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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Skewers Clinton, GOP, Self at Dinner; Pope Urges Respect for Women on Mideast Trip; Weather Helps Firefighters in California Blaze; N.C. Storms Down Trees
Aired May 10, 2009 - 06:00 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.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
NGUYEN: And good morning. Woo! It is quite a morning already. It's....
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...Sunday, May 10. Happy Mother's Day out there, all you moms. Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I am T.J. Holmes. Just having a little smile here. Our Twitter followers really crack us up sometimes.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Yes, they do.
HOLMES: Thank you for sending those in.
NGUYEN: The things they say, oh my goodness.
HOLMES: Yes. Good morning. Glad you could be here with us.
Take a look at some of these pictures from last night, and where would you imagine this was? You see Samuel L. Jackson there chatting it up.
NGUYEN: Yes. George Lucas.
HOLMES: George Lucas there as well. You might think this is a...
NGUYEN: Bon Jovi.
HOLMES: ...a red carpet - where? - in Hollywood.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Uh uh. This was in Washington last night at the big correspondents' dinner.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) scene right there.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) later. They all walked the red carpet last night. But of all of those big stars there, who was the biggest star? The president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now Sasha and Malia aren't here tonight because they're grounded. You can't just take Air Force One on a joyride to Manhattan. I don't care whose kids you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: We talked about that yesterday and that photo, the infamous photo now. Well, the president did rip on his kids, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. More funny lines and highlights in just five minutes.
HOLMES: Also, we're going to be taking a look at the situation in Pakistan. Dusty roads lined with cars, motorbikes, people trying to get out. Literally hundreds of thousands of civilians fleeing the fighting between the army and the Taliban. We'll have more on this military offensive and how it's affecting civilians. And now we have a full-scale humanitarian crisis on our hands. That's coming our way in about 30 minutes, a full report.
But first, some other stories from overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Pope Benedict celebrating a historic Mass this morning in Amman, Jordan. He urged increased respect for women in the Middle East. This is the pontiff's first trip to that region.
You'll remember he did set off a bit of a firestorm about three years ago when he made some comments that seemed to criticize the Prophet Muhammad.
NGUYEN: Well, there is another possible H1N1 flu death in the U.S. Washington state health officials say a man who already had heart problems died last week from what appears to be complications from the flu.
The two other flu-related deaths happened in Texas. According to federal health officials, there are nearly 2,300 swine-flu cases in the U.S.
HOLMES: Also, there could be a little hope for an American journalist serving an eight-year prison sentence in Iran. You see her there. Well, a three-judge panel is beginning to consider an appeal for Roxanna Saberi. She was convicted of spying last month in a one- day trial.
NGUYEN: All right. Want to get you now to that wildfire in Santa Barbara, California. It seems a cool ocean breeze can just do wonders.
This morning, many of the residents forced to evacuate have returned home, and a mandatory evacuation order was lifted. The winds, blowing off the Pacific, helped firefighters make considerable progress. The fire is now about 40 percent contained. Full containment is expected by Wednesday.
About 9,000 acres have burned though since Tuesday. Nearly 80 homes and businesses have been damaged or destroyed.
HOLMES: Want to turn to North Carolina now. Parts of that state, people there cleaning up after severe thunderstorms hammered them as well. A lot of states have been getting hit hard.
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely. You know, WRAL, our affiliate reporter there, Beau Minnick, has a look at the damage in Raleigh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEAU MINNICK, WRAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a scary moment for the homeowner who was here at the time this big tree came crashing down. It essentially snapped in half, then fell right over on top of the house. Part of it crashed into the attack, but no one was hurt.
(voice-over): A tree that once towered over this Raleigh home on Cedar Lane (ph) near Falls Lake (ph) now is split in two. Saturday night's storm sent the tree crashing into the attic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was downstairs on my computer, and I just heard this big boom. And I came upstairs, and there was the tree laying on top of the house.
MINNICK: Damage reports came in from other parts of Wake (ph) County. The driver of this pickup was traveling in Jenkins Road (ph) in Wake Forest when the storm blew this tree over, crashing right on the truck. The driver, who wasn't hurt, says he saw the tree start to fall, and swerved to avoid it. But it was too late.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wind was really whipping. Got into the car, and I was in the car when he called and said a tree just fell on the house.
MINNICK: Pauline Stockdale (ph) wasn't home when the tree crashed on her house. She says she and her husband had debated whether to cut it down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted the tree to stay, which was the problem. He wanted it cut down because he was afraid it was going to someday fall on the house. And first thing he said was, 'Well, I told you so.'
MINNICK (on camera): But again, the Stockdales are able to smile about it now because no one was hurt. Crews are starting to remove the limbs of tree now. The homeowners hope to have the entire tree removed by Monday.
In Raleigh, Beau Minnick, WRAL News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. Want to stay on those northern Tennessee because there's been some serious damage there.
HOLMES: Yes. Let's show this video. Good morning to you, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: ...some of this stuff. I mean, we've been (ph) talking about these storms. They continue.
Here is some of the - a lot of flooding. We're talking about four feet of flooding. A lot of streets, a lot of homes being flooded.
Good news as always, no serious injuries...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ...reported, but they do think there - somebody spotted a tornado.
WOLF: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: Yes. And not only that, but - what? - baseball-sized hail, Reynolds? Is that correct?
WOLF: Baseball-sized hail, tennis-ball-sized hail, softball- sized hail due to those strong updrafts of these storms. So, I mean, certainly some rough stuff to say the least. And the flooding that they had there may play out in parts of Arkansas, back to T.J.'s home state today.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
WOLF: What we're seeing not exactly the best situation in parts of the Southeast. And the reason why is pretty simple.
Let me show you very quickly on the magic wall. We've got a stationary front that's set up over parts of the Southeast. That's been bringing some of those scattered showers into Tennessee and then back into, say, parts of the Tom Bigby - Tom Bigby and over to the Alabama rivers later on today. Could have some strong storms.
From south Georgia back over to, say, the Big Easy, also into Baton Rouge, you may deal with some rough weather. But into Texas, it looks pretty good. And then when you make your way out west, the situation is going to pretty dire still.
An improving situation for Santa Barbara. What we could be dealing with is at least a little bit more moisture coming in from the Pacific. Certainly some great news there. Let me enlarge this and show you something. From the LA Basin, from Long Beach to about Santa Clarita, we're seeing a lot of that marine layer come in, some of that moisture. Certainly the situation is not picture perfect for Santa Barbara, but the humidity is going to be going up. It's about 40 percent contained; we're talking about that wildfire.
What we do anticipate is - is for them to have a much better handle as we get into Wednesday and of course Thursday in battling that blaze. Right now, currently, about 4,000 firefighters that are taking part in that blaze, doing what they can to put it out.
In terms of heat, take a look at it. We've got 101, your forecast high for this Mother's Day in Phoenix. Back over to Kansas City, 67. Nashville with 73, the expected high. For your nation's capital, 71, should be a nice day there. Atlanta, a mix of sunshine and clouds with 73. And Tampa, 92. Miami with 86.
All right. You guys are up to speed. We got a lot to talk about weatherwise today. Make sure you stay tuned right here at CNN.
You and Betty, T.J., have no choice whatsoever.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: You have to. I mean, you're not going anywhere I don't think.
HOLMES: We will be here, and you're not going far. We're glad we got you this weekend always with the severe weather. And we appreciate you, buddy.
WOLF: No problem.
HOLMES: We'll be talking to you here again in a second.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Let's take a look at what the president's going to be up to this week. He's going to start the week with a visit from the University of North Carolina men's basketball team. You may remember, he picked them to win the NCAA tournament; didn't really go out on a limb there, they were the overall No. 1 seed. Didn't let him down of course; they were the champions.
And then later in the week, he'll give the commencement address at Arizona State University. That'll happen on Wednesday. The school is naming a scholarship for the president instead of giving him an honorary degree. You remember that started a bit of a hubbub. They didn't want to give him that degree.
And then on Thursday, he's going to be in New Mexico, expecting him to host a town-hall meeting there.
But last night, what was he up to?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Loosened up the crowd a bit, loosened up those who cover him day in, day out. Landed a few one-liners at the annual White House...
NGUYEN: Pretty good ones, too, actually.
HOLMES: ....Correspondents Dinner. It drew a bunch of big names. It can't get much bigger than right there, Wolf Blitzer.
NGUYEN: Wolf Blitzer, yes. Owen Wilson there. Got a lot of those in the crowd, those celebs. Michael Bloomberg.
President Obama though got a chance to show his funny side, poking fun at Republicans and himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: All in all, we're proud of the change we've brought to Washington in these first 100 days, but we've got a lot of work left to do, as all of you know. So I'd like to talk a little bit about what my administration plans to achieve in the next hundred days.
During the second hundred days, we will design, build and open a library dedicated to my first hundred days. It's going to be big, folks.
In the next hundred days, I will learn to go off the prompter, and Joe Biden will learn to stay on the prompter.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: In the next hundred days, our - my partisan outreach will be so successful that even John Boehner will consider becoming a Democrat. After all, we have a lot in common. He is a person of color, although not a color appears in the natural world.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: What's up, John?
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, poor John Boehner.
NGUYEN: I know.
HOLMES: Poor guy.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: That appears in the natural world? Yikes.
HOLMES: Poor guy. NGUYEN: All right. This year's dinner also had performance by comedian Wanda Sykes. She was pretty hilarious I thought, although some her jokes - mm, they were a little tough for some in the audience.
HOLMES: But that's her.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: And when - and...
NGUYEN: I mean, that's what comedians do, right?
HOLMES: You're familiar with her? She's - she doesn't hold back...
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: ...ever. So not used to seeing her in that kind of crowd.
But we asked a lot of you, and the president getting rave reviews so far...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ...by a lot of you who did see. We're asking this morning on our - both of our Twitter pages, also our Facebook pages where you can find us and - not that lovely picture of us, but you can find us online.
But you all are chiming in.
NGUYEN: Yes, I've got one here from Regina Edwards. And she says, "Some of Sykes' stuff was funny, but she should hire some of the president's writers to moonlight for her. He killed it. Can I say about the president?" Meaning it was really good, for you folks who don't get that lingo. "Every comment had me laughing out loud."
HOLMES: Also Sheila Jackson, if we go to the right there, on my Facebook page, Shelia Jackson Lowe says, "Hey T.J. I watched the president last night. He was great. His delivery was on point. It was refreshing to see this side of a president."
And you know, George W. Bush also got credit for, you know, being - doing a good job at these things. Remember, they had the impressionist there that year - the impersonator, I should say....
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ...who was a - who - they did the side-by-side routine.
NGUYEN: I thought that was funny.
HOLMES: So - that was funny. He does - he's done pretty well at those events. But that's a good time for everybody just to kick back. NGUYEN: I'm sure at some point we'll see one, too, for Obama - President Obama.
OK, putting your money where your faith is. Want to talk about that, because take a listen to this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THE REV. MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH, FOUNDER, AGAPE INTL. SPIRITUAL CENTER: In one of those moments I heard, 'Sell all your stocks.'
NGUYEN: Hmm.
BECKWITH: And I said, 'Sell all my stocks?' 'Sell all your stocks.' And I said, 'OK.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Can you imagine? Would you do it if you just heard a voice that said go - 'Hey, take out all your stocks, get them out of the market.' Well, I talked with Revered Beckwith about turning to God for financial guidance. Hear what he has to say about that.
Plus this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: You know, there are people every day that go off to work and they - they hate - they - what they do. They don't like their job at all. You seem very happy.
ALBA LEE, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Very happy. Plants make me happy. Plants don't talk back; they're beautiful. They're colorful. They're fun. Every - I mean, is this not gorgeous?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Plants don't talk back. There is no customer service you have to deal with.
NGUYEN: That's true. No complaints.
HOLMES: With plants, no talking back.
Yes, a lot of people doing gardening this time, including our Reynolds Wolf, as you see there. But if you think your garden was tough, wait until you see what it takes to create some runway appeal at one of the nation's busiest airports.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, BON JOVI, "LIVIN ON A PRAYER")
NGUYEN: All right. Let's talk a little bit about living on a prayer. The Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith is a nationally known spiritual leader. His claim to fame is faith, not finances.
But judging from his actions, the reverend may know the stock market a little bit better than the so-called experts. He actually got out just before stocks plunged last year, saving him thousands.
So how did he time it just right? Well, I traveled to Los Angeles to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): It was here in Reverend Beckwith's media room where he says he heard a message that would change his financial future.
BECKWITH: I was sitting right here. I was signing books for a book signing that I had to do the next day. And I was signing, I had to stop every now and then just kind of take in the people what I was signing for prayerfully, and in one of those moments, I heard, 'Sell all your stocks.'
NGUYEN (on camera): Hmm.
BECKWITH: And I said, 'Sell all my stocks?' 'Sell all your stocks.' I said, 'OK.'
The next morning was Monday and I went into - went into the brokerage and said, 'I'm selling all my stocks.'
NGUYEN (voice-over): Here are his statements showing he sold on September 29, 2008. Less than two weeks later, on October 12, the International Monetary Fund warned the financial system was tethering on the brink of systematic meltdown.
So was his timing divine intervention? After all, Reverend Beckwith has spent his life centered on faith. He founded the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, which ministers to thousands.
NGUYEN (on camera): So what do you attribute it to, this inner voice?
BECKWITH: It is spirituality.
Everyone, everyone has the ability to hear that kind of guidance and that cultivate the willingness to be still, to listen, to pray, to take the time every day to liberate yourself from the bottles of the world and to get to what's really important, which is your soul.
NGUYEN (voice-over): Reverend Beckwith admits he's no financial expert, just a man rooted in faith, who enjoys spending time with his family. But when he does get back in the markets, he says he only wants to invest in socially responsible companies.
BECKWITH: In terms of investing, I had to really think about the fact that, where do I want to put my money? Because I don't believe in just making a profit; I believe in what is called noble profit. And that is, the profit not only has to support the business that it comes from, but it also has to support the kind of world I want to live in.
NGUYEN: It's a noble plan, but is it sound investment advice or financial suicide?
I took that question to CNN's chief financial correspondent, Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN, CHIEF FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: The problem comes in when you're dealing with an environment where it's just about making money, where others are just investing for greed. So they'll cut corners, and you may get stuck with a lower return because you're investing in the type of company that's doing the right thing.
It may be best to try and do the right thing in other areas of your life. Because when you're trying to invest, you can do better if you get the money that you need, and then you've got the money to make your own decisions about how you're going to do things.
NGUYEN: However, Natalie Pace tends to side with Reverend Beckwith.
She's the author of "Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is." We caught up with her at this economic forum in LA and asked her about socially responsible investing.
NATALIE PACE, AUTHOR AND FINANCIAL ADVISER: It forces companies to evolve.
So Exxon Mobil may be full of talent and infrastructure, and if we switch to electric cars, maybe they become the lithium-ion battery makers. Who knows? But as you start forcing new products that really serve our world better, you don't lose all the talent, you don't lose all the infrastructure, you just get better products.
NGUYEN: And that's the kind of change Reverend Beckwith hopes his investments will make.
BECKWITH: I think it's a time for us to reassess our priorities as a nation, as a culture.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And you know, the reverend says, when he does get back into the markets, he is looking to invest in green, sustainable energy.
And back to that noble profit, or, as we're talking about, socially responsible investing, he says - and I'm quoting here - "That is the next stage in our evolution as a species," because he really does believe you can effect change by determining where you're going to put your money, where you're going to invest that money.
So it'll be interesting to see if that actually does make a good profit compared to, as Ali Velshi was saying, other people that are just in it...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...to make the money. So if you're trying to be socially responsible, how does that weigh out?
HOLMES: Interesting to hear Ali say that might not get you the money, but it might help you sleep better at night.
NGUYEN: Very true.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, if you're new to this workforce, where should you be going for a job? Josh Levs looking into that for us.
Good morning, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you guys.
This is interesting: it's the best cities for new college graduates, the ones that have the most jobs and affordable rent? I think you're going to be surprised which one ranks No. 1.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: No, that one's not on my playlist. But I thought it was yours. No?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: I don't know where we're getting this from. Josh? (ph)
NGUYEN: Well, new college graduates have always faced challenges entering the workforce, finding a job and all that. But it can be intimidating, and now add the economic crisis to all of it, and it is so very tough out there.
HOLMES: I've talked to a lot of college students, going to campuses, and they say, 'Yes, I'm going to grad school'; 'I'm going to law school.'
NGUYEN: Right. Because I can't find a job, right?
HOLMES: They just - they just want to stay in school a little longer.
Well, some cities out there though are giving today's college graduates a better shot than other cities.
Josh Levs here with the top 10. Good morning, Josh.
LEVS: Good morning to you. You know what? The song kind of gave away one of the top 10 (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: New York?
LEVS: Yes, it's in there, which actually is interesting to me that it's affordable. That's what they're saying.
One of the big questions is, which cities are most affordable? You got three factors that come together for this list. You've got how many job opportunities, affordable rent and then how many other young people?
It comes from here, apartments.com and CareerBuilder, this section that they have for college students called CBCampus.
Let's just get right to it. I'm going to show you No. 10 and we'll do the countdown right here on this Top 10 list. San Antonio - and with each city, we're showing you the average cost of city. All right. San Antonio.
Let's bang through a few more.
At No. 9 now, this one a little bit less surprising, Chicago, $1,133 average rent there. When you factor in the number of job opportunities, they're saying it's pretty good.
All right. Let's go through a few more. At No. 8, you've got Denver.
Then 7 is Phoenix.
And 6 is where you get to New York. And that - this is really surprising to me, that that's considered one of the top 10 best, especially when rent there - you can see on average, more than $1,500 for someone who's just out of school, But they say there's also a lot of job opportunities there. So overall, pretty good. Plus you got a lot of young people.
All right. Top 5 now.
No. 5, Cleveland.
No. 4 is Cincinnati.
No. 3, Baltimore.
And then let's take a look at the top two. I did not see either of these coming. Two is Philadelphia - major city. You can kind of get that.
But Betty, T.J., take a look at No. 1 - the No. 1 city, they're saying, for new college graduates, Indianapolis. Apparently, lots of building going on there, lots of new jobs available. Then when you factor in the lower average cost of rent in general, and enough other young people who are kind of getting over there, this list says, 'You know what? Overall, Indianapolis right now is the best city for (INAUDIBLE)' NGUYEN: Yes, but look at the rent there? Six hundred and twenty- five dollars? That's the average? That is really good.
HOLMES: That's pretty good.
LEVS: That's fantastic. And that's one of the best things about it; you can get a job and you can afford to actually live and still eat and have fun, which you don't get a lot of (INAUDIBLE) places.
NGUYEN: Yes, eating's kind of important, Josh.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: We're having people weigh in on this list, because I know a lot of people are probably looking at the list, going, 'Well, what a second. What about my city?'
LEVS: Yes, you know what? They are. Yes, some people are not loving this. And some people are saying, 'Yes, it's exactly right on.'
I'll show you where you can weigh in. You've got Facebook and Twitter, we're going for right now. There you go. Plus, send us e- mails, weekends@cnn.com. We're going to take a look at - oh, there's --- there you go, my Facebook page, joshlevscnn.
I know on Twitter, Betty and T.J. are inspirational. We've got me up there. Twitter.com/joshlevscnn. Weigh in; let us know your thoughts on this. Do you disagree? Do you agree? Do you have questions? Do you think the list is ridiculous? I'll also post some links on Facebook and Twitter to what I've just showed you so you all can debate it amongst yourselves, too, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. And we're already getting some really good responses on Facebook...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...and Twitter and MySpace dealing with the president at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
LEVS: Fun stuff.
NGUYEN: And we got a - another segment coming up...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...in our "Faces of Faith." You want to introduce that one?
HOLMES: Well, as a - we're going to talk to a couple this morning, a couple that has authored a book that suggests that couples who pray together have better sex lives; they have less fear of divorce; and they have fewer arguments. And they are going to make that case this morning. And we put that out there this morning, and we are getting all kinds of interesting response. NGUYEN: So let us know what you think about all of - of those things. We want to hear from you this morning. Go to our Facebook pages and our Twitter sites.
HOLMES: All right. But the - the major story happening right now, happening in Pakistan, actually - a full-scale military offensive is what it's being described as. Some Pakistanis, as you're seeing in these pictures, are doing whatever they can and taking whatever they can to get out of their homes. People on foot; they're on motorbike, cars, trying to get out of harm's way. We'll take you live to Islamabad.
NGUYEN: Plus, Pope Benedict delivers Mass to thousands in Amman, Jordan, this morning. His message of persevering with faith despite hard times. That straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning, everybody, and welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
OK, a room full of laughs last night as the president poked jabs at people at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
HOLMES: Yes, pretty much no holds barred here. Not even for his secretary of state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: And that's my relationship with Hillary. You know, we had been rivals during the campaign. But these days we could not be closer. In fact, the second she got back from Mexico, she pulled me into a hug and gave me a big kiss.
(LAUGHTER)
Told me I'd better get down there myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's good, OK.
NGUYEN: Yeah, referring to swine flu.
HOLMES: Of course, making a swine flu reference there.
As you can see it was a star-studded night. We will have more from this dinner straight ahead.
NGUYEN: All right. But first, developments in Pakistan that we need to tell you about this morning. The military there says it has killed as many as 200 Taliban militants over the last 24 hours. But the fierce fighting has more than 500,000 Pakistani civilians just scrambling to find safety. HOLMES: The Pakistani military, or government, rather, lifted a curfew imposed on the Swat Valley region for a few hours that was to allow civilians to either flee the area or risk getting caught in the crossfire. A full-scale military offensive on the region has intensified; the battle raging between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants. Let's head to our International Correspondent Reza Sayah who is in Islamabad for us.
Reza, hello to you. I guess two fronts we need to cover there. Let's start with the military and the fighting front. And then we will talk about this human crisis, I guess, that is developing. Just what is the status of the fighting? We hear these 200 militants are killed. How intense is this fighting now?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is getting more intense, T.J., based on what we're hearing. This is day four of the operation. The military is calling a full-scale defense against the Taliban in the Swat region. Let's get you the latest. This is information the Pakistani army is telling us.
The military says they are securing some critical regions. They have done so in the past 24 hours. And they also say they have killed 200 militants in the past 24 hours. This is on top of the 140 militants, they say, they killed on Friday.
We should note that CNN cannot independently verify these numbers because reporters are banned from the Swat Valley and surrounding districts.
We also know that civilians are dying in the middle of fighting but we are getting conflicting reports on how they are dying. We have spoken to a number of civilians who fled the area. They say civilians are being killed by indiscriminate firing by the military. But the military is saying it's the militants who are killing civilians by planting roadside bombs, by using them as human shields. Witness accounts say that oftentimes militants fire on the military and they go inside civilian homes and that's why, they say, some civilians are being killed in this fighting.
In another piece of news that we can report, the army tells us a reporter from a private TV news channel has been kidnapped over the past 24 hours.
So, the operation continues; it's a complicated fight against this insurgency in the Swat Valley, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reza, and let's now turn to all of these hundreds of thousands of residents who were allowed to get out. A lot of them heeded that warning. Tell me, where are they going? Is this turn into a full-scale humanitarian crisis now? Also, who are these people blaming for what is happening? The Taliban or the government and the military there in Pakistan?
SAYAH: One of the challenges of the military is to pick out the militants. Remember, these militants are insurgents who don't wear uniforms. They can easily set aside their weapons and blend in with the civilian population. So the strategy of the military is to get these civilians out, to isolate the militants, and to go after them. And that's why since 6:00 a.m. this morning, they released the curfew. They let go of the curfew and hundreds of thousands of people fled the area joining hundreds of others of thousands of people who fled the area. And they are going to refugee camps, relatives' homes, these are refugee camps that are overflowing.
And the Pakistani government acknowledged over the weekend; the prime minister, himself, said a humanitarian crisis is emerging. And we are doing our best to deal with the humanitarian crisis. We have spoken to some of those displaced citizens, and most of them are blaming the Taliban and they are supporting the government. But if the government does not address the situation very quickly, doesn't get help to these refugees very quickly, you can be sure the support is quickly going to fade away, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reza Sayah, for us live in Pakistan. We appreciate you. We will be checking in with you again on this story. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, Pope Benedict called for greater respect for women today as he conducted a historic mass in the Middle East. It is his first visit to Jordan has pope. And our Ben Wedeman is in Amman, where thousands of Christians gathered for the pope's mass.
Ben, let me ask you, how significant is the pope's visit to Jordan?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: It's significant. It is his first visit to an Arab country. It is the first leg in a week- long trip which will take him not only to Jordan but to Israel, and the Palestinian Territories.
Yesterday he went to a mosque where he tried to spread his message of interfaith dialogue in speaking with Muslim dignitaries and scholars. Today he held this mass for about 20,000 people. They were Christians not only from Jordan, which has a fairly small but active Christian minority, somewhere between 2 and 3 percent of the population. But there were also Christians who had driven or flown from Lebanon, from Syria, from the Palestinian Territories and also a small group of Iraqis, some of their - these Iraqi children who have taken refuge in Jordan, received their first communion. So today the atmosphere was very festive, but the concerns of the Christians were very much part of the tone of the speech by the pontiff today here in Jordan.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Ben Wedeman, joining us live by phone. Thanks so much, Ben.
The pope's visit to Jordan is the top story on CNN.com.
In the meantime, though, lights, camera and teleprompter.
HOLMES: OK, that sounds like us, doesn't it?
NGUYEN: Yeah, it is us. There is a video. You see the president. You know, a lot of times, when you are doing speeches, you don't see those teleprompters on the side.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: But many times they are there. And we're going to show you a lighter side of the president, right after this break. As you look at our teleprompter.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: President Obama beginning the week with a visit from the University of North Carolina's men's baseball team. He, along with a lot of other people, you'll remember, picked them to win the NCAA Tournament. They didn't let him down, of course.
Then later in the week he will give the commencement address at Arizona State University on Wednesday. Then, of course, you know, the school, the whole controversy, didn't want to name - didn't want to give him an honorary degree. But instead they are naming a scholarship after him. And then on Thursday he is expected to host a town hall meeting in New Mexico.
Last night, the president loosened up a bit with many of those who cover his administration. He landed a few one-liners at the Annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. The event drew big names in the media and a whole lot of big names from Hollywood as well. But President Obama's favorite target, himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You know, I had an entire speech prepared for this wonderful occasion. But now that I am here, I think that I will try something a little different. Tonight I want to speak from the heart. I am going to speak off the cuff.
(LOUD MACHINE NOISE)
HOLMES: OK, you need to see this to get the whole joke here. Teleprompters coming up for him to speak off the cuff, as he says. You know the president gets a hard time sometimes for having to stay on the prompter, and not being able to really speak off the cuff so well. So, just poking a little fun at himself about that last night.
Comedian Wanda Sykes was some of the big entertainment at the dinner last night. She did well, but we can talk about this all day long. We need to talk to somebody who was in the room last night. Our Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser was nice enough to actually get up this morning, after the evening that he had last night.
Paul, you look pretty good after what, I am sure, was a fun night. You have seen some of these things. Been to a few others. Everybody was excited, though, to see how this president performed?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, this is a big dinner. It dates back to the 1920s. It's a tradition for the president to speak and to make fun of himself, and you know what, this president definitely lived up to it.
But you're right, T.J., there was more attention this year than there has been in year's past. We got a brand new president, very high in public opinion ratings. And there seemed to be more Hollywood-types than usual. There are always a lot of big stars at the dinner, but there seemed to be a little bit more this time. So, a little bit more attention than in years past.
And you are right about the president. Listen, he made fun of the Republicans. He made fun of those in his own administration. He even joked about his biggest gaffe, I guess, so far. That fly over by Air Force One, brining his kids into, saying they took the plane for a joy ride.
But he also made fun of himself. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Finally, I believe that my next 100 days will be so successful I will be able to complete them in 72 days. And on the 73rd day I will rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Not bad. You know, a pretty good delivery last night. And people there -- on both sides of the party, the Democrats, Republicans from what I noticed in the room, everybody was laughing pretty heartily at his jokes, T. J.
HOLMES: You know, does this dinner ever take a step back, given the times? You know? We still are -we've been in -the country has been at war for several years now, with the war in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. But you know, given the times, the economic times, does this dinner still always have that jovial feel to it not matter what's going on in the times?
STEINHAUSER: No, it has been more somber at times, too. I remember, right during the Iraq war, that year back in 2003 there was a much more somber tone at the dinner. And it was a little more somber, in a way, last night. There was a lot of mention, of course, of the tough economic times the country is facing.
HOLMES: Of course, the president yesterday, as well a little business, if you will. He got to meet with Richard Phillips.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: The captain of the Alabama Maersk, the one that was taken over by pirates.
STEINHAUSER: Right, and he was in town, Captain Phillips, for the dinner last night. And he did attend - there, you can see the White House photo that they put out. It is interesting. They didn't announce this one in advance. We found out about it just as it was happening. Phillips was there. Then the president, actually, he also played a little basketball, T.J., before the dinner.
HOLMES: All right. Again, Paul Steinhauser, friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY/SUNDAY MORNING. Glad you could get up and be with us this morning. Glad you enjoyed yourself last night. Thanks so much, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
NGUYEN: We do want to hear what have you to say about the Correspondent's Dinner and how the president did last night. Hit us up on FaceBook, Twitter, Weekends@cnn.com.
I'm going to take you to my Facebook page. And Kathy Tucker writes this morning: "President Obama was hilarious. I loved it. Hands down, the president did better than Wanda. Sykes. Sorry, Wanda."
And then over on my Twitter site, let's see. DJKAQ says, "He should keep his day job," talking about President Obama.
You know, some liked it and some didn't. But you have to admit, some of the jokes were kind of funny. And we will read the responses this morning. Again, send them to our FaceBook pages, our Twitter pages, and we will share some of them on the air.
In the meantime, though, lots of cleaning up going on today after severe weather in the Southeast. And Reynolds takes a look to see if the worse is actually over.
And some of you may be doing some landscaping this morning to add a little curb appeal to your yard. But imagine this: Landscaping something even bigger, say, I don't know, an airport?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK ROWER, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON INT'L. AIRPORT: Do not touch anything!
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not touching a thing, boss man!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Please, Reynolds do not touch anything or don't break it, more importantly. But unfortunately, that is Reynolds on a tracker. And I think they actually let him drive. We'll see how well he did before he gives the forecast. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It is a beautiful day over downtown Atlanta. HOLMES: You know, seeing that Westin (ph) Building, we see it every day in downtown, that - lot of people, that cylindrical, tall building right in the middle there. But all those little gaps - that's still leftover from the tornado.
NGUYEN: The tornado, yes. That has been, what, a year, two years ago?
HOLMES: A good year. Reynolds, help us. When was that?
WOLF: It's like a Jack-O-Lantern. I really is. Yeah, well it is. You know how you think of a pumpkin and then you have -
HOLMES: I wasn't thinking that.
WOLF: Well, I mean, it's not orange.
NGUYEN: But you know, it's just proves that recovery takes a long time.
WOLF: It really does. I mean, a lot of those have been fixed, obviously. They don't have the same kind of veneer, the reflective veneer. But certainly a reminder of how quickly things can happen. When that tornado struck there wasn't a single warning or watch anywhere in the nation. It was like the only one that hit at that time and we had plenty of damage here at the CNN Center.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. It shut down a lot of things, including the airport. That was one of the largest, the most popular -- not the most popular, but the busiest airport in the country.
HOLMES: One of the busiest airports in the country, yes.
WOLF: Yeah, we CNN folks do travel quite a bit. So, it is extremely popular for us.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: No question. But in our hustle and bustle to get to the airport and to get there as fast as we can, we seldom really recognize the great work that is done in terms of the flowers, the trees, the shrubs. We are about to introduce to the one person who is in charge of handling most of that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABRA LEE, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INT'L. AIRPORT: We're going to get our hands dirty, a little bit.
WOLF (voice over): Abra Lee knows that first impressions matter, so when you travel through the world's busiest airport chances are you'll see some of the 15 miles of trees, flowers, shrubs and grass surrounding this major transportation hub. And she is in charge of it all.
(On camera): There are people, everyday, that go off to work and they hate what they do. They don't like their job at all. You seem very happy.
LEE: Very happy. Plants make me happy. And plants don't talk back. They're beautiful, they're colorful. They're fun - they're every - I mean, is this not gorgeous?
WOLF (voice over): It sure is. And to keep things pretty, an artistic touch along with a green thumb is required. Changing the seasonal plants outside the airport front door is the first objective of the day.
LEE: What we want to do is have a centerpiece to it. We want to have something filling in the sides, and then we want to have something spilling over.
WOLF: Abra talent is seen throughout airport roads, entrances and exits. All of this sustained with soil from an onsite compost pile and recycled rainwater gathered in these cisterns. But not all of the processes are delicate.
RICK ROWER, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON INT'L. AIRPORT: This is a New Holland tractor.
WOLF: It is one of 15 grass-cutting behemoths that operating night and day, seven days a week. Rick Rower is one of Abra's teammates and on the field he's the boss.
ROWER: Do not touch anything!
WOLF (On camera): Not touch a thing, boss man!
(voice over): After a quick lesson, the FAA mandated cutting begins.
ROWER: We can't let the grass get too far ahead of us. Because if it does, that guy in the tower going to be raising a lot of Cain, because the pilots cannot see that sign right there. If you cannot see the sign, you cannot get to the terminal.
WOLF: It's all part of a coordinated effort of safety and aesthetics.
LEE: We're so happy with what we do. It's not about the money. Like money just can't compensate for the peace of mind I feel. I am happy to come to work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: The only thing to worry about this kind of job, that they have, it is kind of like, if you happen to be a pool cleaner, or you are a moving a piano, it's one of those kind of things, that you never really get credit for. If you do it right, nobody notices. If you mess up, yeah, you are going to have people jump on you. But the thing is we often take it for granted.
NGUYEN: That's true. WOLF: We see the flowers, they're fantastic. The trees are incredible. The shrubbery is just impeccable. So, got to get in pops.
HOLMES: All of that sounds great, and the aesthetic of it, but at the same time, you heard him say, it's FAA mandated cutting.
NGUYEN: Right.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: This is important stuff, he's doing as well.
WOLF: It really is. You are referring to the grass. It has to be a certain level. You have these pilots who come in from all over the world. And those little banners, those big signs, tell them where to go.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
WOLF: It guides them. It guides their path, so they can go back and people can see their loved ones, and the planes can get refueled, so they can load bags. It's a pretty important job. And why they entrusted me to do that.
NGUYEN: I was going to ask. The first thing he said was don't touch anything. And the next thing we know you're driving the tractor.
WOLF: It is scary how a turn of events can happen like that. Good gosh almighty.
NGUYEN: You're pretty convincing, Reynolds.
WOLF: Both hands are on the wheel. That's true.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Appreciate you, Reynolds.
Well, the president always has a busy week. He is dealing with world leaders, the economy, but he also -- this week, at least -- going to be handing out some diplomas, going to be meeting national basketball champions, as well.
NGUYEN: Yes, before all of that, he cracked a few jokes at the expense of his daughters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Sasha and Malia are not here tonight, because they are grounded. You can't just take Air Force one on a joy ride to Manhattan! I don't care whose kids you are. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Specialist Brandon Martinka (ph) from Mosul, Iraq.
I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day, to Becky Martinka in Wakefield, Texas. I love you, mom. And I love you, family. Can't wait to come home. See you soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Happy Mother's Day out there, everybody.
HOLMES: Every one up here taking care of that.
NGUYEN: I have already sent my mom hers. How about you? Because we talked yesterday and you were not there just yet.
HOLMES: I'm going to be calling my mother, shortly.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: And I'll let you know how it goes.
NGUYEN: Did you take care of your mom? She get the mail?
WOLF: I am keeping my mother shut.
NGUYEN: And your wife, more importantly?
WOLF: Yes. We're all good.
NGUYEN: Well, I shouldn't say more importantly, but -
WOLF: Yes, but we have - in my world I have a birthday, I have an anniversary, and Mother's Day like within 10 days.
NGUYEN: Oh, wow.
WOLF: So, it's the triple whammy. It is some stuff.
NGUYEN: You are kind of stressed out right now.
HOLMES: He's excused.
WOLF: The whole idea!
NGUYEN: Well, this will get you laughing.
HOLMES: Yes, if you didn't see last night. We are going to show you more of the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. The president, poking fun at who? Just about everybody.
NGUYEN: Himself, his family, secretary of State. Wanda Sykes, comedienne, she had a few jokes as well. Let's take a listen to some of it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I would like to welcome you all to the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days.
WANDA SYKES, COMEDIANNE: Who's idea was it to give the queen an iPod? What an awful gift. What is she going to do? Download Lady Ga-Ga? What are you going to give the pope? A Bluetooth?
OBAMA: Michelle Obama is here, the first lady of the United States. Hasn't she been an outstanding first lady? She even has begun to bridge the differences that have divided us for so long, because no matter which party you belong to, we can all agree that Michelle has the right to bear arms.
(LAUGHTER)
SYKES: It is hard to poke fun at the president. You know, because he's so likable. Everybody likes - you know, there's T-shirts and bumper stickers. Even the media, you know, you guys have been very favorable towards the president. It's funny to me, they never caught you smoking, but they somehow always catch you with your shirt off.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: All this change has not been easy. Change never is. So I cut the tension by bringing a new friend to the White House. He is warm, he's cuddly, loyal, enthusiastic, you just have to keep him on a tight leash. Every once in a while he goes charging off in the wrong direction and gets himself into trouble. But enough about Joe Biden.
(LAUGHTER)
SYKES: You have taken the first lady out on dates. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if I walk past the White House and see you out there mowing the lawn.
OBAMA: I believe that my next 100 days will be so successful, I will be able to complete them in 72 days; and on the 73rd day I will rest.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. All right.
NGUYEN: There were some funny ones in there, a few of them.
HOLMES: There were some good ones. He delivers them fairly well. Wanda Sykes, funny, as well. We are going to be showing you that throughout the morning.
Tell us what you should think, should he keep his day job? Or is he giving Chris Rock a run for his money?
NGUYEN: Wanda Sykes a run? HOLMES: Let us know what you think about the president. You can find us, FaceBook, Twitter, this morning also at Weekends@cnn.com.
Our next hour, of CNN SUNDAY MORNING, starts right now.
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is Sunday, May 10. And you know what that is? Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Yes, happy Mother's Day. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 7 a.m., here in Atlanta, Georgia, 6 a.m. in Dallas. Thank you for starting your day right here with us. And if you didn't see, it looked like the Oscar Awards last night, only this was happening in Washington, D.C. and not Tinseltown. So, big name celebrities were there. Also, some big name members of the media were there for the White House Correspondents dinner.
NGUYEN: Yes. Sting, Demi Moore, you're looking at Bon Jovi right there. There's Sting. Alicia Keys, Samuel Jackson, of course, our very own Wolf Blitzer walked the red carpet, but the big star was President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Sasha and Malia aren't here tonight because they're grounded. You can't just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan!
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: I don't care whose kids you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The president there is referring to that photo opportunity of Air Force One. That's really caused a lot of flab. Well, the president also ripping on Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, as well as Hillary Clinton. More funny lines and highlights -- coming up this hour.
HOLMES: Of course, let's get to this developing story -- the heavy fighting going on in Pakistan Swat valley. Pakistan's military says it killed 200 Taliban militants over the last 24 hours, and 140 kills on Friday. The fighting has left more than 500,000 civilians scrambling to find safety.
The Pakistani government lifted the curfews imposed in the Swat valley region for a few hours to allow civilians to flee that area. And you can see in these pictures they certainly are fleeing.
CNN's Reza Sayah is in Islamabad. We spoke to him just minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAYAH: Well, one of the challenges of the military is to pick out the militants. Remember, these militants are insurgents who don't wear uniforms. They can easily set aside their weapons and blend in with the civilian population.
So, the strategy of the military has been to get these civilians out to isolate the militants and to go after them. That's why since 6:00 a.m. this morning, they released the curfew. They let go the curfew. And hundreds of thousands of people fled the area, joining the hundreds of others of thousands of people who fled the area and they are going to refugee camps, relatives' homes. These are refugee camps that are overflowing.
And the Pakistani government acknowledged over the weekend, the prime minister himself said a humanitarian crisis is emerging. And we are doing our best to deal with this humanitarian crisis.
We spoke to some of those displaced citizens, and most of the citizens are blaming the Taliban and they're supporting the government. But if the government doesn't address this situation very quickly, doesn't get help to these refugees very quickly, you can be sure the support is quickly going to fade away, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Reza Sayah for us live this morning in Pakistan -- we appreciate you, we'll be checking in with you again on the story. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Pope Benedict celebrating a historic mass this morning in Amman, Jordan. He urged increase respect for women in the Middle East. It's the pontiff's first trip to the region. Christian-Islamic ties were strained three years ago as you recall after the Pope quoted a critic of the Prophet Mohammed.
HOLMES: Thousands of residents evacuated because of a wildfire in Santa Barbara, California. They are now returning home. Officials lifted the mandatory evacuation order yesterday after a cool ocean breeze. It helped firefighters gained ground. The fire is about 40 percent contained. We're told now, expected to be fully under control by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, resident in Tennessee is dealing with storm damage this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, they are. Eric White of CNN affiliate WTVF takes us one community where the only road in and out has been washed away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are stuck here.
ERIC WHITE, WTVF REPORTER (voice-over): Slaters Creek is holding the residents of Hillside Estates hostage. Early Saturday morning, the Doc Wallington (ph) sat in shock. DOC WALLINGTON (ph), RESIDENT: Not this heavy, ever this heavy. I looked at my rear bedroom window and I swore I was floating down the river.
WHITE: The water washed away nearly everything in its path.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can hear actually things floating down the creek and hitting the bridge. I've seen the water up to the bridge, but never over the top of it.
Slaters Creek battered the only bridge leading into Hillside Estates, and authorities say the bridge is no longer safe for cars to travel. Down stream ...
JOSE HOPKINS, FLOOD VICTIM: Oh, geez.
WHITE: ... Delta Maintenance Solutions is a sloppy mess.
HOPKINS: You are talking about the water line up there, and it's flooded all -- my files, paperwork and everything. Two doors down for the last two years are flooded.
WHITE: Owner Jose Hopkins says most of his tools and equipment are also destroyed.
HOPKINS: I don't know what the totality of everything is yet. I'm still trying to wake up from the fact that I went to sleep with the business and lost everything in the morning.
It must have floated over here when the water was high and got wedged in these trees.
WHITE: Slater's creek even swept away Jose's dumpster.
HOPKINS: Oh, my gosh.
WHITE: While Jose assesses the damage ...
HOPKINS: Oh, we have no option. We have to stay here until the road is repaired.
WHITE: Hillside Estates residents are waiting and wondering when the only way in and out of their subdivision will be fixed.
In Millersville, Eric White, News Channel 5 HD.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Hmm, yes.
HOLMES: Well, that's a mess. You can't go anywhere.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Yes, he says he went to bed with a business and woke up without one.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we'll bring you back in here now. You know, it was pretty nasty yesterday, the day before. Are we still seeing some remnants of this storm, still some people being hit by this thing?
WOLF: Yes. I mean, this thing is just crawling its way to the southeast. We have to look at the good side of this. The good side of it is that, in terms of the drought we've been experiencing in parts of the southeast, this certainly going to hamper that.
That's really good news. We could use the moisture. The things is, though, we don't need the storm damage, which we've had in parts of, say, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and, of course, Tennessee.
Take a look at this iReport that's sent in from Tracy Brown. This is near Kingsport, Tennessee. You can just make up right in the distance, you see a funnel cloud. I don't know if this is causing the motion, it's just one single frame. But it's right here along the freeway near Kingsport. And there is another shot of it.
At this point, you really can't see the bottom half of that funnel. The thing is, as soon as this thing makes contact with the ground, it is considered a tornado.
Earlier, of course, look at the funnel crowd at this point. Who is to say? It looks like there are some trees that might be in the foreground. But certainly, it's a scary thing to see. And it is something that we maybe dealing with later on today.
Right now, we got some scattered showers, few thunderstorms that are popping up in parts of the Arkansas. As we make our way from Memphis back over to Dallas and all points in between, some heavy rain really beginning to drop, especially, I would expect, through parts of northern Louisiana later on today, right now you are in the clear -- heavy cloud cover but the heavy rain is going to come along later on. And the reason why we're going to see this is because this frontal boundary that extends right from, say, parts of Georgia into Alabama and Mississippi and back into Louisiana and into Texas.
So, a good chance of storms, I would say, from east Texas back to south Georgia, mainly rain. We could see some flash flooding in some spots. Small hail and then into the afternoon hours, there's a chance we could be dealing with more tornadoes. So, keep that mind.
No problems for you in parts of, say, south Florida. It looks like another windy day for you in New York. Also, back into Maine, same situation.
And then out west, still fairly dry conditions but that moisture is finally making its way back from the L.A. basin to Santa Barbara. As you, guys, mentioned earlier, the fire is 40 percent contained. Certainly, good news. Weather is much more favorable for the firefighters today.
Let's send it back to you.
NGUYEN: Glad to hear that. OK. Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
HOLMES: All right. Well, the president last night hanging out with a lot of reporters, actually. Bu they are not tossing questions at him this time -- hanging out with stars as well. This is the White House Correspondents dinner. There's our guy, Wolf Blitzer. Big members of the media, Hollywood stars, and, of course, the big star of the night, President Obama, delivering a lot of one-liners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Dick Cheney was supposed to be here, but he is very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled "How to shoot friends and interrogate people."
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Whoa. All right. Seriously, though, the president is going to be putting that stand-up act hold on and get back to business tomorrow for a full other week (ph).
Let's bring in our deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, Paul Steinhauser.
Good morning to you, Paul. I know you're at that dinner last night. We appreciate you getting up or staying up maybe as you party through the night, and coming into the studio. So, what does he have ahead, jokes aside, getting back to business now?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. He's getting back to work. And tomorrow, it could be fun, because he's got the UNC men's college basketball team, the champs.
HOLMES: That doesn't sound like work.
STEINHAUSER: Not so much. Right. And remember, President Obama, pretty good high school basketball player himself, his team won it back (ph) in Hawaii, in high school.
But on Wednesday, this is the big thing during the week. I think after the basketball is over, on Wednesday, the president is heading out to Arizona. And he will be -- as you've been mentioning, he's going to be giving the commencement address at Arizona State University. And the rollout, the announcement of this was kind of a mess it seems.
Remember, at first, they decided that they were not going to give him an honorary degree, the university said at that time that his body work had not been really completed yet or even the -- and the, I think, the university had to come back and think about things after there was a lot of criticism, and they are naming a major scholarship fund after him.
Thursday, he's already out in the region. So, make the most of it out in the southwest. Thursday, he is going to neighboring New Mexico. He will be holding another town hall. He does a lot of these, reaching out to Americans, getting their actual questions. They got to question the president. I think a lot of this will focus on the economy.
It will be interesting if New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, will be there. Remember, Richardson was the first choice for President Obama to serve as commerce secretary. He had to step down because of an ongoing investigation out there.
A little more about the commencement. Remember, T.J., a week from today, the president will give his second commencement address out. That one will be at Notre Dame University.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: This will be a big deal. There's been some pushback because of his stance on abortion. Some Catholics are criticizing the move. So, let's see what happens.
HOLMES: So, yes, these two commencement addresses, controversy surrounding both. This thing at ASU pretty much died down? I mean, can we possibly even hear him make some kind of a joke or a line or a reference to it in his speech when he's there?
STEINHAUSER: You know, I bet, I think there's a good chance he will, last night is a good example. The guy can get some good one- liners. Always one that's scripted.
And as for commencement address, the number two, Vice President Joe Biden. He starts today. He's giving one at Syracuse University where he went to graduate school.
HOLMES: All right. Paul, we appreciate you. We'll be watching. But don't go too far. We like to think here, Betty, at CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING that we made Paul.
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: You did.
NGUYEN: Yes, we did.
HOLMES: We made him. And so, when Paul speaks now ...
NGUYEN: It's all our Paul.
HOLMES: Yes. When he speaks now, people actually listen as opposed to before. Nobody used to listen to him before. But people listen now, including comedian Jon Stewart.
NGUYEN: Absolutely, yes. The host of the "Daily Show" on Comedy Central took a shoot at the banks and the ailing Big Three U.S. automakers, and, of course, we helped give him a little ammunition.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, TV TALK SHOW HOST: Of course, Detroit's survival depends largely on the strength of the overall financial system. And it just so happens that the government's got that one covered as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: The Treasury Department on Thursday is going to give us these long-awaited stress tests on the banks. These tests were conducted to see if these banks -- how their health is, their financial health, will they be able to withstand further eroding of the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Oh, goody, I can't wait to learn if our banks can withstand (BLEEP) they caused.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Paul, you made it now.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks to you, guys. But, you know what? I'm glad to see Jon Stewart actually getting up early on the Saturday and Sunday morning to watch all of us?
NGUYEN: Yes, right.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Right.
NGUYEN: Have you heard something called TiVo? But, you know, nonetheless, we're always happy to supply Stewart and others with information, of course.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Paul, we appreciate you as always, buddy. Good to have some fun with you. And we always appreciate having you on.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: Thanks so much, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Listen to this story, folks. Do you want to improve your sex life with your spouse? Well, you might what to think about prayer. That's one suggestion.
T.J. is going to be speaking with the authors of a new book. These couples say when you pray together, you have better sex. Coming up next hour, we'll find out if there's any truth to that in our Faces of Faith.
HOLMES: But first here, the worldwide manhunt is over for this Georgia professor accused of killing his wife.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT)
SPEC. LAREN LAMONACA, U.S. ARMY: Hey, mom, it's Laren. I'm all the way in Tikrit, Iraq. Cubs Spiker is calling you back home in Farrows (ph), Queens, New York. And hope you are doing well, and Happy Mother's Day. Do good, ma. I can't wait to see you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: I just love that. Hopefully, he gets to see her sometime very soon.
HOLMES: And a good smile on his face. That was nice to see.
NGUYEN: As you are celebrating Mother's Day today, we have something unique that you can do for mom while helping mothers in developing nations.
HOLMES: The World Food Program has created a Mother's Day wall online. Josh Levs is here to show it to us.
Good morning, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you, guys.
I think you can like this a lot. It's really interesting and it's new. I just got a note about it from the U.N.
Take a look. Let's zoom in on the board. I want to show you what this is all about. Just like you said, it's called the Mother's Day wall. What you can do here is you can post a photo of pretty much anything you want in honor of your mom, and you get a message to her along with this. In the process of doing this, you are giving money to a program, at the World Food Program has that gives money to help pay for school kids to be able to eat.
I pulled out some examples here. These are some nice ones. You can see this one right here. "I love you, mom. Thank you for everything you do. You are the best."
Let's take a look at a couple more. This one here I found in Spanish. And another one over here, "On this Mother's Day, for my Mom."
So, basically, what you're finding is, anyone out there, if you make a donation for this program, you put some money in and in exchange for that, you get your photo right here. And you kind of telling the whole world, "Hey, I love my mom. Mom, this is for you. I want to celebrate you while helping other people at the same time." And you can write pretty much anything. It's a really beautiful idea. And the address we have going on your screen (AUDIO BREAK) Wall.WFP.org. So, guys, you can see. it's something a little bit different. Nice way to help moms and families all over the world while celebrating your own mom.
NGUYEN: Wait. How much do you need to contribute to make this happen?
LEVS: Yes. Well, what they're saying is that if you $50, that will pay for a school child for an entire year. And if you -- but can you really give any amount at all, literally, any amount will give you up on the wall. But $50 is what they recommend since it will pay for that.
And I'll show something that I found really interesting, that they sent along with this -- some information to me. They point, "Mother's in developing nations shoulder the burden of feeding their families and they're often the last to eat."
So, when you think about it in that context, it makes sense. You're saying, look, if I can help pay for a school child to have food throughout the entire year, that can alleviate a massive burden for a mom out there who's not like us in the industrialize world, able to have all the things that we do. So, you know, celebrate here while still doing a little bit good right there, it's all good.
NGUYEN: Yes, it absolutely is. OK, thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: That was a really good program there.
From that to this, all right, we know it's Sunday, but do you ...
HOLMES: It has to do with prayer and church and God here. Yes.
NGUYEN: OK. Yes, there you go. Do you want to improve your sex life, folks? One suggestion -- prayer.
HOLMES: Yes. That's what the authors of a new book are saying, they say couples who pray together have better sex among other things, they also don't think divorces much, they have fewer arguments. Well, coming up next hour, in our Faces of Faith, we find out if there is any truth to what they are saying. So, you want to stick around for that, and by all means, give us your comments on those as well, we're getting some so far this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, we are getting some comments already on that one. Pretty interesting one as well. But keep them coming, Twitter and Facebook. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Police in Athens, Georgia, have found the body of a University of Georgia professor wanted for murder. George Zinkhan is his name. His body has now been found about 10 miles from the university. Police aren't saying just how he died yet. The discovery ends a massive two-week nationwide search. However, there are a whole lot of unanswered questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): Where police found his wrecked Jeep Liberty last week, we're told police found his body with two guns nearby, about 10 miles from campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The body has been there for a period of time. We'll get that from the manner and what happened (ph), a timeframe from the medical examiner. We don't see anything inconsistent with not being able to find that body in May 1st search or prior searches.
HOLMES: Zinkhan is suspected of killing his wife and two acquaintances in broad daylight outside the community theater where she worked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he shot the people that he meant to shoot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight gun shots, six gun shots, no one really know exactly how many. But one woman even told us that she had just saw at theater and saw a little girl running out with her doll in her hand.
HOLMES: That was on April 25th. The police began to searching for the professor on land and by air. There were no signs of Zinkhan. A nationwide alert offered the same results. Then, this weekend, all of that changed when a team of determined volunteers and two cadaver dogs went back to where Zinkhan's jeep was found.
After 10 hours, they found what is believed to be his body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a male, white male. And the body in general fits the description. We have some decomposition. But in general, the body fits the description of the individual that we are looking for.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Again, he was a 57-year-old professor, marketing professor at University of Georgia. Also, another detail, it appeared that the body have been covered or buried a bit. Police explained that by saying they do believe he may have covered himself. A lot more details to come on this story. We're following a lot of different stories this morning.
Stay with us on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Joe Biden rightly deserves a lot of credit for convincing Arlen to make the switch. But, Secretary Clinton actually had a lot to do with the two. One day, she just pull them aside and she said, "Arlen, you know what I always say, if you can't beat them, join them."
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes, comedian-in-chief, they're calling him this morning. The president last night, he was joking around, and poking fun at just about everybody in the room, but also cracking everybody up at the White House Correspondents dinner last night.
NGUYEN: Yes, the star-studded event attracted the creme de la creme of Hollywood. Some of the biggest names in the entertainment and media industry were in attendance. All for the thought (ph) that celebrities have embraced this president as one of theirs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How much fun is it hanging out with our Wolf Blitzer?
DEMI MOORE, ACTRESS: Well, I am looking forward to an evening of good stories, and good laughs.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOLDUAN: You are known to be funny.
CHRIS TUCKER, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: And tonight, it's up to the president, and he is supposed to be lighter. Any tips?
TUCKER: That's what I heard. You know what, just make sure the timing is right, make sure he, you know, feels out the crowd, and just have some fun.
(INAUDIBLE)
BOLDUAN: Excuse me, Mr. Henry!
What are you looking forward to seeing happening?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch the president rib the media a bit, and an opportunities to talk to Wolf and some of the folks at CNN.
CHRISTIAN SLATER, ACTOR: Certainly, I am thrilled to be here and meet some of the great people that helping steer the country in the right direction.
BOLDUAN: What brings you to Washington? ALICIA KEYS, SINGER: I've been invited to the correspondents' dinner before and I just didn't feel like it was the right time to go. Now, it feels like the right time to go. I think that, obviously, with the new administration, I mean, as if there's a feeling of hope and ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And you can see more of the White House Correspondents dinner on CNN.com and CNNPolitics.com. Stars did come out for it.
HOLMES: You know, it's -- you don't usually find Wolf Blitzer and Alicia Keys in the same room. But ...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: This thing is bringing everybody together, isn't it?
NGUYEN: I don't know, Wolf is quite bit of a party animal.
HOLMES: You know, I was trying to keep that under wraps, but, hey ...
NGUYEN: I've seen him on the dance floor.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes. Oh, please, do tell?
NGUYEN: He got a few move.
HOLMES: Do you want to continue the story?
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: We should move on.
NGUYEN: There's not much to it.
HOLMES: Oh, wow. Whoa.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: No, I wasn't referring to Wolf. I said he had a few moves. Anyway ...
HOLMES: All right. We got a situation in this room, don't we?
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: You're sure getting me in so much trouble.
HOLMES: Hey, just keep talking.
NGUYEN: All right. T.J., can you please take the next line? HOLMES: All right. We've been asking people about what you think about the president's comments? Was he funny? Was he not? Good delivery? Did you like the jokes?
We've been getting your comments this morning. We'll share a few we'll share a few here. One saying, you can't read it in the screen, it's here on my Twitter page, but it said, "The president has some funny punch lines, also, lookout Chris Rock." One more from Ultra- magnetic saying, "POTUS was hilarious. The crack about Representative Boehner and his, ahem, augmented pigmentation, what's up, John? You had me rolling on the floor, laughing my butt off, if you will there."
NGUYEN: Well, Jamesman (ph) on my Facebook page say, "Self- deprecating jokes are funniest from the leader of the free world." And let's see, if you want, oh, my gosh, there's several up here. "I thought the president was much better than Wanda Sykes," this IBM802. So, the president got some pretty good reviews for his jokes last night.
HOLMES: And we'll be hearing more from that. Everybody is excited to see how he did last night. Apparently, he did well.
But, for right now, we need to get Wolf Blitzer on the phone here in just a second, but, while we do that, we're going to head over to "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It's right now.
