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CNN Sunday Morning
Limbaugh Delivers Fiery Speech at CPAC
Aired March 01, 2009 - 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: Hello, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is the first day of March. Already here.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: March 1st. Who are you?
NGUYEN: I'm Betty Nguyen. Who are you?
HOLMES: I'm T.J. Holmes.
3:00 a.m. out there for you on the west coast. Glad you could be here. Did you see this yesterday? A lot of folks did.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: We aired it here live on CNN. Rush Limbaugh seems to be worked up a bit.
NGUYEN: You think? Just a little bit.
HOLMES: Look at this video here. Some fist pumping, chest pounding, all of that at CPAC Conference. Here's a little flavor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: It was not us asking whether Barack Obama was authentic. What we were asking is, is he wrong? We concluded, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yep, you heard it right there. We're going to show you some more as Limbaugh just rips on President Obama, the Democratic Party. Much more on this fiery speech and your e-mails straight ahead.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE): My husband lived in the guest room and he comes home on Wednesday nights early to have dinner with the kids. And the other nights he comes home late to give me my space.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We -- OK. We were --
NGUYEN: That's quite a marriage.
HOLMES: We were talking about this yesterday Betty, about how the recession makes it tough for people who are cheating, keeps people together --
NGUYEN: When they may not want to be together.
HOLMES: Because they can't afford to. Well, wife in one room, the husband in the other. The housing market is forcing divorced couples to live under one roof.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL HARVEY: Hello, Americans, this is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And you know the voice. But today we are saying good-bye to a radio legend. Let's start with this, though, a party that has lost its waves now turning to a conservative superstar to figure out how to get the power back. Rush Limbaugh fired up the crowd on the last day of CPAC. Which is a conservative political action conference. The radio host says, forget cooperation and start hitting back at Democrats now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Bipartisanship occurs only after one other result. And that is victory. In other words, let's say, as conservatives, liberals demand we be bipartisan with them in Congress. What they mean is, we check our core principles at the door, come in, let them run the show and agree with them. That's bipartisanship to them. To us, bipartisanship is them being forced to agree with us after we have politically cleaned their clocks and beaten them. And that has to be what we're focused on.
Well, all right. Democrats, they don't exactly take that view. They say bipartisanship can work, if only the Republican leadership will work with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: The whole idea of bipartisanship doesn't have to do with Democrat or Republican. It has to do with leaders doing their job to pull this country out of the troubled waters that we're in right now. It's not about bipartisanship or Democrat or Republican, it's about leadership. We need to stop the gamesmanship and move forward and that starts with the Republican leaders we've got in Congress right now. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner working to implement this plan we've just passed to stimulate the economy and get things rolling again.
HOLMES: Rush Limbaugh with the loud voice of opposition against the president's stimulus bill. Some critics say GOP leaders then merely followed his lead. A lot of conservatives at CPAC is their first chance to plot their comeback. It brings together students, activists and politicians put on by the American Conservative Union. Now, that group claims to be one of the oldest conservative lobbying organizations in this country.
The first conference gathered in 1973. Past speakers include Ronald Reagan to former vice president Dick Cheney. The CPAC crowd didn't mind when Rush Limbaugh went way over his time. He was supposed to give 20 minutes. He went about an hour and a half, I believe it was. We'll bring you more of his speech at the half hour. You can hear what the radio host says it means to be a conservative.
NGUYEN: Well, it's been one of those jobs that President Obama just cannot seem to fill. But now he's got a new nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. White House says -- the White House officials say that it is Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The original pick, Senator Tom Daschle, well he backed out over tax problems. The announcement will probably happen tomorrow. Two administration officials say Sebelius accepted that nomination yesterday.
HOLMES: Lots of reaction we're getting to Rush Limbaugh.
NGUYEN: We knew it was coming.
HOLMES: Yeah. You can keep your comments coming in to CNN.com. We're covering now that we're on this Facebook band wagon.
NGUYEN: We entered the world of facebook.
HOLMES: It took us a while. We each have a Facebook page. Send us comments and we'll share those. We have a few e-mails.
NGUYEN: Lets get to the first one, Kenneth Champion writes, "Limbaugh talks about conserving money and conservatism where the Republicans when George Bush and the corporations were spending hundreds of billions of American taxpayer money and building in Iraq and running up our debt? Where were they"
HOLMES: Another one here from Lester who says, "To hear Rush Limbaugh be the keynote speaker at CPAC is the most comical move that the GOP has pulled out of their little black top hat. His remarks appear no more than a political circus with the purpose of doing no more than to promote his radio show. This joker actually believes what he says, and what's worse is that he actually has a following."
NGUYEN: And Bernadette in Florida says, "I made myself listen to Rush's speech and now I know more than ever that we as Americans have the duty to vote out of office more Republicans. His type of rhetoric only inflames the uneducated and uninformed."
All right. Well, we are calling on your comments. What do you think? Did you hear it yesterday? If not you'll get another chance to hear a large portion of his comments at the bottom of the hour. 6:30 Eastern this morning. Send us your thoughts. What did you think about Rush Limbaugh's speech yesterday? Send to WEEKENDS@CNN.com. And also our facebook pages. HOLMES: Let's turn to some weather. It's nasty out there. We'll turn to south central Alabama first. Three tornadoes to tell you about ripped through a church there; also at least ten homes we know of were damaged. Also a school in Salem. Good news here, at least nobody was hurt but hard to believe that when you look at some of those pictures.
Also, a different picture here. Kind of missing some teeth there, but out of Memphis, Tennessee, my neck of the woods, where they got snow. Don't get that much snow in Memphis. But got some snow, as much as 4 inches in some area. We're not used to that around the Memphis area. We don't drive that well in snow, Betty.
Also same thing in Atlanta. People don't drive that well in rain and snow.
NGUYEN: We're bracing ourselves for it because we hear it is on the way. Reynolds Wolf has been watching the weather play out. And Reynolds you've warned us that we may see some of the white stuff falling. I walked in a few hours ago, a little rain.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know, 46 degrees here in Atlanta with some light rain. I will tell you what the worst I think we'll see is in the Atlanta area is going to be 1 to 3 inches of snowfall. For the rest of the country, if you are tuning in from Buffalo, New York, you're thinking, whoop-to-do. If you look at the maps you'll see white, some red, some greenish, these are all your watch warning and advisories for the eastern sea board into parts of the southeast.
Memphis, a live image out of Memphis, I believe. We had light snowfall there that you see on the Mississippi River, Not to far from Mud Island; this is T.J.'s romping ground. T.J. you need to call your folks and see what the story is. They had a light dusting, this shot compliments of WMC in the Memphis area.
Lets go right back to the weather computer. We're talking about snow we still have a tornado watch that is in effect for parts of the Carolinas into Georgia, even into parts of Florida, some scattered showers and thunderstorms moving through. Behind it you get cold air. That shallow layer of cold air of with moisture is bringing some snowfall into Alabama and portions of Mississippi, and Tennessee, and as we make our way into the eastern sea board, New York into Boston, you could see some snow. In some locations it could get fairly heavy, anywhere from 7 to 9 possible for New York area for tonight. And tomorrow another potential of 3 to 6. They could see heavy snowfall there, no question.
Back into Alabama and into Mississippi and Tennessee we're seeing the scattered snow showers. Of course, in parts of Atlanta we'll keep a sharp on it. It's going to be a neat weather situation to really watch, especially in the southeast. Again, if you happen to be in the northeast you've been dealing with snow all year, more work for you. We'll talk about it throughout the day.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you. We do appreciate it.
HOLMES: And Reynolds, you asked, I'm over here right now sending you my parent's phone number.
WOLF: Dial the digits.
NGUYEN: Why does he have to call?
HOLMES: Because it's 5:00 a.m. in Memphis.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Reynolds good luck with that.
WOLF: I think we'll wait a little bit.
NGUYEN: Good idea.
All right. So there is a fight in Illinois between the people who want Senator Roland Burris to step down but his cheering section is growing louder.
(SINGING)
NGUYEN: This rally held yesterday was to oppose a special election to replace Burris, Illinois's governor, and other elected officials have called for his resignation. They say Burris has not been truthful about the circumstances surrounding his appointment by now ousted Governor Blagojevich but his supporters say he's done nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMITH, CHICAGO CITY ALDERMAN: He's a legitimate representative in our community. He was legitimately appointed to that position. He has a right to serve as diligently as he possibly can and represent our community the way it should be represented. We will not quit. We will not be read out of this Senate seat. Burris is going to represent us and we're going to be on top of it. Anyone who just drives him and pushes him to try to kick him out, you got to come by us and we will not forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, in the next hour we're going to talk live with one of Burris's most vocal supporters about the criticism and the efforts to save his Senate seat.
HOLMES: Well radio legend Paul Harvey has died at the age of 90. His career spanned about half a century, more than 70 years, really. He died yesterday in Phoenix. His voice, unique style of commentary captivated generations of America and regarded as one of the best news writers of our time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL HARVEY, RADIO HOST: The rest of the story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Harvey was heard on more than 1200 radio stations, 400 armed forces networks. He was inductees into the Radio Hall of Fame along with his wife and long-time producer Lynne "Angel" Harvey and he also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 from former President Bush who had this to say about the radio icon.
Laura and I are saddened by the death of Paul Harvey. Paul was a friendly and familiar voice in the lives of millions of Americans. His commentary entertained and enlightened and informed. Laura and I are pleased to have known this fine man and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Paul Harvey had been hosting his radio shows part time for much of the past year after recovering from pneumonia. His wife Lynne died in May of 2008. Spokesperson for ABC radio network said Harvey died at a hospital in Phoenix, where he kept his winter home. We'll have more on the life of Paul Harvey during the next hour here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: He is really going to be missed, just that voice and signature statement, and the rest of the story.
HOLMES: And his writing, his style, nobody -- I mean, we've been studying him for years and nobody can get it.
NGUYEN: Nope.
We've been talking about this morning, in fact we got a lot of response in e-mails about Rush Limbaugh's speech have just been pouring into CNN all weekend.
HOLMES: Yes, he certainly stole the show but he wasn't the only person that was making headline at that conservative gathering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I was looking for change we can believe in.
ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR: The mantra of the Obama campaign was change, change. If he thinks people want to change in 2008, wait till 2012.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It was no holds barred as big name conservatives ripped into President Barack Obama during the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY, (R) MINNESOTA: Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow conservatives, I'm here today to tell you that the reports of the demise of the conservative movement are greatly exaggerated.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm afraid I know where the liberal Democrats want to take us. And as they try to pull us in the direction of government dominated Europe, we're going to have to fight as never before to make sure that America stays America.
ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR: The big mantra of the Obama campaign was change, change. If he thinks people want to change in 2008, wait till 2012.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: To win in 2010 we've got to be the party of new solutions. There are issues Americans care about. But we have to build solutions on the principles in which we believe in. We need to explore new ways of connecting with the grassroots and our potential supporters. And we must be prepared to compete everywhere in America.
PAWLENTY: The only thing that's growing faster than our national deficit is Chris Matthews' man crush on Barack Obama.
NEWT GINGRICH, (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I've listened carefully to the president's speech that night. I think it is the boldest effort to create a European socialist model we have ever seen. I think it's quite clear what his values and his attitude is. But what I was truly struck by was if his attorney general thinks we're a nation of cowards, his administration thinks we're just plain dumb.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: OK, but Rush Limbaugh was the headliner. You can hear more of his speech at the bottom of the hour at 6:30 Eastern. We're going to replay an extended portion of his comments to the conservative group.
In the meantime here's a question that we're asking you this morning both on Weekends@CNN.com and our facebook pages. Let's look at mine. The question is, share your opinion. What do you think of Rush Limbaugh's speech yesterday at the Conservative Political Action Conference?
I've already gotten one now from a viewer who's been watching, if we can get that to pull up. Jackson writes, "I normally cannot change the channel fast enough when I see Rush on TV but I actually watched part of his speech and actually found myself agreeing with what part of what he said. Very scary."
We do invite to you continue sending your thoughts this morning. We're going to be looking at them throughout the morning. There are people talking about -- quite a few saying they agreed with what they heard.
HOLMES: I've got a couple. I want to thank the folks who are sending these in. Please, be nice. Let me just say that to you.
NGUYEN: Or we can't read them on the air.
HOLMES: A couple here, Bill saying, "Everything Rush said is correct. He said, he won't go away, even though liberals want to shut him up."
A response from Danielle saying, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck it must be a duck" and all I heard is quack, quack, quack yesterday. More so people are the opposite side of Rush right now.
NGUYEN: He does spark a commotion because people are going to love it or they are going to hate it but you'll have an opinion about it. Send your opinions at Weekends@CNN.com or to our facebook pages.
HOLMES: All right. Well the promise is a huge one, one you've heard about, but it was so huge that maybe we should reality check this thing. The stimulus package creates or save 3.5 million jobs?
NGUYEN: That's a big question.
An I-reporter sings an ode to his favorite credit card?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): People tell me Amex has crashed people say their credit has smashed but I'll tell you that's not going to happen to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Good-bye gold card my old friend we've seen some good eats on the high end people tell me Amex has crashed people say their credit has smashed but I'll tell you that's not going to happen to me. I'll set you free and use my cash well, OK, my Paypal card, too, and my gift cards. A credit card application? Forget it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: I tell you what, these I-reports, I tell you.
HOLMES: People get a little loopy.
NGUYEN: You can't use your credit cards so you might as well send in a song.
HOLMES: Let's talk about the news.
A lot of claims with the stimulus package, one of the biggest claims, one that everybody's familiar with, we thought we might want to fact-check this thing.
NGUYEN: The question is it true when it comes to saving somewhat 3 to 4 million jobs. Our Josh Levs has a reality check on that. And all the money that it could actually create or save. So what did you find? JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we really needed to dig into this. Something we keep hearing from the administration all the time. Let's start off with what the president has been saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector. Jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges. Constructing wind turbines and solar panels, laying broad band and expanding mass transit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now, the administration originally said 4 million jobs and then they scaled that back when changes were made to the bill. This is factcheck.org they've been calling this stimulus bill bravado. Some economists and also the Congressional Budget Office have looked at versions of this bill and have said that it might lead to there being 3.4 million more jobs than there would be without it. That's the highest possible end of their predictions.
After the final version of the bill came out, some leading economists actually scaled that back and said just about 2 million jobs maximum should be expected. President Obama's own economists in their report said their estimations are subject to significant margins of errors. The key idea is that the administration is taking the highest possible end of those predictions and saying that will definitely happen. Factcheck.org says the idea is this; there are no guarantees, guys. We can't definitely say false but saying they're grabbing at the highest possible end and saying that's fact.
NGUYEN: All right. So what do we know how many jobs were actually saved or created?
LEVS: Again, I wish I knew that. Look at this quote from the Associated Press. They say, it's unlikely the nation will ever know how many jobs are saved as a result of the stimulus. While it's clear when jobs are abolished, there's no economic gauge that tracks job preservation. As we said, we will know some figures about job creation but we might never know if that 3.5 million figure when you toss in all the jobs saved is even true.
HOLMES: All right. Everybody, who knows what's true out there. Everybody is making a claim or two about it, certainly a lot of Republicans who didn't like the thing in the first place. We'll look into that later?
LEVS: In the 8:00 hour we're going to dig into that side of this debate.
HOLMES: Josh, we appreciate you as always.
NGUYEN: So he's one of the most prominent conservative voices in the country. HOLMES: And yesterday, before a national TV audience, that voice was even more prominent, as radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh sent a message to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: President Obama, your agenda's not new, it's not changed and it's not hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: From CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING on March 1st.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody on this Sunday. It is 6:30 a.m., here in the East; 3:30 a.m. out West. Thanks for starting your day with us.
Let's get straight to it because winter has returned with a vengeance across the nation's Southern mid-section. Look at this, parts of Tennessee and northeast Arkansas trying to dig out from under six inches of new snow that fell yesterday. Folks there not used to this kind of stuff. Forecasters say the Northeast, in fact, from New Jersey through Washington could see some severe winter weather today as well.
Also want to report this, this morning. Broadcasting legend Paul Harvey has died. Harvey became one of the nation's most familiar voices over a career that spanned more than 70 years. His famed "rest of the story" was one of his signature lines. Harvey died at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, yesterday, surrounded by family and friends. He was 90 years old.
And conjoined twins, who were successfully separated in an operation you saw live right here on CNN, are recovering well. The surgery took more than 15 hours. Hospital officials in Saudi Arabia, where the operation was performed, say the Egyptian boys are expected to live normal lives. That's amazing.
HOLMES: Well, all eyes on Rush yesterday. He took the center stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, also known as CPAC. He fired up the Republican base.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Let me tell you who we conservatives are. We love people.
(APPLAUSE)
When we look out over the United States of America, when we are anywhere, when we see a group of people, such as this or anywhere, we see Americans, we see human beings. We don't see groups. We don't see victims. We don't see people we want to exploit.
(APPLAUSE)
What we see, what we see is potential. We don't look out across the country and see the average American, the person that makes this country work, we don't see that person with contempt. We don't think that person doesn't have what it takes. We believe that person can be the best he or she wants to be if certain things are just removed from their path, like onerous taxes, regulations and too much government.
(APPLAUSE)
We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize, we recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
(APPLAUSE)
We believe that the Preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth, we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life ...
(APPLAUSE)
...liberty...
(APPLAUSE)
...freedom...
(APPLAUSE)
... and the pursuit of happiness.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Limbaugh went on and on, criticizing President Obama and accusing him of using fear tactics to push the liberal agenda. Limbaugh brought cheering Republicans to his feet as he bashed the president, and Democrats, on the last day of the conference.
Conservatives also conducted a poll to see who they would like to lead the party in 2012. Our deputy political director just loves some polls. Paul Steinhauser, he's keeping track of all things political. He joins us now from Boston. We can't keep up with you man. You're place to place to place.
Tell us, first of all, just how did this go? How was this received at CPAC? Rush Limbaugh, he's speaking to a crowd who he knew he could get, you know, applause lines from, and applause from, so anything different pop out there? I mean, just to be expected, right?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, you know, as you said, T.J., he's I guess feeding red meat to those hungry Republicans or conservatives at this conference. They loved it. That's job number one for Republicans and conservatives. They did not do so well, obviously, in the last election, or the one in 2006. And job number one is kind of re-energizing the base, T.J. And that is what you saw in this three-day conference and who better than Rush Limbaugh to do that, really, as the keynote speaker, to kind of end it all.
He spoke for over an hour. T.J., he was only supposed to speak for 20 minutes. He spoke for over an hour. Yeah, the people in that room were very energized and I'm sure conservative as cross the nation are. But you know what, they have a long way to come back. And job number one, though, is to re-energize the base.
But they have a bunch of other jobs and that will be a lot tougher than re-energizing the base, reaching out to minorities, reaching out to younger voters. But that is interesting, T.J., because a lot of the people here at this conference were younger voters. In fact, they had that straw poll and over 60 percent of those who voted in the straw poll were ages 18 to 25.
And as for that straw poll, the results were released just before Rush Limbaugh spoke and for the third year in a row, Mitt Romney was the winner. He won about 20 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney won it back in 2007. That kind of propelled him in the primaries. He won the straw poll again last year when just about then -- just about that time John McCain had wrapped up the nomination but Romney won and he wins again this year.
You can see, in second place is Bobby Jindal, he is the Louisiana governor, up and comer in the Republican Party, though a lot of pundits kind of slammed his prime-time address, response to President Obama the other day. Ron Paul, who ran last time, 13 percent, tied with Sarah Palin. You remember her, the Alaskan governor, who was, of course, John McCain's running mate, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee and then a bunch of others. It's a long way to go until 2012, but this is I guess an early taste of who conservatives like. We'll have another poll next year, T.J., so we can talk about this one year from now.
HOLMES: You'll have another poll next week, more than likely, Paul.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: You'll have another one for us all the time. But tell us, are Democrats even paying attention to this thing? Do they have to pay attention to it?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah. I mean, sure, they're paying attention to it. Democrats, of course, are pretty critical of Rush Limbaugh. There was a commercial that just went up by two progressive groups, that were backers of Barack Obama, and they say, you know what? The Republicans in Congress are just following Rush Limbaugh, and Rush Limbaugh, basically is the de facto leader of the Republican Party. So, Democrats, actually, I think in a way want to build up Rush Limbaugh, and try to say that Republicans are just basically following his lead and that could be a good way for progressives and other liberals to counter balance or counterattack Rush Limbaugh. So, yeah, they're paying attention.
HOLMES: Well, in the absence of another voice and a clear face out there for the party, I guess, Democrats taking advantage maybe going to create a leader for them at this time. Paul Steinhauser, we appreciate you as always. We'll be talking to you next hour, I do believe. Is that correct?
STEINHAUSER: I'll be back for you.
HOLMES: Always good to have you. Thank you so much. We'll see you here shortly.
Well, a lot of people have a lot to say.
NGUYEN: Oh, yeah, one way or the other.
HOLMES: One way or another had something to say about it. And we've been soliciting some of your comments this will morning on our Facebook pages, Betty's, mine, as well.
Let's share one. We got a ton. We'll try to get to as many as we can, but we'll share this one at least that we got from Greg this morning, saying, "Rush Limbaugh's tone toward President Obama has become so negative that he comes off as unpatriotic at a time in" the country - "in which the country is in such turmoil, it amazes me that he continues to be such divisive. I have to wonder if this is a side effect of his drug addiction."
Now, on that comment there, we are getting a lot of those - And now it has been well documented. I mean, Rush went through this thing with some pills. And he admitted he had some things going on, fine and dandy, but a lot of people are sending those in. If we can, keep them a little cleaner than that, not necessarily attack him personally. Even though that has been part of the story out there, and he is a public figure --
NGUYEN: Let's keep it on topic.
One on the flipside, though, that I'm getting on my Facebook page from Mike says, "After watching Rush's speech it leaves me wondering whether he's considering running for office. With the RNC in disarray, and devoid of charismatic leadership, it seems to me his party desperately needs him." So, obviously this is someone in support. "He would have to take a pay cut, of course, but I suspect most candidates do."
How much does he make?
HOLMES: Somebody told us, $33 plus, million just on the radio shows. NGUYEN: Some $33 million. Yeah, that would be a bit of a pay cut if this is something he wants to do. But you know, so far, there has been no announcement. We'll keep listening.
HOLMES: OK, well, when Rush speaks, just about everybody does listen.
NGUYEN: People do listen. We've been this morning. And we'll continue to play more of that throughout the morning as we have analysis and more political news on CNN.
OK, so if you live in the South, though, let's take a shift change, shall we? The winds, they are on the way. Usually we don't talk that much about the winds, but apparently these are pretty strong, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, some here in Atlanta going up to 30 miles an hour into the afternoon. Not only that we're talking about the possibility of rain, sleet, switching over to snow fall, maybe one to three in Atlanta.
We're talking serious snowfall in parts of New York, maybe close to a foot. On top of that we even have some tornado watches in effect. It's a full plate here. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING. We'll see you in just a few seconds, or a little bit longer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Let's take to you Salem, Alabama, here. Three tornadoes tore through the east-central part of Alabama yesterday. Several people were hurt, we're told, but none seriously. Ten homes and a school destroyed. Churches weren't spared either. Tornadoes destroyed one church, another was damaged.
NGUYEN: Well, that's just the beginning of it. Because we have some more severe weather headed to some parts of the country. Reynolds Wolf has been watching it for us. Good morning.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
NGUYEN: There's more to tell you about. A 650-acre brush fire crippled parts of a small Texas town near Austin yesterday. We want you to take a look at some video that we have in the left-hand corner of your screen. Officials shut down a highway leading into Bastrop, which is about 30 miles east of Austin. They also evacuated hundreds of homes. They say its one of the worst fires to tear through that county. Fire marshals suspect the fires may have been sparked by a downed power line. At least ten homes and two businesses were destroyed.
HOLMES: For decades, if you wanted to know the "rest of the story", there was one man to give it to you.
NGUYEN: Yep, and that man was Paul Harvey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Well, for decades he was one of the most familiar voices in the nation. But sadly listeners have heard the last of Paul Harvey. The radio broadcaster died yesterday at the age of 90. Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson has a look back at his life.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL HARVEY, RADIO BROADCASTER: Hello, Americans, this is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Paul Harvey's distinctive sound and delivery style made him a broadcasting icon.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans like the sound of his voice. His friend Danny Thomas said to him, you better be right, because you sound like God.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: He had one of the most listened to voices in radio history. His "News & Views" aired on some 1,200 radio stations across America. It was a career that started at an early age.
PAUL HARVEY, BROADCASTER: Since I was 14 that voice has been my vocation, my avocation.
ANDERSON: Suburban Chicago was Harvey's home base for most of his professional life. Want Windy City honored him with his own street in 1998. But Paul Harvey Aurandt grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father a Tulsa police officer was killed by gunmen firing from a car when Harvey was a toddler.
Harvey entered radio at the suggestion of a teacher in 1933. It was the start of a life-long love affair with broadcasting. Another life-long love, wife Angel. He was so smitten with Lynne "Angel" Cooper on their first date, he proposed.
HARVEY: Now, with your indulgence, the rest of the story.
ANDERSON: Despite vocal chord problems in his early 80s, which temporarily sidelined his talents, the Peabody winner he loved working. Loved it so much that in 2000 he inked an ambitious 10-year deal with ABC Radio Networks for $100 million. ABC had been home for the conservative commentator for more than half a century.
HARVEY: It's not the fame, not the money. Maybe a comment, kind and sunny, the heart warm, approval from a friend, that's what gives to life its savor and makes one stronger and braver and gives one heart and spirit to the end.
ANDERSON: Fans say Harvey's golden voice echoed the virtues of small town America.
HARVEY: Paul Harvey, good day.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: I'm going to miss that voice.
HOLMES: Oh, love that.
NGUYEN: The storytelling.
HOLMES: It's a amazing. He did short segments. He could tell a whole story in about a sentence and a half, and you got it.
NGUYEN: And had you listening to every single word.
HOLMES: You're holding onto it. Love how he signed off, there. You and I were listening, we knew it, "Good day."
NGUYEN: And "the rest of the story."
HOLMES: All right. Well, we'll move on. Another story about the economy with a little twist here now. For most couples, this is kind of unthinkable. You can't imagine this. Now, it's bad enough to get a divorce, but then still living together in the same house after the divorce.
NGUYEN: After the divorce? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALLIE FREDERICK, DIVORCE IMPACTED BY ECONOMY: My husband lives in the guest room and he comes home on Wednesday nights, early to have dinner with the kids. And the other nights he comes home late to give me my space. So it's -- it's not perfect. It's -- it's been difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So the recession is having, shall we say, unusual effect on some couples who are having a few marital problems?
HOLMES: But this sounds good, though. More and more couples are sticking together.
NGUYEN: After divorce.
HOLMES: OK, you always have to give it away there.
NGUYEN: That's the odd part, though.
HOLMES: But they're sticking together not necessarily because they like each other, they make amends.
NGUYEN: See?
HOLMES: It's a matter of money. NGUYEN: Money.
HOLMES: Christine Romans has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Breaking up is hard to do. Just ask Sallie Frederick. She's getting a divorce, but she and her husband of 15 years still live together, and not because they want to.
SALLIE FREDERICK, DIVORCE IMPACTED BY ECONOMY: My husband lives in the guest room. And he comes home on Wednesday nights early to have dinner with the kids. And the other nights he comes home late to give me my space. So it's -- it's not perfect. It's been difficult.
ROMANS: While her husband didn't want to appear on camera, she describes the divorce as an already painful personal experience made more difficult by the recession.
FREDERICK: I really depend on my friends and family for emotional support. And I don't - I can't talk on the phone. I don't have privacy. My computer's in the kitchen, so I don't write things on the computer that I don't want someone looking over my shoulder and seeing.
ROMANS: Celebrity divorce attorney Raoul Felder says they Fredericks made the right choice.
RAOUL FELDER, MATRIMONIAL ATTORNEY: As far as the house is concerned, it's very sticky. People have to decide how much they hate each other, because if they can still live with each other, and the house or apartment is big enough, they ought stay together and wait for a rising market.
ROMANS: Add divorce to the list of casualties of the rising recession. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 37 percent of attorneys polled reported fewer divorces in a bad economy.
GABRIELLE CLEMENS, DIVORCE FINANCIAL PLANNER: Now, things have gotten so bad that because they can't sell their houses, because their assets are down so much and because their debt is so high, they can't afford to get divorced. Now we've reached the next level of they can't even afford to break up if they wanted to.
ROMANS: As for Sallie Frederick she says after legal bills for two divorce attorneys, the couple switched to a less expensive mediator. She hopes the divorce is complete next month, but the couple plans to remain under the same roof.
FREDERICK: Right now there are 20 houses on the market in town that are in our price range, and there are no buyers. So my broker has pretty much prepared me that the house is going to sit for quite a while.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is March 1st. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 7 a.m., here, on the East Coast, 4.a.m. out West. Glad you could be here.
How about a little Rush Limbaugh to go with your coffee this morning?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIMBAUGH: President Obama, your agenda's not new, it's not changed and it's not hope.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, he is definitely stirring up some controversy. Here's the question, is Limbaugh now the most visible spokesman for the Republican Party? We're going to delve into that.
Plus this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leave Senator Burris alone!
(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)
HOLMES: Well, that's pretty much sums it up. Chicago ministers rallying in support of the embattled Senator Roland Burris. One pastor will be joining us live minutes from now.
But we will start with the conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. He lit a new fire under some conservatives at a meeting in Washington. It's the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference. Limbaugh bashed President Bush -- excuse me -- President Obama and called on conservatives to take back the nation.
Deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser joins us now from Boston.
All right. He is bashing President Obama and Democrats -- no surprise there. But is he becoming the new face, the leader of the Republican Party, or at least the conservative movement?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think that's what some on the left would like to portray him as. And that's -- in fact, there's a new ad out by progressives who backed President Obama, saying that Rush Limbaugh is the leader of conservatives and that Republicans in Congress are basically following his lead. T.J., if you are going to hold a conservative conference and you wanted to energize the base, I guess, who better than Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host, to do that. And that's just what he did yesterday, as you mentioned.
He was dressed all in black. He spoke for over an hour. He was supposed to speak for 20 minutes. He went for over an hour. And he did feed some red meat to the crowd -- no doubt about it -- going after President Obama, going after bipartisanship, saying it's time the conservatives take the country back and they also need to better portray who they are.
Take a listen to a little bit of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: They have destroyed poor families by breaking up those families, (AUDIO BREAK) welfare checks to women to keep having babies, no more father needed, he's out doing something, the government is the father, they've destroyed the family. We're not supposed to analyze that. We're not supposed to talk about that.
(APPLAUSE)
LIMBAUGH: We're supposed to talk about their good intentions. They destroy people's futures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: I guess step one, T.J., for the Republican Party and for the conservatives is to reenergize the base. That's what you saw at this three-day conference of conservatives here in Washington.
But step two is going to be a lot tougher, and that is: reaching out to minorities, reaching out to younger voters, female voters, independents, and that is going to be a little more difficult. We'll see how they do on that step. They've got another year and a half until the next election, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, yes. Isn't that the trick there? Because if you energize the base, then you turn off the middle. And this was a lot of what we saw in the campaign season, that it did seem like, you know, we go back to this same -- oh, unfortunately, this partisanship. And it seems so bitter and nasty.
So, are Democrats really looking at this and saying, OK, we have an opportunity here again? Because if they're listening to Limbaugh, then there's no way that tone, essentially that he took, and people seeing him fired up like that, it just sounds like the same old thing. So, are Democrats seeing the opportunity here at least?
STEINHAUSER: I think you have a great point. The Democrats would probably love to see Rush Limbaugh continue to be in their -- in their, you know, the face of the Republican Party, on or at least of conservatives, because as you say, that could turn off these important moderate voters in the middle that Republicans need to get back -- to take back power, to take back Congress and maybe eventually the White House in 2012. And having Rush Limbaugh say what he says, it does energize the base, and that is very important, but at the same time, it could turn off moderate voters, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. As I like to say it, we have a little time and we'll see what happens down the road. Paul Steinhauser ...
STEINHAUSER: It is early.
HOLMES: It is early. Paul Steinhauser, it's always good to see you. We appreciate you, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: All right. So, what Democrats call bipartisanship, Rush Limbaugh calls "caving in." He says forget about working with the left if it's only on their terms. But Democrats say bipartisanship can still work if Republican leaders work with the president.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: The whole idea of bipartisanship doesn't have to do with Democrat or Republican; it has to do with leaders doing their job to pull this country out of the troubled waters that we're in right now. And it's not about bipartisanship or Democrat or Republican; it's about leadership. And we need to stop the gamesmanship and move forward, and that starts with the Republican leaders we've got in Congress right now. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner working to implement this plan that we've just passed to stimulate the economy and get things rolling again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: President Obama came into office with high hopes for a bipartisanship, but the battle over the stimulus plan made it clear that party lines still run deep.
And for many conservatives, CPAC is the first chance to plot their comeback. It's held every year. The Conservative Political Action Conference brings together students, activists and politicians. And it's put together by the American Conservative Union, which claims to be one of the oldest conservative lobbying organizations.
Now, the first conference gathered back in 1973. Past speakers include former President Ronald Reagan and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Well, he holds opinions not political office, but at the time when the Republican Party is a little light on star power, is Rush Limbaugh the real leader? We're going to talk to deputy political director Paul Steinhauser about that in our next hour.
HOLMES: All right. And we continue to get your comments. I had a lot of comments coming in yesterday right after the speech at 5:00 that many of you saw here live. Coming in to us weekends@cnn.com. But many of you this morning are taking advantage of Betty and I's Facebook pages and commenting there. We got something here.
NGUYEN: Yes, we've already got a whole bunch, in fact. This first one right here is from Daniel in Shreveport, Louisiana. He says, "It boggles my mind that Republicans and conservatives are so quick to criticize President Obama for trying to fix something that was allowed to develop for eight years their buddy was in office. Where were they while the country was falling deeper and deeper in debt?"
And then Christie writes this, "I thought Mr. Limbaugh's speech was great. I agree with him. Conservatives are caring, loving people. We wish for every person no matter what race, gender, sexual preference or political view to succeed. We are all Americans. It is our choice to make decisions to be the best we can with our God given potential, if we are able-bodied and mind, and with hard work can succeed all. Remember, 40 percent of Americans did not vote for President Obama."
So, I'm getting a lot from both sides here on the comments to what they thought about Rush Limbaugh's speech.
HOLMES: All right. And we will continue to share those this morning. We'll try to get as many as we can, we're getting a ton of them. But please, keep them coming in.
NGUYEN: Yes, filling it up.
HOLMES: Please keep them coming in. We'll continue to share those throughout the morning.
We will, meanwhile, now turn to some weather. In Alabama, three tornadoes to tell you about there. This is the video. This is what it looked like. Three tornadoes, again, hit the central part of that state, destroyed a church, damaged another church, 10 homes, at least, destroyed, a school also among those buildings that were taken out.
We'll turn to Tennessee as well. In Memphis, snow -- snow shovels. We're not used to pulling those out there in my neck of the woods. A quick moving storm blanketed the area with four to six inches of snow on Saturday.
NGUYEN: It looks like we may face some of that white stuff right here in Atlanta a little bit later today. Reynolds Wolf has been watching the severe weather outside.
So, is it true -- snow in Atlanta?
WOLF: That's true. We do have a chance of snowfall in Atlanta. As you saw there moments ago, you know, there was some snowfall in parts of Memphis. It'd be great to get a live report out of there, but T.J.'s not going to play. T.J. -- he could call his parents but he's not going to. I'm just teasing you, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, they need a reporter. WOLF: That's true.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: It's still early, though. If you want to call his parents this early, that's on you. You take that.
WOLF: Hey, I'm not calling my pops, that's for sure.
NGUYEN: Right.
WOLF: And I understand why T.J. is not calling his. But you guys are right. In the southeast, we're going to be seeing that snowfall.
Atlanta, anywhere from possibly one to three inches of snowfall. What's interesting, though, is temperatures currently into the 40s, so, well above the freezing point. You're not going to see a whole lot of issues on the roadways because we're not expecting conditions really to get bad there in terms of the heavy accumulation, five to 10 though possible in parts of D.C.
But when you get to New York, they may see anywhere from seven to 11 inches of snowfall. That could be a big mess. That's just for this evening and into tonight. Tomorrow we could see another three to maybe even five inches of snow.
You want to talk about some really heavy snowfall? Forget about New York for just a moment and take a look at places like western Massachusetts, back into Maine and Vermont, some locations could see well over a foot of snowfall over the next 48 hours. That's certainly some huge, huge, huge concern for many people. And if you drive, you have to take, say, from Boston maybe going up towards, say, Portland, Maine, you're going to have some problems there, no question about it.
Meanwhile in terms of your high temperatures for the day, well, we are looking at high temperatures in Atlanta, around 43 degrees. That's what we have now. We have live image for you in Atlanta. We can give you a shot at how it looks outside at this time. And that's going to come up any moment.
Well, let's just -- it looks like early morning. That's exactly what it looks like in Atlanta right now. From this vantage point, it looks green. There you go. We got the low deck of clouds, a few lights on there. The lights are going to be popping up -- popping out and then we're expecting snowflakes let's say around 1:00 o'clock and maybe 2:00 o'clock or so.
Very quickly ,back to the weather map; 54 your high in Dallas, and back into Las Vegas, 78 degrees.
That is a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you guys at the desk.
NGUYEN: A little of everything. You got the 80s, what, there in Phoenix, and then, snow in Atlanta. (CROSSTALK)
WOLF: That's what we're talking about.
NGUYEN: OK. Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: See you guys.
NGUYEN: So, we all know embattled U.S. Senator Roland Burris certainly has his critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PEOPLE SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now he has some very vocal supporters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN: The news channel trusted by more Americans. Now: Back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: Well, there's a fight in Illinois between the people who want Senator Roland Burris to step down but his cheering section is growing louder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(PEOPLE SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This was a rally yesterday. It was held to oppose calls for special election to replace Burris. Illinois's governor and other elected officials have called for the resignation of Burris. They say he's not been truthful about the circumstances surrounding his appointment by now ousted Governor Rod Blagojevich.
But his supporters say he has done nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMITH, CHICAGO CITY ALDERMAN: He's a legitimate representative in our community. He was legitimately appointed to that position. He has a right to serve as diligently as he possibly can and represent our community the way it should be represented.
We will not quit. We will not be rid out of this Senate seat. Roland Burris is going to represent us and we're going to be on top of it. And anyone who just drives him and pushes him to try and kick him out, you got to come by us and we will not forget.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: And here with me now is another one of the most vocal supporters of Senator Burris, the Reverend Stephen John Thurston, "Stephen J." is what they call him. He's with the New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago.
So, we appreciate you being here. So, why do you think there are these calls now for him to step down? Some of those calls coming from some of the same people who were quite supportive of him when he was appointed.
REV. STEPHEN JOHN THURSTON, NEW COVENANT MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Well, I believe it's a rush to judgment. And we are simply saying if there are some investigatory bodies that are looking into this, let them do their work, come back with their findings, and then we can make a decision.
HOLMES: Do you find at all that maybe we just don't have any more benefit of the doubt to give? Given what was going on with Rod Blagojevich and how this whole thing kind of reeked in the first place, that this appointment really, really needed to be on the up and up. So, anything that comes up now maybe just stinks even more to high heaven, if you will. So, do you see now where there's not that much room for error anymore?
THURSTON: We believe that Roland has been truthful and that his statements have been factual in relation to his integrity. He has a history of integrity. And we are simply believing the man for who he is.
HOLMES: All right. Well, you bring to that point there about his statement. And, of course, I'll ask you your opinion. Of course, you're giving support. Certainly, a community leader there you are, but still, to come up with some of those legal questions you talk about -- in fact, he didn't. He admitted he didn't say everything he should have said under oath before an investigatory committee there in Illinois that was looking into -- trying to impeach the governor.
So, that's one of those things where he wasn't completely truthful.
THURSTON: Well, he was truthful in what he said, that he did not say. And just because he did not say, it does not mean that he was lying or not telling the truth.
HOLMES: And it sounds, I did hear you say, we'd like to see all of these investigations and things play out. Are you telling me here, though, that you believe that, in fact, he hasn't done anything wrong, or you just want to wait until somebody proves he's done something wrong?
THURSTON: We don't believe he's done anything wrong. He has said that to us. We believe him -- that there's nothing that has been inappropriate in any way.
And we are just saying to those who are rushing to judgment and calling for his resignation to allow the investigatory bodies to do their work. We don't want him to resign. We believe that he's fulfilling the vision of the vacant seat. And he is doing the work that needs to be done to represent the citizens of Illinois.
HOLMES: All right. Anything to be said on your part for at least having a clean slate, even the fact that we need to have an investigation at all, given everything that happened with this particular seat? Anything to be said -- would you like to say, at least, to just have a clean slate and let the people elect somebody so we could start anew?
THURSTON: No, no. We believe that he is the right man in the right place and that he is efficient in terms of his leadership as a senator, and that he can represent us in Washington, D.C.
HOLMES: Well, all right. Again, Reverend Stephen J. Thurston with the Covenant Missionary Baptist Church there in Chicago -- I know you got service coming up here in about an hour and 15 minutes. So, we appreciate you stopping and spending some time with us before you go speak to your parishioners. Thank you so much, sir.
THURSTON: Thank you, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. So, we have heard your comments about how tough it can be watching or reading about this bad economy. Trust us, it's tough to deliver that news as well.
HOLMES: But you know what? Even you and I get excited when it's time to deliver some good news.
NGUYEN: Good news.
HOLMES: And we got some coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. So, we all know that the economic news, for more than a year now, has been downright depressing.
HOLMES: Yes, it has.
NGUYEN: You know, the foreclosure rates, the unemployment. They've all kept growing. And a lot of people, they are struggling. We know this. We hear it time and time again.
HOLMES: Yes. And we say it time and time again.
NGUYEN: Time and time again.
HOLMES: But maybe overall, this time, for our country, it's not so bad. At least that's what some of you are saying.
Josh Levs, let's hear this.
NGUYEN: We need some good news.
LEVS: I know. I feel like I needed to. Let me just talk a bit of background here.
This was last weekend -- remember, I was talking with our executive producer, Tenisha, and I was -- I don't mean this in a cheesy way, like children are so frolicking in the fields and let's all go drink Coke on the mountain top; like in a reality check way, tell us the great things that are going on right now. And she said, let's try it on Facebook, so people can have a discussion.
Here it is. We posted it last weekend, on my page, Josh Levs CNN. We've been getting a lot of responses and all sorts of different places on Facebook.
Let me just show you some of my favorites. We're going to start off with this one -- which I think is really nice -- from Julie. She talked about what happened at her church. She says, "Despite yet another power outage, we had a standing-room only meeting at church in the only large room with daylight. There was a spirit of kindness and cooperation and fellowship that's not commonly experienced." And then she said, "To some extent, this time of trouble is bringing out the best in people."
I'll throw you a few more. I want to share some more. Kelly wrote us this, "Alternate sources -- alternative sources of energy are finally being given some serious exploration by the government." "Cheap stuff, prices for furniture, travel, clothing, cars and homes are all down." And then, Keith, actually went on to say, "Let's be honest, home prices needed to go down because they were inflated."
All right. Baseball now. "Spring training has started. Baseball season is not too far away now." That's from Kathey.
So, look -- we've been getting a lot of really awesome responses from many of you. And we really appreciate that. You can join the discussion, "Josh Levs CNN."
This is the last one we're showing you. "Because of the downturn in the economy, families are spending more time together." From Matt.
Let's quickly zoom in on the board with the seconds I got left because not everybody is taking quite so seriously guys. Devin wrote, "My grandma made me a cake. She put extra frosting on it, too." Maybe you like this one from Nate, "I can't think of anything but I did save a ton of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico."
So, if you do want to take this seriously, go for it. If you don't, that's OK, too. But it is interesting to get your perspectives with some of the great things that are going on in the world. It's up on Facebook right now, "Josh Levs CNN." Join me, I'm going to keep an eye on that because I really want to know what you guys think are the great things going on in a pragmatic way so we can all stop and appreciate a little bit.
NGUYEN: All right. You know these are desperate times, and we're asking people to share their good news with us.
LEVS: I know. HOLMES: The cake sounds good.
NGUYEN: The cake does sound kind of yummy.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: What's your good news, Betty?
NGUYEN: Hey, I am gainfully employed and I am happy about that. That's my good news.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: So far, so good, folks. How about you?
HOLMES: What -- we are employed. We're blessed to be here with CNN, seriously.
NGUYEN: We're alive and well.
HOLMES: We are. We woke up this morning. So, there we go.
NGUYEN: That's always a good start.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Well, there's some good news that a lot of these young ladies -- look at these happy faces.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: I bet they got some good news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: It's the Jonas Brothers.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's the kind of greeting T.J. gets every single morning but ...
HOLMES: When I go where?
NGUYEN: To work -- when you come to work. You have throngs of teenagers excited.
HOLMES: I was working at the wrong place, I showed up at the wrong building this morning.
(LAUGHTER) NGUYEN: OK. So, take a look at the bedlam last night when the boy band made a surprise visit to a group of fans right here in Atlanta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: Your boys.
NGUYEN: Hey, you know what -- people love them.
HOLMES: Your boys and hundreds of adoring screaming, young teenagers. I had to check their reading glasses twice. I wonder if they were seeing things the other night.
NGUYEN: And that is because the biggest superstars of their generation, the Jonas Brothers, made a surprise appearance at a movie theater in Atlanta. And CNN's Brooke Baldwin was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: It's the Jonas Brothers.
(CHEERS)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The screams reminiscent of Beatlemania. The Jonas Brothers may be one fewer than the Fab Four but their mere presence elicits a similar reaction, especially when it's a total surprise.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRLS: That was awesome!
BALDWIN: The Jo Bros are on a blitz weekend tour, dropping in on unexpected movie audiences in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Charlotte, and now, Atlanta. The target -- young female fans, waiting to watch their newest 3D concert movie.
We caught up with Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas before the big surprise.
NICK JONAS, THE JONAS BROTHERS: For us, we're just so honored to have fans who are so supportive, and have a very unique way of showing their appreciation for us with the screaming and the fainting, sometimes, I think they got. But for the most part, just really going above and beyond make us feel really loved.
BALDWIN: The 16, 19 and 21-year-olds catapulted into teen superstardom just in the last two years with appearances on the Disney Channel. They're now acting, swinging, playing music worldwide; recently sharing the stage with Stevie Wonder at the Grammys.
JOE JONAS, THE JONAS BROTHERS: I like the acting thing and it's really fun. But, I think, for all of us, the music is what we love to do. That's our heart.
BALDWIN: These three also have some pretty big fans in the White House.
KEVIN JONAS, THE JONAS BROTHERS: To be able to perform in the White House and be invited there, not only for the kids' inaugural, but then to be part of, you know, the girls' first night in the house and be the surprise at the end of the scavenger hunt, pretty much was the coolest moment ever.
BALDWIN: Well, this might just be the coolest moment ever for this crowd.
(CHEERS)
BALDWIN (on camera): The Jonas Brothers' 3D movie is officially out in theaters nationwide. And if you are one of the fortunate few who gets to see these guys in person -- parents, my advice, bring your earplugs.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Can you just imagine that theater? I don't think the parents in there can hear today.
HOLMES: So, tell me, how was it in there for you? I know you had gone to that ...
NGUYEN: It was a time of my life. No, I was never there almost. It's not a bad band.
HOLMES: But that is -- you know, that'd be a total surprise like that, you sit in the movie theater and these guys walk -
NGUYEN: Right. And you're pre-teen, oh, yes, out of your mind.
HOLMES: That's cool.
NGUYEN: OK. We are getting a whole lot of reaction this morning though to that fiery speech by Rush Limbaugh at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
HOLMES: And we'll have that story at the top of the hour. And Betty and I, of course, we'll be back then.
But first, we got "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and it starts right now.
