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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tropical Storm Lee; Jew Jersey Flooding; Violence in Tripoli; Sarah Palin's Spotlight; Sex Meters in Germany; Italian Town Mints Own Money; Katt Williams Apologizes; Unnecessary Roughness in Sarasota

Aired September 03, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

TJ HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning to you all from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's 8:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 7:00 in New Orleans, wherever you may be. Glad you're all here. I'm TJ Holmes. And take a look, we got a new advisory and some new information to tell you about, tropical storm Lee in the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, indeed, it is getting stronger. We'll have the very latest from our meteorologist Alexandra Steele. She's standing by. Also in Iowa, keeping an eye on politics today as well. A major Tea Party rally in just a few hours and the headliner is not in the presidential race at least not yet, Sarah Palin. What will she say? Will she say she's getting in? We'll take you there live.

Also, another apology from another comedian for something he said on stage that people are calling insensitive and racial remarks. You will hear for yourself.

Let's start now with this tropical storm, tropical storm Lee, that's already got states of emergency in place in several places including Louisiana, Mississippi, some cities as well, New Orleans, yes, under the gun right now. They're preparing for possible flooding and we're talking about some 20 inches of rain expected in some spots. Ju8st now the mayor of New Orleans is getting ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS: The tropical storm Lee is a slow- moving, hard to predict weather system. It has intensified and indications are that it will continue to do so. We are all prepared and should prepare for localized flooding and we're taking our own necessary precautions to do that and we're encouraging citizens in New Orleans to make their preparations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We'll be taking you back be live to New Orleans here in just a minute for more on the preparations for this tropical storm Lee. Stick around for that. I know what you want to know is exactly what is this thing doing? Where is it going? Alexandra Steele here for that. It's getting stronger and moving a little faster but still slow.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, still quite slow, six, seven miles per hour, now up to seven miles per hour, but the winds have gone up from last hour 50-mile-per-hour sustained winds now to 60. Expectations for still it to be a tropical storm, not a hurricane. But take a look at this. Here's the Gulf of Mexico. This is tropical storm Lee. Here's the center of circulation. That expected to come onshore later tonight. Already in New Orleans about 3 1/2 inches of rain and we've just begun to fight with this thing.

Take a look at something quite interesting. There's two swaths of heavy rain with this. One right here just going to pound New Orleans. That's where that 10 to 20 inches of rain is. Also this other line right here in the western area of western Florida panhandle. You're getting a little break, believe it or not, between these two, but still, that won't last for long. So there's the big picture. Again its movement, north-northwest at six miles per hour, now its winds 60 from 50. Again, it's been sluggish, has been pretty disorganized. Beginning to get its mojo back, beginning to get a better form center of circulation. Here's all that rain, kind of the slug of this rain, moving to the north-northwest.

This is a tornado watch. We have seen tornado warnings throughout the morning, tornado watch posted for this area through about 10:00 local time. I bet that will get extended out. Tornadoes do happen with hurricanes. They're kind of short lived. They're not that strong, but certainly it's just one of the many threats, of course, the biggest being flooding with tropical storm Lee. So here's a look. That's the tornado threat. Here's the rain. This certainly will be and its calling card will be the flooding rain once again, very similar scenario, eerily so. Gulf of Mexico, right along that I-10 coast, that's where we're going to see the heaviest rain. Forecast track now it's moving northwest. Watch this track. It's going to move north-northeastward, get into the Tennessee valley by the time we head into the middle of next week. So a lot of territory with this one. We'll update you on the (INAUDIBLE) on the rest of the country coming up in a big forecast.

HOLMES: Alexandra, good to have you here with us this weekend. Thanks so much.

Well, folks, you remember it was this time last weekend we were talking about another storm, Irene. It was making landfall last weekend on Saturday in North Carolina. People are still dealing with the devastation from that storm. CNN's Susan Candiotti is in New Jersey for us this morning, the scene of some of that worst flooding. Good morning to you. What's it looking like, here we are now pretty much a week later.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, TJ. We're in Paterson, New Jersey and here you can see what people are still dealing with. It's a muddy mess. The good news is that the floodwaters are receding. They are coming down. But look over my shoulder and you can get an idea of how high the water had been at one point. That car had been submerged. It no longer is. And if you swing the camera over in this way, you can see the Passaic River. It too, is coming down. The current remains very strong, but look how high the water had been. There is still debris clinging to that fence that we're looking at. We looked and it seems to be at least 10 feet high or was at one point. That again is the Passaic River. Tomorrow we can tell you that President Obama is going to be coming to town. He's going to be talking with some of the people who live here. Some of them remain out of their homes evacuated and in some cases, they might never be able to return because some buildings might be condemned. We talked to a mail carrier who has lived here all his life. He's been on the job for 30 years and asked him about both the president's visit and how he thinks the people of his city have been affected by Irene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD PETERS: After the initial shock of everything, and it's like everything else, there's a grieving process that goes on when something happens and it's just a question of how long it takes to get over it. Because I've seen a lot of people help each other out. Everybody does because that's what we're supposed to do as human beings. It's not, you know, the president is a nice gesture and that's what a lot of things are, moments are, to make gestures, to make the people feel more comfortable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Of course, two of the seven bridges remain closed here. A couple of shelters remain open. Many people here still do not have power and some still are under a boil water order. They're looking forward to the president's visit and the help he might promise. Back to you, TJ.

HOLMES: Susan Candiotti there for us in New Jersey, thank you this morning.

Another victim of Irene, a man in New York, is searching for 22 missing thoroughbred jumping horses. Leland Neff said he watched helplessly as the floodwaters rose around his farm on Sunday. He's been walking around and riding around for several days now looking for the lost horses. He said he spent more than a decade putting this group together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LELAND NEFF, LOST 22 HORSES: My favorite is named after my mother, Beauty. Beauty from Isabella. And Nayland (ph) is her father. Anyway and then so they go by family names.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: He says he is not going to stop until he finds out exactly what happened to his horses.

Seven minutes past the hour now. It has been tough for quite some time for a lot of job seekers out there and this wasn't good news last month. Zero growth, no jobs created, 17,000 added, 17,000 lost. These are the hard numbers right now, tough numbers for the job seekers, also tough numbers for the White House. CNN White House correspondent Jessica Yellen has more on the reaction in Washington and out on the campaign trail. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama heads off to Camp David under a cloud of more bad economic news. In a blog post, a White House economist calls the latest unemployment figures unacceptably high and this administration official says Americans are suffering because of Washington politics.

HILDA SOLIS, LABOR SECRETARY: As soon as a campaign season starts and sets in, that there seems to be a different tone. It's unfortunate, because we're hurting, millions and millions of families.

YELLEN: The numbers are fodder on the campaign trail for the president's Republican opponents.

MITT ROMNEY (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is zero faith in Barack Obama because he's created zero jobs last month.

JON HUNTSMAN (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're totally stalled out, we're totally in neutral. We've got people suffering out there.

YELLEN: Current republican frontrunner Rick Perry insists our country cannot afford four more years of economic misery. But it's not just republicans who are down on the economy. Just listen to the president of the AFL-CIO.

RICHARD TRUMKA, PRESIDENT, AFL-CIO: At this employment rate you won't get back to recession levels of employment for eight or 10 years. That's totally unacceptable.

YELLEN: The latest CNN ORC (ph) polling shows Americans are not feeling too optimistic. Eighty two percent believe the economy is in a recession, 68 percent say it's important for the Obama administration to work on creating jobs. Only 30 percent say the president's priority should be reducing the deficit. One reason the president is building so much momentum for the jobs plan he'll unveil late next week.

JAY CARNEY: If enacted this plan will have positive impact on growth and a positive impact on job creation.

YELLEN (on-camera): Given the gridlock in Washington, it's a prediction the White House may never see tested. Multiple Democratic officials confirm the jobs plan will be written as actual legislation and the White House will send it up to the Hill some time after the president's speech. Jessica Yellen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And a reminder here that President Obama will be presenting his jobs plan next Thursday evening before a joint session of Congress. You can see that live right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, President Obama is using his weekly address to the nation to again urge Congress to pass a bill extending funding for highway projects. He says it will save tens of thousands of construction jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Usually renewing this transportation bill is a no-brainer. In fact, Congress has renewed it seven times over the last two years. But thanks to political posturing in Washington, they haven't been able to extend it this time. And the clock is running out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: For the Republican response, Virginia congressman stepped up and maybe disagreed with some of what the president has been saying over the past several weeks. Take a listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BOB GOODLATTE (R) VIRGINIA: The president's stimulus spending has proven counterproductive. Government has gotten in the way when it can be part of the solution. With millions of Americans still asking, where are the jobs, the president should help lead a bipartisan effort to remove government barriers to job creation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The congressman also called for the passage of a balanced budget amendment.

We're 10 minutes past the hour now. This morning, we have got a conversation that's a topic that has many of you talking out there because of this question. Is marriage for white people? The book is actually about African-American marriage. We'll explain that and the author will be here to tell me just exactly what in the world is he talking about?

Also a little later this morning, comedian Cat Williams is apologizing for what some are saying was a rant at a show in Phoenix. We'll let you hear it yourself, tell you who he offended and what he's saying this morning. That's coming your way.

Also, on the international front, Tripoli on edge right now. The Libyan capital faces a shortage of water, food and fuel. Guns and checkpoints are all over the place. We'll tell you about a city trying to get back to normal. Stay with us on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right about a quarter past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A travel alert from the Federal government as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches. The State Department issued the warning to U.S. citizens traveling or living abroad to be aware of the continuing threat posed by al Qaeda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: People have been worried about a revenge attack since the killing of bin Laden. But as you talk to people, Department of Homeland Security put out their worldwide, their sort of annual homeland warning for the 9/11 anniversary this week. And this is sort of, I think, an extension of that and we should expect to hear other warnings. I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI were talking and did a warning to state and locals. It's sort of customary now around the anniversary because we worry about large public gatherings being an attractive al Qaeda target and it being 10 years is significant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: State Department saying be vigilant but they do stress there are no specific threats here.

Also a United Nations team is on the ground in Tripoli. The goal is to re-establish the UN's presence in the Libyan capital. Tripoli facing a shortage of water, food and fuel and Moammar Gadhafi is still on the run, so people are still on edge. Got the story from our Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tripoli is now a city of checkpoints, guns and no real authority, plus, the lingering threat of Gadhafi loyalists. This road blocked after an earlier drive-by shooting. The new bosses in town on the lookout for anything suspicious. His license plate was changed. Look, it's plastic, this fighter tells us. There's a bullet hole through the front window. Anti-Gadhafi fighters jittery, suspicious. Fighters are collecting weapons and registering them at police stations. And those who were rebels just a week ago begin to work with Tripoli's police. Always plentiful in Libya there are even more guns now Gadhafi's armories have been emptied. Anti-Gadhafi forces are trying to stem the flood of arms, but it's all pretty haphazard.

(on-camera): People who want to continue carrying weapons now need to be issued these ID cards and the selection process, it's all very localized so each neighborhood council decides who can be authorized to carry a gun.

(voice-over): And on top of that a group calling itself the Tripoli revolutionary council is trying to expert its control over the city, creating the potential for conflict with the national transitional council in a already volatile situation Azeldin al-Hensheri says, one resident in his area didn't want to hand his weapon over.

AZELDIN AL-HENSHERI, TRIPOLI: He said, no, no, no. I'm a big guy and I'm in power, Gadhafi is not here anymore, so I'm going to use my gun and shoot everywhere. He didn't shoot anybody, actually. And then finally he was killed by the rebels.

DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right, 17 minutes past the hour now. We'll turn back to this country and where we are really lacking behind a lot of other countries. That's in paid vacation. I know you think you don't get enough time off, do you? We'll tell you just how far behind we are. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 20 minutes past the hour. Now with the Labor Day weekend many of you getting a three-day break from work, but increasingly it seems like a rare break. Here in the U.S it's the only major country that does not mandate time off. Many people who do get time off and don't even take it. Joining us now is author Joe Robinson. He's an expert on the work/life balance, has written a book "Work to Live" and wouldn't you believe he's joining me now from his vacation in Brazil. But he is joining us anyway. Sir, we appreciate you taking the time off or time out I should say with us. Help Americans understand just how far behind other countries are we when it comes to that mandated time off?

JOE ROBINSON, AUTHOR, "WORK TO LIVE": Right, yeah, we're in the absolute basement of the vacation world. There's 138 other countries that have mandated vacation laws called minimum paid leave laws and we don't have any. Our European partners, for instance, they get four and five weeks off by law in those countries. In Australia it's four weeks, Brazil it's five weeks. We have no time, no days off by law. An employer can give you nothing and, in fact, that happens to some people.

HOLMES: And it's funny, talked about this topic here and someone just wrote into me, Melanie, said she has two weeks vacation but her cousin in Poland is upset because this year they're only getting 11 weeks. I'm not sure that's exactly true but you get the idea there. It's so different. What is it about us, there's not a push here in the country to mandate this time or just in our nature, our culture that we have a culture of working and working hard?

ROBINSON: Well, you know it's a little bit a combination of both. When you don't have a legislation that actually legalizes your vacation and you're made to feel that it's illicit to take it, you're more inclined particularly these days in times of insecurity to not take that time. But we also have a layer, a cultural layer, that makes us not value our free time. Our free time is actually with a vacation is as important as watching your cholesterol or getting exercise. Annual vacation cuts the risk of heart attack in men by 30 percent and by 50 percent in women who take more than one vacation a year. It's incredibly valuable, but we don't really understand the idea of refueling and stepping back. All the research says that your performance goes up on the job when you take a break. When you come back from vacation, your performance can go up 40 percent. So understanding the value of this time off and that's something I talk about in my new book called "Don't Miss Your Life" about just how important it is to have passions and to understand, to have the skills to actually enjoy your life. We have the skills to work, but we don't have the skills how to play. They're totally different skills. HOLMES: Wow. I never would have thought we don't know how to play. In this country I would think we do. We seem to have a good time sometimes. Joe, how are we supposed to change that culture? What will it take to turn around and get people to understand you need that time off, take that time off. It will make you a better worker and like you said, learn how to play a little more and a little bit better?

ROBINSON: Yeah. Well, I think we got to start paying attention to the science. The science is way ahead of us on this issue. We have this cultural problem of being able to value free time. We get a free moment, what goes through our minds, get busy. We have to see that actually is an add-on. It's an added value to the work. So we need culturally to just look at the science and see how important it is for our productivity and for our health to step back and get some time to recharge during the week and during the year.

The other piece of it is that we need to legalize vacations in this country because when you have two weeks off and your company makes you feel like if you take that time off your promotion is going to be in jeopardy or you're not going to be able to be on the path to success, then -- or you're worried about being laid off, you're not going to take that time off. You know, it's all doable. Look, companies, American companies, hundreds of them are in Europe right now operating companies that have hundreds of employees that are all taking four and five and six weeks off by the European law. So we know that people and companies can still be productive even though they're getting that time off. That's what the research shows, Holland, Belgium, France and Norway are higher in productivity per hour than we are. We measure it by the person.

HOLMES: Joe, I am on board if you want to start this movement, OK. Joe Robinson, who is an expert in that work/life balance and he found a balance this morning, on vacation in Brazil, but kind enough to spend some time with us. Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your time.

ROBINSON: It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

HOLMES: We're at 25 minutes past the hour now. If you're going on vacation or anywhere else, it's going to cost you $3.66 on average to fill up the tank. That's the average you're paying right now for this Labor Day weekend. That's up about five cents over last week. It's actually a few cents less than you were paying last month. What about last year? I'm not going to even tell you what you were paying last year; it will just upset you.

Well, a storm is moving so ever so slowly right now. But, it could drop some 20 inches of rain in some areas of the Gulf coast. This holiday weekend is going to be ruined for a lot of people. We'll tell you exactly what's being done to prepare for this storm and we've got the latest on what this thing is doing. It is strengthening a bit.

Also, the House Republicans slamming the president for being, quote, idiotic. He gave an explanation to our Wolf Blitzer but we want you to hear the apology and tell us if it was really an apology. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're at the bottom of the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back. Hope you're getting a good start to your holiday weekend. Glad you could spend some of that weekend here with us. Give you a look at some of the stories making headlines. A travel alert is what we start with. Now from the Federal government, coming up on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 as you know and the State Department issued this warning to U.S. citizens traveling or living abroad to be aware of the continuing threat posed by al Qaeda. But they stress there are no specific threats.

Also President Obama, kind of some strange travel plans yesterday. The president left Washington as you see there on Marine One, but he arrived at Camp David by car. He's traveling with his daughter. You see her hopping on to Marine One there as well.

The White House said they had to make this change because there were some bad weather that prompted Marine One to land near Frederick, Maryland and then for them to drive the rest of the way. We're still trying to hunt down that bad weather and see exactly what was going on in the area. But that's the story from the White House.

Also the government is suing 17 major banks for selling billions of dollars worth of mortgage backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The federal housing finance agency that oversees the mortgage markets filed the lawsuits yesterday. The agency claims numerous financial firms including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs filed or rather misled investors about the quality of the loans. Those investments went bad when the housing market crashed.

Also all eyes on Tropical Storm Lee; already states of emergency have been put in place in Louisiana and Mississippi. Also several individual cities and parishes even along Louisiana have declared these states of emergency. They are getting ready for possibly 20 inches of rain expected in some areas.

At the top of the hour, we'll take you live to New Orleans for more on their preps there for this tropical storm. Ed Lavandera is there for us. So stick around for that.

Right now here for us is Alexandria Steele who can tell us that this thing is just -- and I was asking you this morning, when does it make landfall? I can't see an eye.

ALEXANDRIA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.

HOLMES: I kind of -- it's just a mess.

STEELE: It is kind of a mess, but the winds are now up, the flooding rain continues to come down.

HOLMES: Yes.

STEELE: And unfortunately it's going to be T.J., another weekend of flooding rain for this corridor of the country.

HOLMES: Yes.

STEELE: So let's talk about it and show you where it is. Of course Tropical Storm Lee, winds now up from last observation 50 miles per hour, 60 miles per hour. So as T.J. was saying, it has been very disorganized but you're beginning to see a little better organization with this thing. Also pretty interesting, here's the center of circulation. Not a lot happening on the western periphery of this thing. The eastern periphery all those purples and reds that's really where the heaviest rain is.

We're going to watch this rain come down especially around New Orleans, two to three inches an hour. Already four inches on the docket there, and that's just the beginning of what's to come.

All right, so here's a look, that's where we stand right now. But in terms of the rain, boy are we going to see it today and tomorrow. Unfortunately for New Orleans, it won't be until Monday that things really begin to quiet down.

Here is the heaviest rain threat right along this I-10 corridor. Southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will really see the roughest of this, potentially up to 10 to 20 isolated inches. But even in the western areas of the panhandle of Florida four to eight inches not out of the question.

So here's the track, right now it's moving northwest; we're going to see it take a northeasterly drive and that's where it's going to be. Into the Tennessee Valley we're going to see some rain. But that's as we head from Wednesday and Thursday and then believe it or not into the mid-Atlantic on the western periphery, maybe bringing some rain at the end of the week.

A big picture for today, West Coast, you're high and dry. Here's where the biggest difference will be. Places like the upper Midwest have been in the 90s, cold front coming through, dropping down to the 60s. Heat -- how about 91 to 101 in the Tennessee Valley today; so certainly a very steamy day there. T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: All right. It's good to have you as always. Alexandria Steele, we'll be checking in with her plenty throughout the morning.

We turn to some politics for you now. This is what we need to tell you about.

House Republican Joe Walsh, he's backtracking a bit after he called President Obama idiotic -- his word, "idiotic". Walsh made the comment earlier this week while criticizing the President for holding a joint session of Congress for his jobs speech.

Well, the Illinois Congressman was on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM" on Friday. He issued an apology, kind of, sort of, you listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: I apologize for that. That was absolutely stepping over the line and I apologize. What I meant to say and I didn't say it very artfully is the notion of him using his office to call a joint session of Congress to just repackage a few old jobs ideas that to me is idiotic. He's not an idiot. He's the President of the free world. But I don't want Congress to be a pawn again, to just be a prop in this political theater of his.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Ok, so you follow along there? The President is not idiotic. But Congressman Walsh says what he is doing by having the speech next week that is idiotic. Walsh also says he will not be attending the President's speech.

The President is set to outline his plan to create jobs next Thursday in the joint session of Congress. You will be able to see that right here on CNN. It starts at 7:00 Eastern Time and the President is promising to have the speech wrapped up before the Packers and Saints kick off the NFL season at 8:30.

Well, 34 minutes past the hour. We continue to talk about politics here and the Republican presidential candidates are making the rounds in critical early voting states this Labor Day weekend but as our CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser reports the focus today is on someone who is right now not a candidate, Sarah Palin.

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

You know for someone who's not an elected official or even an announced candidate, Sarah Palin doesn't have a hard time drawing media attention. And it seems every time the former Alaska governor falls out of the political spotlight she grabs it right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: Bus tour is to get out there and remind Americans about our foundation, our declaration of independence, our Constitution and historical sites.

STEINHAUSER (voice-over): Palin's bus tour from here in Washington up to New England was the top story over Memorial Day weekend. She played cat and mouse with reporters.

PALIN: We haven't released details of where we're going.

STEINHAUSER: And she reignited speculation that she might run for the White House. She also crashed Mitt Romney's party, bringing her bus tour to New Hampshire on the very same day the former Massachusetts Governor was there to announce for president.

PALIN: I don't believe that Governor Romney is offended at all that we happen to have on our schedule a stop to meet some good people and have some good New Hampshire food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And trying to drown him out. STEINHAUSER: Fast forward to August and Palin shows up at the Iowa state fair creating a media frenzy the day after the presidential debate in Iowa and the day before a crucial straw poll in the state.

PALIN: I don't think I'm still in any spotlight.

STEINHAUSER: Today Palin is back in Iowa, the main attraction in a Tea Party gathering in the state that votes first in the caucus and primary calendar. And Monday speaks to another Tea Party gathering in New Hampshire which holds the first primary.

So, is Palin planning on making some big news this weekend? Maybe not. Last month she said she doubted she would be a candidate by Labor Day.

PALIN: There are still a lot of contemplation that needs to go into such an earth shattering, life changing decision for a family.

STEINHAUSER: So what will she say? Today is the three year anniversary of Palin's speech at the Republican convention when she became her party's vice presidential nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: CNN's Peter Hamby reports that Palin will highlight the themes that made her a conservative superstar and the darling of the Tea Party Movement -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, thanks to our Paul Steinhauser.

And then Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords back home this holiday weekend. Giffords flew to Tucson, Arizona yesterday from the Houston facility where she's doing her rehab. And the House Democrat as you remember, was shot in the head during a shooting spree in January that left six people dead.

What you're seeing here was just an incredible moments. Mrs. Giffords after she returned to Congress last month, expected to return to Houston after spending some quality time with family and friends in Arizona.

Well, Italy is in the middle of a major debt crisis, as are a number of European countries. So the mayor of one small town in Italy he has a solution. He's going to just start printing his own money. You got to see that.

But first, wait until you hear what they're doing in Germany. They're making sure everybody pays their taxes. Even you sex workers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 41 minutes past the hour.

Now, Nadia Bilchik is back with our "Morning Passport". And money is tight for a lot of countries.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Right.

HOLMES: They want to make sure people are paying their fair share in their taxes and what they're supposed to be paying. Germany is it?

BILCHIK: Exactly. Well in Bonn, prostitutes who work in brothels it's easier to get them to fill in their tax returns. But what the government in Bonn was finding is that it was hard for sex workers who solicit sex on the street --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Ok.

BILCHIK: -- to fill out tax returns for many reasons. A, they were probably very busy but also some of them don't speak the language. So this way what they found is by having a meter that is now they call it the sex meter --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Ok.

BILCHIK: -- where these individuals will then, put their money in and it's about $8.70 a day, and then, they'll get a ticket and then authorities will come by and they will have to have the ticket which will allow them to put $8.70 a night, so that way they are paying taxes and it's a way of legislating what's going on.

HOLMES: It permits you -- so you're essentially getting a license to work for the night.

BILCHIK: Exactly, it's a license to work for the night. Now remember, that Bonn is the city that had the sex stalls.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: You've brought us that story.

BILCHIK: We spoke about that called consummation areas. So it's just another way of saying, let's control what's happening to sex workers, bearing in mind that prostitution is legal in Germany.

HOLMES: What happens if you're stopped and you don't have this license?

BILCHIK: You are fined. Now, what happens is they first give you a warning and then there's a pretty hefty fine. So it sounds like it's worth the $8.70 for the night.

HOLMES: All right, then. Let's turn to Italy. Another country that has some debt issues, issues collecting enough money.

BILCHIK: Correct.

HOLMES: But one mayor at least of one town, he's fed up with it and he said you know what; we can handle this on our own by -- BILCHIK: By doing what, by printing his own money. So this is Filettino, Italy about 65 miles outside of Rome and here you have the mayor of Filettino, Italy Luca Sellari (ph) who is tired of what's happening with the authorities. You see there even t-shirts there that now have the logo, the coat of arms, because he would like to have his own independent, what he's calling a constitutional monarchy and he himself would like to be the Prince.

HOLMES: Of course.

BILCHIK: So he's printing his own money. They have their own bottles of liquor that you're seeing there that say Filettino, Italy. The currency is the "fiorito" which actually means flower and that's the currency they'll be using. Because the concern is with the austerity measures in Germany that are taking place that these little cities will have to merge mayors.

So they'll have to consolidate their resources. So instead of having one mayor per city, they are saying for those towns that are under a thousand, we will merge them. Well, there are only 598 people in Filettino, Italy.

HOLMES: Yes.

BILCHIK: The mayor's response let's become independent, much like San Marino is in Italy. So here he is creating his own world and his own currency.

HOLMES: Ok, is anyone cracking down on him just yet or is that coming soon?

BILCHIK: Well, at this point he's going ahead and the money that's being printed is just used inside of the town. So at this point there's no crackdown. But there is a rebellion amongst these mayors.

HOLMES: Yes.

BILCHIK: They are going to be protesting on Monday and maybe they will have some effect on the austerity measures.

HOLMES: All right, Nadia Bilchik, always interesting in the "Morning Passport". Thank you so much.

Well, here we are, about a quarter of the top of the hour now and this man is no stranger to controversy, but now, comedian Katt Williams is apologizing for a controversial anti-Mexican rant. It was all caught on tape at a show in Phoenix. We'll tell you what he's saying this morning and what he said in Phoenix.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: About 47 minutes past the hour.

Take a look at this in San Diego. Can you make this out? You see some surfers out there on the water but do you see that sticking up out of the water? A shark's tail fin, possibly. The shark is surrounded by surfers who may or may not have been aware that the shark was there. It's believed to be a 10 to 12-foot great white. Beaches in San Diego have been closed on and off this week because of shark sightings.

We turn to Seattle, Washington, people there walking in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, need to duck for cover once again because broken glass fell 18 stories to the street below. It's the second time this has happened at the hotel this year and nobody exactly sure why. No serious injuries or anything to report here. This is tempered glass; breaks into tiny piece. Not shards but still you don't want to get hit with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(COLLAPSE OF STAGE AT INDIANA STATE FAIR)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, you remember this horrible scene. The Indiana State Fair, this was last month, and now the state attorney general's office is saying that 14 people plan on suing over this incident. Seven people were killed, 40 others were injured. The stage came down during a windstorm at the fair. Investigators looking into whether the stage was as strong as it could have or should have been.

Another comedian apologizing for a rant on stage; this time we are talking about Katt Williams. He is apologizing for what many see as an anti-Mexican rant during a comedy show in Phoenix last weekend. Here is just a sample of some of what he said that got him into trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATT WILLIAMS, COMEDIANS: You think I'm dissing Mexico and I'm defending America.

Are you Mexican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

WILLIAMS: Do you know where Mexico is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Mexico (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

WILLIAMS: No, this isn't Mexico. It used to be Mexico, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). But now it's Phoenix (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

USA. USA. USA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now Williams there didn't appear this was part of the routine, it appears he was responding to a heckler who was in the audience. This thing goes on for about 8 to 10 minutes. We're just showing you samples here. But here's another bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Do you remember when white people used to say, "Go back to Africa"? We had to tell them we don't want to.

So if you love Mexico (EXPLETIVE DELETED), get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over there.

We were slaves (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You all just work like that at the landscapers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, Williams did later apologize and said, quote, "My remarks were not meant to be offensive. I want to apologize if my comedy act was taken out of context. I appreciate the fans within the Mexican community and would never intentionally go out of my way to offend them."

You will hear more from Katt Williams. He is joining me live this morning, 10:00 Eastern hour. Hear more of what was behind this incident, what the heckler was saying to him to set him off like that and why he decided he needed to apologize; an exclusive interview this morning with Katt Williams in the 10:00 Eastern hour.

Athletes in every sport depend on all kinds of superstitions and rituals for just a little extra luck. For Raffy Nadal, it's all about the hair. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We're getting chose to the top of the hour here.

Let's say good morning to Joe Carter from HLN Sports joining me this morning. Good to see you as always. This first story will have anybody watching the video shaking your head. Then you hear the ages of these kids and this foot-brawl and you just can't believe it.

JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS: You know, this is the ugly side of sports. This is a youth football game between 13- and 14-year-old kids.

HOLMES: Youth football --

CARTER: Supposed to be fun, supposed to teach kids competitive team building skills. Not supposed to teach them this. Three people, three coaches, and a 14-year-old have been arrested and charged with a felony for beating up a referee during a youth football game in Sarasota, Florida last weekend.

The brawl started because one team's coach didn't like a call made by the referee, so he confronts the ref, then gets tossed from the game and then takes a water bottle, tosses it into his face, the ref starts walking off the field, that's when he follows him. And then a 14- year-old player from the sidelines, dressed in full gear, comes sprinting on to the field and tackles this referee -- unbelievable. That's when he's in the middle of the melee. Obviously other coaches get involved. This video shot by a parent in the stand and Sarasota authorities are using this video and obviously have arrested three coaches and the 14- year-old player. Assaulting a ref in the state of Florida is a felony and punishable up to three years in prison. Ok. As for this team, well, they're done for the year.

HOLMES: Wow.

CARTER: Done. And they're going to revisit whether or not they will ever be able to play again. As for the ref who's been doing this, by the way, for 14 years, he now has a fractured shoulder. The players, there is good news in all of this, the players that were not involved -- there were several of them that were not involved -- have been invited to join other youth football teams within the Sarasota youth football league.

HOLMES: That's good, at least. When I first saw this video I thought it was a high school game. Then you're getting they're 13 and 14- year-old kids. That ref is lucky to get out of there. I understand he was kicked and punched on the bottom. This is kind of slow and people didn't catch the kid. But here he comes flying in, takes out a ref wearing full pads, full gear.

CARTER: I played football; played youth football and there's one thing you don't is do come off the sidelines. When there's a confrontation between adults on the field. Let the adults do what they need to do. Let the coaches do what they need to do on the field. But for you to think that you, as a player, as a 14-year-old, should get up off the sidelines and sprint on the field and attack an adult, unnecessary -- totally unnecessary.

HOLMES: That's true.

All right. Let's turn to another side of sport right now. This is exciting stuff. Happened in New York, the U.S. Open.

CARTER: I love the U.S. Open.

HOLMES: Love the U.S. Open. Raffy Nadal.

CARTER: Defending champ.

HOLMES: Defending champ there. A little superstitious.

CARTER: And most athletes are. Every year Nadal visits the same salon on Madison Avenue, hair cut by the same guy. Gets a -- it's called a tournament trim. But the funny part to this story is that the stylist has been getting offers from big-time Nadal fans to buy his hair clippings. He's been getting $250 for Nadal's hair. Guy has great hair. Let's put it out there. It is good hair.

But out of respect for his client, the stylist said absolutely no deal. First thing that came to my mind was ok, $250, I'm assuming the hair cut on Madison Avenue costs $250. That's kind of low.

I would expect more from big-time Nadal fans; maybe a little higher amount of money.

HOLMES: And only these guys, do you go to a stylist? I don't know guys that go to stylists. They go to the hair cut; they go to the barber shop. Do you go to a stylist?

CARTER: I don't go to a barber shop. I go to a salon but I have the same person cut my hair. I think it's all about consistency.

HOLMES: Ok. So you go to a salon. But you want to call the person just a barber that cuts it or a stylist. Come on Joe.

CARTER: I mean he's got to be a stylist. He's not a barber. He's not shaving my face or my hair; he's cutting it. So he's got to be a stylist.

HOLMES: Always learn something with you, buddy.

CARTER: All right, man. Good to see you.

HOLMES: Joe Carter, HLN Sports. Appreciate you as always.

And as we get close to the top of the hour, now we're going to re-set this thing for you and give you all the latest news on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING.