Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Massive Demonstrations Expected Across Country Today by Immigrants; Mission Incomplete; Energy Crisis?

Aired May 01, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, A Day Without Immigrants. Massive demonstrations expected across the country as immigration is again pushed front and center in the nation's consciousness.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city that relies very heavily on its immigrant workforce. We'll have the story of one of them who is trying to decide how to make that point. That's coming up.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Chicago, where it's expected a huge immigration rally will be filled with workers taking the day off. I'll tell you the arrangement one boss made with his workers today.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's official now. You can call it a "crisis". The Bush administration used the "C" word when referring to the energy problem. Fixing the mess will take years.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad, on the third anniversary of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. We take a look at what has been accomplished and where the United States has to go here in Iraq.

S. O'BRIEN: And take a look at this. What a wonderful view. The Empire State Building is still one of the most recognizable landmarks in America. Today the skyscraper turns 75 years old, the day it opened. A landmark birthday ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm Miles O'Brien. What a nice day it is for the empire building birthday 75th.

Dieting we're talking about as well.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a downer.

M. O'BRIEN: I totally bummed you out. One in four of you are dieting. And of those, on average...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh. You, too.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I know. But most people have a goal of losing up to 30 pounds. S. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's a lot.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. We're going to talk to a -- realistic goals is what we're going to talk about in just a little bit.

Meanwhile, top of the news this morning.

In hundreds of communities large and small today, undocumented workers and their supporters are flexing their economic and political bustle. The theme of today's rally is "A Day Without Immigrants."

A recent study says there are about seven million undocumented workers in this country. You'll hear bigger numbers than that, though no one knows for sure.

Organizers are calling on workers not to work today, refuse to shop. Thousands of students plan on boycotting schools, as well. The numbers could be staggering. In just Los Angeles and Chicago, organizers there and police estimate as many as a half-million people could take part in rallies in each of those cities.

Absent workers are leading some businesses to scale back. As a result, Tyson Foods, the world's largest meat producer, closing nine of its 15 plants. Perdue Farms closing six of its 14.

Correspondents for us covering today's demonstrations from coast to coast and border to border, and beyond. AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken in Las Vegas. Keith Oppenheim in Chicago.

Let's start with Bob in Las Vegas.

Good morning.

FRANKEN: Good morning.

And you will notice that the sun has come up here, which, of course, when you're on the strip is very hard to tell. But whether that continues today will be up to thousands of immigrant workers who are trying to decide whether or not to participate in an economic boycott.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): When we think of Las Vegas, we think of lavish hotels, gourmet food. In a word, excess. But none of it would be possible without the armies of workers behind the scene, most of them immigrants. Some of them are here illegally.

Others, like Maria Cortez, legally. She works here in the Mirage Hotel restaurant kitchen, and is passionate about the immigration issue.

MARIA CORTEZ, MGM/MIRAGE COOK: We are humans like everybody. And like humans, we have to have respect, because we have respect for this country. FRANKEN: Cortez is still trying to decide whether to skip work in support of the immigration protests here, or listen to hotel superiors and union leaders, is ask that she remain on the job until a special demonstration tonight.

D. TAYLOR, CULINARY UNION: They're vital. I think this city would have a hard time functioning without the immigrant work force.

FRANKEN: Cortez especially takes issue with legislation that would take illegals felons.

CORTEZ: The law that they want to pass is the criminal. Not us. We are not criminals, because we work.

FRANKEN: Republican John Porter of Las Vegas disagrees.

REP. JOHN PORTER (R), NEVADA: So we're spending billions trying to secure our country, but we still have about a thousand some people a day that are just really walking across the border.

FRANKEN: Many of the Vegas hotels and casinos are offering the workers who do show up a petition to send to Congress.

JOVITA THOMAS-WILLIAMS, LABOR RELATIONS, MGM MIRAGE: So while here working, they will be able to have their voices heard.

FRANKEN: But Cortez says it comes down to one simple fact.

CORTEZ: We are humans. We are persons. All the immigrants, we are, even we are legally or not legally in this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: In many cases, the immigrant workers have been ordered to come in. So they will have to decide whether they want to defy those orders. In other words, take a gamble -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a big risk they would take. Thank you very much, Bob Franken.

Demonstrations and boycotts also expected in Chicago. There's actually people milling about as we speak. The major protest is set to begin about two hours from now downtown. And that's where we find Keith Oppenheim.

Keith, good morning.

OPPENHEIM: Hi, Miles.

And in just a couple hours from now, as you say, that street behind me is going to be filled with demonstrators. Some who are undocumented workers taking the day off, and in some cases with a blessing of their employers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Salvador Pedroza has climbed the ladder of success. He's now a U.S. citizen who owns a small roofing company. He has five employees, all immigrants from Mexico. Pedroza plans to march today, and he's giving his workers the day off so they can march, too.

SALVADOR PEDROZA, BUSINESS OWNER: I talk to my employees. And they say, you know what, We're going to go march, and then when we come back tomorrow, we can put in two extra hours during the week, or the next week, and we're going to make it up.

OPPENHEIM: That kind of determination has been emerging in Chicago's Hispanic community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Latinos united. We'll never be defeated!

OPPENHEIM: On March 10th, an estimated 100,000 people took to streets to protest legislation that would crackdown on illegal immigration. Today's rally is expected to be significantly bigger.

MONIQUE BOND, CHICAGO POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: We're anticipating at least estimates are indicating that it could double the size of 100,000, maybe even triple.

OPPENHEIM: So on this Monday, Salvador Pedroza and his employees will lose a day of labor.

PEDROZA: This is for our immigrants, the 12 million people; they need to be heard.

OPPENHEIM: To fight for, what he believes, is the right of all Mexican immigrants to keep working and living in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: And Miles, Chicago police tell us that they are prepared, that they worked ahead of time with organizers on this event. Officers, they say, will not be wearing riot gear, and they are hoping for a very non-intimidating approach to what should be a very large rally.

Back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's hope that is the case. Thank you very much.

Keith Oppenheim in Chicago.

CNN has the Day Without Immigrants covered coast to coast. A team of reporters standing by at all the locations you see on the map there, including Mexico City, L.A., Chicago, New York. You'll see live reports from our Spanish language network, as well, CNN En Espanol. And when you're away from your TV, you're not to be without information, as long as you stay close to CNN.com and CNN Pipeline.

S. O'BRIEN: In other words, you have no excuse for not following. M. O'BRIEN: There is no excuse to stay away from our coverage...

S. O'BRIEN: Every moment of coverage.

M. O'BRIEN: ... this event.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got an anniversary to talk about this morning. Three years ago today, President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. You'll recall, of course, that big day. The anniversary follows, though, the bloodiest month this year for U.S. troops in Iraq.

Let's get right to CNN's Ryan Chilcote. He's live in Baghdad this morning.

Hey, Ryan. Good morning.

CHILCOTE: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, over the last three years there's been progress here. Iraq has its first democratically elected government ever, and there has been some obvious setbacks along the way, not the least of which, of course, has been the ongoing violence. But we take a look at Iraq over those last three years and where it stands today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: May 1, 2003.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

CHILCOTE: Three years later, Iraq as it is known on your television screen. What happened? Let's rewind back to the invasion.

American troops marched into Baghdad, an occupation begins. The Iraqi military is disbanded, and within a few months the insurgency begins its own war.

By the end of that year, Saddam is found hiding in a hole, his regime toppled. The insurgency gathers strength. Still, Iraqis go to the polls three times, forming their first democratically-elected government.

Under pressure at home to produce an exit strategy, the U.S. military intensifies the training of Iraq's security forces.

(on camera): Three years ago, President Bush declared the U.S. military's "Mission Accomplished" here. Do you think that there was an under-appreciation, an underestimation of the challenges that lay ahead?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't here three years ago. I'm here today. And I realize we have challenges. But with the soldiers like you saw today, we will, in fact, meet those challenges. CHILCOTE (voice over): More than 30,000 Iraqis have bee killed and more than 17,000 American troops wounded. Another 2,350-plus fatalities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: So, Soledad, while one mission may have been accomplished, toppling the regime, the ongoing war against insurgents and the ongoing conflict between Iraq's religious groups poses a new challenge for the United States. That is, exactly how do you form an exit strategy when the mission itself is constantly changing -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote for us this morning.

Ryan, thanks.

Let's get right back to Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check the forecast now. Jacqui Jeras in for Chad Myers today.

Hello, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Miles.

Hey, everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JERAS: Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Jacqui. Thank you.

Well, the U.S. Energy secretary confirms what many people probably already were thinking, we're in the middle of an energy crisis. Could a recession follow? We'll take a look at that question just ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, the government gets into the music business with some new public service announcements as it tries to stop illegal border crosses.

S. O'BRIEN: And America's battle to lose weight. We're going to tell you what you are doing wrong if diet and exercise aren't working for you.

That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Washington is putting a lot of energy into figuring out what to do about the price of gas. Here's what we're paying today.

According to fuelgaugereport.com, the current national average is $2.92 for a gallon of regular unleaded. That's up from $2.55 last month, and 68 cents higher than a year ago at $2.23.

The new White House chief of staff says there is no silver bullet to solve the oil price problem, and President Bush's Energy secretary is using the "C" word, "crisis."

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL BODMAN, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: There's apparently some evidence that we have a crisis. There's a lot of concern about this. And so the president is looking at everything, every tool at his disposal to put to work on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning from Stamford, Connecticut, oil industry analyst Peter Beutel.

Nice to see you, Peter. Thanks for being with us again.

PETER BEUTEL, OIL INDUSTRY ANALYST: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Listen, do you agree when the Energy secretary says "crisis"? Would you say, yes, he's right on?

BEUTEL: Well, I think it certainly is a political crisis. I think that a lot of people are now starting to pay attention to it that weren't before. I think for some people it was a crisis as early as a year ago. I think certainly for seniors and for drivers under 25 the crisis level started a year ago. So, yes, on both levels I think I would describe it as a crisis.

S. O'BRIEN: You are convinced, though -- and here's where you have some disagreement, I have to say -- that the higher prices are going to lead us right into a recession. Why do you believe that?

BEUTEL: Well, we're taking billions of dollars out of the U.S. economy. We're taking it out of people's spending pockets. And all of us know that you have X number of dollars in the amount of your disposable income that you can spend. If you're spending that money on gasoline, you're not spending it elsewhere on the economy.

I'll give you a figure. In 2005, the American consumer spent $250 billion more than he and she did in 2002. I think eventually those kinds of numbers catch up with us.

S. O'BRIEN: When you talk about the upcoming fuel efficient vehicles, or shutting down the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, at the end of the day, that's not going to do anything in the very short term. What do you suggest in the short term people do?

BEUTEL: Well, I think people really have to change the way they are looking at things. Driving in here this morning, I noticed how many SUVs there were with just one person. As a matter of fact, I only saw one SUV with more than one person. I think certainly if you've got two cars in a family, you've got to figure out that the more fuel efficient car should be going the longer distance, and the larger, less fuel efficient car should be used for the shorter distance. I think people in the community need to call each other and say, "I'm going to the store today. Can I get you some fresh fruit or vegetables?"

I think there are ways we can individually do things to try to help this. But it's going to take time and rethinking.

S. O'BRIEN: Take a look at this chart. I think it's a pretty interesting chart.

It starts with December 2002, where the price of crude per barrel was $29.39. And then you go down to March of 2003, $33.16. And that's when the U.S. invades Iraq. Look down even further to December of 2004, March 2006, April 2006, where it's $70.16.

Is it fair to say that in fact the gas crisis is linked to the invasion of Iraq?

BEUTEL: Well, I think that's part of it. I wouldn't say that it's linked completely. But I certainly think that there is an Iraq premium that is in this market that never left. I think right now we've got an Iranian nuclear crisis premium built into it.

S. O'BRIEN: Wait. And is that built in because of concerns about production or built in because of sort of political or maybe geopolitical concerns?

BEUTEL: Petrol political concerns. And I would say that, yes, that these are not so much supply as much as they are petrol political fear right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Tax on big oil profits, think that would work? Why not or why?

BEUTEL: Well, you know, it's one thing if the oil companies were making 20 cents a share and spending 5 cents a share on exploration and development. And now if it's 50 cents a share and they are going to spend most of what they are making in addition to that on exploration and drilling, then I would say no. If, on the other hand, a lot of this money is just going back into people's pockets, then I could see an argument. But again, I think it very much depends on how much is being recycled into exploration, drilling and development.

S. O'BRIEN: Oil industry analyst Peter Beutel joining us.

Also nice to talk with you, Peter. Thanks.

BEUTEL: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, you exercise and eat right, but you just can't lose any weight. Sound familiar? We'll tell you what you might be doing wrong.

And later, the Empire State Building sill as trim as ever, 75 years old. No need for a diet. We'll -- of course you probably take that all for granted. But anyway -- we're going to go live to the birthday celebrations in just a little bit ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: One in four of us is on a diet. And generally speaking, we don't have very realistic goals about what we want to accomplish. As a matter of fact, most of us say we would like to lose 30 pounds. Is that a realistic goal? Maybe not.

Cathy Nonas is director of the obesity and diabetes programs at North General Hospital here in New York.

Cathy, good to have you with us this morning.

CATHY NONAS, NORTH GENERAL HOSPITAL: Thank you very much.

M. O'BRIEN: That doesn't sound realistic.

NONAS: It isn't realistic. Most people can only lose about five to 10 percent of their weight.

M. O'BRIEN: Right. So, that would mean you would have to be at least 300 pounds to be 30. So let's not get into that just yet.

Let's think about more realistic observations. First of all, we'll start with a pie chart, if you will. It's a low-fat pie. OK? And let's take a look at what people are doing.

This is -- when asked about what they do with their exercise and diet, a number of people, exercise only is 40 percent. In other words they eat whatever they want and exercise, right?

NONAS: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: People who diet and exercise, 17 percent. People who diet only, 8 percent. People who do nothing, 34 percent.

So, the diet and exercise, which I'm sure is the group you would recommend...

NONAS: Right, absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: ... is a low number. What is going on? Why is that? Is that because it's hard to diet and exercise?

NONAS: Well, first of all, this is current, so a lot of people have been trying to exercise, to diet, to do both, on and off. And most of these people have had experience with dieting before. I think it's very hard in this obesifying (ph) environment to exercise every day, to actually go to a gym, to try and be very vigilant against all of the snacks and the Big Macs and everything else that are out there.

M. O'BRIEN: It is an onslaught. It really is. I mean, you're walking...

NONAS: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: ... down the street, just the smell of French fries, it sends me off the wagon.

NONAS: And we can eat a number of times a day.

M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. It's -- we are spring-loaded for failure, unfortunately, when it comes to the dieting front.

Let's talk about ways to kind of specifically get you out of this -- out of this hole, what things you can do. You have some specific eating behavior suggestions I'd like to go through.

NONAS: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: And this is -- this is -- a lot of these, I think, in our house we do this. First of all, don't eat in front of the TV. Tell us about that. Why is that important?

NONAS: Right. So, if the audience is eating now, put your food down.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, no. Actually breakfast -- maybe this time of day it's OK.

NONAS: No, I actually think there should be a rule...

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

NONAS: ... no eating in front of the television.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, that means no eating in the morning for our viewers, because they can't turn us off.

NONAS: They can listen and go to the dining room table.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

NONAS: But, because when you're eating, you have a kind of automatic hand-to-mouth behavior.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

NONAS: And when you're watching television, you're not paying attention to the taste or your fullness or anything else.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

NONAS: And then the television becomes kind of the cue to eat. So it's really important for the whole family kind of to...

M. O'BRIEN: Sort of Pavlovian.

NONAS: It is very Pavlovian. M. O'BRIEN: Turn on the TV, you're hungry.

Number two, avoid the kitchen after diner. You know, it's like Willy Sutton, the bankrobber, said, "That's where the money is." Right? That's where the food is, right? Why you go to the kitchen.

NONAS: That's where the food is.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

NONAS: I go back and forth maybe just for a cup of tea. But indeed, I snack.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. But don't -- don't hang around in there.

Don't eat in the car or on the street. The way Americans live, work, and spend time in vehicles, that's a tough one, isn't it?

NONAS: Well, food is for nutrition and it's for taste. When you're in the car, you can't do either.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Stay away from calorie drinks. These are these sweet, fizzy frequently drinks that people don't even think about the calories are adding up by drinking them, right?

NONAS: Right. And summer is coming, so you have to be carefully of all those frozen coffee drinks as well.

M. O'BRIEN: Ah, yes. Those things are brutal. Brutal.

NONAS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And chew gum. That's an interesting one. How does that help you?

NONAS: Well, you have to take the gum out in order to taste.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

NONAS: So, if you are in the kitchen and you're cooking and you're chewing gum, you're not going to be tasting the food as much.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh. It kind of keeps things occupied there.

NONAS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, all right.

Now, tips for making exercise a little bit easier.

NONAS: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: This is good. During commercials, dance. Tell me about that. NONAS: Well, we do that with kids a lot, but it's good for adults, too. You can do about 500 steps to any song around. So, put on your favorite song and stand up and move.

M. O'BRIEN: So, if you have a TiVo, you've got a problem. It's a problem.

All right. A pedometer. I know a lot of people, you know, what is it, 10,000 steps or whatever they try to do?

NONAS: Ten thousand steps. But it's accumulated over the day. So, any time you walk, you pace, if you're on the phone, anything, it counts.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. That's good to kind of keep track of how much you're walking, right?

NONAS: It's very helpful.

M. O'BRIEN: And finally, small increments. And this kind of goes back to where we began, where people just had these huge unrealistic goals. You need to have realistic goals for yourself.

NONAS: Accumulated activity counts as much as actually one session. So just do as much as you can, and do it as often as you can.

M. O'BRIEN: Just do it.

NONAS: It's exactly the opposite of eating.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go. Excellent.

Cathy Nonas, thanks for being with us. A pleasure.

NONAS: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, some superstar musicians do their part to try to get New Orleans back on its feet. We're going to show you some of the city's jazz fest celebrations.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian. It's music aimed at discouraging illegal border crossings, and the producer is the U.S. government. I'll have that story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com