>> that's not a denial, mr. governor. >> nor is it an answer. >> tantalizing. i would read that if you were a politician saying that about a policy, i'd say it's definitely going to happen. >> we'll see. >> would it be a nice ending to the saga for you? >> i think so. >> you haven't popped the question yet? >> no, you're going into -- again, that personal sphere that i out of my respect for my boys -- >> it wouldn't be the most shocking thing we'd read or hear? >> we'll see. >> it's been a pleasure. >> it's been a pleasure. good luck with everything. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com all right. good sunday morning. tropical storm lee, it's getting

weaker but what they really need is for it to move a little faster. it is just sitting there over parts of the gulf coast right now, already causing flooding and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. also, listen to this, buy a raffle ticket and you could win a glock handgun. it's part of a republican fund-raiser in tucson, arizona. the same city where a gunman using a glock handgun killed six people and shot congresswoman gabrielle giffords in the head. critics are calling this extremely insensitive but arizona republicans are defending the fund-raiser. also this morning on a much different note, what's being called the super bowl for nerds. i like to think of it as halloween coming a month early. dragoncon is in town and in our studio this morning. we'll have the organizer of the

event as well as actress claire cramer and also a couple of characters, if you will, they'll be right here to help us understand that this cultural phenomenon is more than just adults playing dressup. thank you so much for spending some of your time here on this holiday weekend, i'm t.j. holmes. i want to say welcome to our men and women of the armed forces watching us right now on the american forces network. thank you for what you do. lids start with this storm, tropical storm lee is causing all kinds of fits this weekend. a steady drenching along the gulf coast, causing flooding this morning. it's moving so slowly is the issue. it's moving north in louisiana and mississippi, the bands of heavy rain about just been sitting there for two days. the storm is moving only at around 2 miles per hour. literally, you could go outside and outrun this storm if you needed to. we've seen heavy rain, heavy

waves along the mississippi coast, evacuations in coastal louisiana and flooding in the streets of new orleans. >> this storm, one of stranger ones that we've had in how unpredictable it's become. all of the experts said these rain bands continue to hover around us. this storm is moving painfully slow. the greatest risk for us is to get a lot of rain in a short period of time because of the way our streets work. >> all right. that's issue right now. it's not going anywhere. just sitting there and as it sits there, it keeps dumping and dumping rain. check out this video we have from mississippi. does have heavy winds, some around 50 miles an hour. let's turn to our ed lavandera in louisiana for thus morning. ed, what have you and the folks there been seeing overnight? >> we're in louisiana this

morning. we're in jean lafitte. you can still tell there are storms brewing out there. what you see back here in the darkness behind me is the intercoastal waterway, what takes you in the gulf of mexico and this takes you to new orleans. this storm has been moving so slowly but the storm and winds keep pushing inland. this town has had to protect themselves. they laid out 26,000 feet of what you call a tiger dam, if you will, a makeshift levee they've built along the intercoastal waterway. this water is pushing north and the current in the intercoastal waterway out here is really strong. it is high tide and the wind is pushing this water inland and what's happening is, it's kind of snaking and fingering its way into the community around here. as you drive around town here in

jean lafitte, you see a lot of water lapping up close to many people's homes. they've had mandatory evacuations in this area. they've had to lay out these makeshift dams to protect and keep the water out. this water is about three feet higher than what it normally is. they're concerned that it will take at least 24 hours for the winds to shift. what they want is the winds to stop blowing toward the north and blowing toward the south and start pushing this water out of here. t.j.? >> ed lavandera, thank you. he's up early with us in louisiana. we're getting good pictures from our i-reporters along the gulf coast. here's one of them, helping us tell the story. >> here on the shores of lake pontchartrain, as you take a look out, you can see the water is overtopping the sea wall and the yards are starting to flood, especially in the low-lying areas. of course everybody along this stretch of lake anticipates

flooding of this kind. all the houses are raised about 15 feet above sea level. the houses will be safe but the yards and streets starting to flood. >> five minutes past the hour now. let's say good morning to bonnie schneider. always good to have bonnie with us on the weekends. >> good to be here. >> now we'll have issues with possible tornadoes popping up. >> absolutely. >> it's causing all kinds of problems. >> a rough sunday morning, no doubt about it. lee as you heard from the press conference is a slow mover. the long it lingers, the worst things will be for that state. the ill-defined center is just off the coast. you have that wrap around effect. another big batch of rain comes into sections of southern louisiana. let's take a look at the track for lee. you'll see that the movement of the storm is still pretty slow, even as we go monday, tuesday, wednesday. we do see a rainmaker. it's like alabama and georgia

and tennessee. some of this will be beneficial rain. the biggest concern for flooding will ab long the gulf coast in alabama and into louisiana where we have about seven inches of rain on the ground from lee. let's take a look at the newest threat from now. we have a tornado watch box. this is in effect, straight into the evening hours. it does cover new orleans. another one popping up right now into hattiesburg, mississippi and into mobile, alabama. the tornado watch is extending further north and east as lee drifts further east to the north. it's slowly moving to the north at 2 miles an hour, barely moving. you can see the heavy convection coming onshore with thunderstorm activity drenching rains, about to pummel louisiana again and again. the tropics are very active. we don't only have one storm, we have two. another one is called katja. winds are at 07.

katia is almost a hurricane. i think it will become a hurricane soon enough. you can see really, really strong convection bursting from the center. what we're looking at right now is say track that will take it uncomfortably close to the united states. in fact, the storm is forecast to become a category 2 hurricane by the time we get to wednesday with winds of 100 miles per hour and look how close it comes to the u.s. in the cone of uncertainty. it's eventually forecast to curve away. anytime there's a storm nearby there will be impacts minimum with rough surf up and down the east coast. that means rip tides. people are swimming. you have to be careful in the ocean this time of year. we'll monitor katia and lee. they may have interaction, t.j. as you can see looking at this graphic, the computer models are showing the heaviest rain working its way up from lee. here's the moisture from katia,

not really catching up to each other but close enough. >> i want to hear more about that later. bonnie schneider is here with us this weekend. always good to have you. thanks so much. let's talk about irene, don't forget about her, just a week ago. president obama headed to patterson, new jersey today. here's what it looks like there right now. here we are, a full week after the storm hit. the president will be joined on his tour by new jersey governor chris christie. yesterday we heard from the patterson mayor on our show about what the city needs and what he has to say to the president. >> we definitely need help. there's no misgivings in this. we are at the bottom trying to find our way to the place where we've become stable. we have found a way to work together. if you look around, the economy and all those other things, we're at bottom. help is what we need. there's no other way to say it.

>> president obama also declared a disaster in new jersey. now he's done the same for pennsylvania, virginia, as well as new hampshire. virginia cities like norfolk, williamsburg, virginia beach, new york, connecticut, vermont, north carolina have also been offered federal help. police are investigating a possible threat against a spirit airlines flight. the plane was headed from las vegas to los angeles when it had to turn around. the tsa not saying a whole lot about the incident but local stations in las vegas are reporting that it was a possible bomb threat. one passenger was being questioned, others were rescreened and flew on to l.a. also in chile now, a popular morning tv host in chile's believed to be dead after a plane he was on went missing off the coast. you're seeing pictures of a vigil held outside of his station. four bodies have been recovered so far. there were 21 people on board.

his name is felipe camiroaga. they were on their way to do a story on earthquake rebuilding. the defense minister's brother-in-law was also on that plane. dominique strauss-kahn he is back in paris. back home. it's the first time he's been home to france since being accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid in manhattan. the charges were dropped less than two weeks ago. he was greeted by applause when he arrived in paris. we'll have much more, live from paris a little later in our show. and the blue angels going green? no, they're not repainting the planes, however, they're trying something new, not necessarily going to see it, though. the navy's precision flying team is using a new blend of half jet fuel and half biofuel. they're starting that at this weekend's performances in

maryland. their attempt to go greener here. the navy started using the blend in other planes but this is the first time a whole squadron is using it. sarah palin, people still trying to figure this lady out. good luck with that. many people are questioning if she really wants to run for president or is she toying with the media right now? she had harsh words yesterday. many people say she sounded like a candidate. you'll hear what she told the tea party crowd. that's coming up. also, we'll be hearing from you this morning. sharing some of your comments and reaction to a segment we did here yesterday that got overwhelming reaction to this question, is marriage for white people? that's the name of a new book examining african-american relationships. we'll get you caught up on that story and also share some of your insights. stay with us. 12 past the hour on this cnn sunday morning.

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13 minutes past the hour now. mitt romney is campaigning in new hampshire today, a day after the gop front-runner rick perry was there. romney could find rough going, according to the "boston herald" state tea party activists will show up in concord to protest his appearance. they say they're skeptical about romney, claiming he's only using them now to get national exposure. also, will she run? some say she's acting like a candidate, but she hasn't declared. sarah palin gave a speech to the tea party in a key state, iowa, yesterday, taking aim ott our president. peter hamby was there. >> former alaska governor sarah palin delivered a series of attacks against barack obama and potential rivals here in iowa on saturday. while palin did not declare a

presidential bid and is not expected to until the end of september she did draw a sharp line in the sand against one potential opponent, republican front-runner texas governor rick perry. >> some gop candidates also raise mammoth amounts of cash. we need to ask them, too, what, if anything, do their donors expect in return for their investments? we need to know this. because our country can't afford more trillion dollar thank you notes to campaign backers. >> perry has long been criticized by his political foes for rewarding his donors and campaign allies with plum government jobs and contracts. palin unloaded on quote, unquote, cronyism. she tried to position herself as a populous outsider, figure head of the tea party movement. we're going to watch sarah palin today as she campaigns in new hampshire and perhaps drops some more clues about her

presidential ambitions. t.j.? >> thanks as always to peter hamby. also, coming up this morning, speeding through the streets of baltimore. not a police chase. not some of the citizens getting out of control there. talking about race cars in the streets and they're hoping this comes with a $100 million payday. it's 15 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪

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17 minutes past the hour now. i'll give you some of the highlights from sports here. this was a nice moment. the mother of a severely beaten fan threw out the first pitch at yesterday's san francisco giants game. bryan stow was beating into a coma outside dodgers stadium in los angeles on opening day back in march. he's still in the hospital. his family received a standing ovation. this is what they called strikeout violence night. maybe some redemption here for jamaican track star and really the faster man in the world, usain bolt. he won the gold medal in the 200 meter dash in the world track and field championships in south korea. he was disqualified in the 100 meter after a false start. this time, he was the last person out of the blocks but only matters that you are the first person that crosses the finish line. also at the u.s. open, check

this guy out. he's pretty good when playing but he's pretty good after he wins, too. this is the top seeded novak djokovic. he's good for tennis. good young guy. he advanced in straight sets in new york yesterday. he's never won the u.s. open but he's had a heck of a year. number one out there on the tour right now. always having a good time. the first ever baltimore grand prix, the same cars you see in the indianapolis 500. city leaders are gambling on hitting the racing jackpot. >> reporter: baltimore is about to get noisy. this labor day weekend, the place affectionately known as charm city is hosting a fast-paced race through the streets with hairpin turns and

90 degree angles, reaching speeds of up to 160 miles per hour. >> they run exactly the place your car is running every day, from 9:00 to 5:00, riding downtown to work. you're going 35 to 0 mile-an-hour. we're going the same place 160 mile-an-hour. that's why it's so cool. >> reporter: it's the baltimore grand prix, the inaugural event in a five-year indy car series. the mayor expects to bring more than 11 million. >> city coffers. >> any idea how much money it's brought in in a larger way. >> we don't have exact figures but we hope it will be more than over 100 million. >> reporter: the city of baltimore is hoping this event will put it on the map for racing fans worldwide, attracting tourists and giving the economy a much needed boost. unemployment in baltimore is above the national average at about 11%. spectators can watch the indy

cars race as well as the lemans series. we went to watch qualifying rounds and to talk to participants, chris dyson. are you flipping these things while you're driving, reading things? >> yes. you've got to be a human computer when you're out there driving. you have to be completely clinical about what you're doing. >> reporter: both the city and race sponsors have a lot riding on the event. >> it's important to build our brand and exposure by bringing it to new cities like this. >> reporter: and drivers like brazil's julio castroneves are excited. >> this is going to be a good show. comedian cat williams says maybe he has explaining to do but not apologizing after what some call an anti-mexican rant

at his comedy show in phoenix. did he that explaining, right here with me on cnn. >> if i had disrespected mexicans i wouldn't have been able to get out thereof alive, sir, with all due respect. >> you will see his complete interview, my complete interview with him, including his response, coming up within an hour. and the controversial book and title, it's called "is marriage for white people?" but it examines african-americans and marriage. we got overwhelming reaction from you, our viewers and many of you were women responding. we'll have those responses. coming up. stay here. now, when you want powerful wifi, you've got it.

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25 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. this weekend we really got a conversation started with a segment we did yesterday, had the author of a book on, he's a stanford law professor. but he wrote a book, you're seeing it there, it's called "is marriage for white people?" again, the title suggests he's talking about white marriage but actually he's examining african-american marriage. his name is ralph richard banks. got a chance to talk to him. asked him to explain just what he's talking about. >> is it fair to ask black women to sacrifice their own happiness on the alt ar as a black man struggles? >> what's that sacrifice necessarily? i asked you that 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. >> 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 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. >> i have another question from a viewer, judy sent in and said, sounds like you're saying why should black women give up the good fight? you're not trying to tell them to fix the problem, but why just give up on black women. >> i am asking black women to give up the good fight. >> give up the good fight? >> the fight has not been successful. this is what a friend of mine,

carolyn edgar calls a negro improvement project. often the results are not that great. the strategy has been counterproductive. it doesn't help african-americans for to us have black men and black women locked in bad relationships and raising children in households where parents quarrel and ultimately divorce. that's not a win for anyone. >> all right. so you heard him there and you saw my reaction, many of you had the same reaction. is he literally saying for black women to give up the good fight, to give up on black men essentially. it got overwhelming response from you all on twitter and facebook. i'll share a few here. some of them were funny, some angry, some were quite poignant. here's one at least from shon that says, i do think that black women or really anybody shouldn't be trying to build someone from the ground up and hopelessly wait for drastic change to take place.

another from yvonne saying, okay, women should just give up on men, period. there's an idea. one here from angelique. she says i'm a single black woman, so much easier said than done when it comes to giving up on black men. i prefer black men but i've tried dating outside of my race. you can't help to like what you like. it's so depressing when you feel like you live in a world where black men don't want us as much as we want them. that's just a little sample of what some of you sent in. i appreciate your overwhelming response and being part of the show and the conversation. please, keep it up. we'll try to share more of those throughout the morning. we're getting close to the bottom of the hour now. we're tracking this tropical storm. how much tracking do you do? it's just sitting there. what you're seeing is the battering going on on the gulf coast. some of the oil workers on the

right, they got out just in time. the latest on what exactly is going on. here on cnn saturday and sunday morning, before i bring you any segment or interview, do i my research and studying on that topic. i have been studying this topic for a while. i'll admit i still don't know what the heck it's about. it's dragoncon. i'm still trying to figure this thing out. but we're at the 25th anniversary of this science fiction and fantasy convention. it's happening right here in atlanta. i am about to get an education from the folks who know it well. stick around.

we are at the bottom of the hour on this cnn sunday morning. welcome back, everybody. hope you're having a good holiday weekend so far. glad you could spend part of it here with us. i'm t.j. holmes. a spirit airlines plane headed to los angeles had to suddenly turn around or return to the airport in vegas last night. a spokeswoman says a passenger complained about comments made by another passenger, saying they sounded suspicious. police interviewed the man. he left the plane and other passengers were able to go on to l.a. president obama will visit paterson, new jersey later on today. he and governor chris christie will see the damage done by tropical storm irene. paterson was among the hardest areas hit by irene. another storm to tell you about this weekend, tropical

storm lee, the winds and rain are really causing all kinds of problems with the gulf coast. new orleans one of the places that's being affected. the national weather service says lee has weakened a little bit. the storm expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain in some places. you can see some of the flooding already being caused. the storm is not moving much. it's only going to get worse. now we have the talk of possible tornadoes being spawned by this thing. let's say good morning to bonnie schneider. any sign it's speeding up? yesterday it was 2, 3 miles an hour, got up to 7. >> there isn't strong enough wind to move it. that's the problem. we want to move it on out of here or move it to texas where we could get beneficial rain. the biggest and most immediate threat, tornado, tornado warnings in mississippi and the panhandle of florida. a lot of people are at these beaches looking to go outside. look at the tornado warnings for

okalousa. all the way down to the coast and further off to the inland areas, including hattiesburg. the threat for tornados exist. there's a reason for it. we're seeing strong thunderstorms rolling in as a result of this drop cass system. lee is not only causing heavy rain but tornado watch boxes. the tornado watches go straight into the afternoon or evening hours. it's something to monitor closely. we have heavy rain sweeping across the new orleans area. let's open up the scope. you can see the rain working its way across into montgomery as well and into mobile and the panhandle of florida. lee continues to hammer the region within heavy bands of rain, particularly in coastal areas of the beaches of florida. that's a big concern. i'll show you what else is happening.

we're not only looking at lee but we have the movement and the track. you can see that the rain will drench areas into tennessee, alabama and into north georgia. so that's something to keep in mind. finally, that's not the only tropical system we're watching. we're monitoring katia. it's a tropical storm but it is a strong one. the winds right now are at 70 miles per hour and the track will take it uncomfortably close to the u.s. the storm is forecast to move and curve away from the u.s. as i mentioned, t.j., will come close enough to cause the rip currents and possibly pick up moisture from lee. all of that is a recipe for a lot of rain for the middle part of the country from now till next week. >> thanks, bonnie. you don't have to good to

publix or safeway or kroger. you can do all your grocery shopping in the subway. buy the meat, veggies, juice, whatever you need. all you need is a smart phone and to take a picture. we'll explain in this morning's "passport." stay with me. 35 past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. just announced -- celebrate labor day with an additional $500 bonus cash. with all other offers, including the all-star edition discount, that's a total value of $6,500. ♪ our greatest model year yet is wrapping up.

with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix.

[ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

38 minutes past the hour. let us say good morning to nadia. you don't have to go to the grocery store any more to do your shopping. >> if you live in shanghai. for these commuters, as you step into the station, along the wall, there are grocery-like shelves. it's a poster but it's back lit. it simulates an actual grocery shelf. and it has the items, there are about 80 items, everything from diapers to fresh meat to milk. what you do is on your phone you take a picture of the bar code of the actual item you want. it downloads it and within hours

it is delivered to your home. >> that is brilliant. >> that is brilliant. you're not carrying any items and also you're actually seeing what it is you want to purchase and you're not having to go out of your way to make sure purchases. >> how long have they been doing this? >> a couple of months. there have been 10,000 already used which makes it the hottest online purchasing of groceries in the shanghai. >> this is brand new then? >> this is new. >> this has got to get to new york soon. >> let's think about this. you're asking why is it not in new york and the london metros. let's take a moment to think. >> in new york you can order groceries and have them delivered. >> yes. >> you also have guessry shops on every little corner. >> you still have to carry them. think about this, there's no cell phone service underground in the london metros. >> they can get it there? >> they can get it. this is what's so amazing. they can download it.

think about the information that is then stored on your phone. you have to apply. if you have a starbucks app you can purchase without ever taking a credit or money down there. all the information is now downloaded. certainly convenient, right? >> that is fantastic. >> look at the numbers, because china has around 880 million mobile users. think about the potential for this. and they say by the year 2013 there will be 9 million commuters a day on these shanghai trains. >> this is one company that's in charge? >> this is one company doing it, pioneered by tesco supermarket chain in korea. >> they are going to clean up. >> it's certainly convenient, right. >> if you get home after your commute and your groceries are at your front door. >> instant gratification. >> is there a charge for you? >> it's charged by weight.

it's $2 for under 11 pounds and $15 and above your delivery is free. >> also coming up, a gop fund-raiser, getting a lot of criticism and you're about to understand why. >> some people are calling and yelling at us and worse. and other people are calling and wanting to buy a ticket. >> it's an auction for a gun, the same kind of gun that wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords and it's in the same city, this fund-raiser is, where the shooting happened. you get where the controversy is coming from now? stay with me. it's 42 past the hour. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day,

got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. a network of possibilities... ♪ in here, pets never get lost. ♪ in here, every continent fits in one room. it was fun, we played football outside. why are you sitting in the dark? ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, you're never away from home. it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. the tragedy of september 11 united our country. this year, as we open the 9/11 memorial in new york city, we ask that you join us to honor, remember, and reunite. you can help right now by texting the word "hope" to 80088 to give $10.

a quarter to the tocht hoof

the hour here on cnn sunday morning. the same type of gun used to wound gabrielle giffords, the congresswoman and kill six others are being raffled off. the story from our reporter from our affiliate kgun. >> reporter: this glock 23 could be yours for just ten bucks. and it comes fully loaded. pretty similar to the glock 19 j jared loughner is accused of using in the shooting spree. does this come down to constitutional rights or bad judgment? >> yes. i think it's okay to do that. >> reporter: keith says no big deal. but for the slatteries who drive by these six crosses nearly every day, it's just wrong. >> very negative as far as giving a gun away in a raffle or guns, period. >> reporter: it comes with three 12 round magazines, adjustable

grips and a case. fully loaded. >> hold me back, i couldn't want something less. >> reporter: so would you contribute to this? >> no way. no way. thank you but no thank you. i wouldn't take it if they gave it to me. >> reporter: we're not the only ones pressing the gop for answers smnchs people are calling and yelling at us and worse and other people are calling and wanting to buy a ticket. >> reporter: so far a dozen raffle tickets have been sold with about 100 more to go. have you at all second guessed the decision to raffle off this gun? >> well, i will say this, if i had realized the strong reaction that this got i certainly would have taken that into consideration when we decided to do this particular raffle. i will admit that. >> reporter: our local democratic party says it shows a stunning lack of judgment and sensitivity. it's a slap in the face of a still grieving community. house democrats say the raffle

is not common sense, it is sick and the pima county gop should call it off. >> the democratic party calls on you i goes to stop, change the prize to maybe an ipad, golf clubs, dinner with an elected official, something besides this gun. do you plan to change it? >> we do not plan to change it. >> again, thanks to our affiliate kgun. coming up, we've got the story of a snake bite in california. well, this one's a little different. the snake didn't bite somebody. a man bit the snake. you heard me right, folks. we'll try to understand this. what the man had to say and he ended up arresting for biting that snake. also this morning, katt williams has some explaining to do. the comedian is the latest many thought should apologize for a ran the at his comedy show. this time he was doing an anti-mexican rant. but he explains himself right

here on cnn, to me. >> if there's something anti-mexican about what i said, i apologize for the anti-mexicanness of it. >> that complete interview and he says he doesn't have anything to really apologize for. stay with me. 12 to the top of the hour on this cnn sunday morning. pain relief that works at the site of pain... up to 12 hours. salonpas. 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.

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we're about ten minutes till the top the hour. here are some of the stories making headlines cross country. we'll start in california where the international cannabis and hemp fair is being held. it includes music, hundreds of booth and a place where medical marijuana card holders can light up. those who support legalizing pot say things are changing and this fair is proof of it. in california, a man is in jail for biting a snake? sacramento police say david sync took two bites out of the brown python. the snake is supposed to bite the man, right? not the man biting the snake. this 3 1/2-foot snake had to have emergency surgery. he's charged with animal

cruelty. why in the world would the man bite the snake? he says he was drunk and doesn't remember a thing. also we'll turn to seattle, washington, now. people simply walking down the street in front of the four seasons hotel to duck for cover, again, broken glass falling 18 stories to the street below. second time this has happened at the hotel this year and nobody is really sure why. this is tempered glass. it breaks into tiny pieces, not those shards. we're all about to get an education in dragoncon. it's going on all week long in atlanta. it say big deal. tens of thousands of people obsessed with pop culture show up looking like that. we are going to try to understand this thing and what has possessed this young fellow to dress up like that. and others to do so as well. it's huge, it's dragoncon.

we'll all learn about it together. stay with me. that's coming up. whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. she uses one exelon patch daily for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the disease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects

may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. people with certain heart conditions may experience slow heart rate. [ woman ] whenever i needed her, she was there for me. now i'm here for her. [ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. about six minutes to the top of the hour now. happening through the labor day weekend right here in atlanta, dragoncon, celebrating its 25th year. now, you might not have been out there in the parade, you might not understand what's going on. let me tell you, this thing is a big deal. we've got up to 45,000 die-hard

fans of science fiction, fantasy, movies, comics, video games all expected to attend. you see the atmosphere here. they're dressed up as memorable characters from comic books or movies. they're simply there to catch up on the latest news and gossip. >> the parade is the shining event of the nerd super bowl. the most fun a nerd could have all year. >> joining me, dan carroll, a spokesman-to-this height and still growing event. also, actor/director claire cramer. is it fair to say most famously from "buffy the vampire slayer"? >> yes. >> a lot of people might remember you from "bring it on," is that right? >> yes. >> that put you on the mat. >> yes, absolutely.

my first major project. >> the nerd super bowl is that a compliment, insult or right on. >> that's an exclude comment. geek mecca is another term i'd use. it brings out everyone who's passionate about sci-fi, santfy, you know. >> from an insider's point of vie we're looking at an event that brings 1,700 volunteers together to welcome 4 a,000 attendees to atlanta. we have 400 guest stars coming in and we have grown exponentially the past few years. >> you all help me and help our viewers. we know a lot of this is huge and it wasn't be around for 25 years if you weren't doing something right. we have a couple characters here. explain who these two characters are but the other part of it is, a lot of people think what makes grown, educated, college

educated, professional people go out and dress up like this for a weekend? either one of you explain. >> let me take these. i dragged these guys up out of bed this morning. we have cliff tonell, a lawyer here in atlanta. >> the guy on the left? >> yes. >> he's dressed as steam punk ash, a new fad within -- it's not a fad. it's a new theme within phantom where the fans create their own characters based on a jewels version technology. he's taken the classic character from the army of darkness character and brought it back. >> and the lady? >> that is norma jones. we modify our costumes. this represents her lifestyle and her way of being. >> well, help me here as well. a lot of actors, actresses, we

have talked to people from dragoncon before. this can be your bread and butter, quite frankly. you can go to dragoncon and they love you, they will support you and this can really help someone like you, your career go along. people might not even realize it but this is huge. >> the fans of this genre are extremely loyal, dedicated and giving. they will, if they're passionate about a project they will follow your career and follow every project you've done. the sense of loyalty is amazing. you look at the economic climate right now and you know, you see so much depression across the country. something like dragoncon almost makes that obsolete. there's a sense of escapism, a sense of fantasy and that suspension of disbelief. that's one of the things that draws such a large number of people out to an event like dragoncon. >> how do you continue to grow, to get the word out, get more people brought in? or do you have a hard-core base

of fans who are going to be there and that's just what it's going to be? >> we have folks that have been with us all 25 years. we are constantly looking for new areas within the phantom, the geek community. we introduced steam punk, our gentleman we saw, and it's exploded. the alternate history track is one of the largest we have. we headed a tract for 'tween tv shows. phones that are fans of "icarly" and others. >> you call yourselves geek? >> i embrace the title. i'm launching a website called

geek nation. >> girl, i appreciate both of you coming in, helping me and the viewers understand and maybe you'll get us out there dressed up one of these days. >> we hope to see you. >> the event continues throughout the weekend in atlanta. thanks for being here. thanks to those two for dragging them in this morning as well. thanks so much. we're at the top of the hour, going to reset things in just a moment and give you the latest on what's happening around the country, including this tropical storm that just won't move on. stay with us.

we're at the tap of the hour

on this cnn sunday morning. september 4th, hope you're having a good holiday weekend so far. i'm t.j. holmes. dominique strauss-kahn is back home this morning, this comes two weeks after a judge in new york dismissed the sexual assault charges against him. we take you live to france, the first time he's been there since the charges were brought. also a plane on its way from las vegas to l.a. had to return to the airport reportedly due to a bomb threat that was made on the plane. also, if you missed comedian katt williams responding to krit sim for his anti-mexican rant you don't want to miss it this morning. we'll have it tore you. the steady drenching causing flooding problems this morning. the tropical storm lee is moving too slowly right now. it's moving north into louisiana and mississippi, bringing all of this rain. it's just been sitting there. it continues to sit there for the past couple days. it's been sitting there a little while longer because it's only

been moving at 2 miles per hour. we've seen evacuations in louisiana, flooded streets in new orleans. >> this storm, one of the stranger ones we've had, in how unpredictable it's become. all of the experts said these rain bands continue to hover around us. this storm is moving painfully slow. the greatest risk for us to good get a lot of rain in a short period of time because of the way our streets work. >> like we said, about 2 miles an hour this thing is moving. you could literally go outside and outrun the storm. it is just sitting there. as it sits there, it keeps dumping rain and rain and rain. lock at this video. this is from mississippi we're seeing here. lee packing the punch winds. ed lavandera, we had him live

last hour but now we have you on the phone. >> for the last 20 minutes another rain band has come ashore. we're in the town of jean lafitte, south of new orleans. the rain has been coming down strongly here. our satellite signal isn't able to punch through the rain and clouds to get us up on live television. very difficult situation. this is what officials here have been talking about, the storm is still out there, much of the rain still offshore waiting to make its way on. this is one of the longer lasting rain bands we've seen over the last day or so. we're here in jean lafitte because this is an area that's seen mandatory evacuations in parts of towns where water has crept up into various communities. that's forced officials here to set up a long series of sandb s sandbags. they've used makeshift levees

called tiger dams, long tubes they fill up with water to keep the water from the intercoastal waterway from getting into more homes. they continue to watch the situation. as long as the winds keep coming from the south keep pushing the water up north, the tidal surge is the main concern and what's causing inland flooding. we continue to monitor this throughout the day. >> ed lavandera, we'll check in with you again. need to check in with bonnie schneider. always good to have you on the weekend here. we talk about the wind and rain and storms. other things can come with it as well. >> lee has been meandering on the south coast of louisiana. tornado warnings a huge risk. we had tornado damage in louisiana and mississippi last night. look what's happening now. new tornado warnings in effect for the beaches of the panhandle of florida. pensacola, ft. walton, destin. we have tornado warn innings effect for the gulf areas of

mississippi and further northward into hattiesburg for this hour. the threat for tornados is very real. these thunderstorms are dangerous, even though this is a tropical storm we've been talking about as a floodmaker, it also is producing a volatile environment for tornadic activity. tornado watches, meaning a tornado could touch down at any time. these are into mississippi and alabama, including hattiesburg, mobile and new orleans, still under the risk for tornadoes with lee as it continues to hammer the region with heavy rain. look at this batch of rain. it's calmer but it will pick up. watch out for that intensity. large hail say possibility as well. lee continues to move slowly, barely moving to the north at 2 miles per hour. the track means more rain ahead. we've seen a lot of it. this is as of last night. we'll update the totals, because it's still reign. pascagoula, 10 inches of rain, new orleans just under 9 inches.

rain from mississippi to alabama as well. the storm track takes lee inland. it will be a rainmaker for nashville, memphis and atlanta. we still have flooding up hire from irene. much of the country will be facing that flood threat as we go into labor day and beyond. t.j.? >> bonnie schneider, good to have you here with us. thanks so much. the president headed to paterson, new jersey today. he's getting a look at the damage caused by hurricane irene. this is what it looks like now. here we a fuel week after irene hit. and a possible threat against a spirit airlines flight. the plane was headed from las vegas to l.a. had to turn around. tsa not talking a whole lot about the incident. local stations reporting there was a possible bomb threat. one passenger was questioned, the others, rescreened, flu on to l.a. documents uncovered in libya, painting an interesting

picture of cooperation between the cia and libya's version of the cia. the paper come from the external insurance agency in tripoli. in the papers we're seeing close contact between the two, like libya asking for help in somalia and libya being used as a place to question terror suspects. is he back home, back in france. we're talking about the former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn. the charges in new york are gone and so is he. what kind of reception, though, did he get when he got back home? we're live in paris, next. stay with me on this cnn sunday morning. whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists

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11 minutes past the hour. seems like we've been talking an awful lot about tropical storms and hurricanes the past couple weeks. katia, you've been hearing that name a little bit. it's churning out in the atlantic right now. we'll tell you what it has done. it's become a hurricane, gotten up to hurricane strength. the track of this thing we don't exactly know what it will do. it will be several days before it gets close to the coast of the united states. don't know if it will make it to the u.s. or if it will do a do-si-do. continue to watch. bonnie schneider willing up in just a little bit to tell us more about this storm. it's up to hurricane strength,

katia is. 12 minutes past the hour. out of new york, back home in paris, dominique strauss-kahn arrived in france, less than two weeks after a judge dismissed sexual assault charges against him. cnn's jim bitterman joins me now from paris. what kind of reception has he gotten back home? >> reporter: well, t.j., there was kind of a media hurricane around dominique strauss-kahn when 'riffed this morning. just like with the hurricane you just mentioned, the fact is everybody's asking what's going to happen next with dominique strauss-kahn? he arrived here an hour and a half earlier than expect, a big crowd of journalists meeting him, as well as some supporters. we talked to one woman who came at 5:30 just to be there on hand to see him come in. everybody wants to know, is he going to play any kind of a role now in the socialist party politics? we have a 2012 presidential campaign coming up. he would have been a favorite

had he not run into trouble in may of this year in new york city when he was arrested by police on charges of attempted rape. now, he's back in france now and so some of his supporters are already rallying around him like his neighbor, jack lang, who had this to say. >> a man like him, he has fabulous qualities, his international competence. the knowledge of economy, the question of society should be very useful for us, not only in france but also in europe. but he has to decide. >> reporter: that opinion, though, is not reflected by most french. more than 80%, according to public opinion polls do not want to see dominique strauss-kahn step forward and present himself as a candidate for the presidential election. t.j.? >> the other question, he's now back home, a french citizen.

the criminal charges dropped here but there is a possible civil case against him by the alleged victim. so can anything be done? can he be compelled to come back? can he be compelled by a court to pay civil penalties now that a french citizen is back home in france? >> reporter: those are actually two separate questions. compelled to come back probably not but in fact whether he'd be compelled to pay, yes. if he loses the civil case he would have to pay for whatever damages were awarded. he is also facing here, t.j., a complaint. it hasn't yet led to any charges but there was a complaint against him by a young journ journalist who said he attempted to rape her eight years ago. and the prosecutor here is looking at that complaint and trying to decide whether or not charges will be late on that. he'll probably be interviewed by the prosecutor to get his side of the story within the next few

days. >> jim bitterman, thank you. quarter past the hour now. katt williams is explaining himself but don't get it twisted with an apology. this is all over an anti-mexican rant at a comedy show in phoenix. he did his explaining to me. >> i love mexican-americans but i love america overall. >> some of the things williams said being called borderline hate speech. the complete interview after the break. stay with me on this cnn sunday morning. thanks to the venture card from capital one, we get double miles on every purchase, so me and my lads earned a trip to san francisco twice as fast!

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may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. people with certain heart conditions may experience slow heart rate. [ woman ] whenever i needed her, she was there for me. now i'm here for her. [ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more.

they are calling it borderline hate speech, at least critics are, for comedian katt williams. listen to a bit of what he was

saying during his standup show in phoenix. >> you think i'm dissing mexico and i'm defending america. are you mexican? do you know where mexico is? no, this ain't mexico. it used to be mexico. now it's phoenix. usa! 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. >> now, this went on about seven or eight minutes. he was responding to someone in the crowd who was heckling him. after getting some criticism and

rights groups coming out and saying he should apologize, katt williams joined me here on cnn saturday morning live. take a listen to his explanation of what was going on. >> if a person starts their heckling with "f" america, that gaves me the right to defend my country. i couldn't be anti-mexican. my mexican fan base is largely responsible for me even existing. so between them 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, greatest country in the world. >> help us understand. do you not apologize for anything? we showed like a 50-second clip there. it was like seven or eight minutes. >> i apologize for the 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 standup? >> i'm not allowed to as a standup, the only thing i sell is uncensored thought. i'm only selling it the way i think uncensored. i'm not allowed to come back the next day and apologize. that's for the tracey morgans of the world. i meant what i said and i said what i meant. i'm apologizing if somebody thought i was trying to be anti-mexican. mexicans are my friends. >> why is it somebody is allowed to put out a statement apologizing on your behalf then? >> sir, they put out a dvd called katt williams nine lives when i was in jail without my permission. a lot of stuff has been happening to a lot of 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. he said "f" america. that certainly said you off. >> we were in phoenix, we were in phoenix, this is a heavily mexican-american crowd. 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. it's just happening in the news yesterday because it's my birthday. >> help me understand it. what was it? it's clear that you were visibly upset. you said you're a proud american, you're defending this country. >> i was. >> is that essentially what he 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. and 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. we did a lot of free work. whatever they did was in another country. we certainly applaud their history but don't come here talking to sons of slaves about that. if there's something -- if there's something anti-mexican about what i said, then i apologize for the anti-mexicanness of it. i was talking to one individual. >> that's part of it, at least one line in there that did get some people probably upset more so than others. a lot of people familiar with your comedy, i am as well, i didn't hear a whole lot that was a departure from some of the other stuff i've heard you say in routines. you did say we were slaves, you all just work like that as a land escaper, you don't apologize for that, either? >> i can't apologize for it, even if it was close to the

line. at the end of the day i wasn't there to make racial conversation. i was there to tell a joke. the joke was, if mexicans love america, could they give black people mexico? that was the entire joke. we love it and it was real close. we couldn't go back to africa because of the flies. none of that is airing on the tape. this san hour and a half show, sir. >> do you understand at least, you were talking to one guy, it's clear that -- >> one guy. >> other people in the crowd were laughing at what you were saying to him, even as you were going off on the one guy. >> if i would have disrespected mexicans i wouldn't have been able to get out thereof alive, with all due respect. >> do fyou understand why some people may get offended by it, maybe they just read a few comments.

do you know why some think the landscaper comment would be offensive. >> he said we were in mexico. let me just say this. yes, i can see what you're saying, t.j. and at the end of the day i think those people should watch more of the cnn show so they can see there are real news factors going on in this country, things we should discuss like our president versus football rather than worry about what a comedian is saying. if you don't like me, don't come see me. if you do like me, i'm here for you. i love mexicans and mexican-americans. i love america overall. let's be clear about that. >> any concern about how people might view you down the road. >> none, sir. >> people might not want to book you in texas or arizona or california. >> wouldn't that be fantastic? let's let that happen. let the statement be that i'm a christian.

i'm straight. >> all right. the latest in a string of incidents, controversies, if you will, for williams. late last month he was kicked out of a concert after a brawl. coming up, we'll get back to the weather situation. this slow-moving menace in the gulf coast, tropical storm lee just won't get out thereof. stay with me. to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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