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Glenn Beck Rally Held at MLK Rally Site Angers Civil Right Activists; Flooding Expected in New Orleans; Beck and Sharpton Hold Competing Rallies; State Museum Holds Pieces of History from Hurricane Katrina; More Than 1600 Killed in Pakistan Floods; Muslim Cab Drivers React to Ahmed Sharif's Attack
Aired August 28, 2010 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Two big developing stories to report to you tonight. One in New Orleans, the other in the Nation's Capital. At this very hour, five years ago, most of the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans were fleeing to safer ground, preparing for a hurricane that would become one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.
And there was another storm of sorts brewing right now. Starting in Washington and spreading across this nation, over who owned Dr. King's dream of civil rights. A controversial radio host is at the center of this debate.
Good evening, everyone. You can probably hear the music behind me and we'll get to the reason while we're live here in New Orleans very shortly. But first, on this anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, two large competing rallies today, each claiming King's message as their own. Conservative fire brand and FOX TV host Glenn Beck held his resonating -- his restoring honor event at the Lincoln Memorial where King delivered his iconic speech 47 years ago.
Some distance away, the Reverend Al Sharpton echoed King's 1963 march on Washington with an event called "Reclaim the Dream." That group then marched to the site of planned memorial to Dr. King. That invoked -- revoked Lincoln by get reading the Gettysburg address and made numerous references to George Washington and the founding fathers. But perhaps the most provocative comments were about King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS HOST AND RALLY ORGANIZER: I think I can relate to Martin Luther King out of all of these giants. I can relate to Martin Luther King probably the most because we haven't carved him in marble yet. He's still a man. And that's the message, that man makes a difference. What is it that these men have you don't? What is it? Abraham Lincoln, the American Indian, Frederick Douglas, The Moon Shot, The Pioneers. What is it they have that you don't have? The answer is nothing. They are exactly like you. They just did the hard thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: And as the Beck rally ended, Sharpton's "Reclaim the Dream" march got under way. Sharpton and other civil rights leaders were clearly upset at Beck for taking over the Lincoln Memorial on this very date, but Sharpton refused to concede this day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, ORGANIZER, "RECLAIM THE DREAM": They told me that others are going to be at the mall and they're going to be standing where Dr. King stood. Well, they may have the mall, but we have the message. They may have the platform, but we have the dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Beck says, it was a coincidence that he chose today to have his Lincoln Memorial rally, not realizing it was the anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. But once he did learn of this historical significance, he called it divine guidance and said he would use it to claim the civil rights movement. Here's what he said just a few moments ago on his radio program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: This is a moment quite honestly that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement. It has been so distorted and so turned upside down because we must repair honor and integrity and honesty first. I tell you right now, we are on the right side of history. We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties and damn it, we will reclaim the civil right's moment. We will take that movement because we were the people that did it in the first place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And that was on Glenn Beck's radio program just a few moments ago. Our Kate Bolduan was at the Beck rally today. Kate, thanks for joining us. Beck culled in a very large crowd today. Was this what they wanted to hear or were people disappointed it wasn't political?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting, Don. What you heard from the podium, from the featured speakers like Glenn Beck himself as well as former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, their focus was more inspirational in nature, making their speeches included very big, bold, broad statements aimed at trying to rally the people that attended the event around ideas of restoring America with something you heard over and over again and that America is at a cross roads. But at the same time, those very same speeches were light on the specifics. Beck insisted throughout the day that this event was nonpolitical, that it was aimed at honoring military and military family, but if you speak to the people as we did in the crowd that came and some of them traveling very far to attend this event, they specifically talk about politics motivating them to attend today. Listen here to a couple of people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: For the last year and a half, I believe that our kind of people have been totally neglected by our leadership, by this government overall. I believe that we are dysfunctional as a country. I believe it's hopeless unless we get back to our roots.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I think people just want to show, you know, solidarity to let people know that there is, you know, an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the path that the country's been put on and we want a change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I'll tell you, Don, one of the more interesting moments of the afternoon was one of the featured speakers Alveda King, Dr. Martin Luther King's niece who came here to speak. She has also spoken on CNN defending this rally and she spoke today saying that she supports what Glenn Beck is doing and saying that the civil rights movement is for everyone. That is notable, of course, Don, as you said at the top, that Glenn Beck sparked quite a bit of controversy leading up to today's event by making that statement not only with the timing and location of the event, but also making that statement that this is a moment to reclaim that this civil rights movement where bringing civil rights leaders and civil rights groups jumping on that to criticize him -- Don.
All right, Kate Bolduan in Washington, Kate, thank you very much with that. Not to be upstaged by Glenn Beck, the Rev. Al Sharpton, a radio host himself led his reclaim the dream march to the site of the proposed memorial to Martin Luther King. He reminded his followers of what have been accomplished since Dr. King made his historic speech back in 1963.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARPTON: When Dr. King came here 47 years ago, we came on the back of buses. But today, we flew in first class. What became of his dream? We couldn't sleep in a hotel. We couldn't use a restaurant coming up 95 north. But now we've got public accommodations. What became of his dream? In '63, they were asking Kennedy to hear them. In 2010, because he went to Selma, we got an African-American president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And make sure you stay with us, because coming up at 7:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, the Reverend Al Sharpton joins us live to talk about today's competing rallies, how the late civil rights leader might have viewed Glenn Beck's rally and who really owns the dream articulated by Dr. King 47 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
We'll going to turn now to our coverage of hurricane Katrina and why we're here in New Orleans this weekend. And this weekend's five year anniversary of that epic storm's landfall on the Gulf Coast. Here in New Orleans, hurricane Katrina left in its wake a lot of landmarks and a lot of reminders. Now, I took a walking tour at some hard neighborhood but first, I stopped to see some pieces of history preserved in the aftermath of this disaster. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, in New Orleans especially the French quarter is always a sound track. David and Rosen (ph) are playing back. We want to go inside of the Louisiana state museum and a director here Sam Rykels. One of the things that we discovered is that there was a lot of boats used in the streets of New Orleans and we looked for a boat that would be kind of the perfect symbol and we found this boat on Napoleon Avenue. And this boat rescued over 400 people.
(voice-over) Inside the first thing you'll see, the museum center piece, the great fats dominos piano.
(on camera) And so it's preserved exactly the way we found it in the house. It was up on one side like that.
SAM RYKELS, LOUISIANA STATE MUSEUM: There's probably no greater cultural icon living, cultural icon than fats domino and the fact that his house was in the lower ninth ward, it was flooded. Fats had to be rescued and we really believe this piano really speaks to that.
LEMON (voice-over): So does an axe, survivors used to escape through a roof, religious heirlooms, a waterlogged clarinet from a legendary pit fountain, seats from a crippled superdome.
RYKELS: This is where people actually sat. Here and there...
LEMON (on camera): Actually, sat and slept and whatever, and lived.
LEMON (voice-over): Also on display, those haunting photographs. But you don't need a museum to see that.
(on camera) These pictures show what the hardest hit neighborhoods were like in New Orleans, one of them the Lakeview neighborhood. This house used to be right here, this picture was taken by CNN iReporter Eileen Romero. You lived two doors away from here, you started documenting why?
EILEEN ROMERO, IREPORTER: Because after Katrina, I had a hard time expressing how I felt about what I saw. So I just got a camera and started trying to express it through my pictures what I saw and felt.
LEMON: This is your neighbor's house and that house was right here, right next door to yours. Where is he now?
ROMERO: I never saw him again after the storm at all. This is where I lived prior to Katrina. I was so happy here, you know. For me, my whole way of life was wiped out that I knew.
LEMON: And over in the hard hit lower ninth ward. How long before you came back after the storm?
GERTRUDE LEBLANC, KATRINA SURVIVOR: I came back in 2007.
LEMON: Seventy four year old Gertrude Leblanc here 46 years. Lost everything. LEBLANC: This is like a miracle. This here.
LEMON: The Virgin Mary.
LEBLANC: That statue was still as is after Katrina.
LEMON: Sitting on your porch, you're swinging. There's no place like home.
LEBLANC: Yes, because there's my step, that was all that was left of my house. I say, it's like a little memorial to let us know what we went through. I take one day at a time. I enjoy that one day, tomorrow I look for another day and enjoy that day.
LEMON (voice-over): Days that bring challenges and surprises five years after the storm.
LEBLANC: That's what I do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And coming up at 7:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, he was in charge of the city during hurricane Katrina and just left office a few months ago. Whether you agree or disagree with his leadership while mayor, you'll want to hear this conversation. That's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern again right here on CNN.
And much, much more this hour on the anniversary of hurricane Katrina and its effect on the entire Gulf Coast including this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We just made human judgments and those people that needed help, we gave help.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: What kind of help?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Cash.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: They looked after the community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: One bank's investment in this community in the days and weeks following the storm that yielded a huge return. But first, a natural and humanitarian disaster happening right now. Or Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Pakistan where millions are struggling after devastating floods. And don't just sit there, as always we want you to be part of the show. Become part of the conversation. Send us a message on Twitter or Facebook. As a matter of fact, you can follow us on Twitter. Check out our blog at cnn.com/don and you can look at us on Foursquare, as well. We want to hear from you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Think or think, Katrina was a disaster but Pakistan is facing a crisis even bigger than the disaster that left New Orleans in ruins. And area the size of Florida is under water, and more than 1600 people have been killed. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in the flood zone with people fleeing with little more than the clothes on their backs.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Here's how it works. You see police vehicles like this actually coming through the streets telling people to leave. They say that this particular area, this town of Bela will be under water in the next several hours, certainly by tomorrow. People are listening. This town would normally bustling, thousands of people milling around, shops open. Now, that is happening now. But most people actually are leaving like this, by foot, in the hot sun, walking for kilometers with no real idea of where exactly they're going or what they'll going to find there. It is easy to see why they're leaving. We are literally surrounded by water and they're worry that that water is going to get higher and higher. So, they're fleeing the floods with the thing, the priority that they value the most, their livestock, and just starting to walk.
This is where so many of them ended up. They were just walking for kilometers and kilometers down that hot road, looking for high lands, anything that could protect them from the flood waters. And look at what their lives are like now. Thousands of people, literally, they have this little barrier here, it is so hot outside, anything to try to keep and themselves cool. But this is the new normal life for lots of folks over here. This family, for example, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE), he says about 15 miles kilometers, they're saying. And look, small children. They walked here again in this very hot weather, very, very difficult.
He's telling me, they really haven't received any kind of help at all. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE). They're saying, they really have no food at all. All they have is this bag of sugar here which they use to make tea. This is how it is. This is what's happening here in the middle of this evacuation. There's also been no water here, they tell me for three days. In fact, a woman died in this area from dehydration just last night. There's no question that relief is slow coming here but even as we're filming today at the camp, this army helicopter comes over and drops parcels of food. But this is just one camp. There are thousands of camps like this, there are more than 20 million people displaced. A fifth of this country is under water.
LEMON: That was our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting. And back to Sanjay Gupta continues his reporting from Pakistan tomorrow morning. See how relief workers and medics are dealing with the short term challenges and how the floods are impacting the region.
Makes you tune in for Sanjay Gupta indeed tomorrow morning at 7:30 Eastern right here on CNN. We have new developments to tell you about in Chile this hour where those 33 miners are trapped underground. The time frame to get them up to the surface may be shorter than first thought. And a Muslim taxi driver in New York slapped by a fare after revealing his religion. We talk to other Muslim cabbies and ask if they now fear for their safety.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello everyone, Tony Harris of the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Back to Don in New Orleans in just a couple of minutes, but first a check of some of today's top stories. Engineers in Chile have come up with a new plan to free 33 trapped miners in just two months, that is half in time previously estimated. They hope to begin using a new drill in the next several days. If the plan doesn't work, the miners may not be freed until the end of the year.
Three Americans were killed in two separate attacks in Afghanistan today. Two of the U.S. service members died in a bombing in the southern region. A third American was killed following an insurgent attack in Eastern Afghanistan. Also today, Afghan and coalition soldiers fought off assaults on two military bases. The attackers were wearing U.S. military uniforms and the use of rocket-propelled grenades, the fighting left 20 insurgents dead.
Paris Hilton is in trouble again. Hilton was released from a Las Vegas jail this morning after she was arrested on cocaine possession charges last night. Hilton was released after prosecutors determined she was not a flight risk. Last month she was briefly detained in South Africa for allegedly smoking marijuana, but the case was later dropped.
An attack on a Muslim cab driver has raised fears among other New York cabbies. The driver suffered multiple stab wounds after saying he is a Muslim. CNN's Alison Kosik asked other cabbies if the attack has left them fearing the next fare because of how they look and what they believe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The life of a New York City taxi driver person, not the easiest for most of the 49,000 licensed drivers on the streets here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Taxi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Especially says, Zakir Chowdhury if you're a Muslim behind the wheel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAKIR CHOWDHURY, CAB DRIVER: We are scared now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Scared, because one of their own cab driver Ahmed Sharif was slashed Tuesday night by a knife-wielding passenger after saying he was Muslim. Twenty one year-old college student Michael Enright has been charged with attempted murder in what police are calling a hate crime. On Thursday, Sharif along with his wife and four children met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Sharif believes, he could have been killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED SHARIF, NEW YORK CAB DRIVER: He stab me right over there. If this one, he had put it here, I couldn't talk right now, I'd be dead.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: No matter how wonderful this country is, no matter how wonderful this city is, there's always somebody that acts disgracefully. Kind of hard to understand why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says he doesn't see the attack as a trend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: I see it as an isolated incident. And there's nothing to indicate that, you know, that there's anything of extra concern based on this event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: But Muslim cab drivers are concerned.
TAHA HEWEDY, CAB DRIVER: (INAUDIBLE)
KOSIK: We caught up with cab drivers and Chowdhury in the middle of their 12 hour shift at this taxi stand at LaGuardia airport. It's where cabbies come to eat, wait for passengers and on the sidewalk just around the corner from the bathroom, it's where some Muslim drivers use the space as a make shift mosque.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHOWDHURY: Yes, we not sure, we are not secure now, we are not safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Chowdhury says, he came to the U.S. 20 years ago from Bangladesh in search of a better life for him and his family. He says he's found it, but hopes it's not taken away because of his faith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHOWDHURY: We are praying for the world, for the people. We need to keep peace in the world, you know. We are not praying only for Muslim, you know, we pray for all the world people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Trying to live the American dream in safety and peace. Alison Kosik, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris at CNN World Headquarters at Atlanta. Now, back to Don in New Orleans. Don, take it away.
LEMON: You should have said, I'm Tony Harris in a very dry studio back in Atlanta.
HARRIS: Man, you're getting drenched, aren't you?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: And there were people right behind me dancing in the rain earlier, there's a band playing. They're playing to -- yes, they're in celebration of our troops, they're playing here, and celebration of what they say, New Orleans is rising. We're right here, right next to Jackson Square. People are still out and about even though it's raining and of course, that's what you do in New Orleans. That's what you do in New Orleans. So, Tony, thank you. Good to see you. I'll talk to you a little bit later on. You'll going to be around though evening, right?
HARRIS: I'll be with you, Don.
LEMON: All right. I'll see in you a little bit.
HARRIS: OK.
LEMON: Up next, preparing for the next hurricane. Where will it hit? We're looking at the coastal cities most vulnerable to a hurricane, but first, two rallies, one dream. Washington, D.C., the center point for speeches today. And we're talking to a political producer who was in the middle of the crowd for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: As thousands gathered today on and near the national mall in Washington, we heard lots of talk about Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream for America. We saw competing rallies and competing claims about that dream, what it means? What it stands for? And who claims ownership of it? Almost 50 years since he delivered his historic remarks. And an exclusive report, you'll only see right here on CNN, our Soledad O'Brien digs deeper and brings us a background on Dr. King's famous speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(chanting) I have a dream. I have a dream.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at march on Washington on August 28th, 1963 is one of the most important in human history.
(singing) We shall overcome
O'BRIEN: But the words "I Have a Dream" almost didn't make it into the speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WYATT TEE WALKER, KING'S CHIEF OF STAFF: Dr. King felt that the "I Have a Dream" version was trite because he'd used it so many times in other cities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dr. King had been writing about this dream for decades. His inspiration can be traced back to these books from his library, now kept in this vault near Morehouse College.
The night before the march, Dr. King's inner circle wants a new message.
DR. WYATT TEE WALKER, KING'S CHIEF OF STAFF: I remember very vividly Andy Young (ph) and I going up and down the steps of the Willott (ph) Hotel, taking drafts of what we thought should be a new climax.
O'BRIEN: The next day, Dr. King takes this only known copy of his speech called "Normalcy, Never Again" with him. Nowhere does it mention his dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the pleasure to present to you Dr. Martin Luther King.
(APPLAUSE)
SOLEDAD: With the Lincoln Memorial behind him and facing a quarter of a million people, Dr. King delivers his speech.
CLARENCE JONES, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE: I was standing up and to the side.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., ACTIVIST: Now is the time --
JONES: And after he went through all the stuff about what we're here today, and so forth, he paused. And what I did see him do --
KING: I still have a dream --
JONES: He turned the text over, he grabbed the podium, and he leaned back and looked out.
KING: I have a dream --
WALKER: I was out in the crowd somewhere and when he swung into "I Have a Dream," I said, oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), after all that work that night before, up and down the steps, and then he went on into the "I Have a Dream" section.
KING: Because I have a dream --
REP JOHN LEWIS, (D), GEORGIA: He transformed the old marble steps into a modern-day pulpit.
KING: Free at last, free at last, thank God, all mighty, we are free at last.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Arguably, Dr. King's most famous speech. And today, those words were echoed by his niece, Alveda King, at the Glenn Beck rally about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALVEDA KING, NEICE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: I, too, have a dream. It is in my genes. I have a dream that one day soon God's love will transcend skin color and economic status and cause us to turn from moral turpitude. I have a dream that America will repent of the sin of racism and return to honor. I have a dream -- (APPLAUSE) -- yes, I Have a Dream that white privilege will become human privilege and that people of every ethnic blend will receive everyone as brothers and sisters in the love of God. (APPLAUSE) I have a dream -- I have a dream -- that America will pray and God will forgive us our sins and revive us our land.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Alveda King, Dr. King's niece.
And CNN political producer, Shannon Travis, was at the Lincoln Memorial today.
Shannon, what did you see and hear from the people there?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: A lot. Obviously, Don, we're standing in this field that's virtually empty now, but if you remember, obviously it's filled with so many memories of past rallies.
Let drill down on how this adds another chapter to that history. What I saw and heard today were a lot of people basically embracing Martin Luther King's message of unity, of equality. The message was mostly about restoring honor, what organizers felt like restoring honor to the country, but it was a heavy-laden embrace of Martin Luther King's message of unity, of equality.
You just played a clip from Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, basically being here while other members of the King family were at the competing rally from Al Sharpton. You heard also at the rally different clips, different folks from Dr. Martin Luther King being played. So that was the message from a lot of the attendees at the rally.
LEMON: So, Shannon, that brings up a very good question here. You said that there were members of Dr. King's family over at Reverend Al Sharpton's march. What about the diversity of the crowd there. Obviously, Alveda King, black, and a legacy to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What about the diversity of the crowd there at the Glenn Beck rally?
TRAVIS: That's part of the controversy here. Obviously, a lot of civil rights activists and others feel that by playing clips from Dr. King, by having it here on what many civil rights activists consider to be hallowed ground, the fact that he held his "I Have a Dream" speech here 47 years ago today, a lot of activists feel like that they were -- that this group was hijacking the dream. Not so, say a lot of people that I spoke with. They said, no, no one man, no one person, no one ethnicity owns the dream. and that today everyone should embrace the ideal of equality, justice for everyone. So a lot of the people that I spoke with basically deflected the criticism saying, hey, we are here embracing the same kinds of things that Dr. Martin Luther King fought for and died for and so everyone should embrace this.
LEMON: So, Shannon, what happens now? You have this huge crowd that was at the Mall now. Do they go home? Did you talk to them? Do they go out and enjoy the city? Are there other events planned?
TRAVIS: Not that we know of, so many other events. And that's a great asked. I asked a lot what's next, what's the takeaway message? A lot of people said the message is to go home and to continue to be prayerful. It was definitely a prayerful event, a peaceful event. A lot of other people said, hey, it's time to go home and to try and elect candidates that will embrace our ideals and to just basically take countenance over the message that they heard today.
LEMON: Shannon Travis reporting to us on the Mall in Washington.
Shannon, thank you so much for your reporting today.
And a reminder. Coming up at 7:00 p.m. eastern, the Reverend Al Sharpton will join us live to talk in-depth about who really owns the dream articulated by Dr. King 47 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
This isn't your daughter's Barbie. It's a doll based on the TV show, "Dexter," complete with a tiny saw and a bloody glove. Surprise, someone is upset about this one.
But first, call it yoga 2.0. Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a new form of the exercise.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're going to get you fit now. A new kind of fast-paced yoga. It sounds different and it is different. It's aimed at athletes and busy professionals. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has our "Fit Nation" report. (FIT NATION)
LEMON: All right, Dr. Gupta, thank you very much.
And as you can see, we're live in a very rainy New Orleans for the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And straight ahead here on CNN, today's top stories, including a riot at a prison made famous in a song.
Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR ARANDA, CNN HERO: The poachers are everywhere and we have to be there to make them to stay away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Our "CNN Hero" of the week spends many a sleepless night walking the beaches of Mexico. We'll tell you about his fight to protect endangered sea turtle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Tony Harris in the CNN world headquarters. Back to Don in New Orleans in just a couple of minutes, but first, a check of some of today's top stories for you.
Three American servicemembers were killed in fighting in Afghanistan today at the same time coalition soldiers fought off Taliban attacks at two U.S.-run military bases along the Pakistan border. Coalition forces prevailed, killing 20 insurgents.
Chile's health minister says the 33 miners trapped underground appear to be fine. Each miner has received about a 1500 calories of food in the past day and can expect to get up to 2,000 by Sunday. Engineers in Chile have come up with a new plan to free the miners in just two months. That's half the time previously estimated.
Guards opened fire last night to stop what was described as a major riot at California's Folsom State Prison. The riot broke out in the prison's main yard and involved about 200 inmates. There were no fatalities, but seven inmates were injured. It is not clear what triggered the riot.
More than 1,000 sea turtle have been injured by the gulf coast oil spill and half of those died from their injuries. The fight to save those turtle has gotten a lot of attention, but this week's "CNN Hero," Oscar Aranda, has been doing the same thing for years along the Pacific Coast of Mexico with little fanfare.
(CNN HEROES)
HARRIS: Since 2004, Oscar and his organization have released more than a half a million baby sea turtles back into the wild. See Oscar in action protecting sea turtle on CNNheros.com. Let's send it back to Don now in New Orleans -- Don.
LEMON: Those are some cute turtle.
Thank you, Tony. We'll see you in a bit.
Preparing for the next hurricane, where will it hit. We're looking at the coastal cities most vulnerable to a hurricane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in back in Atlanta.
Jacqui, I want to see this. I was looking off over here. show this, how much water every -- about 10 or 15 seconds, we have to like push the water off the tents here because so much is -- look at that. So much is spilling down.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is really coming down.
LEMON: And I know you'll look at the coastline and the areas most vulnerable to hurricanes. Of course, that means flooding as well.
JERAS: Absolutely. A lot of flooding in New Orleans the next couple days. A little area of disturbed weather there. The gulf coast in particular, including Nola, is very vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes.
I put a track of every single storm that moved through gulf in the last ten years. And look how much -- it just gets filled up. I tried to do every 50 years and it was nothing but lines, to put in it perspective, on how active of a region this is.
When you talk about vulnerability here, we've put a couple of things in to factor. Not only does coastline matter, not only does potential for getting storms matter, but population matters. How easy it is to evacuate. And the gulf coast and east coast always a risk this time of year.
Take note especially of some of the cities where the red is going. This is the probability, or how often a category 5 hurricanes make landfall in these regions. When you're in the red category, that is under 100 years. You can see south Florida, very risky, as well as the panhandle of Florida.
Put a couple of maps together and we'll start out with New Orleans. Of course, we're dealing with the anniversary. New Orleans is of particular risk because it is surrounded by water. The city is literally like living a bowl because it below sea level and that ground is sinking and subsiding. How often do hurricanes hit here? Category 1s happen about every eight years. Category 2, every 18 years. 31 years for a category 3, which we consider major hurricanes, every 65 years for a category 4 and about 170 years for a category 5 hurricane.
The CNN weather team worked together to come up with a list of the most vulnerable cities in the U.S.: number one, Miami; number two, New Orleans; number three, Tampa; number 4, Houston; number five, New York City. These are on the coast. And they have bays or little inlets where a storm surge can really funnel up there.
This is expected to be a very active hurricane season, Don. And we're just getting into the peak of that season right now.
LEMON: Oh, boy, oh, boy. This is just the very beginning. Look at that. This is what we're dealing with here in New Orleans. We're here, Jacqui, reporting on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. We know it was the rain and the surge, all the water that really did a lot of damage to the city here.
This is what is happening now live in New Orleans. We're in the middle of a big weather system, as Jacqui reported, a big storm system. Rain, rain, rain. We'll continue our reports tonight at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern.
And I want to tell you, coming up at 7:00 p.m. eastern, the former New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, he was in charge of fixing this disaster, in charge during the hurricane, and just left office a few months ago. Whether you agree or disagree with his leadership while mayor, you'll want to hear this conversation. It's a very poignant and honest conversation, coming up at 7:00 eastern right here on CNN.
In the meantime, beachgoers on Florida's gulf coast get a shock when a luxury yacht runs aground. The engines were running but no one was on board.
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LEMON: Time now to tell you about some of the "Stories You May Have Missed" throughout the week.
Lots of stuff washes up out of the ocean but it is not every day an expensive yacht beaches itself with engines running and no one on board. Authorities think the 48-footer came from Yucatan, Mexico, where it was reported missing. People on the Florida gulf coast beach were shocked as Making Waves -- that's the name of the yacht -- came straight at them and ran aground.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The engines were still running, the lights were still going. It was not in gear. Police got on and turned it off.
We don't see it very often. Well, actually, I've never seen it. I've lived here since 1959, and I've never seen one this size beached on the water before.
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LEMON: Nice yacht. It is still a mystery why the yacht was empty though but police don't suspect foul play. They don't suspect any foul play. The boat apparently belongs to the owner of a Mexican soccer team who said it was stolen from a marina in Cancun. The boat was hauled off by the beach. When the owner shows up to claim it, he'll owe recovery and storage fees on that.
If you are not familiar the TV show "Dexter," it is about a serial killer who targets other killers. It's not a surprise that there is an action figure of Dexter, right?
One collector was shocked it was being sold among children's toys.
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JIM SCHULTZ, TOY COLLECTOR: I thought, oh, my God. You've got this in Toys R Us? Are you kidding me?
I understand it is marked toward adults, but I do condemn toys are us for putting it on their shelves.
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LEMON: The doll comes with a tiny saw and bloody gloves. In the TV show, dismembers his victims to dispose of their bodies. Toys "R" Us tells our affiliate WBNS, in Ohio, that only a small number of the action figures were stocked and that it wasn't the only retailer to carry them. Wow! An action figure of a serial killer! Sold to kids!
OK. I'm Don Lemon live in New Orleans for the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As you can see, it is a very wet and rainy evening in New Orleans. We're standing right across from the Cafe du Monde. You're looking at a live picture. We were in there earlier and we got some beignets and coffee. If you come to New Orleans, you must do that. And you have to take advantage of the local cuisine and music. I will come back to Atlanta about ten pounds heavier.
In the meantime, we'll see you back here at 7:00 p.m. eastern and again 10:00 p.m. eastern. And make sure you join us at 7:00 p.m. for my conversation with the former mayor of this city, Ray Nagin.
In the meantime, "The Situation Room" begins right now.
