Politics > New Orleans Mayor Calm After Bush Meeting

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin Calm, Optimistic After Meeting With President

President Bush meets New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin following a news conference at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Friday, Sept. 2, 2005. Bush is touring the Gulf Coast communities battered by Hurricane Katrina, hoping to boost the spi

"I feel much better. I feel like we've gotten everyone's attention and hopefully they'll continue to do what they're doing," Nagin said from the downtown Hyatt hotel, his temporary lodgings and command post since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Big Easy.

"I'm cautiously optimistic. I want to see it happen (Saturday). I want to see it happen next week. Then, when I see consistency of delivery, I'll feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

His comments came a day after he broke into tears during a radio interview and told the federal officials to "get off your asses and let's do something."

By nightfall Friday, his tone had changed.

"Today was a turning point, I think," he said. "My philosophy is never get too high, never get too low. ... I always try to keep my emotions in check and yesterday I kind of went off a little bit. I was worried about that, but it maybe worked out. I don't know. If the CIA slips me something and next week you don't see me, you'll all know what happened."

Nagin said Bush gave him a "hearty" greeting and did not seem offended by his public outburst.

"I do think the pleas for help basically got the nation's attention, and the nation's attention got everybody to stop and re-evaluate what was going on, including the president. ... He basically said, 'Look, our response was not what it should have been and we're going to fix it right now.'"

Nagin said evacuation has been hampered by officials' difficulty grasping where state authority ends and federal authority begins and he said he urged the president and Gov. Kathleen Blanco to sort it out.

The mayor asked Bush to focus first on helping New Orleans with law enforcement, finishing the evacuation and draining the flood waters.

Nagin said New Orleans also needs crop dusters to spray for disease-spreading mosquitos hatching from the sewage- and chemical-laden flood waters. He also noted the city has two weeks of cash flow left.

2005-09-04