. >> this is wrong oh, ray nagin. this is wrong, man. you're supposed to be responsible for us. >> where is our man the governor at? >> i'm begging the president, the governor, please help us. >> reporter: among those government officials we came to know during katrina, ray nagin got re-elected to a second term as mayor. he left office this year and now gives speeches about his katrina experience. former louisiana governor kathleen blanko is writing her memoirs. army general russell honore, who is credited with restoring order to new orleans, is now retired and he wants the country to remember the lessons of katrina. and michael brown, he will always be connected with that one quote. >> brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. >> reporter: he resigned as head of fema two weeks after katrina. these days he hosts a radio program in denver. just some of the folks we got to know going back five years ago tonight. for now, that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams reporting tonight from new

--ray nagin than the issues. average americans were concerned about a few things like they were not being allowed back in the city, they were being blocked from their homes, there were not given access to jobs in the rebuilding effort, they were not able to afford to come back to the city because of the skyrocketing costs. there was a series of things that were quite serious and that african-americans had every reason to be angry about. the unfortunate nature of the commons was that it focuses on ray nagin and less on why that was apparent host: the president is coming down to more lanes and speaking at a xavier university. why did the white house make a decision to speak there? guest: xavier university is a major university within the city. it is a starkly black university at that had something to do with it. it is located in the heart of the city in an area that experienced some flooding and has been crucial to the rebuilding of new orleans. i think it is a great place for him to locate a speech. host: we will

former mayor ray nagin, thanks again for joining us. as we mark -- >> thank you, america, for your help. >> thank you. and as we mark five years since the storm, we want to look at some images from then and now. this first photo shows two men using boards to paddle through the high water near a bridge over the industrial canal, and this same bridge shown here today, new orleans, the lower ninth ward today. quite a change. >> that is quite a change. and this is the aftermath of katrina at the cemetery outside st. patrick's church in plaquemine parish. this is the cemetery five years later with grass where there was once water. so that is some bit of optimism. >> five years. >> five years. >> some progress, yeah. >> some progress, indeed. >>> turning to politics now and the competing rallies in washington, d.c., on the anniversary of martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech saturday. at one glenn beck and sarah palin. at the other, the reverend al sharpton. tahman bradley was there. >> reporter: conservatives and tea party supporters

--ray nagin than the issues. americans were concerned about a few things like they were not being allowed back in the city, they were being blocked from their homes, there were not given access to jobs in the rebuilding effort, they were not able to afford to come back to the city because of the skyrocketing costs. there was a series of things that were quite serious and that african-americans had every reason to be angry about. the unfortunate nature of the commons was that it focuses on ray nagin and less on why that was apparent host: the president is coming down to more lanes and speaking at a xavier university. why did the white house make a decision to speak there? guest: xavier university is a major university within the city. it is a starkly black university at that had something to do with it. it is located in the heart of the city in an area that experienced some flooding and has been crucial to the rebuilding of new orleans. i think it is a great place for him to locate a speech. host: we will have tha

. >> narrator: ray nagin declined to be interviewed for this program, but his deputy chief of police,en riley, said there was confusion. >> i heard rumors that martial law was in place, and then i heard rumors that, no, it was not given. >> i never declared martial law. i know that it's not legal to do that. but what we were doing was strengthening the appearance of a lawful environment. that's when i called in members of the guard who knew policing, and i asked them to come in and to show force. we needed to make a very dramatic statement, to calm the media down and to calm the citizenry down. there are hundreds of law enforcement officers being deployed into new orleans today to restore order. looting and other lawlessness will not be tolerated. i wanted it to be strong and i wanted it to be clear. these troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so, if necessary, and i expect they will. >> narrator: the mixture of rumors and official orders had an impact at police stations around the city. five current and former ranking officers have told frontline, pro

aftermath of katrina it was kind of mass chaos everywhere you know the mayor of the city at the time ray nagin didn't actually call for an evacuation until the day the storm hit and at that point it was kind of too late they hadn't organized a lot of transportation to get people out of the city it was a couple of days before lots of people were getting their paychecks that they simply couldn't afford to leave the city so as a result there were lots of people as you saw in all of the news coverage that were stuck in their homes eighty percent of the city was flooded no martial law was ever declared that's a big misconception a lot of people think that martial law was declared in new orleans at the time that the only one that has the authority to do that is the president of the united states and at the time that was george bush in haiti he didn't do that so instead they declared a state of emergency and in that state of emergency about seventeen thousand national guard troops came to our national guardsmen came to new orleans and they were kind of patrolling the streets trying to keep law and or

ray nagin was the mayor of new orleans during hurricane katrina. michael brown was the federal government's point man as the head of fema. gentlemen, good morning. nice to see you both. >> good morning. >> the first time you've seen each other in quite a while. >> five years. >> if i ask you both quickly, when you hear the name katrina, ray, what is the most searing image? what's the most lasting memory that you have? >> there's a couple of things but the deception of katrina is one thing i'll never forget. superdome, convention center, just the general struggle of everything we had to go through to get people out. >> michael? >> as the urban search and rescue teams were going through during their searches, they were giving me live feedbacks and i got a live feedback from a nursing home that had victims, deceased elderly on the floor in their diapers, deceased on the floor of this nursing home. it was youawful. >> this was a slow motion storm that strengthened over the weekend. we knew it was coming. you knew it was coming. when this storm approach

we are joined here in jackson square in new orleans by former mayor ray nagin. good to see you, mr.e you. >> do you like the title former mayor. >> i do. i like the title mayor but former mayor is appropriate for the moment. >> what has transpired in the city, areas of regrowth and rebuilding, areas that are blighted, but there's still bad news that has carried forward from those moments five years ago right on the front page of the times picayune this morning, there's an investigation into the police department. did the police have an order to shoot to kill looters. and if, in fact, that order existed, could it have come from anywhere besides the police department. could it come from your office? >> no, no way it came from me. i don't have the reports, to be honest with you. it's a guy fired by the police chief. another guy who tried to get back on and he didn't take him back on. i think it's a did he flekz play. >> when you think back to five years ago, what do you most? >> i remember so much. i remember katrina being so deceptive. she didn't really reveal herself until the day sh

but i think it was real. >> former mayor ray nagin, our conversation. julia reed is a contributing editor for news week magazine. julia, good morning. good to see you. >> hi, there. >> what's going through your mind five years later? you were just settling into a house, cause back at the beginning of the recovery when folks were just starting to trickle in. what goes through your mind now? >> oh, goodness. kay back just a few days after the storm and i saw some of the images that the former mayor mentioned, but it seems some days like it was yesterday and some days it seems like forever. the first anniversary, there was still boats in the trees. i'm sure you remember that, as well. five years into it, you know, i think that there have been a lot of amazing strides. we have got -- first of all, there are no boats in the tree, but we're so far beyond that. i mean, i think probably the best thing you can say about post-katrina, new orleans is that we've got a chance at a functioning school system, we've got a new mayor as opposed to the one you just talked

. >> mayor ray nagin orders a mandatory evacuation of new orleans. >> this is the threat that we've neveraced before. >> most left, but many wouldn't or couldn't. the superdome, they were told, was a shelter of last resort. early monday, katrina strikes a heavy blow to the louisiana coast as a category 4 storm. but the eye just misses new orleans. the big easy is hurting but still standing. the next act, however, was already beginning. >> we're hearing of flooding of six to eight-foot waters in eastern new orleans near the parish line of orleans and st. bernard. >> by now, katrina is making its final landfall in mississippi. a storm surge more than 20-feet high wipes buildings from their foundations from waveland to biloxi. >> you would have been about ten foot under water. >> joe spraggins was running the command center in gulfport. >> the 911 call-taker taking calls, i'm on my room, i'm with my daughter on the roof, water's coming across, what am i going to do? >> beyond us the wreckage of a floating casino that was out at sea. i delivered that report the morning after the storm from ri

we're going to hear from former mayor ray nagin as well as the former head of fema, michael brown, and the musicians who contributed to the rebirth of the big easy. that's hurricane katrina, five years later, tomorrow here on "today." >> hard to believe it's been five years already. >> i know. >> let's begin this morning with a new jersey family who captured a man in the act of robbing them in a family photo. we're going to talk to them in a moment. but first, nbc's kevin tibbles has their story. >> reporter: for the myers family, it was supposed to be a fun getaway, complete with snapshots to cherish the memories. >> my husband is always taking lots of pictures of us. >> reporter: a trip to wisconsin to attend a friend's wedding. >> we flew in to milwaukee, and then the next day, we drove to madison. >> reporter: just think of the famous cheese, picturesque farmland, and not to be missed, the state capitol. but for every traveler, no matter how experienced, no matter where you are, even wisconsin, there's always that nagging fear of having your bag and all your money stolen. with thei

are going to be in new orleans for a special broadcast on friday morning talking to former mayor ray naginl brown, former first lady laura bush and the iconic musicians of the area like harry connick jr. that's hurricane katrina five years later. >>> with tiger woods' ex-elin nordegren finally breaking her silence, we'll meet the "people" magazine writer who got the exclusive. first an update from nbc's peter alexander from the ridgewood country club in paramus, new jersey, where tiger is getting ready for a tournament. >> reporter: tiger woods will begin a practice round here at the barclays a short time from now. this will be his first tournament as a newly single man. he'll have a chance to speak to reporters afterwards if he chooses. his ex-wife, elin nordegren, has been remarkably silent about the scandal for the last nine months. but now she is speaking out for what she says will be the first and only time about that scandal saying she has no interest in being a public person but needed to set something straight. "i've been through hell." that's what elin nordegren told "people" maga