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CNN Sunday Morning
Tornado Warnings in Place for Parts of the South; Dominique Strauss-Kahn Lands in Paris; Ancient Ruins Found in Israel; Palin Speech Revs Up Tea Party; Dragon Con Fires Up Atlanta; Obama's Plan to Create Jobs
Aired September 04, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning. It is September 4th. Hope you are having a good start to your holiday weekend. I am T.J. Holmes and we have got a weather situation to tell you about. We actually have some tornado warnings in place right now. All of this because of Tropical Storm Lee. It is kicking up waves, slamming a boat here as you're seeing into a pier in Mississippi, but this is just a taste of what this thing is doing. We will have the very latest for you on these watches and warnings that are in place and exactly what Tropical Storm Lee is doing.
Plus this morning, sexual assault charges against him have been dismissed, so former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn got out of here and headed home to France. We'll have a live report from Paris just ahead.
Also, it was one of the most anticipated Republican speeches of the summer, and no, it did not come from one of the candidates. It was Sarah Palin. She was a headliner at a major Tea Party rally. We will let you know what she had to say.
But let's start with this still just slow-moving storm. It's just soaking the Gulf Coast right now. Tropical Storm Lee, again, going at about 2 miles per hour, literally. You could go outside and take off running and outrun this thing fairly easily. But that doesn't mean there's still not a lot of danger from this storm. Take a look. You have seen this just a second ago. Video out of Mississippi, giving you a look at these winds and how the storm is really kicking things up. 50-mile-per-hour winds in some places.
Now, winds are one thing, but maybe not the biggest concern from this storm. You are seeing also what it's leaving behind in New Orleans. It's all this rain, this water. Some places could get as much as 20 inches. Now, we're not seeing the major flooding yet. Don't tell this to the people whose homes are there and whose businesses are there, but this thing is just moving so slowly as I bring in our meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider, who is with us this weekend. We're talking about this water that's continue to pile up today, but another part of this storm, it can spawn some of these tornadoes, and that is a concern right now.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a concern right now, T.J., because we have four tornado warnings in effect. Mississippi and Florida, you are facing tornados, but both states at this hour -- and these tornado warnings have sat here for at least the past 30 minutes because the threat just won't go away. So right here in the panhandle of Florida, Fort Walton Beach, into Destin, popular vacation spots this holiday weekend. Unfortunately, you run the risk of volatile severe weather with tornado warnings in place because of these strong thunderstorms just hammering areas to the west of Panama City. These thunderstorms not only contain very strong and damaging winds, but also large hail and frequent lightning strikes. So this is not the time to be at the beach.
And that holds true for Mississippi. You know, right in the same region, Waveland, a little bit further north, we have reports of wind damage just to mobile homes last night. So the same places, maybe if you had a tree branch that's down, something that's dangling in your yard, more wind is expected. So secure your property and be prepared for the worst as we are looking at these tornado threats straight through the afternoon and evening hours. In fact, the watch box extends all the way into the panhandle of Florida, much of Mississippi and Alabama, and this will go straight into the afternoon as we continue to monitor the threat that Lee continues to bring.
This tropical storm is just meandering right here off the Louisiana coast. It continues to bring heavy rain to New Orleans, moving very slowly to the northeast at 3 miles per hour, and that track continues to be slow enough to cause heavy rainfall, almost 10 inches in many locations, even more than that. I will show you the track of Lee and what is happening with our other storm, Hurricane Katia, in just a bit.
HOLMES: All right, Bonnie, we appreciate you. We'll check in with you in just a little while. We're just four minutes past the hour now and we have seen some of those rainbands battering parts of the coast already this morning. Our Ed Lavandera has been in the middle of this in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana. He joins me now once again on the phone. We had him live just a couple of hours ago, but again, Ed, the weather causing some problems for, yes, the folks the down there, but yes, our crew as well.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENET: Hey, T.J. For the last hour and a half, we have just been really hit pretty hard by this rainband from Tropical Storm Lee coming ashore in the town of Jean Lafitte, which is south of New Orleans. It's just not allowing our satellite signal to get through the rain and the clouds to be able to do live TV for you. So we'll have to phone in this report.
But we're here because this is an area south of New Orleans, a low- lying area, and they have had to issue some mandatory evacuation orders in some of the lowest lying areas around this community. People were -- the intercoastal waterway slinks its way through here down into the Gulf of Mexico. And this Tropical Storm Lee has essentially just and the winds moving to the north have pushed water into this community, so there is a number of homes, dozens of homes where we have seen the floodwaters starting to get very close and into these homes. So that's why these people were told that they had to evacuate the area. They will continue to monitor this, and we mention it over and over but just how slow-moving this storm is, and that is what is causing this problem. The winds continue to move to the north. That pushes water inland. So folks here are saying they're waiting for the winds to shift, turn back toward the south and start pushing some of the water out of here. And that will do a great deal of work and help the situation out here. But they say that could take about 24 hours, so that's what we're monitoring here.
But the good news is, T.J., we have not heard of any drowning, any deaths or any injuries related to this storm. So that's great news for this weekend.
HOLMES: Hope it stays that way. Ed Lavandera for us, thank you, as always.
Six minutes past the hour. We'll give you a look at some of the other stories making headlines. Today, President Obama headed to Paterson, New Jersey. He is going to be taking a look at some of the damage left by Hurricane Irene. This is the scene he will be greeted by. Again, we're some full week now after the storm hit. The president will be joined on his tour by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn back home in Paris this morning. There were probably a couple of hundred people on the night flight from JFK in New York to Paris, but only one guy got all this kind of attention when he arrived. A lot of cameras there in Paris for the former head of the International Monetary Fund back in France, less than two weeks after a judge dismissed charges in the case where he was accused of trying to rape a hotel maid. Let me bring in our Jim Bittermann, who is now in Paris.
Jim, hello to you and what kind of future does he hold there in France? We know he had some pretty big political aspirations?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., in fact, he did have. He certainly was going to be the next president of France if you read the opinion polls right. But the fact is, that after that incident back on May 14th, his hopes to be president I think were pretty well dashed. Nobody's saying that in fact he could somehow revive his chances in time to run for president in 2012. He may however make an attempt at influencing the election campaign, and that's something that everybody here is watching for, how -- what kind of hand he is going to play.
At the moment, he's playing mum. He has not said a word to anyone. He arrived this morning earlier than expected. He sort of charged through the journalists who were at the airport and then went to his apartment. There was another mob of journalists there. He charged through that group of people, and is now I guess recovering from jet lag in his apartment.
Now, we are expecting however he will say something probably tomorrow. The spokesman told one of the journalists that in fact he is not going to say anything today, but will maybe announce something tomorrow in terms of an interview or perhaps something on French television. So we're looking for that.
In the meantime, a number of his supporters, including one of his neighbors in the very fancy neighbor where he lives, Jack Lang, who is a leading Socialist, had this to say about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and the possible influence he could exert on the political situation here in France.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK LANG, FOMRER FRENCH CULTURE AND EDUCATION MINISTER: A man of him (ph), with his fabulous qualities, his international competence, his knowledge of the economy, of the question of society, could be -- should be very useful for us, not only in France but also in Europe. But he has to decide, I cannot decide instead of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: Jack Lang there talking about the upside. On the downside, however, something like 80 percent of the French think that Dominique Strauss-Kahn should not be a candidate for president in 2012. T.J.
HOLMES: One more thing, Jim. The criminal complaint has gone away but now a civil complaint is still in place, a lawsuit. What can they do to him now? Can he still be compelled to pay this French citizen now that he is back home in France?
BITTERMANN: Absolutely. I mean, if he loses that lawsuit, he would be liable for any kind of damages that were awarded to the victim in this case. So he will probably be fighting that. In fact, a lot of people talk about the possibility of settling that out of court even before any kind of a trial to avoid the kind of messiness that might be involved in a trial, as testimony would come out. So there's that.
He also has this complaint that is facing him here in France. A young journalist says that he attempted to rape her eight years ago, and she's brought a complaint to the prosecutor. The prosecutor is weighing that, has not yet decided whether there is sufficient evidence to bring charges. But he is almost certainly going to talk to Strauss-Kahn at some point, bring him in for a interview to see his side of the story. T.J.
HOLMES: Jim Bittermann for us in Paris, thank you as always.
Ten minutes past the hour. Let's turn back to politics in this country and to Sarah Palin. She is back at the podium. You would expect her maybe to take a few swipes at the president, but she's also calling out some of her fellow Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Politicians are so focused on the symptoms and not the disease. We will not solve our economic problems until we confront the cronyism of our president and our permanent political class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Turning up the heat for the Tea Party, but still people are wondering if she is really setting up a presidential run. We're taking a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll play until midnight if we have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, this is not what any fan wants to see, not on the first Saturday of the college football season. You have to leave the stadium? The game has to be delayed because of a storm? This happened at a Notre Dame football game. We have got that for you after the break. It's 11 minutes past the hour on this CNN Sunday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're about 14 minutes past the hour now. Say good morning to our friend, Joe Carter, from HLN Sports. Top of the morning to you as well.
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: Man, college football. Saturday.
HOLMES: Yep, it's here. Oh, what a day.
CARTER: What a great day.
HOLMES: Yeah, it was. This is my problem though -- I am not going to show up looking too good on Sundays now, because I stay up for the late games.
CARTER: OK, so that makes two of us.
HOLMES: I was up for the LSU. That's why you sound a little -- there, you didn't get the shave in this morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: Had to get here, man. I showed up.
HOLMES: Well, good to have you, but Notre Dame yesterday. An interesting day -- not the best day for Notre Dame in a lot of ways.
CARTER: Yes, you can say that, definitely. You know, they have been playing football in South Bend for 123 years, and yesterday was the first time ever that they had a weather delay. Actually they had two weather delays. Severe lightning prompted officials to actually evacuate the entire stadium. And they did not do it once, they did it two different times. 80,000 plus had to pick up and walk out and seek shelter two different times.
The game took almost six hours to play, and as you said, it was not a very good ending for Notre Dame fans. They were upset by USF 23-20. The Iowa game in Iowa City also delayed, and the Michigan game was stopped altogether because of weather in the third quarter, so there was some wild Midwest weather going on yesterday.
HOLMES: How do you get 80,000 people out and then get them back in?
CARTER: Good question, good question. Very efficient evacuation plan.
HOLMES: At least you know they have got a plan in place.
All right, OK, it was a big football day yesterday, but it looked a little different at one game than we are used to seeing.
CARTER: Yeah, at the Penn State game. Joe Paterno got his 402nd win yesterday, but it was from the press box, not his choice, doctor's orders. He was actually hospitalized earlier because of a hip and pelvic injury that he suffered after one of his own players ran him over at practice. It was an accident. He's doing better. No word yet if he's going to be on the sidelines next week when Alabama comes to Penn State, which is going to be a huge game. But you are talking about Joe Pa, 84 years old, 46 years with the same team. He's seen nine U.S. presidents come and go, and he is still ticking, man, he is still ticking. Gotta love the guy.
HOLMES: And he wants to be on the sideline.
CARTER: Yeah, he wants to be there, but the doctor said not yet, maybe next week.
HOLMES: Maybe next week. All right. Finally here, you always give us some pretty good video. You like this one?
CARTER: I love Djokovic. Novak Djokovic, after his win at the U.S. Open decides to bust a move. And he's got pretty good moves, I have to admit. He has got great rhythm. Actually he was doing a TV interview. He was asked to dance, so he did. Apparently there was a guy in the stands who was dancing during the match, and it sort of inspired Djokovic. So he decided to show this fan in the stands his own moves. So it was very entertaining. A nod to the guy.
HOLMES: What was that he did after, what, he won Wimbledon, he went back home and he was in a concert in a white jacket, he was dancing there as well.
CARTER: He's got the poodle. He's got the whole poodle thing. He took his shirt off one time. The guy's great, he's very entertaining, and he's one of the best tennis players in the world.
HOLMES: He is great for the game, he's fun. Joe Carter for us, always good to have you, buddy.
CARTER: Good to be here, man.
HOLMES: Thanks so much, thanks so much.
We are 17 minutes past the hour now. You hate making that trip to the grocery store sometimes, don't you? Wouldn't it be convenient that on your commute maybe you could just take a few pictures, send it to the grocery store, your food will be home before you get there. How do you like that? Yes, the meat, the veggies, the bread, whatever you need. You need a smart phone, though. We'll explain this. "The Morning Passport" is next.
Also coming up today, the president -- it's expected to be a part of his jobs plan next week. It could put two purposes at the same time. You put people to work by renovating the nation's schools. We'll have details of that but the president won't have the details for you until his speech on Thursday. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 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: Sounds 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: OK. Nadia Bilchik. All right, and have archaeologists excavating a site in Israel really found the lost city of King David? It's believed to have existed 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. We will see what they dug up, that's in this morning "Faces of Faith." That is coming your way in about 10 minutes.
And also ahead, law school graduates turn around and sue their law school. How is that going to work? We'll tell you why they're doing it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 24 minutes past the hour now, and as you no doubt already know it's tough out there for job seekers right now, and it can be especially tough for new college graduates. You are coming out of school, you got a mountain of student loans, all those debts hanging over your head you have got to pay back and you can't find a job. Well, on top of that, then you got law school. We're talking about a whole lot more money there.
Many of those law schools oftentimes tout their job placement numbers. Pretty impressive sometimes, you look at 90, 98 percent of our students get jobs after graduation, that kind of stuff. It doesn't always pan out that way. And now some law school graduates are doing what they were trained to do. They are suing, but they are suing their law school and they are saying that they were mislead.
Joining me now to talk about some of these suits and the promises made by the schools is Kyle McEntee. He runs a nonprofit group Law School Transparency. He joins me this morning.
You're not a part of these lawsuits, but do you think there's a good idea for a law student to sue the law school?
KYLE MCENTEE, LAW SCHOOL TRANSPARENCY: Well, it could certainly depend on a situation. Some of the suits will definitely and do have merit, and other ones will not. So insofar as they have merit, they are a great idea.
HOLMES: What gives it merit? You go to school. You saw some numbers going in. Can you really claim that hey, I saw a number that said 98 percent got jobs, I didn't get a job, that means you lied. Is it that simple? Does that mean it has merit? Don't you the student have some responsibility to do your own homework and research and have reasonable expectations?
MCENTEE: There's a lot of blame to go around. Both the law students who are attending the schools without adequate information, and then also the law schools who are not breaking down the information asymmetry that they enjoyed for quite a long time. So when someone looks at that 98 percent number, they assume it might mean employed full time in legal employment, as opposed to working part time for a Burger King or McDonald's.
HOLMES: That's an important distinction. Let's hit on that. The part you think and others do as well, think that some of the law schools are doing wrong. The numbers as you say there, it might say 98 percent have employment, but it does not mean necessarily full time employment at a law firm or in the legal field. Are all law schools doing this? Most of them? Is it just accepted, is it the trend? Is it just what is done?
MCENTEE: This is the accepted practice. The American Bar Association, the law school accrediting body, mandates that schools report a percentage of the graduates that are employed, and they count any job as a job in this situation. Now this is something that is changing at this very moment, and my organization has been involved in lobbying the ABA and also law schools to share more granular employment data, so that way people can go into this knowing what to expect.
HOLMES: Can this be helpful, in that in this economic climate, as expensive as law schools are, and if we get this more accurate information about the types of jobs, this could kind of wean out some of the students who just go to law school thinking it's going to pay off in the end, and maybe they are not really into the law, don't really have a passion for it. But can this kind of help now students make decisions, and you are getting students in the law schools who really want to be lawyers?
MCENTEE: Absolutely. Anytime you increase the flow of information from the service provider to the consumers, you are going to make the decisions more efficient. In this case, it might be that students wait longer to go to law school until they have saved up some money, or they might decide not to go at all when they realize that law school is not quite the magic ticket to financial security that they had once thought.
HOLMES: Yeah, it has kind of always been understood law school could be that magic ticket. Not the case.
Last thing here just to you personally, you just graduated not long ago. Have you found a job yet?
MCENTEE: I am currently volunteering for a nonprofit (inaudible) actually. I am looking for a permanent position.
HOLMES: All right. And you graduated from school where?
MCENTEE: Vanderbilt.
HOLMES: Vanderbilt is not cheap?
MCENTEE: Vanderbilt is not cheap, no. It was a great education, and I am very pleased to have attended.
HOLMES: All right. We will keep up with you. We appreciate you taking the time. This is an issue that is really a reality hitting a lot of law school graduates right in the face. Kyle, we appreciate you taking the time. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.
MCENTEE: Thank you, T.J. HOLMES: We're getting close to the bottom of the hour now. And Sarah Palin, she usually has something to say. She has got plenty right about now. She has got everybody talking after she was doing the talking at a Tea Party rally yesterday. What she had to say, and did she say anything about possibly running?
Also an archaeological discovery in Israel. Got some folks excited. May provide the first hard evidence of the existence of the Kingdom of David, 1,000 years before Christ. A live report is in today's "Faces of Faith."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we're just past the bottom of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Welcome back everybody I'm T.J. Holmes, I'll give you a look at the stories making headlines.
Tropical Storm Lee, we've got winds, we've got rain. Rain is the bigger problem right now. It's drenching New Orleans and many parts of the Gulf Coast. The National Weather Service says Lee weakened a little bit. The storm is still expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain in some places. More so than anything people need this thing to move a little faster. It's just sitting there.
Also President Obama heading to New Jersey today; he is looking at some of the damage left behind by Tropical storm Irene. He's heading to Patterson, New Jersey where people are still struggling in some of the massive flooding there. The Republican Governor, Chris Christie will lead the President on the tour of the flood damage.
Also the father of a severely beaten fan threw out the first pitch of yesterday's San Francisco Giants game. David Stow's son Bryan was beaten into a coma outside Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles back in March 8th, is still in the hospital.
We turn to our "Faces of Faith" segment this morning and we have a discovery to tell you about in Israel. Archeologists believe they found evidence of the legendary Kingdom of David. The ancient Jewish state ruled a thousand year before Christ. It's mentioned in the Bible, and until now there has been no hard proof it ever existed.
Here now, CNN's Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They could be the ruins of a biblical city at the heart of an ancient Jewish empire; a powerful kingdom of David, Israel's second king stretching from Egypt to the Euphrates.
But apart from the Bible, there's very little evidence such a kingdom ever existed; one reason why this archeological discovery at Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel's Elah Valley is creating such a stir.
PROF. YOSEF GARFINKEL, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: The buildings and the city wall are abutting each other. CHANCE (on camera): Ok.
GARFINKEL: This is a typical Judean urban country.
CHANCE: But it's not conclusive evidence is it, that this was a Jewish city. It could have been, yes the same plan followed by the builders, the construction of the city. What else have you found?
GARFINKEL: We also have here animal bones, thousands of animal bones were found in the site. We have sheep, cattle, goat, but we have no pigs at all. In Canaanite and in Palestine cities you will find up 20 percent of pig bones.
CHANCE (voice-over): There is other evidence unearthed here, too. Olive pits dated at 3,000 years old, and a single pottery fragment with an inscription believed to be an early form of Hebrew; all this with only 10 percent of the excavations complete.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. And Matthew Chance joins me this morning, fascinating stuff there. You said only 10 percent of the evacuation (SIC) is complete there or excavation, excuse me, complete. How much longer is this going to go on?
CHANCE: Well, like I just say now just 10 percent of them has been completed so far, T.J., and that's been after a couple of years of excavations.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHANCE: And so it's the nature of that kind of work that you know, there's a lot more to do, and many, many more years of discoveries to be -- to be had in that particular -- particular site. So a long -- a long way ahead.
HOLMES: And depending on how much is found -- how much more is found I should say -- you probably are going to have some folks fighting over this site with meaning, so what are we seeing already?
CHANCE: Well I mean, it's a big controversial site, of course. This whole issue of the existence of the Kingdom of David has become something of a political football when it comes to modern politics. Because there's a whole group of academics that tried to show that the ancient state of Israel was the huge mighty kingdom, to try and bolster the modern day claims of Israel on the territory and, of course, there's an opposing group of academes as well, wanted to show the opposite to reduce Israel's religious claim to the territory that it -- that it currently stands on.
And I think what this excavation does is kind of show that as is so often the case in these controversial issues, the truth lies somewhere between the two extreme opinions.
HOLMES: All right, Matthew Chance, a fascinating wonderful "Faces of Faith" for us this morning. We appreciate you sharing it with us. And we're 37 minutes past the hour here now. And if you'd like to read more about that news story or read more about religion and spirituality, you can go to our belief blog, CNN.com/belief. You can send your thoughts; share your thoughts right there.
Well, a lot of people have the question but nobody is getting the answer. Will Sarah Palin run? Some would say maybe she's acting a lot like a candidate. She hasn't declared anything, and it's getting a little late in the game. She needs to do something, maybe.
In a Tea Party speech in Iowa yesterday, Palin criticized the current GOP frontrunner.
Here now is CNN political reporter, Peter Hamby for us in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 a 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 frontrunner Texas Governor Rick Perry.
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Some GOP candidates they also raise 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.
CHANCE: Perry has long been criticized by his political foes for rewarding his donors and the campaign allies with plum government jobs and contracts. Palin unloaded on quote, unquote, "crony capitalism" throughout her speech and making clear that she's not going to seed any grounds for Republican rivals if she does run. She tried to position herself as a populist outsider, a 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, meanwhile, Governor Perry making headlines of his own, campaigning in Manchester, New Hampshire. He blamed the Obama Administration for the economic slump. Fixing it might require a superhero at this point. So which one would he recommend?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Money is the real current superheroes, but there was one back in my day named Superman, and Superman came to save the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Superman was a fictional character, right? Just confirming.
New Hampshire likes retail politics, like it p close and personal; another man working for the Republican nomination for president, Jon Huntsman, also spent time in the state yesterday. He was as you can see there at a gun show. He put one issue to rest though, says if he cannot get the GOP nomination he said he will not run as an independent.
Also a reminder, a week from tomorrow we'll be in Tampa for the CNN Tea Party Republican debate. The event is co-sponsored by the Tea Party Express; September 12th, 8:00 Eastern, a week from tomorrow right here on CNN.
Well, we're coming up on the 10th anniversary of September 11th. People still asking the question, just how safe are we? "STATE OF THE UNION'S" Candy Crowley joining us next with a report card on national security.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we're about 17 minutes to the top of the hour.
It is time for you to get your Sunday Morning Candy fix, or is that just me? Candy Crowley is here coming up with "STATE OF THE UNION" in just a moment.
Good morning, Candy, how are you first of all on this holiday weekend?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": I am very good because it's a holiday weekend.
HOLMES: It's a holiday weekend and a lot of people are traveling, and we had a travel alert for people traveling abroad at least and living abroad. And still we've got September 11th coming up, and national security is on a lot of people's minds, and you are tapping into that today?
CROWLEY: Yes, Senator Joe Lieberman who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee as well as Mike Rogers who heads up the Intelligence Committee on the House side are both guests on the program.
Listen, what we've heard so far is no specific and credible threat, but everybody is on alert. But I think more importantly, this week we also got that kind of 10-year report card from the commissioners that the chairman of the 9/11 commission said wait a second, there are some big holes here in insecurity.
And you know what one of them is? Which just blows my mind?
HOLMES: Yes.
CROWLEY: That the screening at airports is not reliable.
HOLMES: Oh wow.
CROWLEY: And I am thinking, wait a second, like the -- we went through this whole thing about how you can see everything, right? When you go through -- well, apparently you can't detect bombs. Which is sort of -- and so I thought I'd asked them about that and some other things. You know obviously a lot going on in Syria and Libya and --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
CROWLEY: -- and both of them are quite qualified to talk about that as well.
HOLMES: Ok, yes, that's a shame. That's the first thing we were told, right? That's the thing we've got to take care of first and make sure nobody can get anything on the plane. And we're hearing that's not reliable now, Candy?
CROWLEY: Yes, yes; that and police and firemen in an emergency still can't talk to each other because they have to pass the broadband.
HOLMES: Oh, all right.
All right, you'll be talking about that but I can't let you go without asking you just a little something about this coming week. The President's speech is still on Thursday. They haven't moved it again, have they?
CROWLEY: No, I think you can tune in and be sure that you'll see him on Thursday.
HOLMES: For sure. What did you think about that goofiness this week with that speech? Was that a mess on all sides?
CROWLEY: I think goofiness is probably the right word for it. I think the White House made the initial mess up, which is not checking to see what else is on the calendar, I mean it's Washington.
And there's a Republican debate, for heaven's sakes and he would look political by trying to sort of override it with the speech. And then, you know, John Boehner responds and says no, we can't do it that night and whatever perfectly legitimate or not reasons he may have had it then sort of feeds into that oh Republicans are petty, and they would do anything to stop anything the President wants to do. So, everybody ended up looking bad.
HOLMES: All right. Candy is going to look good here in just 15 minutes, top of the hour. Candy always good to see you but folks keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION" --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Happy holiday to you as well. Enjoy yours, but Candy right here, 9:00 Eastern just a few minutes from now, 6:00 Pacific right here on CNN.
And it has been called the super bowl for nerds. But that's not insulting to them, I learned. This is happening right here in Atlanta. Check it out. It's called Dragon Con. We're talking about up to 50,000 die-hard fantasy, comic, movie fans gathered all in one spot; the sights and sounds coming for you next. So stay with us.
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HOLMES: Ten minutes off the top of the hour. Some of the stories our affiliates cross country are covering.
A Spirit Airlines plane headed to Los Angeles suddenly had to turn around and head back to the airport it took off from in Las Vegas. This happened last night. A spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration said a passenger complained about comments made by another passenger saying they sounded suspicious. Police interviewed the man and searched the plane and other passengers then were allowed to go on to L.A.
In California a man is in jail for biting a snake. You heard me right, we don't have it backwards. The snake didn't bite the man, the man bit the snake. Sacramento police say David Sink took two large bites out of the brown python. The three and a half foot snake actually had to have emergency surgery. Sink now charged with animal cruelty. Why in the world -- I know you are asking -- why would a man want to bite a snake? He says he was drunk and doesn't remember a thing.
Let's turn now to Arizona and a Republican auction in Tucson getting a lot of criticism, in particular from Democrats, but from a lot of people right now. The GOP is auctioning off a semi-automatic pistol, similar to the pistol that was used to wound Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and kill six others back in January and, of course, that shooting happened in Tucson, where this auction is now taking place. Critics call this extremely insensitive, but the auction is going forward.
Well, we move on now to big weekend here in Atlanta. Dragon Con is going on. If you don't know let me tell you what this is. It's about 45,000 die-hard fans of science fiction, fantasy, movies, comic and video games, all coming together, many of them dressed up as their favorite characters. Just take a look and a little listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, I'm on camera.
RITA SANDERS, DRAGON CON ATTENDEE: Dragon Con is the nerd super bowl and the parade is the shining event of that super bowl. It is the most fun a nerd could have all year.
MOLLY MAYHEM, DRAGON CON ATTENDEE: What is so special about Dragon Con is that it's the largest fan-based run science fiction multimedia convention in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please stand back. We need to make sure you're safe. This will not hurt. This one.
MAYHEM: Comic Con is bigger but and it's all corporate, and this is fan-based run so you have a lot more interaction with the fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first Dragon Con.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my eighth year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been coming for four years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my first time at Dragon Con.
KIMBERLY JOHNSON, DRAGON CON ATTENDEE: It's that one weekend where you can just be what you want to be and do what you want to do and not have to worry about nobody.
MAYHEM: If you are into any of this at all, no matter what genre, you have to make the Mecca of Dragon Cons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: To each his own, right?
Coming up, it could be part of President Obama's employment plan, creating jobs by repairing the dilapidated schools. The story, next.
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HOLMES: "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley coming your way in just a couple minutes.
But first, President Obama is going to unveil his new jobs plan when he speaks to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, and it's an especially critical speech with the disappointing jobs numbers we just saw come out a couple of days ago.
Our Athena Jones takes a look at what the President might be proposing and who could benefit right away.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With unemployment stuck above 9 percent and no jobs added in August, President Obama is under pressure to come up with a plan to jump-start hiring. He has long argued that infrastructure spending creates jobs. And it's among the proposals being considered.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We could be rebuilding roads and bridges and schools and parks all across America right now. We could put hundreds of thousands of folks to work right now.
JONES: America's schools could benefit. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave public school facilities a D in their most recent. Baltimore is one city that could gain.
Here at Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary School, and 84-year-old school downtown, the boiler and windows need to be replaced. Many of the air-conditioners and electric sockets don't work. And the water fountains have been sealed to prevent possible lead poisoning from old pipes. Problems persist city-wide even though the state spends millions to update schools each year.
ANDRES ALONSO, CEO, BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS: We are a school system that has a $2 billion plus repair backlog due to tremendous neglect over the decades. We are trying to give our kids great science labs, great media labs, but the basics, which is their ability to feel that they're in a setting which is conducive to learning is something that we're constantly struggling to address.
JONES: This 4th-grade teacher sees students struggle with a lack of AC.
WANDA ADKINS, TEACHER: It's hard to keep them focused, you know. Sometimes you see them and they're just starting to slump on the desk, because they are hot.
JONES: But while the need may be clear, there is debate over whether this kind of spending creates jobs. The Economic Policy Institute wants to see a $50 billion federal program to repair schools which they say would create half a million jobs.
ROSS EISENBREY, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: The repair costs are tremendous. So getting an infusion of money from the federal government could put people to work.
JONES: But critics federal spending on infrastructure has a minimal effect on job creation.
LINDSEY BURKE, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I think if the federal government could create jobs, we would not see this new jobs report that just came out showing that zero jobs were created in August.
JONES: With Congressional approval needed for any boost in infrastructure spending, it's a debate that is unlikely to go away.
Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And just a reminder for you, President Obama delivering that jobs plan next Thursday in that joint session of Congress. You'll be able to see it live right here on CNN at 7:00 Eastern time.
And let's turn to Bonnie Schneider now keeping an eye on all things weather-related. Where do you want to start? Looks like you've got a lot of things to choose from; a lot going on.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We're going to start right with Tropical Storm Lee, because this tornado threat continues for the slow moving tropical system just dumping heavy rain along the Gulf Coast.
But we run the risk for these thunderstorms to drop down a tornado at any time straight through the afternoon, and that includes areas of southern Louisiana into Mississippi and Alabama. Lots of heavy rain has been working its way along the Florida coast and that's where we even have a tropical storm warning, and that continues all the way from Destin to the Sabine Pass in Texas.
Let's take a closer look at the storm. I want to show you the track and I want to show you how this storm would be a flood threat for areas in the southeast. The movement, as I mentioned, is very slow; heavy drenching rain for the region, 10 inches in some parts of Mississippi. But the tract takes you all the way into Tuesday and Wednesday. And we are watching for a threat for flooding, and that holds true through the southeast, including Atlanta. We will be under a flood watch here starting tonight through Tuesday. T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Bonnie, thank you very much. And we appreciate having you here with us on any CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING.
To our viewers, thank you for being with us this weekend. Thanks to many of you all who participated in our show sending in a lot of comments to a lot of things we were reporting on. We absolutely appreciate you being here.
But right now, it's time for me to hand it over to Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION". Starts right now.
