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American Morning

First Mardi Gras Celebration After Hurricane Katrina

Aired February 28, 2006 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Mister, throw me something, as they say. Obviously, he said that a few times. He's got some beads to prove it.
Welcome back to our special Mardi Gras edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

Thirteen times in history, Mardi Gras has been canceled for one reason or another, whether it's war or some other difficulty here in the city of New Orleans. Despite Hurricane Katrina, the folks here were determined not to have this become the 14th cancellation of Mardi Gras. We're talking about a history that goes back to the 1830s.

And as long as we're talking about history, let's bring in Doug Brinkley, who has been with us to discuss Katrina since it all unfolded, and has discussed many other things a with us historically over the years. But has been looking into the history of Mardi Gras and where it fits in. Give us -- you've actually been already writing the first draft of the first draft?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, HISTORIAN: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: When all is said and done, I think this Mardi Gras will be remembered in a lost ways as a symbolic turning point.

BRINKLEY: It's an absolute symbolic turning point. You know, just here in St. Charles, you can't believe what it was like six months ago, in the sense that to imagine when you're looking at debris, wires down, big oak trees upturned, that this many months later, you'd be able to have this sort of party going on.

Many people have been opposed to having Mardi Gras. But by and large, I think people are rallied together, feeling that it's a tradition, we've got to have it. The city has been losing since Katrina about $15 million a day in the tourist industry, and they needed to show that this is still a big tourist town. We have no Fortune 500 companies here. You go up river to St. Paul, Minneapolis, you get a dozen of them. There's not one. We count on the port business, which is back and running well, and tourism. And so Mardi Gras is a sign to the world, we're back, we've picked ourselves up; we've got a long ways to go, but we're not quitters.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's a sign of the world. It's an economic shot in the arm. All of those things are -- that's a fairly black-and-white decision. If you can bring the revenue in, you can do that. Let's talk about what it means for the collective psyche. You have to make some broad strokes here, but just watching people on the street here, I detect a significant mood shift than what we've seen in our previous trips.

BRINKLEY: Absolutely. Even people that I've been talking to when I'm writing about that, you can see just standing along the parade route have lost their home, they've lost everything, eight feet of water, all their belongings. They feel that they're from here, this geographical place. They're out on the street today, even though they lost everything, simply because they want to feel they are part of the old New Orleans.

It's more than just a parade. I think when you watch it nationally, you think of it as just something like a Thanksgiving Day parade or something. This isn't. It's the soul of the bar scenes here, and of the clubs and of the churches, and everybody gets involved in Mardi Gras.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. It's a parade that is truly interactive. Neither the crowd nor the floats could exist without each other.

BRINKLEY: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: And that is unusual to other parades, which could exist in a vacuum.

Doug Brinkley, you're just getting started for us. We're going to put you to work today.

BRINKLEY: OK, sounds good. Look forward to it.

M. O'BRIEN: And he's going to be with us every step of the way. He's going to give us a lot of insights as we see Zulu and Rex come by today, and give us all those little -- there's a lot of nuance to the city of New Orleans, as there is on this parade we're going to see unfold today -- Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Miles. Give my regards to Doug as well.

Over here, our close friend, Julia Reed, is going to talk with us throughout the day as well, as we have our extended coverage. Of course it's a celebration, Julia, like none other. But of course there's a big debate, too, to party or not to, when you consider the devastation that's not far outside of -- this looks great. But not far, it looks not only bad, it looks really bad. Where do you stand on this argument?

JULIA REED, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEWSWEEK": Well, I mean, as you point out, nobody is going to forget that this happened. I mean, it's impossible. If you just drive four or five blocks in any direction. Except to not have it, I think, would be for people to forget about us. I mean, you know, it would send -- there's nothing associated with New Orleans as Mardi Gras the world over. So I think if you just say, OK, we're just going to throw in the towel this year, I really think it would send a signal to the rest of the country, to Washington in particular, to the world, that we're giving up.

S. O'BRIEN: And you need the money.

REED: We need the money. And, frankly, those people -- as traumatic as it is for everybody displaced, and I can't imagine how awful that would be, it would be -- I mean, those of us who have stuck it out, and there a lot of people who are really fighting against a lot of stuff to get their houses back together, to put their lives back together in this city, we need a little diversion. They need a diversion. I mean, the thing about Mardi Gras is it is a celebration, it's a moment, it's eight days where you can let your hair down, where you can laugh and catch beads. And it is, as people have been pointing out all morning, a family thing. And most of the people you see on the street are out-of-towners, and we're happy they're here.

But you know, what it really is, is for folks who have come back and are trying to rebuild their lives, and it's a great thing to have happen. We can laugh at ourselves. A lot of the floats are satirical, as I'm sure Henry Schindler (ph) is going to talk to Miles about later this morning. I mean, he can give you a much better overview than I can of some of the sarcastic nature of the floats, which is always been the case at Mardi Gras.

I mean, you know, we laugh at ourselves. We laugh at our politicians, who unfortunately give us a lot to laugh about, or cry about, depending on your point of view. And at this point, we got to laugh or we cry. So that's what's happened.

We're going to ask you to stick around with us all through the day. Of course AMERICAN MORNING is on until 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear because of a siren. So I apologize for that. Let's go right now to Jackson Street, and there's the Krewe of Zulu. Can we listen in for a moment as they do their do their dedication?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Moss (ph) family and the Missionary (ph) family have made throughout our history, and we thereby pledge our eternal appreciation. You have helped the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club to become one of America's premier organizations and to make it possible for the Zulus to lead the way back home, Charles E. Hamilton, president, Gary Thornton, chairman of the board, and Larry Hamilton, recording secretary. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. All part of the rich traditions here. This is the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club Inc., as they engage in their Mardi Gras traditions as the parade gets ready to be under way. They will be making their way in our direction in just a little bit. And in more of our Mardi Gras coverage is coming up, New Orleans faces an awful lot of problems when the party is over. We will ask two rather active women who have been in Washington knocking down doors quite literally, trying to get Washington to listen, trying to get some golden coconuts for this city. We will bring them on, and we'll get an earful. Trust me.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Take a look at live pictures here. That's St. Charles Avenue, and they call it middle part of the road -- you call it a median, they call it neutral ground here. The next two people you're about to meet, there's nothing neutral about them.

They are working very hard. They've been spending a lot of time trying to convince lawmakers in Washington, and for that matter, just about anybody who will listen, including us, that more needs to be done to bring the city of New Orleans back in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

We are joined by Madeline West and Cecile Tebo. Good to see you both.

CECILE TEBO, WOMEN OF THE STORM: Good to see you.

MADELINE WEST, WOMEN OF THE STORM: Good to be back.

M. O'BRIEN: I like your garb. You got the colors.

WEST: I got the colors just a bit.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm not quite as flamboyant.

WEST: I'm the other side of this picture here.

M. O'BRIEN: Your husband Balat (ph) is going to be on Rex?

TEBO: Yes, he is.

M. O'BRIEN: I know there was a lot of give and take as to whether it was a good idea to parade. What were you thoughts on that?

TEBO: Absolutely. Well, we were very mixed. I'm a lieutenant in Muses, which is a huge women's organization here. We had 600 women and we did choose to riot. And I can tell you that it probably will be the most important year I've ever had riding. It was unbelievable. And I'm so glad we made the choice to do it.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you agree, Madeline?

WEST: I agree. I think this Mardi Gras is going to -- is and will go down in history as the turning point in rebuilding New Orleans. I also think there was lots of debate, but even the naysayers looking at the activity during this carnival season and on this Mardi Gras day, it would be hard-pressed for them not to have some sense of hope that we're going to come back and rebuild our city.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, I think you can be a cynic about it and say, wow, gosh, look at all the money that has been spent here, and say all the needs there are. But you know what, this satisfies an important need as well, doesn't it?

TEBO: But you know what, Miles? It's also we put our money into it. It wasn't the city that paid for this. The people paid for this. And we did it for ourselves. It's been very healing. And you know what? Down here in New Orleans, we celebrate live. We have jazz funerals. And we have been in a total state of grief for six months and, today, we get to celebrate life and we get to party and, tomorrow, the costumes will be put away and we will return to our battle. And we are having a battle here.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about this battle. I was talking to Congressman Bobby Jindal. He said Speaker Hastert and Congressman Pelosi are coming here on Thursday.

TEBO: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a big step, because you've had a hard time getting, I think, lawmakers in Congress to fully appreciate what has gone on here.

TEBO: That's absolutely true. And we are thrilled that they are coming, but we need them all to come here. This is the biggest disaster this country has had and if, for anything else, they need to see themselves as historians. We're all historians of this catastrophe. They need to come, they need to see it. The people of this country need to call their representatives and their senators and tell them to come down.

We're offering them 36 hours. That's all. It's all paid for. It is completely paid for. Telling them to come down and see this. Because this could happen in any other state. You see my sign "Waiting for Insurance." There are 200,000 people that are waiting for their insurance. This could happen anywhere in the country, and we hope that through all of this, we're going to be able to change some of these systems. This shouldn't be happening. This should not be happening.

M. O'BRIEN: Madeline, is it difficult, as you go through this battle, knocking on all these doors -- sometimes you just want to scream, you know?

WEST: I am definitely surprised by how hard it is to get the Congress to come and see the worst event in history, catastrophic event. We're becoming nags, but we're going to continue. And I think the visit this weekend will definitely sort of trigger, hopefully, others to come and visit. You know, we're -- the latest figures, 87 percent of the house and about 70 or so percent of the Senate haven't come. I mean, more people are coming and we hope that this weekend will be a trigger to others coming later.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, right after the storm, it was Speaker Hastert who said something to the effect -- I'm paraphrasing -- you know, maybe it isn't right to rebuild New Orleans. Maybe it's not safe. Or let me put it this way. Is there an amount of money that is too much money to rebuild big sections of this city?

TEBO: You know what, we're very important to this country. I mean, would you not build back Washington? Would you not build back New York?

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

TEBO: We are just as important to this country and there are people who have lived their lives here, they are third generation New Orleanians. They have every right to come home, and we're going to make it possible so that they can come home.

M. O'BRIEN: Madeline?

TEBO: Look. I think this Mardi Gras will hopefully convince a lot of people that this city is worth saving. I think we have a lot to offer here both from a historical and cultural point of view. The real estate here. You know, the ton -- the port here is the largest tonnage. We have seafood. Our wetlands provide the infrastructure for the oil that is coming from the Gulf Coast. I mean, we're very valuable. And I think people need to pay attention to that and look at this Mardi Gras and see why we need to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Madeline West and Cecile Tebo, Women of the Storm. Thank you very much.

WEST: Thank you very much.

TEBO: We're off to party!

M. O'BRIEN: All right, yes, please do! Please do enjoy it.

We're going to shift gears now just a little bit and turn it over to the control room because our boss, the executive producer and vice president Kim Bondy, is a New Orleans native and lost her house in the midst of Katrina.

And as you listen to Cecile and Madeline, Kim, and you listen to them, you know, making a case for the survival of a city, it must bother people in New Orleans that they even have to make that case?

BONDY: Absolutely. And it bothers me in that it seems to have come down to this where we shouldn't be having this debate. And I do think we have to make some hard choices about which parts of the city have to be redeveloped first. We've talked a lot about this, Miles, about what parts of the city where the market will be.

And until we get the levees secure -- and I'm talking Category 5, I'm not talking about Category 3, I'm not talking pre-Katrina -- you know, it's just going to be -- there's going to be so much uncertainty for people, residents of this city. You know, before they sink a lot of money into their homes, are the levees going to be secure? And the other side is what is your neighborhood going to look like? But it's really about how we go about rebuilding the city, not about whether or not we rebuild it or not.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, we've -- viewers who have been watching us all throughout this know a little bit about your house and your decision-making process. Give us a sense of where you are right now. And to what extent is that the same situation that a lot of people are dealing with right now?

BONDY: You know, I call myself Katrina crazy. My house is up for sale right now. And it doesn't mean I'm leaving New Orleans or that I'm giving up on New Orleans at all. But I'm so nervous about the levees. You know, my house is less than a mile from the London Avenue levee break, the floodwall collapse there. And, you know, the idea that I could rebuild and commit to going back to Legion Field (ph), the street that I love, a neighborhood that I really loved, Gentilly. And there'd still be so much uncertainty about that neighborhood. So I've put my house up for sale.

I haven't decided fully if I'm going to rebuild or not or sell it. It's like I said, I'm a little Katrina crazy I call myself. And if the house sells, then I will buy a house in New Orleans in -- on higher ground. If it doesn't sell after the end of the hurricane season, but the levees are being rebuilt and I feel good about the direction of my neighborhood and I feel good about the direction of the levees, then I will probably tear the house down and rebuild a higher house, but it will be a little bit of a no mas. It will be a little bit of a tribute to my house on Legion Field. A little bit of breaking news, because I haven't really talked about it very much, because it is still very mentioned.

Again, Katrina crazy.

M. O'BRIEN: Katrina crazy. All right, Kim Bondy, don't go far. I know you can't leave anyway, really. So stay there. And help us through this. I want to ask you next time we talk to you what your thoughts are on this Mardi Gras day. I know you wish you were here.

Let's go over to Soledad now in the French Quarter -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, yes, Miles. We're down on Bourbon Street. Light come up, and pretty much everybody starts heading out, hopefully to bed to take a little nap. The people you see out here it's not like they are early-risers or anything. They've actually been out all night partying, cleaning up. We're going a little walk through the area.

Thank you very much.

And then a little bit later, we'll also get a chance to chat with you about the original Mardi Gras. Believe it or not, it didn't happen in the Big Easy. It happened elsewhere. That's ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We're on Bourbon Street, below the balcony of the Royal Sonesta. The sun has come up. People have been out all night, making their way back to the hotels slowly. A little bit of garbage here. Here is the balcony where you can see during the day.

The ground, the street lights and the street signs. Is this a trendy street so I'm going to warn you ahead of time, we've been running into some folks, a little colorful characters we'll call them.

(INAUDIBLE), some of our local friends. This year, we have our own CNN Mardi Gras beads we are hanged out. So our brand new friends here.

Here, guys. I'm going to make you the official hander-outer.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Pass 'em all down.

You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark Armstrong.

S. O'BRIEN: And, Mark Armstrong, where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Metairie, Louisiana.

S. O'BRIEN: So you're a local guy, and here are all your friends, out-of-towners, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All my friends are from Loyola University of New Orleans. They all chose to come to our great city to party just for this reason, Mardi Gras. And we're here, having a great time.

S. O'BRIEN: Are they here to party, or are they hear to support the city?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're here to (INAUDIBLE) ... had the opportunity to leave and to go to a different college, but they chose to come right back to New Orleans, because they had to face and the city just like I do. And that's why we're all back here partying.

S. O'BRIEN: You got some friends from Boston, some friends from...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right!

S. O'BRIEN: A little shoutout for their own hometown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We represent everywhere on this street.

S. O'BRIEN: Have you had a chance to take them out of here and show them some of the parts of the city that aren't so pretty?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely. I've been trying to show them the places that I grew up and the places that I miss. I went to school at Holy Cross in the Ninth Ward. I took them out there, showed them how ravaged it is, and how, you know, this is our city, this is where we grew up, and there's people all over this land that love it, and we're trying to pour our money in, pour our support, pour everything in to show that we love this city.

S. O'BRIEN: And pour some drinks as well, I'm going to guess.

You guys, thanks so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're college boys!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I get a picture with you!

S. O'BRIEN: That happens all the time, people confuse me for Katie Couric. A short break. We'll come back. We talk to Lenny Kravitz about what he thinks needs to be done. Walk through the Ninth Ward. Pretty remarkable pictures there. We've got that just.

We're back in just a moment, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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