiful image of st. louis cathedral right there behind my shoulder. in the next hour, a memorial will take place in the city, in the ninth ward. that's one area we know where we witnessed disturbing images of people stranded on rooftops, more than 40,000 people rescued from their roofs by armed services members. and we all, again, watched this play out on television. also taking place today, many of those evacuees who sought shelter in the super dom, during the storm, they will gather for a reunion, an interfaith service will take place at st. louis cathedral. 3:00 p.m. eastern time, president obama will speak at xavier university. that university opened five months after hurricane katrina. tonight, mayor mitch landrieu will host a commemoration ceremony, candles lit to remember those who died in the tragedy. from here in new orleans to the coastline of mississippi, many communities are on different roads to recovery, but some areas faring better than others. recovery process in new orleans has been helped by $16.7 billion in federal funds for the region. by the many people who lv thoves city, including the author who wrote the book on new orleans, why new orleans matters, and he took me on a tour of the hardest hit neighborhoods and introduced me to some of his friends along the way. so, tom, this is the 17th street canal? >> here is where one of the most serious breaches happened during katrina. if you visited this place two or three months after the storm, four months after the storm, six months after the storm it looked like a -- truly like a war zone. just destruction every place, smashed houses, overturned cars. >> reporter: how jarring of a contrast is it to have a home obviously once here now completely gone, the family choosing not rebuild and then you look two steps away and have a home on stilts? >> different people have different levels of tolerance for that risk and different levels of attachment to the ar where they live. one of the things that we learned is that it's probably best not to be judgmental about the people who made the decision to leave. it's an understandable decision. >> reporter: tell me about this area. what is this area? >> we're standing in the heart of the town called mid city. a place where you'll have little neighborhood restaurants where we are right here, flooded to about the level of that canopy up there. and i remember when they reopened in the spring of 2006, it was a big party out here. people were so happy. it answered a need in people for a place to congregate. >> they said, we're going to rebuild if you rebuild. that was a shot in the arm. it gave us the motivation and i think, in turn, we gave them the motivation also. >> reporter: obviously, much of the economy here sustains itself on tourism. we're in the heart of tourist land, the french quarter. how is the tourism industry recovered over five years? >> i think it's struggling a bit but certainly the number of people coming back to visit new orleans has increases dramatically since after the storm. >> reporter: early on there was a fear that blacks would be forgotten. does that still exist, that worry that concern? >> the city is between 70% and 80% of the prekatrina population, which is to say a lot of people displaced, disproportionate number of those people are african-american. part of the problem is if you are well-informed, have access and research skills, good at working phones, then there are various programs available to you. >> reporter: but that sounds simple. you and i know, that's a lot for some people. >> exactly. >> reporter: we're looking at people living below the poverty line. and you've been beaten down by the storm and feel like they don't want you back. that extra step could be hard. >> yeah. you've explained exactly why the government ta government's explanation of the programs available are hollow. >> reporter: they want to start their lives with helping new orleans. >> this has become a domestic piece corps. this is like working in the middle age only air-conditioning and phone service back home. >> reporter: again, those are great people to get some real new orleans perspective from tom and michael who owns liuzza. in front of st. louis cathedral. the bell will toll for people who lost their lives here. an eerie feeling to be knowing five years ago people in the area thought they'd dodge the brunt of hurricane katrina, unbeknownst to them a manmade disaster on its way. we focus on saint bernard parish, 90% of the homes wiped away in the flooding. a closer look at one family's determination to come back and that is a part of the five years later story. if you wanted to come back to the region, it's going to be a fight new york one's going to give you anything to return here. >> coming back from a devastating hurricane is challenging. saint bernard parish trying to turn the corner when another disaster hit. one family's story and struggle in coming back from all of that. >> reporter: how are you making out with it? tim's family lived in saint bernard parish for five generations, shrimping and boating are their way of life. >> before you die, right? >> that's right. >> reporter: their life was wrecked by hurricane katrina. >> water came up so high it floated it away. >> reporter: not only homes gone, but their livelihood as well. >> it was scary, we didn't know the fishing would be. your whole livelihood's going to change. you know your house had to be redone. >> reporter: only five homes in saint bernard parish spared katrina's damage. water rose as high as 28 feet, 163 people here lost their lives. >> people are in a state of actual shock in not having any idea what really was going to become of our community. >> reporter: five years later the community's coming back, but the scars remained. blocks of homes and businesses stand empty, and many are still marked by destruction. >> there's a real sense of togetherness and unity and pride about not being beaten especially by any storm. >> reporter: just as saint bernard parish was bouncing back from the storm, the oil spill hit. >> it's like being a prizefighter, we're in round 12 or 13, and we get up out of the corner to answer the bell for the next round and look across, there's a new opponent. >> reporter: unlike katrina, this opponent is harder to read. >> this is actually more scary to me than katrina was. i can build a house. i can build a boat. i've done it before. i can't bill an ecosystem. i can't build breadieding groun for shrimp. >> reporter: it's unclear if and how the way of life here will return. but time and time again, this community has risen to the challenge. >> they know saving the coast and the marsh and the seafood is something that's not an option. >> reporter: on the front page today of the times pi es piccun. what to do with the blank spaces. just to give people an idea, 30 miles of levee in saint bernard parish, eight miles completely destroyed. you can imagine the amount of water flooding it and inundating the parish which is a blue collar parish. they are going to come back, but it's a challenge, specially now with all of the issues that are surrounding the oil spill. >> reporter: it's interesting, you say people are coming back with a levee situation because some of the studies or polls show that 60% to 80% of the people out there don't trust the levee. being able to return to an area when you don't have confidence in the levee system, some we'll discuss, is interesting. a church in saint bernard parish who yesterday had a ceremony where they had the members of the church place in a coffin bad memories of hurricane katrina and planned to bury that coffin when the weather clears up. >> very much an iconic church in this area, obviously because they're called parish shes the catholic faith runs strong. >> reporter: you hear a lot about faith in the area because some say that's exactly what got them through. great report. president obama wrapping up his have a ka vacation on martha's vineyard. he will deliver the speech commemorating katrina and its aftermath. the president will offer an update on the rebuilding effort and discuss the bp oil disaster. the president will not offer up new initiatives for this region, at least not today. msnbc will broadcast the president's remarks live from xavier university 3:00 p.m. eastern time. the president expected to talk about jobs because that's what people here certainly need to recover. brian williams will haven an exclusiven view tonight on nbc "nightly news." now back to alex and the msnbc world headquartered in new york. >> tamron, thanks so much for that. hurricane danielle is slowing down but later today there could be another hurricane in the atlantic. tropical storm earl is picking up steam with sustained winds up to 65 miles an hour. warning ands watches in effect in the caribbean. let's go to the weather channel's alex wallace. good morning. >> good morning to you. and absolutely, indeed, things have heated up in the tropics. the wide view of the atlantic, there's danielle, there is earl, and maybe potentially our next system following right behind it. but right now, immediate concern is earl. here we go. it is up now to 70 miles an hour. that's the update at 8:00. strengthening here is tropical storm earl. very close to becoming hurricane earl for you. probably going to be that as we head towards afternoon hours approaching quickly here the northern leeward islands and its going to scoot through areas here, maybe potentially impact portions of the virgin islands towards puerto rico where we have hurricane watches that are up. so as we track earl here over the next couple of days, here we go, moving its way, scooting across northern sections of the leeward islands and curbing toward the north a bit more. as we head to the end of next week, a wide disparity on where this may be heading. the east coast of the u.s. is in the path of earl. we'll watch this closely. quick update on hurricane danielle racing off thwarts the north. 90 mile an hour storm, category and 1. indirectly, rip current risk is high, once again, for today. although it's a lovely day up and down the east coast for getting out to the beaches, heading into the waters is not going to be a wreck at all. >> only do it if you see a lifeguard nearby. we are heading back to new orleans in just a few minutes with a look at how the city's recovering from hurricane katrina five years later. but for some that recovery's not happening fast enough. up next, the tale of two recoveries. plus -- a severe storm causes major problems near downtown phoenix. look at that. talk about problems. paris hilton busted for drugs again. ♪ [ male announcer ] you're at the age where you don't get thrown by curve balls. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to get things done. ♪ so why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to your doctor about viagra? 20 million men already have. ♪ with every age comes responsibility. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four 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poor and after flew ent because the recovery effort offered most help to those economically better off. details from the author of the piece reported today, michael fletcher. he joins me from baltimore. thank you for joining me. >> my pleasure. >> let's talk about this, because i think a lot of people would find this hard to believe. you assume that the government effort would look at those most in need and step in to help. what did you find in your report? >> well, it's interesting, particularly when it comes to the big homeowner kind of recovery programs. they often had the effect of giving more to those who had the most. in louisiana, for example, the amount of money people were able to collect from the road home program, the program set up to funnel the federal rebuilding money to homeowners, those checks were kind of pegged to homes' property values. so if someone had more valuable home, they are more apt to collect the maximum road home benefit which is $150,000. often those people who collected benefit had private insurance and what have you and able to close that gap between the cost of rebuilding and amount of money they were collecting from the insurance. meanwhile, low income people had the opposite situation. they would have limited private insurance and also the government program would only pay them as much as properties were worth. property values were lower in low income communities and black communities but often repair costs were very high. people with big gaps between what they are able to collect and what it cost them to get back into the homes. as you drive around the ceo city you see an uneven pattern. some neighborhoods are back to life and others are spotty. >> a couple of people in the lower nine saying that they live in a -- the national spotlight shines on the lower ninth ward. of those, 1800, according to some of the estimates out there, have returned. throughout the new orleans area, there's 50,000 homes that have been abandoned. is this the result, michael, of these programs just not working or is it that people don't want to return? >> i mean, there's a combination of both. but i think a big part of it is that the programs didn't quite get a lot of people, particularly people who fall just above the poverty line but may have been holding on as homeowners, landlords -- >> who is to blame? who is to blame for that? >> the federal judge in louisiana says that louisiana is to blame. the road home program is to blame. there's no real reason to pegging a check to the home's property value, that's what the judge says. man activists say the same thing. road home should have been designed differently. >> if you're not going to peg it to the home's value, what should have been the formula? >> people feel like it should have been to the homes repair cost and that would have been capped but at least people would have been able to collect more. if your home cost $250,000 to rebuild we should peg your recovery to that, that's what many argue. >> so, has this judge's decision -- will this correct what we're seeing here, or this is an infinite problem? >> you know, it's -- it may not correct it. ite ronnie is in the judge's decision. he feels there's no remedy he can impose. most of the road home checks have gone out. the program is technically shut down, folded into other -- into the broader louisiana state government. there are only a small percentage of checks wrote to be written it will affect them but not all of the money that's been paid out. it's unclear now. many activists looking to president obama to do something. they're hoping they can advocate some change in the program or design some federal program that would supplement. >> michael fletcher, national reporter for "the washington post," thank you very much. billions of dollars have been spent over the past five years rebuilding the levees in new orleans. it's supposed to make them stronger, make them better. where does it stand? why, still, are so many people not confident in the levee system? would the crescent city survive another powerful hurricane? but first, the push to rebuild new orleans has been helped along enormously by volunteers from all across this country. habitat for humanity one of the lead groups with harry connick jr.'s musician's village. they've used more than 49 million years, and million 2x 4s, to bill 2,000 homes for new orleans residents. waking up with morning pain drain the energy right out of you. fight it with (new) bayer am. it combines extra strength bayer aspirin to treat pain plus an alertness aid to help you get off to a running start. try bayer am - the morning pain reliever. 2 coffees for my brother and me please. thanks. got it. 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[ male announcer ] have a heart to heart with your doctor about your risk. and about lipitor. tomorrow, investors look for a positive day on wall street after the dow gained 165 points friday. the labor department will release its august unemployment report. is it expected to show more job losses. august auto sales will also be released this week. experts think more cars and light trucks were sold, giving u.s. automakers another lift. apple holds a press event in san francisco. some predicting the company will unveil the latest ipods including a new ipod touch that includes a video camera this time. let's get to new details about paris hilton's arrest cocaine charges in las vegas. they stopped the car friday after they smelled what they believed was marijuana coming from the vehicle. when the socialite stepped out the crowd began taking picture. paris asked for privacy. a police lieutenant took her into the security office at a nearby resort. here's what happened next. >> in the security office, she extracted a tube of lip bomb from her purse. at that time a plastic bindle containing a substance to be cocaine fell from the purse in plain view of the metro lieutenant. the substance subsequently tested positive as cocaine. >> if convict order suspicion of felony cocaine possession hilton would get probation but any probation violation could mean spending one to four years in a nef nevada state pridsen. the emmy awards. entertainment writer for the a.p., glad to are have you here. talk about the twitter thing. >> yes. >> what is jimmy doing? allowing everyone to help write the show? >> emmys want to get younger people involved, so he's saying to twitter fans, tweet me, help write the show, do intros for various host. it's exciting. >> he'll quote the most outrageous ones. >> love it. a chance for viewers to get involved. you can be sitting at home middle of wherever and get your twitter question on live tv. >> a cool idea. i'm a huge "glee" fan and so are those emmy people who -- emmy voters who put out nominations. >> 19 nominations. >> huge. >> "glee" leads all shows. about emmys have been a 30 rock love fest. but it's all about "glee" this year. a big nomination. see if they take home awards. >> 19 indicated something is going right with that show. i mean do you think it has the stuff to topple "30 rock"? >> "30 rock" has been the favorite. >> the office and the great ones. >> i think "glee's" one of the rare shows that the whole family can watch. emmys want to attract younger viewers. i think jane lich will take it home. >> matthew morrison, he's nominated. >> leah michelle's nominated. they're singing, dancing. it's something we haven't seen in dell visitelevision in a few. >> they not only poke fun at themselves in a cliched sort of way but the inclusion of music, that's novel. >> so much reality tv on. people are saying is the sitcom gone? that is format dead and away with? "glee" proves it can be successful. >> thanks. all of you watch the 60-second prime time emmy awards tone at 8:00 eastern only on nbc. hurricane danielle just downgraded but now the focus is on earl. plus, tens of thousands of people gather in the nation's capital. all calling for change. what the rallying cry means for midterm elections coming up on midterm elections coming up on "msnbc sunday." my es water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. i'm a member of this hotel's loyalty program. well, how far away is it? okay, we take a train 40 miles to a dude ranch where we pick up a couple of horses that we ride to a nearby river. then we canoe upstream to a helicopter that takes us to the conference. or we could book with hotels.com and stay closer. see, with welcomerewards, no matter where you accumulate 10 nights, you get a free one. huh. smarter. [ male announcer ] accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. i'm alex witt. top stories for you at bottom of the hour. tropical storm earl is expected to become a hurricane today. there are warnings in effect for several islands in the eastern caribbean. a torrential downpour caused massive traffic problems near downtown phoenix. at least 69 vehicles were involved in 3 separate accidents. seven people were hospitalized, all expected to recover. a volcano erupted on the indonesia island of sumatra today for the first time in four centuries, and thousands were forced to evacuate as a result. back to tamron live in new orleans. tamron? >> reporter: thank you, alex. residents along the gulf coast remembering hurricane katrina today. obviously, they will never forget it. governor haley barbour will host a memorial event outside city hall in biloxi, a tree of hope planted and dedicated at hiller park. also in biloxi, the fifth annual katrina walk will commemorate our mother of sorrows church on division street. that walk starts at 5:00 p.m. local time. since katrina hit, much of the focus has been on how to represent a repeat of the levees failing. much of the levees connected by 350 miles of levees, flood walls and barriers to prevent a massive surge. officials are confident the system will keep the city safe. >> 26-foot tall surge barrier designed to handle 100-year storm surge event and prevent us from ever again seeing storm surge from penetrating into the heart of the city and into the backyards of folks that lived in the lower ninth ward. >> reporter: the total cost, $14.4 billion. and the entire system, crews are improving. 350 miles long. officials say they expect to complete the project in around 36 months from now. thousands of homes have been rebuilt in the past five year and thousand of city residents have returned. millions spent on remaking the city. but there's still so mump to be done. i spoke with new orleans native and musician, branford marsalis and asked hill in his estimation, where is new orleans right now. >> new orleans is -- new orleans is ahead of the curve, as far as i'm concerned because -- >> reporter: not a lot of people -- there's a debate on that. >> that's fair. >> reporter: i want to push you on that. some say it's wrong to say, wow, look at this great neighborhood when in the lower nine, 1%, 2% of people, if that, are back there. >> reconstruction process i estimated would take 10 and 20 years. i stick to that. i didn't think it was going to be -- this is part of the problem with our culture because we get things so instantaneously now whether it's our news, whether it's our junk food or whatever it is we get it so quick that the idea that we are in a situation where it's not going to be fixed in one year or two or five. i didn't expect to see this much done in five years. that's why i say we're ahead of the curve. i think that, as my dad told me right after the storm, i called him up, he said, well, man, you know, before south africa became democratic they were interviewing p.d. bother and he said oftentimes violence is the midwife of change. he said maybe katrina's our midwife. >> reporter: you heard branford marsalis refer to his father, the great jazz musician ellis marsalis, just a few feet from where we are standing for the interview. they plan to open next spring the ellis marsalis musical center, an effort that was dreamt up by branford marsalis and harry connick jr. in the area known as musicians village. it's a dream they had on the way to houston to help evacuees from new orleans and they said what can we do to help? that neighborhood was part of the vision that they discussed on the way to houston. of the the world saw unforgettable images of the lives shattered, many are wondering, where are those people today? a correspondent on the ground for the impact of the storm as she recently revisited some of the people we first met right after 2005. janet, for -- i was in local news at the time, you were a national corner. i was watching with my family. you felt like you knew these people because of the amazing reporting and you wonder how they're doing now. >> you did. i spent so much time with families and small business owners and every story seemed so much heart wrenching than the last. a lot of the people lost just about everything that they had except what you call true grit. where are they now? we went back to the very same streets and neighborhoods. >> reporter: a gathering spot for civil rights leaders in the '60s, holds a prominent place in new orleans' history. after katrina -- >> like this. >> reporter: -- many thought the duky chase restaurant was history. >> it went to nothing overnight. nothing. >> reporter: first, the flood. then the looters. no one would have blamed the then-82-year-old leah chase if she simply hung up her apron. >> i take it and roll it out here. >> reporter: instead, the mate tree arc rolled out a wheel bare reand started butting the place herself. >> i know how to bleach and clean, and then i'm ready to cook. >> reporter: but optimism would prove hard to hold on to. >> it was just the mental pressure trying to get it open and from day to day you couldn't see daylight. you didn't know where you were going. >> reporter: yet, lija ya chase found her way. >> thank you all so much for coming. >> reporter: the restaurant that's been hers for 50 years is back. and she's looking forward, soon handing it over to her grand children. >> if i had to just do what pie had to do, get open again. >> reporter: that's how nick and argi felt about their home in the hard-hit neighborhood. >> you never think that that happened. it was hard to believe that actually it happened. in my lifetime, in this city, your life is just wiped away. >> reporter: we first net meth nick after the storm. >> clean it off like that. >> reporter: for two year the couple lived in a trailer in their front yard while nick worked long days, often alone. >> used to be tile through here. >> reporter: turning their house back into a home. >> look, this is like a nightmare. >> reporter: many neighbors gave up on their houses but nick and argy a few weeks after their 50th wedding anniversary moved back in. >> it was like being back in paradise. i mean, it was a great feeling, you know? >> reporter: left intact what katrina couldn't steal from new orleans, its resilience. just great stories of coming back after ruin. tamron, for every incident where people move back in and you saw great recoveries there are stories of people who didn't come back. 800 families still in fema trailers in the city five years later. >> it's interesting, i first came to new orleans a year before katrina and after the storm i came back to volunteer and support the city every year since. but i said to someone the other day, this is the fir year i've seen optimism on the level. there is hardship, but you see that pride. when you take someone's pride and they get it back, i think it changes the trajectory of the conversation. i've seen optimism. what have you seen? >> you're so right. the same thing. had to be helped by the super bowl. there is more optimism than sadness and that's agood thing for new orleans. >> back to alex live in new york. thanks so much. politics now, everyonen the unfolding race for congress in this 2010 midterm cycle. in louisiana, incumbent senator david vitter cruised to victory for the gop nomination. republicans had been concerned about the chances in light of his involvement in a prostitution scandal. still, vitter took home 87% of the vote, and will face democratic congressman charlie melancon this fall. into west virginia, joe mansion one step closer in his bid for u.s. senate. he will face republican primary winner john racy. they are vying to fill the seat held by the late senator byrd. they came out for a rally in washington but will they come to the ballot box in november? a large crowd of activists gathered at lincoln memorial yesterday for a religious brand of patriotism billed under restoring honor. leader of the rally said it was not political, the conservative mark of the tea party were clear. let's bring in emily heil staff writer for "roll call." hello. >> hi. >> emily, what's your take on the event? you see the tea party game gaining momentum ahead of the midterm elections? >> they've shown themselves to be a powerful, political force but whether they gain momentum or not, almost doesn't matter. they've already had an impact on the kind of candidates they're going into this election in these republican primaries. look at alaska where the tea party candidate appears, the ballots haven't all been counted, but appears to have knocked off an incumbent. they're already going to have an impact on 2010 elections no matter what happens between now and then. >> i'm cure yuts whious about t attitude here. most of the hallmarks of the tea party, at least one, criticism of the role of government. how do you see that playing out to mainstream republicans? >> well, i think a lot of the mainstream republicans can sympathize but probably don't wholeheartedly believe in the tea party's adamant beliefs about smaller government. look at the last two year. we have the t.a.r.p. bill that passed, we have obama care but we call health care legislation that passed. these are big issues that required a lot of government spending. it's one of the reasons the tea party is angry. you see so much enthusiasm from them that they'll probably bring to the polled in november. >> ooh emily, in terms of specifics what the tea party stands for. a poll taken back in april, it shows interesting numbers here. 46% said the government needs to promote traditional values but nearly the same number, 51%, say the government should not try to promote any particular set of values. what does that say? is there a split within the tea party? >> yeah, there is. there are all kind of splits within the tea party. they're not a monogamist big beast of a party. they don't have a strict platform. they are sort of all over the map. they don't have an organization that keeps them ideal logically on the same page. there is is a loose sort of organization. they don't have, you know, national leader. they have de facto leader but they're not official elected party leadership and structure. you have inconsistencies and that drives democrats crazy. i was talking to a democratic staffer saying that they got to call in, my social security check is late but, hey, also i'm a tea partier and a want less government spending. there are inconsistent siz within individuals and also the tea party. >> looking at yesterday and thinking as a senate shot overall the timing of the rally drew controversy because it came on the anniversary of dr. king's "i have a dream" speech. they excuse a. excused the other of defacing the date. do competing rallies depict a cultural rift in the country now? >> i think they depict a political rift. the tea party movement, as emily described, powerful and it's definitely made its own imprint on politics. i think picking the date of the anniversary of the martin luther king dream speech as they say accidental but certainly controversial as well, given theratith theratithe racialle tensions with the group. the naacp acknowledged certain racist elemented in the tea party and since thence there's a battle back and forth. >> ladies, thanks so much. >> thanks for having us. home and business being rebuilt in new orleans. some things can never be rebuilt. up next, the struggle to help residents recover, both physically and emotionally. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪ ♪ a flavor paradise of delicious fishes ♪ ♪ friskies seafood sensations. ♪ feed the senses. 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>> for many years, certainly depression and post traumatic stress were, you know, out the wazoo, people were desperate. it was palpable. not just in the individual, but in communities. and i'm finding that starting to turn around. i think there's a great deal more hopefulness and really that sense of recovery. there's positivity and goals that we can work for. and the healing center's one of those goals. it's a very exciting development. >> your center received $12 million. it's a public/private -- >> a public/private partnership. we're working with loans and tax credits and an awful lot of volunteer hours and heart. we've gone into our communities to do surveys and to do needs assessment and wea've gotten thousands of significants in support of our project. we've brought together formerly polarized communities, black, white, hispanic, native-american, everything in between, rich and poor, the police and artists. >> mitch landrieu said it was the gumbo that makes the region so special, throw it all in and it turns into something wonderful. sally ann, congratulations on your effort to help the people, as you put it, help the people heal from inside out. your organization has a lot of support. as branford marsalis said, so much brought to new orleans and exposed by hurricane katrina, you have to see the positive in that, were it not perhaps for katrina, this healing center would not have received $12 million to help families in these communities who quite honestly may not have had options. that's what we're seeing here. back to alex at the msnbc world headquarters in new york. >> more pain than meets the eye for a lot of the people. tamron, thank you for that. coming up -- could 33 trapped miners be rescued before christmas? new details about the rescue mission coming up. exclusive, new pictures of the "titanic" wreckage site in 3d. these are great. we'll be right back with that. presenting the cadillac "summer's best" sales event. a fantastic opportunity to get a great offer on an all new cadillac srx luxury collection crossover... ..with a bose premium sound system. and an ultra-view sunroof designed to let more summer time in. summer brings out the best in all of us, so now's the perfect time to get behind the wheel of a new cadillac. hurry in for great lease or purchase offers on an all new srx during cadillac's summer's best sales event going on now at your cadillac dealer. the best time to crack it... twirl it... dunk it... and discover more new ways than ever to enjoy crab. starting at $14.99, only during crabfest... ends soon at red lobster. blend it. sprinkle it. sweet! 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[ female announcer ] splenda®. america's favorite no calorie sweetener. the 33 chilean mines are trapped underground may soon be able to talk the families. two-way communication is slated to start today. chile's mining minister is denying a report it could take two months to rescue 33 miners trapped underground. the drilling was expected to take four months but engineers say widening of an existing tunnel closer to where the men are trapped it could cut that time in half. so we've been showing you amazing video all weekend from a rare expedition to the "titanic" far out in the atlantic. the crews sent an rov with a camera fixed to the front of it two miles down to the wreck site. it's been able to send back 3d hd picture. the team has been able to re-create the most detailed map over of site. the work is not done nor is the work of kerry sanders on board the expedition. you guys have hit the road, so to speak. what's up out there? >> reporter: yeah. finding safe harbor because of danielle somewhere back there. we're heading in a northwest position at about ten knots which hopefully is fast enough to get out of the way of danielle. of course, with the captain making the decision it was the smartest thing to do, it had a lot to do with timing because right here is that rov. and this is what has cameras on board, they had to get that up and it was two miles down. it takes hours to retrieve it. let me take you two miles down and look at these spectacular images. an extraordinary day for the folks out here. rms "titanic" with the assembled scientists and archaeologists could not be happier. they were able to gather information that has not been gathered before because what 3d allows them to do is see relationships between areas like the bow where one of the life rafts would have been launched from to see where it was in an up position or down position, and looking into an area called the mail room. they could see the ladder deep in there and get a better idea of whether up top it was actually closed off or not. they did actually determine it was closed off. likely people were scrambling up the ladders but then found out they couldn't get out. terrifying moments, of course. back in 1912, when the "titanic" went down, alex, mother nature, with that iceberg, did in the "titanic." that is indeed why we're not going to stay here. look here at the water it's two not roller. according to our captain, an experienced mariner, if we had stayed put with danielle, we might have seen 40-foot waves. i think it's a good thing that we decided to leave. >> you know i was worried about you guys yesterday. we had jim cantore on from the weather channel and i said what's going on for kerry and the crew? he said 25 to 40-foot rollers. that's spot on. you don't want to be near there. we'll see you later this morning? >> reporter: great. the scientists will be back pittsburgh just letting the weather blow through first. >> we can't wait to see more pictures. kerry sanders, thanks so much. back at top of the hour with more news from new orleans on this the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina. president obama will be heading there to talk about the recovery. we're going to have that live. 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