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KING:
Right now, we're going to go to San Francisco and checking in with Sean Penn,
the Oscar winning actor and activist. He was in New Orleans. Just landed back to
San Francisco. What was your role there, Sean? What were you trying to do?
SEAN
PENN, ACTOR: Well, Larry, let me -- let me just begin by sharing the MoveOn Web
site for housing and those interested in opening up housing for people. It is www.HurricaneHousing.org.
And they have already – they've got 160.000 beds available. They've already
placed 17.000 people.
KING:
Great.
PENN:
My role, basically, I was, you know, one more person watching television, and
just feeling that there weren't enough people there. And so, it became easy to
get out too, for me to get a boat, and get out on the water with some other
people, and try to get people out of water.
KING:
Now, you spent a lot of time there filming a remake of 'All the King's
Men'
(Infos und Fotos zum Film gibt's HIER )
right?
PENN:
That's right.
KING:
You were in New Orleans, Baton Rouge. Did you get close to a lot of people?
PENN:
Yes. I am sure that had a lot to do with my -- to the draw for it.
KING:
It's a very special area.
PENN:
Yes.
KING:
And so you obviously had a personal feeling. But there's been some -- you always
run into this -- attacks on you. So, let's clear some things up. The 'Melbourne
Sun Herald' was apparently the first to report that you traveled with an
entourage, with a personal photographer and claim, the rescue boat was filled
with water and sank. What is the story?
PENN:
They find -- the Sun (INAUDIBLE) that photographer. They give me a million to
contribute to the people here. And I'll do the same back to them to do whatever
they want with it. That is absolutely not the case.
We
went in, a couple of friends of mine on our own. Certainly, we had the attention
of some photographers. We tried to do as much as we could. We were able to
bring, between our boat and two other civilian boats, about 40 people out of
water. And that was all we were there to do.
So,
if we can -- if they'd like to stand up to the plate and help some of the
people, I would be right with them on it.
KING:
So, you are asking the paper to put up some money?
PENN:
Absolutely. I think the paper should put up some money. And I think a lot of --
this is going to be a situation that we know is going to go on for a long time.
I think we should be considering some kind of potentially permanent reparations,
along those lines of veteran's benefits and so on, because these people will be
desperate for a long time.
They've
already made one life that's been taken away from them. Clearly, there's a lot
of political issues that are surrounding this that will come out in the wash.
But for the moment, they are absolutely desperate and need a lot of help.
KING:
The boat never sank, then, right?
PENN:
No. The boat never sank.
KING:
Do you think celebrity can be a double-edged sword here? On the one hand, it
draws attention to he problems. On the other hand, people are always saying,
well, he's getting publicity?
PENN:
You know -- it doesn't really matter. The point was that I -- out of the benefit
of celebrity, I could afford to get on an airplane and get down there. And we
got a lot of people out of the water. The rest is for people to talk about.
KING;
What do you think of the governmental criticism? Do you think it's too early to
do that? Or correct in doing it now?
PENN:
I am torn on that. I think that it was a positive -- you know, that some of the
statements that Mayor Nagin made were very positive in the sense that you've got
to let some of the rage be understood by people. Fear tends to be a negative
response, rage sometimes can be helpful. People are feeling alone as it is. And
I think that some of that rage has to be expressed.
On
the other hand, I think of the leadership there. And I would also mention in
particular, of the lieutenant governor who I heard on television asking for the
rest of us not to get into the finger pointing at the moment. I would follow his
lead on that for the moment.
He
has been a hands-on hero in this situation. And so, while I am torn about it, I
will save those comments for later.
KING:
And the place for housing is WWW.HurricaneHousing.org.
PENN:
That's right. Let me give also, the 800 number for that.
KING:
Yeah.
PENN:
Which is 1-800-638-4559.
KING:
1-800-638-4559.
KING:
And one other thing, Sean, what was it like to be there?
PENN:
Well, it is clearly devastating. I mean, once we were there, it was busy. You
are moving all the time, hurrying very much. I have to thank CNN, whose boat,
Nic Robertson allowed me to commandeer. But at the moment we were there, I was
on the water, on and in the water for nine hours. And we only saw three
noncivilian boats. Most of the National Guard presence was in the air. They were
doing a great job, those that were there. But there weren't enough there. There
were an awful lot of civilians getting in there. And I think they will need more
help and medical attention.
Sometimes,
one of the issues is that the helicopter, because it's a difficult type of
rescue process and it takes a long time for the lines to come down, there's
power lines everywhere. We could sometimes go there and save them in time, by
seeing where the helicopters were, we'd go to what they were looking at. But
sometimes those rotor blades would put people under water, which would mean that
people had to jump in the water, which I also had to do to get people out.
So,
I think that the more boats they can get in the water, the more immediately, the
better.
There
are still a lot of people very much alive. This isn't a circumstance where,
because of the heat and the time -- you know, theyve foraged for food, they have
been exposed to it for a long time. They're very much alive. And while there are
many who do refuse coming out, there are still many that want help.
KING:
Thank you so much, Sean. Sean Penn.
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