Earlier on American Morning, Soledad O’Brien interviewed Mayor Ray Nagin. Transcript follows…

SOLEDAD O’BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, the party is on in New Orleans! We all know that. Many sober reflections, obviously, in this first post-Katrina Mardi Gras.

Let’s get to the mayor of New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin. He joins us to talk about the celebration and also what lies ahead for this city.

Nice to see you, Mr. Mayor. Thanks for talking with us.

MYR. RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Good morning. And happy Mardi Gras.

S. O’BRIEN: Thank you very much. Hey, I see you’ve got a little bit of a costume on and you are taking part in the Zulu parade, is that right?

NAGIN: Absolutely. I’m honoring all of the first responders in the military that supported us right after Katrina, and one of my heroes, General Honore. I have my official cigar that I’m going to be smoking later in his honor.

S. O’BRIEN: Well, I’m sure he’ll be very flattered by that. I want to ask you a little bit about the celebration. How do you think that they’re going? I mean, some people said they’re smaller. Some people have said they’re more toned down. What do you think?

NAGIN: Well, it depends. The first weekend — Mardi Gras extends over two weeks really. The first weekend, the crowds were a little light. But this particular weekend, the crowds have been, in my opinion, on par with previous Mardi Gras, and Saturday night, where we had two super krewes together, Endymion and Bacchus, the crowds were really heavy.

S. O’BRIEN: They couldn’t even get a good spot to watch.

Let me ask you a couple of questions about the mayor’s race, which is coming up just around the corner, April 22nd is the date.

NAGIN: Yes. S. O’BRIEN: We talked to the lieutenant governor, Mitch Landrieu, who is running against you. Why do you think you would be a better mayor than he would be?

NAGIN: Well, you know, I have been in this seat for four years now. I came on a reform ticket, started that process, and then Katrina hit. We had the economy really pointing in a positive direction. I stayed here for the storm. I didn’t come in for photo ops. I was here for the duration until I went to check on my family after everything calmed down.

I have the experience. I have the business background. And I’m the only person who has a plan to bring back the city, and we implement it. And I think the citizens, once they look at all that, they’re going to make the right choice.

S. O’BRIEN: Some people might say you’ve made some strange comments in the wake of the storm. Between the storm and today, you talked about chocolate city, you’ve made comments, something that you’ve had to apologize for. Explain that to me. And do you, obviously, regret sort of saying things that made you a little bit of a lightning rod?

NAGIN: Well, you know, I’ve always been controversial since I’ve been in office. I’m not your typical politician, as most people keep reminding me.

What I was trying to do with the chocolate city particular speech was speak to some of the hopelessness that’s out there, particularly among African-Americans that are spread out throughout the country, that are yearning to come back and didn’t feel as though they were welcomed.

Unfortunately, those comments offended some people. And we are moving forward.

S. O’BRIEN: There’s some people who say maybe it wasn’t that the comments were offensive, it’s that what New Orleans needs right now is somebody who can negotiate with Washington D.C., who can deal with Congress, who can deal with local officials, who can deal with state officials, who’s not going to be a lightning rod and make comments that might have the media, you know, headlines for the next couple of days kind of thing.

NAGIN: Well, if you need that, then I’m your man. There’s no one that has gone to Congress consistently and was in the front of $3 billion coming for the levees, $8 billion in economic incentives for businesses and $6.2 billion for housing. There’s no one else who has been in the White House that has dealt with the president and former presidents, and also has worked with the state officials. And there’s no one else who has brought the parish leaders together under one plan to deal with housing. So if people are truly looking for what you just described, then there’s no one else that can do that job effectively.

S. O’BRIEN: At the same time, I think you’re in front of the Convention Center this morning, which looks great. I was there yesterday. Really, they’re ahead of the schedule; it looks good.

Then you go to the Lower Ninth Ward, and it’s a mess. Then you go over to St. Bernard’s Parish, and it’s a mess. And some people would say, well, Mr. Mayor as the guy who’s in charge, why haven’t we seen the progress in these areas that we’ve seen at your beautiful, sparkling new Convention Center?

NAGIN: Well, you know, as mayor of a fairly broke city, we’re using all of the resources that we have to our disposal, but we are heavily dependent upon the federal government and the state government to provide us with the resources we need until our economy comes back.

We have made some progress. It’s basically utilizing all of the federal dollars that have been authorized for the cleanup of this city.

And to be very frank with you, we’re a city of — a tale of two cities. Downtown is somewhat of an oasis. But as you move out to other areas, New Orleans east and the Lower Ninth Ward, you see some of the devastation, and it brings you back to just how devastating this hurricane was.

S. O’BRIEN: Mayor Ray Nagin talking with us this morning. Good luck in the election. We appreciate you being with us. Good luck on the parade today with the Zulus. Thanks for your time.

NAGIN: Happy Mardi Gras to everybody around the country. And all of my New Orleanians, we wish you were here. We’re going to do this in your memory and your honor.

S. O’BRIEN: You just passed that long.