so, if you're in downtown new orleans, it's almost always going to have new orleans -- i mean, it's almost always going to have tomatoes. if you're out past one of the parishes into the country, maybe 20 to 30 miles outside of town, suddenly tomatoes aren't such a big part of it. >> oh, that's interesting. >> oh. >> why is that? >> tomatoes were part of the big culture of actual new orleans, but not part of the rural country. so now the other thing, when you think about what makes cajun food or creole food delicious and magnificent, is the use of spices. we're going to have cayenne, paprika, thyme, garlic and onion powder. and i'm going to take half that and mix it in with my sofrito of trinity. so i've got my onions going, and i've got celery and pepper going in. this is one of the dishes that of the three, that i consider the most emblematic of new orleans food. there's this, there's gumbo, which is a soup like we just and there's etouffee -- crawfish etouffee may be one of the finest things you'll ever eat. and if you can eat it at the hands of someone like emeril lagasse or donald link

la fayette, new orleans. right when i was born, i came out of the womb and start making that roux. >> now what? >> now we have the near finalized product. so we have the vegetables, roux, tomato, white wine, crawfish stock. then we add the louisiana crawfish tails. >> this is so delicious. and you pour it over rice? >> leases please don't put scallions on mine. >> all right. we have our ladle. here we go. >> and you scoop it right out. >> get a good bit of gravy. >> if you can't boil the crawfish yourself to get the stock, is there anywhere to get it? you can buy homemade stock. i won't make fun of you if you do. >> i have one for you. >> i'm excited. >> please enjoy. make the place look nice and pretty. >> oh, my gosh. >> here we go. >> a kick, baby. by the way, it we by the way, did we find the baby? >> no. >> no baby in there. i'm going to sue. >> how is that possible? >> let's have a bite. >> you know where to look. >> oh, that's good. but let's see if we can find it. see, i know the trick. >> what's the

having been in new orleans so many year -- >> such a fun time of year. in new orleans today, the banks and schools are closed, everybody is out on the streets. they say it's a little chilly, they got their coats on. so we're celebrating carnival. everybody grabbing beads. we have crawfish and isaac toups is here. how did you get out of town? >> i snuck out. i ran out. i said keep the beads, i'm going to see my favorite tv ladies. >> you've made some enemies doing that. valentine's day, we'll get you in the mood for a little romance. with a song from international singing sensations, il divo. we love them. >> and before you go out on a hot date, you'll want to know what our panel says about keeping guys interested. >> and we have a surprise guest today. >> we were like who is it and then we will give you clues. so i'd like to know who it is. do you know? >> no, i have absolutely no all right. >> what are you wearing? >> i don't know. >> it's a prop. it's not to be worn outside your dress. that's not part of the dress. >> it's carnival, baby. anything goes

west of new orleans, between baton rouge and new orleans. a large tornado had reportedly just crossed interstate 10 between those two cities. another one in hattiesburg, mississippi. very fast jet stream as we have been talking about all winter long. this tends to along with a low level jet stream, high amounts of sheer in the atmosphere create the tornado environment. that red block means a tornado watch. not in effect right now for the bay area, but there are a few break out showers ahead. we have a strong possible thunderstorm threat locally as well as a potential severe weather threat. the prediction center has us at a slight risk at the bay area. higher risk with a possibility of isolated tornadoes. you see the timing on that. 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as we look at the timing on this, you can see roughly in that time frame from west to east as it typically does associated with a cold front, hopefully out of here mostly by noon, but lingers thundershowers could remain in some of those inland areas. we will take a look at the computer model

the way it works in new orleans, king cake has to buy the next one. so our tradition is called mauling the king cake because we're searching for the baby jesus. >> that's who is in it. >> by the way, so delicious. it has cinnamon and, oh, lord, i hate to destroy a king cake. >> not with our your fingers on it. >> they've licked off my fingers many times. and you know who you are, right? >> are you sure it's even in here? i don't think it's in here. >> there is always a baby. >> did you find it? >> no. >> i'm finding this year. fyi. >> you find it. >> you find it. >> that's what she said. >> that's what she said. >> oh, no. it's not even -- >> a little plastic baby jesus. >> okay. i don't -- >> we got stiffed one year where there was no baby jesus. >> it's in here, you just have to find it. bet it's in one of your sections. oh, my gosh, where is it? oh, no. are you positive there was one in here? this is a cruel joke. every year we find our baby jesus jesus. >> it's in here, i know. >> anything else we can talk about while we're looking? who do you thi

the mayor of new orleans and a senator from new york, both defending racially-charged statements. i'm anderson cooper. see the news reflected in the shimmering blue pools that are my eyes. "360" starts now. [ music plays ] [ cheers and applause ] thank you. good evening. we begin tonight in new orleans, a city still stung by hurricane katrina, a city i am no stranger to. a city which i spent a lot of time, post-hurricane. pretty moving stuff, if you remember, and i think you do. monday, new orleans mayor ray nagin made comments, saying that god had "caused hurricane katrina" because of u.s.'s iraq policy, and then continued to say that new orleans needed to rebuild itself as a chocolate city. joining us now, is mayor ray nagin. thank you, anderson. now, mr. mayor, how do you expect your white constituents to react to your comments that new orleans needs to rebuild itself as a chocolate city? well, anderson, unfortunately, this country has many deep-seated issues about race. so much so, that, when i used the term "chocolate," people immediately think i meant black. but, in fact, i

we're going to talk about "the bachelor." >> really, amanda is in new orleans. so we were wondering -- >> you said take twice. >> -- whether or not olivia, you know, everybody doesn't like olivia, all right? so ben did a cruel thing. nobody likes olivia. >> why not, hods? >> she's just one of those girls that girls don't like. so then he was trying to figure out who he was going to give arose to, so he took olivia and another girl, what was her name -- >> emily. >> emily. and emily was the twin who stayed on the show. remember, the other twin got bounced. anyway, so he took both of these we're going on a date. and he brought a rose. and everyone wondered who was going to get the rose. well, he did a little head fake. he pretended like he was going to give it to emily -- i mean olivia. and instead he gave to emily. do we have video of this, do we have the sound? let's watch. >> today you really did take the time to speak from your heart and tell me exactly what you were feeling. >> yeah. >> i don't think i can reciprocate those feelings. it's just not a place tha

it is fat tuesday, new orleans is celebrating as al jazeera reports there are concerns over a recent spike in heroin overdoses. >> as massive crowds tax over new orleans for mardi gras, city leaders are working to spread the word about what they are calling a public health crisis. doctors and first responders saying they are seeing a staggering increase in heroin overdoses. they are getting nearly the double the number of calls. in two weeks seven people have died. >> any time your cities is a destination for a large number of visitors you want to make sure those people are aware that anything on the streets can be life threatening. dr. peter w is the chief medical officer, he says the spike many overdoses is likely relate toddler win being mixed with a synthetic drug. >> the issue is that it is three to four times more powerful than heroin. so if you are thinking that you are injected heroin alone, and it's laced or mixed with feint nell it will have more powerful effect. and the side effects are saysization of breathing. >> heroin abuse has increasingly become an epidemic, in the p

and it's not just for new orleans. tourism officials say at least 50,000 king cakes are shipped out of state by overnight courier. i've tried one. they're good. question seven. are the traditional colors of mardi gras? red white and blue, green purple and gold, or white orange and blue? these were adopted as official colors in 1872. it's number two. the colors have meaning. purple stands for justice. gold for power. and green stands for faith. question eight. what is not another name for the day of mardi gras? do you know that carnival and mardi gras are two different things. carnival is the season and mardi gras is just one day. number three, binge tuesday. mardi gras is known as fat tuesday. it's also shrove tuesday after the custom of going to confession before ash wednesday. question nine. all the{ trinkets thrown from carnival floats weigh this much. 25 million pounds, 1,000 pounds, or 100,000 pounds. these trinkets known as throws can be beads, cups, and more. thrown from the crews as parade floats pass by. numbe

mardi gras has been a legal holiday in new orleans since 1875. sat ad-libs not taking the super bowl loss very well. ya think? you thought cam was a sore loser wait until you see what this old timer did to express his the worlds centurylink prism tv has all your favorite channels, watch when and where you want with advanced features like our wireless set-top box, whole home dvr, and prism on the go. and choose from a variety of great packages to fit your home. call... ...and get started with the prism essential tv bundle. plus up to 40 megs of centurylink internet all for only $70 a month. this deal sounds great, especially if you love sports. get prism essential tv and up to 40 megs of internet for only $70 a month. score! or, if you love great movies... [ southern accent ] hey, clementine, go on and get prism essential tv with up to 40 megs of internet for only $70 a month. hyah! [ whip cracks ] [ normal voice ] call... get started with prism essential tv plus up to 40 megs of internet speed. just $70 a month for a year with autopay. speed may

now, joining us from new orleans, best selling author ellis henican. good morning. >> good morning, gigi. >> well, could we be looking at a four-way tie among the republicans for second place? >> yes. i mean, this was the day that was supposed to sort everything out and help us figure it out, especially in the more moderate establishment lane who is on top. 12 hours from now, we may be exactly where we are now. so it's anybody's game. >> if trump doesn't win, we're looking at him now, if he doesn't win in new hampshire is he finished? >> he's toast, yes. i mean, after the disappointing results in iowa, he's so far ahead in the polls in new hampshire. if he can't turn those people out to vote, you know, it's one thing to say you like donald, it's another thing to say you'll vote for him. if he doesn't win tonight, i don't see how he recovers. >> the republicans are having a little trouble consolidating as you mentioned. who do you expect to see dropping out by the end of the week? >> i'll be lying to you if i knew. i'm not sure anybody is going to drop

. >>> a public health crisis in new orleans. the new concern over an even deadlier form of heroin. >>> in portugal, carnival is underway. it's the biggest festival of the year there and last chance to party before lent. some costumes are planned a year issue advance. >>> fad tuesday is called mardi gras in new orleans. this year, things may be subdued. as haven't martin reports, there are concerns over a recent spike in heroin overdoses and a deadlier form of the drug in the big easy. >> as massive crowds take over new orleans for mardi gras, city leaders are working to spread the word about what they call a public health crisis. doctors and first responders say they are seeing a staggering increase in the number of suspected heroin overdoses, getting nearly double the number of calls each day. within two weeks, seven have died. >> anytime your city's a destination for a large number of visitors, you want to make sure that those people are aware that anything on the street could be life-threatening to them. >> dr. peter w. is th

a million people come to new orleans for mardi gras. i have been to the new orleans area before mardi gras but never been there for mardi gras. i lived in louisiana for a while, and they -- the whole state shuts down for mardi gras. >> wind chills between >>> johnny depp's new movie playing donald trump. new janet jackson after her surgery. >> zoolander's 2, new york excl >> "e.t." >>> tonight, the new trump movie? johnny depp doing a dead-on donald impression. >> this is the second best selling book of all time. >> best selling book of all time. >> we go behind the truth as trump unleashes his secret weapon. pregnant daughter, ivanka trump. >> you are good friends with ivanka. >> we talk about everything. >> "zoolander 2" takes over new york fashion week. >> entertainment to wow. >> "e.t." is front row for jen and justin's date night on the runway. >> this is how we always go to the movies. >> also tonight, i've never done >> our gwen stefani grammy

i did a music album in new orleans. edward sharp and the magnetic: they opened for bernie sanders a couple of nights okay. are you feeling the bern? >> i love the berp. i have a lot of respect for the bern and everything he's done for youngen: but? >> but i am with her. >> stephen: you're headed for the hills. you're headed for the hills. >> i have my personal relationships, but i support thethese debates are fantastic. i love how many people are engaged. it's great. >> stephen: you also executive produced a short film. >> yes. >> stephen: that has been r? >> yes! >> stephen: congratulations. >> thank you! it's so great. >> stephen: it's an incredible story. >> yes. people working in liberia, >> yes. >> stephen: what are they doing? >> it's called body team 12 and they during the ebola epidemic were responsible for collecting the bodies of those who died from the essential because the only reason it didn't spread in a much bigger way is because of people like them who were containing the virus which was spread by contac

in new orleans, sarah dallof nbc news. the local economy is expected to rake in an estimated 840-million dollars from the mardi gras celebrations. some celebrating happiest place on earth. manning celebrated with a magical trip to disneyland in anaheim, california. the full whole disney gang was there. peyton brought his whole family -- and they enjoyed a fun day in the park. it's xx let's go to the traffic center for a quick look at the roads... hey amelia. this is how you steve spangler and 9news anchor mark koebrich had some fun with the broncos colors yesterday. he helped us celebrate the super bowl win with orange and blue foam. if you want to make this experiment at home -- maybe a slightly smaller version -- you can find the link to the recipe on 9news- dot-com. some stories you just can't make up. this morning a guy in florida is facing assault charges... police say he threw an alligator through a drive- thru window. so apparently this happened in october... but 23- year-old joshua james was only arrested recently.

we're looking at some video from new orleans right now. hey, this year security is tighter than ever before. so much so the fbi says visitors should always assume that they are being watched. in addition to agents, about 1100 new orleans police officers are on patrol. many of them under cover. all of this adds up to big estimated $878 million into into the community for the mardi gras season. >> that's a big party. >>> we started off the month snowy. if you remember this time last week. extended coverage because of the snow. 11.6 inches officially. we need another 7 to get into the top five. if you've forgotten, last february was the snowiest february in denver's recorded history. dry now, a few high clouds drifted through overnight. did not really do much. from here to the west coast no, weather systems, which means no significant changes here over the next several days. we do get warm tomorrow. probably the warmest day of the week, and then we'll get another really cold push of air into the midwest friday. that's going to back into the f

we have the story from the center of it all in new orleans. >> the costumes,. >> welcome to new orleans, baby. >> the parades and of course, the beads. >> all part of an iconic mardi gras experience, a feast for the eyes and ears. >> beyond, beyond. >> definitely beyond our expectations. >> drawing visitors and locals alike. >> we may not know the personal side of you. when you get to know them you know where they're come prosecuting. >> security is tighter than ever before with so much surveillance visitors should always assume they're being filmed. in addition to agent, some 100 police officers are on patrol. >> in are undercover. >> we want you to have a good time but we will not tolerate violent behavior. >> the weather has been cool and rainy, not perfect but not enough to affect any of the scheduled events. >> a little rain on these parades, not even slowing the celebrations. >> in new orleans, sarah, nbc new. >> >> sarah, thank you, all the festivities add up so big bucks dumping an estimated $840 million into the local economy, just another reason for businesss to rejoice once t

in new orleans, sarah dallof, nbc news. nigel: thanks for joining us for the news at 5:00. gabrielle: news 4 at 6:00 with michael and carol starts now. >> live, local, breaking news. this is wyff news 4 at 6:00 in high definition. >> well, it's a little bit inconvenient, but if it's safer for the kids on the buses, then we have to do what we have to do. carol: more than a dozen delays and closings, affecting thousands of kids. how western north carolina schools make the decision, and what it means, for the rest of we begin with a live look from our asheville skycam. cloudy and call right now. michael: and it's cold. john cessarich has the forecast for the coldest nights of our in 2016. this is one of the coldest of the season. john: and it will get even colder into the weekend. a larger area of arctic air pushing across the area. unbelievable. this week will be below average. besides the temperatures being below average, and the wind making it feel colder with wind chills, single digits in certain areas. look at the flurries and light snow showers in the southern upstate an

this is just more of new orleans . a live look outside, where it is coming down rain, wind, and even reports of possible tornadoes. gabrielle: we want to show you these pictures. this is the system that john cessarich says we need to be watching as well. john joins us in the studio. john: we will have to watch it during the day tomorrow especially, and probably especially in the morning. new orleans remains under a tornado watch. there are warnings around louisiana, mississippi, and alabama. we are very stable. we have the warm front to the southwest, so we have a northeasterly breeze. we are just looking at rain showers across the area. the breeze brings in cooler temperatures. we need to get unstable for severe weather. late tonight and early tomorrow morning, we will break down the wedge. besides the potential for severe thunderstorms, we could also have the potential for flash flooding. most of us have seen a couple inches of rain. the ground is saturated. expecting 1-4 plus inches of more rain as we go through the

. >> new orleans is the most exciting city in the united states. when i land here, i feel like i'm home. it's going to be all about pink and black tonight. >> before antonia heads to the club, she invites me to join her in a ritual. >> so what is this place? >> it's a candle shop. >> it's not like a candle shop i've ever seen. >> it's a magic candle shop. the spirit of new orleans has to bless you in order to do well here. usually i get this one. >> he's good for luck. he's also good for money, but i think that you might want to go towards one of his girlfriends. it's the spirit that rolls over love and beauty and abundance. >> she sounds like the lady i need. >> yeah, she's a beauty. >> this is something i can only do in new orleans. >> why is it something you like to do leer? >> strippers particularly, we have our beliefs, and it's so much about bringing attitude and luck and attention. and you're going into a really, really dark, seedy place, and you have to bring light. i can use all the help i can get. >> when you go out there sometimes, do yo

on the streets of new orleans today for mardi gras. ((kirsten joyce)) what a california artist is bringing to bourbon street... praised as one of america's best mayors who governed as a pragmatist. a practical and successful legislator, bernie sanders passed more roll-call amendments in a republican congress than any other member, primary care access for millions of americans, protected social security, cracked the gridlock with john mccain to strengthen veterans' healthcare. bernie sanders -- a consistent, principled, and effective leader. gras! or better known as fat tuesday. and the celebrations started way before today... down on bourbon street. visitors and locals in new orleans started celebrating over the weekend... with dancing, drinking, and roaming the streets to get their hands on some beads! floats and parades also filled the streets yesterday for lundi gras. some say the celebrations get better every year. /// ((sherry swensk)) > and the internet is buzzing over these festive shoes... calling them the "new beads" of mardi