Waiting in a parked car in the Ninth Ward as the rain pounds down, I cannot help but think about the flood in the movie, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
It’s a natural, because I am only a stone’s throw from where the levee broke, and I am here to meet the star of that movie, Brad Pitt, as the finale to our “Building Up America” tour.
The actor targeted this area some years ago with his Make It Right Foundation — an ambitious plan to build up the shattered neighborhood with new, ecologically friendly, affordable houses, and then fill them with residents who had been driven out by Katrina.
When the rain backs off a bit, I hustle into one of the raised houses, where my TV crew is busy setting up lights on a covered upper deck. NBC is also there, but in a different area. I spend a few minutes chatting with Brian Williams. We’ve known each other for years and share a lot of friends, and it’s always nice catching up.
The article that goes with the video is really great. I always laugh when male reporters are just as taken with Brad as you would expect female reporters to be. Saying his eyes “twinkle” just made me laugh. But all in all, it was a good interview that stuck to the subject. Thanks.
God bless brad Pitt