More Than One Million Partying at Mardi Gras 2001
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Mardi Gras, one big -- one final day before the beginning of Lent down there.</s>KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: More than a million people have poured into the streets of New Orleans to celebrate this Fat Tuesday. And among the big parades rolling through the streets today: Zulu and Rex. And joining us now on the phone is the governor of the Zulu, Curtis Woolridge. Hello, Governor.</s>CURTIS WOOLRIDGE, GOVERNOR OF ZULU: Hello! How you doing there?</s>PHILLIPS: Obviously not as good as you, my friend.</s>WOOLRIDGE: Oh, we having a great time over here. I can't hardly hear you, but we're having a great, great time over here.</s>HARRIS: Your Zuluness, can you describe the scene you're seeing right now?</s>WOOLRIDGE: Come back with it?</s>HARRIS: How about describing for us what you are seeing, because we can't see it.</s>WOOLRIDGE: Well, the best thing I can tell you right now: We having a good time. I'm the governor Zulu 2001. And we just having a great, great time.</s>PHILLIPS: Hey, Governor, in addition to having a great time, why don't you tell us about those coconuts? A lot of people don't know why you hand those out.</s>WOOLRIDGE: We hand the coconuts out here as a condition of New Orleans-Louisiana, the Mardi Gras. So we having a good time handing out coconuts over here. So that's about the best I can tell you right now because there is so much noise -- there is so much noise, we can hardly hear what you are saying. But come on back. I'm going to try to stay with you as long as I can.</s>HARRIS: All right, we will let the governor get on with his bad Zulu self.</s>HARRIS: Let's take a look -- take a shot here. Look at this crowd here. It is amazing. And it's early.</s>PHILLIPS: Hey, I -- you see all the horses there? That is the New Orleans Police Department, their mounted patrol. Now, these guys and women are very well known. They have -- oh, it is the Zulu parade.</s>HARRIS: We're being told this is the Zulu parade.</s>PHILLIPS: OK. Oh, that's my bad because the mounted patrol comes out there, they're like incredible crowd control. And they keep everybody from, you know, going nuts. So I guess it's kind of hard to decipher between the two. I apologize about that.</s>HARRIS: Yes. Well, it's moving kind of slow. Is that the way it goes down there?</s>PHILLIPS: Things move very slow. It gives people more of a chance to party and get a taste and see the parades and the people. And, now, you know, in addition to coconuts, they toss out all kinds of sweets and candy and necklaces and...</s>HARRIS: Which would explain the children we see there in the crowd.</s>PHILLIPS: Exactly. They sometimes even toss out lingerie.</s>HARRIS: Oh, you see, that's why I am asking that because, see, some of the time, some of the stories I have heard about these parades, Zulu or otherwise, I don't think you want to have kids around there.</s>PHILLIPS: Yes, it get gets pretty crazy.</s>HARRIS: Beautiful picture there, all right.