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CNN Sunday Morning
Major Storm Moves North; Two British Soldiers Killed in Iraq Helicopter Collision; Alberto Gonzales Scheduled to Testify; Anti- Putin Rally in St. Petersburg, Russia
Aired April 15, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody, it is Sunday, April 15th. Yes, we know, usually tax today, but just go ahead and kick back. Don't worry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's all good.
NGUYEN: It's all good. You've got a couple of extra days to file. Good morning everybody from the CNN Center here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, good to see you, and it's a good thing. Those late filers in New England have a couple of extra days and some more time because the weather expected to be wicked today and causing some problems.
NGUYEN: We want to give you a live picture now of the Statue of Liberty. Don't you see her? Right there, plain sight. Not really because of all of the fog out there. If you look really closely, you can see her in the middle of the screen. Folks in the Big Apple are bracing for some of the worst storms that they have seen in more than a decade. We'll have extensive live coverage. That is straight ahead, also.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said does anybody know where my purse is? And she said don't worry, honey, I've got your purse and she did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: She had her purse. Police say some not-so-good Samaritans took advantage of an accident victim after they stopped to offer her some help. We'll get into that story for you. It's going to upset you, it's going to bother you, disturb you. Stick around for that one.
NGUYEN: Well, this may disturb you as well because we're going to start with the weather outside. Right now, just the calm before the storm. But there is a big threat. You are looking at live pictures in Boston there on the left-hand side.
Now when we turned to this shot a little bit earlier, did you not see the rain drops. So it gives you an indication of how quickly that this nor'easter is moving across the northern seaboard. We're going to get the latest on a ferocious storm that really is expected to hammer the northeast, bringing with it strong storms and heavy rains and that could lead to flooding and beach erosion, and in some spots, lots of snow on top of all of this.
So just within the last hour, we do want to let you know a tornado warning has been issued in north Florida. That same storm system swept through the nation's midsection and south on Friday and Saturday. It spawned at least two tornadoes in Texas. You're looking at some of the damage from these storms that rolled across. Those storms have caused at least five deaths in Kansas and Florida.
HOLMES: And of course, we are all over this story for you here at CNN. Our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, tracking the storm in the Severe Weather Center. Allan Chernoff live in New York. It's already begun raining, been raining on him for a little bit and CNN.com, Veronica de la Cruz, checking out the storm. There she is, giving us a wave there, checking out the storm online, keeping an eye on all of our local affiliates.
NGUYEN: We want to begin in New York, though, where the storm is getting going. The state preparing for all sorts of problems, including flooding, high tides and strong winds. We want to take you live now to senior correspondent Allan Chernoff, who is in the middle of it all in the Big Apple. I want you to talk to us about you there near the water, about how high tides and the storm are really going to collide and cause some major damage.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Right, well probably won't have major damage right where I'm standing, because there really are no homes here. We'll just get maybe some water flying over.
But certainly we will definitely get some very serious flooding in the New York region. Homes near the water certainly could be at risk. And we'll definitely have some beach erosion as well.
The rain has been coming down pretty steadily for a good number of hours. I have my own little science experiment here, not much of one. But we have already gotten about two-thirds of an inch. And I've had this cup out here for about two hours. So it's really coming down pretty steadily as I said.
Behind me is the Statue of Liberty. And the ferries are not running today. Even so, there were a good enough to tourists waiting a while ago and we spoke with a couple of Boston. They were hoping take a ride out on the ferry, but they are disappointed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew the weather was going to be pretty bad, but that wasn't going to be a problem, we didn't think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Boston, a nor'easter means about two feet of snow.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHERNOFF: Well, they'll be getting some snow, certainly upstate, the snow is going to be coming, and we're also going to be getting a lot of wind. The wind is starting to pick up just about now, but they are saying the forecast here is for wind to hit gusts of as high as 45, 48 miles an hour, so the storm will pick up in intensity as the day goes on.
Right now, here in New York, it's just a pretty serious rainstorm, but as I said, the winds will be picking up and over at the airports, they are not taking many chances. More than 300 flights already cancelled. So my recommendation? A very good day to stay indoors, finish up those taxes -- Betty.
NGUYEN: That is good advice. We're hearing on Long Island alone, it's supposed to be the worst flooding in 15 years. So Allan, stay dry if you can.
HOLMES: Our Reynolds Wolf is in the Weather Center for us, and Reynolds - any chance Allan Chernoff is going to be staying dry anytime soon?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: I want to take you now to Iraq, because today an apparent midair helicopter collision has killed two British soldiers. Those choppers went down just north of Baghdad. Coalition sources say it doesn't appear the choppers were brought down by insurgent fire. But at least 18 civilians were killed in a pair of car bombings that we do need to tell you about which occurred in a popular Baghdad neighborhood. Check out this video. Baghdad police say as many as 50 were injured. Other attacks in Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul killed an additional 12 people today.
HOLMES: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, he's scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about those eight fired U.S. attorneys, but Gonzales doesn't seem to be waiting until then to answer questions. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from the White House. Good morning, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. Certainly the attorney general knows he is fighting for his political life, that he has got to convince Congress that no politics was involved in removal of these attorneys.
So he is making his case two days early in an op/ed in this morning's "Washington Post" and in it, he apologizes for the fact that his initial explanations created what he calls confusion about his role in the matter.
Quote, "To be clear, I directed my then-deputy chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, to initiate this process, fully knew that it was occurring and approved the final recommendations. Sampson periodically updated me on the review. As I recall, his updates were brief, relatively few in numbers and focused primarily on the review process. During those conversations, to my knowledge, I did not make decisions about who should or should not be asked to resign." Gonzales insists in the op-ed that there was no wrongdoing involved in the firings, no effort to influence or to interfere with any case or ongoing investigation, saying "I know that I did not and would not ask for the resignation of any U.S. attorneys for an improper reason. Furthermore, I have no basis to believe anyone involved in this process sought the removal of a U.S. attorney for an improper reason."
CNN has learned that the attorney general's former chief of staff, Sampson will, be on Capitol Hill today. He's going to be answering questions from staffers of this Senate Judiciary Committee. They have some additional questions for him. Also that also at some point this morning, the Justice Department will be releasing some 48 hours in advance the attorney general's actual testimony for the Tuesday hearing -- T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, a lot of folks looking forward to seeing what comes out of that hearing. Kathleen Koch for us at the White House, thank you so much.
KOCH: You bet.
HOLMES: I want you to take a look at this now. New video that has just been into CNN within the past hour. A violent scene today in St. Petersburg, Russia. Riot police clash with hundreds of protesters, calling for the resignation for President Vladimir Putin. Now police beat some of the demonstrators with the tongs and hauled dozens into vans. The city did allow the rally to take place, but banned protesters from marching afterwards. Police moved in as the crowd walked toward a railway station after the demonstration, and there was similar violence after a rally in Moscow yesterday.
HOLMES: Well, if you are just waking up this morning, first, we want to say good morning to you. And now I want to show you this, from New York City to Boston, on up into New England, folks are bracing for a big nor'easter. A live look here. A lot of cities up the East Coast are looking about like that this morning. And they are bracing themselves. We are covering that for you this morning.
NGUYEN: Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on the situation as well. In fact, he's on the phone right now getting more information. He is going to be heading up to Boston a little bit later today.
There's so much to tell you about, including what Veronica de la Cruz has been monitoring. She's checking out all of the affiliates, looking at the live pictures like this one in Jacksonville, Florida.
We want to tell you about Florida, too, because in Gainesville, there has been a tornado warning. So did we tell you there is a lot of weather? A lot of stuff going on today? Just more evidence of it, so we're going to be following all of that, including this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Makes me feel that there are some pretty misguided people out there, that they would use this opportunity to their own advantage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: An accident victim's good Samaritans turn out to be no saints at all. Those details, straight ahead, as you are watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Police have found a 20-year-old driver who supposedly triggered the crash that left New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine seriously injured. The driver apparently didn't realize what happened and won't be charged with leaving the scene of an accident. But police add they are still investigating. The governor underwent a second surgery this weekend.
And in Tennessee, testimony that a preacher's wife accused of murdering her husband was in financial trouble. Bank tellers said yesterday Mary Winkler was caught trying to deposit bad checks, and her account was overdrawn by $5,000. One bank teller said she caused Winkler to urge her to come into the bank the day before. Matthew Winkler was killed in March of last year.
NGUYEN: All right, here's a story that is going to make you wonder what is going through some people's minds. Let me set the scene for you. A woman badly injured in a car crash in western Pennsylvania. Well good Samaritans seemingly stop to help her out.
HOLMES: So far, so good.
NGUYEN: Right, so far.
HOLMES: Good Samaritans so far. But however, they didn't help out. They helped themselves. We get more now from Jennifer Miele of affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER MIELE, WTAE CORRSEPONDENT (voice-over): These are the folks police say came across an accident on toll road 66 in Westmoreland County and decided to take advantage of the situation.
Allegedly seen here on surveillance video using the credit cards police say they stole from an injured woman. That woman is Pamela Ramsey of Murrysville. She and her husband say they were hit by a drunk driver, the car rolled three times and she climbed out the passenger window.
PAMELA RAMSEY, VICTIM: And then this lady came over, and said why don't you get into my van? And so they helped me into the van, and I said does anybody know where my purse is? And she said, don't worry, honey, I've got your purse and she did.
MIELE: While she was being airlifted to a Pittsburgh hospital, police say the women were already using her credit cards to buy gas. Police say 48-year-old Daniel Powell emptied out the purse at his Jeannette home and split the contents with his wife, Danielle and his ex-wife Phyllis McCrew.
From there, police say the shopping spree began with family friends Raechal Lynn Daniels, Crystal Foley and Amy McAdams charging up more than $8,000 at Wal-Mart, Dick's and other stores.
Dozens of channel 4 viewers called police to identify the women in the video and soon after it aired, police say they turned themselves in.
RAMSEY: It makes me feel that there are some pretty misguided people out there, that they would use this opportunity to their own advantage.
MIELE: Pamela Ramsey lost more than her credit card. She lost a finger in the accident, had 40 stitches and will go through months of therapy before she may be able to return to her job as a massage therapist.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Goodness. Well that report from Jennifer Miele of WTAE in Pittsburgh. All six people -- of those people that they showed you right there, well they did turn themselves in and have been charged.
HOLMES: Again, we've been watching the weather situation all morning. A lot of breaking news, it's all weather-related news. Reynolds Wolf, watching it all for us, tornado warnings to tell us about now in South Carolina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Yes, we're going to take these storms from the radar you saw there with Reynolds to the ground, where people are covering it. And Veronica de la Cruz is in fact following our CNN affiliates. We're going to be checking in with her to see what's coming in from those areas that you see right there and the video that they're providing. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And as we've been saying, our breaking news this morning has all been weather related. We are watching a huge storm system that has really ripped across part of the southeast over the last day or so, has now made its way to the East Coast and on up the East Coast, up to the northeast. Huge nor'easter that is expected to be forming and cause quite some problems for a lot of folks.
Looking here, South Carolina, where there is a tornado warning happening in South Carolina. We have been watching at least several watches and warnings, tornado related in Florida, as well as South Carolina. We want you to let you know that we are keeping our eyes on this weather situation. Our meteorologists are watching it from our Severe Weather Center. We will continue to bring you those updates.
NGUYEN: Also this morning, New York's mayor is warning residents to get ready, stock up on food, batteries, flashlights and prepare for the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK: It will be the storm's high winds combined with already high tides that gives us greatest cause for concern. That is coastal flooding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: State officials say coastal Long Island could see some of the worst flooding in 14 years.
HOLMES: And our Veronica de la Cruz is a very busy woman this morning, monitoring some things from the dot.com desk. She's got responsibility to CNN.com and taking care of us here at CNN as well with its coverage, keeping an eye really on the local affiliates on line and their coverage of some of this weather. So hello again Veronica, what do you have?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONENT: Hello, T.J. We are keeping track of all of the different tower cam shots. This is Jacksonville, Florida. We're just talking about tornado watches and warnings that are happening east of Columbia, South Carolina, also north of Tampa.
So at WJXT, this is news 4, they have this interactive on tornadoes. And basically what you can do if you are in the eye of the storm that's happening at wjxt.com.
Also want to take you back to Boston for a second, because this is a live picture where it currently 42 degrees, some light rain. You see the rain drops there on this picture. The Patriot Day Parade has been canceled in Arlington, also Concord tomorrow. Lexington is going to be deciding today around 3:30 whether or not they will hold their reenactment of the Paul Revere ride. That happens tonight. So that's Boston.
Over to Philadelphia and CBS 3, that's our local affiliate there, we're talking about the nor'easter packing a huge punch along the Jersey shore. Folks there have to be worried about the flooding and the coastal erosion believe it or not. Cydney Long has this report off of the KYW Web site in Philadelphia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA BROWN, KYW CORRESPONDENT: Cydney Long is live down the shore right now. Good evening to you, Cydney.
CYDNEY LONG, KYW CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Natasha. The coastal communities obviously are going to feel the brunt of this storm tomorrow. Now the army corps of engineers just recently completed a seawall as well as a beach replenishment project to the tune of $4.5 million.
So suffice it to say, this nor'easter that is on the way is not necessarily welcome here in Brigantine. Emergency managers tell me that the worst-case scenario is if the storm stalls, which means the bay essentially fills up and doesn't have time to empty out in between high tide. Tomorrow morning's high tide about 6:19, is expected to be two to three feet above normal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the report I got was this was supposed to be one of the worst storms we've had and that scared me enough to say good-bye.
LONG: Paul Mathis (ph), whose shore house is in Brigantine says the thought of major flooding and heavy downpours predicted for tomorrow is enough for him to cut his weekend short and head home to Pennsylvania.
UNIDNEITIFED MALE: We're out of here. We secured everything. We think we're safe, but we'll find out.
LONG: Fellow shore residents are also concerned about the impending storm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm tired of the winter and I'm ready for spring to really be here so I can wear my regular clothes. I'm tired of being bundled up all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the roads get flooded and the beach erosion is a big concern because if you get a good storm with a lot of high winds and heavy surf, it can take a lot of beach away.
LONG: Tonight, Brigantine police dispatchers are fielding calls from anxious residents.
UNIDNETIFIED MALE: What should we do? How much is it going to flood? When is it coming? How long is it going to last?
LONG: Brigantine emergency officials anticipate the morning high tide to be worse than the afternoon. Police are warning residents to move their cars from low-lying areas and once the flooding begins, the island relies on two giant pumps, called flood busters, from the street-level storm drains, water is sucked through metal pipes and then pushed out with force back into the bay with through a valve that only opens to let water out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll have some pretty substantial flooding so our recommendation is anybody that has vehicles or properties in extremely low-lying areas would be to obviously move.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: So again that was Cydney Long with our affiliate KYW there. In the meantime, we're going to continue to keep an eye on everything developing on the Web. If you have weather or you are in your area of severe weather, you want to talk to us about, you can e- mail us at weekend@CNN.com. And I'll go ahead and send it back to you, T.J. and Betty.
HOLMES: All right Veronica, thank you so much. Meanwhile, across the northeast of course this morning, folks bracing for this major storm and meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, he's straight ahead. He'll have an update on the latest for us, including maybe some watches and warnings he's been keeping an eye on the past little bit.
NGUYEN: Also, we are measuring the Imus impact on the political front. Will newsmakers, both conservative and liberal, feel any fallout? CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues in just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Netflix brings the video store to you. CEO Reed Hastings started Netflix after getting hit with a $40 late fee. Now, it's the world's largest online DVD rental service with over 70,000 titles. Hastings believes it's important to experiment and to take risks.
REED HASTINGS, CEO, NETFLIX: Come up with ideas, try things. It's a hit or miss game. But you can't have a fear of failure. You've just got to try.
WILLIS: Hastings focuses on increasing the company's subscriber base from six million to over 20 million.
HASTINGS: Netflix is a great DVD rental service today, continuing to grow, and now we're adding online video so right there on your browser, you can watch movies also.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, welcome back to you, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING and if you are just waking up to us, especially on the East Coast, are you waking up no to some really bad weather outside.
HOLMES: Yes, some ugly stuff that could turn into an absolute monster. Folks in the northeast getting ready. New York and New England are watching for rain, strong winds, massive flooding, plus snow. Yeah, snow in some places it could be a lot of it. Snow expected to cause the most problems in coastal Long Island where high tides mixed with rain could cause some major, major flooding.
NGUYEN: We want to get you the latest on where the weather is headed and where it's doing. For that, we go CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf who as been watching all morning long. Even brought in Bonnie Schneider, we got the whole team in today.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You even brought in Bonnie. You saw her right in there. I'm telling you what. It's a team effort. Always is here.
What we're going to be dealing with through much of the morning is possible tornadoes popping up through much of the landscape. We'll zoom in on a couple of places, mainly north of Tampa at this time. In Pasco County, Hernando County, now moving across the I-75 corridor, possible tornadoes moving in to places. This first just came out (INAUDIBLE) moments ago.
Sumter County, that in effect until 10:00 this morning. National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a tornado six miles west of Dade City, moving east at 45 miles-per-hour. Now, what this means is that the radar has picked up rotation in these storms, this does not mean there's a tornado on the ground, it means there is that potential. So that is one thing you really need to watch out for.
Here is Leesburg, southwards, the I-4 corridor and Orlando, you certainly want to be on your guard. You might want to think about -- well, think twice about going out to the store right now. Stay at home and certainly seek cover.
The tornado possibility will extend into Georgia as well as the Carolinas as we make our way into Columbia, South Carolina. They're in the clear for the time being. Some suspicion-looking storms near Orangeburg, near the I-95 corridor.
As we make our way from Richmond, Washington, D.C., scattered showers here, along the coast, stronger storms developing. Not severe, but we move a little bit farther to the north in New York, heavy rain about to move to the southern tip of Long Island and on the backside of the system, cold air beginning inject in and with that moisture coming in cool air, snow farther to the north. We may see that in Maine that will exceed a foot -- a foot of snow possible. But right now, the most dangerous weather in parts of central Florida.
That's the latest we have for you, let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Well, that's a lot, Reynolds. Thank you.
WOLF: It's a mouthful. You bet.
NGUYEN: Yes it is.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds.
Meanwhile, whenever you were this week and whatever you were doing, you just couldn't get away from it. Don Imus, and the comments that cost him his job. Imus built his career, of course, on controversy and a lot of major political figures appeared on his show. In just a few minutes, we'll talk with a political analyst about the possible fallout for them. But first, if you allow us to take a look back at how the Imus story all played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON IMUS, IMUS IN THE MORNING: Some rough girls from Rutgers, man, they got tattoos. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm going to tell you that now. Man, that's some woo.
AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Don Imus should be fired! And taken off the airways.
REV DEFOREST SOARIES, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: We intend to, at the very least, demand the resignation or termination of Mr. Imus.
JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: Today, we want to challenge NBC and MSNB -- the maker of Jet shoes, us or Imus.
IMUS: I'm sorry I did that. I'm embarrassed that I did that. I did a bad thing.
I wish I hadn't a said it. I'm sorry I said it. I am going to apologize to them and ask them for their forgiveness.
SEN JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has apologized. He said that he's deeply sorry. I'm a great believer redemption.
BRUCE GORDON, CBS BOARD MEMBER: He abused his power and directed it at young women who didn't deserve it. And when that kind of abuse takes place, I believe there has to be a consequence.
BO DIETL, FREQUENT IMUS SHOW GUEST: He said two words. Should two words be the ruination of this man's whole life of doing good things?
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Imus is going to get fired, there there's a lot of other people need to go out the door.
WOLF BLITZER, LATE EDITION: We're getting some breaking news right now. CNN has just confirmed that CBS, following NBC, has decided to dump the don Imus radio program. That's just coming in to CNN right now.
STEVE CAPUS, NBC NEWS PRESIDENT: There's no question that this was -- this was a final straw.
GORDON: Don Imus crossed the line, it violated any decent person's view of what's just and what's fair and what's right.
I think it's terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
STEVE MALZBERG, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Terrible for the industry of talk radio. What he said was reprehensible, he should have been suspended. But to fire him? Why now?
C. VIVIAN STRINGER, RUTGERS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: We the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights basketball team accept -- accept Mr. Imus' apology and we are in the process of forgiving him. We still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is an experience we will never forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. A lot of very public people from entertainers to politicians appeared regularly on Imus' show, from Liberals to Conservatives, everybody in between. Now, the question is, will there be political fallouts? Political analyst Ken Rudin joins us now from Washington.
Good to see you, sir, good morning to you. We're going to wrap up with Imus, but we're going to start, since we got a political analyst here, we're going to start up with another big political story which will be happening this week. Alberto Gonzales, he's going to finally be on Capitol Hill telling his side of the story, giving some answers. If there was a line in Vegas on this, don't know if you are a betting man, but would you have bet he would have been out of a job by now?
KEN RUDIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Actually yes. And I've said in the past, I thought that once the scandal broke, once the -- it's clear that the U.S. attorneys who did not get fired, stated that they've lost their confidence in the attorney general, I would have thought that Alberto Gonzales would be gone, but he's still around, he'll be testifying Tuesday on Capitol Hill and I still think his days are numbered. I just don't think he'll be forced out immediately. But, if I were betting, I'd say he'd be gone in a couple of months.
HOLMES: All right, he is testifying this week on Capitol Hill, but do you think what he says has any bearing on whether or not he keeps his job. Or you think it's a done deal no matter what he says that he's going to be out of a job?
RUDIN: Well, you know, we talk about redemption; we talk about Imus and redemption, hoping for redemption. I kind of think Gonzales may be in a similar boat in that I think most -- look, it's a Democratic controlled Congress, Democratic controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. I think most of their minds are made up, and a lot of Republicans have also called for Gonzales' resignation. I think he's -- he seems to have lost the confidence of both parties on Capitol Hill and I kind of think whatever he says on Tuesday is really too little, too late.
HOLMES: All right, and the last thing on this Gonzales issue, Democrats kind of seized on this issue, as well. They've been going back and forth with the president on Iraq. Which one do they have -- I guess more ground and can gain more on? Is the Gonzales issue the one they think they can seize on and really pounce on the president, or is it still Iraq the big one?
RUDIN: It's not really an either-or thing. I think Democrats feel they're in the driver's seat on both issues. They feel that the American people feel that this war is a mistake, that it's gone on too long and it has no satisfactory end in sight. So, I don't think the Democrats give up the specter of pushing on the Iraq war to go for Alberto Gonzales, but they also feel Gonzales has been a liability. I think Republicans feel it too and I think they feel that they have two issues in their favor. Of course, how this plays for 2008 is a long way off.
HOLMES: All right, let's talk Imus, now. A lot of political candidates, some came out and said they'd continue to go on the show. Others kind of called his comments reprehensible and said he should be fired. All right, who came out on top? Is anybody being hurt or helped by what they did in this whole Imus controversy?
RUDIN: No, what I think -- this is really a bigger story than just Imus. It's really a lot about Washington because there are a lot of people who have been so-called enablers of Imus over the years. This quote about the Rutgers basketball team, that's not a new -- I mean, it's now about Rutgers, but he's been saying things about blacks, and women, and gays, and Jews for years and he apologizes -- sometimes he doesn't apologize and everybody says they'll never go on their show again, and they go on their show again -- Democrats and Republicans, alike.
HOLMES: So are voters -- is anybody going to remember that later? Is anybody going to hold that against them or this going to be just a short-term thing, we'll all forget about it, it's done?
RUDIN: Well, we won't forget about Imus. But as far as the presidential candidates chances and how they may affect them, I think that it'll be long gone, there'll be other things to complain about, Barack Obama, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and not Don Imus.
HOLMES: And finally, how about Barack Obama? A lot of people taking about him and maybe -- of course he did cone out and say, I think Imus should be fired, but...
RUDIN: First one -- first candidate to do so.
HOLMES: But, did he not come out strong enough? There was some criticism about that. He didn't come out there quick enough and strong enough and stand up with the black community on this?
RUDIN: Well, you know, in this 24 hour cycle of news, I guess, the black community, some people in the black community felt that Obama should have come out more strongly and earlier, but he did come out, he was the first candidate to demand the firing. Again, I think this is -- something that will disappear from the criticism of Obama very quickly, if not already.
HOLMES: All right, political analyst Ken Rudin, an interesting week in Washington. Tuesday, the big day, we will watch to see if Gonzales can hold on to that job. All right, thank you so much. Good to see you, Ken.
RUDIN: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, as you can imagine, CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES will have much more on the Imus fallout and Howard Kurtz is, in fact, in Washington with a preview for us now. Hi, Howard.
HOWARD KURTZ, RELIABLE SOURCES: Thanks Betty, we put together special edition on the Imus uproar. Did he deserve to be booted off the airwaves? How did he attract so many big name politicians and journalists as guests? And what about others who say far worse things? Our guests include Clarence Page, Stephanie Miller, NBC's Ron Allen who lead the anti-Imus charge at his network, and Monday Night Football guy, Tony Kornheiser.
That, plus a look at the media's role in the Duke debacle, ahead in our special edition.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching. Thank you.
HOLMES: The other thing we're watching, keeping a very close eye on this morning, the weather.
NGUYEN: That's right, a major nor'easter is targeting New England. You're looking at some live radar pictures right now. We want to get you an assessment of the situation on the ground because Veronica de la Cruz has been monitoring all of our incoming satellite feeds and the online webcast, so her report is coming up next.
Plus this:
HOLMES: All right, not really the kind of an emotion we're used to seeing.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: The details on exactly what that was, that's straight ahead here in...
What was that?
Yeah, we'll figure it out and tell you about it. That's straight ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. it's Sunday! Sorry!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yes, indeed, we have some breaking news to tell you about and it deals with the weather outside. In fact, there are tornado warnings out there that we want to get you up to speed on. Bonnie Schneider is in for Reynolds Wolf. He took off to head to Boston where there's more sever weather there, as well. But let's focus on South Carolina, Bonnie. What do you know?
BONNIE Schneider: Well, yesterday we were talking about tornadoes in the southeast and we're seeing it right now. We have a Doppler radar indicated tornado in Collection County, that's not too far from Charlestown, you can see it here popping up on the radar.
So, the tornado warnings will be in effect until 10:30 this morning. We're looking at a very powerful squall line here. You can see it well on the radar all the way stretching south of Sumter and these storms have a history of producing large hail and tornadoes. So, the tornado warnings are coming in off the computer.
The entire region is under a watch for severe weather because we're seeing this heavy rain stretching all the way across to the northeast as we prepare for the nor'easter, just the beginning phases that are happening right now and as we can see, we're starting to get some wintry weather up into New England.
But let's take you back down south now to Jacksonville, Florida -- a very ominous looking sky. And Jacksonville is actually not under the tornado watch that you see here, but likely certainly we're looking at some very strong thunderstorms rolling through. That means gusty winds up to about 60 miles-per-hour, and frequent lightning strikes, we will keep you posted here in the CNN Weather Center -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right Betty, thanks for staying on top of that for us. Of course, we'll be checking in with you very often today -- T.J.
HOLMES: And we've been checking in, often as well, with Veronica de la Cruz at the dot-com desk, she's been watching all the affiliate coverage for us, of today's nor'easter.
Veronica, help hello, again.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM DESK: Hello to you, T.J. We got lots going on here. We're keeping a close eye on what's going out there. This is Jacksonville, Florida. Take a look at these very ominous clouds, very dark skies right now. And if you look up here, this is a live feed from one of our affiliates there in Tampa.
As you can see, there's a tornado warning in effect, and if we head to the web, this is Tampa Bay 10 and they talk about that tornado warning, it's for southeastern Hernando and Pasco Counties, it's in effect until 10:00 a.m.
Really interesting interactive. Here, talks about a checklist, what you need to get your home ready. Make sure you secure your patio furniture, your boat, make sure the generator is working just in case there are power outages. So, that is Tampa.
Let's go ahead and head north now to Philadelphia. I found this really interesting interactive here. It's an airport tracker and what we've been learning is that 300 flights have been cancelled out of New York area, this talks about airport delays out of Newark, two hours and eight minutes; La Guardia, two hours and 12 minutes; Philadelphia, an hour and 13 minutes.
Now Boston, as you know, look at the rain coming down, that's where Reynolds Wolf is headed right now. The U.S. Coast Guard has been saying to stay out of the water. Boaters simply should not go into the water, because it's not safe. Let's check in now with Jim Morelli who has that story, it's off the WCVB website.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM MORELLI, WCVB REPORTER: Well, the Coast Guard flew two missions today and they want to make sure that all ships, all vessels understand that this storm could be impossible to ride out.
(voice-over): Forty-eight hours before the storm, and a Coast Guard Falcon jet takes off from Otis Air Base. It's mission? To warn vessels on the open sea this a dangerous nor'easter is blowing in.
HEATHER KUTA, U.S. COAST GUARD: It's going to have winds of 40 to 50 knots and seas up to 26 feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) back to New England offshore waters over the next 48 hours.
MORELLI: Aboard the jet, a radio transmission goes out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's strongly advised to closely monitor local weather, local broadcasts for updates and warnings on this storm.
MORELLI: The hope is that vessels will heed the warnings and get to a safe place so that Coast Guard rescuers won't have to come out and try to fetch them.
KUTA: We typically see, when we have a storm come through, about 10 to 15 feet so 26 feet would be very high, it would be very hard for anybody out there to maneuver.
MORELLI: In Falmouth Harbor, many boat slips remain vacant this early spring, the occupied ones are being secured in advance of the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A doubling up on lines, running lines to offshore pilings to make sure we keep an eye on the boats and protect them as well as we can.
MORELLI: The Cape getting set to experience what could be a storm to remember.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CRUZ: So, again that is the situation there in Boston from our affiliate WCVB. T.J., we are asking folks out there, as well, to go ahead and send us photos and videos, go ahead and head to cnn.com, click on the i-Report logo or send us an e-mail to weekends@cnn.com. But if you are going to send us photos and videos, do be careful. Got to remember about that.
HOLMES: All right, Veronica, thank you so much, this morning.
NGUYEN: And starting Monday morning, it is an all-new AMERICAN MORNING when John Roberts and Kiran Cherty is debuting a new series, in fact, that she's been working on called "The Children of War" and she joins us now with a preview.
KIRAN CHERTY, AMERICAN MORNING: Thanks Betty, this Monday on AMERICAN MORNING, you don't miss our special series, "Children of War." We wanted to take a closer look at the sacrifices of military families and the toll it takes on loved ones left behind. So on Monday, we're focusing on young kids, in particular, and how they're coping with having a parent gone for such a long time. We actually paid a visit to West Point and met the Snells -- seven rambunctious boys ranging in age from 20 months to 12 years old. They haven't seen their father for nine months now and they only talk to him through e-mails and the occasional phone call.
The earliest they can hope to see their dad again is this summer and while all of the boys miss their father, it seems that the eldest boys are hit particularly hard. I sat down to talk to them about it. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
When he first told you he was going to Iraq again, how did he tell you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was crying.
CHERTY: Were you guys crying too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHERTY: Your dad's been gone nine months. How has it been?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard.
CHERTY: What is it that you miss the most about your dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking us bowling, to the pool, to movies. That's mainly what I miss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Swimming. He taught me how to swim.
CHERTY: Do you worry about him getting hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really.
CHERTY: Why do you say yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I've heard a lot of news stories that many people have gotten killed.
CHERTY: And you said you don't worry, why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I know he'll be safe.
CHERTY: You just know that in your heart?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERTY: You can hear the rest of the Snell family's emotional story. It a story that echoes that of thousands of American families feeling the very same impact of the war on terror.
So, join me and John Roberts on AMERICAN MORNING. It's the most news in the morning, and we start this Monday 6:00 a.m. Eastern -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Again, be sure to join them on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, they'll be in Washington for the Alberto Gonzales hearing and much more. CNN's AMERICAN MORNING airs weekdays starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
And we want to let you know what's happening right now, and that's the weather outside. Take a look at the radar, we got everything from tornado warnings to lots of rain and a nor'easter that's headed along the northeastern coastlines. So, you want to stay with us for updates on that. Bonnie Schneider will be here in just a moment with the latest.
Also, baseball paying tribute to a pioneer. It's Jackie Robinson Day throughout the big leagues and all 30 teams have something special planned. That's ahead, when CNN SUNDAY MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Yes, it is breaking news and we got a lot to tell you about. Let's get you straight over to Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center. And Bonnie, give us the latest on the red box that we see, right there.
SCHNEIDER: Well, we have tornadoes warnings now in part of central Florida and we are also watching for severe weather, not just in Florida, but also in South Carolina.
Now, we do have a new tornado watch that was just issued moments ago, this is for central and southern Florida. You can see, it does now include the city of Orlando. This tornado watch will go in effect 5:00 p.m. today, so we're still running the risk of severe weather straight until the afternoon hours.
A closer look at the squall lines that we're seeing across central Florida, definitely shows we are looking at some very, very heavy rain. We're also looking at a tornado watch across South Carolina to North Carolina for coastal sections and that will continue as well into the afternoon hours.
So, severe weather breaking out over South Carolina specifically. Just to the east of areas into Columbia, we're seeing some very strong storms working its way through Sumter County and we're watching that for much of the day today. It's going to be a rough ride for us throughout the day and into the evening hours -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Bonnie, thank you.
HOLMES: As many viewers know, we have a staff here that strictly looks for implosions every weekend so we can bring one to you.
NGUYEN: You would think, right?
HOLMES: Every single weekend. And once again, they have found one. This is a ski jump from the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany -- came tumbling down on Saturday. Well, this think is historic...
NGUYEN: Look at the crowd.
HOLMES: ...for an implosion. I didn't know they were so big in Germany. But this one's a big deal because the '36 Olympic games, of course, took place in Nazi Germany, both the summer and the winter games. And were officially opened by Adolf Hitler. So, hundreds watched, as we just saw there.
NGUYEN: And even had a parade.
HOLMES: Yeah, my goodness.
NGUYEN: This was a big event, apparently.
HOLMES: This the biggest implosion I think we've ever brought to you. But yes, we will continue to scour the video from around the earth and bring you another implosion next weekend.
NGUYEN: Try to bring you it whenever we can.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, a big weekend for major league baseball paying tribute to Jackie Robinson today. It was 60 years ago today he debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color barrier. All 30 teams marking the occasion with players donning Robinson's No. 42, and that includes the entire Los Angeles Dodgers team.
NGUYEN: His widow, Rachael Robinson, on hand as L.A. also announced today is Jackie Robinson Day. And ironically, he never played in L.A., only in Brooklyn. One other interesting note here, those No. 42 jerseys will be auctioned off after the games today, with the money going to the Jackie Robinson Foundation.
HOLMES: Well, very nice to see this day. We can wrap up the week with something positive about race relations and racial barriers after a tough week of...
NGUYEN: The whole Imus controversy.
HOLMES: Yes. So, nice to wrap it up in this way. So, please stay here at CNN, of course the big weather story today happening. We will continue to bring you updates on that so you can get all of the latest information right here at CNN. Meanwhile, straight ahead...
NGUYEN: Yeah, don't go anywhere because RELIABLE SOURCES turns a critical lens on radio host, what have we been talking about -- Don Imus and that media firestorm. HOLMES: Then, of course at 11:00, LATE EDITION with Wolf Blitzer, he takes as a closer look at the fight over funding on the war in Iraq.
NGUYEN: And on THIS WEEK AT WAR, CNN correspondent take a closer look at whether. Iran is training extremists. That is at 1:00 Eastern. Have a great Sunday.
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