MATT LAUER, co-host:
We're back now at 8:09. For
Oscar winner
and new mom
Sandra Bullock
this has been
the best of times
and the worst of times this year. But now she has a new sense of purpose, a
school
in
New Orleans
.
Ms. SANDRA BULLOCK:
A
school
that has close to 100 percent graduation rate, a
school
that has its very own health clinic. Oh, my God, I'm talking like a politician. No offense. But I need to be doing this; no pointing, only thumbs. I know, I've learned that.
LAUER:
That is
Sandra Bullock
speaking at the
Warren Easton Charter School
, which suffered more than $4 million in damages during
Hurricane Katrina
. Thanks to the generosity of
Sandra
and other people, that
school
and its students are now thriving. And that's where I met up with her and
school board
member
Arthur Hardy
. I started by asking
Arthur
how
Sandra
and the
school
got connected.
Mr. ARTHUR HARDY:
She found us and she did her due diligence, but called me on a Sunday afternoon. And she said...
LAUER:
She called you personally?
Mr. HARDY:
Yeah. 'This is
Sandra Bullock
.'
Ms. BULLOCK:
I like to cold call people, just -- people I think are outstanding community...
LAUER:
'How you doing?'
Ms. BULLOCK:
'How you doing?
What's happening
?'
Mr. HARDY:
You know, I'm in the
Mardi Gras
business and I deal with
crazy people
every day. So when she said, 'This is
Sandra Bullock
'...
Ms. BULLOCK:
I'm sorry.
Mr. HARDY:
...'Yeah, I'm
Clark Gable
.' I was about to hang up, you know. Who knows? But, 'No, it really is,' and it really was.
LAUER:
And...
Mr. HARDY:
Pretty cool.
LAUER:
...tell me how the conversation went.
Mr. HARDY:
She knew what we were all about and I think had done enough work to know we were the real deal. And then once she came and met the kids, it was all over. I didn't have to sell anybody after that.
LAUER:
Money is one thing, though, and something that
Arthur
has said in an interview in the past, he was saying, 'OK, it's one thing for
Sandra Bullock
to come in here and give us some of her money or help us raise money.' But you said something else about her. You said she also arrived at a time where we needed a cheerleader.
Mr. HARDY:
Oh, a good one. We really did.
Ms. BULLOCK:
And I
was a cheerleader. Not a very good one in
high school
, but
I did my best
.
Mr. HARDY:
Well, you're doing pretty well...
LAUER:
I was speaking in more the general sense.
Ms. BULLOCK:
I know,
Matt.
Mr. HARDY:
No, that's exactly right.
And I
believe she thinks, as we do, that
public school
education is the answer to crime, poverty, prejudice. I mean, a good
school system
. And we want the whole city system to be good, not just us. We want to be the best among many good schools.
And I
think we're an example that it can be done. It takes a lot of work, but yes,
you can do it
.
LAUER:
One of the things that the floodwaters exposed here in this city was this -- I mean, for -- I don't have a better term, abject poverty.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
And the -- and the fear here, I think, in a lot of people's minds in
New Orleans
is that those same people who were most victimized...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
...by that hurricane have been left out of the recovery.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
That they aren't the ones who are enjoying the recovery. How do you feel about that?
Ms. BULLOCK:
There are a lot of things that fell through the cracks during the storm, and it was embarrassing. Those cracks exist throughout the
United States
, throughout the world. And it just sort of opened up something that I don't think people knew about or maybe didn't want to see. But right here under this roof there are souls and spirits and
young people
who don't come from any money but carry this extraordinary
spirit
to, like, override that, suck in every ounce of education that the
school
provides, and
get out of here
and create a life for them that is beautiful and fulfilling and filled with all those things that they might not have had. It's always going to be the way that people that shouldn't be
left behind
are
left behind
. But let this
school
be an example of how we don't need to leave anyone behind.
LAUER:
We've known each other for a pretty long time. And I...
Ms. BULLOCK:
I don't admit to that.
LAUER:
I will.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Really?
LAUER:
I'm proud of it. I don't know that I've ever heard the level of passion. Where did this passion come from for this particular city?
Ms. BULLOCK:
I spent so many summers and
New Year
's and fun times in
New Orleans
. It was always a place where I felt like I could go and actually let go and enjoy the
spirit
of something.
LAUER:
Your connection to the city just got deeper officially; you finalized your adoption.
Ms. BULLOCK:
I did. I did. I did.
LAUER:
And
Louis
's from
New Orleans
.
Ms. BULLOCK:
He's from
New Orleans
.
LAUER:
So, I mean...
Ms. BULLOCK:
He's my little
Cajun
cookie.
LAUER:
...you are forever now hitched to this city.
Ms. BULLOCK:
I am. How lucky am I?
LAUER:
What was it like to fine -- when you finalized that, you...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
It's a long process.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Long, long process. As sterile as the room seemed, it felt so rich. It felt like it was time, you know? And the process is the way that the process is for very, very good reasons, and I did not circumvent. I wanted to do everything exactly the same way everyone else did. It was nice to have someone say, 'I think you're a fit parent,' which is what I heard, which was like, ah.
LAUER:
The waterworks began. But you can't celebrate too long, you got to go home and change diapers and feed and things like that.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Oh, yeah. Oh, that.
LAUER:
Kids don't care about celebrations.
Ms. BULLOCK:
He -- no, he does.
LAUER:
He does?
Ms. BULLOCK:
He likes to...
LAUER:
At eight months old?
Ms. BULLOCK:
Oh, he likes to celebrate. He likes to dance and celebrate. He's -- you know what? I got blessed, I got lucky, and he's extraordinary. He's extraordinary.
LAUER:
The nicest thing I read that you said recently, you said, 'Even throughout the whole process, I didn't care what he would look like'...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Unh-unh.
LAUER:
...or whether it be a he or a she.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
What...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Color, what -- yeah. No.
LAUER:
Anything about it. 'I just had faith that they were going to put me together with the right child.'
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
Where'd that faith come from?
Ms. BULLOCK:
I don't know.
LAUER:
It doesn't always happen that way.
Ms. BULLOCK:
I don't know. You know, everything works out the way the universe wants it to work out. And we'd always said that it didn't matter where the child came from, the child that needed us in the home is the child that's going to be placed.
LAUER:
Looking forward to your future with
Louis
, you said recently, "I want to feel the sun on our face when we go for a walk, not having to hide anymore, not having my friends and family lie anymore, telling everyone I meet about the most beautiful man I know, including his poop schedule."
Ms. BULLOCK:
Yeah. Pretty regular.
LAUER:
How close are you to that day?
Ms. BULLOCK:
I'm very -- well, the poop schedule's pretty regular, which is good.
LAUER:
That's not what I meant.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Yeah? Well, you brought it up. I'd like to share it with
America
. He has a healthy poop schedule. He's going to hate me because this'll be...
Mr. HARDY:
Twenty years from now.
Ms. BULLOCK:
'Mom!'
LAUER:
I'll keep the tape, by the way.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Yeah, would you? Thanks so much. I was saying to a girlfriend of mine, no one understands the shift in priorities about having a child in your life, that you have -- you are responsible for, until you have a child in your life. It naturally shifts. It just shifted the first day I met him and it was like he'd been there the whole time, yet everything was different. But now
Louis
's got the stage.
LAUER:
One thing I want -- I want to compliment you on, you've managed to do something this year that is almost impossible.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Just -- hm.
LAUER:
You have, A, kept a secret...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
...concerning your adoption. And you've found a way to retain privacy...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
...at a time where it wasn't all that private.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Unh-unh.
LAUER:
It takes friends.
Ms. BULLOCK:
It takes good people with integrity. I mean, I read something like, 'How did someone keep a secret?' And it's -- human beings exist that have integrity, that know how to keep their mouth shut, that know the bigger picture, that don't sell out their friends. Those people are
all over the place
. But again, we don't like to talk about it because it doesn't sell a magazine.
LAUER:
Yeah.
Ms. BULLOCK:
But I was blessed with the same friends I've had since before things got really special for me and blessed in life, and when things get bad they're still the same friends. And everything passes. It all passes. But they just, you know, they know if they screw up they're not coming on the next vacation, I'm not going to babysit their kids. I will cut them, I will take them down.
LAUER:
No premiere tickets.
Ms. BULLOCK:
No -- they don't really want to go to the premieres, which is kind of nice. But, you know, it's -- I'm -- I have friends and family that are filled with massive amounts of integrity. It shouldn't be an oddity.
Mr. HARDY:
And they all learn two words.
Ms. BULLOCK:
What?
Mr. HARDY:
No comment.
Ms. BULLOCK:
No comment.
LAUER:
Yeah. I was speaking to a local journalist here the other day...
Ms. BULLOCK:
Mm-hmm.
LAUER:
...as part of the anniversary of
Katrina
, and at the end of him asking me questions he said, 'And do me a favor, be nice to
Sandra
because she, to us here, is a hero.'
Ms. BULLOCK:
Hm. Wow.
Mr. HARDY:
It's true. It is true.
Ms. BULLOCK:
Making me teary.
Mr. HARDY:
It's true. They have a passion...
Ms. BULLOCK:
It's
random acts of kindness
.
Mr. HARDY:
This whole city is falling in love with her. She belongs to us. Don't mess with
Sandy
.
Ms. BULLOCK:
I like that.
Mr. HARDY:
And no, I'm serious. They -- it's like you hurt her, you hurt us, and you better be ready for a fight.
LAUER:
Yeah, they really do love her down there.
ANN CURRY, co-host:
Delicious. She's delicious.
LAUER:
They really, really do. And she's doing great work with that
school
. There's more on the
Warren Easton Charter School
at todayshow.com.
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