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CNN Sunday Morning
Hurricane Bill Still Dangerous; Republicans Look to 2010; Obamas Vacation at Martha's Vineyard
Aired August 23, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center right here in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Happy Sunday to you, T.J.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Sunday. Good to see you this morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Good to see you too. It's August 23rd. Glad to see you, although I'm looking into a camera and not you at home. But for some people, though, it's probably a good thing.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: An I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 6:00 a.m. in Atlanta where we sit, 5:00 a.m. in Kansas City, 3:00 a.m. in your town, Las Vegas, wherever you may be. Thanks for starting your day with us. And you might not be too upset about being out in Vegas right now, because you don't have to look at this thing, a guy by the name of Bill, the outer bands of the hurricane reaching the northeast this morning. We'll have a live crew that's in that area to bring you the latest as the waves get a little big and get a little testy. You can see that guy doesn't mind too much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why people shouldn't vote for him if this is the way he's going to treat people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the protests, the scuffles, the politics, more weekend town hall meetings to influence congressional votes on health care reform. Also, we'll be talking to the author of this book right here, "Creating Success from the Inside Out." And let me tell you, this guy, multimillionaire by the time he was 17 years old, started his first business at 12. He says the recession equals opportunity. We're going to show you how.
All right. Let's get to some of our top stories today. There's been a change in travel plans for the first family thanks to hurricane Bill. The Obamas set to leave for Martha's Vineyard just a little bit later this morning but now they're not going to leave until this afternoon. The Associated Press says Bill is to blame and it's forming rip currents and forcing beaches to close along the east coast. HOLMES: Time, money and patience all running out right about now and the nation's largest auto dealership chain have stopped new sales under the cash for clunkers program. The deadline is not until Monday night but AutoNation says it wants to be sure all paperwork is completed before that 8:00 P.M. deadline so they have stopped a little early with the program. Many dealerships say the government has been a bit slow, should I say painfully slow in reimbursing them.
NGUYEN: Firefighters in Greece are battling as many as 75 wildfires including a massive blaze outside of Athens. It forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes and camp sites and even two hospitals. It's the worse destruction in Greece since a string of fires killed 65 people two years ago.
All right. Let's get you back to big, bad Bill. Hurricane Bill not as bad as it used to be, it has weakened in fact. But it still expected to cause quite a few problems along the Massachusetts coastline.
HOLMES: That's great news to hear that it has weakened. Still, you need to be paying attention. Our Susan Candiotti is there paying attention. Some of those beaches had to be closed, warnings going up about rip currents. Just give us an idea how things are where you are Susan. Good morning to you.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you T.J. and Betty. You know it's a bit misty right now. The highest winds they clocked overnight at the U.S. Coast Guard station right near here, only 20 miles an hour at worse. That's exactly what they had been predicting since Friday actually. However, all they're going to feel probably are some rain bands off and on, we had just a bit of one that occurred here overnight. However, the beaches are going to remain closed. They have been closed also since Friday, primarily because of fears over the pounding surf and those dangerous rip currents, so that's why those beaches will remain closed until possibly sometime today and they have a chance to assess what things look like.
Right now it's beautiful, as you can see over my shoulder. Got some fishing boats that are docked here. We have no reports of any damage but of course now as the sun comes up authorities will go out and take a look around. There is always beach erosion as well. Joining us now, this is Doug Ricciardi, and he's up this early. Why is he wearing a chef's outfit? Because in the morning here he doesn't get up with a cup of coffee, he gets up to bake --
DOUG RICCIARDI, CHOWDER MAKER: Lobster bisque.
CANDIOTTI: Can you imagine at this hour. You've lived here a long, long time, almost 20 years. So you've seen a lot of these storm warnings come and go. Bill fortunately remained far offshore, it's about 185 miles off shore right now. Did you worry about this one?
RICCIARDI: We always take it serious. We always take the weather serious in Chatham, always. People make their livelihoods here so these storm warnings definitely concern a lot of people, especially the homeowners, the land erosion and stuff like that.
CANDIOTTI: Always an issue too.
RICCIARDI: Always.
CANDIOTTI: So you're famous for this right, lobster bisque?
RICCIARDI: Yes, ma'am.
CANDIOTTI: I'm going to try this. I haven't had a cup of coffee yet so I feel a bit odd. Oh, is that good. That is just delicious, anyway, but thank you very much for joining us this morning. As the sun comes up we'll see how things go and they have a seal sanctuary out here. We've seen them popping their heads above the water this morning too. So all is well for now. Back to you Betty and T.J.
NGUYEN: All right, lobster bisque in the morning, 6:00. Sounds pretty good, right?
HOLMES: All right, we appreciate you. Let's turn to Wolf now. Like she just said, it's not so bad out there. But you look at some of those maps, Reynolds, it seems -- I don't know, a little activity out there.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, basically when you have a hurricane update that does include a taste test that kind of sets the tempo for the rest of the day. Susan is absolutely right, the conditions have improved greatly. However, the big story from this has really been the rip currents we've been dealing with, I think over 70 rescues yesterday alone. I think there were 50 alone in Wilmington, North Carolina all due to the rip currents. And today as Susan mentioned, we're going to be seeing more of those. OK, the latest on Bill. Let's take a look at it, let's enlarge the shot, here it is moving a bit to the north. You're going to notice right here in the top half of the screen, you don't see a whole lot up there. The reason why you don't see much up here is because the storm is moving so far to the north it's actually cut away from the frame of the infrared satellite imagery.
So what we're seeing with the storm is as it makes it's way to the north it's beginning to pick up speed in terms of its forward progress in the northeast. However, the winds inside the storm, only 85 miles-per-hour sustained, gusting to 105, it is expected to continue to weaken and the reason why is because it's going to be moving into an area of cooler water. In fact, you'll look off to the Massachusetts coast, water temperatures going from the 80s say like off of Virginia Beach and what not, even the Jersey shore line but then notice the yellows and even the greens popping up on the map. That indicates cooler water and cooler waters can cause this thing to weaken.
And the path, the National Hurricane Center, as we put this into motion, shows the storm is expected to continue to make its way to the north and eventually it's going to say veer off to parts of Halifax, past Nova Scotia and then possibly making landfall into New Finland, maybe by tomorrow morning. This was a minimal tropical storm so thankfully it looks like we've really avoided the true danger of the storm, a direct hit. But still rip currents, something we're going to deal with through Monday. That's the latest, let's send it back to you guys.
NGUYEN: All right Reynolds, thank you for that. This may be a make or break month for health care reform, but republicans are looking well beyond this month to the 2012 elections and some are making their opposition to the president's plan a badge of honor and hoping that it translates into votes.
HOLMES: Yes, republicans like Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello who criticized the plan at a town hall meeting yesterday. Also Florida Governor Charlie Crist who is running for the Senate next year. Crist spoke at the state GOP meeting going on this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST, (R) FLORIDA: I'm concerned about the direction that the administration has taken. As you probably are aware I'm the kind of guy who likes to give people the benefit of the doubt and I did that. It's taken a turn that I don't think a lot of us expected especially as it relates to the health care reform.
REP. TOM PERRIELLO, (D) VIRGINIA: I've remained a no on the bill because I don't think we've hit those targets yet. If we do that, then I'm ready to move forward. I think about my brother, he's a high school coach and teacher, he's got four kids, he and his wife living the American dream, barely making by. Their health care costs are now larger than their mortgage and they simply can't keep it up. That's the sort of family I have in mind when I'm thinking about whether this is going to bring things down or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The congressman, Perriello, that town hall meeting was one of several going on around the country yesterday. There's a map for you showing you. There were plenty of chances for people to ask their questions to their lawmakers and confront those lawmakers.
NGUYEN: You'll notice Albuquerque on the list there, the site of Democratic Congressman Martin Heinrich's meeting. Alona Gold from our affiliate KOAT was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALONA GOLD, KOAT REPORTER (voice-over): People started lining up at the UNM continuing education building hours before the town hall meeting even started.
REBECCA ROTH, TOWN HALL ATTENDEE: I came early because I knew -- i think it was like 250. So that seemed like I had a good chance.
GOLD: And being here early was key.
FRANK DITULLIO, TOWN HALL ATTENDEE: They say there's room for 600 I think we're about 300 in line but we'll see. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do apologize that we have reached capacity of 1,000 people.
GOLD: Hundreds got turned away after the auditorium and an overflow room were filled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, that's not enough. I want a commitment from you that you're going to set up another town hall meeting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't make that commitment today. I cannot make that commitment today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well why don't you take it to the Heinrich right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe next time people shouldn't vote for him if this is the way he's going to treat people.
REP. MARTIN HEINRICH, (D) NEW MEXICO: I appreciate where you're coming from but I frankly disagree.
GOLD: During the meeting Congressman Martin Heinrich addressed questions and concerns about health care reform, specifically changes in Medicare and Medicaid along with a public insurance option.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to take attention back to the question that you so conveniently side stepped from the man in the balcony on how you're going to pay for this bill. You will be raising my taxes.
GOLD: This quickly turned into a heated debate and emotions were running high.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sent you to Washington to take care of business. We did not send you to Washington to socialize the medical system.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Heated once again. It seems like many of them are but there are some that are not as heated and they do get some answers out of that. How are the president and democratic lawmakers pushing past opposition on health care in the days ahead. Well we're going to talk to our deputy political director about that very question.
HOLMES: We're also talking this morning to comedian Chris Rock who says that black women have an addiction to something called creamy crack. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: India Arie with a social message there, her song "I Am Not My Hair." It's not what's on top of your head, it's what's in here is her message there. So what exactly is good hair and why do people pursue it so much? If you have good hair, congratulations. If you don't have good hair, you probably want it and some who do have it anyway, they probably pay for it. It's a huge industry. A $9 billion industry that black people and especially black women support with what Chris Rock at least called the hair addiction. I caught up with Chris Rock and one of the stars of his new movie, "Good Hair." Nia Long is her name and we discussed what exactly is good hair and the message he's trying to send in his new movie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS ROCK: What's your definition of good hair?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes it looks relaxed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If your hair's relaxed, people look relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.
HOLMES (on camera): Tell me first, you all just tell me, how would you all define good hair? Not the movie, actual hair. What is good hair?
NIA LONG: All hair is good.
ROCK: There you go. All hair is good hair. You have good hair. As long as it's behaving. As long as it's not attacking you. It's not flesh-eating hair.
HOLMES: But some people need work to get it to behave. Would you agree with that?
LONG: Anything good takes work.
ROCK: Yes, it takes a little work, a little product, a little TLC.
HOLMES: How much work for both of you, how much work and TLC did this take? How much work and TLC did that take?
LONG: Oh!
HOLMES: I didn't mean to say it like that.
ROCK: This takes a lot less --
LONG: This actually took, this morning -- 20 minutes.
ROCK: Twenty minutes, but 20 minutes with engineers and architects.
Just yesterday my daughter came into the house and said, daddy, how come I don't have good hair? I wonder how she came up with that idea?
LONG: Being in the black community, if you have good hair or better than, the lighter, the brighter, the better. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to go like this, like Farrah Fawcett.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are so many impressions.
LONG: Black hair is a big issue. What's more beautiful, straight? Straight hair or curly kinky hair? It's been a huge issue within the community and I think you look at sort of the journey of black women and their hair, we've tried to assimilate to the images of white women, where their hair has been straighter or blond or lighter, and this is a great film simply because it creates awareness. It's really a conversational piece, this film and your hair, but ultimately if you're OK with who you are on the inside and you're OK with sort of your own spiritual sense of self, then it really doesn't matter what your hair is doing. That's why (INAUDIBLE).
ROCK: Has anybody ever tried to steal your hair?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
ROCK: If you see some black women, just run the other way.
My daughters, I just wanted to -- I wanted this document to exist. You know what I mean, there hasn't been a movie about black women's hair. It's such a rich, rich, rich topic that can be used educationally and comedically. And when I say comedically, I'm not making fun of black women with this movie at all. I'm not judging anybody who happens to be doing anything to their hair. You know I'm -- there's lots of movies with me with a jheri curl that exist. There's a few.
LONG: And that was by choice by the way.
ROCK: That was a choice.
LONG: The jheri curl was a choice.
ROCK: Pookie has a jheri curl in "New Jack City."
Tell us how dangerous relaxer is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hydroxide will burn through your skin.
ROCK: So that can has got a good perm.
HOLMES: What do you tell your daughters? That was kind of part of the reason behind the movie. Had an incident, one of them saw another girl's hair thought that was good hair or straight hair?
ROCK: Yes, my daughter was raving so much about her friend's hair, it was like when my wife raves about somebody else's house, it's a really nice house.
Is your hair addicted to relaxers?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on the creamy crack. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Creamy crack.
ROCK: So what's in your hair now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a weave.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a weave, two pieces here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know like extensions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like that.
ROCK: You know at the end of the day, it's fashion in a sense. You know, it's an accessory. And if you're changing it because it's an accessory, it's great. If you're changing it because you want to be somebody else, then that's a problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The black hair business is a $9 billion business.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably $5,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well I have a layaway plan.
ROCK: So you can lay away the wig?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.
ROCK: Have you ever put your hands through a black woman's hair?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man no, not a black woman's.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just don't touch it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not touch my weave.
ROCK: Does your wife let you touch her hair?
AL SHARPTON: The question is, do I let her touch mine?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You heard her right, $5,000.
NGUYEN: I'm still -- $5,000 for some hair.
HOLMES: And again, that was a celebrity.
NGUYEN: That stuff better last all year long.
HOLMES: I didn't know, I learned a lot going over to the Bonner Brother Hair Show that happens here in Atlanta. They get 50 to 60,000 people every year at this thing. Hair is huge. They've been doing it 60 years and I learned so much about hair over there but I had no idea that they paid thousands, or $5,000 as you heard there, it only last a month or so. NGUYEN: And it takes hours sometimes to get sewn in and all that. The things women will do, love it.
HOLMES: You can look for the movie, it will be coming out later in October. But it will get a lot of people talking and it will educate quite frankly as much as it will entertain.
NGUYEN: All right, very, very good. So, viewers, sent us their hair responses. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages. We want to hear from you today. Do you have good hair? What do you think about $5,000 for some hair. Is that something you would buy? More of an investment, right?
HOLMES: Yes, you don't get much of a return, I don't think. You could also send us blogs, cnn.com/tj or cnn.com/betty. We posted the Chris Rock interview on that blog you can check it out by all means. We will be sharing some of your comments this morning, so by all means send them to us.
You know who you are out there but what you can do about it. We're talking about those annoying people on Facebook. You just got an annoying message from a celebrity. I won't call that person out.
NGUYEN: OK, I'm going to bed now. People that just kind of tell you little things that they are doing throughout the day and you're going, OK, why? Why do I need to know this and why are you telling this to me? What's the point in all of it?
HOLMES: Josh Levs is looking into some of these annoying folks. Good morning to you sir.
NGUYEN: Those are called the informers, right?
JOSH LEVS: That is another term that's being thrown out there now. I hadn't heard that one either. Because you know what happened, we showed this list yesterday right, of these annoying Facebookers, including this, here's an example. What happened is you all have now responded with your own list. We're going to show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: I love that song. Speaking of private eyes you know you're on Facebook, you have friends, you have family but some people feel the need to bombard you with every little detail of their lives.
HOLMES: So we're hoping to call those people out essentially. Naming the most annoying types of Facebookers. Josh Levs has been looking into it for us. Good morning again sir.
LEVS: Good morning to you guys. You guys got a lot of messages about this too, right?
NGUYEN: A lot of people saying, hey, I know every single person on that list. And one person said I am some of those people on that list. LEVS: You're actually going to share some of those admissions, I'm seeing the same thing. Let's tell everyone about this and where it came from. Cnn.com put out this story about the 12 most annoying types of Facebookers like the people who try to tell you what they had for lunch all the time. In fact there's a quiz right here on cnn.com that you can take to determine if you are these people. Let's look at some of the nice pictures our graphics folks made that represent these 12 most annoying types of Facebookers. You have the detailer who wants to say what they are eating all the time. Go to the next one here, this is someone you know if you do Facebook, the inviter who is constantly asking you to do stuff for them, support my cause, sign my petition.
All right, the next one, the town crier, these are the people who hear rumors and they run to Facebook and they put it on there. Let's do a couple more here, the TMIer. We know who these people are, we do not need to know everything you're up to, way too much information. We have a couple more. The can't speller. OK, this one doesn't bother me that much, the can't speller but some people hate that. That's an actual Facebook message that our cnn.com (INAUDIBLE). Finally the obscurist, I get these all the time, where you look at the status updates, right, and you have no idea what these people are talking about. You just think about it but probably won't figure it out.
So we asked you what is annoying you on Facebook and here are some of your reactions. Guys check this out, Chris wrote me this, "Oh, I do this and I ain't proud of it... Facebook, drunk dialer. I say some weird stuff when I have a few ales and the next day I am inevitably thrashing about trying to remove stuff." We're hearing some people say how much they're annoyed by other people, people can't stand the obscurest. People can't stand the people who are constantly acting like they're all like sweet and whatever, wanted to share every detail. I'm going to toss this one from Rebecca who writes us this, "About these guys that crank out these top five lists in such rapid succession that they fill your whole home page in about five minutes. We really don't care which five brands of underpants you consider the best."
And Betty and T.J. we're hearing from you all too. So keep it coming, I'm at Joshlevscnn, you have Betty Nguyen, you have T.J. Holmes. Let us know what you think because I'm thinking we put together these guys and, you know what? We'll write something up for dot com on your most annoying type of Facebookers.
NGUYEN: Yes, and actually some people on Facebook even have some additions to that list, Conrad on my Facebook page says, "The most annoying ones are the people who send all of those birthday requests, wanting to put your birthday on your calendar and you really don't know some of these people and it's like why."
LEVS: Yes, they are always asking for birthdays.
NGUYEN: But this other person taking a strike. Chris Herd says, "You know to all Facebookers, try to keep a sense of humor. I see most of us fit into one category or another. It is what it is." LEVS: That's probably good advice there.
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly. All right, thank you Josh. Message us, let us know what you think today. You can reach us Facebook, Twitter, CNN.com, weekends@cnn.com, several ways, we want to hear from you today. We're also doing this, we are tracking hurricane Bill in the severe weather center. What is the biggest threat to our shores? That's the question today and we're going to be asking Reynolds Wolf about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello again everybody, welcome back to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning everybody on this Sunday, I'm Betty Nguyen. OK, hurricane Bill may turn out to be just a bully with no punch, but we're still tracking its progress as it inches up the east coast and into Canada. So let's start with this though, screaming and yelling at health care town hall meetings has almost become the norm. You've seen it time and time again. But yesterday in New Mexico, it's what happened outside that had emotions running high. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not enough. I want a commitment from you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe next time people shouldn't vote for him if this is the way he's going to treat people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Hundreds were turned away from a town hall hosted by Congressman Martin Heinrich at the University of New Mexico. Organizers say the place was just too packed. But people who had been in line for hours were angry that they did not get a chance to speak their mind.
HOLMES: A 59-year-old soldier from Washington State has become the oldest U.S. service member to die in Afghanistan. First Sergeant Jose San Lucas Crisostomo was killed by a roadside bomb in Kabul Tuesday. He was a Vietnam veteran and a bronze star recipient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA CRISOSTOMO, SOLDIER'S WIFE: When 9/11 came up he was interested in going back and serving his country, which he loved to do. That was his passion, his life. Dad, what are you going to do out there? They're going to be pushing you in a wheelchair. He said oh no, hold on, I'm going to be pushing those troops. And he did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The army lists Criosostomo as an automotive logistical specialist but it's not clear in what capacity he was serving while in Afghanistan.
NGUYEN: Firefighters in Greece they are battling as many as 75 wildfires. Just look at this video, including a massive blaze just outside of Athens that has sparked evacuations. Officials say this is the worst destruction in Greece since a string of fires killed 65 people two years ago.
HOLMES: All right, we have some video we want to share with you here of storms in New Jersey. We're trying to figure out if this thing was a tornado. We can bring Reynolds in, in just a second. Most of this was in Sussex County and Franklin, New Jersey. They're cleaning up now but that was pretty extensive damage done to some homes there. Strong winds, heavy rain, knocked down some trees, those trees hit some power lines, hit some cars, hit some homes as well. Expecting to see again, Reynolds it sounds like that this was possibly a tornado. Reynolds, are you with me there, man?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, I'm with you.
HOLMES: I know you are checking the weather over there. But, yes, they are trying to figure out if this is a tornado.
WOLF: It is very possible. Not unusual when you have tornadoes. This could have formed due to that frontal boundary that came through parts of the areas that helped keep the hurricane offshore. Kind of interesting, kind of helps in terms of keeping the storm offshore, but still it spawns a few tornadoes of its own. And you have the storm damage there.
The biggest story that came of this entire event this weekend was really the rip currents we had off the coast. We had over 70 rescues, 50 alone in Wilmington Beach. Certainly some rough times.
Why don't we jump ahead and take a look at some of the I-Reports to help share the story of what happened out there. Our viewers were kind enough to send in some great snapshots. Take a look at this. We got a great shot here. This I-Report is from Michael Black. You see him going right through that rip curl. Just beautiful, on the short board. Looks pretty good there.
Notice he's got the short wet suit on. Same story, here, that looks like about a seven to eight-foot wave. Normally they come in sets of two to three feet, in terms of height. So, with that wind coming in around the top of that tropical system, of course, the waves are really enhanced. Although it looks great, there, certainly rough times, no question, for a lot of the swimmers out there where they had all the rescues.
These guys had a great time. They go out there and make the most of these surf conditions because they certainly don't have those every day.
Let's show you what's happening with the storm. At one point this was the strongest storm on the planet. It has weakened considerably. It looks pretty ragged for the time being. We have an intrusion of drier air that is coming in on the western half of the storm. Still making its way to the northeast; winds of 85 miles per hour, gusting to 105.
The forecast has this thing weakening and the reason why is because it is going to move into much cooler water. As it does so, it will be away from its primary power source, that warm ocean water that is like high octane fuel for it. Because it moves into the cooler temperature water and then you have, of course, strong upper level winds. The storm will take a beating. In fact, as we get to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, maximum sustained winds dropping to 75 miles per hour. Has to be 74 or above to be considered a hurricane. So we are getting really close to the threshold.
And then as you get into 2:00 a.m. Monday, winds of 65 miles per hour, possibly making landfall into Newfoundland and then it is back out over the open water where it just becomes history.
Now, very quickly, as Bill is moving off, still scattered showers are a possibility throughout much of New England. Dry and cool here in the South. If you woke up in Atlanta, this morning, oy vey, just perfect conditions for you. Really nice over parts of the Rockies. Scattered showers also in Big Sky Country. Could see some storms there later in the day.
That's a wrap on your forecast. We have a lot to share with our viewers. But for now, let's send it back to you guys at the desk.
NGUYEN: We kept saying, oy vey, right?
WOLF: It is. You know, it just felt like one of those things to say this morning.
NGUYEN: OK, all right.
WOLF: I can't imagine why. Just did.
NGUYEN: Just came to you, like that.
WOLF: It did.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: Thanks, Renny (ph).
Well, Hurricane Bill he was just talking about there, it's affecting a lot of people's travel plans and vacation plans including the first family.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. They were supposed to leave for Martha's Vineyard this morning, in fact. But why Martha's Vineyard? We'll take you to the island and tell you how long they are delayed because of that storm.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A vacation, we all can use one of those, right? Especially right about now.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Well, in just a matter of hours the first family starts their week-long vacation on Martha's Vineyard.
HOLMES: They were supposed to arrive this morning, but they were delayed. Now, of course, he's not flying Delta so it's not like it's the airline's fault.
NGUYEN: You better called out Delta. Any airline.
HOLMES: OK, Delta, any airline -- sorry about that. It is Atlanta based, so...
NGUYEN: I know, we fly Delta a lot.
HOLMES: I just thought I'd throw it in there.
But no, it's because of Bill, the storm. It is expected to past the island, Martha's Vineyard, before the Obamas arrive but not even a hurricane can steal the first family's thunder, as out Dan Lothian now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's easy to see why Martha's Vineyard is such a big draw. The beaches, the boats, the vintage carousel; before you attach the label of enclave of rich and famous, long-time summer resident and Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree says, take a look around.
CHARLES OGLETREE, PROFESSOR, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: It really is one of these rare places where you see people who are unemployed and who are CEOs. You see people who are wealthy and poor. And there's no pretension here. People are very comfortable.
LOTHIAN: Even if sitting presidents keep dropping in. First it was Ulysses S. Grant, then the Clintons. Now President Obama and his family are preparing to stretch out on this 28.5-acre Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark.
NANCY GARDELLA, MARTHA'S VINEYARD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's very flattering, and impressive that President Obama and his family are coming.
LOTHIAN: Island historians says Mr. Obama presence carries more weight because of the African-American heritage on Martha's Vineyard.
KEITH GORMAN, MARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM: There's been African- American on the island since at least the 18th century. I think in terms of this first family coming to the island it's important.
This shot, I think, is really quite telling.
LOTHIAN: The pictures are in black and white at the local museum. Some were slaves who when freed made a home here. Later other blacks came in search of good jobs. GORMAN: You could get on a ship, a whaling ship, and in the 19th-century you had multi-ethnic and multi-racial whaling vessels.
LOTHIAN: African Americans began to settle in Oak Bluffs, and early resort community that didn't shut the door.
OGLETREE The colored only/white only signs were up throughout much of the 20th century, and so this was the place that didn't have the signs. Didn't have the barriers to integration.
LOTHIAN: It's a history largely hidden behind the island's pristine beauty and high-profile presidential visits. But historian Carry Tankard is trying to change that. She co-founded the African- American Heritage Trail that marks 22 sites honoring people of color on the island.
CARRIE TANKARD, THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL: The uncovered head stones and things, you know, you can put your hands on it. You can see it. It's just a feeling you can't describe.
We just want them to know that we were here.
LOTHIAN: While the president may be hoping to simply spend some quiet time, relaxing with his family and friends, his visit is also seen as another chapter in this island's deep history. Dan Lothian, CNN, Martha's Vineyard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: OK, we want to get you back to one of our top stories this morning. Fires that are burning near Athens, Greece. On the phone with me is Anthee Carassava, in Athens, in fact.
Anthee, talk to me about how bad these fires are, because I understand that some 600 firefighters and soldiers are on the front lines now trying to contain this fire.
ANTHEE CARASSAVA, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: That's right. More than 600 firefighters and soldiers are battling to contain these freak flames that are singing Athens' northeast edges and northeast suburbs.
Thousands of residents have fled to safety. Rescue crews have helped to evacuate a children's hospital, camp site, monasteries, old- age homes, and many elderly people trapped in villages that have literally been swallowed by massive flames.
The fire broke out late Friday in Gramanti (ph), a town 25 miles northeast of Athens. But gale-force winds that were constantly shifting direction drove the flames through a rash of villages within hours. This flame now, this front, this massive front, has now spread to the area of Tekarami (ph) and northern suburbs in Athens. And plumes of thick gray smoke billowing from the entire stretch of the fire.
NGUYEN: Anthee, let me ask you, this. This is supposed the worse fire in two years. Two years ago we reported some 65 people were killed in those fires. Are there any deaths report so far in this one?
CARASSAVA: No. No reports of any deaths or injuries, and there's no indication yet as to what may have caused this blaze. But wildfires are frequent in Greece during the summer season and they are often caused by high temperatures, drought, or even arsonists.
NGUYEN: One last question for you. Any of the historical sites threatened because of these wildfires?
CARASSAVA: There are some historical sites near the ancient city of Marathon, that authorities are scrambling to save. No imminent threat so far and no threat on any tourist spot in the area.
NGUYEN: All right. Anthee Carassava, on the phone with us this morning, giving us an update on the wildfires that rage near Greece (sic); 75 fires reported, so far, across the country. But at this point, no injuries and no deaths related to these fires.
So we move to this. Just imagine being a millionaire at the age of 17. Better that, you started your own business at 12.
HOLMES: I'll take millionaire at any age, not just 17.
NGUYEN: We're going to talk to this young CEO who created his own success and he's going to show us how the recession actually equals opportunity.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Right. Let's make lots of money, shall we? We'll introduce you to a guy who had got to be doing something right. Listen to this, at age 12 he started his own business and by 17 and he was millionaire. He's now the youngest African-American of any publicly traded company and he's written this book called "Creating Success From The Inside Out".
This morning, I want you to meet Ephren Taylor. Here with me in the studio, with some advice on how you can get rich.
I love your story. Because you created this business at 12, because you wanted to play video games. Your parents said, hey, those are too expensive. I'm not going to buy them for you. You said forget about it, I'm going to make them myself.
EPHREN TAYLOR, ENTREPRENEUR, TEEN MILLIONAIRE: Yes, my mom challenged me with a question. She said, go figure out how to make your own video games. She was tired of me, I guess, nagging her all time for it. They made an investment in a book. I read that book and I ended up teaching myself how to program computers. We didn't even have a computer at the house at the time. So, I had to use the school's computers.
NGUYEN: Really?
TAYLOR: Yeah.
NGUYEN: You were determined to play some video games.
TAYLOR: I had nothing else to do. So, I did that. And I took those skill sets and ended up starting an Internet firm and then went on from there to ...
NGUYEN: How did you know to do that at 12?
TAYLOR: Well, you don't. I mean, the thing is when you're 12, you know, you dream and nobody is telling you that these dreams aren't possible. In a household that I came out of my parents were telling me that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.
NGUYEN: That's so important, isn't it?
TAYLOR: Yeah, I was actually dumb enough to believe it.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: But now it has paid off.
TAYLOR: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: So for those kids who are still in college, who feel like, you know what, I have loans to pay off. I'm just trying to pass my classes. You say look, you need start your business now.
TAYLOR: Absolutely. When you're young everybody wants to help you. College campus is the best place to start a business. You got all your buddies. You have all the free help in the world that you can get. You got professors, you have educators, you have experienced business people that are there. So, using those resources on a college campus, you could pull off a lot of great things. We've seen that more evident now of all the dorm room start ups that have happened. Gotten funded and went on to do some very profitable things.
NGUYEN: It's kind of scary wouldn't you say. I mean, let's be real about it. Because, like I said, you've got student loans. You are still trying to pass your classes. You don't have that real-world experience. That's key to having that confidence to knowing this is going to be a success.
TAYLOR: I kind of disagree just a little bit.
NGUYEN: Really? OK.
TAYLOR: Yes, it is scary and that's one of the things I talk about in the book. It is about this dark hall of fear, of all the things we could be scared of.
NGUYEN: Right. I don't know how to do this. I can't do that.
TAYLOR: Exactly.
NGUYEN: How do I do this? TAYLOR: I believe that a lot of Americans are just fearful of entrepreneurship, just as a whole because of all the risks that comes with it. When you're in college, yes, you have the student loans. But do we really think about all the consequences when we were younger? That's one of the best times to start because you don't have a family, you don't have the house, mortgage, kids, and things like that. I'm married and I got two kids now. So my risk tolerance is a little bit different.
NGUYEN: Right, so be fearless, is what you are saying.
TAYLOR: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: OK, you have five tips on how to actually to launch a business and make it a success. Let's go through them. First one is, turn a disadvantage into a advantage. How so?
TAYLOR: Absolutely. When I was younger starting my entrepreneurial ventures a lot of people said you're too young. You didn't have the knowledge. So, I took my youth and spun it as a marketing advantage that we had because we understood the market we were going after.
NGUYEN: You are the market.
TAYLOR: Absolutely. And people bought it. It worked out well.
NGUYEN: I love this. Stay persistent. You said you were turned down by 80 different times, as you went along asking for money, people to invest in your company?
TAYLOR: All the time. The thing is for an entrepreneur to be successful you will be told no. It will not work, probably, the first time. You don't want it to.
NGUYEN: Learn from those failures.
TAYLOR: But you have to be persistent. Keep going for it. And that is one of the greatest skill sets that I really admire. If you track successful people they are all very persistent.
NGUYEN: Right. But they are all well read, as well. That is key, that knowledge base. There is that # 3 on your list. You also say #4, go for it. I want to get to the last one though, it is "Recession equals opportunity". That is very key in this day and age. Why does it equal opportunity right now? Because a lot of people are out of jobs.
TAYLOR: You know, that's the best time to start. When opportunities have been closed, I think many Americans are realizing right now that entrepreneurship is the best route for them. Even now with job uncertainty people are now having to create additional income sources. And that if your business is working well in a recession imagine what it will be doing when things turn around. That's what our company, City Capital, is focused on, is making investments into those entrepreneurial ventures that will foster the, recreate jobs, stimulate the economy and take things to the next level.
NGUYEN: So you're a venture capitalist now?
TAYLOR: I'm more of a social capitalist.
NGUYEN: OK. So, you made your fortune and now you are helping others do that?
TAYLOR: Absolutely. Especially young people.
NGUYEN: Ephren, nice meeting you. Thanks for your information today.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
NGUYEN: We do appreciate it.
All right. T.J., so now is the time. Maybe we should start a business.
HOLMES: What in the world would we market, Betty? What in the world could you and I?
NGUYEN: Gosh, what could we do?
HOLMES: Yes, Ephren, what do you think, man? What could Betty and I market? What does it seem like we could sell?
NGUYEN: Yes, you're the expert here?
TAYLOR: I don't know you guys sell news pretty good.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Maybe we should keep our day jobs then?
HOLMES: All right. Thanks. Good to meet you, my man.
We'll turn back to our Hurricane Bill. Now a Category 1 storm, but still packing a bit of a punch. We're tracking the hurricane at our hurricane headquarters with Reynolds Wolf.
Also, banks, investment firms, car makers, all of them received huge federal bailouts, but what about the country's largest employers, small business owners? Turns out pickings pretty slim for them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, want to create jobs? One North Carolina restaurant owner says he'd create 35 jobs within three months, if you send some of that's stimulus money his way.
NGUYEN: Yes, I've got that same kind of bargain for you, too. Send some money my way.
No, I'm kidding. He probably does have a plan here, he just needs a loan. As CNN's Christine Romans reports it's a new financial world out there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dinner time in Lumberton, North Carolina.
ROB REDFEARN, RESTAURATEUR, BLACK WATER GRILLE: Everything is good?
ROMANS: Restaurant owner Rob Redfearn.
REDFEARN: We did a $1.2 in 2007. Not bad for a small town, a small restaurant.
ROMANS: He has 35 employees, a crowded bar on weekends, a dependable banquet business. Five years ago he turned a century-old mule stable into this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Celery and onions.
ROMANS: He's confident he's got the ingredients to open another restaurant here, 35 miles north on I95 in Fayetteville.
REDFEARN: I'll hire 50 people in three months, if I get the money that I want for it.
ROMANS: $150,000 to be exact.
REDFEARN: My issue is that stimulus money that everybody is talking about needs to flow through to small businesslike this one. I don't want a bailout. I just want -you know, open the door, I'll walk through it myself.
ROMANS: But so far, that door is shut. We called BB&T Bank, the area's biggest small business lender and asked them why? Turns out Redfearn's credit score doesn't match his confidence.
A spokeswoman for BB&T, who recently paid back its own $3-billion bailout, said we would have turned him down based on his credit history. Redfearn admits to bumps in the road that dinged his credit. This is the new world of lending.
LEE CORNELISON, DISTRICT DIRECTOR, SBA, NORTH CAROLINA: Lenders have returned to the old-fashioned lending standards. They are making loans with the expectation that all of them are going to be repaid.
ROMANS: That means making fewer loans to only the best applicants, even small business owners like Redfearn, who had no trouble borrowing money in the past are being turned away.
STACY COWLEY, SMALL BUSINESS EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: We have sort of ended up in this chicken and egg situation here, where the banks don't want to make the loans, because the small business sector has a whole has been having such trouble. But then small business owners can't get the financing they need to run their businesses normally, to expand. ROMANS: The number of new small business loans is less than half of what it was before the recession. But the stimulus has helped. The amount of money loaned through SBA's programs has risen 50 percent since February.
REDFEARN: This Aunt (ph) Beach.
ROMANS: Ever the entrepreneur, Redfearn doesn't have the loan, but he still has the vision.
(On camera): You look at this parking lot and you see cars?
REDFEARN: I see it full.
ROMANS: And you see a successful restaurant.
REDFEARN: I see it full.
ROMANS (voice over): Christine Romans, CNN, Lumberton, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: You can catch a new "Money & Main Street" this Thursday morning on "American Morning" starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
NGUYEN: Beautiful Atlanta. Look at that.
HOLMES: Yes. How did Reynolds say it earlier this morning? We are waking up in Atlanta to what? On this August the 23rd. He had some term this morning.
That is a shot of Centennial Park, right outside where we sit here at the CNN Center.
NGUYEN: He said oy, vey, right?
HOLMES: Oy, vey, that's what it was. Oy, vey, this morning, according to Reynolds, in Atlanta. Hello, to you all. Glad you could be here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning. Thanks for joining us everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
It is 7:00 o'clock, out here on the East Coast, and what, 4:00 a.m. on the West Coast. Starting your day with us, we do appreciate it.
Let's get started. A look at what's left of Hurricane Bill. We'll take you live to the Northeast where the outer bands of the powerful storm are coming ashore. HOLMES: Also, patience, modesty, spirituality, some of the goals during the 30-day fasting period known as Ramadan. So, is that message reaching young American-Muslims? Got a chaplain from New York University joining us live this morning.
Well, this could be, or should be, a busy day at auto dealerships as they race to cash in their clunkers, a lot of Americans are. The government has set an 8:00 p.m. deadline tomorrow for all the paperwork to be submitted.
The nation's largest dealership, however, Auto Nation, has already stopped new sales under the Cash for Clunkers program. Many dealerships say the government has been painfully slow in reimbursing them.
NGUYEN: As Democrats host a series of town halls on health care, the Centers for Disease Control is hosting town halls on swine flu. Yes, there were a few tense moments there as well, at the meeting near Philadelphia yesterday, as officials tried to dispel rumors about where the H1N1 virus originated, and vaccine safety.
HOLMES: Next week, a 32-year-old model will become the first Malaysian woman to be caned. She will be caned six times in prison. Why? Because a Muslim court sentenced her to that lashing after she was caught drinking a beer. That is a violation of Islamic law.
The woman says she's ready to accept her punishment. Human right groups are calling for the punishment to be immediately revoked. Malaysian officials say the lashing is meant to educate.
We'll have a live report from this story in our next hour. It is something that got a lot of us here in the newsroom talking. We'll have a lot of you all talking out there as well about this story. Just -- you know, it's against the law but it is something that's just tough if you're not in that to understand.
NGUYEN: It's meant to educate. OK, but it's being done in jail, right?
HOLMES: In the prison.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: And the model is saying, look, if it's supposed to educate everybody, let's do this thing in public.
HOLMES: And why not? You know that there will be a lot of video of it and that would get out. And who knows what that can lead to.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: If this wasn't, quite frankly, look good -- a bad P.R. move quite, frankly there.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. So, what do you think about this? We want to hear from you today. Send your thoughts to us. Messages through Facebook, Twitter, also Weekends@CNN.com.
Again, a model going to be pretty much given, what, six lashes in prison because she drank a beer. And she is saying, look, hey, if this is supposed to educate people, let's do this in public. Let us know what you think this morning. We'll be reading some of your replies.
All right. Back here at home, still talking about Hurricane Bill because it's out there, but not as strong as it used to be. It's expected though to still cause some problems along the Massachusetts coast line.
HOLMES: And our Reynolds Wolf is going to be standing by for us. He's keeping an eye on the storm. We have our Susan Candiotti, who is in Massachusetts.
I see you're making an adjustment there. I hope you can hear me, all right? It looks like the wind may have picked up a bit since we last talk to you.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It does, T.J. It comes and goes a little bit. The highest wind that they clocked overnight, according to the coast guard, is only about 20 miles per hour. Tropical storm warnings remain in effect here, but the National Weather Service says they do expect to drop those as the day goes on.
Here, we're just north of lighthouse beach here and at a marina where there's some activity as people are starting to get up in the morning and wanting to check out any possible damage. There is always beach erosion when they have storms come through here.
But joining me now are the O'Donnells.
RYAN O'CONNELL, RESIDENT: O'Connells.
CANDIOTTI: O'Connells. Sorry about that. And it is Ryan and his father Pat. You have a house and I don't know if we can get kind of scope past it a little bit, way out there on north beach island.
PATRICK O'CONNELL, RESIDENT: Right.
CANDIOTTI: You're going -- about to go out there to check things out. What do you expect to see?
P. O'CONNELL: Primarily on this side, not much of anything. Maybe a little bit of erosion on the bay side from the high tides because we had high moon tides. The biggest problem is going to be on the outside, on the ocean side of the beach.
And I guess erosion was pretty fair because we've had high tides and the swells have been building all week. So I'm expecting the worst out there and hoping for the best.
CANDIOTTI: Is it possible there is damage to the house?
P. O'CONNELL: No. I doubt it very much. The worse case scenario might be some water got underneath it, but we're up on pilings. So, it will just flow right through. And also, you can see, it's like a line that runs along behind the houses, and at our end of the island, it's been eroding now for a couple of years. And that's what I'm afraid of. If that goes down then we're open to the ocean and then have some serious problems.
CANDIOTTI: An ongoing issue here over the years.
P. O'CONNELL: Oh, yes.
CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much. Hopefully, the house and erosion won't be too, too bad.
P. O'CONNELL: Thank you.
CANDIOTTI: As you know, they were predicting seas as high as 20 feet overnight. Again, those crashing way out to sea because the storm is at least 185 miles offshore. Probably again have thunderstorms during the day. No word yet on when the beaches here might reopen.
Back to you, Betty and T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. Susan, we do appreciate that.
HOLMES: All right. Let's get the big picture now of what's really going on up and down the east coast from our Reynolds Wolf, who can give us the bigger picture.
So, tell us here. We know the president's plans are going to being changed even by this.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: So, it's affecting the first family. It's affecting a lot of families up and down the east coast.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, that's right. I mean, he's not, what, coming in, what, 1:45 or so.
HOLMES: A little later now. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: You know, Mr. President, if you happen to, you know, have pushed off the vacation a little bit, Betty and T.J. and I will be more than happy to stay in your place. I mean, you know, the deposit and all that. You don't want to, you know -- seriously.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Now, great set up that they're going to have there at Martha's Vineyard. I'll tell you, by time they get there, the storm is going to be well moving away. So, great news.
However, the big issue is going to be rip currents. We had a lot of issues along the coast yesterday. I think there are about 70 water rescues, 50 alone just in Wilmington due to rip currents.
Now, the storm itself, T.J., you want to see the big picture and the rest of America, too, here it is. It's going to continue to march its way to the northeast. It is getting weaker. It's moving way into cooler waters. Shear and loft is also going to destroy this thing. Winds at 85 miles per hour, gusting to 105.
The forecast of the National Hurricane Center shows the storm moving up near Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and then making its way up to Newfoundland by 2:00 a.m. on Monday. Forecast to be a tropical storm. It's going to make its way onshore and then it moves off into deeper in the Atlantic and then away from everyone. So, certainly, some great news for us there.
We got a shot for you there, an iReport just to give you an idea what's happening in St. Coney Island, New York. We're going to give it you right now. You can see just yesterday, the heavy surf coming in.
You're heading out there today. You go out and eat some hotdog. Have a great time on the board walk. But I'm telling you, you're not going to get in the water today. It's just not going to happen for you.
You see the flags are up. People can go out there and enjoy the sun. You can enjoy the wind. Not much in terms of rainfall until later into the afternoon but then, of course, you got to deal with the rip currents.
That is the latest we got for you. We've got more coming up in your forecast throughout the morning. See you in a few.
HOLMES: Well, the week ahead includes the health care battle and the return of the tea party. Our deputy political director and friend of our show here in CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, Paul Steinhauser, joins us from Washington now.
And, Paul, the first family heading for a little bit of vacation, Martha's Vineyard. But the president really never has the week off. Still, what he's going to make a priority on his vacation week?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: From what I hear, maybe a little bit of golf. That's what White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs mentioned the other day.
They'll leave a couple of hours from now, T.J. They're heading up to Martha's Vineyard. That is a beautiful island -- if you don't mind me saying so. It's off the coast of Massachusetts. They're going to be up there for a week.
If it sounds familiar, back in the '90s when Bill Clinton was president, he spent August break occasionally up at Martha's Vineyard. So, the Secret Service knows the island pretty well.
But, again, as you said, if you're the president, you're never truly on vacation. It's always a working vacation. We expect the president back here in Washington a week from today, T.J.
HOLMES: OK. And when he comes back, how is the president, how are Democrat lawmakers as well are going to get past a lot of the opposition. A lot of it not just from Republicans, but, you know, there were some opposition out there at a lot of these town halls. How do they get past all that and move health care reform forward?
STEINHAUSER: Well, first of all, as you said -- you mentioned those town halls. They continue. We got two weeks left in this summer recess for Congress. So, expect more town halls on health care reform and possibly, more protests.
How do the Democrats get beyond this and what is the president doing? He's on vacation as we talk about. But it's truly a working vacation.
The White House says he will be reaching out to Democrats and even to some Republicans to find out what's going on in health care and to moderate -- or monitor the progress being made by these bipartisan negotiators from that Senate Finance Committee. Those six members, both Democrats and Republicans, who are trying to reach a bipartisan compromise on health care, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes. And we talk about -- we've been talking about these town halls and the opposition we've seen there. Well, we're bringing back the tea party now. These some opposition, I guess, extreme -- not extremes necessarily -- but some opposition that we've seen out there with these tea parties.
But they're coming back. We saw them for a while several weeks and months back. But we're going to see more tea parties. Why?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, come this Friday, in Sacramento, California, the tea party protesters are back. Now, remember, TEA stands -- they say -- for "Taxed Enough Already." And we've seen they've had two big demonstration days across the country so far this year. They say that Americans are being taxed too much. The spending by the government is out of control. The government is getting too big and too powerful.
So, they're going to start in Sacramento on the 28th, this Friday. They're going to go across the country with a caravan and with the tour of buses and other vehicles. It's going to end right here in Washington, they say, on September 12.
And this time around, not only are they protesting taxes and size of the government, but in conjunction with that, they're going to be protesting against these health care proposals by the Democrats and the president. They say it's another form too much government and too much spending. So, we'll keep an eye on these guys and ladies as they kick off on Friday, T.J.
HOLMES: Tea and town halls, the American democracy working.
STEINHAUSER: You got it.
HOLMES: I love it. All right. My man, Paul Steinhauser, friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, our deputy political director -- I appreciate you as always, sir.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you, T.J.
NGUYEN: And coming up: President Obama is reaching out to Muslims this week. Ramadan now into its second day -- and scenes like this common all across the Middle East. But what about here, and what President Obama has to say to Muslims around the world?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
WOLF: I've seen my worse nightmare come true to share with everybody else out there. Guys, we got a -- we got a lot happening this weekend. We got a line of weekend events that are happening not just here in the U.S. but also overseas.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: We get to those right away. First of all, the World Rowing Championships in Poland, in Poznan, Poland. I hope I said that correctly. The second one is Paradise Island, Bahamas. I think we have some people here who've been there recently.
NGUYEN: Yes. The Miss Universe Pageant is taking place tonight.
WOLF: That's right. And it's on television.
HOLMES: They were just walking around the Bahamas, just hanging out.
NGUYEN: Well, they were competing. There were some.
HOLMES: They weren't competing.
NGUYEN: There are some competitions going on.
WOLF: Were they dressed for competition somewhat?
NGUYEN: Yes. Some of them have -- yes, anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: You got to like that. Well, you know, there's a lot happening on our side of the world, too. We're talking about the New York Pet Fashion Week.
NGUYEN: Oh, of course. Yes.
WOLF: Because it goes so beautiful with everything else. Of course, the latest in pet accessories, apparel and lifestyles.
NGUYEN: Wow. What are lifestyle items for pets? WOLF: A question to be dealt with later.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Of course, this is my line folks. The Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton, New York. It's certainly easier to say, maybe for you guys but not for me.
Bowling Green, Ohio. We have the National Tractor Pulling Championship -- Rob Marciano had the story there yesterday. That was pretty interesting.
And, of course, in Austin, Texas, the Batfest.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
WOLF: The amazing thing about the Batfest -- it's actually held in the location of the world's largest bat colonies.
HOLMES: In Austin.
WOLF: In Austin, Texas. It's hard to believe.
You know, when it comes to bats, though -- I mean, a lot of people often think of these bats as being just scary things. I mean, often they remind you of spine-tingling creepiness. But in real life, they can be worth their weight in gold. Nowhere are they more appreciated than in -- one of the Betty's favorite places -- central Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice-over): Austin, Texas, known for music legends, Tex- Mex and bats.
(on camera): And that is Austin's Congress Street Bridge, where on summer nights, thousands of people gather alongside the riverside to watch a swarm of Mexican free-tail bats fly from underneath the bridge and up the riverside.
(voice-over): But just south of the city is something even more amazing: Bracken Bat Cave, home of the largest colony of bats on the planet.
FRAN HUTCHINS, BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: And we have 20 million Mexican free-tail bats right now in the cave.
WOLF: Bat expert Fran Hutchins says the bats fly out every summer night. At times, they travel as far as 50 miles away on the hunt for insects, nearly 250 tons of bugs eaten every night.
(on camera): That has to be huge help to farmers?
HUTCHINS: It is. The cotton crop farmers alone in this area, it's probably $1 million, $1.5 million that they save on pesticides they don't have to buy and spray on their crops because of all the bugs that they eat every night when they go out.
WOLF (voice-over): In their quest to feed, they can reach altitudes as high as 10,000 feet and fly as fast as 60 miles per hour. They never stop from the moment they leave the cave until they return at dawn. These prolific hunters utilize sound waves to sense their prey in what's called echo locating.
HUTCHINS: Just the fact that they can go out and eco-locate and find an insect in the dark, be able to track it and hone in on it and catch it while they are flying, they are the number one insect predator when the sun goes down.
WOLF: But their journey is not without danger. Often, snakes and raccoons will wait at the mouth of the cave; high above, hawks will circle and pounce -- just a few of the obstacles they'll face during their nightly flight and return trip home.
(on camera): Why are they in Bracken Cave of all places?
HUTCHINS: Well, this -- this is a maternity colony here at Bracken Bat Cave. So, the environment in the cave is good for the mothers to raise their young. It's over 100 degrees in the cave. We have 20 million Mexican free-tail bats right now in the cave.
WOLF (voice-over): Perfect conditions for raising young bats which, with luck, will live up to seven years in the wild. That's seven possible summers in Bracken Bat Cave.
HUTCHINS: The mothers come in. They'll have their young here. And in the fall, migrate back to Mexico when it starts cooling off in central Texas. We have a tornado of bats here. It's one of the more awesome things in the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Hard to believe, that is the world's largest bat colony right there in Bracken Cave, Texas. And inside the cave itself, pretty nasty. You got more bats than you have people in the state of New York inside of that place. In the ceiling, covered with bats.
HOLMES: Are you serious?
WOLF: Seriously.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: Twenty million of them. You got -- let's see, the ceiling is covered with bats, the bottom of the cave is covered with flesh- eating beetles. Just...
NGUYEN: Really?
WOLF: Exactly. So, when if, say, a bat passes away beetles do what they have to do. Nice arrangement they have.
(CROSSTALK) WOLF: But they go out and they eat nearly 200 tons of insects every single night. What's interesting around the Austin area, you don't have the same issues with insects, with mosquitoes that you will in Dallas or you will in Houston or you will in San Antonio. These bats really take care of business.
NGUYEN: They are there for a reason.
WOLF: Absolutely. Interesting reason, but a reason nonetheless. You know, we're here for a reason, too, but we don't hang from a cave and have beetles on the ground below us.
NGUYEN: Love that. I'm probably going to agree with you.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Yes, frightening but true.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: Appreciate you, Reynolds.
NGUYEN: Well, listen to this. The "cash for clunkers" program -- as you know -- almost out of gas. That's just one of the many stories that Josh Levs is following for you today.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys. Take a look at this picture here, unless you've seen this one yet. But we're taking a look at the clunker deals and what kind of a switch you might still be able to make in the final hours.
Plus, something else for you -- which state is turning 50?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
NGUYEN: Welcome back on this Sunday morning.
You know, we're into the final hours of the "cash for clunkers" program. So, what kind of a deal can you still find out there? That's the question.
HOLMES: That's a huge question. The big question is what's going to happen with this program. Some dealers have already stopped -- we'll bring you Josh Levs -- some dealers have already stopped with the program...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: ... even though the deadline is not until tomorrow night. What deal can you still find out there?
LEVS: Yes. It's tricky, because they are afraid in some case that if they don't finish the paper work on time, they may not actually get that federal money and they might be losing something that way. That's why it might not go all the way until tonight in some cases. But we are seeing some places, including from one of our affiliates here, WSVN, where sales are going great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WSVN)
MARC RILEY, GENERAL MGR., RICK CASE ACURA: We've seen such a huge success in all of our stores, and now, we're just taking it to another level. And now, we're going to try to expand a little bit.
RICHARD JORDAN, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): Nationwide, nearly half a million people took advantage of the trade-in program.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks to the government.
JORDAN (on camera): Many drivers grateful for the federal program getting up to $4,500 for a vehicle that would have been worth nothing.
DOMINIC DELPOZZO, CUSTOMER: Plus, I'm picking up a car that has a lot better gas mileage than what I had.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every good thing comes to an end. So, you just have to jump on it while it's -- while it's hot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, I reason I wanted to show you guys that is just, it's really good to see a moment of positive news in this whole industry of selling cars, obviously, since the "cash for clunkers" program starts, we've seen a lot of places that are really happy.
Let's take a look at some deals that some people have told us about some of our viewers. We got some right here from CNN money. This is an interesting one. This is someone who trade-in a 1990 Lincoln Town Car for a 2009 Dodge Caliber.
But unfortunately, this one over here that I showed you before the break was beyond clunker-dom. It's just could not be traded. No one even wanted the parts on that one. So, you're not necessarily going to get some if you're in extreme clunker-dom.
Now quickly, before we go, I want to show you a couple of other things to check out at CNN.com. Today, we're always looking out for the best stories for to you catch. I did not know this, guys. It is Hawaii's 50th anniversary. It was in August 21st, 1959 that Hawaii became a state. So happy 50th Hawaii.
And I'm going to end on this -- one of my favorite things on dot- com everyday -- the "Daily Snapshots," where they have pictures from all over the world, showing some of the news events that you didn't know about. If you go to addition.CNN.com you'll see all sorts of shots there including -- as always -- some cute pictures of animals and babies. That was meant just for T.J.
There you go guys.
NGUYEN: We love those animal shots. OK. Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: All right. Well, for years, it was commonly believed that you couldn't sing R&B on Saturday and then turn up in church on Sunday. It's just a separation you're supposed to keep between the genres of music. Gospel singers for years just would not touch R&B.
Well, that man is trying to change all that and he has a new theory and claims that the Bible endorses love songs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The second day of Ramadan and President Obama is reaching out to Muslims all over the world, issuing a special Ramadan message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On behalf of the American people, including Muslim communities in all 50 states, I want to extend best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the president reiterating his commitment to build a more secure and peaceful world. So, how does his message play with Muslims?
Let's talk to Khalid Latif. He's a Muslim chaplain for the New York Police Department and director of the Islamic Center at New York University.
Sir, thank you for being here. I want to play one more thing or at least show you as one more thing the president said in his message, saying -- I'll put it up on the screen here -- "I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between Americans and Muslims around the world."
I don't have it up on the screen, but I'll continue to read here. It says, "This new beginning must be borne out of a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another."
So, how do you think the president is doing so far in his effort to listen, to learn and to respect? How is he doing in pushing that message forward?
KHALID LATIF, DIR., ISLAMIC CTR. AT NEW YORK UNIV.: You know, I think he's doing an excellent job. I mean, starting with his speech in Cairo and, you know, definitely, with this message that was posted up on the Web site, issuing a greeting for the month of Ramadan. It really gives us an assurance that the president is very conscious of the fact that Muslims are trying to still establish a concrete foothold here in the American society and he's making us feel very welcomed. HOLMES: You're talking about establishing that foothold. How much could non-Muslims help in that effort? Here we are in the month of Ramadan, could we -- should we use this, non-Muslims as well, as a time to learn and Muslims use this as a time to teach non-Muslims?
LATIF: Definitely. You know, I think, one of the things that is very crucial at this juncture is a need for a certain air of pro- activeness on the part of Muslims in the United States. And, I think, what goes hand-in-hand with that is kind of a certain need for ease on the part of the broader non-Muslim society to feel comfortable asking questions of their Muslim colleagues and counterparts.
So, if you know somebody who is working with you at your job, somebody who goes to school with you, and you see that they are fasting, there shouldn't be a hesitancy in really asking them about why they are doing what they're doing. But it could just open up the door to a great conversation.
HOLMES: You know, I want to wrap up with this one thing here. And tell us, how do we bridge that divide? You talk about that comfortability in approaching -- a non-Muslim approaching Muslims. How do we do that? How should we go about getting everybody a little more comfortable? A very broad question there, but if you can get you to wrap it up for me in about 20 seconds.
LATIF: Yes. I think we just need to get into the habit of looking at people as individuals as opposed to archetypes or stereotypes -- just this idea that every person has a story, and we can begin to really humanize one another by learning each other's stories as opposed to thinking of one another by broader, sweeping generalizations.
HOLMES: That is a good point to make there. And again, this is a holy month of Ramadan, holy time for Muslims. But maybe a time, like you said there, for everybody to take a moment and learn a little bit about each other.
Khalid Latif, we appreciate getting you in this morning. We appreciate you taking the time. And you enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
LATIF: Take care.
NGUYEN: And CNN SUNDAY MORNING does continue in 30 minutes.
But first, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
