NBC to Air Special Coverage of Katrina Anniversary

Nearly two thousand people lost their lives, and property damages worth $81 billion struck the Gulf Region when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005. Throughout the final weeks of August and into September, all NBC News platforms will broadcast special interviews and reports on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing recovery process five years since the devastation in the region. Coverage will include interviews with community leaders, business owners and the individuals affected during the storm. Online,  www.katrina.msnbc.com will be the source for Hurricane Katrina news and information, including archived coverage as well as new reports and interviews.

Next week, Brian Williams returns to New Orleans and to the people and places he originally reported on five years ago while covering Hurricane Katrina. Williams will interview Brad Pitt for an interview airing on Nightly News August 27; Pitt’s Make It Right foundation is helping rebuild homes in the lower ninth ward. Brian Williams interviews New Orleans native Harry Connick Junior for a segment airing August 28. Anchoring Nightly News from New Orleans August 26, 27, 29 and 30, Williams will be joined in the region by Correspondents Ron Mott, Kate Snow, Thanh Truong and Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman.

In addition to anchoring Nightly News from New Orleans, Brian Williams will moderate a special edition of Meet the Press near Jackson Square on Sunday, August 29. Exclusive guests include Mayor Mitch Landrieu and his sister Senator Mary Landrieu (D).

Hurricane Katrina: The First Five Days, a special Dateline hour, looks back at the immediate impact of the hurricane, featuring powerful footage and interviews from NBC’s original coverage of Hurricane Katrina as well as a 2005 interview with Brian Williams – describing in his own words the devastating and chaotic aftermath he witnessed firsthand while covering the storm in New Orleans and the Louisiana Superdome. The Dateline special airs August 22 at 7pm EST.

On Friday, August 27, "Today" will broadcast a special split edition with Matt Lauer and Al Roker co-anchoring live from New Orleans. Live guests include New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Former FEMA chief Michael Brown, Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Former First Lady Laura Bush and Harry Connick, Jr. Lauer and Roker will report from the Lower Ninth Ward and the French Quarter.  Lester Holt and Kerry Sanders will also be reporting from the area.

Brian Williams Reports: A Return to New Orleans, an MSNBC and Peacock Productions special, airs September 10 at 10pm EST on MSNBC . Five years after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Brian Williams returns to tell of the city’s recovery -- finding ample signs of hope and rebirth but also much yet to be done to address some of the city's endemic challenges. Williams interviews New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu about the strength of his city; and local radio personality Garland Robinette.

MSNBC will have continuing coverage of the Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts five years later. Rachel Maddow will anchor "The Rachel Maddow Show" live from New Orleans, August 26 and August 27 (9-10 p.m. ET). Tamron Hall will anchor MSNBC dayside coverage from New Orleans starting August 27 continuing through August 29.   Ed Schultz will broadcast "The Ed Show" (6-7 p.m. ET) live on August 30 from the convention center covering the free health clinic run by the National Association of Free Health Clinics and paid for by donations from MSNBC viewers.  Started by "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," donation drives by MSNBC have raised over $2.4 million for the National Association of Free Clinics and provided health care to more than 10,000 uninsured people.

CNBC's award-winning Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn returns to New Orleans to examine the human and economic impact of the disaster five years later, the corruption that hindered the region's recovery, as well as new businesses and entire industries created in Katrina's wake.  CNBC also checks on some of the high-profile development plans announced immediately following the storm.

Msnbc.com will feature special reporting, essays and video coverage to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina at  www.katrina.msnbc.com.  Msnbc.com’s Alex Johnson explores the dual disasters that Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill both inflicted on the Gulf region.  He also examines how their tolls have differed in significant ways, both in terms of physical damage and the impact on residents’ psyches.  In One Community’s Story, Ellis Anderson, author of the Katrina memoir Under Surge, Under Siege, tells what the long-term impact has been on her hometown, Bay St. Louis, Miss. That also was the setting for Msnbc.com’s award-winning Rising From Ruin coverage in the hurricane’s immediate aftermath, and Anderson will also touch base with some of the residents that the site’s readers first met then to find out how their lives have been changed.  Msnbc.com’s John Brecher visits residents in a Then and Now report and asks how things are different five years after the mother of all storms.

TheGrio.com will feature original video reporting from New Orleans starting the week of August 23. Reporter Todd Johnson will uncover stories about the sweeping changes in the city's demographics since the storm, and the continuing struggle to rebuild in African-American neighborhoods. In addition, theGrio will spotlight analysis from experts, politicians and other high-profile players on the ground in the Gulf Coast.