amazing interview with Ray Nagin - where is it?

September 2, 2005 12:17 AM

I am looking for a recording of a recent radio interview with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on radio with WWL's Garland Robinette. The interview took place sometime around 6 or 6:30 am UTC (- or roughly a half hour to an hour ago as I am posting this), and is the most amazing thing I've ever heard from a politician. Some quick-on-the-draw person must have recorded it.

Nagin pulled absolutely no punches, and the more people who can hear this interview, the better. I woke up and checked out this link for wwl radio, and was bowled over by what I was hearing. The station has already received an online request from one of their interviewees for a copy of the interview, but only said they would be re-running it later. One of our internet peeps must have captured it, though... Can you help find it?

posted by taz to computers & internet (41 comments total)

Nagin made no concessions for polite language, diplomacy or anything at all except for getting his desperate appeal for help out in the strongest possible terms.

We are all emotional, stunned, and feeling completely helpless, but I think that if we can get an mp3 or at the very least a transcript of this interview, that any site that can host a copy should do it. I don't know how much air time it's going to get in mainstream press, because of the views expressed, and because it will probably have to be edited for language.
posted by taz at 12:27 AM on September 2, 2005

Not a recording or transcript, but coverage is trickling in via Google News:


In an interview broadcast on New Orleans radio station WWL-AM last night, an angry Nagin said federal officials, including President Bush, were too slow to respond to the city's worsening problems — both as flooding worsened on Tuesday as a key drainage canal caved in near the city's lakefront and later as thousands of desperate people waited for buses to get out of the collapsing city yesterday. "They are feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying," Nagin said.

WWL just ran an short excerpt of Nagin's comments. Approximately: "I don't know if it's the governor's fault or the president's fault, but someone better get their ass on a plane right now and figure it out." Boy did he sound angry.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 1:07 AM on September 2, 2005

I read that article. Sounded long on the hype. I'm hearing the same rumors again and again, about the helicopters being shot at, etc.

Whenever I ask people, "Did you see this yourself," I get "No," or whatever, except one guy, a TV guy who went in there yesterday. He said they'd pass guys wading in the water who would pull their shirts up to show they were armed, but that was all.
posted by atchafalaya at 1:31 AM on September 2, 2005

I can, however, second the generally unfavorable impression of FEMA. They have pissed off several people I have met.
posted by atchafalaya at 1:32 AM on September 2, 2005

There should be a freakin' army in there helping people out.

Oh, wait, they're all off securing our oil, and now we can't even get out local oil moving.....
posted by Doohickie at 1:36 AM on September 2, 2005

Is this it?
posted by sophist at 1:57 AM on September 2, 2005

sophist

That wasn't the same discussion, but it was interesting none the less. Thanks for the link.
posted by qwip at 2:24 AM on September 2, 2005

Check out the aerial video footage linked from the same page. Pretty incredible. Looks like a pretty rough take because the reporter is talking to someone else off camera and doesn't sound very proffesional at all.
posted by sophist at 2:27 AM on September 2, 2005

No... sophist, it was on wwl radio with Garland Robinette... Some random quotes:

These godamned ships that are coming, I don't see them...

I am pissed...

They are feeding the public a line of bull, and they are spinning, and people are dying down here.

We authorized 8 billion to go into iraq after 911; we gave the president unprecedented powers, lickety split... you mean to tell me that... we can't figure out a way to access the resources we need...

Somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and figure this out right now

I don't want to see anybody do any more goddamned press conferences... get off your asses and let's do something

Just a few very incomplete things I was able to transcribe. You really need to hear the real thing, though.

Also, when I first heard the interview a few hours ago, this may have been a rebroadcast from yesterday afternoon.
posted by taz at 2:46 AM on September 2, 2005

I have a http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3377957">torrent of the interview posted. GET THE WORD OUT, this is an AMAZING interview!
posted by amuseDetachment at 3:10 AM on September 2, 2005

Ok, I don't know what I'm doing, sorry. Here's the link.
posted by amuseDetachment at 3:11 AM on September 2, 2005

Bless you, amuseDetachment; I can't do torrents, but if someone can get something (streaming audio file?) that people can post online, that would be great.
posted by taz at 3:17 AM on September 2, 2005

I don't know where to find it either, but I just heard it played on CNN and I too was floored. He seems to be the only one in all of this other than the reporters who is talking straight and telling it like it is. I am so glad I am not him right now.

The best is when he said there needs to be a moratorium on press conferences of politicians congratulating themselves.
posted by RoseovSharon at 3:47 AM on September 2, 2005

Stay tuned, we're trying to work something out over at metachat.
posted by taz at 3:54 AM on September 2, 2005

Until a more permanent place can be found for the file, I put the mp3 up on yousendit.
posted by LeeJay at 4:05 AM on September 2, 2005

Keep reloading the today's CNN transcripts page. It's not up yet, but it will be soon.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:06 AM on September 2, 2005

I should mention that the first 35 seconds of the interview cut got off but all of the most powerful stuff is in the second half.
posted by LeeJay at 4:06 AM on September 2, 2005

In the meantime, if you're near CNN they just played a bit of the interview and the talking head said they were going to be playing more of the interview in a little bit (probably after as many comercials as they can fit in.

I'm voting for Nagin in 2008. I'd even be willing to work on his campaign.
posted by Moondoggie at 4:07 AM on September 2, 2005

Wow - look up that CNN transcript page later for Soledad OBrien ripping FEMA's head a new one, too. I've never seen anchors holding official feet to the fire the way they are doing today.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:11 AM on September 2, 2005

OK, here's a link. If anyone wants to host on their site too and distribute the load then please do.
posted by dodgygeezer at 4:12 AM on September 2, 2005

If anyone wants to host on their site too and distribute the load then please do.

I've got the mp3 up on my site as well.
posted by LeeJay at 4:18 AM on September 2, 2005

I don't think it's exactly 35 seconds. That's the way it was broadcasted. I started the rip 35 seconds BEFORE -- the first 35 seconds are of them explaining what the replay was about. It seems like the first few seconds are cut off, but that's the way it was rebroadcasted.
posted by amuseDetachment at 4:19 AM on September 2, 2005

don't think it's exactly 35 seconds. That's the way it was broadcasted. I started the rip 35 seconds BEFORE -- the first 35 seconds are of them explaining what the replay was about. It seems like the first few seconds are cut off, but that's the way it was rebroadcasted.

Ahhh, ok. I misunderstood the text explaining the torrent file.
posted by LeeJay at 4:24 AM on September 2, 2005

Wow.
posted by grouse at 4:26 AM on September 2, 2005

Taz, thank you so much for posting this.
posted by ceri richard at 5:36 AM on September 2, 2005

amuseDetachment made this possiblewith the torrent. Tell everybody to listen to it. Tell everybody to make some noise.
posted by taz at 5:55 AM on September 2, 2005

Ray Nagin interview
posted by Substrata at 6:02 AM on September 2, 2005

The television interview apears to be before the Radio interview - -any idea when it was?
posted by Meccabilly at 6:05 AM on September 2, 2005

By the way, in my original post, I should have said "The station has already received an on-air request from one of their interviewees". (sorry, just an irritating niggle in my head about leaving that unfixed.)
posted by taz at 6:30 AM on September 2, 2005

Some of these excerpts seem clipped and don't mention the moratorium on press conferences, etc.
posted by mecran01 at 6:41 AM on September 2, 2005

Sorry, got the whole thing, never mind.
posted by mecran01 at 6:50 AM on September 2, 2005

CNN just said they will play the whole interview in the next half hour. Does one of those mp3 links already contain the whole thing?
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:07 AM on September 2, 2005

To help lessen the load on everyone's servers I put it online too.
posted by jdl at 7:10 AM on September 2, 2005

Cunning, here.
posted by taz at 7:56 AM on September 2, 2005

I'm hosting the mp3, too. The more, the better.
posted by jdroth at 8:00 AM on September 2, 2005

CNN's posted a transcript on their site.
posted by jjg at 8:54 AM on September 2, 2005

and another, from LeeJay..
posted by taz at 9:03 AM on September 2, 2005

another mirror: http://shell.sparked.net/~john/nagininterview.mp3

On a sidenote, is there a place to see news thats not sensationalistic bull? As in, maybe a map of what's affected how, and not just the same 5 pictures of houses underwater?
posted by devilsbrigade at 10:05 AM on September 2, 2005

Gallery of before-and-after satellite photos. Annotated photo showing the extent of the flooding. [via Washington Monthly]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:46 AM on September 2, 2005

I'm hosting the mp3 as well.
posted by deborah at 1:16 PM on September 2, 2005

I'm hosting the mp3 too: http://katrina.streetlampsoftware.com/nagininterview.mp3
posted by SpecialK at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2005