I’m starting to see water levels much lower than I’ve seen, … Even in areas where the water was as high as the rooftops, I started to see parts of the buildings.

If a fire broke out, we could lose a lot of what we love about the city,

We’re getting reports and calls that [are] breaking my heart from people saying, ‘I’ve been in my attic. I can’t take it anymore. The water is up to my neck. I don’t think I can...

We’re going to have to deal with this perception as we’re going forward.

The facts are that the 911 [emergency response] system will be up and operational this Wednesday, … American Morning.

This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority-African-American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way.

Once we get the 3,000 National Guardsmen here, we’re locking this place down, … It’s really difficult because my opinion of the looting is it started with people running out of food, and you can’t...

We’re not even dealing with dead bodies, … They’re just pushing them on the side.

not martial law.

We are facing the storm that most of us have feared, … The Big Easy.

So you probably have another 50-60,000 out there, … You do the math, man, what do you think? Five percent is unreasonable? Ten percent? Twenty percent? It’s going to be a big number.

I think the president for some reason probably did not understand the full magnitude of this catastrophe on the front end,

We are suspending all re-entry into the city of New Orleans,

It is with great sadness that we announce we were unable to hold on to some of our dedicated city workers, … We have searched high and low … and we are just not able...

They tell me it’s dry, and I’m going to try and drive through there before the weekend is out, … Once I see it we may be on our normal schedule which is normally we...

I know a lot of you are frustrated. I am frustrated, too. But 80 percent of our city went under water and we have a lot of work to do. And the only way we...

We’re out of nuclear crisis mode and into normal, day-to-day crisis mode,

The prospects of getting new revenue streams is really dicey,

New Orleans is coming back, … Our culture is coming back. I want to listen to jazz. I’m tired of listening to helicopters.

What I’m trying to figure out is, should we bypass all the political stuff — you know, these people jumping up and down every time we propose something — and just go straight to the...

I am tired of hearing these helicopters. I wanna hear some jazz, … awesome.

We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water, … Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands.

But we have a very volatile situation. There’s lots of oil on the water, gas leaks where it’s bubbling up, and there’s fire on top.

That will change the world as we know it,

We should be in pretty good shape from a law enforcement standpoint as we move forward.

You are in a position to create wealth not only for yourself but for your children and your children’s children.

It may not be totally back to what it was pre-Katrina, but every day we make progress,

At the end of the day, I believe truth is stronger than any lie that’s out there.

Get off your ass and get down here to fix the goddamn biggest disaster in the nation’s history.

The city of New Orleans … will start to breathe again, … We will have life. We will have commerce. We will have people getting into their normal modes of operations and the normal rhythm...

We’re looking at a 3-month period before this city is back to normal,

Come in, inspect your property, if you want to stay, you’re free to stay, … We’re also allowing people to come in to look and leave, and those areas will be the areas that are...

This is a desperate SOS,

The amount of people we’re taking out is starting to slow down,

The city basically sits like a bowl,

Get every Greyhound bus in the country and get them moving.

We’re going to try to deal with this as best we can. We are going to infuse the police department with new blood. We’re going to build one of the best departments in the country....

The facts are we have electricity in probably 60 to 75 percent of the city — some sections even as high as 95 percent. The facts are we’re repopulating the areas that had little to...

The levee systems are very wet, they’re somewhat weakened, and any type of storm surge would cause flooding both in our parish and in other parishes. So we’re not taking any chances,

Hurricane Rita is a very dangerous storm, … We’re not letting our guards down.

I understand they want to stay in their homes, but I tell you there is a very volatile situation in New Orleans at the moment,

Up until Rita, everyone was pretty upbeat, … Now that Rita has come into the picture, it’s been difficult.

Currently, the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe and we are running out of supplies, … This is a desperate SOS.

a tragedy, a disgrace.

CIA Might Take Me Out

My biggest mistake is having a fundamental assumption that … in the country of the United States, that can move whole fleets of aircraft carriers across the globe in 24 hours — that my fundamental...

I’m a little surprised the admiral came out publicly on this, … Maybe since I’ve been away a day or two, maybe he’s the new crowned federal mayor of New Orleans.

We want (FEMA) to allow us to get back to New Orleans and find an appropriate place to bury the people of New Orleans, … We will find a plot. We will find a place....

There have been too many people who have said we were dead. There were too many people who said we were way too divisive. There were too many people who thought this city should go...

If we’re unified, there’s nothing we cannot do.