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CNN Sunday Morning
Tropical Storm Lee Dropping Lots of Rain on Gulf Coast; Palin Speech Revs Up Tea Party; Baltimore Banking on Big Race Turnout
Aired September 04, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good Sunday morning. Tropical Storm Lee, it's getting a little weaker but what they really need is for it to move a little faster. It is just sitting there over parts of the Gulf Coast right now, already causing flooding and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Also, listen to this, buy a raffle ticket and you could win a glock handgun. It's part of a republican fund-raiser in Tucson, Arizona. The same city where a gunman using a glock handgun killed six people and shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head. Critics are calling this extremely insensitive but Arizona Republicans are defending the fund-raiser.
Also this morning on a much different note, what's being called the Super Bowl for nerds? I like to think of it as Halloween coming a month early. Dragoncon is in town and in our studio this morning. We'll have the organizer of the event as well as actress Claire Kramer, also, we'll have a couple of characters, if you will, they'll be right here to help us understand that this cultural phenomenon is more than just adults playing dress up.
Thank you so much for spending some of your time here with us on this holiday weekend on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING, I'm T.J. Holmes. And as always, I want to say good morning and welcome to our men and women who are serving in the Armed Forces watching us right now around the world on the American Forces Network. Thank you for being here and thank you for what you do.
But let's start with this storm. Tropical Storm Lee is causing all kinds of fits this weekend. It's a steady drenching right now along the Gulf Coast, it's causing flooding this morning. It's moving so slowly is the issue. It's moving north into Louisiana and Mississippi, the bands of heavy rain have just been sitting there for two days. The storm is moving only at around two miles per hour. Literally, you could go outside and outrun this storm if you need to. We've seen heavy rain, heavy waves along the Mississippi Coast, we've seen some evacuations in Coastal Louisiana and the flooding in the streets of New Orleans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS: This storm, one of the stranger ones that we've had in how unpredictable it's become. All of the experts have said these rain bands continue to hover around us. This storm is moving painfully slow. And again, the greatest risk for us is to get a lot of rain in a very short period of time because of the way our streets work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. So, that's issue right now. It's just not going anywhere. Just sitting there and as it sits there, it keeps dumping and dumping and dumping rain. Check out this video we have out of Mississippi. You can see Lee is still packing some punch. Does have some heavy winds, still some of these winds around 50 miles an hour.
Let's turn to our Ed Lavandera in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana for us this morning. Ed, what have you and the folks there been seeing overnight?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, T.J., here is some kind of an interesting story. We're Jean Lafitte with is south of New Orleans. And we haven't been seen any rain this morning. Although, if you look out toward the Gulf of Mexico this way, you see big lightening storms kind of erupting out there in the sky. So, you can still tell that there are storms brewing on there. But, what you see back here in the darkness behind me is the Intracoastal Waterway, and this is what takes you out into the Gulf of Mexico, this takes you toward New Orleans. And this storm has been moving so slowly but the storm and the winds keep pushing inland. And this town has had to protect themselves. They laid out 26,000 feet of what you call a tiger dam, if you will, it's almost like little makeshift levee that they've built all along the Intracoastal Waterway because a lot of this water not enough you can it out there in the darkness, T.J., but this is pushing north and the current in the Intracoastal Waterway out here is really, really strong.
Right now, it is high tide and the wind is pushing this water inland and, you know, what's happening is, it's kind of snaking and fingering its way into the community around here. And so, as you drive around town here in Jean Lafitte, T.J., you see a lot of water lapping up very close to many, many people's homes. They've had mandatory evacuations in this area. So, they've had to lay out this sort of makeshift dams here to protect and keep the water out. This water is about three feet higher than what it normally is. And they're concerned that it will take at least 24 hours for the winds to shift. What they want is the winds to stop blowing toward the North and blowing toward the South and start pushing this water out of here -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Ed Lavandera, we'll going to be checking in with you again this morning. Thank you. He's up early with us there in Louisiana. Thanks so much. We're also getting lots of good video pictures from our iReporters along the Gulf Coast. Here's one of them, helping us tell the story. Pontchartrain in Louisiana.
GERARD BRAUD, I-REPORTER: Here on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, Louisiana, as you take a look out, you can see that the water is overtopping the sea wall and the yards are starting to flood, especially in the low-lying areas. Of course everybody along this stretch of lake anticipates flooding of this kind. All the houses are raised about 15 feet above sea level. The houses will be safe but the yards and streets starting to flood.
HOLMES: All right. Five minutes past the hour now. Let's say good morning to Bonnie Schneider. Always good to have Bonnie here with us on the weekends. Bonnie, good morning to you.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: T.J., good to be here.
HOLMES: Yes. We're talking about just sitting there dumping rain, but now we'll going to have issues with possible tornadoes popping up.
SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.
HOLMES: So, it's causing all kinds of problems.
SCHNEIDER: It is. It's a rough Sunday morning, no doubt about it. Well, Lee as you heard from that press conference is a slow mover. And the longer it lingers in Coastal Louisiana, the worst things will be for that state. Because right now, the ill-defined center is just off the coast. But a lot of thunderstorms as certain are certainly well onshore. And then you have that wrap around effect. You can see here another big batch of rain coming into sections of Southern Louisiana. Let's take a look at the track for Lee. And you'll see that the movement of the storm is still pretty slow, even as we go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We don't see that much movement but we do see a rainmaker for states like Alabama and Georgia and Tennessee as we go in the middle of next week.
Some of this will be beneficial rain. Unfortunately, some of that will cause flooding but biggest concerns for flooding will be down along the Gulf Coast in Alabama and into Louisiana where we already have about seven inches of rain on the ground from Lee. Let's take a look at the newest threat right now. We have a tornado watch box. Now, this is in effect, straight into the evening hours. And it does cover New Orleans. Another one just popping up right now into Hattiesburg, Mississippi and into Mobile, Alabama. So, the tornado watch is sort of extending a little further North and East as Lee drifts further off to the North and East. And it's really moving to the north slowly. The movement at North at two miles per hour, that's barely moving. You can see some of that heavy convection coming onshore with a lot thunderstorm activity drenching rains just about to pummel Louisiana again and again. Rainfall over the same place over and over is just not a good thing.
The tropics are very active. We don't only have one storm, we have two. Another one is called Katia. This is well out in the Atlantic. The movements out much faster. Northwest in 11. Winds are at 70. So, Katia is a strong tropical storm almost a hurricane. And I think it will become a hurricane soon enough. You can see really, really strong convection bursting from the center, pretty much South. It's little bit of a wind shear pushing some of that convection a little bit East to the center. But what we're looking at right now is a track that will take it uncomfortably close to the United States. In fact, the storm is forecast to become a category two hurricane by the time we get to Wednesday with winds of 100 miles per hour and look how close it comes to the U.S. in the cone of uncertainty.
It's eventually forecast to curve away. But anytime there's a storm nearby, there will be some impacts minimum with rough surf all the way up and down the East Coast. And that means rip tides. And this time a year, people are still swimming. Still officially summer. So, you have to be very careful in the ocean this time of year. We'll going to monitor Katia and Lee. Because they may have some interaction, T.J. In fact, as you can see looking at this graphic, the computer models are showing some of the heaviest rain working its way up from Lee. And then by the time we get to the middle of the week, here's the moisture from Katia, it's just not really catching up to each other but close enough, too close for comfort, some in the monitor.
HOLMES: All right. I want to hear more about that a little later. Bonnie Schneider, she is here with us this weekend. Always good to have you. Thanks so much.
We're eight minutes past the hour now. And let's talk about Irene, don't forget about her, that was just a week ago. President Obama now headed to Paterson, New Jersey today. He's going to get a firsthand look at some of the damage left by the storm. Here's what it looks like there right now. Here we are, again, a full week after the storm hit. The President will be joined on his tour by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Yesterday, we heard from the Paterson mayor here on our show about what the city needs and what he has to say to the President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JEFFREY JONES, PATERSON, NEW JERSEY: We definitely need help. There's no misgiving on this. We are at the very bottom, trying to find our way to a place by which we become to use the word stable. So, yes, our local resiliency is that we found a way to kind of work together. But if you look around the economy and all those other things, we're at bottom. So, help is what we need and there's no other way to say it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, President Obama had already declared a disaster in New Jersey. Now he's done the same for Pennsylvania, Virginia, as well as New Hampshire. The declarations make federal assistance available in those states. Virginia cities like Norfolk, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Lynchburg (ph), also New York, Connecticut, Vermont, North Carolina have also been offered federal help.
Well, police are investigating a possible threat against a Spirit Airlines flight. The plane was headed from Las Vegas to Los Angeles when it had to turn around. The TSA not saying a whole lot about the incident but local stations in Las Vegas are reporting that it was a possible bomb threat. One passenger was being questioned, others were rescreened and flew on to L.A.
Also in Chile now, a popular morning TV host in Chile's believed to be dead after a plane he was on went missing off the coast. You're seeing pictures of a vigil that was held outside of his station. Four bodies have been recovered so far. There were 21 people on board. His name is Felipe Camiroaga, and his crew was headed to remote island of Chile specific coast to do a story on earthquake rebuilding. The country's defense minister says, it looks like everyone was killed, the defense minister's brother-in-law was also on that plane.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, he is back in Paris this morning. Back home. It's the first time he's been home to France since being accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid in Manhattan. The charges were dropped less than two weeks ago. The former head of the International Monetary Fund was greeted by applause when he arrived in Paris. We'll have much more, live from Paris just a little later in our show.
And the Blue Angels going green? No, they're not repainting the planes, however, they're trying something new, not necessarily going to see it, though. The navy's precision flying team is using a new blend of half jet fuel and half bio-fuel. They're starting that at this weekend's performances in Maryland. It's there. Their attempt to go a little greener here. The navy started using the blend in other planes but this is the first time a whole squadron is using it.
Well, Sarah Palin, people are still trying to figure this lady out. Good luck with that. Many people are questioning if she really wants to run for president or is she's just toying with the media right now? Well, she had some harsh words yesterday. Many people say, she sounded like a candidate. But you'll have those tough words to President Obama in Iowa, you'll hear what she told the Tea Party crowd. That's coming up.
Also, we'll going to be hearing from you this morning. We'll going to be sharing some of your comments and reaction to a segment we did here yesterday that got overwhelming reaction to this question, is marriage for white people? That's the name of a new book that is examining African-American relationships. We'll get you caught up on that story and also share some of your insights. Stay with us. It's 12 past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 13 minutes past the hour now. And Mitt Romney is campaigning in New Hampshire today, a day after the GOP front-runner Rick Perry was there. Romney could find maybe some rough going, according to the "Boston Herald," state Tea Party activists will show up in Concord to protest his appearance. They say, they're skeptical about Romney, claiming he's only using them now to get national exposure.
Also, will she run? Some say she's acting like a candidate, but she hasn't declared. Getting a little late in the game, as well. Sarah Palin gave a speech to the Tea Party in a key state, Iowa, yesterday, taking aim at the President. Our political reporter Peter Hamby was there.
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin delivered a series of sharp attacks against President Barack Obama and her potential republican presidential rivals here at the Tea Party rally in Iowa on Saturday. And while Palin did not declare a presidential bid and is not expected to until the end of September, she did draw a sharp line in the sand against one potential opponent, republican front-runner Texas Governor Rick Perry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Some GOP candidates, they also raised mammoth amounts of cash and we need to ask them too, what if anything do their donors expect in return for their investments. We need to know this. Because our country can't afford more trillion- dollar thank you notes to campaign backers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMBY: Perry has long been criticized by his political foes for rewarding his donors and campaign allies with plum government jobs and contracts. Palin unloaded on quote, unquote, "crony capitalism" throughout her speech making clear that she's not going to cede any grounds where republican rivals. If she does run, she tried to position herself as a populous outsider, figure head of the Tea Party movement. So, we're going to watch Sarah Palin today as she campaigns in New Hampshire and perhaps drops some more clues about her presidential ambitions -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks as always to our Peter Hamby.
Also, coming up this morning, speeding through the streets of Baltimore. Not a police chase. Not some of the citizens getting out of control there. Talking about race cars in the streets and they're hoping this comes with a $100 million payday. It's 15 minutes past the hour on this CNN Sunday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're 17 minutes past the hour now. I'll give you some of the highlights from sports here. This was a nice moment. The mother of a severely beaten fan threw out the first pitch at yesterday's San Francisco Giants game. Bryan Stow you may remember was beaten into a coma outside Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, an opening day back in March. He is still in the hospital. His family received a standing ovation. This is what they called strikeout violence night.
And maybe some redemption here for Jamaican track star and really the faster man in the world, Usain Bolt. Yesterday, he won the gold medal in the 200 meter dash at the world Track and Field Championships in South Korea. Bold was disqualified in the 100 meter after a false start. This time, he was the last person out of the blocks but only matters that you are the first person that crosses the finish line.
Also, at the U.S. open, check this guy out. He's pretty good when he's playing but he's pretty good after he wins, too. This is the top seeded Novak Djokovic guy is the character. He is good for tennis. Good young guy. He advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. open at events in straight sets, this was in New York yesterday. He's never won the U.S. open but he's had a heck of a year. Number one out there on the tour right now. But always having a good time.
Let's go now to the streets of Baltimore, getting pretty loud right now, with the running of the first ever Baltimore Grand Prix. These are IndyCars taking to the streets. Same ones, you know, that you see in the Indianapolis 500. And as our Athena Jones reports, city leaders are gambling on hitting the racing jackpot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baltimore is about to get noisy. This Labor Day weekend, the place affectionately known as charm city is hosting a fast-paced race through the streets, with hairpin turns and 90 degree angles, reaching speeds of up to 160 miles per hour.
HELIO CASTRONEVES, INDYCAR DRIVER: They run exactly the place your car is running every day, you know, from 9:00 to 5:00, you're going riding downtown to work. But you're going 35 to 40 mile-an- hour. We're going the same place at 160 mile-an-hour. So, that's why it's so cool.
JONES: It's the Baltimore Grand Prix, the inaugural event in a five-year IndyCar series. The mayor expects to bring more than $11 million into city coffers.
(on camera) What about the larger impact? We're talking about hotels, restaurants, any idea, in terms of an estimate of how much money it's brought in a larger way?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We don't have exact figures but we're hoping it will be well over 100 million.
JONES (voice-over): Organizers expect more than 100,000 people to the sun on the two mile downtown loop this weekend.
(on camera) The City of Baltimore is hoping this event will put it on the map for racing fans worldwide, attracting tourists and giving the economy a much needed boost.
(voice-over) Unemployment in Baltimore is above the national average at about 11 percent. Spectators can watch the IndyCars race as well as the Le Mans Series race to support cars like Ferraris and Jaguars. We went to watch preparations, practice runs and qualifying rounds and to talk to participants like Le Man driver Chris Dyson.
(on camera) So, you are in here, you're flipping all these things while you're driving, what are you -- you're pushing all these buttons, you're reading things?
CHRIS DYSON, DRIVER, AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES: Yes. You've got to be a human computer when you're out there driving. I mean, you have to be completely clinical about what you're doing.
JONES (voice-over): Both the city and the race sponsors have a lot riding on the event.
RANDY BERNARD, CEO, INDYCARS: It's a very important to build our brand and our exposure by bringing on new cities like this.
JONES: And drivers like Brazil's Julio Castroneves who's been racing for Team Penske for 12 years are excited.
CASTRONEVES: This is going to be a good show.
Athena Jones, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty one minutes past the hour. And comedian Katt Williams says, maybe he has some explaining to do but not any apologizing to do after what some call an anti-Mexican rant at his comedy show in Phoenix. He did that explaining, right here with me on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATT WILLIAMS, COMEDIAN: If I had disrespected Mexicans, I wouldn't have been able to get out of there alive, sir, with all due respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You will see his complete interview, my complete interview with him and his response, coming your way within an hour.
Also, we're going to get your reaction this morning to a segment we did yesterday on that controversial book and controversial title. It's called, "Is Marriage for White People?" But it examines African- Americans and marriage. You will hear my conversation with the author. So, we got overwhelming reaction from you, our viewers and many of you women were responding. We'll have those responses. It's coming up. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're 25 minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. And this weekend, we really got a conversation started with a segment we did yesterday, had the author of a book on, he's a Stanford Law Professor. But he wrote a book, and you're seeing it there, it's called, "Is Marriage for White People? How The African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone." Now, again, the title suggests he's talking about white marriage but actually he's examining African-American marriage. His name is Ralph Richard Banks. Got a chance to talk to him. Asked him to explain just what he's talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH RICHARD BANKS, AUTHOR, "IS MARRIAGE FOR WHITE PEOPLE?": Is it fair to ask black women to sacrifice their own happiness on the altar as it were black men struggles? I think not. I think not. HOLMES: OK. What's that sacrifice necessarily when we're talking about -- and I asked you this question yesterday. Is it always marrying down if the person you're marrying doesn't make as much money or have the same level of education? Could be a good guy.
BANKS: Yes. He could be a good guy and lots of relationships work across classes, that's true. But it's also the case that for everyone, not simply for the women but for the men as well. Having a spouse who is matched to you educationally in terms of your outlook, your aspirations, your experiences, that's a positive thing. So, it's actually not a great thing for the wife or the husband if they're in a mismatched relationship.
HOLMES: Yes. I got another question from a viewer, Judy sent in and said, "Wait, it sounds like you're saying, why should black women give up the good fight?" You know, you're not telling them to take on a project to fixating a man necessarily, but why just give up on black men?
BANKS: Right. You--that is another great question, I actually am asking black women to give up the good fight because...
HOLMES: Give up the good fight?
BANKS: The fight has not been successful. This is what a friend of mine, Carolyn Edgar calls a Negro Improvement project. Which is what a lot of black women undertake and often the results are not so great. So, the strategy has been counterproductive. It doesn't help African-Americans for to us have black men and black women locked in bad relationships and raising children in households where the parents quarrel and ultimately divorce. That's not a win for anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. So you heard him there and you saw my reaction, many of you had the same reaction. He is literally saying for black women to give up the good fight, to give up on black men essentially. Now, it got overwhelming response from you all on Twitter and Facebook. I'm just going to share a few here.
Some of them were funny, some of them were angry, some of them were quite poignant. Here's one at least from Shon that said, "I don't agree that black women should give up on black men, but I do think that black women or really anybody shouldn't be trying to build someone from the ground up and hopelessly wait for some drastic change to take place."
Another from Yvonne saying, "OK, then women should just give up on men, period." There's an idea. But then one here from Angelique, and this is probably what a lot of women feel. And she says, "I'm a single black woman, so much easier said than done when it comes to giving up on black men. I prefer black men but I've tried dating outside of my race. You can't help to like what you like. It's just so depressing when you feel like you live in a world where black men don't want us as much as we want them." That's just a little sample of what some of you sent in. I appreciate your overwhelming response and being a part of the show and the conversation. Please, keep it up. We'll try to share more of those throughout the morning.
We're getting close to the bottom of the hour now. We are tracking this Tropical Storm Lee. How much tracking do you do? It's just kind of sitting there. But what you're seeing here is some of the battering going on, on the Gulf Coast. Some of those oil workers which you're seeing on the video there on the right, they got out just in time. We'll give you the latest on what exactly is going on.
And here on CNN Saturday and Sunday morning, before I bring you any segment, any interview, I do my research, I do my studying on that topic. Well, I have been studying this topic for a while. And I'll admit, I still don't know what the heck it's about. It's Dragoncon. I'm still trying to figure this thing out. But we're at the 25th anniversary of this science fiction and fantasy convention. And it's happening right here in Atlanta. And I am about to get an education from the folks who know it well. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are at the bottom of the hour on this CNN Sunday Morning. Welcome back, everybody. Hope you're having a good holiday weekend so far. Glad you could spend part of it here with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Let's look at some of the stories that have been making headlines. A Spirit Airlines plane headed to Los Angeles had to suddenly turn around or return to the airport in Vegas last night. A spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration says a passenger complained about comments made by another passenger, saying they sounded suspicious. Police interviewed the man. He left (ph) the plane. Other passengers then were able to go on to L.A.
President Obama will visit Paterson, New Jersey later on today. He and Governor Chris Christie will see firsthand the damage done by Hurricane Irene and the severe flooding that the storm generated. Floodwaters are receding a bit now, but Paterson, which sits along the swollen Passaic River, was among the hardest areas hit by Irene.
Another storm to tell you about this weekend, Tropical Storm Lee. The winds and rain are really causing all kinds of problems with the Gulf Coast. New Orleans one of the places that's being affected. The National Weather Service says Lee has weakened a little bit. The storm expected to dump though up to 20 inches of rain in some places. You can see some of the flooding already being caused.
The storm is not moving much. It's only going to get worse. Now we have got the talk of possible tornadoes being spawned by this thing. Let's say good morning to Bonnie Schneider, who is tracking this tropical storm for us. And that's the issue. Any sign it's speeding up? Yesterday it was 2, 3 miles an hour, got up to 7. It is like, OK, and then it got back down to 2 or 3. BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There isn't strong enough wind to move it. Yes, that's the problem. We want to move it on out of here or move it to Texas where we could get some beneficial rain.
But right now the biggest and most immediate threat, tornadoes. We have tornado warnings in Mississippi and the panhandle of Florida. This is Labor Day weekend. A lot of people are at these beaches looking to get outside. This is not the time to go outside.
Check out the tornado warnings for Okalousa (ph) and Santa Rosa. We're watching for that tornado warning until 5:15 local time, but we're also tracking tornado warnings as we head further off towards Mississippi. You can see we have warnings popping up in several different counties here including the area of Waveland and Longbeach, all the way down to the coast and then further off to the inland areas, including the city of Hattiesburg. The threat for tornadoes exist.
And there's a reason for it. We're seeing some really strong thunderstorms rolling in as a result of this tropical system. Lee is not only causing the heavy rain but also tornado watch boxes in effect right now, and you can see that into Hattiesburg, Mobile. The tornado watches will go straight into the afternoon or evening hours. And it's something to monitor very closely. We have some very heavy rain sweeping across the New Orleans area. Let's open up the scope now, I want to show you the bigger picture. You can see the rain working its way across into Montgomery as well and into Mobile and the panhandle of Florida.
So Lee continues to hammer the region with heavy bands of rain, particularly in coastal areas of the beaches of Florida. And that's a big concern that these storms may contain tornadoes.
I'm going to show you what else is happening. We're not only looking at Lee but we also have the movement and the track that it will impact areas further to the north. The movement is 2 miles per hour, and as we put this track into motion, you can see that the rain will drench areas into Tennessee, into Alabama and even into north Georgia. So that's something to keep in mind.
Finally, that's not the only tropical system we're watching. We're also monitoring Katia. Out into the open waters of the Atlantic. Now, Katie is a tropical storm but it is a strong one. So the winds right now are at 70 miles per hour and the track will take it uncomfortably close to the U.S. Unfortunately, close enough, close enough to bring some rip currents by the time we get to the middle of next week, and then the storm is forecast to move away from the U.S. and curve away. As I mentioned, T.J., it will come close enough to cause those rip currents and possibly pick up a little bit of moisture from Lee. All of that is a recipe for a lot of rain for the eastern half of the country from now straight through the middle of next week.
HOLMES: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thank you. We'll be checking in with Bonnie plenty. Always good to have you here with us on the CNN Saturday or Sunday morning. How about this, folks? You don't have to good to Publix or Safeway or Kroger, whatever grocery store. You can do all your grocery shopping in the subway. Buy the meat, veggies, juice, whatever you need. All you really need is a smart phone and to take a picture. We'll explain in this morning's "Passport." Stay with me, 35 past the hour on this CNN Sunday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 38 minutes past the hour. Let us say good morning to Nadia Bilchik.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very good morning.
HOLMES: With "Morning Passport." You don't have to go to the grocery store anymore to do your grocery shopping.
BILCHIK: If you live in Shanghai. And if you are a commuter on one of the 12 busiest undergrounds in Shanghai.
HOLMES: So that's convenient.
BILCHIK: It sounds very convenient. So what happens is for these commuters, as you step into the station, along the wall, there are grocery-like shelves. So you take a look. It's actually a poster but it's backlit, so it simulates an actual grocery shelf. And it has the items, there are about 80 items, everything from diapers to fresh meat to milk. What you do is on your phone, you take a picture of the bar code of the actual item you want. It downloads it, and within hours it is delivered to your home.
HOLMES: That is brilliant.
BILCHIK: That is brilliant. Because that way you're not carrying any items and also you're actually seeing what it is you want to purchase and you're not having to go out of your way to make your purchases.
HOLMES: How long have they been doing this?
BILCHIK: They've been doing this for a couple of months. But there have been 10,000 already used, which makes it the hottest online purchasing of groceries in the Shanghai.
HOLMES: This is brand new then?
BILCHIK: This is new.
HOLMES: This has got to get to New York soon.
BILCHIK: Now, let's think about this. You're asking why is it not in New York and why is it not in the London metros. Let's take a moment to think.
HOLMES: I know in New York though they do have other services that allow -- you can order groceries and have them delivered. BILCHIK: Right. Yes.
HOLMES: You also have grocery shops on every little corner. So you have--
BILCHIK: But you still have to carry them.
HOLMES: Still would have to carry.
BILCHIK: But think about this. There's no cell phone service underground in the London metros.
HOLMES: But they can get it there?
BILCHIK: They can get it. This is what's so amazing. So they can download it. And this is a whole new way of shopping. But now think about the information that is then stored on your phone. Because you have to apply. So like, if you have a Starbucks app on your phone, you can walk down to Starbucks and you can purchase without ever taking a credit card down there or ever taking money down there. But all the information is now downloaded. But certainly convenient, right?
HOLMES: That is fantastic.
BILCHIK: Now look at the numbers, because China has around 880 million mobile users. Think about the potential for this. And they say by the year 2013, there are going to be 9 million commuters a day on these Shanghai trains.
HOLMES: And again, this is one company that's in charge of this?
BILCHIK: This is one company that is doing it, it's actually pioneered by Tesco supermarket chain in Korea.
HOLMES: They are going to clean up.
BILCHIK: It's certainly convenient, right?
HOLMES: That is brilliant.
BILCHIK: Especially if you get home after your commute and there are your groceries at your front door.
HOLMES: Groceries waiting for you.
BILCHIK: Instant gratification.
HOLMES: All right. One last thing, is there an extra charge for it?
BILCHIK: Oh, yes, there is a charge. It's actually charged by weight. So it's about $2 for under 11 pounds, and then $15 and above your delivery is free.
HOLMES: Nadia Bilchik, another great one this morning. We'll talk to you again just here in a bit.
Also coming up, a GOP fund-raiser getting a lot of criticism and you're about to understand why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people are calling and yelling at us and worse. And other people are calling and wanting to buy a ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It's an auction for a gun, the same kind of gun that wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and it's in the same city, this fund-raiser is, where the shooting happened. You get where the controversy is coming from now? Stay with me. It's 42 past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're about a quarter off the top of the hour here on this CNN Sunday morning.
A Republican fundraiser in Tucson, Arizona is being criticized because it's raffling off a semi-automatic handgun, but it's the same type of gun used to wound Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman, also kill six others. That was back in January. You remember that shooting. The story now from our reporter Tammy Vo from our affiliate KGUN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMMY VO, KGUN CORRESPONDENT: This Glock 23 could be yours for just ten bucks. And it comes fully loaded. Pretty similar to the Glock 19 Jared Loughner is accused of using to carry out the January 8 shooting spree. We headed out to the Safeway where the shooting happened to find out, does this come down to constitutional rights or bad judgment?
KEITH, SHOPPER: Yes. I think it's OK to do that.
VO: Keith says no big deal. But for the Slatteries who drive by these six crosses nearly every day, it's just wrong.
COE SLATTERY, SHOPPER: Very negative as far as giving a gun away in a raffle or guns, period.
VO: It comes with three 12 round magazines, adjustable grips and a case. Fully loaded.
MARTY SLATTERY, SHOPPER: Hold me back, I couldn't want something less.
VO: So would you contribute to this?
M. SLATTERY: No way. No way. Thank you but no thank you. I wouldn't take it if they gave it to me.
VO: We're not the only ones pressing the GOP for answers.
MIKE SHAW, INTERIM CHAIRMAN, PIMA CO. GOP: Some people are calling and yelling at us and worse, and other people are calling and wanting to buy a ticket.
VO: So far a dozen raffle tickets have been sold with about 100 more to go. Have you at all second guessed the decision to raffle off this gun?
SHAW: Well, I will say this, if I had realized the strong reaction that this got, I certainly would have taken that into consideration when we decided to do this particular raffle. So I will admit that.
VO: Our local Democratic Party says it shows a stunning lack of judgment and sensitivity. It's a slap in the face of a still grieving community. House Democrats say the raffle is not common sense. It is sick, and the Pima County GOP should call it off.
(on camera): The Democratic Party calls on you guys to stop, change the prize to maybe an iPad, golf clubs, dinner with an elected official, something besides this gun. Do you plan to change it?
SHAW: We do not plan to change it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Again, thanks to our affiliate KGUN.
Well, coming up, we've got the story of a snake bite in California. Well, this one's a little different. The snake didn't bite somebody. A man bit the snake. You heard me right, folks. We'll try to understand this, what the man had to say -- and yes, he actually ended up arresting for biting that snake.
Also this morning, Katt Williams has some explaining to do. The comedian is the latest that many thought should apologize for a rant at his comedy show. This time they said he was doing an anti-Mexican rant. But he explains himself right here on CNN, to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATT WILLIAMS, COMEDIAN: If there's something anti-Mexican about what I said, then I apologize for the anti-Mexicanness of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That complete interview, and he says he doesn't have anything to really apologize for. Stay with me. You are about 12 off the top of the hour on this CNN Sunday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're about ten minutes off the top of the hour. Here are some of the stories making headlines cross country. We'll start in California, where the international cannabis and hemp fair is being held outside Oakland City Hall. It's a street fair spread over five blocks that includes music, hundreds of booths and a place where medical marijuana card holders can light up. Those who support legalizing pot say attitudes are changing and this fair is proof of it.
Also in California, a man is in jail for biting a snake. Sacramento police say David Sink (ph) took two bites out of the brown python. The snake is supposed to bite the man, right? Not the man biting the snake. This 3 1/2-foot snake had to have emergency surgery. Sink is now charged with animal cruelty. I know what you're thinking, why in the world would the man bite the snake? He says he was drunk and doesn't remember a thing.
Also we'll turn to Seattle, Washington, now, where people are just simply walking down the street in front of the exclusive Four Seasons hotel had to duck for cover -- again, broken glass falling 18 stories to the street below. Second time this has happened at the hotel this year and nobody is really sure why. Nobody hurt here. Thankfully as well, this is tempered glass, so it breaks into tiny pieces, not those dangerous shards, but still, you don't want glass falling 18 stories down on you.
Well, coming up, we're all about to get an education in Dragoncon. It's going on all weekend long in Atlanta. It is a big deal. Tens of thousands of people obsessed with pop culture show up looking like that. We are going to try to understand this thing and what has possessed this young fellow to dress up like that. And others to do so as well. It's huge, it's Dragoncon. We're going to all learn about it together. Stay with me. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're about six minutes off the top of the hour now. And happening through the Labor Day weekend right here in Atlanta, Dragoncon, celebrating its 25th year. Now, you might not have been out there in the parade, you might not understand what's going on. But let me tell you, this thing is a big deal. We've got up to 45,000 die-hard fans of science fiction, fantasy, movies, comics, video games, all expected to attend. You see the atmosphere here. They're dressed up as memorable characters from comic books or movies. They're simply there to catch up on the latest culture news and gossip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dragoncon is the nerd super bowl and the parade is the shining event of the nerd super bowl. It is the most fun a nerd could have all year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. And joining me, to help get me an education in this, Dan Carroll, he is a spokesman for this huge and still growing event. Fair to say it's still growing?
DAN CARROLL, SPOKESMAN, DRAGONCON: Absolutely. HOLMES: Also, an actor/director Clare Kramer. You might recognize the name and the face, is it still fair to say most famously from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
CLARE KRAMER, ACTRESS: That's correct. Especially in this culture, the geek sort of culture, they are very passionate about Buffy, so that's what they come out to see.
HOLMES: But still, a lot of people might remember you from "Bring it On," as well?
KRAMER: That's true, yes.
HOLMES: That kind of put you on the map, is that fair to say?
KRAMER: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely, that's my first major project.
HOLMES: OK, now you all tell me, is it fair to say just like that person said, the nerd super bowl? Is that a compliment, or is that an insult or is that right on?
KRAMER: That's an absolute comment. I would say geek mecca is another description you might use. It is just a phenomenon that has grown and grown over the 25 years, and yes, it just really brings out everyone who's passionate about sci-fi, fantasy, you know.
CARROLL: And from an insider's point of view, we're looking at an event that brings 1,700 volunteers together to welcome 45,000 attendees to Atlanta. We have 400 guest stars coming in and we have grown exponentially the past few years.
HOLMES: You all help me and help our viewers. We know a lot of this is huge and it wouldn't be around for 25 years if you weren't doing something right. We have got a couple of characters here. You all explain who I am seeing there, who these two characters are. But the other part of it is, a lot of people think what makes grown, educated, college educated, professional people go out and dress up like this for a weekend? So either one of you explain.
CARROLL: Absolutely. Let me go ahead and take these because I dragged these guys up out of bed this morning. We have Cliff Tonell (ph), who is actually an attorney, he is a lawyer here in Atlanta.
HOLMES: The guy on the left?
CARROLL: That's correct. He's dressed as Theme Punk Ash (ph). Theme punk is a new fad within -- it's not a fad. It's a new theme within fandom where the fans create their own characters based on a Jules Vernes (ph) sort of technology. And he's taken the classic character from the "Army of Darkness" character and brought it back to the 1890s.
HOLMES: All right, who is the lady there?
CARROLL: That is Whitney Jones (ph). And she is representing Slytherin, one of the houses of Harry Potter. And the fans -- we modify our costumes and this one represents her lifestyle and her way of being.
HOLMES: All right. Well, help me here as well. And a lot of actors, actresses, we have talked to people from Dragoncon before. This can be your bread and butter, quite frankly. Because there are some places where you go -- you can go to Dragoncon and they love you, they will support you, and this can really help someone like you -- your career go along. People might not even realize it, but this is huge.
KRAMER: Absolutely. The fans of this genre are extremely loyal, they are extremely dedicated and giving. And they will, if they're passionate about a project that you as an actor has been in, they will follow your career and follow every project that you've done. And it's really -- the sense of loyalty is amazing.
You know, and you look at the economic climate right now, and you know, you see so much depression across the country. Something like Dragoncon almost makes that obsolete. I mean, this is a genre where people can come in, there's a sense of escapism, there is a sense of fantasy and like suspension of disbelief. And I think that's one of the things that draws such a large number of people out to an event like Dragoncon.
HOLMES: How do you continue to grow, to get the word out, get more people brought in? Or do you just have kind of a hard-core base of fans who are going to be there and that's just what it's going to be?
CARROLL: Of course we have folks who have been with us all 25 years. This is our 25th anniversary. But we also are constantly looking for new areas within the fandom, within the geek community. A few years we introduced theme punk, like our gentleman we saw, and it's exploded. It's actually the alternate history track is one of the largest tracks we have. This year we saw a trend developing and we added a track for tween TV shows. So those people who are fans of "ICarly," "Sonny With a Chance," and I'm really embarrassed that I'm actually naming these. These shows are represented by our new kaleidoscope track.
HOLMES: All right. And both of you all consider yourselves -- would you call yourselves geeks? That's a compliment, is it? You can use the word geek, is that OK?
KRAMER: Oh, absolutely. I embrace the title. And I'm actually launching a new website January 1 called GeekNation.
HOLMES: GeekNation.
KRAMER: I have plans on encompassing all the positive aspects of geek culture under one umbrella on the Internet.
HOLMES: Well, then, I appreciate both of you all coming in, helping me and the viewers understand and maybe you'll get us out there dressed up one of these days. KRAMER: We hope to see you.
HOLMES: The event continues throughout the weekend right here in Atlanta. Thank you guys so much for being here and thanks to those two for dragging them in as you said this morning as well.
Thanks so much. We're at the top of the hour, going to reset things here in just a moment and give you the very latest on what's happening around the country, including this tropical storm that just won't move on. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at the tap of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Hello to you all on this September 4th. I hope you're having a good holiday weekend so far. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back home this morning. This comes two weeks after a judge in New York dismissed the sexual assault charges against him. We will take you live to France. It's the first time he's been there since the charges were brought.
Also, a plane on its way from Las Vegas to L.A., had to return to the airport reportedly due to a bomb threat that was made on the plane.
Also, if you missed comedian Katt Williams responding for his anti-Mexican rant, you don't want to miss it this morning. We'll have it for you.
But let's start with this tropical storm. The steady drenching we're seeing in the Gulf Coast causing all kinds of flooding problems this morning. This tropical storm Lee is just moving too slowly right now. It's moving into north -- moving north into Louisiana and Mississippi, bringing all of this rain.
It's just been sitting there. It continues to sit there for the past couple days. It will be sitting there a little while longer because it's only been moving at about two miles per hour.
We've seen some heaving rains along the Mississippi coast. We've seen evacuations in Louisiana, flooded streets in New Orleans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS: This storm, one of the stranger ones that we've had, in how unpredictable it's become. All of the experts have said these rain bands continue to hover around us. This storm is moving painfully slow. And again, the greatest risk for us to good get a lot of rain in a short period of time because of the way our streets work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Like we said, about 2 miles an hour this thing is moving, you could literally go outside and outrun the storm. It is just sitting there. As it sits there, it keeps dumping rain and rain and rain.
But look at this video. This is from Mississippi we're seeing here. Lee packing the punch winds. Some of those winds up around 50 miles an hour. Our Ed Lavandera has been in Louisiana for us. We had him live for you last hour.
Bu, Ed, I understand you ran into some tough weather that popped on you, and now we have to talk you on the phone. Is that what happened?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's what happened, T.J. And for the last 20 minutes, another of these rain bands has come ashore. We were in the town of Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, which is south of New Orleans.
For the last minutes, the rain has really been coming down very strongly here. Our satellite signal just isn't able to punch through the rain and clouds to get us up on live television. So, very difficult situation.
And this is what officials here have been talking about, the storm is still out there, much of the rain still offshore waiting to make its way on. This is one of the longer lasting rain bands we've seen over the last day or so.
We're here in Jean Lafitte because this is an area that's seen mandatory evacuations in parts of towns where water has crept up near coastal waterways and into various communities. And that's forced officials here to set up a long series of sandbags. They've also used this kind of like makeshift levees called tiger dams, that they've basically, these long tubes that they fill up with water to keep the water from the intercoastal waterway from getting into more homes.
So, that's what they're doing here and they're continuing to watch the situation because as long as the winds keep coming from the south keep pushing the water up north, the tidal surge here is what is the main concern and what's causing a lot of inland flooding. But we'll continue to monitor this throughout the day, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Ed Lavandera for us, we'll check in with you again. Need to check in with Bonnie Schneider, our meteorologist here with us. Always good to have you on the weekend here.
But we talk about the wind and rain and this storm. But other things have to come along with it as well.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Whenever, T.J., a storm like this comes onshore and Lee has been meandering on the south coast of Louisiana, tornado warnings are a huge risk. We had tornado damage last night in Louisiana and Mississippi. And look what's happening now. New tornado warnings are in effect for the beaches of the panhandle of Florida. Pensacola, Ft. Walton, Destin, you're all under a tornado warning right now.
And as we travel further to the west, we have innings effect for the gulf areas of Mississippi and then further northward into Hattiesburg at this hour.
So, the threat for tornadoes is very real. And you saw from Ed's shot, they've had to take cover. These thunderstorms are dangerous, even though this is a tropical storm we've been talking about as a flood-maker, it also is producing a volatile environment for tornadic activity. So, tornado watches, meaning that a tornado could touch down at any time -- well, these are in effect straight through the afternoon hours, all the way into Mississippi and Alabama, including Hattiesburg, Mobile and New Orleans, still under the risk for tornadoes with Lee as it continues to hammer the region with heavy rain.
Look at this batch of rain coming in right now to New Orleans. It's a little bit calmer there, but it's going to pick up. And watch out for that intensity. Also, large hail is a possibility as well.
So, Lee continues to move slowly, barely moving to the north at two miles per hour. So, the track means more rain ahead. And, boy, we've seen a lot of it. This is as of last night. We're going to update these totals, because it's still raining. But Pascagoula, 10 inches of rain, that so much, almost 10 1/2, New Orleans just under 9 inches. So, a lot of rain from Mississippi into Alabama as well.
As the storm track takes Lee up inland, it will be a rainmaker for Memphis, Nashville, and Atlanta into the middle of this week. And don't forget, we still have flooding up here from Irene. So, much of the country, the eastern half of the country, will be facing that flood threat as we go into Labor Day and beyond -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Bonnie Schneider, good to have you here with us. Thanks so much.
Also, some other stories making headlines this morning:
The president headed to Paterson, New Jersey, today. He's getting a look at the damage that was caused by Hurricane Irene. This is what it looks right there now. Here we ware full week after the storm hit. The president will be joined on his tour by the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Also, police investigating a possible threat against a Spirit Airlines flight. The plane was headed from Las Vegas to L.A., had to turn around. TSA not talking a whole lot about the incident. But local stations in Las Vegas are reporting it was a possible bomb threat. One passenger was questioned, the others, rescreened, flew on to L.A.
Also, some documents uncovered in Libya, painting an interesting picture of cooperation between the CIA and Libya's version of the CIA. The paper has come from the external security agency in Tripoli now under control of the new government there. In the papers we're seeing close contact between the two on a number of terrorism issues, like the U.S. asking Libya for help in Somalia and Libya being used as a place to question terror suspects.
Well, he is back home, back in France. We're talking about the former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The charges in New York are gone and so is he. What kind of reception, though, did he get when he got back home? We're live in Paris, next.
Stay with me on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Eleven minutes past the hour. It seems like we've been talking an awful lot about tropical storms and hurricanes the past couple weeks. But, yes, Katia -- you've been hearing that name a little bit. It's churning out in the Atlantic right now.
I don't exactly know what it's going to do, but right now, we can tell you what it has done. It's become a hurricane. It's gotten up to hurricane strength.
Now, that's just something to keep an eye on. The track of this thing we don't exactly know what it's going to do. It's going to be several days before it gets anywhere close to the coast of the United States. Don't know if it will make it to the U.S. or if it will one of those little do-si-dos, and just whips on out of here, makes a right turn if you will. But still, it's something worth watching, continue to watch. Bonnie Schneider will up in just a little bit to tell us more about this storm. Again, it's now up to hurricane strength, Katia is.
Twelve minutes past the hour.
Out of New York, back home in Paris, Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in France this morning, less than two weeks after a judge dismissed sexual assault charges against him in relation to the alleged attack on a hotel maid in Manhattan.
CNN's Jim Bittermann joins me now from Paris.
Jim, hello to you. And the question is, what kind of reception has he gotten back home?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., there was kind of a media hurricane around Dominique Strauss- Kahn when he arrived this morning. And just like with the hurricane you just mentioned, the fact is everybody's asking what's going to happen next with Dominique Strauss-Kahn?
He arrived here an hour and a half earlier than expect this morning, a big crowd of journalists meeting him, as well as some supporters. We talked to one woman who came at 5:30 this morning local time just to be there on hand to see him come in.
And everybody wants to know, is he going to play any kind of a role now in the socialist party politics? We have a 2012 presidential campaign coming up. He would have been a favorite had he not run into trouble back in May of this year in New York City when he was arrested by police on charges of attempted rape.
Now, he's back in France now and so, some of his supporters are already rallying around him like his neighbor, Jack Lang, who had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK LANG, FMR. FRENCH CULTURE AND EDUCATION MINISTER: A man like him, he has fabulous qualities, his international competence, his knowledge of economy, the question of society should be very useful for us, not only in France but also in Europe. But he has to decide. I am not to decide. (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: That opinion, though, is not reflected by most French. More than 80 percent, according to public opinion polls do not want to see Dominique Strauss-Kahn step forward and present himself as a candidate for the presidential election -- T.J.
HOLMES: The other question, he's now back home. He's a French citizen. The criminal charges dropped here but there is a possible civil case against him by the alleged victim. So can anything be done? Can he be compelled to come back? Can he be compelled by a court to pay civil penalties now that a French citizen is back home in France?
BITTERMANN: Well, those are actually two separate questions. Compelled to come back probably not, but in fact, whether he'd be compelled to pay, yes. That if e loses the civil case, he would have to pay for whatever damages were awarded.
He is also facing here, T.J., a complaint. It hasn't yet led to any charges but there was a complaint against him by a young journalist who said that he attempted to rape her eight years ago. And the prosecutor here is looking at that complaint and trying to decide whether or not charges will be laid on that. In fact, he'll probably be interviewed by the prosecutor to get his side of the story perhaps in the next few days -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jim Bittermann, always good to have. Thank you so much.
Quarter past the hour now.
Comedian Katt Williams, he is explaining himself but don't get it twisted with an apology. This is all over some with some calling an anti-Mexican rant at his comedy show in Phoenix. He did his explaining right here to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATT WILLIAMS, COMEDIAN: I love Mexican-Americans but I love America overall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Some of the things Williams said being called borderline hate speech. The complete interview after the break.
Stay with me on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, they are calling it borderline hate speech, at least some critics are, of comedian Katt Williams for some of the things he was saying at his standup in Phoenix.
Listen to a bit of what he was saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: You think I'm dissing Mexico and I'm defending America. Are you Mexican?
HECKLER: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) right I am.
WILLIAMS: Do you know where Mexico is?
HECKLER: This is Mexico (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
WILLIAMS: No, this ain't Mexico. It used to be Mexico, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). But now it's Phoenix, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(CHEERS)
WILLIAMS: USA! USA! USA!
Do you remember when white people used to say go back to Africa? And we had to tell them we don't want to. So if you love Mexico (EXPLETIVE DELETED), get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over here. We were slaves (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Y'all just work like that at the landscapers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, this went on about seven or eight minutes. He was responding to someone in the crowd who was heckling him. Well, after getting some criticism and rights groups coming out and saying he should apologize, Katt Williams joined me here on "CNN SATURDAY MORNING" live. Take a listen to his explanation of what was going on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAMS: If a person starts their heckling with "f" America, then that gives me the right to defend my country. I couldn't be anti-Mexican -- my Mexican fan base is largely responsible for me even existing. So between them and the black community, it's really all I have.
But I don't think I need to apologize for being pro-American. The guy said that all of this is still Mexico, and I was just giving him geography. This is America, greatest country in the world.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, help us understand. So do you not apologize for anything? We're only -- we showed a 50-second clip.
WILLIAMS: No, sir --
HOLMES: It is like seven or eight minutes but -- go ahead.
WILLIAMS: I apologized for the fact that the word "anti-Mexican" is being said to a black guy in America.
HOLMES: But you don't apologize for what you said in that studio -- that standup?
WILLIAMS: I'm not allowed to. As a standup, the only thing that I sell is uncensored thought. So, I'm only telling them the way I think uncensored. So I'm not allowed to then come back the next day and apologize. That's -- that's for the Tracy Morgans of the world.
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. I'm apologizing if somebody thought I was trying to be anti-Mexican. Mexicans are my friends.
HOLMES: So, Katt, why is it somebody's allowed to put out a statement apologizing on your behalf then?
WILLIAMS: Sir, they put out a DVD called "Katt Williams' Nine Lives," while I was in jail without my permission. A lot of stuff has been happening to a lot of black celebrities in the world. We just deal with it, thank Jesus and keep on going.
HOLMES: Now, I guess it's clear to say, you gave me a little bit of what he was saying, but he kept going on and on, this heckler. Now, what was it? You said he said "f" America. That certainly set you off. But --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: We were in Phoenix, so this is a heavily Mexican- American crowd. I gave $5,000 out to a Mexican-American serviceman at this same show.
It was nothing like that the night of the show. This happened 19 days ago. It's just happening in the news yesterday because it's my birthday.
HOLMES: Well, help me understand then. What was it -- because it's clear that you were visibly upset, and you said you're a proud American. You defended this country --
WILLIAMS: I was. I was, yes.
HOLMES: So, is that essential what he it was? He was clearly out of line in your opinion. But he really got you hot.
WILLIAMS: I was -- I was offended because he was making a statement that we're not allowed to make in this country. In this country, you have to pledge allegiance to America first, and your country of origin second.
And so, the fact that he was blatantly disrespecting the law that we all follow, black people work too hard to become black Americans in this society. And we were slaves here. And we did a lot of free work.
Whatever they did was in another country, and we certainly applaud their history. But don't come here talking to sons of slaves about that.
And if there's something -- if there's something anti-Mexican about what I said, then I apologize for the anti-Mexican-ness of it. I was talking to one individual.
HOLMES: That's part of it, at least one line in there that did get some people probably upset more so than others. A lot of people familiar with your comedy, I am as well. I didn't hear a whole lot that was a departure from some of the other stuff I've heard you say in routines. You did say we were slaves, speaking of black people, y'all just work like that as a landscaper.
Even that statement, you don't apologize for that? Or either you think that one got too close to going over the line?
WILLIAMS: I can't apologize for it, even if it was close to the line, because at the end of the day, I wasn't there to make racial conversation. I was there to tell a joke.
The joke was, if Mexicans love America, could they give black people Mexico? That was the entire joke because we love it and it's real close. We couldn't go back to Africa because of the flies. That was the joke.
None of that is airing on the tape. This is an hour and a half show, sir.
HOLMES: Now, would you -- do you understand at least, you were talking to one guy. It's clear that --
WILLIAMS: One guy.
HOLMES: Other people in the crowd were laughing at what you were saying to him, even as you were going off on the one guy.
WILLIAMS: If I disrespected Mexicans, I wouldn't have been able to get out of there alive, sir, with all due respect.
HOLMES: But as people -- do you understand why people who do hear it maybe do get offended by it? Maybe who didn't read or listen to the whole seven, eight minutes of it, but maybe read a few comments? Do you think they have the wrong impression, or you understand why some people might think the landscaper comment might have been offensive, telling a Mexican like that guy to get to stepping back to Mexico, how that comes off as being offensive?
WILLIAMS: No, no. He said that we were in Mexico.
So, let me just say this -- yes, I can see what you're saying, T.J., and at the end of the day, I think those people should watch more of this CNN show so they can see there are real news factors going on in this country that -- things we should discuss like our president versus football rather than worry about what a comedian's saying.
If you don't like me, don't come see me. If you do like me, I'm here for you. But I love Mexicans, and I love Mexican-Americans. But I love America overall. Let's be very clear about it.
HOLMES: Any concern about how people might view down the road? How this could impact your career down the road?
WILLIAMS: No, no, sir.
HOLMES: People might not want to book you in Texas, or Arizona, or California?
WILLIAMS: Wouldn't that be fantastic? Let's let that happen. Let the statement be that I'm a Christian. I'm straight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. The latest in a string of incidents, controversies, if you will, for Williams. And just late last month, he was actually kicked out of a concert after a brawl.
Coming up, we'll get back to the weather situation. This slow- moving menace in the Gulf Coast, tropical storm Lee just won't get out there.
Stay with me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. As we get close to the bottom of the hour here, hurricane Katia still out in the Atlantic right now, but still something worth keeping an eye on. But it has strengthened right now. A lot of the attention on tropical Storm Lee, which just will not move out of the Gulf Coast, just sitting there and dumping rains, some places up to 20 inches expected.
I'll be back with you at the top of the hour for more live news.
Right now, time for the good doctor.
