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American Morning

Celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans; Pearlington, Mississippi's Katrina Recovery

Aired February 28, 2006 - 11:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome back. A Mardi Gras to remember. This is a special edition AMERICAN MORNING. As you watch live pictures of St. Charles Avenue here in the uptown section city of New Orleans -- people, families reunited, in many cases for the first time since the terrible devastation of six months ago, Hurricane Katrina. And in many cases, some big, broad smiles as these parades come through.
We're in the middle of the Rex -- excuse me, the Zulu parade. The Krewe of Zulu offering incredibly fun energy, color, complete with official Zulu warriors from Africa. There you see a float going by and the beads coming off and the chants of, "Mister, will you throw me something?"

We are waiting for the Rex parade coming after that. And in a little bit, we're going to check in with a man who knows an awful lot about the history of these Mardi Gras parades in the city of New Orleans.

Let's get over to Soledad. She's about a mile away from me in the French Quarter, the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street. Hello, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Miles. Some big smiles here, too. And I want to point out, you know, first of all, I have so way many more beads than you have, because what's happened is, up here on the balcony, a little bit like target practice. So if you don't quickly learn how to catch the beads that are being wailed at you, you're going to get injured. So I've gotten pretty good at catching the beads.

Let's talk some serious things, though. Security, a big component of Mardi Gras, obviously. The NOPD, the New Orleans Police Department, seem to be keeping things very much under control, despite a lot of post-Katrina trouble, some of them very personal.

Lieutenant Reginald Jacques is a first platoon commander with the NOPD. Nice to have you...

LIEUTENANT REGINALD JACQUES, NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPT: Nice to..

S. O'BRIEN: Especially since I know you're busy.

JACQUES: Yes, we are.

S. O'BRIEN: Give me an overall assessment. How's it been? What are the worst problems you've seen?

JACQUES: It's been a fairly quiet Mardi Gras. We hadn't had any of the kind of problems we had last year on parade routes that I know of. My platoon patrols the quarter. We've had the same amount of things. We have some public intoxications. This leads to some brawls.

S. O'BRIEN: You think?

JACQUES: But no big problems.

S. O'BRIEN: Does it feel -- as someone who has lived here, does it feel different to you? I mean -- and I don't mean just crowd size. Does it feel different?

JACQUES: Yes. It's just less people here, so it's just kind of a more calm, relaxed. It's the same people here that are just having a good time. But it's just kind of a calm all over.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you feel like you have enough police support? I heard something like 1500 officers. When I talked to your boss, the superintendent, he talked about getting extra aid if they needed it.

JACQUES: Yes. Well, numbers always help. If you have got more than everybody else, you can always win the battle. We have more than enough support from the state police and the federal agencies, and anybody that's here is going to be secure.

S. O'BRIEN: During Hurricane Katrina, you stayed.

JACQUES: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You were here?

JACQUES: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: What was that like? I mean, to be in this -- I've had people who stayed describe it as Armageddon, and that's about as close as they can get to an accurate description. Do you think that's fair?

JACQUES: Yes. I stayed a few blocks from here at a hotel and it was pretty desolate. We had our own cache of water. We didn't know how long we would be without it. A hundred degree heat in August. It was something like we'd never thought we'd ever see.

S. O'BRIEN: OK, and six months later, when you look out and you see a bunch of tourists, OK -- of course, a lot of them are drunk, but you see a bunch of tourists and they're spending money in the city.

JACQUES: Yes, they are.

S. O'BRIEN: And this part of the city looks pretty good. I know lots of other places look bad, but this looks good. What's your assessment? JACQUES: The hotels, the restaurants, the galleries down here. These guys need a shot in the arm. A guy just told me yesterday that he made $40 the other day. So it's needed to get a little boost. A lot of places you can't do anything about -- if the restaurant is not open, you can't make any money. But if you can get open, then it affects the people here.

S. O'BRIEN: What about psychologically? I mean, you know, it's so funny. I've met so many people down in the Lower Ninth Ward who are walking around, and they came in -- these were evacuees who came back for Mardi Gras and just kind of wanted to see their old neighborhood.

JACQUES: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: And they would talk about how excited they were to be part of Mardi Gras and then cry in the next sentence because they have no idea what's going to happen to their lives. How, psychologically, is the city going to recover, do you think?

JACQUES: Right. I can't speak for everybody, but, you know, you got to think positive. And if you think positive, it's going to happen. But it can be depressing to come down here and see a party and then ride a few blocks away or a mile away and see that, you know, your house has been demolished or the roof is torn off.

S. O'BRIEN: That kind of describes your house a little bit? Yes?

JACQUES: I had a little damage, but not as much as some of my comrades who lost everything. So my family was blessed. We got some water in the house, not from flooding, just from storm flooding. And wind damage. But we're in it and we're fixing it up.

S. O'BRIEN: You think talking about it, giving it sort of a national stage, helps?

JACQUES: Say again?

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think talking about it, not only, you know...

JACQUES: Oh, talking about it definitely helps. You got to talk through it. If you just keep it inside of you -- I think that goes for anybody -- if you keep it inside of you, you're going to have problems down the line. Getting it out, talking to different people about it, telling the story over a few times. Psychiatrists that have talked to us say that is the thing. Talk about it as often as you can.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, we appreciate you coming and talking to us about it, certainly. And again, I know you got a big crowd to go down there and control and deal with.

JACQUES: Yes, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: So we'll let you go. But thank you so much. Lieutenant Reginald Jacques.

JACQUES: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: With the New Orleans Police Department.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. You know, it's terrific to watch the celebrations here certainly in the French Quarter, as we watch what people are doing down here on Bourbon Street and the other parade routes as well. But at the same time, you have to pause to remember the other victims of Hurricane Katrina, all along the Gulf Coast.

AMERICAN MORNING has been following one particular town. It's a tiny little town. Seventeen hundred people at one point lived in the Mississippi backwoods of Pearlington. It's now down to about 600 people, including about 40 people and just three homes still standing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): These survivors of Hurricane Katrina lived tucked in the woods like permanent resident of an overnight camp ground. Tents and travel trailers, meals served from barbecue grills.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sleep up there. She sleeps down there.

S. O'BRIEN (no camera): Right there, huh?

(voice-over): Denise Swanson and her four children cram into a trailer that's built for two.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before the storm, the front door was in this area.

S. O'BRIEN: The most visible progress in Pearlington, Mississippi, is the debris pushed into giant heaps.

(on camera): What's it going to take for you to rebuild your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Loads and loads of dirt to be piled in here first.

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): For some Gulf Coast towns, this is supposed to be a season of celebration. But Denise's mother says this year's Mardi Gras is just a distraction for the children.

LINDA MARTIN, KATRINA SURVIVOR: It makes everybody that's not from here think we're OK again, and we're not. We're way far away from being OK.

S. O'BRIEN: And she worries the party will give outsiders the wrong idea. MARTIN: My kids are all just living in areas that are not even homes. They're just...

S. O'BRIEN: Her town has no center. The stuff of the living is tangled in the forest and the brush. The Red Cross has pulled out. Locals distribute supplies as if the hurricane blew through yesterday.

WAYNE KUNA, VOLUNTEER: Parties are great. But putting lives together here. There's homes here that are really, you know -- I mean, August is -- this happened in August. And look what's still -- what still needs to be done.

S. O'BRIEN: Volunteers have descended on this needy encampment, building scores of huts, and homes, and wells and roofs. The four town churches are now on the mend.

(on camera): Not a whole heck of a lot was salvaged from the New Hope Baptist Church. They were able to grab that podium right off the pulpit, this one as well. And that cross is the cross that was attached to the top of the steeple of this church. There's some good news, though, and you can see it right here. These guys have been working to try to fix the roof, replace the roofs. They're not government workers. These guys are from a church in Florida.

(voice-over): Pearlington's supervisor has lent his land to campers from a Virginia church erecting temporary shelters.

Even he isn't sure when, or if, permanent housing is going to return.

RODRICK PULLMAN, HANCOCK CO. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: I think the big question is, is whether the federal government is going to let money come into communities that went underwater that was in the flood zone, or they're going to say, no, we're not giving it to you, because it's too much of a burden on the federal taxpayer to rebuild in a flood zone.

S. O'BRIEN: Nurse Angela Cole fumes that volunteers are doing what the government should do.

ANGELA COLE, NURSE: We still have standing water in the ditches. We still have the smell of sewage in the air. We still have children and retired folks living in all this, and there just doesn't seem to be a plan for really rebuilding and recovering Pearlington, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to continue to check in on this small Mississippi town as they struggle there to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

If you want to follow the progress or find out how you can help, go to this Web site, www.pearlingtonproject.org.

Ahead, we're going to take you to Baton Rouge. That city, of course, you'll recall, took in thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Now to some people, though, it seems as if it's about to burst at the seams. We'll take a look at some of the problems facing Baton Rouge -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad.

A little bit later I'm going to talk to New Orleans' foremost Mardi Gras historian. He's the man. He knows everything about the carnival and its intricacies. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's head back to New Orleans and Soledad O'Brien, who is high atop a hotel right on Bourbon Street.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right. And you know, make sure you tell Susan that I'm willing to share, because I have gotten to be such a good catch up here now. For a while I was getting pelted by these. That hurt. But then I got -- but I got better at catching them. So tell Susan there was a lot to go around. I'm going to hook both of you guys up when I get back. We got much more of our special Mardi Gras coverage coming in just a few moments.

Coming up, we're going to take a look at the serious problems that are facing Baton Rouge. Very generous in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Now it looks as though that city is about to burst at the seams.

Also, we'll talk to actor Harry Anderson. He owns a nightclub and magic shop in the French Quarter. We're going to ask him about the progress that he is seeing in New Orleans. That's straight ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Mardi Gras has been going on 150 times. There were 13 occasions over the years where for various reasons -- civil war, whatever the case -- that they canceled the parades. But Mardi Gras happens every year. It's Fat Tuesday no matter what. It's on the calendar. This year they were determined not to stop the celebration, even though six months ago this part of the world was on its back, to say the least.

Joining me now is Henri Schindler, who is a noted historian of Mardi Gras and has written a book called "Mardi Gras Treasures," which I invite you to check it out if you're interested in the history of all of this.

It's good to have you with us, Henri. Thank you for your patience.

HENRI SCHINDLER, AUTHOR, "MARDI GRAS TREASURES": It's good to be here.

M. O'BRIEN: It's good to be here. Happy Mardi Gras to you.

SCHINDLER: Happy Mardi Gras.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, you were in -- out of the country at the time of the storm. By the time you got back in September or even into October, I guess, did you think at that time -- you'd witness what you're seeing here right now?

SCHINDLER: Not really, especially not in September. I watched this on CNN in Lima, Peru, and the devastation seemed so complete. And, yet, by the time I got home in late October, it seemed that Mardi Gras was going to come forward. And by then, I really wasn't surprised. Carnival is such an integral part of New Orleans that it has bounced back from every catastrophe. It always has.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, you were costumed up as what today? You're a...

SCHINDLER: Bits and pieces of old costumes. This was Punchinello (ph). This was an antique French mask I've had for some time and never worn.

M. O'BRIEN: Just -- but that's part of the tradition. How did that come to be?

SCHINDLER: Well, actually, carnival is the oldest and most vibrant of New Orleans traditions, and it's been celebrated far longer than 150 years. It's been going on for closer to 200. And actually, in 1699, when the city's founder was coming up the Mississippi River, they made landfall and -- at a little point on the river and realized it was Mardi Gras back in France. And so they named the first spot of land the Point du Mardi Gras. So it's been around that long.

M. O'BRIEN: Since day one. Let's talk about the golden age. We're talking 1870s to the 1930s. How have the floats changed? How has the celebration changed from that time until now?

SCHINDLER: The pageants began in the 1850s. That's what we're celebrating this year. The first thematic pageant was Fomus (ph) in 1857; Rex, who will be coming soon, in 1872. In the golden age, the themes were very esoteric. The entire parade, every float was constructed from the wheels up. Incredible effects with the night parades. Flambeau, dancing around the floats, colored flares and smoke. There was an otherworldly aspect to this.

M. O'BRIEN: What we see today is an outgrowth of that and yet different in some ways?

SCHINDLER: Well, carnival has never stayed the same very long. It's organic. It grows. It shrinks. Zulu came on the scene in 1909. Originally they had very few floats and those were decorated with palmetto leaves and moss. Now, we have a full-fledged parade of floats. There are new groups who are very satirical. And, of course, this year with Katrina, that was the favorite topic of many satirical floats.

M. O'BRIEN: The sense of humor is alive, isn't it? Nice to see that.

SCHINDLER: This day in particular. This is the culmination of carnival. Mardi Gras is the last day before Ash Wednesday. And this -- it is the celebration of life, of exuberance, the joy of the moment. And it is the spirit of New Orleans.

M. O'BRIEN: Henri Schindler, whose book "Mardi Gras Treasures" is worth checking out if you want to find out more. Thank you for your time. Happy Mardi Gras to you. Thanks for waiting around. We're back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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