nagin-WWL

Transcribed by Chris Waigl, version 2 of 050904

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Interviewer 2

[Introduction, not transcribed]

Ray Nagin

... and to give me executive powers.
To authorize me to dictate
and to manage military resources down here and I'll fix this for you.
You call him right now, and you call the governor,
and you tell them to delegate the powers that they have
to the mayor of New Orleans, and we'll get this damn thing fixed.
It's politics, man, and they're playing games and they're spinning.
They're out there spinning for the cameras.

Garland Robinette

But- but can't- can't they just
if nothing else look at twenty-five percent of their energy coming from this state
is not flowing through the pipelines,
we're on the verge of anarchy,
can't they understand that they're if nothing else they're gonna be hurt politically?

Ray Nagin

I don't know what they're doing, I mean the air conditioning must be good, because I haven't had any in five days.
Uh, and maybe it's ((cl-)) maybe there's some, some smoke coming out of the air conditioning units that's
clogging some folks' ju-, uh, no their vision.

Garland Robinette

Have you talked with the president?

Ray Nagin

I've talked directly with the president. I've talked to the head of the
Homeland Security, I've talked to everybody under the sun, I've been out there, man, I flew these helicopters,
been in the crowds, talking to people
crying don't know where their, where their relatives are.
I've done it all, man, and I tell you, man, d- Garland,
I keep hearing that it's coming.
This is coming, that is coming, and my- my answer to that
today is B.S., where is the beef.
Because there is *no* beef in this city.
There's *no* beef anywhere in south-east Louisiana,
and these goddamn ships that are coming,
I don't see 'em.

Garland Robinette

What did you say to the president of the United States and what did he say to you?

Ray Nagin

I- I basically told him we had an incredible
uh crisis here, and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice.
And that I have been all around this city,
and I am very frustrated because we are not
able to marshal resources and we're outmanned in just about every respect.
You know the reason why the looters got out of control?
Because we had most of our resources *saving* people, thousands of people,
fo- that were stuck in attics, man, old ladies,
when you pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and they're standing in there,
and in water up to their fricking neck.
And they don't have a *clue* what's going on down here.
They flew down here,
one time, two days after the doggone event was over,
with TV cameras, AP reporters,
all kind of goddamn - excuse my French, everybody in America,
but I am pissed.

Garland Robinette

Did you s- did you say to the president of the United States, "I need the military in here"?

Ray Nagin

I said I need everything. Now I will tell you this, and I give the president
uh some credit on this.
he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done.
And his name is General Honore.
And he came off the doggone chopper
and he start((ed)) cussing and people started moving.
And he's getting some stuff done.
They oughtta give that guy, if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority
to get the job done. And we can- we can save some people.

Garland Robinette

What do you need, right now, to get control of this situation?

Ray Nagin

I need reinforcements, I need troops, man.
I need five hundred buses, man, we're talking about,
you know, one of the briefings we had they were talking about getting uh uh y'know, public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people
outta here, I'm like, you gotta be kidding me, this is a national disaster!
Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country
and get their asses moving to New Orleans!
That's they thinking small, man, and this is a major, major,
*major* deal.
And I can't ((e-)) emphasize it enough, man,
this is crazy!
I've got fifteen to twenty thousand people over at the Convention Center
it's bursting at the st- the seams,
the poor people in Plaquemines Parish,
they're at- they're they're airvacing people over here in New Orleans,
we don't *have* anything, and we're sharing
with our brothers in- in Plaquemines Parish.
We w- it's- it's- it's- it's awful down here, man.

Garland Robinette

Do you believe that the- the president is seeing this, holding news conferences on it,
but can't do anything until Kathleen Blanco
requests him to do it, and do you know whether or not she has made that request?

Ray Nagin

I have no idea what they're doing, but uh I will tell you this.
You know God is looking down on all this,
and if *they* are not doing everything in their power to save people
they are gonna pay the price.
Because every day ((an-)) that we delay,
people are dying.
And they're dying by the- by the hundreds of them, I'm, I'm willing to bet you.
They're ((uh)) we're getting reports and calls that is breaking my heart from people saying
"I've been in my attic.
I can't st- take it any more.
The water is up to my- up to my neck.
I don't think I can hold out."
And that's happening as we speak.
You know what really upsets me, Garland?
We told- we told everybody the importance of the 17th Street Canal issue.
We said, please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do, figure it out.

Garland Robinette

Who'd you say that to?

Ray Nagin

Everybody. Governor, you know, Homeland Security, FEMA,
you name it we said it.
And, you know, they allowed that pumping station next to it, Pumping Station 6,
to- to go underwater.
Uh our Sewage and Water Board people,
Marcius Saint Martin[??] stayed there and endangered their lives.
And what happened when that pumping station went down,
the water started flowing again in the city.
And it started getting to levels that probably killed more people.
In addition to that,
uh we had uh water flowing through
the pipes in this city. That's a power station over there.
So there's no water flowing anywhere
on east bank of Orleans Parish. So,
a critical water supply was destroyed
because of lack of action.

Garland Robinette

Why couldn't they drop the three-thousand-pound sandbags or the containers
that they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that just couldn't be done?

Ray Nagin

It- it they said it was some pulleys that they had to manufacture, but you know
in a state of emergency, man, you- you- you are creative, you figure out ways to get stuff done,
then they told me that they went overnight and they built
seventee- seventeen
concrete structures and they had the pulleys on them and they were gonna drop 'em -
I flew over that thing yesterday and it's in the same shape that it was
after the storm hit.
There is nothing happening.
And they're feeding the public a line of bull
and they're spinning,
and people are dying down here.

Garland Robinette

If- if some of the public called,
and they're- and they're right that there's a law that the president, that the federal government can't do anything
without local or state request, would *you* request martial law?

Ray Nagin

I've already requ- I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans.
We did that a few days ago.

Garland Robinette

Did the governor do that too?

Ray Nagin

Uh I- I don't know. I don't think so.
Uh but we called for martial law when we realized that the ((l-))
looting was uh getting out of control, and we redirected all of our police officers back to patrol in the streets,
they were dirt- dead tired from saving people,
but they worked all night because we thought this thing was gonna blow
wide open last night.
And so we redirected all of our resources and we held it under check.
I'm not sure if we can do that another night,
with the current resources.
And I am telling you right now, they're showing all these reports of people
looting and- and- and doing all the weird stuff, and they are doing that.
But people are desperate.
And they're trying to find food and water. The majority of 'em.
Now you got some knuckleheads out there,
and they are taking advantage of this lawless -
this situation where you know we can't really control it, and they're doing some awful, awful things.
But that's a small majority of the people.
Most people are looking to try and survive.
And youse guys, one of the things people have, nobody's talked about this:
drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area
so freely, it was scary to me.
And that's why we were having the escalation and murders.
People don't want to talk about this, but I'm'a talk about it.
You had drug addicts
that ((of)) now walking around this city
looking for a fix.
And that's the reason why they were breaking in
hospitals and drugstores.
They're looking for something to take the edge off of their Jones, if you will.
And right now they don't have anything to take the edge off.
And they'd find - they've probably found guns,
so what you're seeing is drug-starving, crazy addicts,
drug addicts,
that are wreaking havoc.
And we don't have the manpower to adequately deal wi- we can only target certain sections of the city
and- and form a perimeter around 'em
and hope to God that we're not overrun.

Garland Robinette

Well you and I must be in the minority because there've been apparently, there's a section of our
citizenry out there that thinks uh because of the law,
that says the federal government can't- can't come in unless requested by the proper people,
that everything that's going on to this point has been done as good as it could possibly be.

Ray Nagin

Really?

Garland Robinette

I know you don't feel that way.

Ray Nagin

Well, w- did- did the tsunami victims request?
((G-)) go through a formal process to request?
Uh you know did Iraq, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there?
Did they ask us to go in there?
They - what hap- what is more important? This is - ((uh)) you know I- I'm'a tell you, man, I- I am-
I'm probably gonna get in a whole bunch of trouble.
I'm probably gonna get in so much trouble it ain't even funny, ((if I))[??] won't even wanna deal with me after this interview is over.

Garland Robinette

Well you and I'll be in the funny place together.

Ray Nagin

*But*
we authorized eight billion dollars
to go to Iraq.
Lickety-s- quick.
After nine eleven, we gave the president unprecedented powers,
lickety-s- [snaps fingers] quick,
to take care of New York and the other places.
Now you mean to tell me
that a place where most of your oil is coming through,
a place that is so unique, when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world, everybody's eyes light up.
You mean to tell me,
that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died,
and thousands more that are dying every day,
that we can't figure out a way to authorize
the resources that we need? Come on, man.
Y'know, I'm not one of those drug addicts, I am thinking very clearly.
And I don't know whose problem it is,
I don't know whether it's the governor's problem,
I don't know whether it's the president's problem.
But somebody needs to get their ass on a plane
and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out. Right now.

Garland Robinette

What can we do here?

Ray Nagin

Keep talking about it.

Interviewer 2

((Okay))

Garland Robinette

We'll do that. What else can we do?

Ray Nagin

Organize people to write letters, make calls to their congressmen

Garland Robinette

Emails...

Ray Nagin

to- to the - to the president, to the White- to the governor.
Flood their doggone offices with requests to *do* something.
This is ridiculous.
And I don't want to see anybody do any more goddamned press conferences.
Put a moratorium on press conferences.
Don't do another press conference until
the resources are in this city.
And then come *down* to this city
and stand with us
when there are military trucks and troops
that we can't even count. Don't tell me forty thousand people are coming here!
They're not here!
It's too doggone late.
Now get off your asses and let's do something.
And let's fix the biggest goddamned crisis
in the history of this country.

Garland Robinette

And I'll say it right now,
you're the only politician,
that's called,
and called for arms like *this*.
And if, whatever it takes- the governor, president, whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes,
I bet
that the people listening to you
are on your side.

Ray Nagin

Well
I hope so Garland, I am just -
I'm at the point now where it don't matter.
People are dying,
they don't have homes,
they don't have jobs,
the city of New Orleans will never be the same.
In this time.
[14.4 seconds silence]

Garland Robinette

[voice faltering] We're both pretty speechless here.

Interviewer 2

yeah, I don't know what to say
uh

Ray Nagin

I gotta go.

Garland Robinette

Okay. Uh keep us, keep in touch, keep in touch.