Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

New Orleans Celebrates Mardi Gras

Aired February 28, 2006 - 09:30   ET

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

(NEWSBREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: St. Bernard Parish, you know, we have covered that parish a lot. And so it's well known that they suffered some of the very worst damage from Hurricane Katrina. Six months later, to say that the recovery is slow might be an understatement.

Sheriff Jack Stephens has been critical of the federal government's response and a good friend coming to talk to us really when we needed some insight and some information. Nice to see you.

SHERIFF JACK STEPHENS, ST. BERNARD PARISH: Good seeing you. Happy Mardi Gras.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. OK, so tell me, the folks in St. Bernard Parish, I know a lot of people aren't back yet. But do they resent the whole idea of Mardi Gras or they excited about it? You know, there's a big debate going on about that.

STEPHENS: We have a really resilient population, and people actually were looking forward to carnival season this year, Mardi Gras. And they're in a festive mood in spite of the dilemma that they find themselves in. And I think for this entire region overall, this was a very good move to have carnival and have people out here, at least for a day or two taking their minds off of the despair that they suffer every day.

S. O'BRIEN: You have no main street, so you have no parades. I mean, are people putting together anything in...

STEPHENS: Actually, we did have one parade that rolled in St. Bernard.

S. O'BRIEN: You did?

STEPHENS: It was incredible. And while we didn't know what the crowds were going to be, it was people just came out of the woodwork for it. And the great thing is that we did not make one arrest, we did not have one problem. People...

S. O'BRIEN: From a legal perspective, which you always get to.

STEPHENS: Oh, yes. Yes. And you know, the good thing is, Soledad, I've talked to several policeman in NOPD and they've told me this has been a great carnival season. The crowds have been very cooperative. Very few arrests except for the normal things that you would expect, people drinking too much and all. So the civilian population and our tourists have been very, very good on this carnival season.

S. O'BRIEN: How many people are back now in St. Bernard Parish?

STEPHENS: We have, other than emergency personnel and government officials, probably about 6,000 civilians back out of a population of 70,000 people.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to say, that's under a tenth.

STEPHENS: Yes, it's excruciatingly slow at this point. And, of course, the hold up is the same, you know, excuse you hear everywhere. You know, it's a government very slow in delivering trailers for people who are looking for temporary housing.

S. O'BRIEN: So there are people who would like to come but they can't get a trailer?

STEPHENS: Oh, yes. Again, our -- we have a tenacious population. I mean, people want to come back. There are over 8,000 requests for mobile homes right now, for temporary assistance, that have not been filled. And it encourages us, but any circumstances, what our thoughts turn to now is the next hurricane season, how we deal with that. That's 90 days and counting. Yes, and I mean, there's a chance if we don't plan well that this could be a very chaotic season if we get any hurricanes in the Gulf.

S. O'BRIEN: So for -- what's the reason given to those 8,000 people who are still waiting for the trailer? Because there are -- I mean, sometimes they say listen, low lying areas, we just can't legally put a trailer in a place that could be dangerous. At the same time, there are government workers in trailers. I mean, you and I drove by them just the other day.

STEPHENS: Soledad, the frustrating thing about this whole exercise is that people really don't have answers. And that's why, you know, the anger and frustration is really turning to despair. The government has no explanation for the slow pace of this. And I will say this. Our federal and state leaders failed us during the event, and as far as I'm concerned, they continue to fail us now in this recovery.

Maybe after carnival, things will pick up. You know, hopefully this is a milestone and we'll start to see some progress. But in any circumstances, as a first responder, my thoughts now turn to the next hurricane season and how we stage for that, where our deputies hunker down in our parish. We don't have a place do that right now, and I have to keep a presence there so...

S. O'BRIEN: So in 90 days, when hurricane season starts again, what's your plan?

STEPHENS: Well, I mean, we really don't have a plan right now. Every public building that we operate out of has been destroyed or damaged. All of our deputies are living in mobile homes right now, and you can't stay in there when there's a hurricane in the Gulf, obviously. So, I mean, there are some things that we've been working on. The possibility of a roll on, roll off ship down there that we could put our command structure on and all of our equipment.

But at this point in time, we're still dealing with what the evacuation would look like. Can you imagine the people hooking up to these 31-foot trailers, getting on the interstate? You know, after you've been waiting seven months if you have one, you hate to leave it behind. And certainly, it would be destroyed.

S. O'BRIEN: And it's not going to survive, right.

STEPHENS: This is -- I'm going to tell you what. This region needs a break. We need a calm hurricane season in 2006. Hopefully, we'll get that. And if God and nature shines a happy face on us, I think that after that season, you'll start to see the pace pick up in this whole region.

S. O'BRIEN: A break from Mother Nature, maybe a break from the government, too, as well.

STEPHENS: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Nice to see you, as always, Sheriff.

STEPHENS: Good seeing you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming to talk to us. We appreciate it.

STEPHENS: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Miles along the parade route. Hey Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Soledad, I'm just availing myself of the Mardi Gras facilities here. It's all decked out in the proper -- it's a dollar. Better go see Cookie Miller over here. He's been coming here for what -- Cookie, how long you been coming here, 30 years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've coming here over 30 years.

M. O'BRIEN: Over 30 years. Thank you very much. I assume -- is business good so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to pick up. It's going to pick up. As the day goes, it's going to pick up.

M. O'BRIEN: You do a full service operation here. You got some chicken, you got hot dogs, you got other things.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to cook sausage, we're going -- hamburgers. You name it, we're going to cook it.

M. O'BRIEN: Are you glad to be here today? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't miss Mardi Gras. I don't think I have missed five in my lifetime.

M. O'BRIEN: And you lost your house, didn't you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, we was right over the eye.

M. O'BRIEN: But you're still celebrating?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got your life. That's what goes on.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, all right. You keep cooking that fried chicken. I'll be back to that in a little bit.

I want to go see the Morris family. Let's go see the Morris family. Come on this way. We're going to go around here. Hey, guys. How are you? I want to explain to people -- I hope that sun isn't too bad for you, if we can get a shot here.

It's good to see you. Jacob (ph) and this is Malakai (ph), right? How long have you been coming here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 24 years, as long as I am old.

M. O'BRIEN: Really? Twenty-four years. And this is his fourth Mardi Gras. Does come out here every year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is his third.

M. O'BRIEN: Third Mardi Gras.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about these things. I've never seen these before. This is a New Orleans kind of thing, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell us about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I don't really know how they got started. I know that everybody else does it, and it seems pretty convenient for the kids.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. So in other words, everybody's got build these seats if you're going to get the good throws?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, right. They tend to target these for the better throws.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Jacob and Malakai. You excited, Malakai?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: You have fun now. Thank you very much for being with us. And some -- check out this parade over here. Mondo Kao (ph). Pete Fountain (ph) came by just a few moments ago. I'm sorry you missed that one. That was really fun.

But you know what it is here? I guess the real theme here -- speaking of coconuts. The real theme here is that this is a city that hasn't lost its sense of humor in spite of everything. Let's go up the road a little bit.

CNN's Sean Callebs is riding along with the granddaddy of them all, Rex. Hello, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles. Sounds like you're having a great time down there.

Let me give you an idea of what's happening here on St. Charles. This is where Rex is going to begin, but not for a couple of hours. Look out here already. It is simply packed and people looking for beads. They get to the highest location. They tell me that's the easiest way to catch them.

And I want to Ted Hinkley (ph). Ted, jump up here for a minute. You got your family out here. This is the face of Mardi Gras. The visitors, the tourists see a lot of Bourbon Street. But really this is big family-oriented event for the people who live here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, yes. I've lived here my whole life, and Mardi Gras is a family event. We come out every year, and -- sure.

CALLEBS: And you came out here this morning with your family. You hope to catch some beads again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

CALLEBS: Have a good time out here, Ted. We appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

CALLEBS: And then to give you an idea, it's not coming out in the morning. We've got Jeff here that came out at noon yesterday -- yesterday. So if he looks a little toasted in the face, that's just the sun. Don't worry.

What you got here, Jeff?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got some ribs that we took off the grill about 4:00 this morning.

Would you like one?

CALLEBS: You try one of those things. Really?

4:00 in the morning. So for 24 hours, it's been nothing but ribs, and enjoyment and beads. And, Miles, the crowd here is continuing to grow. You mention it's the biggest, it is the granddaddy, these -- the Rex group will meet up with Zulu later on today, past the French, or the French Quarter, and of course everybody have a great time -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Sean Callebs. Thank you very much.

This is Mondo Kao who just went by. Check it out. I got a Mondo Kao kiss. I think it was from a guy, but that's all right. Hey, it's Mardi Gras. I got a little bit of my first Mardi Gras throws here. I got some beads and a lei, so to speak. So the parade is under way here. We're still waiting for the big ones, but some of these smaller ones are just as interesting.

And I got to tell you, it is a gorgeous day out here right now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Much more of our special Mardi Gras coverage just ahead. George Rodrique is a famous artist. You know him from his blue dog painting. He's going to tell us this morning how he's using those painting to help his beloved city recover.

Then a little bit later this morning, we'll talk about Mardi Gras and religion, take a look at the celebration from a religious standpoint. That's all ahead.

Stay with us. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, we're having fun. The thing is starting to develop a little momentum here on St. Charles Avenue. People are really lined up here. They got some good seats. Look at the bead skirt here. That's a good one.

In any case, in just a moment going to tell you a little bit about Katrina relief. There's a local artist. You might be familiar with him. He does those blue dogs. I don't know if you have seen him. Pretty famous artist. Anyway, he's got some special work that he's doing on behalf of the victims of Katrina. We'll tell you his story in just a moment.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The theme of this year's Rex Parade is still arts and letters honor of the creative artists who lived and worked in New Orleans.

George Rodrique has raised almost a million dollars for Katrina victims through his Blue Dog Relief campaign. He's got a series of three paintings. He joins us this morning to talk about the campaign and the paintings, as well.

The blue dog is really what you're famous for, although you have a lot of other themes that you focus on in your artwork. Let's talk a little bit about the legend of the blue dog.

GEORGE RODRIQUE, NEW ORLEANS ARTIST: Well, the legend is really a Cajun legend. It's called Rugaru. My mother told me the story when I was a little boy. You're not good today, the Rugaru will come and get you tonight.

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of like a little werewolf?

RODRIQUE: A werewolf.

S. O'BRIEN: So you decided to represent this werewolf, but you couldn't find any pictures of the werewolf?

RODRIQUE: Well, I couldn't find any pictures. I had to come up -- find something in my head. But I had a show in L.A. with all this Rugaru painting and people in L.A. started calling it the blue dog. And that's when it kind of switched in my mind that...

S. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) Tiffany (ph), your do, who has passed.

RODRIQUE: Yes, I used part of my dog, the memory of him, and made it a wolf-like thing.

S. O'BRIEN: The blue dog has really gotten very famous. And now you've taken the campaign to raise an incredible amount of money. I want to talk a little bit specifically about these series first. The first one's called "We Will Rise Again." Describe for me what "We Will Rise Again" is about.

RODRIQUE: Well, the blue dog was born here in New Orleans, right on McGary and Ross (ph) Street and -- 20 years ago. So the symbol of New Orleans has become sort of the blue dog, and I have the blue dog submerged halfway on the water. And the America -- the American flag is on the water, and the dog is slowly coming out of water. And we're saying we will rise again, because this is not the end. This is a new beginning. So the dog is the life of the city, coming out for a new beginning.

S. O'BRIEN: Second in the series is called the "Stay Live, We Need Levee Five." It's very..

RODRIQUE: Yes, levee five is political. We need a levee five, meaning we need a levee to protect from hurricane five. And that print is donated to help the reopening of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

S. O'BRIEN: What's the message to the third in the series, "Throw Me Something, FEMA"?

RODRIQUE: Well, that's -- you know, if you're in New Orleans, you know, it's "Throw Me Something, Mister." Well, "Throw Me Something, FEMA," means throw me an icebox, throw me a loan, throw me a new house, throw me new roof, throw me anything you can. And that's what we've all been experiencing for the last six months.

S. O'BRIEN: Have you found all this making you incredibly political?

RODRIQUE: I hope so.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, because that's not really what the blue dog for you before necessarily was.

RODRIQUE: Well, it all started, you know, when I did the 9/11 print.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

RODRIQUE: And we raised the money for the Red Cross in New York. And the minute this tragedy happened, people started e-mailing me and saying, do something for New Orleans. Do something for South Louisiana. Which took a little time, you know, because it hit so close to home. It took me like four weeks to just get it going.

S. O'BRIEN: When you look around and you see some of the revelers beneath us here and some of the parades that we've been showing shots of, do you feel hopeful that the city is coming back?

RODRIQUE: Oh, I'm very hopeful. I mean, I'm very -- I don't feel like the city has gone. You know, I don't have -- I don't take that position. I take the position that the spirit has always been here. You know, hurricanes -- we've been going through hurricanes all our lives, and hurricanes only destroy things, never destroy spirit.

The spirit of New Orleans, the spirit of Louisiana -- you know, New Orleans is the gem of Louisiana and all of Louisiana people have embraced New Orleans. And that's not gone, you know. And the object, what it is today, is going to be bigger and bigger and bigger. And we all going -- we here, we working and we're going to fix it. And that's not -- it's not going to go away.

S. O'BRIEN: And you've got a good opportunity, I think, to get other people to embrace the spirit, too, with this series. George Rodrique, we're out of time. We could chat forever about it, because I love the blue dog. Thank you for talking with us.

RODRIQUE: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: And visiting with us this morning.

RODRIQUE: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We sure appreciate it. If you want to purchase any of the three original in the series here -- let's show on the Web site here if we can -- you want to go to bluedogrelief.com. All the proceeds are going to benefit the American Red Cross and also the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Ahead this morning, just a moment, we're going to talk to a reporter from the New Orleans "Times Picayune" newspaper, see what kind of progress he's noticed in the past six months.

And New Orleans may get the most attention, but America's first Mardi Gras was actually, believe it or not, in another city. We'll take you there just ahead. Stay with us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com