man, we have mastered the wild today. ♪ >> the mississippi delta is a big sponge that stretches betweenabout 7,000 square miles, or almost 4.5 million acres. this area used to look very different. massive wild old wood forests and swamps. after the passage of the cheerful-sounding native removal act of 1830, the delta became open for settlement by any white people crazy enough, hardy enough, determined enough or just plain mean and greedy enough, to come here. ♪ >> there's no way to make up for our bad racial past but you know, the sense of community that keeps people here is evidenced in this place. >> julia reed is greenville born and raised, the daughter of a political family, a writer, author and as delta as it gets. how long you been in mississippi? >> 22 years. i came in 1992. >> john currence is a celebrated chef who left new orleans to come to mississippi and open first one, then many more restaurants and businesses in the town of oxford. >> i've stayed busy. >> and this is doe's eat place in greenville. >> this is the great florence signal. >> so good to meet you. >> florence i

>>> anthony bourdain admits he had preson kooefd notions about life on the mississippi delta but thensode of" parts unknown yts and he shares his discoveries with anderson cooper. >> you go to the mississippi delta. why -- my family comes from ms mississippi. why did you focus on it? >> i like to challenge my preconceptionsant prejudices about a place i grew up in an environment and a world when ms m mississippi was looked down on. it was a place -- i grew up thinking mississippi, they shot dennis hopper and peter fonda there. i'm not going there. they're all racists and hicks. but it's such a deeper story. you know, when you grow up with a prejudice like that, it's interesting for me to challenge that. >> in the wake of katrina, i went to biloxi one day and went to an old restaurant and the owner came out and said hey, anderson, welcome back. i was like what do you mean? he was like, you were here with your father in 1975 when i was seven or eight years old and he showed me the table where i sat with my dad. there's something about mississippi that, i don't know, there's a memory the

it is the mississippi delta. ells our don lemon why. ♪ >> in the words of donald rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know. and only thing i know about mississippi? except for maybe only history and not much of that is good. one of the things i didn't know is how much interesting, uniquely wonderful, uniquely american stuff is going on down here. >> mississippi delta. >> yeah. >> you think about -- when you think about down south, you think new orleans is a monopoly on food and louisiana and you take us to jackson, mississippi? >> jackson, greenville. deep dive into the delta. look. i wanted to see a place that's very different than where i grew up. a place, a state that i think a lot of people from -- you know, a lot of people who grew up where i grew up the way i grew up look at it with a mixture of contempt and fear honestly. so it seemed like i should go there and gate little smarter about the place. it's also a place as i really found firsthand and i think people need to be reminded, everything awesome about

he talked with anderson cooper about what he learned. >> you go to the mississippi delta.sissippi, my dad's side of the family were poor farmers there. >> i like that challenge my pre-conceptions and prejudices about a place. i grew up in an environment and a world at a time where mississippi was looked down on and looked at with contempt and der ration. it was the place, you know -- i grew up thinking mississippi, they shot dennis hopper and peter fonda in "easy rider." i'm not going there. they're all racists and hicks. but it's such a deeper story. so it -- you know, when you're -- when you grow up with a prejudice like that it's increasingly interesting me to challenge that. >> in the wake of kat kathurric sandy i went to biloxi one day, mary mahoney's and the owner came out and said "hey, anderson, welcome back." i said "what do you mean?" he said "you were here with your father in 1975" when i was seven years old or eight years old or something and he showed me the table where i sat with my dad. i just -- there's something about mississippi that, i don't know, there'

you went to the mississippi delta. my family comes from mississippi. farmers there. why did you go there? >> i like to challenge the misconceptions, during a world and time where mississippi was looked down on, and looked at contempt and derision. it was the place where, i grew up thinking mississippi they shot dennis hopper and peter fonda there, i'm not going there. they're all racists and hicks. but it is such a deeper story. so when you're -- when you grow up with a prejudice like that it is increasingly interesting to me to challenge that. >> in the wake of can't trkatrit to biloxi, to mary mahoney's, it has been there a long time. and the owner came out and said, welcome back, anderson, you were here with your father when you were 7 or 8 years old. he showed me the table where i sat with my dad. there is something about mississippi that -- i don't know, there is a memory there. there is a history there. >> it is beautiful. physically, it is a beautiful place. and look, i like going to a place where i sort of blunder about, a yankee that surely ha

this is a small island in the mississippi delta impacted by the oil spill. this is a picture of cat island taken in may of may of 2010. pretty awesome sight. isn't it? this island was the nesting ground for the brown pelicans. it's lush and green. it was vibrant and full of life and full of wildlife. so last month joinurnal irists decided to republican down there. >> as the crew disembarked on cat island there was a pamable collective gasp. >> it looks like the arizona desert. >> it lookslike the result of fire here but unfortunately, there wasn't a fire. it was just a oil spill degradation. >> so here's the comparison. you know the old saying, a picture tells a thousand words. this is cat island in 2010. this is cat island in 2014. does that look like it's been affected by anything? the color of it? this to that. and these trees to this little nesting stuff here. and by the way, where the hell are the birds? the birds figure it out but we can't. if this is bpees idea of recovery and this is the oil industry's answer to their mistakes, then this country is i

or the rio grande valley, or the mississippi delta? the native americans that live on reservations who don't have gambling? they are still the poorest americans. so we tried to come to grips with all this, and it required some investments. we were on track to double investments in the national institutes of health. we finished by the time i left office sequencing the human genome. we spent a lot more money on other kinds of research and development, and especially on information technology. in the balanced budget act of 1996, which most people know about, which we passed with republican majority in congress, a one the congress in 1994 in no small measure because of the economic plan. it was a shock to the system. it was like being taken to the dentist and pulling your teeth without novocain. they said we have been living on sugar since 1981. you cannot go pulling our teeth. we don't have to go to the dentist. it was ugly out there. and people didn't feel the benefits of the program by 1994, but they knew what had happened. so we lost t

. >> reporter: so we're driving through the mississippi delta right now, and if you look around you canet a sense of how rural this place is. access to care and primary physicians, these are some of the big considerations that people out here are confronted with. >> another problem is that residents have very few options when it comes to buying health insurance. blue cross blue shield has a merely mon ol listic hold on the market. i asked about the effect of so few doctors and only one major health ininsurer. >> you have got a lot of people that are unhappy with some of the deductibles, and they just have to take it, you know? they have got no choice. i have had the privilege of living in other states where you have more than one ininsurer, and you don't have the kind of troubles with the pricing. one thing that happened a little while back, just because blue cross blue shield has a near monopoly in mississippi they got into a scuffle with some of the mayor hospitals in the state. basically blue cross said they weren't going to pay what health management was charging for some of the ser

. >>> anthony bourdain admits he had preconceived notions about life past and present on the mississippi deltaor the latest episode of "parts unknown." here's a preview of tonight's episode. >> in mississippi coverage a national hero, dead or alive, by consensus, statewide, who would the statue be of? >> elvis. >> really? >> wouldn't be bb king? >> should be -- it should be bb king. >> i mean -- >> yeah. >> it would be elvis. >> it would be elvis. >> mississippi is -- you know, the joke is it's not a state. it's a club. that it's so small that everybody knows everybody. and the middle of mississippi, it's an oasis. literature and feeling and sentiment and everything. >> why the velvet ditch? >> i guess you just roll in and pretty frigging comfortable and don't care much about getting out. >> right? right? am i right? >> no one here seems too bitter about this. >> now, watch 9:00 p.m. eastern and heads to the mississippi. >>> the united nations debated something that would have ruined the plot of the terminator movie, whether to allow weapons systems more casually known as killer robots and rea

it was clear things are far from normal on the mississippi delta. >> we've got 2.9 million more poundsf oily material in the last few months in 2013 than in this same time period in 2012 nap is a 2400% increase in oily material collected between 2012 and 2013. >> 2400% increase in oil over one year is far from open for business. back in 2010 bp and the coast guard used toxic chemicals to sink the oils so nobody could see it. it was simply pushing down the problem and pushing it down the road so we wouldn't talk about it. hard chunks of oil are now showing up in huge numbers. there are reports of dead dolphins and sea life. okay? you know, there are reports of tumors and oil on shrimp. the seafood business in louisiana is far from where it used to be because of that oil spill. here's what one of the largest shrimp piers in louisiana told hbo's "vice." >> we do about 15% of the shrimp we used to do. >> are you seeing shrimps that are deformed or have tumors? >> when the little boats fish in this area right here, half of what they catch is deformed. >> half, really? >> yes. >> what kind o

set the table, don't miss ar parts unknown with anthony bourdain in the mississippi delta" tomorrow nights not exactly what i expected. man: definitely more murdery than the reviews said. captain obvious: this is a creepy room. man: oh hey, captain obvious. captain obvious: you should have used hotels.com. their genuine guest reviews are written by guests who have genuinely stayed there. instead of people who lie on the internet. son: look, a finger. captain: that's unsettling. man: you think? captain: all the time. except when i sleep. which i would not do here. hotels.com would have mentioned the finger. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. >>> firefighters are starting to gain the upper harnd in a serie of fires in san diego's so far out of ten wildfires, four are fully contained, two are close to being fully contained, and firefighters are making significant progress on four other blazes. calmer winds are

"parts unknown" and shares his discoveries with anderson cooper. >> you said you went to the mississippi delta like to challenge preconceptions about a place i grew up, an environment and world at a time when mississippi was looked down on and looked down with contempt. it was a place i grew up thinking mississippi, they shot dennis hopper and peter fonda, in "easy rider." the oasis, the ticks. it is a deeper story. when you grow up with a prejudice like that, it is increasingly interesting to me to challenge that. >> in the wake of katrina, i went to biloxi. and the owner came out, said anderson, welcome back. i said what do you mean. he said you were here with your father in 1975 when i was 7 years old, 8 years old or something. he showed me the table i sat with my dad. there's something about mississippi that there's a memory there, there's a history there. >> it is physically a beautiful place. look, i like going to places where i blunder about a yankee in a place that sure has nothing to hear from or learn from a yankee. >> how was the food? >> food is awesome, great. >> everything is cov

or the rio grande valley, or the mississippi delta? what about the native americans that live on reservations who don't have gambling? they are still the poorest americans. so we tried to come to grips with all this, and it required some investments. we were on track to double investments in the national institutes of health. we finished by the time i left office sequencing the human genome. we spent a lot more money on other kinds of research and development, and especially on information technology. in the balanced budget act of 1996, which most people know about, which we passed with republican majority in congress, a one the congress in 1994 in no small measure because of the economic plan. it was a shock to the system. it was like being taken to the dentist and pulling your teeth without novocain. they said we have been living on sugar since 1981. you cannot go pulling our teeth. we don't have to go to the dentist. it was ugly out there. and people didn't feel the benefits of the program by 1994, but they knew what had happened. s

it sits in the heart of the mississippi delta where cotton once was king, now it's the poorest region in the poorest state in the nation. 95% of these students are eligible for free and reduced price lunch, nearly all of them are black. whites are only 2% of the city's public schools, even though they make up more than 20% of greenville's population. this 60 years after a ruling that declared segregated public schools in america were unequal and illegal. >> willie, does it look like brown versus board of education happened? >> no. you see a school with all blacks and no whites, then you see a private school where most are white and a few blacks. >> you think this is the way it's supposed to be? >> no. >> those private schools are open to students of any race, but most black families can't afford the tuition. mayor john cox says it's not totally a race issue and race relations have been improving here. >> socio-economic factors are some of the biggest contributors to the poor school grades. >> would you send your children to the public school? >> no. and they both went to the private s

it sits in the heart of the mississippi delta where cotton once was king.in the poorest state in the nation. 95% of these students are eligible for free and reduced price lunch. nearly all of them are black. whites are only 2% of the city's public schools. even though they make up more than 20% of greenville's population. this, 60 years after a ruling that declared seg ra gated public schools in america were unequal and illegal. does did look like brown versus board of education happened here? >> no, because you still see a school with all blacks and no whites. and then you see a private school where mostly whites. >> reporter: you think this is the way it's supposed to be? >> no. >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: those private schools are open to students of any race, but most black families can't afford the tuition. the mayor says it's not totally a race issue and race relations have been improving here. >> socioeconomic factors are some of the biggest contributors to the poor school grades. >> reporter: would you send your children to the public schools? >> no,

mississippi valley. around jackson later today, shreveport, you will need to watch the case, because conditions deteriorate through the day. for now, looks like rain, some heavy at times, right into the delta, mississippi. keep the rain gear handy. further north, this cluster of storms prompted a severe thunderstorm warning but that has since waned. storms continue to move off the east coast as we get into at least the weekend, we'll see improving weather conditions. in the west, next storm system dives from the pacific northwest into the four corners region. with it, temperatures are going to be turning much colder and this blue indicates snow showers and that will take place around denver saturday night into sunday. we'll start off the weekend stormy, by mother's day, we will be dealing with snow, winter storm watch in denver. >> snow may be gone until july 4. >> a nationwide audit ordered for the department of veteran affairs. >> all the people that are a part of this, they should be held accountable, because it's a crime. >> an investigation into claims that dozens of veterans died because of treatment as a v.a. hospital was delayed. >> violent clashes between students and police in ve

ross was born in the delta region of mississippi.y was not -- they were quite prominent farmers. they had their land and possessions taken from them through a scheme around allegedly back taxes and were reduced to sharecropping. in the sharecropping system, there was no assurances over what they might get versus what they actually picked. when i first met mr. ross, the first thing he said to me was he left mississippi for chicago because he was seeking the protection of the law. i did not quite understand what he meant. he said, listen, there were no black judges or prosecutors, no black police -- basically, we had no law. we were outlaws and people could take what they wanted. that was very much his early life. he went to chicago thinking things would be a little different. on the surface, they were. you managed to get a job, got married, had a decent life. he was basically looking for that one more emblem of the american middle class in the eisenhower years, now is the possession of a home. unfortunately, due to government policy,