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CNN Saturday Morning News
Army to Open Spillway to Avert Flooding; Honoring True Heroes; Bayou Community Evacuated; GOP Presidential Field Taking Shape; Power of the Pilots; Addressing Immigration; Combating Illegal Workers in the Workplace
Aired May 14, 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 morning.
It has not happened in almost 40 years, but it could happen today. Expect it to happen today. Engineers getting ready to open a spillway along the Mississippi River. Thousands of square miles downriver could be flooded, but New Orleans and Baton Rouge would be saved.
Also mirroring Arizona, Georgia now the second state with some stiff immigration laws. The Governor Nathan Beale signed that law yesterday. We will explain it, plus talk to the man behind the bill. The author will be here in studio with me live and also someone who is against it. You want to hear the conversation.
Also another conversation you'll be interested to hear, this one a rare interview with Hank Aaron, talking about baseball, how it's letting down the black community. Also talking about who the real home run king should be.
From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, glad you could spend part of your day here with us. It's 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia at our CNN world headquarters, but it's 7:00 a.m. in Morgan City, Louisiana. All eyes on Morgan City today.
Let's talk about this flooding, major flooding has swamped the upper Mississippi and Ohio River valley is now making aim at lower Mississippi. Later today the Army Corps of Engineers could open the huge Morganza spillway in Louisiana. It has not been opened in almost 40 years.
Now why would they open it now? Well the situation is dire and opening it would divert millions upon millions of gallons of water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, possibly saving them from massive flooding, but unfortunately it would have to flood homes and farms in seven Louisiana parishes in the south central part of the state. National Guard troops have been working around the clock filling sandbags in Morgan City.
Also on Monday, President Obama will give a commencement address at a high school in Memphis and will also take the time out while he's there to meet with families affected by the flooding. But that may not be much comfort to others who know floodwaters will take their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLI TRIMM, EXPECTS HOME TO BE FLOODED: It's worse than we thought. It's really worse than we thought. We thought maybe we might have water in our yard, instead this is going to come into our home. It's going to take everything we have got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn back to this Morganza spillway we're talking about. That's just north of Baton Rouge, all the way down - take it out here -- residents living west of the Mississippi all the way down the flood plain have been warned about what this will mean. It means flooded homes and farms.
Ed Lavandera in Morganza, Louisiana for us this morning.
Ed, always good to have you with us. Do we know when they might open this thing up?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're probably looking at sometime this afternoon, T.J., perhaps around 2:30 central time, 3:30 Eastern time is that possibility. Of course this is all still very much up in the air and we're waiting to get official confirmation and official time here in the next few hours perhaps early afternoon.
But to kind of set the scene, all this water you see behind me, this is kind of like a holding reservoir for the Morganza spillway. Very often this is all dry land. So the fact that there's this much water there just shows you how dynamic and how incredible this situation here. This is the spillway itself, our vantage point here. This is almost 5,000 feet long, T.J. and it's hard to make out there, but about half way down, you see a huge gray crane over the top.
It's already in position to open up one of the floodgates and we understand that this will be done in a very slow and deliberate process. When one of those floodgates open, you can look back over the roadway here and you can see all of this dry land. That is (INAUDIBLE) then kind of curve south toward Morgan City, about 100 miles.
It will take several days for this water to reach all the way down there, but they will do in this a very slow and deliberate process, T.J., we're told, a lot of that it has to do with the fact to give wildlife out there a chance to kind of adapt to what's coming since so much water will be coming and so they will kind of do it in a slow deliberate process.
So why they're doing this, we've talked a lot about it over the last few days. They need to take pressure off of the Mississippi River and a lot of this what will trigger the opening of these floodgates is the pressure on the levee system that goes between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We understand that anything over 1.5 million cubic feet per second. I know that's kind of a tedious number. But that 1.5 million number is really what you need to pay attention to. Anything more than that puts too much strain, the Army Corps of Engineers says, on the levee system between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and they need to relieve that pressure and that's why the water would then be sent out this way, flooding out a vast amount of farm land and that sort of thing. But there are many communities that will be in danger of these floodwaters so a lot of those people as we've seen over the last few days taking a lot of precautions to prepare for these floodwaters that will be coming their way -- T.J.
HOLMES: Ed you said taking precautions, are they being told to get out? Is the evacuation being suggested? Would it ever possibly be mandatory or like you said, people just trying to hold on and ride it out?
LAVANDERA: They have been doing a lot of that. There have been a lot of warnings that have been going out over the last few days, urging people, one town in particular we spent a lot of time in, which I think you'll take it there too in coming up later this hour is the town of Hugo Rose (ph) where more than 800 homes there, people have been over the last few days literally packing it up in some cases taking everything out of their homes because they know what's coming down the pike here.
Other little towns on the way toward more Morgan City, people have been sandbagging neighborhoods, building up levees and that sort of thing. So the precautions have been out there and authorities also want to be able to go door to door here in the next 24 hours to urge people to get out.
HOLMES: Ed Lavandera, we appreciate having you this morning from Morganza, Louisiana. Thanks so much buddy. We'll talk to you again soon.
Let me bring in Reynolds Wolf now.
Reynolds, give us some insight into how they make these decisions. It really is, OK, we've got more businesses. We've got more property. We have more lives here, we need to flood this area to try to save that area?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. This is the plain and simple way to look at it. Who will be threatened the least? It goes the route of the Mississippi River. You've got Baton Rouge, you've got New Orleans, you go the other way, you have Morgan City, Louisiana. So it is. Someone's going to lose out either way you go.
But it will be flooding an area of about 3,000 square miles, home to some 25,000 people. There are 11,000 structures in this area, all threatened by this (INAUDIBLE) I know, it's hard to believe, one area, Morgan City home to about 12,000 people at the very end. The Mississippi River, just so you'll get your bearings is actually right up here, going right past the floodgates, you can see it meandering its way past Baton Rouge all the way down and then of course down towards New Orleans.
But this area you see that's shaded in this blue, that is the area that's going to inundated with flooding. (INAUDIBLE) that's also the lines of where you have your levee system. Levee systems very important. They are crucial in this part of the world and many other places that are right near the river. It's one of the reasons why it's so crucial is it actually prevents the floodwaters from escaping the banks.
In a normal situation you've got your flood and you've got the rising river waters and nothing holding it back (INAUDIBLE) in some cases for miles in either direction. However when you have a levee system which is an artificial barrier built on both sides of the river bank, it keeps the river not only flowing, but it keeps a nice channel that prevents it from flooding and escaping the banks. So that's where you have that.
What we need in a situation like this is, we need dry conditions. We don't need any more rainfall in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. And thankfully the weather is going to cooperate for us today. If you happen to be out traveling today for your travel weather in parts of the great lakes, scattered showers and storms including places like I'd say Detroit, back into Cincinnati, you can expect some rainfall, also in spots like Washington, DC (INAUDIBLE) showers, same deal in St. Louis, back into the Pacific northwest, Seattle may deal with some rainfall, Spokane, right along parts of 90, some rain, but in the high elevations, we're still talking snow. More in your forecast coming up. For new T.J., let's take it back to you.
HOLMES: Appreciate you. We'll check in with you again here shortly.
Now some more new information on what was found by Navy SEALS inside Osama bin Laden's compound. We are now hearing from a U.S. officials that they uncovered an unreleased audiotape from the former al Qaeda leader. It's believed it was taped last month and in it bin Laden talked about uprising in Egypt and Tunisia. The SEALS also found a stash of pornographic materials, said to be sexually explicit, though that's what pornography is, is it not? But it's unknown who it belonged to. Was it bin Laden's or his sons, his couriers? Officials aren't saying right now.
Also Pakistan's parliament condemning the U.S. raid this morning and threatening to cut access to a key transit facility. It's used to move NATO troops into Afghanistan, Pakistan also demanding an end to U.S. drone strikes in their country.
Not exactly a whole lot of drilling going on, but with $4 a gallon gas, no more than the norm than the exception, President Obama talking about safe and responsible domestic oil production in his weekly address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last year America's oil production reached its highest level since 2003, but I believe that we should continue to expand oil production in America, even as we increase safety and environmental standards. To do this, I'm directing the Department of the Interior to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska's national petroleum reserve while respecting sensitive areas and to speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid and south Atlantic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The president went on to say that he also wants to expand oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and again called for an end to multibillion dollar subsidies for big oil companies.
Have you heard, there's a new Arizona style crackdown on immigration. Georgia's governor signs a controversial new law. We are talking to one of the bill's authors. He is here in studio with me. We'll see why he thinks this law in Georgia won't face the same fate as Arizona's has faced so far.
Also, fighting (ph) for civil rights with a bat and a ball. More of my conversation with hall of famer Hank Aaron. Do African- Americans have a future in the game he loves? The numbers aren't good. You'll hear his take this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Eleven minutes past the hour now, Georgia is the latest state to pass a law aimed at identifying illegal immigrants. Governor Nathan Beale signed the Arizona-style immigration bill - some are calling it that - signed it into law yesterday. His decision to sign that bill was greeted by protesters outside the capitol building.
The Pew Research Center, the Pew Hispanic Research Center estimates there are some 425,000 illegal immigrants in Georgia. That's the seventh highest in the nation and even more so than Arizona. Under this new law, police are allowed to verify immigration status of those suspected of particular crimes.
Also those in the country illegally can be arrested. The Georgia law also requires businesses with at least 10 employees to use a Federal database known as e-verify to confirm that new hires are authorized to work in the U.S.
Some groups have already begun talking about boycotting meetings and conventions in Atlanta. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, along with a group representing Georgia farmers opposed the e-verify provisions in that law.
Joining me to talk about the new law is the author of it, Republican Georgia State Representative Matt Ramsey here in studio with me.
Sir, thank you for coming in this morning. Let's see here, 425,000 estimated illegal immigrants in the state of Georgia. Do you want them all to go?
MATT RAMSEY (R) GEORGIA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: I want people to follow the law and what we have done with house bill 87 is to the greatest extent possible removed incentives when an individual comes to our country illegally for them to come to Georgia. It is a huge cost to our taxpayers, estimated to be as high as $2.4 billion a year here in Georgia.
HOLMES: I want to get back to that number, the cost to Georgia, but also back to my original question. You talked about not having more come in. You're trying to get rid of the incentive for coming into the state. But still for the ones that are here, would you like for them all to go?
RAMSEY: Absolutely. If you're in this country illegally, there's a process by which you come here legally. And there are millions and millions of people sitting around all over the planet, some of the most desperate places in the world waiting for their turn at the American dream.
And I don't know how you can defend as fair individuals that come here in circumvention of our nation's laws that essentially jump to the front of the line when those folks are waiting to do it the right way. And I think it's important to point out, we have the most liberal immigration laws in the world. We allow a million citizens to be naturalized into our country every single year.
HOLMES: Now it's always important, because I talk to people all the time, to our polls (ph) illegal immigration. Of course a lot of people don't want anybody jumping in front of the line, don't want people walking across the border.
But just as a human being, I mean sometimes people hear that answer, say, what, he wants all these people to go. But still at the same time, do your hearts go out to and you don't think these are bad people necessarily. They are here because they're trying to provide and work for their families. Would you give them that?
RAMSEY: I'm empathetic. I understand wanting to make a better life for your family. But I also understand that we are a nation of laws and the cornerstone that has sustained our democracy for more than 200 years is adhering to the rule of law and when you break the rule of law, there are consequences.
HOLMES: Now on that number, you say what is costing the state of Georgia, do you believe that illegal immigrants are adding to this state? Because there are plenty of estimates and studying we can give you that say they are adding a whole lot. Some estimates up to $20 billion to this economy in Georgia every single year.
RAMSEY: Every statistic that I saw nets out the tax benefit or the taxes that are paid by illegal aliens. Certainly they are paying some sales taxes and other various taxes, but Georgia, it's kind of a nebulous problem on the Federal level. They don't have to balance their budget.
Here in Georgia, ever single dollar that we spend has to be balanced with the money that's coming in. We have a balanced budget amendment and over the last four years, we have cut 30 percent of our budget to a level of $17 billion. So when you're talking about a $2.4 billion net impact, that impacts our schools, the quality of our kids' education. It impacts --
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) You don't think there's an add.
RAMSEY: That's netting out the taxes that are being paid against the burden on our taxpayer-funded services.
HOLMES: Do you want to be -- what do you think about being unfortunately that guy. You saw we were reading here the Arizona style law. When people hear that, it has a negative connotation quite frankly around the country.
And a lot of people, whether they're in New York, Florida, wherever, they're not going to take time to read your bill quite frankly. All they're going to hear is the news, Arizona style law, Georgia's not friendly to immigrants, immigration and they're anti- business.
Are you concerned about the impact that this law could have on folks not bringing conventions, not bringing their meetings here, not vacationing here just like we saw happen in Arizona?
RAMSEY: We have by any statistical measure among the most business friendly states in the country, from a tax standpoint, from a regulatory standpoint. It's going to continue to be the case.
But what we've done is taken steps to enforce the rule of law and it's a tough issue and you ask do I like being that guy? Certainly I would love for people to actually all sit down and read the bill and understand what's in it. That's not going to happen. There are some people in the legislature who haven't read the bill and understood it, so certainly can't expect the masses to. But this is a responsible bill, it doesn't cast any wider net than we intend it to. It only gets to the people that are here in the country illegally.
HOLMES: And you don't think this is the Federal government's job. You don't want to wait on them to do this?
RAMSEY: We've been waiting 30 years and it hasn't happened yet and we just simply can't afford it, afford to wait any more.
HOLMES: Would you agree it is their responsibility?
RAMSEY: It is their responsibility but there are certainly issues within the constitution and within Federal law that are certainly the province of state governments.
HOLMES: Mr. Ramsey, we appreciate you coming in this morning, a lot more about this and I know you think yours can hold up in court because some are coming after this bill in the courts. You think yours can hold up. We will see how that works out. We do appreciate you coming in this morning.
RAMSEY: Thank you T.J.
HOLMES: Thanks so much. Of course not everybody happy with this new law, some of the strongest opposition is coming from the business community. That perspective after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 19 past the hour.
Before the break I spoke with the author of Georgia's new immigration law. It allows police to check immigrants' documentation status when they are suspects in certain crimes. It also requires employers with at least 10 workers to use what's called the e-verify system before they make new hires. That would confirm their immigration status and if they are able to work in this country.
And yesterday, a group of protesters, though small, gathered outside the Georgia state capitol as the Governor Nathan Beale signed that new law. Among those most strongly opposed to the bill, business owners.
Karen Bremer is executive director of the Georgia Restaurant Association. She joins me now to explain why. Good morning, thank you for being here as well.
KAREN BREMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTION, GEORGIA RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: Good morning T.J.
HOLMES: Tell me, do you think we need illegal workers in this country and specifically in this state?
BREMER: We do have a shortage of people to do specific jobs in our country.
HOLMES: Now to do those jobs, though, do we need to have illegal folks here? Because I read and I see some things that sounds like some people say yes, illegal workers are here and we need them.
BREMER: We need a reformed immigration plan to allow our country to accept more people in that would like to work in our country.
HOLMES: When you hear this argument all the time, do we not have at 9 percent unemployment and what is it, 13, 14, 15 million been out of work in this country. We don't have enough people to do jobs?
BREMER: There are many jobs in the hospitality industry, in the agri-business industry that quite frankly Americans will not do.
HOLMES: What does that mean Ms. Bremer?
BREMER: What does that mean? I have spoken with restaurateurs that will tell you in the past 10 years they have had no Americans apply for positions as dishwashers in restaurants as scholarly people as stewards. Quite frankly, the industry is deeply concerned about this.
I spoke with a restaurateur yesterday afternoon right before your organization called me and a restaurateur was sharing with me that he has Hispanic employees are leaving and they are legal to this country. They are resident aliens of the United States and have a legal right in be in this country. They are leaving the state of Georgia because they feel unwelcome. They are concerned for their families. They are concerned for being harassed. They are concerned for being singled out.
HOLMES: I guess you talked to some of the restaurateurs you speak of. What is their concern? If this illegal workforce goes away, do they believe they can't fill the jobs? I hear people say that my only option is an illegal worker and oftentimes illegal workers do get the job and I wonder if you agree here, it's because that employer doesn't have to pay them a certain wage. They can pay them a little less than the minimum wage. They don't have to worry about health benefits.
BREMER: In the restaurant industry, the restaurant industry has been complying with Federal law for at least the past 15 years by doing I-9 verification which is verification by identification of an individual that comes to work for you. The restaurant industry has been complying with that for many years.
HOLMES: But that's a form that you can just hand anybody, any fake ID and you fill that thing out, it's not checked with the Federal database.
BREMER: When the person is entered into your payroll system, that Social Security number is verified with the Social Security Administration and if there is a non-match, you do receive a letter and you allow them for the time to straighten out their issue (INAUDIBLE) their Social Security number or their name or how it was put into the system.
HOLMES: You oppose e-verify. Why? It's a free and immediate system. You can plug somebody in and see if they're here legally.
BREMER: The e-verify system is extremely cumbersome.
HOLMES: How so?
BREMER: First off, you have to train an individual. That individual then becomes the administrator of the system. There is a high degree of security that needs to happen when one uses the e- verify system. You cannot use it as a screening device. You cannot use it for pre-employment.
When you hire an individual, every individual in your business has to be screened through e-verify. If that person comes up with a non-match, they have a specific period of time, it's roughly two weeks to straighten out whatever issue might be with their identification.
During that time, you cannot suspend them. You have to continue on with their training processes and the e-verify system was set up so that you are not allowed to discriminate against anybody. However if you take an individual who may not actually -- who has an issue with their name, a hyphenated last name for instance. That's a very common error. HOLMES: I can talk e-verify all morning with you, but we have to wrap up here. Last thing, one of the provisions here does say that someone needs to show ID. If someone's stopped for a crime. You all are also opposing the parts that have to do with employers and whatnot, but any other provisions that you do have a problem with in this law?
BREMER: There are provisions which penalize people for assisting people that are in need. I have had restaurateurs say to me, so if I take an individual to the hospital that cut their hand, I would -- I could be penalized for taking that person to the hospital.
HOLMES: That's not true. The law says you can't transport someone if you are -- if you know they are an illegal immigrant and you transport them to further their illegal status. Taking somebody to the hospital is not the same thing.
BREMER: There are many immigration attorneys will tell you there will be cases made on that. There will be people penalized. The bottom line is we're alienating and we're discriminating. We're profiling against a certain group of people. The Asian community is just as concerned as the Hispanic community.
HOLMES: I would talk about this all morning, Ms. Bremer. It's law now. We have got until July 1 I believe it goes into effect. I know some lawsuits are coming. There are plans. We'll see if this one stands up.
BREMER: My organization that represents 385,000 employees that represents $14 billion in revenue and which represents 1/18 of the state's overall revenue budget. We will be working with our individuals to make sure that they understand the law and how to comply with it.
HOLMES: Ms. Bremer, we appreciate you coming in. I'm sure it's not the last time we're going to talk with you.
BREMER: Thank you very much for your time.
HOLMES: Twenty five past the hour. A quick break, I'm right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, major league baseball, looking back this weekend to the ground breaking contributions of African-Americans. People like Martin Luther King Jr., freedom riders, but also players like Jackie Robinson, Larry Dobie (ph) and Hank Aaron. I had the chance to sit down with Hank Aaron to talk about his place in baseball history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: What would you say to those fans who say Hank Aaron is the home run king. He will always be my home run king and they refuse to acknowledge anybody at this point that's above your name. Would you say to them, say, hey, let it go folks. The guy above me has more home runs. He's your home run king. Or would you say --
HANK AARON, 755 CAREER HOME RUNS IN 23 SEASONS: I would say thank you. I would thank them, first of all, and thank them if they think that way, but here again, you know and we're talking about Barry Bonds and you know, Barry Bonds hit more home runs than I did. And he should be justifiably, should be the home run king. That's the way I look at it.
I look at it as saying that he done everything he wanted to do, everything he was supposed to do in baseball. People say, well, you know, he was on this, he was on that. I don't know what he was on. You know, I have no idea, I'm not God, I don't have any idea. The only thing I know is that Barry Bonds was a terrific ballplayer.
I hit 755 home runs, and no matter how you look at it, I'm not going to hit another home run, not in this year. I may do it somewhere else but not here. And he hit more home runs than I did on earth so he should be classified as the home run king.
HOLMES: So you don't believe he was on anything?
AARON: No, I didn't say he wasn't on anything, I just say no matter what it is, I don't know -- I don't know what he was on.
HOLMES: All right.
AARON: I have no idea. As I said before, I'm not God, I don't make those kind of rules.
HOLMES: You're the same guy that said once we get up to 50, 60 home runs, something's funny.
AARON: I said, yes, yes. I said if we do have -- I said, I think it's something funny, I think and there's a difference when you say you think. I didn't say I know, I think something's different.
HOLMES: Man, you're a scholar and a gentleman. I love it, I love it, I love it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, he had a whole lot more to say about the state of today's game and the lack -- the lack of African-Americans in Major League baseball right now. You just saw part of the interview there with the Hall of Famer. You'll hear more out it next hour.
Also this morning we're keeping a close eye on the Mississippi and all the towns along the Mississippi. And right now people who live in a small bayou town, well, they got the bad news this week, 15 feet of floodwater is on the way.
CNN was there to get their reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 70 percent of the people have packed up and gone already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a ghost town pretty soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 34 minutes past the hour now; taking a look at stories making headlines.
We've got some new out of Pakistan in the wake of that deadly raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout near Islamabad. Pakistani politicians are now demanding an end to U.S. missile drone strikes and are threatening to halt access to a key transit facility.
Meanwhile, new details still emerging about that raid, including the recovery of pornography at the bin Laden compound.
Also this morning back here at home, the President, President Obama heading to Memphis, Tennessee on Monday. He'll be making a commencement speech to some high school graduates there and will get a firsthand view of the ongoing flood crisis along the Mississippi River.
Also, on that flooding note, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans on opening another spillway to alleviate the possible flooding in Baton Rouge and New Orleans but the controlled flood plan could swamp smaller communities.
Of course we know, some pretty desperate times right about now for a lot of people along that Mississippi, residents of one small bayou town have been told to evacuate.
CNN's Ed Lavandera was there when they learned the reasons why, 15 feet of water bearing down on their community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tucked away in the shade of Louisiana cypress trees and back water creeks, you'll have a hard time finding Butte LaRose, but its Pierre Watermeyer's dance floor.
PIERRE WATERMEYER, BUTTE LAROSE LOUISIANA RESIDENT: I put that sign up about two months ago and it was -- I've always wanted to name the camp, Last Dance.
LAVANDERA: The music has stopped and Pierre --
WATERMEYER: I don't know why I'm locking it.
LAVANDERA: -- is packing it all up before the floodwaters wash over Butte LaRose.
WATERMEYER: I had big table in here, I had futon over here, this was cabinets. 70 percent of people have packed up and gone already.
LAVANDERA: It's going to be a ghost town pretty soon.
WATERMEYER: Yes, yes.
LAVANDERA: For generations, Butte LaRose has been home to an eclectic mix of Cajuns, a place to hideaway where homes are called camps and they come with funny names. But this won't be a summer of fun.
(on camera): What's it like to be around here knowing what's coming down the river?
WATERMEYER: It's just a somber mood, you know, everybody is just doing what they got to do.
LAVANDERA (on camera): His bayou community will soon be flooded.
WATERMEYER: I'm going to get three feet of water in it; three to four-foot.
LAVANDERA: But Pierre is about to learn that the floodwaters will likely be worse than anything he imagined. Pierre and hundreds of Butte LaRose residents pack into the town's firehouse to hear flood level predictions from the Army Corps of Engineers.
COL. ED FLEMING, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: I'm telling you desperate water from right here 15 feet, ok. Where we're standing, so someone could reach up 15 feet, there's probably up to the roof of this building.
WATERMEYER: He said there's going to be 15-foot of water right here. It's over with, it's over with.
LAVANDERA: It's over for Butte LaRose -- the words too painful for people to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's going to answer the questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's going to be a strong current.
LAVANDERA: As pain turns to anger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody please listen.
LAVANDERA: Colonel Ed Fleming offers a little comfort.
FLEMING: In 22 years I have moved 14 times. We might have a box, you might have some important documents, you might have some pictures, some keepsake things, because those are the things we're going to put in the car when that moving truck drives away and you're standing in your driveway with your family and a couple of suitcases and a box. But that's when you find out what's important to you.
LAVANDERA: And the sadness of the moment brings Kelli Trimm to tears. KELLI TRIMM, BUTTE LAROSE, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: It's worse than we thought. It's really worst that we though, we thought maybe we might have water in our yard, instead this is going to come into our homes, this is going to take everything -- everything we've got.
LAVANDERA: Pierre Watermeyer knows it's time to pack up the Dance Floor and put Butte LaRose in his rear view mirror, but he'll be back.
WATERMEYER: But it's not going to be the last dance. It's not going to be.
LAVANDERA: You don't think so?
WATERMEYER: No, no. We'll -- we'll dance again around here.
LAVANDERA: And the sign will be the last thing he grabs on the way out of town.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Butte LaRose, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right.
Let's turn to some politics now, shall we? The GOP field for the 2012 presidential elections starting to take shape; Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul announced their intensions to run this weekend. Tonight, we're expecting former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee to say whether or not he is going to explore a presidential bid.
Our CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is joining me now from Washington. Paul, hello to you, kind sir.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning T.J.
HOLMES: Look, the governor, Governor Huckabee, I mean, I chased him around the state capital there at Arkansas for several years. Why is he messing with us right now? Just tell us, he's set this thing up and everybody wants to announce on their show. You got him and you got Trump. Well, come on.
STEINHAUSER: I tell you T.J., most of the signs point against him running for the White House. And here's why. Look, he really hasn't made any real move yet towards launching a campaign. He hasn't visited many of those crucial early voting states. He hasn't raised a lot of money for a campaign. It's expensive to run for president.
You know what, he's a lot of -- a lot of his staff, the guys that helped him out last time he ran, he has let them go to other candidates. So a lot of this is pointing toward a non-run. He has gained a lot of weight since -- since the times since he ran and he's still in this Fox contract.
But T.J., there is one thing, one thing. Take a look at this. HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: Here's our most recent poll on the horse race and look who's on top there, Mike Huckabee on the top of just about every poll; ours and everybody else. And that is the one thing that may -- may make him decide to run for president -- T.J.
HOLMES: Did you have to throw in there that he gained a little weight Paul?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I'm sorry, sorry.
HOLMES: That -- that means he's happy probably.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: And as -- as Wolf pointed out yesterday, Wolf Blitzer, he said you know what? For the first time he's making some money, some real money.
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: You know, you don't make a lot of money in those -- in those state houses.
All right, let's move on to someone who did make an announcement yesterday as we see the picture of Huckabee there. But let's move on to Ron Paul, he made the announcement, made it official, he's in. This sounds like the same old story, same old song. How is this going to be different?
STEINHAUSER: Yes third to try and maybe for Ron Paul, maybe, maybe not. Here's what he's got going for him. Listen he's got a lot of devoted, energetic and enthusiastic followers. I have seen him on the campaign trail, they love this man. He can raise a lot of money. T.J., we saw those money bombs back in 2008, raising millions of dollars online, he's already done it once again so far this year. So those are two big pluses.
Here's the minus though, he is considered maybe outside the main stream of the Republican Party, that some of his views are a little too far out there when it comes to foreign policy, U.S. involvement in the United Nations and NATO. And especially he wants to get rid of the feds to some of his monetary policy.
And you know what; a lot of Republicans just don't think he can win, T.J.
HOLMES: All right and Newt Gingrich, I'll skip the sound I was going to use for him. But still some pluses and minuses here, and a lot of those minuses people say is just a baggage actually, he has such a record, and yes they do call it baggage. He's going to have to carry into this race with him.
STEINHAUSER: Yes that's the thing about him. Some of those strengths (ph) are weaknesses. Listen, he's got a lot of experience, T.J., right? He's got a long resume. But that means he's no fresh face, he's been around, maybe he's yesterday's news.
He's got a lot of name recognition, that's good, people know him. But the flip side is, well, a lot of that name recognition isn't good, his negatives are pretty high. And you mentioned some of the other baggage, he's married three times, he's admitted to an affair and that may not play well with social conservatives. We know they are so crucial in the race for the White House on the Republican side and especially in those early states like Iowa and South Carolina -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, good stuff this morning. Paul, we'll talk to you again here shortly.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, we told you about this story last weekend right here. We were just getting word that they have been kicked off the plane by the pilot. We're talking about those two imams removed from their flights. Now, are pilot really allowed to do this, we kind of asked some questions here. What about you? You get on the plane. Can you be kicked off for any reason? We're going to be breaking this down for you in just a second.
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HOLMES: All right. Quarter of the top of the hour here now.
Tell you about a story we first brought you last weekend. You certainly will remember this one: two Muslim clerics taken off of a plane apparently without a solid explanation. The two imams that you're seeing here, this is them finally arriving at their destination of Charlotte, North Carolina. But this was hours after their originally schedules arrival because both men were taken off their initial flight apparently by order of the pilot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMAM MASUDUR RAHMAN, TAKEN OFF FLIGHT: When Mr. John came out and his face was red and he was upset and he said, I apologize, you guys, I'm watching you from beginning to the end, you are very polite, very nice, very cooperative, very helpful. We appreciate your patient and some lady they appreciate our patience, who are tears there. And we appreciate them. And they were very good with us; their conduct really very professional. But he said, you know, the pilot is not allowing you to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, ironically, the imams went to Charlotte, they were headed there for a conference that focused on Islamophobia. Their attorney says they haven't decided whether or not they'll try to take any legal action but they do want to make sure the pilot is held accountable for his action. The pilot was with Atlantic Southwest Airlines.
This is what they had to say. "We take security and safety very seriously, and the event is currently under investigation. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused."
Well, the case of two imams being kicked off a commercial flight got us all wondering, just what kind of power do the pilots have? Let me bring in a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING. Sunny Hostin who of course is a legal analyst and works over at "In Session" in our sister network, TruTV.
Sunny, this has us all thinking, could this affect all of us in some way. Does it even matter who was uncomfortable? Some say it was the pilot, some say it was the passengers, does that even play into the scenario?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, "IN SESSION": Well, I don't know if it matters who was uncomfortable, but what does matter is Supreme Court has found recently in February that the captain or the pilot of an aircraft has very wide discretion in determining who he will fly, who he will fly with or she, and also in determining what is safest for the aircraft and in his word, or her word is final.
And so in that sense, these pilots are saying that they are concerned that this was a safety concern and that they make those judgment calls.
HOLMES: Is that enough? It sounds like the pilot or the captain has the ultimate power no matter what. They can say they don't like the way your shoes are tied and kick you off the plane, is that right?
HOSTIN: And I think that's really the question, T.J. Is it ok if I get on and I'm a Latina lawyer and the pilot doesn't like the way I look and says I can't get on the plane? Well, no, there has to be a valid security concern and I don't think that the Supreme Court ruling trumps someone's civil rights.
Again though, to fly is not a right, it's a privilege and certainly people have decided, you know, with screening; they don't want to be screened and so they drive instead or they take the bus. But I don't think that a pilot can trample on someone's civil rights, there has to be a valid security concern or safety concern.
In this case I'm a little bit concerned because the TSA had cleared these men already. They had cleared them several times through several layers of security, so TSA is saying we didn't make the judgment call not to allow them to fly, this was strictly on the airlines. But again, airlines can refuse to transport someone if they deem that that individual is unsafe. And the pilot of an aircraft is a representative of the airline and has that final say. So it's going to be a balancing test, I think.
HOLMES: Yes, but what exactly is that threshold if they deem someone to be threatening or unsafe and also, though, nobody's ever going to put you off a plane, first of all, here, Sunny, we know that. But still when you purchase that ticket, is that somewhat like a contract and you are agreeing to give up in some way some of your rights and handing over that discretion over to the airline and the pilot? HOSTIN: It really is. I mean again, flying is a privilege, it not a right. So yes, when you purchase that ticket, you submit yourself at least to the TSA and you submit yourself to being screened and all of those things. we have covered those stories, T.J., but then the extra layer is the pilot of the aircraft. He or she can say, you know what, I have a safety concern for this aircraft because of this individual.
But I don't think, and the Supreme Court hasn't quite ruled on this, but I don't think that that pilot can say because of someone's appearance, because of someone's religion, I am uncomfortable and I'm not going to allow them on the plane. That in my view goes too far.
This investigation is still unfolding. I am certain that the pilots are being interviewed. If it's determined that their actions were unjustified, there are going to be a lot of repercussions from disciplinary actions within, I think, the airline system. But also, you know, these folks -- these scholars are going to sue. They have already retained as lawyer and they are going to sue.
HOLMES: All right. Fascinating to see how this works out. And again we're thinking about Muslim men being targeted, but still it's something we need to all keep in mind when we fly. Quite frankly, we could all end up in a situation like this. We know better, we know how to behave, you don't just make jokes and things like you did before. We all need to behave a certain way when you get on a plane.
HOSTIN: That's right.
HOLMES: Sunny Hostin, again, friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING; always a pleasure to chat with you. Talk soon.
HOSTIN: Thanks.
HOLMES: All right, Michael Vick, the role model. He will actually be a commencement speaker for students in Philadelphia next month. Is this a redemption story that continues? Or is this maybe a bad idea?
Also baby boomers pushing themselves too hard to stay in shape; doctors call it boomeritis. Do you have it? We'll check you in. Stay here.
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HOLMES: All right, it's about five minutes to the top of the hour.
We bring Ray D'Alessio, friend of ours here from HLN Sports.
Another sad story this week: this 28-year-old, young man in the NHL found dead.
RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HOLMES: What happened here? First get -- these people may not be familiar of exactly who he is.
D'ALESSIO: Yes, Derek -- we're talking Derek Boogard here of the New York Rangers. He was in his first season with the New York Rangers, T.J. Really known as an enforcer on the ice; a guy that, you know, drops the glove at a moment's notice, a fighter.
But what a lot of people don't know about Derek Boogard is what he did off the ice; a lot of humanitarian stuff. He worked with a lot of charities, in particular; worked with a lot of charities whose focus is to help kids who are the children of military members. He used to invite military members and their families to games.
Last night around 6:00 Minneapolis time, he was found in his apartment by family members. Still have not determined what the cause of death is, but the coroner telling CNN that they will perform an autopsy today. So just a sad story and really a hard hit for the -- you know for Ranger fans and the organization. Again, just 28 years old, in the prime of his career, really.
HOLMES: So at this point, they're not looking at foul play, necessarily?
D'ALESSIO: Not saying anything. All they would tell CNN is that they're solely investigating, you know, his death so we don't know anything yet.
HOLMES: And it's been a rough week. Of course, Robert "Tractor" Traylor, the Michigan star, former NBA player found dead at his apartment. And then we got the sad news, a colleague, a guy we worked with out of Chicago, a sports anchor found dead here in a hotel room in Atlanta.
D'ALESSIO: That's right. It's been a sad week.
HOLMES: So, man, it's been a rough week in sports.
Let's take a transition here. We talked about this a second ago. Michael Vick, he has -- certainly since he got out of prison -- he has gone through certain steps, I guess, in his rehabilitation.
D'ALESSIO: Sure.
HOLMES: Done well in the league. Comeback player of the year, I believe as well. He's getting out there a little bit. Now talking to the kiddies?
D'ALESSIO: Yes. He's been selected as a commencement speaker at the Camelot Schools in Philadelphia and people are already saying, OK, this guy, should he be a role model to these kids?
But what you have to understand is that the Camelot Schools is a program designed for troubled youths, sort of trying to get back into the public school system. So what better person to talk to these kids than Michael Vick who was on the top, lost everything, spent time in prison, admitted to spending nights in Leavenworth crying, you know, wishing that he could do better. Now he's getting his chance and these kids actually voted to have him come and speak to them.
HOLMES: Wow.
D'ALESSIO: And again people want to criticize Michael Vick.
Hey, T.J., I'm a firm -- I don't agree with what he did.
HOLMES: Of course.
D'ALESSIO: I don't agree with what he did but I do agree in a person getting a second chance. And he needs to do things like this in order to continue that rehabilitation process. You know what I'm saying?
HOLMES: That's neat, I didn't know that part. The kids actually had a say so in it, they voted?
D'ALESSIO: It was between the mayor, I think, the school superintendent and Michael Vick and Vick won by a slim margin. But again, to me, he's the perfect person to talk to these kids. Hey, this is what could happen, you could have everything, you could lose it and now you have to continue like I did on this rehabilitation path back into the public school system.
HOLMES: Ray, appreciate you. Good to see you buddy.
D'ALESSIO: All right.
HOLMES: We'll talk to you again here soon.
As we get close to the top of the hour, we are talking about literally opening up the floodgates. That's the plan for parts of Louisiana. They could end up under 25 feet of water so bigger cities can stay dry.
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