candy, the broiight things you actually end up not needing. and you don't necessarily have to buy those textbooks. you can a lot of those textbooks, interestingly enough, online. kindles have them, so there's a lot of benefits there. you can save a lot of money. >> and i always say, people should be careful about technology. your kid may convince you they need this really expensive mac laptop but maybe they really don't, and maybe they don't know what they'll really need until they've been there a few weeks. stacy frances, great to have you. >> you too. the conversation continue jos online. send us an e-mail or find me on facebook and twitt twitter @christineromans and contact the show @cnnbottomline. back now to cnn saturday for the latest stories making news. have a great weekend, everyone. good saturday morning. i have two special live guests coming up in this half hour that

i want you to see. one of them, a nascar superstar who will be racing next week in honor of the 9/11 pentagon victims. ryan newman will join me live from the atlanta motor speedway. also this morning, an exclusive. another comedian saying something he now has to policies for. katt williams is who we're talking about, joining us live here on cnn, just minutes away, asking him about his controversial remark made about mexicans during a stand-up performance in phoenix. those comments have him apologizing. from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia, this is your cnn saturday morning. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you could spend part of your holiday weekend here with us. labor day often means politics. specifically this morning, though, sarah palin and the tea party. she is the main attraction at a rally in iowa today, even though she's not an official candidate, at least not yet. cnn political reporter peter

hamby is in iowa for us. peter, help people understand this. it's iowa, it's labor day, it's palin, it's a rally. that must mean an announcement is coming. not really. >> reporter: yeah, and we also have a heavy metal cover band behind us, which is kind of unusual for a tea party rally. no announcement today, t.j. we can officially say that. but we are watching sarah palin today, because she is approaching a final decision about the race. we could hear in the next few weeks whether she's going to run. so she's here in iowa. the first caucus state in the presidential nominating process. so all eyes on the political world are on her to kind of see what kind of message she delivers for clues as to how she will frame herself as a candidate. we're hearing that she's going to attack crony capitalism. some are viewing that as a veiled kind of shot as texas governor rick perry as governor palin tries to carve out some space for herself in the republican field if she does

decide no run, t.j.. >> all right. so what is the message behind the rally itself? we know she's the main attraction, but if she wasn't going to be there, i guess what's the significance of the rally itself? >> reporter: the rally itself is sort of interesting. this was developed by a tea party group that only recently developed. a lot of people out here in iowa hadn't heard of it. a lot of tea party kind of legislators out here and activists told me they're kind of like a fringy group they hadn't heard of. it kind of seems like the rally was created just to host sarah palin, to be totally honest. and there have been some organizational issues. christine o'donnell, the former delaware senate candidate of the "i am not a witch" fame, which palin actually endorsed, was disinvited twice at the request of the palin people. so there has been a little bit of drama around the event. but sarah palin is the main attraction today, t.j.. >> peter hamby there for us in

iowa. i know you like your heavy metal. enjoy the rest of that concert. well, we turn to new hampshire now. it's one of the early voting states and both rick perry and john huntsman there today. the texas governor is holding a couple of meet and greets this weekend. huntsman, meanwhile, going to be attending a gun show. former massachusetts governor, mitt romney, he'll be in new hampshire tomorrow. he'll attend a tea party express event. we turn to the weather situation that is tropical storm lee right now. really making a mess of things, especially on this holiday weekend, along the gulf coast. people had plans, and certainly a lot of the businesses along the gulf coast were hoping for a big weekend, but instead, they gets states of emergency in a lot of places, louisiana and mississippi among them. what they're getting ready for is up to 20 inches of rain. ed lavendera live for us in new orleans this morning. ed, good morning to you. what is their concern there? can they deal with all this rain? >> reporter: well, you know, it

really is going to depend where you're at, t.j. and obviously, the amount of rain we've seen already in the last 12, 15 hours or so is pretty dramatic. we're hearing reports in livingston, parish, which is north of new orleans, east of baton rouge, a small town called springfield, where we've heard reports already. we've been told there's water creeping into some homes. a small community there. so we will see a lot of that. not just along the gulf coast towns, but also as this storm moves inland, there'll be great concern. this is a massive rainmaker, from the coast of louisiana and into the panhandle of western florida as well, so this is a storm that can bring a lot, a lot of rain. and it is a slow-moving storm, t.j. that means this will be dumping a lot of rain in the same place. so that will be the concern. and that it will depend on the conditions where particular people live and what's prone to flooding and that sort of thing. that's what we'll watch closely. here in new orleans, in the french quarter now, t.j., we're within one of those bands,

waiting for the next bands of this storm to come ashore here, and it's actually stopped raining. so it's quite nice and people walking around and taking everything in stride here. we've seen a lot of the crews trying frantically and quickly trying to clean up last night's revelry. see a lot of these guys just picking us up before the storms, the winds pick up later in the day and more rain comes. so everything kind of working as normal here in the french quarter, t.j., but a lot of people expecting much more rain for the next 24 hours, at least. >> all right. ed, we'll check in with you again. thank you so much. but it's time now for us to check in with alexandra steele, keeping an eye on this tropical storm lee. and this is kind of a guest that just won't leave. it came and it's just going to hang out for a while. >> absolutely. until at least on monday and then beginning to move northeastward. let's talk about the track. and ed talked about catching a break, here's why. there's that band that moved through. 7 inches already in new orleans. but a little bit of a break. that's what he was speaking of. let's talk move. right now north-northwest at 6 miles per hour.

this is a pace that is a little bit faster than what we've seen. you know, only yesterday when it developed, we saw it moving barely at 2 miles per hour. the pace has picked up and the winds have as well. in the last advisory, winds went up to 60 miles per hour. that's the maximum sustained winds. before they were at 50. the thought is, it will stay a tropical storm. do not worry, it will not become a hurricane, but certainly the calling card of this will be the flood again. we'll talk about that. but first, here's the track. by monday, we're going to see it kind of begin to move away from new orleans and the coast of louisiana, especially the southeast coast. by monday morning at 2:00 a.m., still maximum sustained winds at 45 miles per hour. then you're going to watch it get into jackson, mississippi, and then move up into northwest georgia. for the most part, staying out of really this quadrant, the extreme southeast, who so desperately needs the rain. it will stay west of that. but by wednesday and into thursday, kentucky and tennessee will get into some rain. so they, too, could see a few inches, but certainly not the 10 to 20 inches. we'll talk more about the

numbers, how much's rain's expected. t.j., the numbers are unbelievable. and there's one other problem with this, what we're seeing this morning, and it's tornadoes. we'll talk about that coming up. >> alexandra steele, always good to have you with us. thank you. also coming up, we have another comedian having to apologize for what some are calling a racial rant on stage. this time we're talking about comedian katt williams. he is apologizing for his rant that was caught on tape. you'll hear from part of it and you will hear from him live. he's my guest in just minutes. also coming up next, a nascar superstar driving last night with a heavy heart. he was driving last night to help the family of a fallen friend. next week he'll be racing for the fallen of 9/11. he's joining me next, ryan newman. stay with me. purifying facial cr from neutrogena naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens, or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new from neutrogena naturals.

[ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over.

if something is simply the color of gold, cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred.

ten minutes past the hour on this cnn saturday morning, some of the stories making headlines. and this will be making headlines for the next couple of days. kind of ruining a holiday weekend for some. tropical storm lee is what we're talking about. making a mess in the gulf coast right now. this is the current satellite image of tropical storm lee. some areas in the gulf coast expected to get up to 20 inches of rain. louisiana, mississippi have already declared a state of emergency ahead of this storm. also, michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray, who was accused in michael jackson's death, is trying to delay his trial. a judge already denied murray's request to sequester the jury, but murray's lawyer wants to appeal that issue. they are asking for murray's trial to be put off until an appeals court rules on whether to block the trial's media coverage from the jurors.

and president obama's helicopter made an unexpected landing on friday. he and his daughter, you're seeing them there, that's sasha. they arrived at camp david by motorcade. the white house says marine one had to be diverted because of bad weather. but also on friday, a fighter jet intercepted a civilian aircraft flying near camp david, which, of course, is restricted air space. that incident, we're told, not related to the decision to divert marine one. also coming up, just minutes away, comedian katt williams talking about his joke, a controversial joke. what he said that has so many people angry about his stand-up routine. also this morning, on the go, and in the air for many of you, it will mean dealing with more than one airline. cnn's alison kosik explains. >> reporter: as airlines try to offer more destinations, you might see your plane change before your eyes.

this happens when airlines have a code share agreement. >> a code share means you can buy a ticket on one line and you actually end up flying on a different airline. >> reporter: these partnerships usually work fine, unless you have a problem. >> when you're flying on a code share, there's sort of this gray area of who's actually responsible for your ticket if something goes wrong. they might say, well, you have to go talk to the original airline to get this all fixed. >> reporter: keep the contact numbers of each airline in your mobile phone and be aware, policies change when you change planes. >> every operating airline has its own level of amenities, its own plan for how it works with passengers. so you just need to keep that in mind when you are traveling on a code share. >> websites like seatguru.com can help with seat maps and in-flight amenities for most airlines for the next time you are on the go. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline

that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil.

now 14 minutes past the hour. nascar, i know a lot of you are nascar fans, but maybe even if not, you'll want to hear this next story. nascar making a stop here in our own backyard this weekend, not too far from downtown atlanta. one of the drivers who's in town for that is ryan newman. he's one of the biggest stars on the sprint cup circuit. he joins me now, from the atlanta motor speedway. we appreciate you being here, and the big race is coming up tomorrow. but you raced last night in what's called the truck series. for those who don't know, that's not something you normally do in the truck series, but you had a very special reason for doing so. tell us why.

>> yeah. a good friend of mine who actually worked at turner motor sports and was on his career path to race in the truck series lost his battle with cancer back in april. so, a good friend of mine, his wife's real close with our family and our family's close with their family. and bill slocum, his name was on top of the right door, my name was on top of the left, and i wanted to give him a victory last night. we had real tree and brandt sponsor us, but a racing memorial for both slocum and his family. he was from macon, georgia, so it was a great opportunity here in atlanta to bring a bunch of family and friends up and support both. >> and this is a really young guy. he was 26, do i have that right? >> yeah, yes. >> but next week, are you doing this this week. next week you plan on driving in honor of the 9/11 victims. you're actually going to have their names on your car next week. i want to ask you about that. but also, here you are, back-to-back weeks, driving

pretty emotional races, i guess you could say. what is it like being in the car when you're driving in honor of someone like that? i assume there's some extra motivation? but do you have to almost keep yourself calm in a lot of ways and not try too hard and make mistakes and do things you normally wouldn't do? >> well, it sounds simple, you just have to do your job, but to do it in honor of beau this weekend and the 75 people at the pentagon who lost their lives in richmond, it's special. i try just as hard to win, because i'm representing the u.s. army and all the other sponsoring at the same time, but it's definitely special. there's more emotion that goes on around it, but you can't let it affect you as a drive. >> and you drive the u.s. army car. i assume every week, in a lot of ways, has to be emotional for you. what is that like, day in, day out, still with the u.s. being engaged in iraq and afghanistan, to be driving that car with that name on your hood every single week? >> i've always said it's an

honor to represent the soldiers. there's so many great relationships between drivers and sponsors, but when you're representing over a million people and soldiers that fight for our freedom each and every day, that's what's amazing. and to meet those soldiers and learn about their personalities, learn about what they do, the things they do when they're in iraq or afghanistan and how they work as a team and how that is so similar to what we do as a team in trying to win a sprint series race, it's pretty amazing, and a great sponsor to have in the u.s. army. >> and we're talking, no nascar fans, you can call a lot of them fanatics, even, but they are very loyal fans out there. but coming up, you get a little something new in nascar. you're going to be getting danica patrick into nascar. how is that going to change racing and are you looking forward to having her come on board, because you know, it's going to maybe get some eyeballs on to your sport that maybe weren't there before. >> yeah.

it's obviously good for the sport, i mean, to have a female and a great female driver and danica would be a part of stewart haas racing and see how she fares out in going for the title in junior motor sports. she's got a big learning curve ahead of her, but she knows that. that's part of the deal. everybody who comes into this sport has a learning curve ahead of them. so look forward to working with her and see what we can do to be good teammates together. >> ryan newman joining us. good luck this weekend, good luck on sunday, and certainly we'll be watching that car next weekend as you honor those victims of september 11th. appreciate your time this morning. good to see you. enjoy the rest of your weekend. >> thank you. we're at 18 minutes past the hour now. and the president of the united states, someone just called him idiotic. that's what one congressman said about the president. but then he came on to cnn to apologize. you'll hear what he says he really meant to say. you judge if it was a real apology.

also, comedians oftentimes stir things up, stir up controversy. so we've got another one for you. this time, this comedian, katt williams, a controversial, what some are calling rant about mexicans. would you say it was funny? some are saying it was hate speech. i will ask him live. stay here.

21 minutes past the hour now. saving lives in the middle of a disaster. it's one woman's mission to train search and rescue dogs to help out in the worst conditions and that is why she is this week's cnn hero.

>> when to oklahoma city bombing happened, i saw the size of that building on television. i had a hobby of learning to train a disaster search dog. i was deployed to oklahoma city. i did wonder, can we really do this? can we really find live people? when i got home, i said, what is this nation doing with approximately 15 fema-certified dogs. this one building alone requires far more than 15. my name is wilma melville. our organization trains rescue dogs and firefighter handlers to save lives after a disaster. right turn. we like to use shelter dogs. it's a humane thing to do. there is nothing better than a dog's nose to find a live human.

[ dog barking ] >> get 'em out of there, search dog. >> we've been to the world trade center, japan, joplin, missouri, and haiti. >> in haiti, on our fourth day there, we made contact with a 10-year-old girl. we would ask her to acknowledge us with a tap. and around the sixth or seventh hour, she stopped tapping. >> finding live people is our goal, but providing hope for the onlooker and a place to begin work for the firefighter, those are meaningful, meaningful objectives. >> and wilma melville has trained more than 130 rescue teams, all for free. to learn more, you can check out cnnheroes.com. be sure to follow cnn heroes on twitter as well as on facebook. also standing by, we told you coming up today, comedian katt williams having to apologize for what some are

calling an anti-mexican rant at a show. it was all caught on tape. he will be here live to respond. we told you he was coming up, we got the call from his publicist, saying he's running a little bit behind. but he's in the car making his way to our studio. stand by, he is coming up for you this hour to respond and in his words, to apologize for what he has said. 23 minutes past the hour now. sarah palin, she's talking today as well at a tea party rally in iowa, but still, everybody's waiting on word from her whether or not she will run for president. what does all the uncertainty mean for the republicans who actually are in the race? our political favorites weighing in today. also, a republican congressman calling the president of the united states, and i quote, idiotic. wolf blitzer got to the bottom of congressman joe walsh's comment. you'll hear his "apology" coming up. [ nurse ] i'm a hospice nurse.

britta olsen is my patient. i spend long hours with her checking her heart rate, administering her medication, and just making her comfortable. one night britta told me about a tradition in denmark, "when a person dies," she said, "someone must open the window so the soul can depart." i smiled and squeezed her hand. "not tonight, britta. not tonight." ♪

oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. great! did i mention no hands in the bundler?

bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. all right. we're getting close to the bottom of the hour on this cnn saturday morning. hope you're having a good start to your holiday weekend. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you can spend part of that weekend here with us. and labor day weekend's always

come with a little politics. the politicians always out there, shaking hands, kissing babies, flipping burgers. but we've got a big political discussion. we bring in our friends, lenny mcallister, republican strategist, and maria cardona, you know she's a democrat if you've ever heard her open her mouth before. she's a democrat and a cnn political contributor. we're trying something a little bit different this week. we'll put you guys on the clock. a 30-second clock. each of you get a question, 30 seconds to answer, the others will get a 20-second rebuttal. before we get to that, though, always have to you guys what your political highlight, the big story of the week was. you give me these answer quickly, so i won't put you on the clock. maria, what was your political highlight of the week? >> president obama focused on jobs, republicans focused on defeating the president. >> all right. lenny, what was your highlight of the week? >> congressional black caucus focuses on the tea party, the tea party focuses on getting black people work. >> all right then.

man, you always something i want to follow up on, but i've got the move on, lenny. question number one, maria, this is yours first. the first question is, maria, nancy pelosi says that the gop in congress is to blame for the jobs numbers, because republicans created uncertainty during that whole debt debate. but how much is president obama to blame for that jobs report? maria, go. >> so i think a lot of americans, t.j., not just democrats, agree with leader pelosi's assessment. even standard & poor's agrees with the assessment, blaming the uncertainty that the tea party injected into the negotiations for the downgrade. but, look, it's no question that president obama's not going to win this -- his re-election by continuing to blame republicans. even though it was their misguided policies that put is into the hole that he was handed. at least we're not losing 800,000 jobs a month anymore, the way that we were when he came into office. we're going in the right direction, we need to do more. he's the first one to say that.

we want republicans to join us. >> all right. lenny, 20 seconds for a rebuttal. this is just like a debate. i love it. >> well, the wonderful rebuttal about this is that when zero is moving in a positive direction, that tells you the type of leadership that nancy pelosi as speaker of the house and president obama as president over the last three years has given america. this is absolutely atrocious for her to blame republicans after she was leading a supermajority and a huge majority in the house of representatives for the past two years. it's day atrocious. again, benazir is positivwhen z you know where we're going. next question goes to you, lenny. sarah palin is scheduled to speak in a couple hours at a tea party rally in iowa. is she helping or hurting the republican field with all the attention and the speculation that will continue until she announces her 2012 intentions? >> she's not doing either, because she's a pundit, she is not a politician. this is something to interject her voice into the conversation, and that's all well and good,

but the truth of the matter is, people need to focus on what rick perry's going to say during his first couple of debates. people need to focus on how mitt romney's going to respond to that and what the candidates in the field are actually doing. she's more of a distraction than she is an option, at this point in time, for republicans. >> comes in under time. doesn't mean you get that time, though, maria. still 20 seconds for the rebuttal. >> well, look, for me, and i think for a lot of democrats, sarah palin has always been the gift that keeps on giving, but i have never thought she's a serious contender. i don't think any serious republican thinks she's a serious contender. and i can tell you that the gop field is always rolling their eyes when we're talking about sarah palin. but she loves it. maybe she'll jump in and do a reality show about running for president. that would be great. >> all right. last question to you both. both get 30 seconds for this one. what will get higher ratings next thursday? the president's jobs speech, scheduled for 7:00 p.m. or the packers/saints nfl opener, scheduled for can 8:30?

maria, we'll start with you? >> oh, that's not even fair, t.j. you know the president's speech is going to get better ratings. okay, look, maybe the nfl game will get a little bit more viewers than the president's speech, but he's going to go before them, so everybody will get a chance to watch, and then they'll get a chance to watch the kickoff. so it's a win-win for everybody. >> lenny, do you agree with that? >> no, because, first of all, as a steelers fan, i'm not watching the super bowl champion packers do anything this year. as an african-american, i would have to expect that the commentators will speak more to black folks a to the nfl football game than president obama has spoken to black folks over the last three years when it comes to jobs and things that matter to them. i think this is going to be another rerun speech, a lot of blame game, and no one as time to continue to hear the same same-old, same-old. >> your answers got a little more poignant on the clock this morning, didn't it? lenny mcallister for us, always

good to see you. maria cardona, guys glad to see you. y'all enjoy your holiday weekend. >> god bless everybody. 32 minutes past the hour. house republican joe walsh is backtracking a little bit about calling president obama idiotic. walsh made the comment earlier this week while criticizing the president for holding that joint session of congress for his job speech. the congressman was on cnn this friday and this was the apology. >> i apologize for that. that was absolutely stepping over the line and i apologized. 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. >> so you get that, folks? the president is not idiotic, but what he is doing, by calling for the speech, is idiotic. that is walsh's explanation. he says he's actually skipping the president's speech on thursday, but has not asked any other representatives to join him. well, we are just a couple of minutes away. we told you this was going to happen this morning. a lot of people are talking about it. call it a controversial rant by comedian katt williams. well, he has apologized, but he'll be here, he is here live to talk to me about this routine that has so many people upset. katt, good morning. talk to you after the break, brother. p he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ]

mom? ♪ if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel,

and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred.

a comedian, katt williams, is getting a lot of heat for a stand-up show he did in phoenix last saturday. going to talk to him about what happened in just a few moments. but a lot of people are talking about it and he is going to be talking about it exclusively here to us in a moment. he's standing by. but first, i'll give you an idea, let you watch part of this comedy act that a lot of people are talking about. and one civil rights activist out in arizona is calling it borderline hate speech.

i'll let you listen to a bit. you be the judge. >> you think i'm dissing mexico and i'm defending america, because you -- are you mexican? do you know where mexico is? no, this ain't mexico. it used to be mexico, [ bleep ]. and now it's phoenix. usa! usa! do you remember when white people used to say, go back to africa? and we had to tell them, we don't want to. so if you love mexico [ bleep ], get the [ bleep ] over there! we were slaves [ bleep ]. y'all just work like that at the landscapers. >> and katt williams joins me

now live from los angeles. katt, good morning. good to have you here with us. >> good morning, t.j. how are you? >> i am doing all right. we've got to start with something. we have been reporting, and it has been attributed to you, a statement out there that you allegedly issued through your publicist, apologizing for that routine, but you and i were just talking here in the commercial break, you said that's not really your statement. so tell me what the deal is. >> well, we kind of have to start -- i hope that everybody saw what i just saw. >> mm-hmm. >> if a person starts their heckling with "f" america, that gives me the right to defend my country. i couldn't be anti-mexican. my mexican fan base is largely responsible for me even in existing. so between me and the black community, it's really all i have, but i don't think i need to apologize for being pro-american. the guy said that all of this is

still mexico and i was just giving him geography. this is america, the greatest country in the world. >> well, with help us understand. so do you not apologize for anything? we showed like a 50-second clip there. and it's like seven or eight minutes, but -- >> no, i apologize for fact that the word "anti-mexican" is being said to a black guy in america. >> but you don't apologize for what you said in that stand-up? >> i'm not allowed to. as a stand-up, the only thing that i sell is uncensored thought. so i'm only selling the way i think, uncensored. i'm not allowed to then come back the next day and apologize. that's for the tracy morgans of the world. i meant what i said and i meant what i said. i'm apologizing if somebody thought i was trying to be anti-mexican. mexicans are my friends. >> so katt, why is it that somebody is allowed to put out a statement apologizing on your

behalf, then? >> sir, they put out a dvd called "katt williams nine li lives" while i was in jail without any permission. a lot of stuff has been happening to black celebrities in the world. we just deal with it, thank jesus, and keep on going. >> you gave me a little bit of what he was saying, but he kept going on and on, this heckler. what was it? you said he said "f" america, but what was it? >> we were in phoenix. i gave $5,000 out to a mexican-american serviceman at this same show. it was nothing like that the night of the show. this happened 19 days ago. this is just happening in the news yesterday because it's my birthday. >> well, help me understand then, what was it? because it's clear that you are visibly upset. and you said you're a proud american, you're defending this country. is that essentially what it was? he was clearly out of line, in

your opinion, but he really got you hot. >> i was offended because he was making a statement that we're not allowed to make in this country. in this country, you have to pledge allegiance to america first and your country of origin second. so the fact that he was blatantly disrespecting the law that we all follow, black people work too hard to become black americans in this society, and we were slaves here. and we did a lot of free work. whatever they did was in another country, and we certainly applaud their history, but don't come here talking to sons of slaves about that. and if there's something -- if there's something anti-mexican about what i said, i apologize for the anti-mexicanness of it. i was talking to the individual. >> i guess that's part of it, probably one line that did get people more upset than others. a lot of people familiar with the comedy.

i am as well. i didn't hear a whole lot that was a departure from other stuff you've said before. but you did say, "we were slaves," speaking of black people, "y'all just work like that at the landscaper." even that statement. you don't think that came too close for going over the line? >> i don't apologize for it even if it was too close to the line, because at the end of the day, i wasn't there to make racial conversation, i was there to make a joke. the joke was, if mexicans love america, could they give black people mexico? that was the entire joke. because we'd love it and it's real close. we couldn't go back to africa because of the flies. that was the joke. none of that's airing on the tape. this is an hour and a half show, sir. >> now, would you -- do you understand, at least, some people hearing that, and you were talking to one guy. it's clear that other people in the crowd were laughing at what you were saying to him, even as you were going on.

>> if i had disrespected mexicans, i wouldn't be able to get out of there alive, with all due respect. >> but do you understand that people who do hear it, why they may have been offended? do you think they have the wrong impression, or do you understand why some might think the landscaper comment might have been offensive. telling a mexican like that guy to get to stepping back to mexico. do you see how that comes off offensive? >> no, no, he said we were in mexico. let me just say this. yes, i can see what you're saying t.j., and i think at the end of the day, they should watch more of this cnn show so they can see there's real news factors going on in this country, there are real things we can discuss, like our president versus football, rather than worrying about what a comedian's saying. if you like me, come see me. if you don't like me, i'm here for you. but i love mexicans and mexican

americans, but america overall. let's be very clearly about it. >> any concern about how people could view you down the road? people may not want to book you in texas or arizona or california. >> that would be fantastic, sir. wouldn't that be fantastic? let's let that happen. but let the statement be that i'm a christian, i'm straight. >> all right. well, we will leave it there. again, i'm glad we got to clear it up, because we have been, katt -- >> and thank you, t.j.. >> we have been talking about this morning that an apology that katt williams sent out, and you're telling me that was not your apology, so that's important to note. >> i just made my apology, t.j., live in front of cnn. >> katt, good to see you, buddy. you enjoy california. we'll talk to you again soon back here in atlanta. >> absolutely. >> yep. >> all right. we're about a quarter to the top of the hour here now. we're going to turn back to this weekend and this weekend weather. a tropical storm is actually causing all kinds of fits for

folk who trying to enjoy their holiday weekend. the gulf coast right now, hoping to have a good labor day weekend. not going to be the case for a lot of people. a lot of them are getting prepared. a lot of them are already starting to clean up some of the mess. we've got the very latest on this storm, this tropical storm lee in just a moment. but also, that mess caused by irene. stay with us. [ female announcer ] we're rolling away misperceptions about energy independence. did you know that today about a quarter of all new transit buses use clean, american natural gas? we have more natural gas than saudi arabia has oil. so how come we're not using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community.

my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... game on! symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. [ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

about 12 minutes of the top of the hour. let's say hello once again to alexandra steele, who is tracking -- this thing is really going to make a mess of things this holiday weekend. i know that's maybe not the biggest deal. people will have to deal with damage and flooding, but people were hoping for a good weekend. >> oh, that's right. and of course, this area dealing with all that gulf oil spill. this was kind of their weekend to get back financially,

emotionally, and that is certainly not the case. tropical storm lee, it is still a tropical storm. not expected to become a hurricane. two biggest culprits with this, wind and rain. here's kind of a snapshot of some of the winds we're seeing right now. 20, 30-mile-per-hour winds, gusts well in excess of that. and with that, right now around new orleans, and in just the last hour, we've seen the numbers without power spike to about 30,000. and that will only increase. here's the big picture. it's moving north-northwest at 6 miles per hour, which is certainly higher than we've seen. it was moving very slowly before, 2, 3 miles per hour. picking up speed and that will only increase. again, maximum sustained winds now up to 60 miles per hour. they were at 50 early this morning. and in terms of rain, how much are we going to see? well, that really will be the calling card of this. 10 to 20 inches of rain, potentially, right here along this i-10 corridor. and i just read that police officers in new orleans giving speeding tickets to anyone driving over 5 miles per hour on flooded roads, of which we have

already seen many and which no question we will see an awful lot of. and then we're going to watch all the rain spread inland. this still will be a fantastic wednesday into thursday, but much farther north through the tennessee valley. >> okay. you just got my attention. where was that? >> that's the only time i got it? i've been talking all morning. >> no, but you really made me sit up. 5 miles per hour? you get a speeding ticket? >> through a flooded road. >> that's interesting. i swear, i'm always paying attention. thank you, alexandra steele. let's move now to what is now a week after hurricane irene hit the east coast. people still trying to recover there. would you believe more than half a million people still don't have power. flooding in new jersey forced thousands of people from their homes. our susan candiotti is there in patterson, new jersey. the president, susan, heading your way soon.

>> reporter: -- we happen to be on presidential boulevard. perhaps this is one of the streets the president will see. there's a lot of devastation for him to look at around town. this is one of many streets around patterson. not all of the city is underwater, but certainly, there are areas of devastation to look at. this was once -- this car was once submerged, it's not anymore. so the good news is that the water levels are going down. if you swing over this way, you can see the passaic river. the current is running strong. obviously, the levels are down. but at one point, that water was all the way up to this fence line. there is debris still stuck to it and there are high water lines, if you look even farther down this block a little bit, there's even an auto body shop, indicating that some people are trying to get back into their businesses and homes, certainly, to start the long cleanup. the long, hard cleanup. we spoke with a mayor earlier this morning, and we asked him about the president's visit and what his pledmessage will be to.

>> we definitely need help. there's no misgivings in this. we are at the very bottom, trying to find our way to a place by which we become -- use the word stable. so, yeah, our local resiliency is that we find a way to kind of work together. because if you look around the economy and all those other things, we're at bottom. so help is what we need, and there's no other way to say it. >> reporter: and the mayor also said that in one way, perhaps, this disaster might reinvigorate efforts by the city to get back on track with an economic recovery plan that has been struggling for quite some time. t.j.? >> all right. our susan candiotti for us in new jersey. thank you, this morning. and as we're about eight minutes of the top of the hours, just an ugly scene at a football game. referees have to defend themselves against players and coaches. we've got the video for you and you will not believe the ages of the players. stay here.

that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil.

all right. joe carter from hln sports, a friend of our show here on cnn saturday morning, joining me again. and unfortunately, we shouldn't

have to tell a story about referees having to defend themselves during a game. >> yeah, specifically in a story like this, because you've got 13 and 14-year-old kids involved. this is really the ugly part of sports, the disgusting part of it. and the fact that you've got coaches and, let's say, possibly parents, mentors involved in this, and that you've got one player is really what's disheartening here. last week in sarasota, this is what happened. three people, three coaches and one player charged with felony battery. they've been arrested for attacking a referee during a youth football game. and the entire thing started because one team didn't like a call made by the referee. the ref, as you saw earlier in the video, was tackle ed by a 14-year-old player who comes off the sidelines and tackles him in his gear. the video was shot by a parent in the stands. sarasota authorities used this video to arrest the three coaches and the 14-year-old

player. assaulting a referee in the state of florida, a felony, punishable up to three years in prison. the team, done. they're done for the year. and they're going to review whether or not they'll ever be able to play again. now, of course, there were a lot of players on that team, and coaches, that were not involved in the brawl at all. so other sarasota youth football teams have reached out and said, coaches and players can come join those players, in order that they can continue to play football. >> and you get into a lot of that video, but that ref did get stuck around that pile. apparently he was being punched and kicked. how is he doing? >> he has a fractured shoulder at this point, but he spoke yesterday and basically just said, like i said, this is the ugly part of sports. that it gets this competitive, that a coach would feel the need to confront a referee, then throw a water bottle in the referee's face. and then a player feels like he needs to come off the sidelines and tackle an adult. unnecessary, disgusting, and people need to learn, this is the bad, parenting, bad mentoring, bad coaching, period. >> this is bad everything in

this scene. we appreciate you as always. unfortunate scene there, but good to have you. just a couple minutes to the top of the hour. we'll reset for you, give you the very latest on that tropical storm, but also a couple of segments a lot of you all are talking about this morning. you're getting my reaction to katt williams, the interview that happened just minutes ago. and the other segment that has a lot of you talking. a stanford professor joining me and says it's time for black women to give up on black men. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. is