"One Nation" Rally in D.C.
HOLMES: All right. Thirty-six minutes past the hour. A live picture here from D.C. They are just getting going for another rally. It seems like we've seen a few rallies and a lot of coverage of some rallies in D.C. here lately, but this one billed as the One Nation rally kicking off today, kicking off this afternoon. It is billed as "The Antidote to the Tea Party." Those words coming to us from the NAACP president, who was talking about this, and one of the many groups helping to organize this. The demonstration is officially called One Nation, but the organizers say it's promoting better education, more economic opportunities ahead of the midterm elections. The speakers will include, as I mentioned, Ben Jealous, the NAACP president; also Reverend Al Sharpton. And again, several hundred groups that are helping to sponsor this event. One person who is there, Haroon "Boon "Saleem. He's there, a blogger. He's been on a cross-country trip blogging across America about some of the hot-button political issues. I asked him why exactly he thought it was important for him to be at the rally.</s>HAROON "BOON" SALEEM, BLOGGER: I'm part of 400 other groups that are here. I think we're all here to bring people together, talk about the issues that are of concern right now in the country. I think when you look at what's been going on not just in the past eight years, but the last couple years, there's a little bit of frustration. I think there's a need to move beyond divisive politics. And that sort of brought all these organizations together. I see a ton of people from the NAACP right around the corner right now. They're one of 400 groups here. And the hope is that people on the Hill, our representatives, will notice that we have concerns and we have something to say, and that we want them to refocus what's going on in the country.</s>HOLMES: Now, Haroon, you said upset about what happened in the eight years of the previous administration, but you also mentioned what's been happening the past couple of years. Is this rally meant to send a message directly to President Obama that some of you all, you may be in particular, are not happy with what you've been seeing the past couple of years?</s>SALEEM: I'm not going to say me in particular. I do think there are people that are just concerned, would probably be the right word. I think other people would say frustrated. For me, I think it's just an opportunity to say hey, we still -- there's still things that need to be done. I think two years is a short amount of time. I'm going to give the administration a little bit of credit. I think they've done a lot of great things. But I think the administration knows themselves, there's still work to be done. I think this is geared a little bit more towards the Hill, though, not necessarily the administration. That's my personal feeling.</s>HOLMES: That's your personal feeling. Haroon, is there a feeling as well that this rally needs to in some way compete with, at least match, or maybe outdo what we saw several weeks ago when Glenn Beck had a huge rally there, or with some of the huge Tea Party rallies.</s>SALEEM: I should have seen that question coming.</s>HOLMES: Is there a feeling that you have to compete in some way?</s>SALEEM: I wouldn't necessarily say compete. I think it's just the -- for everyone here, it's an opportunity for us to just -- we want our voices heard. I wouldn't -- to me, competition, et cetera, you know, look, Tea Partiers have a right to speak as well. That is the -- that's what's written in the Constitution. So I wouldn't necessarily say compete at all.</s>HOLMES: And CNN's Kate Bolduan also at the "One Nation" rally. She'll be joining us live in the next hour with Fredricka Whitfield. Live reports from the rally. They are just getting started with the official program, and then things really kick off in a big way at noon Eastern Time.