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

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

having been in new orleans so many year -- >> such a fun time of year. it's a big day. 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 doing that. >> and with only five days until 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 datete 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 idea. 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. we said it's fat

>> i make it myself. >> were you born and raised this new orleans is this ? 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 use shrimp stock or you can buy homemade stock. >> 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 tric

we'll talk about the bachelor. >> really, amanda is in new orleans. so we were wondering -- >> you said take twice. >>r not olivia, you know, everybody doesn't like olivia, all right? so bep n did a cruel thing. 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 l, what was her name -- >> emily. >> emily. emily, they both -- and emily was the twin who stayed on the remember the other twin got bounced. anyway, so he took both of these two. we're going on a date. and brought arose. 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 do we have video of this, do we have the sound? let's watch. >> today you really did take the time to speak your heart and tell me exactly what you're ling. >> yeah. >> i don't think i can reciprocate those feelings. it's just not a get to. and i think that you've been honest with me about your feelings. i have to be honest with you about mine. you that i can't give

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

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

. >>> 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

i did a music album in new orleans. edward sharp and the magnetic zeros. >> stephen: 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 for young voters. >> stephen: 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 the discourse. i think these debates are fantastic. i love how many people are it's great. >> stephen: you also executive >> yes. >> stephen: that has been nominated for an oscar? >> yes! >> stephen: congratulations. >> thank you! it's so great. >> stephen: it's an incredible >> yes. >> stephen: it's a team of people working in liberia, right. >> 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 virus. that was essential because the only reason it didn't spread in a much bigger way is because of people like them

. >> 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

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

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

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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

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

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

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

. >> mardi gras celebrations in new orleans are in high gear. officials are worried that the parties could lead to a rash of heroin overdoses. a warning from doctors. and why doctors say orcan trance plants could save hundreds of lives every year. >>> a spike in heroin overdoses cast a shadow over the mardi gras celebrations in new orleans. seven deaths have been seen. as jonathan martin reports, a chemical mixed with the drug may be making it dangerous. >> reporter: 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 are seeing an increase in the number of heroin overdoses. within a 2-week period, seven people have died. >> any time your city is a destination for a large number of people, you want it make sure the people are aware that anything on the street could be life threatening. >> reporter: this doctor is a chief doctor at the university medical center, and said the spike is likely tied to heroin mixed with a syntheti