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CNN Saturday Morning News

Murkowski Will Run as Write-In Candidate; Pope Meets With British Leaders; Hurricane Igor Takes Aim at Bermuda; High-School Quarterback Dies After Throwing Touchdown; Afghan Elections Has Lackluster Turnout, Majority of Citizens Have Lost Confidence in the Process

Aired September 18, 2010 - 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: Good morning.

The gloves are off. Those the words of Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who lost her primary race but now has a new plan to win re- election. She is asking her supporters to write her in now.

Also, and happening right now, the pope holding Mass at Westminster Cathedral. He is on Day 3 of his four-day trip the U.K. This is a live picture of that Mass taking place right now. The pope has not changed his busy schedule despite the arrest of six men suspected in a possible terror plot. We'll be going there live - back there live for you in just a moment.

But from the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's 06:00 a.m. where I sit in Atlanta, Georgia; it's 5:00 a.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Wherever you are, thank you for being right here. I'm T.J. Holmes.

Also, coming up for you, over the next 90 minutes of this CNN SATURDAY MORNING, a Florida dad threatens a bus full of students. He was coming to the defense though of his disabled daughter. But as it turns out, his daughter actually wasn't the victim. We'll explain.

Also, how would you like Eva Longoria or Kim Kardashian to follow you on Twitter? Or maybe have Justin Bieber or Lenny Kravitz tweet about you? The video you're seeing doesn't go along with what I'm saying, but I'll continue to tell you about an auction that's going on right now that could get you a celebrity tweet, and also raising money for Haiti. That's the video we're showing you there.

Also, they have websites out there for all kinds of dating. For black, for white, for Jewish, for Hispanic. But what about for unattractive? A dating website for the unattractive. Yes, a look behind the scenes of uglyschmucks.com. We'll explain that in a bit.

But can you spell "Murkowski"? Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski hoping her supporters can, as she launches now a write-in campaign to try to keep her job. She lost the Republican primary to a "tea party"- backed candidate. Joe Miller is the name. Sarah Palin endorsed Miller; calls Murkowski's move a "futile effort" on her part. A tea-party spokesperson said, in effect, the people of Alaska have already fired Murkowski. But Murkowski now calling on Alaskans who didn't vote in the primary to turn out for her next month (sic).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: I will be the first one to admit to you that in the primary candidate, we - we made some mistakes. We talked about ourselves; we talked about me a lot. But we didn't educate Alaskans about the extremist views that were held by Mr. Miller. And when he swung, I didn't swing back.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, friends and supporters, the gloves are off.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

MURKOWSKI: And I'm fighting for Alaska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, here we go. It's a write-in campaign now. And they almost never work. In fact, only one senator ever has won that way, and that was Strom Thurmond back in 1954 in South Carolina.

Well, it's also Day 2 right of the conservative political gathering known as the Values Voters Summit in Washington. The summit highlights the GOP's promise and peril heading into November's midterm elections.

Here is a look at who's talking today: conservative talk-show host Bill Bennett - he'll take the stage at 9:25 Eastern time this morning; then former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who has been in the news a lot lately - he's going to be addressing the crowd around 9:50; and then Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will speak at 10:15 this morning.

Meanwhile, Delaware political upstart Christine O'Donnell was given a hero's welcome at the summit yesterday. O'Donnell slammed the Obama administration, saying the elites will never have the last word on liberty. O'Donnell was featured as part of the who's who of rising Republican stars.

Of course, as always, for the latest political news, you know where to go: CNNpolitics.com.

Want to turn to the U.K. now and Pope Benedict XVI. He is now on the third day of a state visit to the U.K. You see here a live picture of the Mass he is holding right now at the Westminster Cathedral there in London. He met with the prime minister - British prime minister a short time ago and other political leaders. Again, he's delivering this Mass right now in London's Westminster.

This has been going on about an hour now. As we look at this live picture, we want to turn our Phil Black, who has been covering the visit of this pope.

Phil, hello to you this morning. As we continue to watch this live picture, we know the pope hasn't necessarily changed his schedule, even though we heard about six people now being arrested in a possible terror plot.

Have police though come out and said they've made a connection between this possible terror plot and the pope?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We still haven't confirmed that from the police yet, T.J.

According to British media reports here, there is said to be a direct link between the arrests of these six terror suspects and the pope's visit.

However, as you say, the pope has not changed his itinerary in any way. The Vatican says that the pope is kind of used to these sorts of threats against him. But we understand that the six men are still in custody. Police can hold them for up to 28 days or so under terror laws in this country. And CNN understands that they are Algerian; all of them, or at least some of them, possibly in this country illegally.

We know that the police carried out a number of searches across London yesterday, which have now completed. But the police are simply saying that their investigation is continuing, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. And aside from that part of the story, the pope otherwise - how has he been received there in Great Britain?

BLACK: Yes, indeed, broadly, incredibly warmly, really.

There have been so protests along the way, which were expected. But it has to be said that the numbers turning out to support and welcome him have been far greater and also far louder. As his visit continues today, that's expected to continue.

Also, as you say, he's currently attending or giving Mass within Westminster Cathedral. And I just want to share with you some of the comments that he made during that Mass only moments ago, addressing the child sex-abuse scandal. He said to this congregation, "I think of the immense suffering caused by the abuse of children, especially within the church and by her ministers. Above all, I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes. I also acknowledge with you the shame and humiliation which all of us have suffered because of these sins."

It is the first time that he has directly, publicly addressed these issues since his visit here. Will it be enough to perhaps defuse some of the anger that exists here? Well, probably not. There is a large protest rally planned for this city today, and certainly the - the victims of abuse in the church here in this country have said publicly in recent days, they don't want more words from the pope. What they're after, really, now, is action, to bring people to justice and to help support the victims of that abuse within the church's institutions - T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Phil Black for us this morning. Phil, we appreciate you, as always.

We're going to turn now to the weather. We've got a couple of storms we've been keeping an eye on, including Hurricane Igor. Strong winds - got a storm surge, high waves. Supposed to hit Bermuda tonight.

So where else would Reynolds Wolf be except right there, in the middle of all the action?

I know it might be a - a nice morning there right now, Reynolds. But still, something is looming out there.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, T.J.

We've got Igor, and it's got a bead right now on Bermuda. Bermuda, again, a very small collection of islands. A hundred and thirty-eight islands, but total land mass about a third the size of Washington, D.C., with one of the biggest storms on the planet bearing down over the next 24 hours.

We've got the whole story coming up in just a few moments.

You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Now about 10 minutes past the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

We are tracking a few storms right now. Hurricane Igor in the Atlantic; also keeping an eye on Tropical Depression Karl now. Karl you see there on the left side of your screen. It is weakening rapidly. It's going over the high mountains of Mexico. Still some dangerous mudslides and flash flooding are real concerns there.

Hurricane Igor, meanwhile, on the right side of your screen. It's tracking to be bringing in strong winds, heavy rain to Bermuda sometime this evening.

Well, we have meteorologist Karen Maginnis. She is here with me. She's in our Hurricane Headquarters here. And our Reynolds Wolf; he is out there - where else? - in Bermuda, in the thick of things.

Reynolds, I know it's too - not too thick just yet, but is the - are they hunkering down there? Are they ready for this thing?

WOLF: They really have.

I have to tell you, these are very, very tough people here in Bermuda. They have dealt with this kind of stuff before. I can tell you that across the island, they've got - emergency shelters have been set up. I can tell you that the local military, called the Bermuda Regimen, has actually been told to - to - to be prepared to activate, especially after the storm passes. They may even be deployed around part of the island where they do expect some - some damage.

I can also tell you that Bermuda Electric Light Company has also - has a plan in place to restore power outages (sic). Now, they have been through other storms very similar to this one. In fact, one back in 2003 that caused all kinds of damage, killed four on the island. That was Hurricane Fabian. So they have been through this drill once before.

As you mentioned, the storm is still quite a distance away. As it gets closer, we're going to see conditions continue to deteriorate. We were actually on the beach yesterday and got to see some of these massive waves coming in firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: Let's give you a look of how things look to us when we first got here in Bermuda.

You see the big waves coming on through. It's hard to believe we've got these big white caps and just these towering sheets of water way off in the distance. And we're talking about a storm that is still beyond the horizon.

And as you watch these waves come on shore - look at the white caps. But when you look even farther to the south, as they just go right up against those huge rocks, they really just send a spray of water everywhere.

You know, this area is no stranger to these tropical systems. In fact, in 2003, Hurricane Fabian came through, caused all kinds of (AUDIO GAP). Power outages across the island, knocked out the airport for several days and killed four people.

It is our hope this storm won't be quite as bad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: And what I can tell you with this particular storm is that this one is - is a little bit different in some respects from Fabian. In - in terms of intensity, it is about the same. Problem is, T.J., this storm is a lot bigger. So there is a chance the storm might not even make a direct hit; but still, the impacts across this island could be just devastating to say the very least.

It's not the only big storm, of course, we're following. We're also keeping a very sharp on Hurricane Karl. That hit Veracruz, Mexico - caused all kinds of damage. Power's out to some 22,000 customers at this time. There are four reported dead there. I'm sorry, two reported dead there at this time. But that number may go up as the remnants of that system move farther inland.

The big threat with this will not be not just the winds, but rather, heavy rainfall, possible mudslides and of course, some flooding.

For the latest on the storms, let's send it over to Karen Maginnis with more.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right, Reynolds. Yes, we are updating you on what's happening as far as Igor is concerned. It looks like it is going to pass over Bermuda, perhaps later on tonight or going into Sunday morning as a Category 3 hurricane. Now, you heard Reynolds mention back in 2003, it was Fabian. There were fatalities associated with that.

As it moved across Bermuda, it had supporting winds of 120 miles an hour. This is going to be picking up some speed, so we think that perhaps by Sunday evening, we're going to see the weather conditions really deteriorate across Bermuda, and then move across the North Atlantic, weakening considerably.

It's moving fairly quickly to the northwest at about 13 miles an hour. But it is huge, extending from the center 345 miles. It is an extraordinarily large system.

Let's show you the satellite imagery, the enhanced imagery. And it is really churning up the Atlantic. A very broad system. As you can see, some of those clouds already affected Bermuda.

I checked the weather conditions there. The winds are coming out of the northeast at just about 16 miles an hour. And you can only imagine that's going to increase throughout the day.

Let's go ahead and show you what's happening with Karl. The National Hurricane Center has issued their last advisory on Karl. It has moved across the mountains of Mexico. They're just remnants now. But still, those remnants can wring out a little bit of moisture - additional moisture. But in Veracruz, they've already seen 20 inches of rainfall from what used to be Hurricane Karl.

T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Karen, we appreciate you. Thanks to our Reynolds Wolf as well. We'll be checking in with both of them throughout the morning.

Coming up, a Florida father is facing charges for threatening kids on a school bus. And his entire tirade is caught on surveillance video. But the dad says he had a good reason for this. You'll hear from him.

It's 15 past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 16 past the hour now. Let me give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines.

A first here: Toyota is settling a case - a deadly accident that was caused by one of its vehicle. You're looking at some video of it here. But a family of four died when the accelerator got stuck in their car. This accident happened last year. The settlement amount has not been released, but Toyota has, in fact, settled the case.

This was a Lexus they were in. Lexus, of course, is a partner with Toyota.

Well, the new Consumer Protection Bureau is taking shape. And Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren is going to be organizing it. We saw this announcement yesterday here in the "NEWSROOM." Saw it live. Elizabeth Warren, the 61-year-old Harvard professor, she was - it was her idea to have this Consumer Protection Bureau that's going to be looking out for you.

But the president appointed her as an adviser instead of appointing her to direct the office, as many thought she would not get through the Senate confirmation fight. She told CNN's John King last night that she wants to start work on it right away.

And this could be the day that we're done with the well. You remember - we haven't seen the pictures of oil going out. These are just taped (ph) pictures. Oil has been going out in some time.

But the well could finally be killed today. The well that caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history - oil hasn't flowed out of since July 15. They essentially stopped the oil from coming out. But still, they needed to do this bottom-kill method, which is the final step. They're actually pumping cement into it today. So by the end of the day - or at some point today, we could be saying this thing is finally and forever dead.

Eighteen past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-two minutes past the hour.

I want to share with you a story now that a lot of people in this country can relate to, and your heart will just melt when you hear about this.

The small town of West Orange, Texas, in a state of shock after the star quarterback of the local high-school football team collapsed and died during last night's game. His name was Reginald Garrett. He was rushed to the hospital after he collapsed on the team's sideline shortly after throwing his second touchdown pass of the game.

After collapsing, he died just a short time later. Hundreds of fans, teammates, friends filled the hospital's waiting room, waiting to hear word about him. And they didn't get the word they were hoping to get, which was that he was going to be OK.

Susan Courtney is supervisor for the Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas, where he was taken. She is joining us now by phone.

Miss Courtney, I appreciate you being here. And we have you here not just as your capacity as working for the hospital, but you can give us an idea - everybody in town knew this kid.

VOICE OF SUSAN COURTNEY, BAPTIST HOSPITAL: Yes, everybody did.

He was a very popular child. He - he was very sweet, very well- mannered. He was an 'A' student. He had college-bound - he already had scholarships lined up.

Every child liked him. He was nice to everyone. He was just a very star person.

HOLMES: Well, ma'am, I guess - what was your reaction? You - like you said, everyone knew him, including you. You were there at the hospital. You heard what was coming in. Like you said to me here during the commercial break, you said, you - you got the word that a full arrest was coming in, meaning someone that was not responsive.

But what was your reaction when you saw who they wheeled into your hospital? It was him. What - how did you reaction?

COURTNEY: It was shock to look down - I mean, he had been at my house. I live not far from the stadium. And my nieces was on the drill team, and so they would come over after the games and raid my refrigerator.

So he'd been at my house and I knew him. Very respectful. And to see him lying there like that was just total shock.

HOLMES: Ma'am, at any point was there hope that he was going to be OK? A full arrest - like you said, just totally non-responsive. But was it a dire situation for the most part when he first came in?

COURTNEY: The paramedics did everything possible in the field. We did - we worked our - worked with him for well over an hour, and we did everything possible, including our - our physician getting on the line to a local cardiologist to see if there was anything else we could do. But we just simply couldn't get a heartbeat back.

HOLMES: Ma'am, what happens next? I assume they're going to try to understand better what would have caused this? So at this point, is an autopsy planned? And - and right now, we really don't know what happened to him. Is that fair to say?

COURTNEY: Right. There's - the judge Dunn (ph) was out tonight, and an investigation is under way. Autopsy has been ordered. And as of - as of that, we don't know nothing else. We don't know the cause.

HOLMES: Ma'am, how - what was that hospital like last night, when he came in? Like you said, the game was going on. He's a very popular kid. Small community, everybody knows him.

But what was that hospital like? And was it full of people at the time, when - just trying to check on him?

COURTNEY: Well, he - when he arrived about 8:30, 8:35, he wasn't pronounced till about 9:40, 9:45. His family was all there, of course. And it was very devastating. Oh, lots of crying.

But then shortly after the game ended, my parking lot completely filled with people. The waiting room was full; the parking lot was full. There was cheerleaders; there was band members; all the coaches were there. It was just - the entire community - it's like the entire football stadium came to the hospital to check on him. We were trying our best to give them good news and comfort them. But it was - it was impossible. They were in the parking lot, gathered in groups. They were singing hymns. They were praying. It was just a very touching scene.

There - hundreds of people showed up in support of this young man.

HOLMES: Susan, we can hear it in your voice, dear lady (ph).

COURTNEY: Yes.

HOLMES: How much more difficult - I mean - I mean, you guys have a difficult job working at a hospital and dealing with, often times, people who are injured, suffering and sometimes dying. But this young man here - how difficult of a task was it for you to try to fill different roles?

One, in treating the young man; another in trying to comfort a community; and another in frankly trying to deal with and cope with this yourself?

COURTNEY: Correct.

I held it - I held up pretty well during the whole ordeal because that's my job and I'm a professional. But like you said, when I get here in my office and get quiet, you know, it hits that it was real and he's really gone and the devastation on his mother's face. And it's just - it's something that's going to take awhile for the community to recover from.

HOLMES: What were his plans, ma'am, for after high school?

COURTNEY: He had a full scholarship to, I think, the University of Houston. A football scholarship was completely paid. His mother told me that he was a - an 'A' student. He ranked very high on his SATs. He just had a bright, wonderful future ahead of him.

I'm just - now, as far as the - the - some of the reports are saying that he had a seizure. The mother reported to me that he did not have a history of seizures, that he only had one - one seizure at 2 years old, and that was related to a fever.

HOLMES: So as far as you all knew when he came in, there was no medical history....

COURTNEY: No medical history.

HOLMES: ...to - to look at.

COURTNEY: Perfectly healthy, strong young man.

HOLMES: My goodness.

Well, Miss - Miss Courtney, our hearts go out to you, the family and that entire community... COURTNEY: Thank you so much.

HOLMES: ...for this story, for this devastating story. And like you said, it just puzzles you as to why a young man as healthy as they get, would just drop dead like that. And it looks like this kid had such a future ahead of him.

Miss Courtney, ma'am, thank you so much. I know it was difficult for you. We appreciate you hopping on and helping us tell the story of this young man. Thank you so much.

COURTNEY: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Again, Reginald Garrett, straight-A student, star football player - unknown reasons, dropped dead after throwing his second touchdown pass at a game in Texas last night.

Quick break. We're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, bottom of the hour now. Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING: I'm T.J. Holmes. We'll give you an update on some of the stories making headlines right now.

A couple that worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico have been indicted on allegations they tried sell nuclear secrets. U.S. officials accused Pedro Mascaroni (ph) of trying to broker a deal worth nearly $800,000 with an undercover FBI agent, he thought was a Venezuelan official. Authorities say the Venezuelan government was unaware of the sting operation.

After losing her state's primary to an upstart Tea Party-backed candidate, Alaska's Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says she's now going to mount a write-in re-election campaign. Political observers say such efforts rarely pan out. The chairwoman of the Tea Party Express says Murkowski was in essence fired by Alaskans and doesn't get it. Murkowski says she will not let Tea Party extremists, as she calls them, take over the Republican Party.

And Continental and United Airlines are merging to form the world's largest airline. Shareholders from both companies approved the deal Friday clearing the way for a $3 billion stock swap closes in about two weeks. The new airline will be called United and use Continental's logo.

Polls are open today across Afghanistan. We have some 2,500 candidates hoping to be elected. That's if voters can get safely to the poll. So far there have been several attacks have occurred near polling stations. Our Atia Abawi joining us now from the western town of Herat.

Atia, hello to you. Thank you for being here. And everybody was wondering was it going to be safe enough for people to go to the polls. How has it been? ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., I have to say there have been attacks. But for the most part the Afghan security forces, as well as the coalition forces actually doing a pretty good job trying to allow these Afghans to go out to the polls.

That does not mean that the Afghans are actually leaving their homes to go out to the polls, because many of them do say that even if they risk their lives to go out to the polls, their vote will not count. Obviously pointing to last year's presidential elections where there was massive allegations of fraud.

Even President Hamid Karzai, himself, speak to the Afghan people yesterday on state television stating that they should go out and vote. That there will be irregularities but they have to build their nation.

And got to say, T.J., right now I'm in the western city of Herat. Herat is a fairly safer province, especially when you compare it to the south and east of the country. And I've been very impressed with the people here. Especially the young people who we talked in the last couple of days, many of them saying they will go out and vote, no matter the risk, no matter the threat, because they want a say in their country's future.

At this polling station in the Grand Mosque in Herat, we've seen at least a thousand men come to vote. A polling station nearby for women, there were lines of women as well. Even though the Taliban has even threatens the Heraties themselves, just yesterday in this city, just a few kilometers away a bomb detonated. Luckily no one was killed, but at least two people were injured.

HOLMES: Atia, can you give us some perspective as well? There have been several national elections now, since the fall of the Taliban. But do people there get a sense that their vote is making a difference? The significance here of these elections? ABAWI: For the most part, T.J., for most of the country, no. They don't feel that their vote is making a difference. There was this enthusiasm back in 2004 during the first presidential elections to take place, ever, for that matter here in Afghanistan. Many people came out to vote. I believe the figure was 75 percent of all those registered to vote came out to vote.

Last year during the presidential elections, only around 35 percent came out to vote. And it's been significantly dropping each election. So we expect that today's vote, there will be a bigger drop in the number of people who come out and vote, mainly because of that factor. It's not just for security. Many people that if -- even if the risk was there, but their vote counted, they would head to the polls.

But right now they feel that there's so much fraud involved that their vote won't count. Even here at this polling station, they were able to confiscate 20 fake voter cards. And they showed us, the election observers, when they dipped their finger in ink, how easy it was to wipe it back off and go to vote again, T.J. HOLMES: All right. Atia Abawi, for us, we appreciate you as always. We'll be checking in with you throughout the morning. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his government released American hiker Sarah Shourd because of the Islamic culture's respect for women. He is also hoping the United States will return the gesture, by releasing some Iranians being held in this country.

Shourd had been in solitary confinement for more than a year. Her fiance and another hiker still jailed in Iran, headed for trial on spy changes. Shourd and her mother Nora are planning to speak to the media tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Eastern in New York City.

Well, 36 minutes past the hour. We're keeping an eye on a couple of named storms, one still a hurricane, one fizzling out a bit, but still causing some problems. We'll have an update on Karl and Igor. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. It is 38 minutes past the hour.

Not quite sure what to make of this next story. The unlucky in love now have a new Web site to seek out romance.

Karen, I don't know what to say about this one. It's called uglyschmucks.com. This is a central community for the so-called unattractive to meet others like themselves, who are also, I assume, unattractive? Members can vote out others considered too attractive. So you can't be too good looking if you're on this thing.

Everybody in the studio is shaking their heads right now.

There's Toronto college grad, Joe De Luca. He launched this ugly venture. The profile is free, but for a membership to hook up with other unattractive people is going to cost you a membership of $13 a month. I'm not sure what to say about that.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a wacky world.

HOLMES: It is. There are other Web sites that are the opposite, where you have to be attractive and you can be voted out if you're not good looking enough. This is insane.

MAGINNIS: Oh, my.

HOLMES: This is insane.

MAGINNIS: T.J., T.J., T.J.

HOLMES: Is that the kid there? What is he, is he attractive?

MAGINNIS: He's a cute kid.

HOLMES: Is he a cute kid?

MAGINNIS: He's a cute kid. Yeah.

HOLMES: Well, Karen.

MAGINNIS: Oh, dear.

HOLMES: You would never, at any point need anything along these lines, Karen Maginnis.

MAGINNIS: There are days. There are days.

HOLMES: Well, this ain't one of them. Karen, good to have you here with us this morning.

MAGINNIS: Good morning, T.J. How are things going with you?

HOLMES: Things are going well. Who should we start with? Igor or Karl?

MAGINNIS: Igor.

HOLMES: Igor, OK.

MAGINNIS: We have Reynolds Wolf who is in Bermuda. I have never been to Bermuda. And I hear it is spectacular. But every two and a half years, they get sideswiped, or direct hit from a hurricane. So, they're kind of in the line of fire for a where all the tropical-

HOLMES: They're used to this, probably, right?

MAGINNIS: They need to hunker down a bit. Igor is going to churn its way. It's a huge system as well. It's very broad, extending from the center about just under 100 miles. Hurricane-force winds but extending out 345 miles from the center. We've got tropical-force storm winds. This is going to engulf Bermuda, either way you look at it, in the not too distant future.

Weather conditions are going to be deteriorating as we go out through the afternoon hours. And the system is packing winds just about 115 miles an hour. It's a Category 2, but before it's expected to make landfall, we're anticipating that it's going to be at Category 3.

Then there is Karl. Karl used to be a hurricane. Then it moved onshore from the Gulf of Mexico, slammed into the southeastern or eastern coast of Mexico, and now just the remnants are wringing out across the mountains, and essentially just kind of moving off the coast. We've got some pictures of flooding across south central Mexico in the past 24 hours now.

Vera Cruz specifically in a 24-hour period they saw something less than 20 inches of rain. But when all was said and done, they saw 20 inches of rainfall. Even though Karl has not gotten kind of the headlines we've seen with Igor, it nonetheless has had a very strong impact across south central Mexico. Mexico City, I think, just a few clouds, maybe a few breezy conditions.

All in all, National Hurricane Center says we have seen the end. They're not going to issue any more advisories as far as Karl is concerned.

For the U.S., it's reasonably quiet. Very dry in Utah and there is a risk of some -- a possibility that a fire danger could occur there. But hot across the Southeast. Hot across the Southwest. And, T.J., it looks like summer will never end, but it is officially comes to an end on Thursday (sic). Is it Thursday? The 22.

HOLMES: Already?

MAGINNIS: Right.

HOLMES: Summer will officially be over.

MAGINNIS: Yeah, but it's not going to end in Atlanta for another month.

HOLMES: Oh, yeah, around January we start to cool off, right?

MAGINNIS: You got it.

HOLMES: Karen, we appreciate you. Thanks so much.

Coming up here, what would cause a dad to go off on a school bus full of children? He went off to the point that he's now facing some serious charges. But the dad says he had a good reason for it. We'll explain. It's 43 minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: Well, an angry father storms onto a school bus in Florida to confront some kids who he says had bullied his daughter. James Jones is his name. And he went off on that bus, even threatening some of the students. One parent said his son is now even scared to ride the bus to school.

The rules say it's the driver's job to control the students. Jones, though, says the driver did nothing to stop the kids from tormenting his daughter, who has cerebral palsy. Jones says the students poked, pinched, even threw a condom on his daughter, and it led to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES JONES, DAD WHO WENT OFF ON A TIRADE: Everyone sit down. Tell me which one. Tell me which one. This is my daughter, and I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you up and everybody on this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). This is my daughter and I will kill a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) to back her. If anything happens to my daughter I'm going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you up and everybody on this (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well, the other part of this story is that it turns out the alleged bullying involved another child. It wasn't even Jones' daughter that was bullied. A family friend says the daughter is hospitalized now on suicide watch. Police arrested Jones, charged him with disorderly conduct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: My daughter is not going to be hazed and beat up and touched on, and like what he done. I'm very sorry. I apologized that. This is not just to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That was him responding to some reporters who had questions for him. Again, it wasn't even his daughter. He's facing some charges now. It's 46 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A quick break. I'm right back.

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HOLMES: It's time for our Political Ticker. From "The Best Political Team On Television."

GOP presidential hopefuls are taking the stage at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. Plus we'll have a look at the president's midterm elections campaign schedule from our Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, T.J.

A lot of stuff happening right now on the CNN Political Ticker. And where do you find it, CNNPolitics.com.

Let's talk about that Value Voters Summit. This is an annual gathering of conservative activists right here in the nation's capital. And you know, a lot of it is about 2010, and these midterms, coming up, but also a lot of it about 2012. We have a bunch of possible, possible people who may want to run for the Republican presidential nomination the next time around.

They talked yesterday. Newt Gingrich, another one, the former House speaker, talking this morning. And later today, let's keep our eyes on that conference because they're going to have the results on a presidential straw poll coming out this afternoon. Last year, the former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won that straw poll.

Let's also talk about what is going on in this year's elections. We have those midterms. Check it out, on Monday, the president will be pretty busy. The president will be headlining a DNC fundraiser Monday in Philadelphia.

And while he's up there in Philadelphia, the president is also going to be helping to raise money for Joe Sestak, the two-term congressman, who is also the Democrats' Senate nominee there. That is a seat Democrats would like to keep in party hands.

T.J., just some of the stuff we got on the CNNPoliticalTicker.com. Back to you, man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Thanks, man. A reminder for you all. For all the latest political news go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

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HOLMES: Well, you can do just about anything else on Facebook, but what about priest to a congregation? Well, not quite. But I got the Facebook pastor in here with me right now.

For our mission possible, Shaun King is his name. We're going to explain exactly what you are up to, today. But you have found a way now-this auction is going on. And you are using celebrities right now, for a Twitter auction to raise money for Haiti.

Now, help folks-maybe particularly those who are not so Twitter and Facebook inclined, understand how that is supposed to work.

PASTOR SHAUN KING, THE COURAGEOUS CHURCH: Well, the big thing we're trying to do is just keep the light and keep attention on Haiti. And so, while the news cycle might not include it so much, we're trying to really use technology to keep people understanding how big the needs are.

And so, on Twitter you can see what celebrities and entertainers and actors are doing. And Twitter people kind of-in 140 letters tell you what's going on in their life. And so one of the things that everybody wants and never says they want, everybody wants to be followed by somebody famous. And it's like a dirty little secret.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, everybody wishes that Shaq or Diddy or Kim Kardashian would follow them or Tweet them.

HOLMES: And you're tapping into that.

KING: Yeah. So what we've tried to do is connect with those celebrities, and fans are going to get a chance to bid to have Eva Longoria or Shaquille O'Neal or Kim Kardashian follow them, or mention them on Twitter.

HOLMES: How did you get all of them on board?

KING: Well, it really wasn't me. We started doing some great stuff in Haiti right after the earthquake. And Eva Longoria saw all the work that we were doing, and she was going to start a Web site for a project. And so she called some friends of hers at Microsoft. And they told her to work with us. A lot of my friends tease me about working with Eva Longoria, but as a tech guy, I was excited about Microsoft, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

And so I don't -- I don't really watch "Desperate Housewives," so when she told us Microsoft said work with this group, we were over the moon.

HOLMES: Well, just in case, you're not clear, just to let me let you know. She's kind of a big deal.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Yeah.

HOLMES: She's kind of a big deal. How much money can you possibly raise like this? How many celebrities, first of all, do you have?

KING: We have almost 150 celebrities onboard from all around the world. Not just the United States. Every day we're having 1.5 to 2 million people go to our Web site. We have no idea what it will raise. We need to raise almost $1 million for the project we're working on, but we're trying to lower our expectations and just get surprised if it is a success.

HOLMES: And they come to-they need to go to you-I want to make sure people understand how they do it. They need to go to your website first to do the bidding, is that correct?

KING: They need to go to Twitchange.com.

HOLMES: OK, we have it up.

KING: Absolutely.

HOLMES: And Eva Longoria, features a prominent role, on the front?

KING: Yeah. She has a video on there. She kind of breaks down what we're doing and you can bid. And 100 percent of your donation goes to charity; eBay donated their services. It's just going be a great thing.

HOLMES: Explain to people one more time here. What exactly are you hoping to do, your mission necessarily in Haiti. We know the needs are still great, even though, like you said, it's not in headlines every day. What is your mission and you're going to direct your money and all your efforts towards?

KING: Yes, I pastor a church here in Atlanta. And out church is helping to build the largest home and orphanage and school for severely disabled children in Haiti. And so I've been to Haiti several times since the earthquake. And all of these donations are going to go to building that home. And right now in Haiti, children with severe disabilities are most regularly orphans. And we have over 100 orphan children that are going to be living this home. It's going to be great. We're really excited to be able to do something permanent for them.

HOLMES: How much did you say you needed?

KING: We need about $1 million. We'll see what the auction does and we'll keep on pushing.

HOLMES: All right. The Facebook pastor, Shaun King. You know that says lot about how tech savvy you are, you were more excited about Microsoft than Eva Longoria.

(LAUGHTER)

That's impressive. Great work you are doing, clearly got the attention of a lot of people.

KING: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

HOLMES: Thanks for coming in. Good to have you here in Atlanta with us.

To get more information on Shaun King and his effort to help the people of Haiti, you can go to our blog. We have it up for you right now, CNN.com/TJ, all the information you need. We want to make sure you're able to hook up with Pastor King.