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CNN Saturday Morning News

Glenn Beck to Hold Rally at Lincoln Memorial; Online Tutors; Glenn Beck Rally Causes Controversy; Back to Business; The Superdome's Reconstruction

Aired August 28, 2010 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: There he is, Glenn Beck. A surprise appearance actually last night by Glenn Beck as he and some of his supporters get ready -- get a round of applause for this rally he's having this morning, two hours from now, in Washington.

Now he is calling today's gathering at the Lincoln Memorial restoring honor. He says it is for honoring our troops. It is not at all political but keep in mind, this is the very day 47 years ago that Martin Luther King Jr. gave that famous speech, "I have a dream." Critics saying, political? Really?

Plus, this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. We're going to take you there for a closer look at the then and the now, all kinds of great guests this hour. From the CNN center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, checking the clock, 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in New Orleans and 5:00 a.m. for you waking up early, early on west coast in San Diego. Good morning to you. I'm Brooke BALDWIN, T.J. Holmes sleeping in. He is off this weekend. Thank you for starting your Saturday with me.

Also coming up, over the course of the next 90 minutes, we're talking hurricanes, not just past here but present. Look at Danielle swirling in the Atlantic. The good news here is it is weakening. We'll show you where Danielle is headed.

Also we're going to be looking back and retracing the path of Katrina along with this man. General Russel Honore became the face of how the government is supposed to work. He restored order to the chaos and this morning he'll be joining me for a candid conversation of the then and the now.

Also, in California, inmates riot at a legendary prison and guards open fire. What am I talking about? Johnny Cash fans, this is Folsom prison.

But first, I want to get started with that rally, conservative talk show host Glenn Beck is holding two hours from now on the steps of hallowed ground, as some would say, the Lincoln Memorial, the same place where Dr. King gave that "I have a dream" speech in 1963.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS HOST AND RALLY ORGANIZER: Hello, freedom works. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Beck, Washington last night speaking at the freedom works event. The event is being billed, as we said, this restore honor rally and organizers are expecting a lot of people to show up in support. Civil rights leaders though, they're saying hang on, this is incredibly offensive because of the timing, the location. They say this is blatantly political, but Beck is calling the gathering nonpolitical and he says he wants to honor American soldiers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: It is interesting to me that the media has no problem with people working together on any of the progressive agenda but they certainly have a problem with us working together for the republic as we all understand it. You guys are so important. You are so very important for somebody standing in line and saying you shall not pass, being somebody that stands and watches over and connects for political reasons. But my role is, as I see it, to wake America up on to the back-sliding of principles and values and, most importantly, of God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that was Glenn Beck last night. Meantime, Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP, they're holding this counter rally just a couple miles away at a Washington high school. But guess who will be speaking at Glenn Beck's event, Dr. King's niece. Not only is she supporting it, she's speaking at the rally today. She spoke with Anderson Cooper just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALVEDA KING, NIECE, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: You know what? I don't have to reclaim the civil rights movement. I'm part of the civil rights movement. I marched in the '60s. I went to jail. My dad, Reverend AD (ph) King, whose home, our home was bombed. Daddy's church was bombed. And so I've been accused of hijacking the dream. Well, the dream is in my genes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to take you to the scene in Washington. There's Paul Steinhauser, CNN deputy political correspondent. Paul Steinhauser and Paul, set the scene for me. I already see -- wow -- looks like a sea of people behind you. This is the Glenn Beck event and he says -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that this is nonpolitical,

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's what Beck says and the crowds here are getting larger by the moment. We got here about an hour ago. A lot more people here now than then. Some people said they even camped out last night. A lot of the people behind me said they got here about 3:00, 4:00 in the morning, some 5:00 in the morning. People coming from all across the country. The furthest I heard was a woman who told me she came in from Honolulu. I did ask a lot of people here whether they thought this was a political event or a nonpolitical event. Take a listen to what some of them said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My feeling is this is about our lives. It is not political. This gathering particularly is not political. It is about our lives and what we're doing now, the direction the country is headed in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it is a political event at all. I feel in my heart that we are Americans but politics is more about people. This is about us. This is about all of us. Every single one of us are Americans. We all own this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Brooke, let me give you a little sense of where we are in the event. OK, down there, that's the Lincoln Memorial. I think everybody knows that. The stage will be in front there. You've got crowds on either side of the reflecting pool. The national mall here. This reflecting pool is about 160 feet wide and it's almost half a mile long. Organizers say that crowds could eventually end up all the way as far down as the World War II Memorial. So we're going to keep an eye on that. It is going to be an interesting day. I got to say just a couple minutes ago, a couple gentlemen dressed in colonial outfits came by and they said to much applause, we're going to kick butt in November. So take that as you will. But that's what's going on here right now, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well that got me to my next question for you which was, I've been to tea party rallies and a lot of them dress up in colonial garb. I know he's saying this is not political, but might this just be stirring the pot for the mid-terms?

STEINHAUSER: Listen, Freedom Works, which is an organization that helps with the organizing tea party events, they were helping organize this event and a lot of tea party activists are here from far away, a lot of people coming in on buses. No doubt about that. Some Democrats have criticized this event. Chris Van Holland, one of the top House Democrats said of course this is going to be a political event. There is an argument here about whether this is or is not a political event. As you mentioned off the top, the timing and the location also adding to the controversy, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Paul Steinhauser, thank you.

I just want to remind our viewers that that rally starts at 10:00 this morning. An hour later just a couple miles away at Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, Reverend Al Sharpton, Ben Jealous of the NAACP, they will be holding a rally as well. They'll be marching down along the mall. We will have a correspondent there as well. That happening at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Take a look at both those rallies.

Also this morning, it is hard to forget those devastating pictures that we saw in the days, weeks, months after Hurricane Katrina. You know the pictures, the homes just totally wiped away. People standing on rooftops waiting to be rescued and bodies strewn throughout the streets. Well, five years later FEMA is still trying to recover from its image after a less-than-stellar response to that storm.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve joins us live from New Orleans with the FEMA angle. Jeanne, I know you're talking to people down there. What's their stance five years later when it comes to FEMA?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've talked to some people here in New Orleans who still are very unhappy about FEMA. You can still find anti-FEMA T-shirts on Bourbon Street. But when you talk to the experts, they say FEMA really has improved since then. As to whether it is improved enough? Well, that's an open question.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): FEMA was the symbol of the inept and inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina.

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

MESERVE: FEMA Director Michael Brown became a punch line, the agency a punching bag. On this anniversary, the new FEMA administrator has come to New Orleans to visit recovery projects. Are you hoping to refurbish FEMA's image to a certain degree? CRAIG FUGATE, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR A lot of people worry about that. I'm more worried about are we ready for the next disaster.

MESERVE: Craig Fugate, Florida's former emergency manager, has attracted other seasoned professionals to his team, reversing the brain drain that had left a quarter of FEMA jobs vacant when Katrina hit.

JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: They're nonpartisan. They want to get the job done. They have a sense of business practice reform and organization reform.

MESERVE: Then FEMA fumbled supply distribution. Now government investigators say logistics planning has significantly improved. Then, toxic trailers and shelter SNAFUs turned evacuees into nomads. Now governments can share and update shelter information online. Then, many elderly and disabled were left in harm's way. Now special plans are in place for their evacuation. Then, FEMA waited for state and local officials to ask for help. Now Fugate says the agency is leaning forward anticipating what will be needed.

FUGATE: If we wait until we have the request, it will be too late.

MESERVE: FEMA got high marks for its response to the Tennessee floods and other recent disasters, but a homeland security expert still has concerns.

STEPHEN FLYNN, CENTER FOR NATIONAL POLICY: While FEMA's been improved, it is still a lot of keystone cops. There isn't really clarity across the Federal government. Who's responsible for what once you get beyond the initial evacuation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: You know, even Craig Fugate acknowledges that the agency hasn't had a really big test, another Katrina or something like that, that would really show if the agency is ready or not. Brooke? Back to you.

BALDWIN: Jeanne, in talking to the current FEMA Director Craig Fugate as you mentioned, what might -- heaven forbid if there is another Katrina that happens, what prevents this kind of disaster from happening again?

MESERVE: Well, Fugate feels that one of the really important things is for the American public to get ready. He says FEMA is only an agency of about 4,000 people. It comes in to supplement the state and locals, but in a really big catastrophe, those resources are going to be overwhelmed. People have to take responsibility and learn to take care of themselves. He acknowledges, however, that that public preparedness message hasn't gotten through to people yet. Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Onus on the people, not just the government. Jeanne, thank you.

We're going to have more on the five-year anniversary of Katrina all weekend long. In fact, our entire 9:00 hour is all about it. I'm going to be talking to General Russel Honore who says -- many say he really brought order to the chaos right in the days, weeks, months after Katrina hit.

Also I'll talk to Scott Craig, a New Orleans native. He has a restaurant, flooded seven feet, talking about the rebuilding process and I'll be speaking with a noted New Orleans photographer Harold (INAUDIBLE) and we'll walk through some of his pictures, poignant images before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. We're calling it after Katrina. Again, that happens 9:00 a.m. Eastern. Hope you join me then.

Meantime here we go, Reynolds Wolf, we're talking about Hurricane Katrina five years ago. SO I guess this time five years ago we were on "K." Now we're on "D."

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: So it is breakfast time. What's your favorite egg dish?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm not (ph) an omelet guy.

BALDWIN: You're not an omelet guy?

WOLF: I am an omelet guy. I'm a Denver omelet guy.

BALDWIN: I love a good feta, spinach, sausage, I'm making myself hungry. I know, right. But before we start whipping up the omelets this morning because I know it's breakfast time, maybe some of you are in the kitchen, big update here on this massive egg recall. You need to stick around and listen to this. There is news and we're talking about how somebody, hopefully, is insuring our food safety. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Election seasons means politicians make all sorts of promises. So how many of them actually keep the promises they make? One place is keeping track of just how well President Obama is doing. Josh Levs in on that this morning. Josh, good morning.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey again to you there Brooke, politifact.com with the Obama (INAUDIBLE) Obamater (INAUDIBLE) tracking President Obama's campaign promises and they have the truth- o-meter which fact checks political figures including Glenn Beck, the talk show host who is leading a big rally today in Washington, DC.

Joining me right now from Washington is Bill Adair, founder of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact turned three this week. Hey there, Bill.

BILL ADAIR, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "ST. PETERSBURG TIMES": Thanks for having me Josh.

LEVS: Thanks to you and happy birthday to Politifact. Let's start with the president. Now more than a year and a half now into his presidency, how is he doing on keeping those promises?

ADAIR: Well, he's doing pretty well. He's kept 121 promises, by our count. We're tracking all the promises he made from the campaign, 506 and kept 121, broken 22. But now comes the hard part.

We've got 240 promises rated in the works. I think with this Congress, even with Democratic control it is going to be tough for him to keep them so we expect a lot of the promises to be moving to our rating of stalled or even to promise broken.

LEVS: We'll be keeping an eye on that. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I don't think politicians should get gold stars when they keep their promises. I think they should be called out when they don't which is why I'm glad you're doing this. They don't qualify it on the campaign trail. They don't say I'll do this if Congress lets me. They say elect me, I'll get this done.

One of the latest that you found the other day, you say it is a promise broken, introduce comprehensive immigration bill in his first year of office. You guys looked at that. That's not something you say he achieved in that first year.

ADAIR: We rated that a promise broken. He had promised to make a big push for immigration reform in the first year and of course the first year was dominated by health care reform which was, you have to recognize, one of the big successes of the Obama administration in the first year. It fulfilled several dozen promises on our Obamameter. This particular one he said he would do. He didn't so we rated it promise broken.

LEVS: I know you've -- as you say pointing out promises kept including pulling troops out of Iraq. I want to switch over now. I want to see how far our camera can zoom way in here because it just so happens that your latest ruling right now takes on Glenn Beck who is the talk show host who's leading a major rally today in Washington, DC at the Lincoln Memorial. You are giving him your rating of pants on fire for an assertion. What's that about, what did he say, what are you guys saying here?

ADAIR: He made a claim he's having of course the rally today at the Lincoln Memorial. He said that the government is trying now to close the Lincoln Memorial for any kind of large gatherings in the future.

His point was that the government was going to try to silence this kind of thing in the future. And we looked into it. We checked the facts and we found that's just not true. The Park Service issues lots of permits for things for rallies at the Lincoln Memorial so we gave that our lowest rating, pants on fire.

LEVS: You guys also do due diligence, you said, hey, does he want to clarify this statement, is there more information we should have? That said, you guys sometimes do a controversy. I want to point out that you guys have also given him at times a true rating or a mostly true and it is not just conservative political figures. Arianna Huffington, a major liberal figure took you on, she says she didn't like the way you all ruled on her.

One thing a lot of people wonder when they look at Politifact and these rulings that they say, how do you choose which things to rate? Do you hear something crazy and go grab that and try to highlight it, if you look at absolutely anything? How do you choose what you're going to highlight on politifact.com?

ADAIR: We'll check anyone first of all. We'll check the president. We'll check members of Congress. We'll check political talk show hosts and we're guided by what we think people are curious about.

If someone like Glenn Beck or President Obama says something and we think people will wonder, is that true? Then it is something we'll check and we go at it from a neutral standpoint. We make both sides happy. Sometimes we make both sides unhappy. So that's all part of being the referee in American politics, I guess.

LEVS: Look. You're not without your controversies or your critics. But the fact is that your core very clearly and this is what the Pulitzer folks said too, is a very obvious commitment to fact checking, breaking down the assertions.

You know I'm all about that too, breaking down the assertions, looking up the facts as long as it takes and we're all the better for it. So Bill Adair, head of politifact.com, on the third birthday, your anniversary of Politifact, thanks so much for joining us today.

ADAIR: Thanks for having me Josh.

LEVS: And I want to let all of you know that we at CNN of course continue to do that, including today's rallies. We'll be watching them closely, watching for those assertions on both sides and we will be having the facts of course throughout the day. Brooke? It's good to talk with Bill Adair any time we have him on because you know, it is nice to have partners out there who are part of what we're all about here, hearing those assertions, making sure you all get the truth.

BALDWIN: Totally, check the facts. All right Josh, thank you.

Also as we promised, talk eggs. Checking our top stories, there are even more questions this morning about the salmonella-tainted eggs. A Connecticut congressman wants to know why a recall for Wright County eggs was posted on the government's FDA website three days before the public was formally notified. (INAUDIBLE) is demanding answers about that delay.

In California, you heard this story, officers have apparently tamped down a riot at the old Folsom state prison -- what was it, "Folsom Prison Blues," Johnny Cash, right? About 200 prisoners took part in the uprising and guards injured seven inmates when they opened fire at the prison of course as I mentioned made famous. That was 1968, Johnny Cash recorded that album there.

And there are a couple new developments on that story we've been keeping our eye on out of Chile, those 33 trapped miners. We've seen this video, officials say they have finally told the men it could take four months to reach them. Keep in mind they're about a half-mile underground in a 600 square foot area, new video coming out. They appear OK but the good news, rescue crews are also looking at a plan B option which will hopefully speed up the process of getting them out.

All right, parents. You help your kids do homework? Might it be possible to trick your kids into learning possibly by using their favorite past time of say video games? Coming up, we're going to talk to -- could we call him our grown-up video game expert, our tech guru? Mario Armstrong, we're talking education. Yes, there he is. Good morning to him.

Also, all this month we've been telling you about technology you can use for back to school. Mario up with that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All this month we've been telling you about technology that you can use for back to school. So now that students are back in class, that means the "H" word -- homework. But parents, we know your kids sometimes just need help that we can't exactly give them. Don't worry, we have you covered. I should say our tech guru, Mario Armstrong, has us covered. Mario, good morning.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Good morning, Brooke. How are you? BALDWIN: I'm well. I'm glad I'm talking to you. I'm so glad, I do not miss homework whatsoever, although I do have some here with work. But when it comes to homework, I know sometimes parents can't always help kids so now they're turning to the Internet. How?

ARMSTRONG: Yeah, absolutely. There are a lot of sites and a lot of different tools out there for parents to help their kids get the educational resources. One that I really trust and recommend, I've met with the CEO and several of their staff, is called tutor.com. Really easy to remember. Right, tutor.com. On this site, Brooke, what happens is you hook up with real teachers. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no appointments necessary. They are carefully screened experts and they cover a variety of subjects, everything from math to social studies, to English to reading and writing. It is not just about homework help questions. You can actually get their help to research papers or double check maybe your book report to make sure that you're citing resources and sources the right way, study prep. It's really a change from just helping with problems, what they do, all the way over to helping me prepare for a test.

BALDWIN: This isn't a virtual person. This is a real person, screened, smart person.

ARMSTRONG: No clip art, no avatar, a real person.

BALDWIN: The real deal. Is this really free or is this really expensive?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, great question. Because they have a lot of things that can you do, like an interactive white board, you can chat with them, you can voice chat with them, share the screen with them.

So you would think it's like hugely expensive. But here's the deal. It's not free; it costs $35 for one hour of a session per month. You could get about two sessions in for that hour because they say the average tutor time is about 25 minutes.

So it really depends on how much tutoring your child needs. But you can fluctuate. You can go from $35 all the way up to $99 a month. And that would give you three hours of tutoring. And all of your tutoring is also archived. So any sessions that you do you can always go back and replay those for reinforcement.

BALDWIN: Real quickly Mario, ten seconds or less --

ARMSTRONG: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- because I have love for teachers, what Web site is great for them?

ARMSTRONG: Oh there's one called FreeTech4Teachers.com. FreeTech -- the number "4" Teachers.com, we know teachers are cash strapped so they need as much resources as possible.

BALDWIN: Totally.

ARMSTRONG: So it's great site for them.

BALDWIN: Totally. Mario, thank you. Have a great Saturday. Our tech man.

ARMSTRONG: You too, enjoy the weather.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

ARMSTRONG: All right, take care.

BALDWIN: All right, join us every Saturday at this time as Mario gives us the scoop on the latest technology that you can use.

Stay right there, CNN SATURDAY MORNING rolls on. Thirty-one minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And good morning. Thirty-three minutes past hour on a Saturday. I hope you're waking up well. I'm Brooke Baldwin. T.J. Holmes has the weekend off. Thanks for starting your Saturday with me.

Let's take at a live picture together and look at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

People are beginning to set up, you can see the press presence at Lincoln Memorial, a beautiful memorial there at the end of the -- the reflecting pool that's also the -- the backdrop for this Glenn Beck rally where we have our own Paul Steinhauser standing by to give us a little bit of background on, I guess, the mission behind this restoring honor rally.

As Glenn Beck said -- as he is a polarizing conservative TV host and he says this is non-political. Set the scene for me, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Well, Brooke, we are about half-way down from the Lincoln Memorial. Let me get out of the picture, Dave is going to show you some pretty pictures here. That's the Lincoln Memorial. About 90 minutes from now that's where Glenn Beck will be.

He is the organizer of this rally. People have been gathering for about 90 minutes away, I'm seeing a lot more people here now than when we started two hours ago. People are lined up along the reflecting pool, along the national lawn. This reflecting pool is almost a half a mile long, stretches down the World War II Memorial.

Organizers say they expect the crowds to reach down there all the way down there. The reflecting pool is about 160 feet wide so there's a big gap in the middle but the crowds are pretty heavy on the sides -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And Paul, we cannot talk about this day without also mentioning the fact that it was this day 47 years ago when Dr. King stood at the memorial and gave his famous "I have a dream" speech.

And Glenn Beck, at least publicly, has said that the timing and the location of his rally is purely coincidental. Correct?

STEINHAUSER: Correct. After he announced this earlier this summer, I think it was back in June. And it was quickly found out that it was the same day. He said it was purely accidental but the timing and the location, of course, are creating a controversy. A lot of civil rights leaders upset that this event is being held here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I spoke with Jesse Jackson this morning. He called it a total ploy. I know that the Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP President Ben Jealous are holding their own rally, totally independent of the one you're at -- what, a of couple miles down the road.

I -- I guess they -- they didn't get their -- their money in time to have their rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Talk to me about that rally, that significance and where that goes this morning.

STEINHAUSER: It's called reclaiming the dream. It's done every year on the anniversary of the -- the historic speech. Today's event will be starting at a place called Dunbar High School; it's about -- two or three miles from here.

That rally starts one hour after this one does at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. And then they're going march not too far from here actually, just a couple of blocks away to the south where the Martin Luther King Memorial is being built on the southern end of the mall.

So it'll be interesting to see if participants from either of these two events do cross paths or mingle later today. We'll find out this afternoon -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching right along with you, Paul Steinhauser. Thank you, we'll see you a little later this morning in Washington.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of dollars are totally missing this morning from a Catholic diocese -- a Catholic Church diocese. We'll tell you how the high-tech thieves might have pulled off this massive heist.

Thirty six minutes past the hour on a Saturday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, let's get a check at of some of the day's top stories here.

Criticism perceived. Glenn Beck's restoring honor rally is set to begin in less than 90 minutes from now at the Lincoln Memorial. There live pictures, a lot of people are already there. Press presence as well, the rally's location and scheduling concerning some minorities and civil rights leaders as the event does indeed coincides with the 47th anniversary of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

And the formation of the world's largest airline is ready to take off, most likely later this year; the U.S. Justice Department, approving the proposed merger of United and Continental Airlines. So combined, the two carriers would form the world's largest airline.

And the "Des Moines Register" is reporting that more than $600,000 has been stolen from the city's Catholic Church Diocese, the thieves pulling the heist electronically. Nearly a third of the stolen money has been recovered, thank goodness. The church though says the sophisticated theft was most likely based overseas.

And, the First Family been on a little vaca, wrapping up a week- long vacation at Martha's Vineyard. And tomorrow it is back to business for President Obama. He is slated to speak on the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. And the President's schedule gets even busier next week.

White House correspondent Dan Lothian has been travelling with the president, joining me this morning from a beautiful picturesque Martha's Vineyard.

Dan, good morning to you. I guess it's --

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

BALDWIN: -- good-bye beautiful Martha's Vineyard, back to work. And a lot of people thinking ahead to next weekend -- Iraq.

LOTHIAN: That's right. The White House says that the President will be very much focused on fixing the economy, although it's unclear what more this administration can do.

Yesterday the President before going out and hitting a round of golf with Mayor -- Mayor rather, Michael Bloomberg of New York, they did discuss the economy, issues with the economy for about 15 minutes.

But, you know, that hasn't stopped critics from asking why on his first week back, next week, from vacation will the President be spending so much time focused on foreign policy?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN (voice-over): After recharging his batteries during his Martha's Vineyard vacation, President Obama's back-to-work week may just leave him asking for more down time. On his schedule, a major prime time Oval Office address on Iraq. A visit to U.S. troops in Texas. Then two days of Mideast peace face-to-face talks in Washington.

But as fears of a double-dip recession linger and foreign policy dominates his public schedule, some Republicans see a tactical decision to deflect.

BRAD BLAKEMAN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: What went through my mind is typically what presidents do when they have trouble domestically is they switch to an area that they have much more control over, and that's foreign policy.

LOTHIAN: In fact the big foreign policy push started here at Martha's Vineyard when the President's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, briefed reporters on a Mideast peace talks break-through.

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER: Strong sense that these talks can succeed.

LOTHIAN: Then days later touted progress in Iraq ahead of the draw-down deadline.

BRENNAN: We are confident the Iraqis are going to be able to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations.

LOTHIAN: Other recent presidents like George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan were at times accused of focusing on strong policy issues as a diversion tactic. And Brad Blakeman, Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush, said, "With the mid-term elections around the corner, the economy is a hard sell."

BLAKEMAN: It's all about the economy. That's all it will ever be between now and Election Day. So the President is really doing a Hail Mary on foreign policy hoping against hope that the American people will give him credit for achievement.

LOTHIAN: But Deputy White House spokesman Bill Burton says the President is focused on world events as they happen and that fixing the economy remains a top priority.

BILL BURTON, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: He'll be meeting with his economic advisors when we get back next week. So I assure you that alongside all the other things that are on the President's plate he's continued to focus on the economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: And the White House says that the President will continue pushing for a small business lending bill. Also for additional exports, all of these, the White House believing, will help to stimulate the economy. But this is a major challenge.

And as for whether or not the president will making any public remarks, the White House says stay tuned, no details yet -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Dan, thank you.

Again, a reminder, the President will be in New Orleans tomorrow on that fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

And stay right there. Forty four minutes past the hour. Happy Saturday. Good morning to you. CNN SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It was one of the most heartbreaking scenes from the Katrina tragedy, thousands of people stranded at the New Orleans Superdome. Who could forget this picture, right? No food, no water. Not enough police protection. Well, that image of a damaged Superdome now an everlasting reminder of what the victims of Katrina were forced to endure. The building was shut down a year -- just a year for repair, then came the dome's magical revival when the Saints returned with this thrilling victory -- huge -- over the Atlanta Falcons with millions watching on national TV. It was so emotional and it's this awesome economic lift really for the entire city. Right?

Last year spirits were again lifted when the Saints actually won the Super Bowl. Who dat?

Joining us now for more on this whole thing is our favorite Rick Horrow, sports analyst. I know you always get to talk to T.J. It is my turn this morning.

And I have to say, Rick, I was in New Orleans actually this time last weekend. There was the pre-game with the Texans. It was as though it was like the playoffs. I could just feel the Saints fever. Right?

So now if you can, take me back -- the history of the Saints. They're really stronger than ever before.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Yes. Who dat, Brooke? The bottom line is in 2005 they could have been the San Antonio Saints, Baton Rouge, New York. They played their home games everywhere from New Orleans thinking of tearing down the dome -- $200 million of renovation, FEMA, the state, the city and the Saints.

Look what's happened? They signed a lease deal through 2025. They have a big retail district that's coming up around the Superdome and the franchise is worth a billion dollars. Oh, by the way, they won the Super Bowl.

BALDWIN: Yes, oh, by the way. That's amazing. But in terms of the entire league though, Rick, how did Katrina affect the NFL?

HORROW: Well, here's how. They first proved that they stay with their partners, both the teams and the cities, when the going gets rough. And how are they rewarded? 2013, guess where the Super Bowl is? It is in New Orleans, it is at that building and the bottom line is at least a half a billion dollars of economic impact from that game a couple of years from now.

BALDWIN: And you have to think -- right -- with a city with this amazing sports team, you have to bring in tourists. Like I said, I saw a ton of tourists. I was one of them this time last week. It has to boost the city.

HORROW: Yes. Well, the bottom line is tourism obviously a $5 billion annual business in New Orleans. We've seen those numbers. It employs 70,000 people and it is the biggest tax contributor at a time where the city really needs it. So anything that helps tourism has to be reinforced and supported. And of course, the Saints and their image is big time. BALDWIN: So when it comes to the numbers though, break down some of the numbers as to how the Saints have affected the city financially. What numbers do you have?

HORROW: Well again, the numbers are anywhere from $1 billion to more.

BALDWIN: Got it.

HORROW: And Doug Thornton, the director of the dome, Tom Benson, Rita Benson LeBlanc, the entire organization, public and private, should be commended for what's happened there.

BALDWIN: And what about the city's image because, you know, you talk to some people, they think New Orleans, crime, corruption. But when you have a team win the Super Bowl, it has to do something for the city.

HORROW: Yes. Well, crime and corruption are issues and certainly the images of Katrina. But how about the image of Drew Brees and his kid with that Super Bowl trophy? How about Tom Benson and the family and the renovated Superdome? Those are the sustaining images and that's one of the reasons why sports is so important, especially in a situation like this.

BALDWIN: It is amazing. And now that I have you, let's move from football, let's talk golf because a lot of people, we've been watching, Tiger. Right? The big d, divorce; it is official. He's paying $200 million to his now ex-wife. Is that the most for an athlete?

HORROW: Well, we're not sure if it is $100 million. It might be more. Some say $750 million; that's too much.

But listen, Michael Jordan, $168 million for his divorce; Greg Norman about $103 million -- those are big numbers. But listen, Tiger is up near the lead this week. Here's an interesting fact very quickly. He's won 82 events as a pro and 14 majors but 46 of them and eight majors were won when he wasn't married. So I don't know if that's going to make him drive straighter or putt better but look at those stats.

BALDWIN: That's amazing. Now that he has this behind him, maybe he'll be the Tiger that we're used to seeing right. We'll have to wait and see but he's doing pretty well at PGA Barclays.

Rick Horrow, thank you so much. We talked sports. See, I can talk sports with you.

HORROW: Hey, this was great. T.J., stay away.

BALDWIN: T.J. stay away. He's asleep. Who are we kidding? Rick thank you.

We're going to have more on the five-year anniversary of Katrina all weekend long. In fact we're dedicating our entire 9:00 hour. So eight minutes from now it will be all Katrina.

You're going to hear from General Russel Honore who says -- he really brought order to all that chaos in the days, weeks, months after the storm.

Plus, I'm talking to a guy, Scott Craig, about how he rebuilt his restaurant after the bottom of it was submerged in seven feet of water.

Also, noted New Orleans photographer Harold Baquet, we'll be looking at some of his images; the pictures he took before, during and after Katrina. He described it as a war zone.

We'll look at that in our special half-hour. We're calling it "After Katrina", 9:00 a.m. Eastern. Stay here, CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are looking at live pictures. Have you been there? This is the Lincoln Memorial. It is gorgeous. In Washington, D.C. It was 47 years ago that Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King gave his famous, famous speech, "I have a dream", there at that very monument.

Now 47 years later, a bit of a different scene, a different twist here. Glenn Beck, he is a conservative TV host. He's also this organizer of this rally restoring honor. It is honoring the American troops, talking integrity. He says it is not at all a political event, though civil rights leaders, others, say not so. It is blatantly political.

We're hearing bus loads of Tea Party activists will be appearing later today. We have correspondents at that rally and also a rally that kicks off at 11:00 Eastern this morning down the road headed up by the NAACP and Reverend Al Sharpton. We'll bring both of those to you a little later this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very concerned that all of this wind blows the water into Lake Bourne and also into Lake Pontchartrain, and then the winds coming from this direction into New Orleans breached that levee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see where this levee broke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The truth is I've been here all week. Please all come help us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; They know that it's been five long years and people share stories with us, trying to get back to their houses after five years. That's a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to give the government the benefit of the doubt that the wall's going to hold. I try. That don't mean it's going to work. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Amazing, isn't it? Seeing those pictures, hearing from those people. It was five years ago this weekend, Hurricane Katrina roared into New Orleans and changed that city really forever.