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Back in New Orleans

Posted: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 4:53 PM by Jen Brown
Filed Under:

by Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor

I was given a T-shirt today that bears the following design: the fleur-de-lis logo of New Orleans, the number 504 (the area code here) and one other word: "home."  In an odd and emotionally gratifying way, this city is starting to feel like a second home.  I'm enormously proud of our coverage from here, and the fact that this is our 14th trip to the region in two years.  We'll start the broadcast from the very spot where we stood two years ago tonight -- when we thought the city had suffered a lot of wind damage, but that it had "dodged a bullet" where flooding was concerned.  How little we knew that first night after the storm.

Today we visited Engine Company 7 (left), the New Orleans firehouse we profiled months ago (video). When our story first aired, it got the attention of some good people who, upon hearing that firefighters were living in trailers, worked on getting the money to fix the 23 firehouses that were damaged in Katrina.  Work at Engine 7 is slow and steady. 

I also got to meet one of my heroes today: the New Orleans radio icon, Garland Robinette of "the Big 870" WWL-AM.  He's an institution here, and for good reason.  Garland is a lot of things: smart, commanding, compassionate, enormously talented and committed.  He's also beloved here.  We had a wonderful time on the air and he was nice to have us.

A senior administration official, travelling with President Bush, just told me by phone that the president was pleased with the feedback he received during his visit here.  (Mr. Bush spent the night here last night before two events here today, and then took a dicey helicopter ride through boisterous, stormy skies to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi). The official said the feedback was "99 percent positive," with very little talk of the problems of the past -- FEMA complaints, etc.  White House aides are very mindful that the mis-handling of this disaster is something that will always be with them.

Tonight we'll look back, we'll look around at present day New Orleans, and we'll look forward.  We'll have the help of two of our correspondents who have "done their time" here at our bureau, Martin Savidge and Ron Mott.  We'll cover the other news of this day including the story of Senator Craig, the death today of Richard Jewell, the West Nile virus and more.

We hope you can join us from New Orleans tonight -- and we'll see you back home in our New York studios tomorrow night.

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Comments

Brian thanks for the information as the way your got the Twilight Zone story from the Bush visit. Now I guess we're not suppose to believe what we see anymore.  Only a true idiot or liar would believe things look better. Brian most of the people that did get help came from others not the FEMA. We are to believe that the thousands that can't come home see this the same way as the White House. Even a blind person could see this is no way near cleaned.  I guess this is President Bush's way of telling the people not to see what they see.

Senator Craig's story is all over the place. Mitt Romney even say Craig was like Bill Clinton. Now we know Mitt is in that Twilight Zone too.  I think the people of Idaho should decide if they want Craig to represent them. Craig's GOP friends are throwing him under the bus. I wounder when they will get caught.

It's going to be interesting to see who Bush Senior will tell George Jr. to appoint as Gonzales's replacement.  Karl Rove just can't stay away from the White House, I know he hopes to get some of the 50 billion dollars President Bush is asking for. The White House is supplying weapons to the enemy and charging them for the guns.  Sometimes the White House doesn't know which name to tell the press when there's an attack in Iraq. We hear names like Shiites, sunnies, bath party and if the Oval office wants to put fear back in Americans we hear Al Qaeda.  I couldn't believe Bush when he used the word Holocaust, he didn't even know what he was talking about.  Iran will be in Iraq soon the PM Maliki's invitation.  I guess that vote in Sept. wont be needed.  I just wish that the Trillion dollars the US taxpayers have given Iraq could have been used for our soldiers, Americans losing homes and the many Storm victims.

Jackie Rawlings Riverside California (Sent Wednesday, August 29, 2007 6:28 PM)

Good Evening Mr.Williams, Hopefully there will be progress in the rebuilding of New Orleans. There are signs of this like the Superdome, but so much has yet to be done. It is wonderful how so many church groups, youth groups, families have come together to reconstruct homes. And Mr. Martinez with the grocery store and the building of the expansion shows some promise. As the years come and go one hopes that things will get better and better. But it takes such a long time. I remember your visiting the firehouse the other time on the broadcast and it was nice to see those firemen again. With peoples help they will not be in a trailer for long. Finally, I was impressed you made it to the subroof of the Superdome in a short amount of time. It was interesting to see the section that was pounded by the wind. Anyway, thank you for the broadcast Mr.Williams. See you in New York tomorrow evening. Peace to all!

Lisa McNeil,Alpharetta,Georgia (Sent Wednesday, August 29, 2007 7:12 PM)

The story by Jim Maceda about the Putin generation was chilling. It reminded be of Chairman Mao's following of young people. Could President Putin be paving the way to continue on as the leader of Russia longer than his current term?

I find it hard to believe that our country's relationship with Russsia has deteriorated to the point that young Russians look upon Americans as enemies.  If any lasting peace is ever to be achieved in the Middle East and the world as a whole, Russia and the US must work together toward a common goal. The picture doesn't look too encouraging right now.





Dot, Illinois (Sent Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:22 PM)

Mr. Williams:

In September 2005, shortly after Katrina hit New Orleans, there was a video which was recorded, "Brian Williams: In His Own Words." It was broadcast on the Sundance Channel and it's in the NBC archives as well.

At the very end of the tape, you said:

"The politics of all this are very simple. If we come out of all this crisis and in the next couple of years don't have a national conversation on the following issues: race, class, petroleum, the environment, then we the news media will have failed by not keeping people's feet to the fire."

Looking back over the last two years, how are you doing? Have you covered these issues as thoroughly as you would have liked? And finally, how strong is your network's commitment to the lessons of Katrina? Would you still cover this, say, five years down the road?

Thanks very much.

James Zipadelli, Avon, CT (Sent Wednesday, August 29, 2007 10:27 PM)

Thank you for the broadcast from New Orleans, Mr. Williams.  It really helped me to better familiarize with the place, and what happened on this day 2 years ago and what has been done in the time-span.  I was touched by the sentence you wrote in the blog above, "this city is starting to feel like a second home."  I have lived in 2 places (besides Japan) so far - Ohio and New York - and both of these 2 places feel like my second home.  And a second home is something that you think about and long for from time to time, and the people there you care about, the places and faces of the city you reminisce over time.  The place(s) is/are special.  Thank you for the broadcast as always, Mr. Williams, and we'll see you back in New York tomorrow.

Jun Nishihara, Japan (Sent Wednesday, August 29, 2007 11:44 PM)

Kudos to the first-rate Katrina anniversary coverage the past couple of nights--it was good to see you on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in New Orleans updating the situation.

President Bush sure has chutzpah--reminding us how about 2 years ago he'd promised in Jackson Square that America would do what it takes and stay as long as it takes. Those of us who've been keeping up with the situation in the storm zone recall his promises and know his administration clearly and obviously has not kept them. Were I a reporter there, I'd ask him about the new $50 billion he's going to ask for for Iraq and ask why he hasn't instead asked for such money to rebuild New Orleans.

Olivia, Peoria, Ill. (Sent Thursday, August 30, 2007 8:10 AM)

Brian - thank you for your passion and persistence regarding New Orleans. There is a renewed spirit among the people of this area - and a determination to keep moving forward. We do not want to look back, but we do need the federal government to stay committed to their pledge to repair the levees. Without levee and storm protection, the business community and housing market cannot return with an assurance of safety. America cannot be whole without New Orleans, and New Orleans will not be whole without the citizens of the United States behind us.

Regards,

Mark
 

Mark Romig, New Orleans, Louisiana (Sent Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:24 AM)

Last night, I misses the NBC Nightly News @ 5:30 PM on KFOR NBC 4, in Oklahoma City. Thank GOD for the Internet. Brian, thank you for returning back to New Orleans, 'The Big Easy'. I have not been to New Orleans on vacation since Dec. 26, 1995. Personally, I'd like to see all the Big name celebrities do more same with most of the Professional athletes.

Stephen White Edmond, OK (Sent Thursday, August 30, 2007 11:28 AM)

Thanks for all of your coverage from the Gulf Coast over the last two years.  I watched NBC news out of habit until the hurricane, but your amazing coverage and compassion about the people in New Orleans made me a loyal viewer. Your coverage showed that this storm really brought into focus a lot of the societal problems we have (i.e. poverty, race relations, inner-city issues, crime).  It is a lesson that we should always remember, but will probably forget.

Jenny, Des Moines (Sent Thursday, August 30, 2007 11:59 AM)

Mr Williams, et al,
Please cover Jefferson Parish and the man made flooding damage that all news media is missing.  Most news media looks the other way but this is 3 to 5 billion dollar damage to the homes of thousands of Jeffersonians done by the politician who cried on MTP.
Please go to:  http://lenny-jaeger.com/WATERLOO.html

Leonard Jaeger New Orleans, 70123 La (Sent Thursday, August 30, 2007 12:02 PM)

Dear Mr Williams
We watch your show nightly from Canada and enjoy it immensely.Just before Katrina hit the USA we watched coverage of 2 older gentlemen on an small island off the coast of the affected areas. The newscaster said they refused to leave the island that was there home.We never heard what happened to them.Would you know?Keep up the good work

Jo-Ann Luciani ,Toronto,Ontario,Canada (Sent Monday, September 03, 2007 5:11 PM)

Dear Brian,
After sobbing for ten minutes after your heart-wrenching report about the Ohio mother who left her 2-year-old daughter to die in her car, I feel moved to suggest another reason for these 340 horrific, needless deaths:  Women are not bonding properly with their babies.  Infants who are left in day care at 6 weeks---and their mothers---are missing the critical, irreplaceable bonding period of their first year together.  Men bond in a different way, a less powerful, less biologically urgent way; if society holds women to a higher standard of care, as your report stated, there is good reason---the survival instincts hard-wired in our brains.  As the mother of four, I am grateful daily that I did not have to surrender my babies to the underqualified, disinterested, and grossly underpaid workers who staff our nation's daycare centers.  My heart aches for the millions of American women with no economic options, and though I did indeed cry for the Ohio womay, my tears are definitely tempered by the sight of her Mercedes being towed.  I'm all for professional women, but I reserve my greatest compassion for the children who, from birth on, are treated like inconvenient pets.

Julia Peterson (Sent Thursday, September 06, 2007 7:48 PM)



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