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CNN Sunday Morning

Hurricane Bill Downgraded, Still Dangerous; Cash for Clunkers Countdown; Wildfires Rage in Greece, 10,000 Ordered to Evacuate; Woman to be Caned for Drinking Alcohol

Aired August 23, 2009 - 08:00   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, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is August 23rd, 8:00 a.m. here in CNN headquarters in Atlanta; 7:00 a.m. in the heartland.

Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be here.

And so glad that Bill is not as bad as we thought he's going to be. He's still going to cause some problems. The outer bands of the powerful storm are rolling ashore in the northeast this morning. We'll tell you who and how it's affecting folks.

NGUYEN: And today, a lot of people are talking about this story, because tonight, this woman right here will be taken to prison and caned. Her crime: drinking beer. We're going to have a live report from Malaysia.

And if you want to jump into that "cash for clunkers" program, well, you better make sure that your clock is accurate, because the deadline to take part in it is just 36 hours away. Some dealerships have already stopped. So, you might want to call ahead of time.

HOLMES: And you might want to get going. Your car's clunking a bit these days.

NGUYEN: My car is not a clunker.

HOLMES: It's clunking, I said.

NGUYEN: It does need a little work, though, doesn't it?

HOLMES: Let's turn to Reynolds Wolf now.

And Hurricane Bill, Reynolds, you've been keeping an eye on this thing for quite some time as we know and...

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

HOLMES: ... and it's dying down just a bit, not as bad, but still it's not -- all the danger's gone.

WOLF: Yes. And the biggest danger that we're going to be dealing with today and perhaps you're going to live with that, is even though, say if you're tuning in from Virginia Beach or maybe Martha's Vineyard, and you're planning on going out later on the day, getting out to surf, not the best of ideas because we still have the issues with rip currents. We have roughly 70 people along the coast that were rescued yesterday. Most of them, right near Wilmington, at least had 50 there, all due to the storm.

Here is Bill as we speak. It's starting to get ripped apart from strong upper level winds, at the same time; it is now interacting with cooler waters. So, the areas of deep convection, mainly up in the northern quadrants of this storm, upper right, upper left, at this time, the bottom half of the storm really begin to weaken considerably.

Now, one of the reasons why we're seeing the storm move is off because of a frontal boundary that is actually sweeping in towards parts from the west to the east, seeing some scattered showers over parts of New York. Now all of that is driving eastward. And we can expect the storm to actually make its way to the northeast.

In fact, the forecast path from the National Hurricane Center brings it on more of a northeast trajectory over the next couple of hours and it's really going to increase forward speed as we get to this afternoon, winds of 75 miles an hour. Remember, 74 and higher, it is a hurricane. So as soon as it drops, a little bit strength, to 74 -- or actually to 73 or below, it will then be a tropical storm and it is forecasted to begin early Monday with winds of 65 miles per hour.

So again, as the storm pulls away and the threat is going to be the chance of rip currents and we'll see those up and down the coast. There's that frontal boundary I was talking about, that's going to keep Bill at bay out to sea. Right behind it though, high pressure building into parts of the Ohio Valley -- very cool and dry conditions for parts of Tennessee Valley. Here in Atlanta, if you step outside, man, conditions look great, humidity is much lower.

Back in Texas, we still have some warm conditions. No surprise there. And along the string of the Rocky Mountains, we're going to see some scattered showers in Big Sky Country, possibly, a few thunderstorms and then out west, very dry conditions, what you can expect for the day today.

But, again, as we mention, although Bill will be fading in a matter of time, we're still going to have the issues with rip currents up and down the eastern sea board at least through tomorrow morning.

Let's send it back to you.

NGUYEN: All right. Well, we want to head now, Reynolds, to Susan Candiotti, because she is on the ground in Massachusetts.

You've been watching this, Hurricane Bill, as the winds have picked up out there. What are you seeing right now, Susan?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, the winds actually are pretty mild as they have been mainly throughout the night. It was mostly wave action that they were looking at. And, in fact, things weren't too bad.

We just talked to a gentleman who is out on north beach island, just over my shoulder there. There were a few homes out there and some people spent the night, told no one suffered any damage, they saw some wave action, but not as much even as people who lived here for a long time are used to seeing.

We're going to move down this way too and show you the beach. We got some joggers out here now. As we give you this report, the U.S. Coast Guard, about 15 miles out last night, between midnight and 3:00 a.m., that's when they recorded the highest seas up to about 18 feet high.

Now, today, this morning, they're back down to 11 feet. So, they've come down quite a bit. However, you heard Reynolds talking about all those rescues that they had to make farther south down this coastline.

Well, the reason they didn't have to make any rescues here off the coast of Massachusetts is because they have kept their beaches closed since Friday and they've remained closed and off-limits here until authorities make the decision to reopen them again. But because there is a continued concern over those rip currents, that's why they're telling swimmers to stay -- stay inside, stay at the hotels, enjoy themselves, and for the locals to just stay at home. Boaters, same thing. It holds true until the tropical storm warning is lifted, and until they lift all of those restrictions.

Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: All right. We'll glad to see the winds have died down a little since we last spoke with you. Thank you, Susan.

Let's talk about this -- time and money, they are running out for the government's "clash for clunkers" program.

HOLMES: Tomorrow's deadline is looming now and car dealers and their customers raising the clock.

Let's get a closer look from reporter, Richard Jordan from CNN's Miami affiliate WSVN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, WSVN)

MARC RILEY, G.M., RICK CASE ACURA: Everybody's on deck. I mean, all hands on deck.

We anticipate a lot of business this weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely not purchased any vehicle without the money.

RICHARD JORDAN, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): South Florida's Rick Case dealerships riding the wave of the federal government "cash for clunkers" program.

RILEY: We really are proud to say that we're the only ones doing it.

JORDAN: The dealership is taking on the rebate now that the original is on the final lap of a $3 billion race. Sales staff increased to meet the customers' demand. Come Monday night, the stimulus plan designed to get more people to trade old gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles will have run its course.

Some dealerships already stopped offering financial breaks to make sure all the paperwork is complete in time, raising the sticker price on hundreds of cars and SUVs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We took $4,500 off that.

JORDAN: But Rick Case, the program lives on even without Uncle Sam footing the bill.

RILEY: We've seen such a huge success in all of our stores, and now, we're just taking it to another level, and now, we're going to try to expand a little bit.

JORDAN: Nationwide, nearly half a million people took advantage of the trade-in program.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks to government.

(LAUGHTER)

JORDAN: Many drivers grateful for the federal program getting up to $4,500 for a vehicle that would have been worth nothing.

DOMINIC DELPOZZO, NEW CAR BUYER: Plus, I'm picking up a car that has a lot better gas mileage what than what I had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every good thing comes to an end. So, you just have to jump on it while it's -- while it's hot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: You better jump very quickly because time is running out. The government has set an 8:00 p.m. Eastern deadline tomorrow for all paperwork to be submitted. But, many dealerships say that the feds have been painfully slow to reimburse them for deals that they've already turned in. So a lot of them have shut it down as of right now, in fact. They're not even having those sales because they want to get that paperwork done in time.

HOLMES: And they have a little risk here -- some of these car companies -- in getting all of the paperwork in. Like you said yesterday, once somebody drives off the lot with that car...

NGUYEN: They are in that big hole.

HLEMS: They have gotten the rebate already so then the dealer has to get reimbursed.

NGUYEN: On them.

HOLMES: And if something happens with the paperwork and -- lo and behold, few months later, they still don't have their money. It could be a disaster for some of these dealerships. Hopefully not -- hopefully, this thing works and works really well.

NGUYEN: I talked to a dealer on Friday that was owed $4 million...

HOLMES: Wow.

NGUYEN: ... still because the paperwork hadn't been processed.

HOLMES: So, if it all works like it's supposed to, great program. We shall see.

Stay with Betty and I on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. After the break, huge fires happening in Greece right now of historic proportions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Greek officials have ordered 10,000 people to get out. This is at a suburb near Athens, telling them to evacuate because of huge fires. This is according to "Associated Press."

We also have on the phone with us Anthee Carassava with us.

And, Anthee, we certainly want an update for you. But for our viewers here in the U.S., many people who are used to wildfires we're seeing and hearing about out in California and whatnot -- but tell us, just on the scale, a historic scale really here. You know, put in perspective just how massive these fires are.

ANTHEE CARASSAVA, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, they are massive. They're definitely the worst that Athens has ever seen fires singeing, all of this northeast frontier and tearing through suburb after suburb moving closer into the Athenian plains.

Now, to come back to what you said -- which is breaking news right now -- in one area here which is called (INAUDIBLE), just 14 miles north of the city center. I spoke to the mayor there who said that he's ordered the evacuation of the town, some 20,000 residents altogether, he said, were being threatened by freak flames that were raging unchecked, devouring homes and surrounding pine and olive groves. He said he had notified and asked for this -- for local police and police were using blare horns to order residents to flee the flaming suburb and to head to either the nearby main national highway or to neighboring districts further south.

Now, authorities also say that smaller scale evacuations were also ordered in other nearby regions. But this, by far, is the biggest evacuation we're seeing -- T.J.? HOLMES: All right. Anthee, one more thing here, and I want to make sure we get this number right or get an answer, at least, to it. No injuries and deaths, at least, at this point associated with this fire. And also, we know the fires two years ago took the lives of 60 to 70-plus people, and even though, we haven't seen those numbers yet associated with this fire, officials there still say -- as far as its size -- this is one of the biggest that the country's ever seen.

CARASSAVA: Well, these are the worst blazes Athens has seen since 2007 when hundreds of forest fires raged across the country killing at least 65 people. And just to give you an idea -- in the last day alone, there have been 85 fires that have raged across the country. And these fires in the north bit of Athens are the most sever -- no doubt -- of historic proportions, tearing through 14 towns and regions around Athens.

HOLMES: All right. Anthee Carassava for us there in Athens, Anthee, we appreciate you this morning.

NGUYEN: And still ahead: CNN's John King will have more on the "cash for clunkers" program.

HOLMES: Also, a lot's being said out there. It's being said pretty loudly. A lot of those town hall meetings -- well, Congress, are they really paying attention to what's happening?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. Hurricane Bill has lost some steam, but weather watchers say it's still a dangerous storm. It has not made landfall, but Bill's effects are being felt along coastlines, from North Carolina to Massachusetts, and folks are being told to keep away from the water because of high surf and potentially deadly rip currents.

HOLMES: Evacuation orders in effect for thousands of people near Athens, Greece, because of a massive wildfire. It's one of 75 raging right now across that country. Greek officials say this is the worst destruction they've seen since 65 people were killed in a string of fires two years ago.

NGUYEN: And there is more fallout today over Thursday's release of the Lockerbie bomber. Now, Great Britain is denying suggestions that it played a role in the decision by Scottish courts. Those whispers grew louder after Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi thanked Britain for influencing the decision.

Well, the bomber, who is dying of cancer, is the only person convicted of the attack that killed 270 people, most of them Americans. And the head of the FBI has sent a stinging letter to protest. Robert Mueller says the release, quote, "gives comfort to terrorists around the world."

All right. Let's get to those town hall rants, we've been talking about them for weeks, it seems, and saying good-bye to "cash for clunkers" and the elections in Afghanistan. We've got a whole lot to cover. Plus, the president's working vacation. It is a busy day for politics.

HOLMES: Unless -- as always, good to -- never more excited to see him than this morning.

NGUYEN: John King.

HOLMES: John King, our chief national correspondent, host of "STATE OF THE UNION."

Good morning to you, sir. We're still talking about these town halls. We see all of this video.

But does Congress -- is this influencing Congress, all these congressmen and women? We've it having an effect in the president's poll numbers maybe a bit on this whole debate. But still, do they not have a choice but to listen to what's going on?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Without a doubt, it's causing some influence.

And good morning, Betty and T.J.

It's causing an influence and you see it happening already. Some more liberal Democrats are saying it gives them more resolve to come back to Washington and fight for that so-called public option, to fight for the plan as they envisioned it months ago.

But others are saying -- wait a minute, we need to listen to what's happening out there. And among them -- we'll have one of them on the program today, Emanuel Cleaver. He's an African-American Democrat from Kansas City, the former mayor of that city. He says that maybe you need to hit the "reset" button because of these protests.

And guys, add this into the conversation. You know, the Obama administration now concedes the deficit, the 10-year deficit be $9 trillion not $7 trillion; $2 trillion more in debt -- that will be a factor too when people come back saying, "Can we afford this right now?"

NGUYEN: Yes. Speaking of what people can afford, you know, the "cash for clunkers" program, it ends on Monday. A lot of dealerships stopping it today because they need to get that paperwork filed. But overall, it seems like it's been a pretty big success. Do you think it's going to resurface later, perhaps?

KING: Well, you never say never in Washington. If you live here as long as I have, you learn never say never. But one of the complications for -- again, those deficit numbers. It has been -- it's viewed as successful programs. Some of the, you know, dealers are upset it's taking so long to get their money back.

But in terms of getting people out to trade-in old cars and buy some new, more fuel-efficient cars, most people say, "You know, it has had a positive effect." The problem from a price tag perceptive is, can Washington afford to fund it longer when you have all of this government red ink?

So right now, people say, this is it. They had the second installment. They added 2 billion more dollars to it, this is it.

We'll see -- again, when people come back from the recess, if members of Congress say we need to do more of this. So, the official line now is: this is it, but we shall see.

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: Yes, a lot going on, of course. And the president took a vacation. Of course, everybody needs a vacation. And the president never really gets one.

But going to Martha's Vineyard -- I mean, how much choice did the president have, quite frankly? How much was he maybe nudged a little bit by the Secret Service because they are familiar with it, with the island, securing the island, or do you think this was just solely the president's choice here?

KING: I think this is his choice, and certainly, the Secret Service welcomes the fact that he is going to a place where they have some experience. I was up there many times during the Clinton administration, also went down to Crawford, Texas, in Waco, Texas, during the Bush administration. Actually, I'll tell you this little secret -- I snuck in a vacation of the Vineyard about three weeks ago. The president has been there before...

HOLMES: Snuck in? What?

KING: His close friend, Valerie Jarrett, owns a house there. A lot of Democrats vacation there in the summertime, some Republicans too. The White House has sent out the word saying, you know look, try to give the daughters some space here if they go out for an ice cream cone, if they want to go out for an ice cream cone, if they want to go out to the arcade, try to give them some space.

To the point you made, T.J., presidents get vacations, but for all of those out there saying, well, wait a minute, what about Afghanistan, what about the health care debate -- guess what, they have telephones in Martha's Vineyard. He can work while he's there.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Yes. He is connected.

But let's talk about Afghanistan. What about the vote there? We've seen a rash of violence, and then yesterday, there were reports that the Taliban made good on some of its threats to cut off the index fingers of some of those who had voted. Because that index finger shows that they had dipped their finger in ink and placed that vote in the election.

KING: Turnout among women was down. We have seen some of the violence now. All in all, people say the election went relatively smoothly. But now that they're counting the ballots, you have more and more complaints of fraud. You have both President Karzai and his lead challenger, Dr. Abdullah, saying they won the election. It could be weeks, if not longer, before we find out the results.

And as all of this plays out, what are we learning? That the commanding general on the ground of the U.S. troops there is probably going to ask for more troops. And so, you have an uncertain political situation, you have a deteriorating military situation, and this is a huge issue on the plate of our president as he goes on vacation because he is going to get probably in early September, a request for even more troops in Afghanistan.

And again, with an uncertain political situation, with no -- or at least minimal progress, three weeks, it'll be eight years since 9/11. Is there an infrastructure in Afghanistan to support this? A lot of Americans are saying, "If you're going to send more troops, Mr. President, what's the end game?"

HOLMES: Everybody going to wonder the end game...

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: ... and certainly this is every day. And some will say, no doubt right now, that is the president's war, Afghanistan. That is his to deal with now.

John King, good to hear you snuck in a vacation. I don't know how you sneak away. You're like the president, when you're gone, we notice kind of a thing, all right?

But good to see you, and we will see you again in just a few minutes. Of course, John King, "STATE OF THE UNION" 9:00 Eastern Time, coming your way at the top of the hour.

NGUYEN: And this story, we want you to weigh in on it because it's quite interesting for some, shocking even -- a severe punishment for a Muslim woman caught drinking beer. She's going to be caned. We'll give you more details on that after the break.

HOLMES: Also, when you deliver ballots on donkeys, it's going the take a minute to get...

NGUYEN: Yes.

HOLMES: ... the answers and the results of a presidential election. That's exactly what's happening in Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. Listen to this story, because tomorrow, a Malaysian woman who's a mother of two, will be head to prison to be flogged six times. Why? Because she broke a Muslim law, and that is drinking alcohol, beer specifically. It's a punishment that she now says that she is ready to accept.

So, let's talk about this for a minute with CNN's Anna Coren who is on the phone with us. And you met this woman at her home a little bit earlier. She says she accepts this punishment. But does she feel like she's being made an example of, because, Anna, she can't be the first Muslim who's been caught drinking?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (via telephone): No, she's certainly not. There have been plenty of Muslims here in Malaysia who's been caught drinking and they receive a fine, perhaps the warning, but Kartika Shukarno, the 32-year-old mother of two, she was arrested drinking beer in a hotel back in December 2007. Now, she is Muslim, and here in Malaysia under strict Sharia law, it is illegal for Muslims to drink alcohol.

This case has dragged on for more than 18 months, and it was only this week that she was sentenced to six lashes of the cane and seven days in prison. She's chosen not to appeal the sentence because she just wants this saga to end.

Now, the reason this is such a big story here in Malaysia and the rest of the world, is that she is the first woman in Malaysia to be caned.

NGUYEN: Which is my question why? Anna, why is that? Why is she being made an example of? Do you know?

COREN: Why is she being made an example of? Because religious and political authorities here are pushing for Islamic law and for Sharia law to be extended across the country. Therefore, they feel that they can make an example of Kartika and that some analysts, I should believe, that this is just a sign of things to come, that things are going to get a lot stricter for Muslims here in Malaysia, Betty.

NGUYEN: But I find it interesting too that she's going to be caned six times in prison, but she would rather do it in public. Now, is that a way of saying, look, I'm the first woman to undergo this and perhaps I could stir a little bit of a political debate or religious debate?

COREN: Well, Betty, I asked that question to her today. We spent several hours with her and her family. And I said, you know, "Do you want to be a role for other women, liberal women, and modern women here in Malaysia?" And she said, no, but she now respects the law.

She has tried to repent. She has apologized. She feels embarrassed because she has tarnished her family's name and so, therefore, she feels that she deserves this punishment -- which, you know, as a woman, I find -- I find quite bizarre. But she has decided...

NGUYEN: Why is that? Why do you find that bizarre?

COREN: She wants to do this. Why do I find it bizarre that she wants to receive six lashes of the cane for doing something that so many other women here in Malaysia actually do? We spoke to some other people, you know, on the street -- and one woman in particular said everybody drinks here in Malaysia, everybody.

So, the fact that she has actually paid her fine of 5,000 ringgit -- which is the equivalent of $800 U.S. dollars, which is a lot of money here in Malaysia. She's actually paid the fine and yet, they want to go ahead and punish her even further by caning her and putting her in prison. I think that is quite extreme.

NGUYEN: Yes. But you say it's a way of extending the Sharia law, and you think it's a sign of things to come?

COREN: Well, that's what some analysts here in Malaysia are saying, that there is this religious-political movement that wants to extend Sharia law and that they will continue to push and lobby and to make examples of people who go against the law -- people, like Kartika Shukarno.

NGUYEN: All right. Very interesting. And, you know, for us back here in the western world, it is -- it's kind of hard to grasp the fact that you drank a beer, and now, you're going to be caned for it. But that is the law there, and that's her punishment, and she apparently has accepted it.

So, Anna Coren, thanks so much for your information today. We do appreciate it.

All right. It is definitely something that when you think about it -- boy, does the punishment fit the crime?

HOLMES: It is so odd to hear that so many other people are drinking...

NGUYEN: They got away with it.

HOLMES: ... caught drinking and they get a fine. Sure, it still some punishment for it, but why her? Why now? And then to hear that she actually accepts it and thinks she deserves it, has embarrassed her family...

NGUYEN: Right, just wants to get it over with.

HOLMES: It's different. It's different.

All right. We're certainly going to have a lot of people chiming in on that story today.

Also, we're still waiting on election results over in Afghanistan. It might take a minute. They don't count ballots like we count them here in the U.S. A lot of the ballots are being carried on donkeys, literally. Also, hand counting going on in tent. That's why it's taking a while. Now, even though voters went to the polls that were some three days ago, we're waiting on those results.

Our Atia Abawi had been there for us -- she's live for us in Kabul. We talked about this yesterday, Atia, about why it's so important for this election to be viewed as legitimate, but now we're starting to maybe as the results come in and as more time goes by, we're hearing more complaints from the voters.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely from the voters and candidates, themselves. The Election Complaints Commission today told journalists they've received over 200 complaints already. Dr. Abdullah, one of the candidates accusing President Karzai's campaign for rigging the results, particularly in three southern provinces stating that they're hearing that local authorities were forcing Afghans to vote for President Karzai and in other districts they were taking the ballot boxes to local authorities' guest houses and stuffing the ballots.

These are accusations from Dr. Abdullah, towards President Karzai. But at the same time other candidates also accusing Dr. Abdullah of having his voters going in over and over again re-voting.

This is going to happen throughout the weeks, we don't expect results to trickle in until August 25th, preliminary results early September, final results September 17th. And now we're even hearing that the IEC, the Independent Election Commission is saying maybe September 17th the results won't come in.

As you said, there are logistical reasons as well as the complaints. You have provinces right now that the ballots are still coming in as you said on donkeys, on horses, on mules, but then you have all these complaints to go through and they want to go through every single complaint -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. It is remarkable to hear, and we could still be waiting quite some time to hear those results.

Atia Abawi, we appreciate you so much for keeping us informed on this story. Thank you.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Well, this next story is pretty interesting too because many artists have actually been shunned from the church for singing about such things as love. So gospel artists just wouldn't do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot talk about love

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: But he has a new theory here. And he claims that, yes, the Bible endorses of all things love songs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, he's a preacher's kid who has gone on to write Grammy award winning music. But that's not the only thing P.J. Morton is writing these days. He's written a new book and the debate behind it is the focus of this week's "Faces of Faith."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

P.J. MORTON, SONGWRITER: I cannot talk about love

HOLMES: Grammy winning songwriter and producer, P.J. Morton has written and produced songs for top artists such as India Arie, Music SoulChild and Men of Standard. Now he's written a book called "Why Can't I Sing about Love."

Some church-goers believe you can't sing R&B on Saturday and praise God on Sunday.

MORTON: They were just saying things like, you know, that music isn't of God. Or you should use your gifts for God. Try to make me feel when I wrote a love song it somehow wasn't worshipping God.

HOLMES: P.J. struggled internally on which road to take, Gospel or R&B.

MORTON: I was a big fan of Stevie Wonder and I just felt like there was something spiritual about that. And I couldn't imagine that God was displeased with this music.

I knew this was what I wanted to do. But I didn't have the word to back me up. Solomon asked God for wisdom in Second Kings and God blessed him with 1,005 songs.

HOLMES: The pressure to sing gospel was even greater for P.J. because he's the son of not one -- but two mega-preachers. Together, P.J.'s father Bishop Paul S. Morton and his mother, Debra Morton, pastor a congregation that stretches from Atlanta to New Orleans.

MORTON: As a kid, Gospel music was what was closest to me and growing up as the pastor's kid, you kind of got the idea that it was wrong to do anything else outside of that.

HOLMES: At age 14, with tears in his eyes, P.J. finally approached his father.

PAUL S. MORTON, CHANGING A GENERATION MINISTRY: It was a shock at first because this is my only son. I only have one son and so I just thought that he would follow in my footsteps, but then I began to realize, hey, everybody has to do what they are called to do.

HOLMES: A gospel artist himself, Bishop Morton believes there is a place in the church for love songs.

PAUL MORTON: When you are with your spouse, you just -- some songs you don't want to hear. I love "Amazing Grace," but when I'm with my wife it's not "Amazing Grace" -- come on, give me a love song. Let's be for real.

HOLMES: But there are still many skeptics within congregation.

Ty Tribbett a Sony Gospel recording artist and former R&B artist himself has a message for P.J., "You can't do both."

TY TRIBBETT, RECORDING ARTIST: The Bible says no man can serve two masters, even though that scripture's talking about God and money. But just that principle, no man can serve two masters -- you've got to love one and hate the other. At some point you're not going to be comfortable doing both and I couldn't.

HOLMES: P.J. argues in the book, that the issue of non-sacred music has pushed Christian artists away from the church.

His message...

P.J. MORTON: Erase the guilt that's associated with secular music. This is God's music, as well. I want to get R&B music back to love, things you can listen to with the family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right.

Let's get to some top stories right now.

In South Korea, a state funeral for a former president; tens of thousands gather to pay respect among them, a delegation from North Korea. They delivered a message from their president directly to the president of South Korea. Details of that message, well, hasn't been released just yet, but both sides are now voicing optimism for better relations. The two countries have been icy toward each other for a year and a half now, and these are the first high-level talks during that time.

Get you some more on Hurricane Bill because it's bringing some heavy rain and rough surf to the New England coast. But it's not as strong and powerful as it was. It dropped down to a Category 1 storm, top winds about 85 miles per hour. Not expected to make direct landfall in the U.S., but will likely weaken as the day goes on.

And you can blame it on Bill for changing the first family's travel plans. The Obama's were set to leave for Martha's Vineyard this morning, but now they have to leave this afternoon, a little delayed. The Associated Press says they're waiting until the weather gets just a bit better. And this is the first week-long vacation the President has taken since moving into the White House. The Obamas have rented a beautiful estate for the week.

And CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian tells us what many people may not realize about Martha's Vineyard is that it has a rich African-American history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's easy to see why Martha's Vineyard is such a big draw, the beaches, boat, the vintage carousel. But before you attach the label of enclave of the rich and famous, long time summer resident and Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree says take a look around.

CHARLES OGLETREE, HARVARD PROFESSOR: It really is one of these rare places where you see people who are unemployed and who are CEOs. You see people who are wealthy and poor. And there's no pretension here. People are very comfortable.

LOTHIAN: Even if sitting presidents keep dropping in. First, it was Ulysses S. Grant, then the Clintons, now PRESIDENT OBAMA and his family are preparing to stretch out on this 28 1/2 acre blue heron farm.

NANCY GARDELLA, MARTHA'S VINEYARD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's very flattering and impressive that President Obama and his family are coming.

LOTHIAN: Island historians say Mr. Obama's presence carries more weight because of the African-American heritage on Martha's Vineyard.

KEITH GORMAN, MARTHA'S VINEYARD MUSEUM: There have been African- Americans on the island since at least the 18th century. I think in terms of this first family coming to the island, it's important.

This shot, I think, is really quite telling.

LOTHIAN: The pictures are in black and white at the local museum. Some were slaves who when freed made a home here. Later other blacks came in search of good jobs.

GORMAN: You could get on a ship, a whaling ship. And in the 19th century you have all of these multi-ethnic and multi-racial whaling vessels.

LOTHIAN: African-Americans began to settle in Oak Bluffs, an early resort community that didn't shut the door.

OGLETREE: The "colored only, white only" signs were up through much of the 20th century. So this was a place that didn't have the signs; didn't have the barriers to integration.

LOTHIAN: It's a history largely hidden behind the island's pristine beauty and high-profile presidential visit. But historian Carrie Tankard is trying to change that. She co-founded the African- American Heritage Trail that marks 22 sites honoring people of color on the island.

CARRIE TANKARD, AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL: We uncovered headstones and things, you know, you can put your hands on it. You can see it. It's just a feeling you can't describe. We just want them to know that we were here.

LOTHIAN: While the President may be hoping to simply spend some quiet time relaxing with his family and friends, his visit is also seen as another chapter in this island's deep history.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Martha's Vineyard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, the President on vacation and the weather, disrupting things a tad. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I'll tell you what though, this storm is moving away. That's the great thing in all of this. There's going to be danger left from Bill as it pulls its way to the northeast.

We're going to give you the latest on this storm and what we can expect for the rest of the day and also what to expect throughout around the nation coming up in a few moments right here on CNN SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Let me show you something.

Take a look at this. This at one time was the largest storm on the planet, the strongest by far, now it's just a shadow of its former self, it's pulling its way to the north-northeast. At one point this was over very warm water temperatures, water temperatures that were in the 80s. It was just a power house, but now it's falling apart.

One of the reasons why is we got a little bit of dry air that's coming in. It's a part of the storm. We also have some upper level winds that are shearing it apart. As it interacts with cooler water, well, it's going to become less potent.

And currently the winds are at 85 degrees -- or rather 85 miles an hour gusting to 100 miles an hour, but the forecast does show that the storm is expected to weaken with winds going to 75, a minimal hurricane as we get to 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, but then though, as the forecast path brings it a bit more to the east, going right past Halifax and over towards Newfoundland, and it should be in that area as we get into say early Monday, we're talking say 2:00 a.m. with winds of 65 miles an hour.

So still, a strong tropical storm, but a minimal hurricane, again as we go from Sunday into Monday, making landfall as a tropical storm early in the morning and then out to sea. But as the storm moves away, we still have a danger with it and the big danger we're going to see along the coast are going to be mainly rip currents. Rip currents, I would say, from about the Outer Banks, North Carolina all the way up to the Jersey shores; certainly much worse if you happen to be off, say, the main coast.

But again, if you happen to be in the -- from the Outer Banks clear out to Maine what I would is strongly recommend just not getting into the water.

Very quickly what we're going to see around the rest of the nation, though, as Bill moves off, high pressure is going to be building into the Ohio Valley. With that it's going to have a compressing effect, a calming effect on the atmosphere so plenty of sunshine for you in Cincinnati, (INAUDIBLE) and Indianapolis.

Nice and cool for the most part in parts to the southeast; still very warm for you in Texas and very muggy, also, in south Texas. Scattered showers possible throughout much of the Rockies, then when you make your way out to the West Coast, beautiful conditions -- a mix of sunshine and clouds. So, overall, not that bad once Bill is out of the picture.

And we're going to move from that picture back to the picture over at the weather desk or rather the anchor desk. I'm going to send it to you guys now.

NGUYEN: All right. We do appreciate it.

WOLF: You bet.

NGUYEN: Thank you so much.

And now we're going to check in with Josh Levs because he is watching the Web and going to get us an idea of the storms that actually can be tracked online so you can do it yourself. Not that we're trying to put Reynolds out of a job or anything.

HOLMES: Of course not.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, none of us can do it as well as Reynolds can, but there are some really good Web sites to check in at any time you want to see the latest. And you can actually set some of these Web sites up so they give you specifically what you're looking for.

Actually I have some latest video from a Web site called hurricanetrack.com that follows some of the latest storms in various places around the country.

Let's push in a little bit. This one's from, I believe, Rodanthe in North Carolina. And hurricanetrack.com keeps updating regularly.

Let's go over here because as a rule when we have good Web sites at cnn.com that cover what I'm talking about, I like to show you those. And we do, cnn.com/weather allows you to get the latest. You can click here for the forecast, you can get the temperature in your area -- when the click works, there you go.

You can get the satellite view, and you can also switch to the radar. Any one of these can help you find out about storms that may be affecting your area, track them, as well.

And quickly, I'll just you a few more here, but you don't need to write any of these down because I'm about to show you one place where we have put everything for you. This one called intelcast.com that can track the storms for you.

Also, I was looking at some of the best images I could find from the government news agencies, they should show up pretty well. Check this out, a really cool picture that epa.gov actually put up from a recent storm that was at Lake Superior.

And even though it's not connected to what we're talking about, it's just so cool. I found that when I was looking just now. This is a dust storm on Mars. Probably not something you want to track, but NASA put it up there.

There are great images, great ways to track, and I have put together a list of links for you.

Let's go to the screen here, it's going show you everywhere that you can find it. Go to my screen, cnn.com/josh, it should be up or it will be up in a couple of minutes. Most of the postings are at Facebook and Twitter. And I want to hear from you.

If you have -- if storm chasing or tracking Web sites that you really like that have helped you. That have maybe given you really helpful information when a storm is headed to your area, let us know, we want to share it with everyone here. So Betty and T.J. will keep an eye on that and we'll be right back in the coming days with some of those sites.

NGUYEN: All right. Love it. Thank you so much.

LEVS: Thanks a lot.

HOLMES: We have been talking a lot about the protests and the politics over the past few weeks.

NGUYEN: Yes. More weekend town hall meetings in an effort to influence Congress on the Health Care issue. So is it working?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next time people shouldn't vote for him if this is the way he's going to treat people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: So this may be a make or break month for health care reform. But the Republicans are looking well beyond this month to the 2010 elections. And some are making their opposition to the president's plan a badge of honor and hoping that it really translates into some votes.

HOLMES: Some of those folks are Republicans like Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello, who criticized the plan at a town hall meeting yesterday. Also Florida Governor Charlie Crist who's running for Senate next year; Crist spoke at the state GOP meeting going on this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: I'm concerned about the direction that the administration has taken. As you probably are aware, I'm the kind of guy who likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I did that. And it's taken a turn that I don't think a lot of us expected, especially as it relates to the health care reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PERRIELLO (R), VIRGINIA: I remained a no on the bill because I don't think we'd hit those targets yet. If we do that, then I'm ready to move forward.

I think about my brother, he's a high school coach and teacher, he's got four kids, he and his wife, you know, living the American dream, barely eking by. Their health care costs are larger than their mortgage and they simply can't keep it up.

That's the sort of family I have in mind when I'm thinking about whether this is going to bring things down or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Congressman Perriello's town hall meeting was one of several going on around the country yesterday. We have a map that shows there are plenty of chances for people to question their lawmakers or confront them.

NGUYEN: You'll notice if we can get that map up, that Albuquerque is on the list there, the site of Democratic Congressman Martin Heinrich meeting and Alana Gold from our affiliate KOAT -- there's the map -- she was there and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALANA GOLD, CNN AFFILIATE, KOAT: people started lining up at the U&M continuing education building hours before the town hall meeting even started.

REBECCA ROTH, TOWN HALL ATTENDEE: I came early because I knew -- I think it was like 250, that seemed like I had a good chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here.

GOLD: And being here early was key.

FRANK DITULLIO, TOWN HALL ATTENDEE: They say there's room for 600, I think we're about 300 in line, but we'll see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do apologize but we have reached capacity of 1,000 people.

GOLD: Hundreds got turned away after the auditorium and an overflow room were filled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not enough. I want a commitment from you that you're going to set up another...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot make that today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you take it to Senator Heinrich right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe next time people shouldn't vote for him if this is the way he's going to treat people.

REP. MARTIN HEINRICH (D) NEW MEXICO: I appreciate where you're coming from, but I just frankly disagree.

GOLD: During the meeting Congressman Martin Heinrich addressed questions and concerns about health care reform, specifically changes in Medicare and Medicaid along with a public insurance option.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to take attention back to the question that you so conveniently side-stepped from the man in the balcony on how you're going to pay for this bill. You will be raising my taxes.

GOLD: This quickly turned into a heated debate and emotions were running high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sent you to Washington to take care of business. We did not send you to Washington to socialize the medical system.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: And we'll be seeing more of those town hall meetings.

HOLMES: Here's a question, who would you say is the most powerful woman in the world?

NGUYEN: In the world.

HOLMES: When you give it some thought, it kind of makes sense -- the number one that came out with Forbes.

NGUYEN: The German chancellor.

HOLMES: Makes sense, yes.

NGUYEN: Angela Merkel, of course.

HOLMES: Angela Merkel.

NGUYEN: So where does first lady MICHELLE OBAMA rank on that list? Well, in fact, she has debuted on the list at number 40. As you see right there, Hillary Clinton number 36. Oprah, you know, a lot of people would've thought Oprah Winfrey would have been a little bit higher on that list, down at 42, Queen Elizabeth -- actually Oprah, 41 and Queen Elizabeth, 42.

HOLMES: Above the queen, that's impressive. When I hear powerful woman, the first thing that comes to my mouth is usually Oprah Winfrey. It just does. But, yeah, this is just some, you can check that out. There's something online, we have links to it on cnn.com, a list of 100 -- an interesting list, a lot of CEOs on there.

NGUYEN: Linda Gates is on there. HOLMES: A lot of women involved with banking, as well, the head of the FDIC, she's at number two, actually. She's wielding a lot of power at the FDIC right now.

NGUYEN: Yes, she is. A lot of people looking to her.

And you know, you'll be looking to this guy right here; John King coming up at the top of the hour with "STATE OF THE UNION."

HOLMES: He will focus on health care. He's going to be talking about the Afghan elections, also the President. He has actually Admiral Mike Mullen on, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Also the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan is going to be on as well.

NGUYEN: Great show.

HOLMES: So he's coming your way in just about one minute. But first I want to hit you with some headlines.

First let's talk about Hurricane Bill, it's a little weaker, still dangerous storm, it's a category 1. It won't make landfall here in the U.S., but its effects are being felt along coastlines from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Also a story we've been watching this morning out of Greece. This is near Athens, where evacuations orders are in effect with thousands of people because of a massive wildfire. This is one of about 75 raging across the country.

Also, a story that's got a lot of people talking this morning and outraged even, next week a 32-year-old -- this is happening tomorrow, a 32-year-old mother will be the first woman in Malaysia to be caned for what? Drinking beer in public. The Asian country forbids alcohol consumption by Muslims.

And finally here, the "Cash for Clunkers" program is going to expire tomorrow. So get out, get your deals. Better do them in a hurry, because a lot of dealerships are trying to get your paperwork in by 8:00 tomorrow night.

Right now, John King, "STATE OF THE UNION" right now.