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CNN Sunday Morning

Intentional Flooding Under Way; Imams Arrested on Terror Charges; Hank Aaron's Responsibility

Aired May 15, 2011 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.

We are waiting on the water to arrive, in some places in southern Louisiana, after the Army Corp of Engineers has made the difficult decision to open floodgates. That means that some cities -- yes -- will be saved, but that means others won't be. More floodgates could be opened today.

Also, this morning -- a Grammy winner, an Oscar winner, a Hall of Famer and me? Who does not belong in this picture? I get Carlos Santana, Morgan Freeman and Ernie Banks all in the same room, and I try to get them to stop selling themselves short.

Plus, this morning -- we're talking about politics. Presidential politics in France. Why? Because one of the people, the man you are looking at there, who is believed to be the front-runner to be the next president of France is now sitting in a jail cell in New York. Some scathing details of how all of this played out. We'll have that for you.

But, welcome to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you for spending part of your weekend here with us.

But let's start now with the case of saving New Orleans at the cost of others, the latest on the historic flooding along the lower Mississippi Valley. Now, take a look at this. You see that picture? This happened yesterday.

The Army Corp of Engineers opened just one of the 125 gates at that huge Morganza Spillway north of Baton Rouge. This is something that has not been done since 1973. They could open two more of those gates today. The idea here is to flood south central Louisiana slowly, in order to relieve pressure on levees downstream in places like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

To give you an idea of how much water we're talking about right now -- in the last hour alone, 269 million gallons have gone through that gate. Meanwhile, several homes near the Mississippi River in Greenville, Mississippi, remain flooded. The river hasn't even crested there yet. The crest is expected tomorrow morning, expected to be just under six inches below the all-time record high that was set back in 1927.

And think about 1927 right now, the floods across central Louisiana -- those epic floods led to the building of levees that people hope will save their homes today -- homes that today are in the path of millions of gallons of water now flowing out of the Morganza Spillway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MICHAEL WALSH, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: If you look at some of the history from 1927, if these levees and reservoirs and floodways would not be in there, it was an 80-mile width of water covering five states.

MARY ROBILLARD, MORGANZA, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: Got the flashlight, the mirror, a life jacket, water, my pets, and a pistol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Look at this. It's just a mess for these folks downstream as I bring in Reynolds Wolf here now.

We keep calling this, this slow-moving disaster. It's rare -- you have this kind of a heads-up of what's coming. And, literally, they have had a couple weeks now.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And that's the whole point. You want everyone to get word about this.

But, isn't it amazing when you think about the heavy snow we had in the Upper Midwest in October, November, December, January, February, March, and now all of that had to go someplace right into the Mississippi River. That, with heavy rainfall about 600 times the amount they normally have, 600 percent the amount they normally have, all flowing right into the basin and we're now dealing with it today.

HOLMES: All right. We're not dealing with more rain just yet. Nothing significant in these areas is going to have an effect.

WOLF: Thankfully. The weather is going to cooperate today, but it still doesn't take away that tragic story that we're going to be seeing today. What's amazing, despite the amount of water that's coming out of the floodgates, it is still going to take awhile to make its way down towards Morgan City.

In fact, if you look at this map. Take a look. Here's where the position is expected by later this afternoon, and into Monday and into Tuesday, eventually getting very close to Morgan City.

Just for a frame of reference, you can also see in this map the location of Baton Rouge, right along the banks of the Mississippi River. And then, further down stream, over towards New Orleans. The objective is to keep heaviest floodwaters away from that area but still affecting some 25,000 people that call this area home -- some 11,000 structures, roughly 3,000 square miles that could be in some spots below 20 feet of water by the time this is all said and done. Just amazing.

Again, we need the weather to cooperate. That's going to be the situation. The rain is not going to be in southern Louisiana or Mississippi. It's going to be mostly out toward the east, some of the heavier showers now forming over towards parts of south Florida.

In parts of the Northeast, basically, the same situation. Scattered rain showers from Michigan back into New York state, even into the Keystone State of Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest and all in the West Coast, mainly a rain story but in the higher elevations of the mountains, namely the Sierra Nevada, you could see up to a foot of snow before the day is out.

For the rest of the nation, your travel weather, again, look for backups in places like Chicago, perhaps all your mayor airports in New York, you may have some back ups there. Atlanta, pretty good, though, with 68 degrees, 58 in Denver, 52 in Portland, scattered showers -- as we wrap it up -- towards L.A., 63 is you're expected high temperature.

All right. You're up-to-speed, T.J. Let's pitch it back to you.

HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate you. Check in with you again here shortly.

Give you some other news now we're keeping a close eye on. And this one I was telling you about at the top of the hour. The overnight arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominic Strauss-Kahn is his name. You may not be familiar with his name, his face or not familiar with the IMF. We'll get into that in just a moment.

But let me give you some details. He was pulled off a plane headed from New York to Paris, pulled off that plane just moments before takeoff. Right now, he's charged with a criminal sexual act and attempted rape of a maid at a luxury hotel where he was staying in New York.

Let me let our Susan Candiotti fill in some details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a Saturday afternoon at the Hotel Sofitel in the Times Square area of Manhattan. And the chambermaid had just come into the room of this head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Kahn. She said that he was completely naked when she walked in and the police said that he attempted to force himself on her sexually. She was able to break away. She ran to the hotel staff. They in turn tried to find him.

When the police arrived on the scene, Mr. Kahn had already left the hotel. So, police quickly good word out to JFK Airport, where he was set to leave on an afternoon flight from New York to Paris. And just before they closed the door, police were able to hold the plane, they went on board, they said he was seated in the first class section of the flight -- of the plane. He did not offer any resistance, but they did lead him off the plane and turn him over to the New York Police Department.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: So, exactly who are we talking about here and what does he do? He is the head of the IMF.

The IMF -- consider it kind of the world savings and loan, if you will. They've got about $360 billion to lend. They get that money, which is gathered from nearly 200 member countries of the IMF. The U.S. contributes $70 billion for that fund.

Now, Strauss-Kahn, he has been the head of the IMF since 2007. But also of note here -- he is considered a cop tender for the French presidency in next year's election. Many even thought him to be the front-runner.

Again, there he is right now, the man many consider the front- runner for the presidency in France, now sitting in a jail in New York.

Let's move to a story we were watching out of south Florida yesterday. The FBI making arrests -- arresting two Muslim clerics yesterday, both were indicted on charges they funneled thousands of dollars to the Pakistani Taliban over the last three years. Hafiz Khan, he is an imam of the Flagler mosque there. His son as well, who's an imam as a nearby mosque, expected in federal court tomorrow.

Also, more violence in a Cairo neighborhood to tell you about involving Coptic Christians. Egyptian state television reporting at least two people are dead, 60 more injured. This violence erupted during a pro-Coptic sit-in demonstration at the state TV building. The group was demanding greater rights for the religious minority when they were attacked by several men.

And we hope this is not a sign of things to come. It's a rough way to get your presidency started, but the lights went out just moments before the inauguration of Haiti's new president, Michel Martelly. That may have been a sign of the challenges ahead for the former pop star known as Sweet Micky. Martelly reaffirmed the campaign promise to offer free education to young Haitians. He also promised to fight government corruption.

Well, Mike Huckabee is not running for president. The former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate was considered to be one of the favorites for the nomination. But now, that is not going to happen. He made the announcement last night on his FOX television show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: All the factors say go; but my heart says no. And that's the decision that I've made. And in it, I finally found some resolution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, he says his heart says no. A lot of people say it is his wallet that says no as well. He's making some good money now that he's out of public office, has a show over there and also speaking engagements. But look at this here. This is why a lot of people thought maybe he would give it a go. Huckabee was doing pretty well in some recent polls, including a CNN/Opinion Research poll which found he was at the top of the list. The poll also found that the majority of Huckabee supporters would turn to Mitt Romney or even Donald Trump as replacement candidates.

I want you to take a look at something that I assume you have never seen before. The world has never seen before. New photos of pop star Michael Jackson. They are from 33 years ago. He was 19 years old.

They were taken by Reginald Garcia. He happens to be an inventor. He is now selling the 130 previously unpublished photos to help launch an electric motor he claims generates more electricity than it uses.

Well, President Obama, you know, he just released his long-form birth certificate not too long ago, hoping to put to rest the whole birther controversy about where he might have been born. Now, we've got something else to throw into the mix. Is the president actually Irish? Yes. He has Irish roots here and he's going to Ireland for a visit. And now one small village is just geeked up about it.

Also, is he the true home run king? Some certainly think so. I got to sit down and hear what he thinks about people still labeling him the guy who should be at the top of the list. My conversation with Hammerin' Hank this morning.

It's 11 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Fourteen minutes past the hour now.

Major League Baseball is celebrating this weekend with its fifth annual civil rights game being played here in Atlanta. And what they're doing this weekend is looking back to the past and really acknowledging some of the contributions made by many influential African-Americans. Among them -- Jackie Robinson, of course. But also, Hank Aaron.

And Hank Aaron is one that I had the chance to sit down with and have a conversation about what it meant for him at the time to be that guy in Major League Baseball.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Some of them were out there before you. But when you kind of got into the mix, is that something you wanted? Did you ever consider yourself kind of a leader being out front, a leader in the civil rights era? Or did you just want to play baseball?

HANK AARON, BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: I wanted to play baseball and I never felt like I was a leader, but I felt like Jackie Robinson had paved the way for -- and I wanted to be a baseball player. Let me put it that way.

And Jackie Robinson had paved the way for all of us. When I say all of them -- myself, Willie and some of the other black whose came before him and was a little bit younger than he was, had paved the way. And I felt like it was my responsibility not only as a baseball player but to carry myself in such a way that other blacks would be able to look at me and say, oh, I not only want to be the same kind of ballplayer that Hank Aaron was, but I want to carry myself of the field the way that he did.

HOLMES: Do you ever look back and think, "You know what? I could have done without it, without the record"?

AARON: No, I never did. No. I felt like it was my responsibility. God had given me the ability and -- to play baseball. I had the world on my shoulders. I knew that I could do most anything I wanted to do if -- out on the baseball field.

And I always felt like I was -- it may sound kind of silly, but I always felt like I was surrounded by angels on the baseball field. You know, I just felt like there was absolutely nothing could happen to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, Hank Aaron is just one of the legends being honored by Major League Baseball this weekend. Also, Ernie Banks, also a Hall of Famer himself. Including, also, Morgan Freeman this weekend; Carlos Santana; they're also a part of the celebration. They're being honored as well.

I had a chance to get all three of them in the same room. You don't want to miss my conversation with them. That's coming up a little later at this hour.

I want to bring in now, our good friend at HLN Sports, Ray D'Alessio.

RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORTS: You are the stud if you were interviewing all of those three guys?

HOLMES: All three at the same time.

D'ALESSIO: You are the man.

HOLMES: No, I was out of place.

(LAUGHTER)

D'ALESSIO: I would be.

HOLMES: I was so severely out of place. A Grammy winner, an Oscar winner, Hall of Famer, and then T.J.

But I'm back in proper company now, you know?

D'ALESSIO: Yes. Oh, thanks.

HOLMES: No. But this was a good one. We talked about this story yesterday.

You know, Ochocinco, people know his name by now. He's always doing something a little quirky.

D'ALESSIO: You know, T.J., he makes for great TV, especially during the NFL lockout. If we didn't have Chad Ochocinco, what would we do?

The latest publicity stunt by Ochocinco, riding a bull on the PBR tour. His was challenge issued by the PBR. If he got on the bull he would get $10,000. If he stayed on bull that required eight seconds, he would win a pickup truck. As you saw, he lasted all of 1 1/2 second.

Now, fortunately, look at this. It's a very good thing his hand did not get caught there. And, you know, could have gotten trampled on. And afterwards, he e twittered that that was one of his biggest fears, that he's worried about his getting trampled in the ropes there.

HOLMES: That's because he's a receiver.

D'ALESSIO: He makes $6 million a year!

HOLMES: My goodness. I hope we can re-rack that. It is officially 1.5 seconds. It didn't even look like that long.

D'ALESSIO: That's being generous. I'd say more like 1.3, 1.4 seconds. I mean, he barely got out of the gate. And you see him here -- I like the focus, I like the attention. He's like let's go.

We're out of the gate and we're down!

That's a 1,500-pound bull.

HOLMES: You know, I got to move to this next story. But remind us, these guys have clauses sometimes in their contracts and they're not supposed to do things.

D'ALESSIO: Which is null and void now because of the NFL lockout. Yes, a lot of these guys, they can't ride motorcycles. It's in their contracts they're not allowed to ride motorcycles, can't drive race cars. Some can't do skiing, things like that.

But since there's no collective bargaining agreement, right now, everybody's up for grabs.

HOLMES: All right. Let's turn quickly to this race in southern California.

D'ALESSIO: Something you're familiar with it.

HOLMES: I'm familiar with it. I mean, it's a show. D'ALESSIO: Bay to Breakers.

HOLMES: Yes.

D'ALESSIO: Bay to Breakers race today celebrating its 100th year. It's been known for its mayhem. I mean, a lot of alcohol- fueled brutality. But this year they've banned the alcohol and they're warning people if you show up drunk, then they're going to send to you an alcohol tent to sober up.

And, yes, race organizers said we need to do something last year. Twenty-six people were sent to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, and it was starting to get real hard finding sponsors for it. So, the organizers said we need to do something. They actually limited the entry to just 55,000 people.

Normally, there's like 100,000 runners in this thing. They show up. They wear costumes. They get tanked and go out there and run. But this year they said if you show up intoxicated and you are running in the race, you will be pulled from the race.

HOLMES: It is wild. You see people here. It's a race. And people just out there running. You saw gorilla costume, people out there half-naked a lot of times, wearing different things. It is an event. It is fun, though.

D'ALESSIO: But you've never raced in it?

HOLMES: I've been down there and I got out of there.

D'ALESSIO: But you wanted to race in it, didn't you?

HOLMES: Yes. But it's a dry run now.

Ray, good to see you, as always, buddy. Good stuff. You enjoy the rest your Sunday.

Well, at 19 minutes past the hour now.

Forget about Kenya. Forget about Hawaii even. We have uncovered that the president is an Irishman actually. And his small Irish village has gone wild, after an announcement that their favorite son is coming home.

Yes, we got the next birther scandal right here for you, folks.

(COMMERCAIL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. About 23 minutes past the hour.

We joined Nadia Bilchik with our "Morning Passport."

I was joking before the break, and I probably shouldn't about the next birther scandal. I probably shouldn't do that because it will turn into something. But the president now talking about he's actually Irish. NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, of Irish descent, as are 22 of the 44 presidents in this country from -- as the song we're about to hear says -- Ronnie Reagan to JFK. But the president himself spoke about his Irish ancestry. Let's hear from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT: There's a little village in Ireland where my great-great-great-great grandfather came from and I'm looking forward to going there and having a pint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BILCHIK: Yes, his great-great-great-great grandfather comes from a little Irish village called Moneygall in Ireland. Now, when the Irish prime minister was with President Obama earlier this year -- in fact, on St. Patrick's Day -- you know, St. Patrick's Day, 17th of March, everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. But he said to Enda Kenny, "I am coming to Ireland before I go to Britain, and that's going to be on the 23rd of May."

So, he has promised the people of Moneygall, where his great- great-great grandfather originated that he will make a stopover there. So, this village has gone insane. And, in fact, a band from the village known as Tippoff has written a song in honor of Obama and his visit.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BILCHIK: "Now, you are the president in the White House you are resident." Don't you love it?

HOLMES: Now, when did he actually -- when was that statement he made? How long ago when, you know --

BILCHIK: That was when he found out first in 2007 that he had Irish ancestry. It was found out by a parishioner at one of the churches. They found records. But rather extraordinarily that he has this Irish ancestry.

Now, band leader (INAUDIBLE) says he was watching video of Obama's grandmother in Kenya. And he said, "Why are we celebrating his Kenyan ancestry? Let's celebrate his Irish ancestry." So, there are t-shirts that said like, "I Shamrock Obama."

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness.

BILCHIK: So, we still hope that he'd get to Moneygall. The Secret Service were there in April but they haven't been there this week. So, there's a bit of concern given everything that's going on here that he may not get there.

HOLMES: So, we don't know, but there's an -- and to get there, how long would it take him to go outside of the ground? BILCHIK: It's half-an-hour from Ireland by helicopter to get to money Moneygall. And the people of Moneygall, there are American flags everywhere. There are busts of Obama everywhere. There is great celebration for his Irish ancestry. (INAUDIBLE), the great, great, great grandfather.

HOLMES: Everybody wants to claim him now, don't they?

All right. Nadia Bilchik, good stuff this morning. Thank you so much.

Well, 25 minutes past the hour now.

He is a 17-year-old high school student who just single-handedly organized a big rock festival.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

HOLMES: It looks like my kind of party right there! Coming up, we'll tell you about the Virginia teenager who combines his passion for rock music and God. That is going to be in today's "Faces of Faith."

Also this morning, what does the word "minority" really mean these days? Well, I'm getting the definition from the trio of legends from the world of sports, music and acting. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We are at the bottom of the hour here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Welcome back. Thank you for spending part of your weekend here with us.

Giving you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines:

They have literally opened the floodgates. Take a look at that, folks. It was opened yesterday. Now, parts of Louisiana witnessing historic flooding. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers opened a single -- you see it there -- that's just a single floodgate on the Morganza spillway this happened yesterday afternoon. More gates could be opened later today. The whole point here is to try to relieve pressure from the Mississippi River.

Also in Haiti, swearing in a new president there, they had to do it in the dark for a time. Michel Martelli, a former pop singer took the oath yesterday and the lights actually went out during the inauguration ceremony. The new president reaffirmed the campaign promise to offer free education to young Haitians, also promised to fight government corruption.

Well, there is just a bombshell out of New York City this morning. Dominique Strauss-Khan, you might not know that name. He is the head of the International Monetary Fund. You might not be that familiar with the organization. But this is significant. Let me explain. He is now under arrest on charges including attempted rape after a hotel maid claims he attacked her.

For perspective here, I want to turn to CNN's Jim Bittermann. He is live in Paris for us this morning. And Jim, if you can to our audience here, explain the significance of this man.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it couldn't be a bigger story than it is in France today. In fact, our colleagues at the 24-hour news channels here are going constantly on this story; they are not reporting any other stories except this one.

Basically, Strauss-Khan was the leading candidate for the presidential elections coming up here in May 2012. He in public opinion polls was coming in ahead of Nicholas Sarkozy, the current president. So that's one aspect of it.

The other suspect is he's the director of the International Monetary Fund. And this is a worldwide organization. He had a meeting this afternoon. He was supposed to be meeting with Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. He had meetings in Brussels next week over the Greek debt crisis.

So this is a man -- a very powerful man and a very high-profile person. And to have these charges leveled against him it really does bring him to earth very quickly. I don't think we've seen a political career crash and burn quite like this except perhaps maybe when you go back to Teddy Kennedy and Chappaquiddick or something like that but you know where an incident like this has brought down someone who is really high flying.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Yes and to our viewers, a little more detail about what happened, he was accused in that hotel, and then police actually took him off a plane over at JFK that was headed over to where you are to Paris just minutes before takeoff. But he still remains in jail as far as we know this morning.

Any reaction from the IMF and also what is the reaction from folks on the street there? You said the 24-hour network is certainly covering this. But I guess, is it just shock there in Paris right now?

BITTERMANN: I -- I think shock and some disbelief. You hear a lot of people say -- in fact a lot of political class, are saying well, let's wait until the facts are in and let's see what happens with the arraignment this afternoon when -- when Strauss-Khan is brought into court in New York.

I mean, one of the things that is being suggested is that he very well may face some trouble restrictions, he might be let out on bail but he might face some travel restrictions, may not be able to leave the United States. It's hard to imagine a French presidential candidate not being able to leave the United States to campaign or --

(CROSSTALK) HOLMES: Wow.

BITTERMANN: -- the director of The International Monetary Fund stuck in the United States not able to travel.

So there's a lot of implications. I would say shock, disbelief, bombshell, a thunder bolt is the way the head of the Socialist Party described it. At least one person, one leading politician said that she was not that surprised because there have been rumors for years going back to 2008 especially about his sexual misconduct.

And in fact it was in 2008 a case of sexual harassment brought against him by one of his subordinates at the International Monetary Fund. He was cleared of that but reprimanded and was kind of on probation at the IMF because of that.

HOLMES: All right, Jim Bittermann for us with perspective on really a huge story with international implications. Jim, we appreciate you as always, thanks so much.

BITTERMANN: You bet.

HOLMES: All right, 34 minutes half the hour.

Now, I want to tell you about a Virginia teenager taking a leap of faith to combine his love of rock and roll music with God. He decided to organize a day-long Christian rock festival to help kids his own age experience some positive music. This all happened yesterday.

CNN's Sandra Endo has his story in today's "Faces of Faith."

SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., the weather could have been a little better for this concert, but for believers here, there's a higher power shining down on this event.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENDO (voice-over): Rock concerts are nothing new for most 17- year-olds. But for Jonathan Slye, this particular concert is a product of his prayers.

JONATHAN SLYE, 17-YEAR-OLD CONCERT PROMOTER: No rain is good news. I put this like crazy calling on my heart and he was -- it was to start a music festival.

ENDO: This idea came to him as the aspiring singer was searching for a purpose. So Slye started small, picking up the phone, asking local Christian bands to perform in a spiritual spring rock concert.

(on camera): You had a lot of doors close on your face at first.

JONATHAN SLYE: Yes.

ENDO: What was that like for you? JONATHAN SLYE: That was really tough because I probably almost quit this a thousand times or something. There were so many times where I kind of asked God, is said you know God, is this for real? Do you really want me to keep doing this? Please give me a sign. Show me. I kept praying. God fully shut me down if this is not of your will but then he would just get us over that hump.

ENDO: Soon his mission and vision grew bigger with a price tag to match. He somehow persuaded major hip-hop, rock and heavy metal bands to perform at the festival for a discounted rate. Even multi- platinum selling band P.O.D. agreed to headline the show.

The total cost for this calling, more than $70,000; his parents bearing the financial debt if at least 3,000 tickets weren't sold.

JONATHAN SLYE: That is really scary because I mean my dad is just a pastor and my mom's a preschool teacher and this is just such a leap of faith.

JOHN SLYE, MINISTER, JONATHAN'S FATHER: I can't get him to organize his room and he's going to organize a concert with 15 bands and $70,000 budget? So this is kind of scaring us.

ENDO: But Slye's mission was simple and embraceable: sending out a positive message through music.

JONATHAN SLYE: I mean, we're not trying to shove Jesus down anyone's throats here but we were just, I mean, I would love to bring everyone together.

SONNY SANDOVAL, P.O.D.: It's rare to find young people that age with that much passion, that much love and that much faith in what they believe in to just go out and say I'm going to do it, I feel like I'm called to do it, and I'm going to do it. Success doesn't matter with how many tickets are sold. And I mean it's the fact that he's doing it and he'll continue to do it.

ENDO: Six months of hard work all for this display of faith.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talking about a whole full-time job the next few summers. So --

ENDO: Working for you, working to pay those bills off. Right?

JOHN SLYE: We still -- we own him.

ENDO: But the payoff for this pastor's son not measured in money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENDO: Despite the rain, there's a whole lot of spirit here. And a lot of (INAUDIBLE) may not bring even at this event. There's always next year for redemption -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, thanks to our Sandra Endo for that this morning.

And if you want to explore more about your faith, other faiths, go to CNN's belief blog at CNN.com/belief.

Well, we told you this flooding is going on and some of it is being done on purpose in Louisiana. But there's a reason behind it. They have to sacrifice some areas to try to protect others like Baton Rouge and New Orleans, some tough decisions being made.

A quick break. I'm right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, I know it's early, I know it's Sunday morning but it is the perfect time for candy. "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley coming up here in just about 20 minutes. Candy, good morning. How are you doing, first of all?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": I am doing very well, thank you and you?

HOLMES: Well, I am doing much better now. We've -- we've had an interesting weekend, it's always a busy weekend here. But you had a busy day -- or you had a busy today. You've got two people that we need to hear from on your show today.

CROWLEY: Senator Mitch McConnell, who as you know, is the Republican leader in the Senate; Paul Ryan who runs the Budget Committee on the House side and has put out a very controversial -- at least as far as the Democrats are concerned -- budget plan.

Look, we're running up against that debt ceiling after which the U.S. will no longer be able to borrow money to pay off its bills. We should hit it around August. There's not a lot of common ground at this point. We want to see where -- how far the Republicans will go in compromise and ask both of them about that. There's also obviously some -- Syria continues to heat up and we want to talk a little bit about that with Mitch McConnell.

HOLMES: Ok, how far, Candy, are they willing to go? Because we still have a little time now even once we hit that debt limit sometime this summer. The Treasury Secretary says he can -- he can play with numbers a little bit, can last us maybe to the end of the summer. But is it going to get that far?

CROWLEY: Well -- yes, probably.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Really?

CROWLEY: Because Congress tends to expand the amount of time it's given.

HOLMES: Yes a good point. CROWLEY: So there's that.

But what we have heard from the Speaker on the House side is $2 trillion in cuts and we cut as much as the debt ceiling goes up. Those are his terms for delivering House Republicans. Now the question is, is that not negotiable? Is that -- is that their bottom line? If they come out of the President's -- the Vice President's commission now looking at ways to reduce the debt, Republicans and Democrats on it.

If they come out with something different, will they accept nothing less than that? And I think that's -- you know, because you got to go to Plan B at some point.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Candy, we'll see the answers you get from this.

CROWLEY: We'll sort it all out. Absolutely.

HOLMES: Sort it all out and you'll be doing that sorting in 19 minutes, top of the hour. Candy, always good to chat with you here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

And to our viewers, you need to keep it right here. She's coming up; like I said, top of the hour, 9:00 Eastern Time; 6:00 a.m. Pacific our Candy Crowley.

Well, the new civil rights struggle. Find out what a hall of fame baseball player, a Grammy award-winning musician, and an Oscar winner think about the challenges facing today's young people. Is it worse than it was in their day -- The days of Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr.? My conversation with three legends in just 75 seconds away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. It's 43 minutes past the hour now.

Major League baseball celebrating the country's civil rights history this weekend and culminates with the civil rights game being played this afternoon. Well, that game is just a small part of the weekend's festivities. There was also the Beacon Awards banquette bank question the. These Beacon Awards is given out to people, several people honored every single year. And this year Ernie Banks, the hall of famer; Morgan Freeman, the actor; Carlos Santana, the musician, were all honored.

I got all three of these guys in the same room. We talked about baseball's past but how that actually plays into the nation's future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Mr. Banks, could you even imagine -- I guess there was a time you couldn't even imagine there being a black player in Major League baseball but now there's a black president. What was your thought? ERNIE BANKS, BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER: It was -- you know, very unique. I didn't ever think it was going to be a black manager, a black general manager.

And Jackie said this -- you know, 1972, he said he felt that baseball had reached its pinnacle unless you see a black man standing on that third base coaching. So it begins with him, back with him. Jackie. Jackie was really a pioneer.

I think he is responsible for Barack Obama being the President of the United States, going way back there. It was before the Civil Rights Movement. Jackie was a person who lived up to all of that and helped change that superiority and inferiority to --

(CROSSTALK)

BANKS: More of equality.

HOLMES: That was a very profound statement right there. Jackie Robinson is responsible for Barack Obama being in the White House. You think people forget that sometimes and sometimes just put it in a category because it was sports?

MORGAN FREEMAN, ACTOR: It's a long string. But every now and then somebody comes along and connects both ends so that we can see it clearly again. I don't know if we actually forget it.

HOLMES: What is, in you all's opinion, my generation's or even a generation younger than I am, our civil rights struggle? Because it was so obvious -- it may have been so clear back then.

CARLOS SANTANA, MUSICIAN: Well, Bob Marley said it very clearly -- emancipate yourself from mental slavery. When you're born, you're light in love. Later on they convince you you're black, or yellow, or Mexican or this. One of the quantum leaps in consciousness for me was when I saw the movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", when Mr. Sidney Poitier looked at his dad and says, "You know man, dad, when you look in the mirror you look at a black man in the mirror. When I look in the mirror, I just see a man, period."

Now that's a quantum leap.

FREEMAN: That's a big difference.

SANTANA: In America, especially America, America brainwashes a lot of their children into minority. Just even the word alone -- it is a minority. How can you be a minority when you're a child of God? You must be out of your damn mind.

BANKS: T.J., I took some kids to see the Jackie Robinson play in (AUDIO GAP). And they had no idea about anything that Jackie had done. None. So that's what you're talking about. A young generation didn't understand any of it, way before that, they don't understand any of that.

So they would ask me about it. What did Jackie do here? What did he do here? He stole home; he did this, he did that. But I always try to explain that to them. This was something that was a big change in all of sports around the world. And Jackie was responsible for it. So they kind of left us a bit. You don't go and study this. Go to Google and look up Jackie Robinson. So they decided to that.

HOLMES: Let me turn now guys, to something we're certainly going through here. The governor of Georgia signed a bill that people really find offensive. Now one of the toughest in the country, modeled after the one that was out in Arizona. What do you think about some of what we have been seeing, whether it is Arizona, whether it's in Georgia, what seems to some people to be mean-spirited in that we're writing legislation essentially some say to discriminate against a particular group of folks.

FREEMAN: I think this country's moving ahead by leaps and bounds on one side of the ledger. And we just have to be careful about what we see happening on another side of the ledger. The legislature here in Georgia, the legislature there in Arizona; that is absolutely un- American, completely.

That's the kind of discrimination that we now have to -- it's going to be our next civil rights struggle is immigration. Just we're a magnet for people. We want to continue to be that. If you're not that, then you're not who you say you are. What does it mean to be an American anymore?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Reynolds and I just marveling.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: An amazing voice.

HOLMES: The voice. He said that must be what God sounds like.

WOLF: It just resonates.

I've got an opinion on something, ok. Over the last couple of days, you've spoken with Hank Aaron -- help me with this -- Carlos Santana, Morgan Freeman and Ernie Banks. Out of all these guys -- and they're all impressive -- which one did you -- who surprised you the most?

HOLMES: Surprise? Maybe Carlos Santana actually.

WOLF: Really.

HOLMES: The guy is deep -- to be honest with you. We never get to hear from him that much. We're all just used to hearing that guitar and that's how he usually speaks to us but he is a very interesting character. I called him a child of God. You hear kind of how he speaks there. That's just how he is.

He just got married in December. He is just a different cat on a different level, always talking about shucking and jiving. And these guys, first time they'd ever been in a room like this together. And their dynamics, they were just an interesting group to get with but all three of them received awards from Major League Baseball for their philanthropic work for their contributions over the years, including Morgan Freeman there who, of course, has different organizations that help young people quite frankly.

But it has, it's been every once in a while in these jobs -- and you know this, Reynolds -- some days you have to pinch yourself like, wow, I get to do this. Hank Aaron, I got a chance to speak with, and now Ernie Banks. My goodness -- are you kidding me?

WOLF: And very humble people right?

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness.

These three, I couldn't get them to admit they'd done anything to contribute to the world. We sat there for the longest at the beginning, just saying come on, guys, give me something. They didn't have anything.

But yes, I'm glad we got to share that. We have much more we can share with you. We're going to try to get some of it online. And we'll certainly let you know where it is going to be popping up.

But Reynolds and I -- at 10 to the top of the hour are going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Right now in Louisiana, the floodgates opened, literally; they're letting some areas flood -- they're doing this intentionally but they're trying to protect the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Houma is in the south central part of that state.

Affiliate WDSU meteorologist, Patrick Crawford joins us live from there. Patrick, what is happening?

PATRICK CRAWFORD, WDSU METEOROLOGIST: Well, good morning, T.J. You know, we did -- we opened up the Morganza spillway for the first time yesterday since 1973. They opened up one bay at 3:00; another bay was opened up at around 6:30. The reason they did that is they're trying to divert water away from the Mississippi River and move it away from the big cities.

And what they're doing is by opening the spillway it is moving the water into the Atchafalaya Basin. Now the only thing about that basis is that over 25,000 people live into that part of southern Louisiana. Now as long as that water continues to move south toward the Gulf of Mexico, it does look like it will have a big impact for parishes on the southern edge of Louisiana.

And it looks like a lot of areas are going to be dealing with flooding anywhere from five, maybe even upwards of over 20 feet. So a lot of families are voluntarily evacuating. There's no mandatory evacuation just yet but that could change just depending on the flow of the water into that part of Louisiana.

HOLMES: Tell me quickly, how bad off is Houma going to be where you are?

CRAWFORD: Well, you know, we're just to the north of Houma. We're in a town called Gibson. It's only a town of about 4,500 people. And here they are preparing like it is going to get bad. They're going to be filling up sandbags and the families and residents here are going to be allowed to voluntarily go and pick up these sandbags to help protect their property but it does look like a good chance that flooding will be taking place into this part of southern Louisiana -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Patrick Crawford for us, we appreciate the update. Thank you so much.

We're getting close to the top of the hour here.

NASA is saying let's do this. Endeavour's shuttle mission set to lift off. But everybody is asking is Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords going to be able to be there this time to watch her husband lead the shuttle's last mission. That answer for you in three minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, taking a look at the stories making headlines -- the IMF chief is sitting in a jail in New York this morning and will plead not guilty to attempted rape and criminal sexual misconduct. That's what Dominique Strauss-Khan's attorney is telling CNN. He was pulled off a plane headed from New York to Paris moments before takeoff after a hotel maid said he attacked her.

Also two more of those 25-ton gates of the huge Morganza spillway in Louisiana could be opened today. The Army Corp of Engineers opened one of the gates yesterday expecting to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans but could flood seven Louisiana parishes.

Also, NASA's given the thumbs-up for a launch tomorrow morning of the shuttle "Endeavour" and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wife of the mission commander, Mark Kelly, is among the thousands of spectators expected to watch the shuttle's last flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Thank you all for spending some of your weekend here with us here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING. I'm out of here but right now it is time for Candy.