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CNN Saturday Morning News

Slow Moving Storm Over the Gulf Coast; Katt Williams Apologizes

Aired September 03, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Up first here, a travel alert in place, from the federal government; as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches the state department issuing a warning to U.S. citizens traveling or living abroad to be aware of the continuing threat posed by al Qaeda. They also stress, though, that there are no specific threats.

Also the United Nations has sent a team to Libya to deliver humanitarian aid and to assess the future needs of the country. They were welcomed by the new Transitional National Council there. And one of the biggest problems facing Libya is a shortage of clean water.

Also, President Obama took an unusual route really to Camp David yesterday. The President left Washington on Marine One with his daughter there, Sasha; you see them hopping aboard. The White House says bad weather prompted Marine One to land near Frederick, Maryland.

You have been looking into this, still trying to find that bad weather but the White House says there was an issue, so they did have to land.

Let's turn now to this weather situation in the Gulf Coast right now; lots of states of emergency in place along the Gulf Coast. Several states and also several cities and a couple of parishes in Louisiana, they are getting ready for this tropical storm Lee which is getting stronger.

The winds have picked up in the last advisory we saw. And this thing is just sitting there. It has shown up and it's just hanging out for a little while. And it's going to dump up to 20 inches of rain in some places.

Our Ed Lavandera is in New Orleans for us. Ed, people hear anything about a storm in the Gulf and they hear New Orleans and they just automatically fret. But what are they expecting in New Orleans?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): I think really what they're expecting, T.J., is just a massive, massive rainstorm that will last well throughout most of this weekend. It has been raining very intensely throughout much of the overnight hours and into this morning. We've seen some strong bands of wind, but I don't think people here are terribly concerned about the wind level. This is a slow-moving storm and what they're most concerned about is going to be the potential for flooding near the town of Port Bushan, which is southwest of the New Orleans area. We're told the main highway into that town already has two feet of water on it. There will be pockets of like this along the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coast line where you see towns and communities, low lying communities that will be affected by these heavy rain water.

At one point yesterday, this storm was moving about two miles per hour, T.J., if you think about that, you actually walk faster than this storm has been moving. So this is a large storm with a great deal of rain expected. Perhaps up to 20 inches of rain in New Orleans and other areas expecting some 12 to 15 inches of rain. So kind of it depends on where you are along the Gulf Coast. But they're really considering this a rainmaker.

HOLMES: Ed, this might be a tough one - I might give you a hard number necessarily and some areas will be different, but I guess how much rain can one place deal with? How much rain can New Orleans deal with in this short amount of time?

LAVANDERA: Well, you know, the slower the storm moves the more problem that creates. But the mayor of -- Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans yesterday was talking about they had gone through the checks of the pumps and the backup generators that control those pumps and they said that everything is working fine. So here in New Orleans, obviously with the levee system and the canals a lot of this is making sure you can just pump the water out as it comes in. And they seemed confident yesterday they will be able to handle that.

Having said that, you know, just too much rain falls we've seen in areas here throughout the central business district of New Orleans where you've seen rain fall and then you get about a foot of water on the street and then you come back in an hour and the water is gone. So clearly that pumping system and that system for moving the water out of areas seems to be working. But you know, that's probably what you're going to see. So it might take some time for the water to go down. But so far here in New Orleans, everything seems to be holding up well.

HOLMES: All right. Ed Lavandera there for us. Ed, thank you as always.

We're just a couple of minutes past the top of the hour. Let's say good morning now to Alexandra Steele keeping an eye on this storm for us. Alexandra, you told me it went from you know, two to three miles an hour, going about seven miles an hour, I think you told me now. Is that picking up even enough speed to make a difference?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. I mean any speed is helpful, but you were talking about what can New Orleans take and what can't they take? They can't take this. They cannot take this rain train. Take a look at what's behind. This is all rain, the heavier purples and reds that's the heaviest rain, T.J., two to three inches an hour at the very least. That has all yet to move here because it is moving north northwest at six miles per hour. So again, any forward momentum is certainly good. Of course, the slower these storms the more torrential rains they will dump. This is simply going to dump an awful lot.

Winds now up with the latest advisory coming up - they were at 50 miles per hour, that's maximum sustained winds. It is now at 60 miles per hour. Again, it is getting a little better organized but the center of circulation will be onshore by later today and then it will only weaken. But again, that being said, take a look at this i-10 corridor. This is by Tuesday morning. What we're going to see the potential for 10 inches of rain at the very least there.

Here's the track. It is now moving northwest, but then it will take a turn, move to the north and east and this what is we're going to see here. We're going to watch this area of low pressure move north and east and bring rain by the end of the week to west of Washington, D.C. with this thing. Back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Alexandra, always good to have you here with us. Thank you so much.

Well, meanwhile, as we're talking about this storm on this Saturday, it was a week ago on Saturday, last week we were talking about Hurricane Irene. Yes, it was making landfall at this time in North Carolina last week and here we are talking about another storm. But still people are dealing with the mess that Irene left.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in Patterson, New Jersey. I assume by now the water stopped rising but that doesn't mean they don't have a mess on their hands still?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J., over my shoulder you can see the Passaic River certainly the current remains very strong. The water level is coming down. No better to talk to about the situation here in Patterson than Mayor Jeffrey Jones. Thanks for joining us this morning.

The president is coming here tomorrow to see personally what Patterson looks like, what will you show him?

MAYOR JEFFREY JONES, PATTERSON, NEW JERSEY: Well, we'll show him whatever the Secret Service allows us to show him. Mainly see the impacts that this flood has created to many of the residents in this area on both sides of the river, which is about a 200-yard distance from the center of the flood to the next point, which is quite extreme for this area.

CANDIOTTI: Now the waters are definitely going down.

JONES: Yes, they are.

CANDIOTTI: But how much - do you have any early damage assessments and what's the latest with how many people have been impacted by this, certainly evacuated, the economic impact as well?

JONES: Well, the damage toll is still rather high. The numbers of folks along the strip has probably, my estimate, about 6,000 to 10,000 folks, give or take. Those who have been placed in shelters or some special accommodations during the flood probably are about 3500, and the recovery part is probably the most difficult because each door, each home, has to be assessed one by one with utility companies to make sure that, you know, the flood, the mud, the contaminants, don't create other hazards. It's going to be a very slow process. CANDIOTTI: How long do you think it will take to get some money from the federal government, FEMA funds and the like, to help individuals and businesses get back on track?

JONES: Well, that's a tough question. We're hoping that as a result of the declaration on Wednesday or Thursday, I believe it was, that that process has begun. We know that there's a disaster center, designation has been established in the city and we've seen FEMA trucks already in the city. Some folks I spoke to this morning just a few moments ago, (INAUDIBLE) donated some considerable services and supplies (INAUDIBLE) established, submit their applications. They weren't always happy with what they heard but the process is at least open. I guess the first person received some form of compensation or support will be the first person who makes it on the broadcast.

CANDIOTTI: Mayor Jones, thank you very much. I know that you'll personally be helping to escort the president around tomorrow and certainly we wish all the people of Patterson well as they recover. Of course, this isn't the only city in New Jersey that has been impacted by the storm and there is a lot of money that will be heading this way, no doubt.

T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Susan Candiotti in Paterson and thank you. And thank the mayor for his time.

Now we are seven minutes past the hour now. We turn to President Obama and his weekly address to the nation. He is using it to 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: So Republicans used their response this morning, the Republican response, of course, to go after some of the president's policies.

(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: Now in his response, he also called for a passage of a balanced budget amendment. And as you know the president will be presenting his jobs plan next Thursday evening before a joint session of Congress. You will be able to see that live right here on CNN 7:00 Eastern Time.

Meanwhile there is a major Tea Party rally kicking off in Iowa in just a few hours. There was a little bit of drama over the guest list earlier this week, but in the end it was worked out and Sarah Palin is set to be the keynote speaker.

CNN political reporter Peter Hamby is in Iowa this morning for us. Peter, people hear Iowa, they hear Palin, they hear speech and they think - well, is this the time she's going to make it official? Any indications about what she's going to say today?

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Lots of indications about what she's going to say, T.J., but we know for a fact that Sarah Palin will not announce her presidential bid here in Iowa today even though a couple of thousand of people have trekked in from all over the country, people from as far as San Diego and Dallas have bussed in here, flown in to see Sarah Palin. I think the attention that this rally, this Tea Party rally, is getting is based on two things, one as you said it's in Iowa, the first state of the presidential nominating contest.

She's been here a couple times in the last few weeks. And secondly, she has said that she's going to announce a bid or kind of come to a decision about whether to enter a race at the end of September. So we're watching to see what kind of message she puts out today, how she tries to define herself with the spotlight of the political world on her today as she approaches the final decision about the race, T.J..

HOLMES: She, of course, is getting a lot of attention at this event. But besides just the fact that she's a key attractions, what's the significance of the event itself?

HAMBY: The event itself is just a Tea Party rally. It was started by a group called Tea Party of America very recently. A lot of people out here in Iowa hadn't heard of this event and frankly a lot of Republicans on the ground have been a little disappointed with the organizers of this event and Sarah Palin, in particular, was disappointed as you mentioned earlier with the logistics and some of the speaking program that were put forth and Palin said earlier this week, her PR advisers rather said that they were not going to show up if the people that were organizing the event - these people didn't get their act together.

They bounced former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell from the speaking agenda at Palin's request. So you know, Palin is calling the shots here. It's a Tea Party group that not a lot of people have heard of and really the main event is Sarah Palin. I mean it almost seems like this event was created just so Sarah Palin could come to Iowa, T.J..

HOLMES: All right. Peter Hamby in Iowa for us, thank you as always. At 10 minutes past the hour, up next, a conversation that has really got a lot of you all talking and the question is, "Is Marriage for White People?" That is the title of a new book that has people fired up. But don't let the title fool you. It actually examines black marriages. The author is joining me to explain just what in the world is he talking about. He is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Fourteen 14 past the hour. People are asking the question, "Is Marriage for White People?" Well at least that's the question and the title of a new book, a new book that's got a lot of people talking and it's actually examining the state of African- American marriage.

Stanford law professor Ralph Banks wrote the book. He joins me for part two of our conversation, I guess, I should say. You and I had a chat about Joining me from California this morning. Thank you for being here. For folks who just might be getting caught up on the book this - you're saying this is a simple issue of supply and demand in the black community. There's not enough supply of marriage material black men to meet the demand of the marriage material black women. Is that fair to summarize?

RALPH BANKS, AUTHOR "IS MARRIAGE FOR WHITE PEOPLE?": That's a fair summary. There isn't a question of supply and demand but it's not quite a simple issue, it's actually a complicated story.

HOLMES: Now what makes it so complicated? I mean that's the end of it. We have more black women graduating from college two to one to black men. You throw in incarceration rates, you throw in the unemployment rates, and you're saying there's not enough black men?

BANKS: Well, there are not enough black men for all of the college educated black women in particular that have the type of husbands that they want to have.

HOLMES: The type that they want to have. I put this out, we had this conversation yesterday and a lot of people were chiming in and I decided to ask for questions from viewers and one of the questions simply put is, "Do black women deserve better than what black men have to offer?" That seems like a heavy question there, but is that essentially what it is? Do we not measure up to the quality of black women right now?

BANKS: That's really a great way to put it. I will admit that I usually think about it from the other perspective which is that should - is it fair to ask black women to sacrifice their own happiness on the altar as it were of black men struggles?

HOLMES: What -

BANKS: I think not.

HOLMES: What is that -

BANKS: I think not.

HOLMES: OK. What's that sacrifice necessarily when we're talking about - and I asked you this question yesterday, is it always marrying down if the person you're marrying doesn't make as much money or have the same level of education? Could be a good guy.

BANKS: Yes. He could be a good guy and lots of relationships work across classes, that's true. But it's also the case that for everyone, not simply for the women, but for the men as well, having a spouse who is matched to you educationally in terms of your outlook, aspirations, experiences, that's a positive thing. It's actually not a great thing for the wife or the husband if they're in a mismatched relationship.

HOLMES: All right. And we know a lot of conversations were started yesterday because of this topic and I had one of these conversations at my house with Mrs. Holmes and one of these things that keeps coming up, is how do you and the word I think my wife used was reprogram, if you will, black women because you're suggesting they need to be open to dating outside of their race. But you know, a lot of black women just like brothers. They like the black man.

BANKS: Right.

HOLMES: So if you're just not attracted naturally, why have them give up on finding a black man?

BANKS: That's a great question. And the issue, the way I think about it, is that women have been asked to carry a great load. Black women shoulder a lot of the burden in short of black men struggles and I am asking women to put the burden down. Many women think that they're attracted to black men, are attracted to black men, but attraction itself is complicated and one of the things that I discovered and in the course of writing this book, there's a whole host of fears and desires and anxieties that animate black women's attraction to black men.

HOLMES: OK. And on that, though, I got another question from a viewer Judy, sent in and said "Well, it sounds like you're saying why should black women give up the good fight? You know, you're not telling them to take on a project of fixing a man necessarily, but why just give up on black men?"

BANKS: Right. That is another great question. I actually am asking black women to give up the good fight because -

HOLMES: Give up the good fight?

BANKS: Haven't been successful. The fight has not been successful. This is what a friend of mine Caroline Edgar (ph) calls a Negro improvement project which is what a lot of black women undertake and often the results are not so great. So, the strategy has been counter productive. It doesn't help African-Americans for us to have black men and black women locked in bad relationships and raising children in a household where the parents quarrel and ultimately divorce. That's not a win for anyone. HOLMES: It is law professor Ralph Richard Banks, the book is called "Is Marriage for White People?" I think it went on sale on the second this week. And it started a conversation that I'm sure will continue. I will see you out in California at some point and I will be sure to bring my wife along. Good to see you as always.

BANKS: I -

HOLMES: You enjoy your holiday weekend, all right.

BANKS: I look forward to it. Have a good one.

HOLMES: All right. Thanks so much. It's 19 minutes past the hour. A quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: 42 past the hour. When it comes to your child's education many would say, not all school districts are created equal, of course, but in education overtime cnn.com contributing correspondent LZ Granderson gets personal about American schools.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: My 14-year-old son is not a genius but we like to think he's doing OK. He's in an international baccalaureate program and has a 3.8. He was doing so well in his algebra class that the teacher started teaching him geometry at the same time. So when we dropped him at the University of Michigan for debate camp for three weeks, we thought he would be OK. Wrong.

He called me up two days later and told me that he felt dumb. He said the other kids at camp were far ahead of him and he started yelling at me for not getting him in a better school. The problem is that he's already in the best school in our city. He says, I don't know what they're preparing us for but it's not college. My poor kid has discovered something that we've already known for years, and that's not all school districts are created equal.

There are at a lot of factors for this, of course. But the one I find most telling is the correlation between poverty and academic achievement. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Grand Rapids, Michigan, the city we live in, has a 28.9 percent poverty rate amongst school age children. Only 30 percent of students who take the Michigan exam were proficient in math, only 43 percent were proficient in reading.

When you look at the poorer cities in my state you'll find some numbers that are below 10 percent. Conversely, the 10 wealthiest districts they have scores in the mid 70s up to 90. How is that leaving no child behind? This correlation, that's not unique to Michigan. We have to find a way to bridge the education gap between the rich and the poor because the track that the nation is on right now is not good for either group.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development our 15-year-old ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math compared to the rest of the world. What do we think is going to happen? Kids who lag behind grow up to be adults who lag behind. Now one way to stop this bleeding is maybe look at what our friends and family have been doing for the past 30 years. In the 1970s their education system ranks among the world's worst, today they're the number one, because they found a way to take wealth out of the education equation.

First, they got rid of all standardized testing. Second, they require that all teachers go to a three-year graduate program before they get in front of any student. And third, and probably most importantly, they have plenty of time for preparation, collaboration, and meeting with parents. In other words, they treat one of the most important jobs in the country like it actually is one of the most important jobs in the country.

For education overtime, I'm LZ Granderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: As we get close to the bottom of the hour we have another comedian apologizing for a rant on stage. This time talking about Katt Williams and being called an anti-Mexican rant that happened during a comedy show in Phoenix last weekend. Take a listen to some of what got him in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATT WILLIAMS, COMEDIAN: You (INAUDIBLE) I'm dissing Mexico and I'm defending America. Are you Mexican?

Do you know where Mexico is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Mexico (INAUDIBLE)?

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA! USA!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, coming up at 10:00 Eastern now. Again that went on for some seven, eight minutes, we're going to be talking live to Katt Williams. He will be joining me here, about the incident, what that heckler was saying that got him going again. Katt Williams here with me at 10:00 Eastern time. Right now, it's time for "YOUR BOTTOM LINE." I'll be with you back at the top of the hour with more live news.