CBS Evening News 8/29/05 - the day of Katrina's landfall

YouTube has a viewer's off-air recording of the CBS Evening News from Miami station WFOR on August 29, 2005, including commercials and the lead-in segment from WFOR's local 6pm news; the CBS national news anchored by Bob Schieffer starts at 3:49.

Outline:

3:49-4:30: Teaser

4:30-5:20: Summary by Schieffer of Katrina's landfall and resulting deaths and oil price increase

5:20-7:30: John Roberts on damage in New Orleans

7:30-9:27: Lee Cowan reports on residents who sheltered in the Superdome and Katrina causing the Superdome roof to leak

9:27-12:00: Jim Acosta reporting from Biloxi, MS on Katrina flooding over there including in the Mississippi Highway Patrol office

12:00-13:57: Mark Strassman from Baton Rouge, on Katrina causing oil prices to rise in world markets due to refinery operations being disrupted

13:57-15:57: Schieffer has follow-up questions with the reporters in NOLA/Baton Rouge/Biloxi.

19:21-22:30: National average gas price was $2.61 per gallon ($4.29 in 2025 dollars), then an all-time record. Jim Axelrod interviewed oil rig workers in Rock Springs and Wamsutter in Wyoming, as part of a cross-country tour, to discuss the gas prices and showing scenes from a training program for roughnecks.

25:05-25:43: Iraq's parliament received a draft constitution and began the process to hold a public referendum on it. Sunni leaders opposed the constitution.

25:43-26:05: US Army Corps of Engineers demoted an official who criticized a no-bid contracted awarded to Halliburton in Iraq.

26:05-26:37: At least 11 died in Florida due to Katrina, with thousands of businesses in South Florida lacking power.

29:30-30:03: Katrina losing strength over Mississippi. Damage is estimated to $16bn.

30:03-32:44: Historical retrospective of Hurricane Camille in the MS Gulf Coast in 1969 and closing credits.

Side notes:

WFOR's last commercial break before the CBS news included a trailer for an upcoming show called How I Met Your Mother.

The WFOR anchor incorrectly said Roberts would be anchoring - sounds like Schieffer ended his vacation early to be on air for Katrina coverage.

August 2005 was an odd time for TV network news where ABC and CBS had interim anchors. I distinctly remember channel surfing at a friend's house and finding CNN's live report about the death of Peter Jennings. Dan Rather had also stepped down earlier in the year due to an ethics controversy.

From what I could find online, Strassman was still working for CBS as late as 2024 (as a weekend anchor). Lee Cowan is still with CBS. Acosta and Axelrod eventually went to CNN.

CBS's evening entertainment programming had reruns of The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, two episodes of Two and a Half Men, and CSI: Miami.