Ray Nagin

Read my lips. We will rebuild New Orleans and the lower Ninth Ward.

In a city that is special, New Orleans, the brand that not only locals marvel at, but the nation and the international community marvel at, that's the New Orleans we're going to build.

If we have 65,000 people looking for temporary housing and only 2,000 have those houses, then we need to double our efforts or triple our efforts to make sure the job gets done.

I'm going to be pushing for at least $1.5 billion of that $6.2 billion for us to immediately infuse into the economy.

The job is not getting done quick enough. We have so many residents that are still spread out all over the country.

I want America to understand, the city of New Orleans took on so much water, that 80 percent of it's flooded. And we still have a tremendous amount of work to do. And we need tremendous amount of more help from the federal government.

At some point in time, the truth needs to rule.

The disconnect, I think is, you know, you know TV -- and you've been doing a great job of covering this, but until you actually come down here and you see the scope, I don't think the TV can really define the scope of the challenge.

It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of…

Does he really think God is punishing America with hurricanes? That's what he said this week, from here in the 'chocolate city.'

New Orleans will come back.

It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans.