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Disastrous Flood Moving South; Raid Strains Relations; Conversation with Hank Aaron; Gingrich's Personal Baggage; Facebook Reunites Photos With Storm Victim Families; Making it After Graduation

Aired May 14, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, there, everybody. Good morning to you. I'm T.J. Holmes. Welcome to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, 11:00 here in Atlanta, Georgia. Where ever you maybe, I'm glad you are right here.

And right here and right now, boy, a lot of attention being focused on the Mississippi and so many cities that are sitting on it. We have an agonizing wait going on right now in Louisiana. They are literally just waiting on the water to come.

And they're also waiting on a major flood gate, which is expected to be open in maybe just the next few hours, leaving residents in low- lying areas preparing for the worst. We have a live report coming your way in just a second.

Also, I'll tell you about some surprising discoveries at Osama bin Laden's compound and the intensifying diplomatic fallout.

Then a little later, I'm so happy to share with you a candid conversation with baseball legend Hank Aaron, the home run king. Some say still the home run king talking about what it was like breaking Babe Ruth's record. Why it wasn't necessarily -- necessarily the career highlight that it should have been.

But we do need to start with what's happening to a lot of folks in the south. Right now Louisiana and so many cities that are sitting on the banks of the Mississippi River -- happening right now, the road over the Morganza Spillway north of Baton Rouge is closing. In just a few hours from now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to open the flood gates, literally here open the flood gates.

The plan is to try to slowly divert so many of the flood waters away from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This spillway, what they're trying to do opening these gates, this is something that has not been done in some 40 years.

So in saving Baton Rouge, in saving New Orleans, what happens? That water has to go somewhere, folks and it's going to go in some of those other lower lying areas in south central Louisiana. There's reason to worry. Areas in yellow that you're seeing here, places could get, folks, some 20 feet of water. The green areas you're seeing, we're talking about some 15 feet of water. We'll have live coverage of the Corps of Engineers. They're expecting to have a briefing at around 2:00 Eastern Time. We'll see what comes of that.

I do want to go to our Ed Lavandera who has been standing by at that Morganza spillway. Ed you've been giving us the heads up and that maybe this could come in the next few hours. Is that still what you're hearing?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We still anticipate that that will happen and really what they're monitoring right now, T.J., is the water pressure throughout the Mississippi River as it heads into Baton Rouge and New Orleans. And there's a number you need to keep in mind here; 1.5 million cubic feet of water per second. That amount of pressure on the levee system between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will trigger the opening of this Morganza spillway gate.

I don't know if you can see, they are way off in the distance of about halfway down the bridge, you see two giant large gray cranes on top of the spillway here. This spillway is almost 5,000 feet long and has 125 flood gates and those cranes have already been put into position here in the coming hours. They will drop down and start to lift up one of those gates and the process of opening up these flood gates will be very slow.

All of this water that you see here wasn't here about a week ago. This is kind of a holding reservoir that's for a spill off from Mississippi River and all of this is the water that will begin rushing out through those -- those floods gates. And where will it go here?

Well, follow me over this way. Of course, this truck is going to get in our way, but we'll kind of work our way up the -- up the hill here, T.J. And you can see the wide open dry space out here. And as you go there, that's -- this space is off towards the west a little bit and then they'll curve around towards the south and start heading about 100 miles over the next few days down towards Morgan City and other communities to the Chapel Isle river basin. And those are the communities that have been spending this past week getting ready and bracing for these flood waters that will be diverted their way.

So this is, the bridge, this bridge will be closed to passersby. In fact, we see state police already starting to close off the roadway here. So the -- a lot of people, a lot of movement here this afternoon starting to pick up a little bit. In fact, they're right here the state police -- the state police helicopter flying over and doing checks underneath the bridge, as well.

So it'll be a dramatic scene here. This has not happened since 1973 -- T.J.

HOLMES: That is fascinating. We can see so much activity is going on around you. One thing, Ed, if you can describe for me, people hear it and they say, open the flood gates. You know it's just a saying we all have. Will it literally take place like that? It doesn't necessarily look like everything is opened and all the water is allowed to rush in. What exactly is that process for letting that water start to not necessarily seep but not necessarily gush fully?

LAVANDERA: Sure, sure. You know, as I mentioned earlier, there are 125 of these gates along the length of this thing. They will open one at a time. They want to slowly flood this area so that wildlife has a chance to kind of scatter and get used to the new reality here of all the water that will be displaced here over the coming weeks.

It takes, I'm told, about 15 minutes to open up each one of these flood gates. So it'll be a slow process.

HOLMES: Ed, we appreciate you this morning, really. It gives people a better idea, and literally seeing that water in one place and knowing it's going to be somewhere else here in just a little while.

Ed, good stuff this morning. We do appreciate you, as always.

LAVANDERA: You got it.

HOLMES: We do want to move up later now, the state of Mississippi dealing with its worst flooding in decades. Flood water there has swamped low-lying areas around Vicksburg, Greenville, Tunica. You're seeing a lot of the pictures out of Tunica where those casinos are. Hundreds of homes evacuated and prime farmland is under water right now.

It's an economic life blood there. The casinos I was just telling you about, all of those are shut down, damaged, flooded.

Now, a new warning from the Mississippi State Health Department, it's telling people to be careful with fish or crawfish from the flood waters. The water could contain bacteria, plus oil, gas, diesel and fertilizers.

I'm going to be checking in with Reynolds Wolf in just a bit. He'll tell us exactly where these flood waters are going and what we can expect.

Also, we're getting some news out of south Florida this morning. The two imams are among those charged with providing support to the Taliban in Pakistan. The FBI is identifying them, another -- one of them under arrest in Los Angeles.

But three people in Pakistan right now, including the daughter and grandson are being sought. They're all in connection to the folks arrested here in the U.S. An indictment alleges they all conspired to provide material support in a conspiracy to kill, injure and kidnap people abroad. More on that, more details as we get that for you.

Also out of Pakistan, the parliament there has condemned the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. Lawmakers are warning the U.S. not to conduct any more unilateral operations in Pakistan, that includes drone strikes. Otherwise, they say, they might cut access to a key facility that NATO is using to move troops into Afghanistan. Also learning more about what was found by the Navy Seals inside bin Laden's compound. One item is an unreleased audiotape from the former al Qaeda leader and it bin Laden talked about the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The SEALs also found a stash of pornographic material; not known whether or not it did belonged to Osama bin Laden or someone else who was in that compound.

And since that raid, relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have been a bit strained, to put that mildly. Let's bring in CNN's Stan Grant for us in Islamabad.

Stan, hello to you and if things were strained before, boy, we have seen nothing yet.

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed. It just seems to get worse. This relationship between Pakistan and the United States really brought T.J. into sharp focus after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

There's one thing to really understand up front with this. This is not a relationship built on trust. People are saying, is the trust breaking down? I don't know if the trust was ever there. This was a relationship built on strategy.

If you go back over history, there have been times when the relationship has been good and other times it has been bad. In the lead up to 9/11 you must remember that the United States actually withdrawn aid to Pakistan. All of that changed after 9/11. Pakistan signed on in the war on terror and since then a lot of Pakistanis have been saying, "What are we actually getting out of it?"

Now, on the one hand, there's been billions of dollars that have been flooding in from the U.S., but that's not finding its way to ordinary people here in Pakistan who still struggle in poverty. And they're also struggling with the war on terror because they can point to thousands of lives that have been lost as a result of the Pakistan military going after the militants.

Now, with the killing of Osama bin Laden being asked about the U.S. saying, how come the U.S. carried out this operation unilaterally without going through the right authorities here in Pakistan, invading Pakistan air space, invading Pakistan's sovereignty or not showing enough respect to Pakistan's sovereignty.

So we're seeing this debate now about the U.S. role and how Pakistan should perceive that. There was a joint seating of parliament here and after that they called for another investigation into what happened and a warning that if these unilateral actions, as you say, including drone -- drone strikes continue, there will be consequences and that's going to damage this relationship even further -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Stan Grant for us in Islamabad today. Stan, we appreciate you, as always.

And to our viewers it's nine minutes past the hour now. Hank Aaron in Major League baseball celebrated breakthrough accomplishments this weekend in the Annual Civil Rights game. I got a chance to sit down with the former home run king, to ask what he thinks about the current crop of home run hitters. You need to hear what he had to say and what he wouldn't say about some current players.

Also, I give you a live look outside Centennial Olympic Park here in Atlanta. This is just one spot where the festivities are kicking off for a major weekend. The Civil Rights Game, not just about baseball, though, folks. We'll tell you more about it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it's 12 minutes past the hour now.

This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the Major League Baseball Civil Rights game. It's happening this time here in Atlanta. It's happening Sunday afternoon, Braves playing the Phillies. The game just a small part -- small part of the story this weekend. The weekend is devoted to remembering and honoring those who played a big part in breaking down walls.

You know, the Jackie Robinsons of the world, the Willy Mays, Ernie Banks but also of course, the Hank Aarons of the world. Hank Aaron certainly a legend, the former home run king who some say is still a home run king. I got to sit down and talk to him about going for Babe Ruth's record and why it was not the joyous time in his career that it should have been.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANK AARON, 755 CAREER HOME RUNS IN 23 SEASONS: That was probably the hardest part because I was, I was not able to really enjoy my teammates. I wasn't really able to enjoy my kids, who was in school because they had to be escorted back and forth from high school, from school, home. I had to be escorted from ballparks to the hotel and I was not able to stay with my teammates.

So all of these things, you know, I think about and I say, you know, that was a part of my life that really didn't exist, that's what I was concerned.

HOLMES: After the fact, do you ever look back and hearing that answer a little bit there, 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 to play baseball.

HOLMES: Is it only a matter of time before we see A-Rod's name and then Albert Pujols' name at the top of the home run list?

AARON: Yes. And I would say legitimately, I think that Albert Pujols' name deserved to be there.

HOLMES: Are you saying A-Rod's does not deserve to be there?

AARON: No, I'm just saying, no I didn't say that.

HOLMES: You said it now.

AARON: I just said, I said Albert Pujols' name will be there. I didn't say anything about A-Rod.

HOLMES: Last thing here, what would you say to those fans who say Hank Aaron is the home run king. He will always be my home run king and they refuse to acknowledge anybody at this point that's above your name. Would you say to them, say, hey, let it go, folks. The guy above me has more home runs. He's your home run king or would you say --

AARON: I would tell them, I would say thank you. I would thank them first of all. I would thank them, if they think that way. But here, you know, here again.

And we are talking about Barry Bonds. And, you know, Barry Bonds hit more home runs than I did. And he should be justifiably, should be the home run king. That's the way I look at it. I look at it as saying that he's done everything he wanted to do. Everything he was supposed to do in baseball.

Now, people say, well, you know, he was on this, he was on that. I don't know what he was on. You know, I have no idea, I'm not God. I don't have any idea. The only thing I know is that Barry Bonds was a terrific ballplayer.

I hit 755 home runs and no matter how you look at it, I am not going to hit another home run. Not in this era. I may do it somewhere else, but not here.

And he hit more home runs than I did on earth, so he should be classified as the home run king.

HOLMES: You don't believe he was on anything?

AARON: No. I didn't say I didn't believe he was on -- I just said no matter what it is, I don't know, I don't know what he was on. I have no idea. As I said before, I'm not God. I don't make those kind of rules.

HOLMES: You are the same guy that said, once we get up to 50, 60 home runs, something's funny.

(CROSSTALK)

AARON: Yes. Yes. I said, if we get up -- I said I think it's something funny. I think. And there's a difference when you say "you think". I didn't say I know, I think something's different.

HOLMES: You are a scholar and a gentleman. I love it, I love it, I love it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We still have more to come from Hank Aaron just ahead telling me how baseball is reaching out to the African-American community and what could be done to grow the game in inner cities.

Let's turn now to politics. The Republican presidential field getting bigger. Find out who just declared their candidacies and who might enter the race next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Newly-announced presidential candidate Newt Gingrich gearing up for a week-long swing through Iowa, that's the first caucus state, of course, in the 2012 election season. But the former House Speaker already campaigning in his home state of Georgia. Here's what he said last night at Georgia's GOP convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe the gap between where the people in this room and the vast majority of the people of Georgia would take America and where President Obama would take America is so enormous that this will be the most consequential election since 1860.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Gingrich hopes that message will resonate with conservative voters, but as CNN Joe Johns reports the Georgia Republican's personal baggage might get in the way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRICH: I'm announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Newt Gingrich's private life has been messy. He's on his third marriage, he's had two divorces. He's also had affairs.

He admits one of those affairs was going on right around the time he, as Speaker of the House, was helping impeach then-President Bill Clinton for lying about cheating on his wife with Monica Lewinsky. At the time, Gingrich and others accused Clinton of trying to hide the truth.

GINGRICH: The most systematic, deliberate obstruction of justice cover-up in an effort to avoid the truth we have ever seen in American history.

JOHNS: Now the former speaker wants Clinton's old job and Gingrich is seemingly an open book. He's confessed his cheating, endured a series of excruciating interviews about his private life, and spent long hours talking to conservatives, especially in places like Iowa, about how and why he's a different man.

He's talked about it on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

GINGRICH: There's no question that at times in my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and that things happened in my life that were not appropriate.

JOHNS: He even brags now about how great this third marriage is with his current wife, Calista, who he's been married to for about a decade. He even became a Catholic for her.

But conservatives like Richard Land of the influential Southern Baptist Convention say the skeletons in Gingrich's closet have not been cleared out.

RICHARD LAND, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: There is an implacable wall of opposition among Evangelical women. A large percentage of the men are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say, you know, OK, he's changed. We believe in forgiveness and redemption. And the women's side, well we may forgive him and we believe in redemption, but we don't trust him.

JOHNS: Rich Galen who worked for Gingrich for years says the big challenge would come in a place like South Carolina, one of the very first primary states where committed evangelicals and other social conservatives have seen plenty of political scandal and don't like it a bit.

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: If he wins or loses an important state like let's say South Carolina, by a very little bit, then I think you can say, well, if it hadn't been for that, he would have won.

JOHNS: Land says Gingrich needs to give a big speech early on to try to put the issue to rest.

LAND: He's got to imagine that the person he's talking to is an Evangelical woman sitting across from him, and he's going to have to convince her that he's truly sorry.

JOHNS: Tough crowd, tough hill to climb for a former Speaker of the House with a messy record in marriage.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Let me bring in our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, in Washington for us. Paul, hello to you once again.

It seems like as soon as someone says he has baggage. the first thing they do point to the personal baggage with the marriages and the affair he admitted to, but what else is there? He does have a pretty big record people can go after.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He has a long record. Some pluses and minuses here. Listen, he is known as a great thinker and he's known as an ideas man. So that's good.

But some of the other strengths can also be weaknesses, T.J. He's got a long resume, as you mentioned. He has done a lot of things. So that's good. A lot of experience, but then again, maybe that's not so good. Maybe he's yesterday's news. People want a fresh face; Newt Gingrich is not a fresh face.

He has a lot of name ID. People know Newt Gingrich. That's a good thing. But T.J., maybe it's not a good thing because, you know, when you look at those numbers, those unfavorable numbers are pretty high. People know him and they may not like him. So stay tuned on Newt Gingrich.

HOLMES: Well, if people are looking for a fresh face, they got one yesterday. This new, young guy that's kind of new to the scene declared yesterday that he also is getting into the race. This Texas guy from Ron Paul, is that the name?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Young guy; 75 years old. This would be his third bid for the White House for Ron Paul. He did it as a libertarian candidate in 1988 and remember, four years ago he ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

But hey, he has some pluses. Listen. His followers are very devoted to him and they're very enthusiastic and very energetic. I've seen them on the campaign trail. They're very loud. They love this man.

He also can raise a lot of money on a dime, T.J. Remember those money bombs in the last campaign? Well, he did it again just a few weeks ago. So he could raise money.

The downside, maybe his policies are out of line with most main stream Republicans. Take a listen to him yesterday when he announced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One thing the American people want and I agree with them, they want a strong president. There is no doubt about that. But the question you should ask, where should those strengths be directed? Should the strength of a president be directed toward building the TSA and Homeland Security and policing the world? No, the strength and the character of the individual should be directed towards standing up for freedom, standing up for liberty and restraining government. That's where the strength should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: He has a lot of support among the Tea Party with his ideas in limited government and keeping the U.S. out of organizations like the U.N. And he's not a big fan of the fed and those policies may not jive with a lot of Republicans, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. And one more -- we could get one more entering the race, announcing it on his TV show. Slow down, folks, I'm not talking about Donald Trump here.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. This is somebody you know. You used to cover him in Arkansas when he was the governor there, exactly. Mike Huckabee, who ran last time around for the Republican presidential nomination. He says he's going to announce tonight on his show on the Fox News Channel.

T.J., a lot points against him running. He has made no moves to run, he hasn't really raised the money. He hasn't made the visits to the other states but, you know, he's high in the polls, T.J.

HOLMES: High in the polls but again, it sounds like small indication people around him that he is not going to run. But still, he's trying to make us all tune in tonight. So, we shall see.

Paul, talk to you again soon, buddy. Thanks so much.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

HOLMES: Well, thousands of potential immigrants thought they won the chance to legally live and work in the United States. But they won't be getting their green cards after all.

The state department says it will have to redo those selections because of a computer glitch. A computer randomly picks potential candidates who then undergo interviews and background checks. A new drawing will have to take place now in July.

Well, do you want to see the video of Osama bin Laden when he met his death? Do you want to see those pictures that were talked about? A conservative watchdog group thinks you should be able to see it.

Up next, how it hopes to get all of those photos released.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, some of the stories making headlines now.

Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution today condemning the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden. It also demanded an independent investigation and ordered the immediate end to unilateral drone strikes in Pakistan.

Also, a conservative legal watchdog group has filed the first lawsuit seeking the release of video and pictures of the raid on the bin Laden compound. Judicial Watch is the name, and it is now asking the Defense Department to comply with its Freedom of Information request.

Also, an imam from Miami by the name of Hafiz Khan and four family members are charged with providing support to the Taliban in Pakistan. FBI agents say Khan and his sons are all under arrest, and three others are being sought in Pakistan, including Khan's daughter and grandson. An indictment alleges they all conspired to provide material support in a conspiracy to kill, injure and kidnap people abroad. Also, just a few hours from now, the Mississippi River's floodwaters are expected to be pouring through the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana. This would be the first time that's happened in some 40 years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expected to open those floodgates to protect Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but other areas in southeastern Louisiana will have to get that water.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Well, also coming up, an Alabama woman, she's trying to help other folks out by returning family treasures that were lost in those powerful tornadoes. How she's using social media to get this done.

Plus, you thought you had gotten rid of them, but they're back. College graduates facing a tough economy are heading back to your house. It's happening a lot these days. How to make it work, that's coming up in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, the tornadoes that swept across the South last month destroyed thousands of homes, blew away precious memorabilia. One Alabama woman found several pictures in her yard, but it was one in particular that really touched her.

She decided to start a Facebook page that would connect lost storm items with their owners. Her name is Patty Bullion. I talked to her a little earlier this morning and asked her about that one photo in particular that got this all started.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY BULLION, STARTED FACEBOOK PAGE TO HELP STORM VICTIMS RETRIEVE ITEMS LOST FROM TORNADO: We were very fortunate in our home. It went over, but we didn't have any damage. But when I went outside, there was an ultrasound picture laying in the yard, and my children and my husband and I got out, and we found six or seven pictures laying in our yard. And we just couldn't imagine holding on to that precious ultrasound picture and not finding a way to get it back to its owner.

HOLMES: Now, were you able to get that one back to its owner?

BULLION: We have possibly made an identification on it. Of course, right now, a lot of the storm survivors don't have permanent homes. They're spotty getting on the Internet. So, I have had a lady to contact me to say that it is hers, but she hasn't written back yet.

BULLION: There was a prom picture. Actually, a friend of mine returned that one. It was the first one posted on the Facebook page that I didn't personally post. But, like I said, she is a friend of mine that lives right down the road from us, and that has a strange twist. My uncle actually found a child's workbook page that was a writing about a hat, and that actually ended up belonging to the same little girl. She's a sophomore in college now, but had done this page when she was in third grade.

HOLMES: How many items? Do you have an estimate of how many you have been able to return?

BULLION: We are estimating around the 1,000 mark. A couple of days ago, it was a little over 500.

It's amazing how fast these items are being claimed. I posted a picture the other night, and it was claimed within 60 seconds. People are on there looking, they're wanting just a little bit of their history back. These are memories that can't be replaced, and when they're finding out about it, they're just searching it.

I've had people tell me they're on there two or three times a day looking for new pictures that might be theirs.

HOLMES: OK. What is the name of the site? We're looking at it, but I'm sure people want to check it out. What is the actual name of it? How can they find it?

BULLION: It is just simply named "Pictures and Documents Found After the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes." I wanted to name it exactly what it was so that it wasn't hard to find.

HOLMES: How many items? I guess, how far away? You described one from a church that was a little ways away, but how many items are you finding that were not just from up the street or around the block, or even across town, but from way away somewhere?

BULLION: The majority of items that are being claimed are from over 100 miles away. I actually had one lady post the other day that she claimed a picture from a little over 300 miles away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, we turn now to graduation season. You know it is, and many college graduates are graduating, then making their way back home. Not just to visit, to stay, to live there. Yes.

And I talked with financial and business consultant Eric Amado this morning and asked whether parents should feel obligated to let their grown children move back in until they can get back on their feet in this tough economy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC AMADO, FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT: It's a personal decision between you and your child. But anything that we talk about today can be great for your kid. If you give them an opportunity to save extra money, to pay off debt and pay off student loans, it's going to be wonderful for them long term. HOLMES: OK. Let's talk about how much money they could possibly save, because a kid in the house is essentially not having to pay rent. You're not paying for a lot of the electricity and all this stuff.

So, a kid graduates -- we're just using this example -- of $25,000 a year after they graduate. Now, how much are they going to actually save? How much can they save if they go back into the house with mom and dad?

AMADO: That's a great question. Let's take that example.

Let's say a kid makes $25,000. After tax, they're going to make about $20,000 a year, which is about $1,600 a month.

HOLMES: OK.

AMADO: So, if you're living on your own, let's say you get an apartment for $750 a month. Also, you have utilities and expenses of $250. That's going to put you about $600 for living expenses -- you know, food, clothing, entertainment.

But, if you're living at home -- this is the kicker -- you have the ability to take that $1,600 a month and put it directly towards, you know, student loans, put it towards an emergency fund, put it towards saving. This is the benefit of living at home, and this is a great thing to do if your parents can let you do it.

Teach your kids the basics of budgeting. It's important to learn how to budget, to create a budget, and also to implement a budget as you go throughout your life. You know, a lot of times they don't teach this in college, and people learn the hard way.

Also, allowing them to stay out of debt. It's very, very important that you stay out of debt, stay away from the credit cards. Try to pay cash as much as you can.

And also, just teach them to make good life decisions. This will also help them financially, emotionally, and this will really help them in life. So great things you can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Baseball legends do not get much bigger than Hank Aaron. He is going to be taking part, as many others will this weekend, in Major League Baseball's Civil Rights Weekend being held in Atlanta, Georgia.

I had the chance to sit down and talk to him. And we shared part of the interview a little earlier. We talked a little bit about baseball and winning his records, and the records that maybe some of these little ones will be breaking later in life. But you're also going to hear him talking about how baseball is doing a disservice to those very people you're seeing in this picture who are down at Centennial Olympic Park taking part in this weekend's festivities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game happening here in Atlanta, Georgia, Sunday afternoon, the Braves against the Phillies. But the game, just a small part of the weekend and the festivities here.

The whole weekend is dedicated to remembering and honoring those who played a big part in breaking down racial barriers, people like Jackie Robinson. And beyond that, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, and, yes, among them as well, Hank Aaron, that I got to sit down and talk to about the change in this country from his day to today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The election of a black president in this country, compare that, if you can, if you will, to Jackie Robinson breaking into Major League Baseball. Also, what you did in Major League Baseball as far as your chasing history.

In comparing those things, what I mean, how do they compare when it comes to those types of events being catalysts for change in this country? We might not know until later exactly what the election of Barack Obama did for the country, but as far as catalysts for change, how would you compare the two?

HANK AARON, 1962 BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE: Well, it's a whole lot different than what President Obama is up against now. You know, the change -- in fact, him being president of the United States, I don't know how I could compare that to anything other than to say that if Dr. King was living today, he would have said, well done, son. You know, we've made a tremendous change, we've moved in the right direction.

HOLMES: You said riding on the shoulders of these giants, of Dr. King, of Jackie Robinson. A lot of people wouldn't separate you guys. A lot of people would put you in that same vein of Jackie Robinson, of Martin Luther King, Ambassador Young and others. But you sound like there's a separation, like you still hold those guys to a higher esteem.

Why don't you put yourself in that same --

AARON: Oh, I do. I do. I hold them much higher than I do.

They were great in more ways than one. Not only because of what they stood for, but what they stood for to bring to the civil rights table for other blacks to chew on and ride on. You know?

HOLMES: What is the state of baseball these days? How is it doing today? Is its popularity waning at all?

AARON: It could be better. A lot better.

HOLMES: How so?

AARON: We don't have as many African-American playing baseball now as we used to have. Any time we have an economic struggle in this country we -- and I mean we, the blacks who are going to feel the pinch a lot quicker than anybody. And baseball is a very expensive game.

HOLMES: Kids can turn on TV and they can see that immediate -- that instant fame or whatnot from basketball or football.

AARON: I just don't believe baseball has sold itself as much in the black area as it should have. You know, really, I think that somehow I think football has done a terrific job, and I think basketball has done another terrific job of selling its sports in the areas.

When you look at it deep enough, is that that young kid who is 7, 10, 12 years old playing baseball, growing up, wants to play baseball, and by the time he gets to 18, where he can get to college, then here comes the football coach. And the football coach is telling him, we've got a four-year scholarship, and he's looking somewhere else because we have not made the kind of progress in baseball that we needed to make, where that black kid can look up and say, oh, Hank Aaron is part owner of a ball club, this and that. We haven't done that.

Basketball has done that. Basketball has owners. And this black kid and the black mother, father, can look out and see that that kid, if he makes it, he's got a chance to go on to greater things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, in terms of those numbers, and African-Americans in baseball right now, it's about 8.5 percent, the number of African- Americans who are competing in Major League Baseball this year. That's down from 10 percent last year and down from numbers like 16, 17, 18 percent in the '90s.

Hank Aaron says certainly more work needs to be done to make sure young African-American boys are introduced to the game at an earlier age.

Now, our coverage of Major League Baseball Civil Rights Weekend will continue this weekend, and certainly on "CNN SUNDAY MORNING," tomorrow morning, starting at 6:00. After I get off the air with you here this afternoon, I'm heading over this afternoon to speak with Chicago cubs legend Ernie Banks, but also Morgan Freeman, the Academy Award-winning actor, and also Grammy Award-winning artist Carlos Santana. All three of them are picking up awards as part of this weekend's civil rights weekend celebrations.

Well, at 10 minutes until the top of the hour now, court is in session in the Casey Anthony case. Up next, why the judge has called everyone in on the weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Yes, it's the weekend. But prospective jurors are back in court today in Clearwater, Florida. Lawyers trying still to seat a jury to hear the murder case against Casey Anthony. She, of course, the Florida mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter nearly three years ago.

She has pleaded not guilty. Lawyers are looking for 12 jurors, eight alternates. So far, eight jurors have been selected.

And my goodness, what a joy it is right now to see Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: He's always so happy at the end of his morning.

HOLMES: I'm happy to see you.

WHITFIELD: It's here. I'm the cue.

HOLMES: It's been an interesting morning.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's been fascinating. I've been watching. You've been doing great.

HOLMES: How's the tweeting going?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing OK. I'm still kind of baby steps, training wheels.

HOLMES: That's fine. That's fine.

WHITFIELD: You know, it's taken me a while to go without the training wheels.

HOLMES: It's fine. Take your time. You're just on board.

WHITFIELD: I'm not in a hurry. I'm not in a hurry, that's right.

HOLMES: And again, for the viewers, she is @FWhitfield. You can find her now, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Because every time you say that, I get a couple more friends. Can you say "friends" on tweet?

HOLMES: No. That's -- Facebook is the friends.

WHITFIELD: OK. But what do I call my fellow tweeters?

HOLMES: They're tweeps, right?

WHITFIELD: My tweeps?

HOLMES: Your followers. That's it.

WHITFIELD: OK, followers. My tweeps, like my peeps. My tweeting --

HOLMES: We look like a couple of tweeps right now. WHITFIELD: I know. That would be twerps.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, T.J. We've got a lot going on.

HOLMES: What you got for us in the future?

WHITFIELD: OK. So Miami Heat's Chris Bosh in the middle of an interesting lawsuit that he has pursued. He's saying the chick who's on -- well, he didn't say "chick," I did -- on --

HOLMES: OK. Can I get away with saying "chicks"? Would I get in trouble?

WHITFIELD: I don't know. I say it all the time. Is that a bad thing?

HOLMES: OK. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: OK. Sorry.

All right. The young lady who is on -- who was not his wife, but the mother of his child, he is suing to say she shouldn't be on the show professing my business, my personal business, our family life, et cetera. So our legal guys are going to weigh in on that one.

And then this time of year means lots of graduations, high school, college. Is it always difficult trying to figure out, what kind of gift do I get that new graduate?

HOLMES: Oh, yes. Money. I thought you give money.

WHITFIELD: Well, money is good. But you know what? Our financial gurus, the Dolans, say instead of money, they have got some suggestions on other things.

HOLMES: OK. Some boring stuff.

WHITFIELD: I know it's not heavy duty like investments. No, it's actually kind of interesting stuff.

HOLMES: Not investments.

WHITFIELD: No. But, you know, a lot of it will cost someone some cash.

HOLMES: OK.

WHITFIELD: And then, we're going to the movies this weekend. Did you ever see "Hangover"?

HOLMES: Did I see "Hangover"?

WHITFIELD: OK. How many times did you see it? Let me put it that way. HOLMES: I have two copies of it.

WHITFIELD: I know. I love "Hangover." OK. This is sort of the female version of "Hangover," say some. "Bridesmaids." You may want to check it out. Hear from our Matt Atchity, movie critic, who will be along with us later on.

HOLMES: All right.

We're going to see Fredricka --

WHITFIELD: All that good, fun stuff.

HOLMES: -- in just five minutes and nine seconds from Fredricka, who is @FWhitfield.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

HOLMES: All right?

WHITFIELD: And we're not twirps, but tweeps.

HOLMES: Tweeps. All right. See you in a second.

WHITFIELD: Or something. That's dangerous.

HOLMES: Well, it is a massive convention that will draw 35,000 visitors who will spend hundreds of millions of dollars. We'll tell you what the event is and which U.S. city will benefit big time.

That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And just a reminder, she is on Twitter, @FWhitfield. OK, @FWhitfield.

I'm going to get you there, Fredricka. I'm going to get you there.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. I need all the help I can get.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Democratic convention, more than a year away. But the host city, Charlotte, North Carolina, already preparing for the big event and building up its economy in the process.

Here now, our Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charlotte's hockey team is in the playoffs, but the sign overhead says what everyone knows -- the hottest game in this arena is the coming Democratic Convention. All over town, new places are opening, old ones are polishing up, and from his office high above it all --

MAYOR ANTHONY FOXX (D), CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: This is a stage unlike any other one.

FOREMAN: -- Mayor Anthony Foxx hears opportunity knocking.

FOXX: It's a pretty aggressive move to go after a convention in the middle of a recession. I mean, that doesn't happen in every city.

FOREMAN (on camera): You think it sends a signal --

FOXX: Yes.

FOREMAN: -- to all sorts of businesses?

FOXX: They're saying Charlotte's growing, Charlotte's progressing, Charlotte's getting ready to even be bigger and better than it already is.

FOREMAN (voice-over): They say the convention will draw 35,000 visitors who will spend up to $200 million on restaurants, hotels and attractions. But local leaders believe the real value goes far beyond that. Beyond politics.

DR. DAN MURREY, EXEC. DIR., HOST COMMITTEE: Part of what we're going to be able to show is not only how well we do in the hospitality aspect, but also how well we function as a community.

FOREMAN: So the city is touting improvements to transit, education, the business climate and quality of life. And it's already working. Some old, stalled projects have started up again and new ones are appearing. The energy giant Siemens, for example, is expanding its huge turbine plant here by 1,000 jobs.

MARK PRINGLE, SIEMENS: Oh, I would say a great -- a vast majority of them. I would say 80 percent of the people we hire will be from the local community.

FOXX: I just think there's a ripple effect of this that's going to go on for decades.

FOREMAN: Building up this town long after the conventioneers go home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)