Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Reports: Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri Killed; Has Operation Jump Start Had an Impact?; Political Impact of Today's Marches

Aired May 01, 2007 - 08:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday, May 1st.

Here's what's on the rundown.

HARRIS: Dead or alive? No one knows for sure, but reports say the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been killed.

COLLINS: Rush hour on the ranch. A New Mexico landowner watches with eyes wide open illegal immigrants on the move.

I'll talk with him live, part of our "Immigration Nation" coverage.

HARRIS: Teens and migraines. New suggestions that the chronic headaches may be a tip-off to another serious problem -- mental illness.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live this hour in the NEWSROOM.

And at the top of this hour, he is one of the most wanted men in Iraq. Today, reports Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed.

CNN's Arwa Damon is checking the story in Baghdad.

Arwa, good morning to you.

What have you learned about the reporting of al-Masri's death? Is it true?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, at this point no one is going to come forward and say for certain that in fact Abu Ayyub al-Masri, otherwise known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has been killed. Apparently, though, according to an Iraqi government spokesman, Ali Daba (ph), there were clashes between tribe -- members of a tribe and elements of Al Qaeda in Iraq in a desert area that is north of the capital, Baghdad. The area is called al-Niba'ie.

Now, this is what happened, is that the tribes from Falluja and from Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, both of them predominantly Sunni areas, received information that al-Masri had been in this area. And they independently went up to this area to try to confront al Qaeda and try to confront al-Masri himself.

Now, the Iraqis are quick to point out that they still need to positively identify the body, perhaps even conduct further DNA tests. And the U.S. military and U.S. Embassy both saying that they have no confirmation as to whether or not he is dead, but adding that if he was they would not be disappointed -- Tony.

HARRIS: Arwa, what impact would al-Masri's death have on al Qaeda operations in Iraq?

DAMON: Well, Tony, as we all now know, al Qaeda has proven itself to be an organization that is highly capable of regenerating itself. After Zarqawi was killed in the summer of 2006, it only took al Qaeda four days to name al-Masri as his successor, and it really didn't impact al Qaeda's ability to conduct devastating operations on the ground here in Iraq.

Now, if today's events are true, it would be significant, not in as much as the fact that al-Masri himself was killed, but that it was tribes that went after him. This is a trend that we are beginning to see right now.

Sunni tribes, some of them even previously affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq, now starting to distance themselves. On the one hand, because they do not want to see an Islamic state created in Iraq, but also, they don't approve of al Qaeda's spectacular attacks against the Iraqi population. And they also don't want to fully lose power to al Qaeda either -- Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.

Arwa, as always, thank you.

From the fight in Iraq, to the fight over Iraq, this afternoon Congress finally sends that controversial $124 billion war spending bill to President Bush. First, Democratic leaders will make one last push for the president not to veto it. At issue, a provision requiring troops to begin leaving Iraq in October.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Americans have lost patience with the war. The president says he won't abide by any "artificial timetables". Lawmakers are already said to be at work on a new spending bill.

COLLINS: Numbers, they speak loudly in any language. First the protests. This is how the May Day immigration rallies looked one year ago.

Second, law enforcement. A year ago, President Bush called for more National Guard troops to be deployed along the borders. Let's take a closer look now at that with CNN's Chris Lawrence. He is on the California border town San Ysidro.

Chris, what is the impact that effort is having? Can you see? Can you tell by being there for a couple days?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned the numbers. If you look at the numbers, it seems as if fewer people are crossing the border illegally.

Here in San Ysidro, this is possibly the busiest land crossing in the entire world. Well over 4,000 people cross over this border every single hour.

Even at this hour, you know, 5:30, 6:00 in the morning, already you're getting some activity here. And there is a real cat and mouse game here between American border agents on one side and, on the other side, spotters on the Mexican side who are trying to help drivers smuggle in both drugs and people through these checkpoints.

We have seen some heartbreaking photographs and pictures of men and women crammed into the dashboard of a car. Sometimes children stuffed into seat covers -- even a gas tank. All of them desperately trying to cross over into the United States. But legal border crossings are just one way people try to get through.

And last year, President Bush launched his Operation Jump Start, which was an initiative designed to try to secure the border in between these legal points of entry. It deployed about 6,000 National Guard troops to the border, with the idea being it would buy time for the Border Patrol to train that many new agents, so when the National Guard troops leave next year, new Border Patrol agents would just take their place.

Forty percent of those -- of those National Guardsmen went to Arizona, which was the real trouble spot. And we checked to see if it's made any difference there. In some areas, it definitely has.

Take Yuma, the border town, for example. Before Operation Jump Start, they were arresting about 400 people a day for illegally cross into the country. Now, just a fraction of that number. They're down to about 140 arrests per day.

Across the entire southern border, from Texas, here to California, apprehensions are down across the board. But strangely enough, what some officials say is a good sign, violent attacks on some of the Border Patrol agents are actually up. And they say that's a good sign because they say that means that the smugglers are having to work harder and provide more protection, and getting more frustrated, because they say it's getting more difficult to get drugs and people smuggled here into the United States illegally -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. It certainly is interesting looking at those numbers.

Chris Lawrence, thanks. HARRIS: Now from the border to the Midwest, in Chicago, CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

Keith, good morning to you. How many people are organizers expecting there today for the rally?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Tony, the crowd estimates are varying wildly. We're hearing as few as 7,000 marchers today, to as many as a couple hundred thousand.

We really don't know because this is such a grassroots march. And, you know, last year's march was really a launch pad for a series of marches across the United States. So really, this time the question is, will today's event have a big political impact?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice over): May 1, 2006, the streets of Chicago are packed. "We are not illegals!" the marchers shouted, protesting a bill that would have cracked down on illegal immigration. This year, the focus is less on legislation, more on deportation.

JAVIER, CHICAGO RESIDENT: For me, I cry every day.

OPPENHEIM: His name is Javier, and his situation is not uncommon. In the 1990s, he tells us, he applied for a green card, but he says when his parents got in a car accident in Mexico, he went to see them and got caught trying to re-enter the U.S., a violation. So even though he says his wife and three kids are U.S. citizens, Javier says he could be deported to Mexico any day now.

JAVIER: I don't know why no give me one chance. Give me one opportunity for me, for my family.

OPPENHEIM: Organizers hear say there may be more marchers this year because the community is angry about police raids. Last week, federal officers stopped a counterfeit I.D. operation in the heart of Chicago's Mexican neighborhood.

PATRICK FITZGERALD, U.S. ATTORNEY: We need to go with where the criminal activity was carried out to catch them in the act.

OPPENHEIM: The U.S. attorney said the raid had nothing to do with the immigration rally, but many Mexican-Americans here saw it as intimidation.

BALTAZAR ENRIQUEZ, WITNESS TO RAID: They showed that they were trying to send us a message. And the message is, the more you march, the more we're going to come out and get you. But we're not afraid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM: Back here in Union Park, where the main march for this rally is set to begin this afternoon -- and Tony, as I'm standing here I can hear a Spanish language radio station that's broadcasting on speakers into this park. And it's significant because it has been stations like that that have really been talking about federal raids on the air, and perhaps that could be the big variable.

As people continue to hear about these raids, it could spark more anger, and maybe bring larger numbers today. We'll find out when it happens later this afternoon.

HARRIS: That's right. You know what, Keith? I'm interested, what is likely to be the focus of the rallies?

OK. You gather a bunch of people, but what is the focus of it? Is it federal legislation, is it voter registration? What's likely to be the focus today?

OPPENHEIM: I think deportation is going to be the biggest issue. I think the raids is going to be a secondary issue.

There's something called the STRIVE Act, which is now a bill working its way through Congress, which is kind of a moderate bill which would enforce Border Patrol on the border between Mexico and the U.S., and also would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. Not everybody loves it though in the community, so that's definitely going to be a third issue to talk about.

HARRIS: Got you.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim for us in Chicago.

Keith, thank you.

COLLINS: Well, once again, unfortunately, we've got to talk about some severe weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Something else to talk about here by way of weather. Georgia's governor will get a first-hand look at that massive wildfire still burning in his state today. He'll take an aerial tour of the fire in southern Georgia, the largest in the state's history, in fact. It has now burned 80,000 acres and destroyed 22 homes.

In another development, firefighters are calling arson experts to the scene now. They'll investigate whether someone may have set several small fires that have broken out near the large blaze. The main fire started when a tree fell across a live power line about two weeks ago.

HARRIS: Still to come this morning, in northern California the wreckage of a collapsed bridge comes down. And new concerns are raised about the man who is to blame.

A closer look in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Also, immigration. In Washington, it's about making policy. In New Mexico, it's about making a living. A rancher on the frontlines of the border battle. His story, then and now. Of course, right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: When a headache may be more than just a headache. A new study shows a possible link between teen migraines and suicides.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story coming up for you right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: If your teenager gets frequent migraines, pay attention. A new study suggests it could be a tip-off to a psychiatric illness or even suicide.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here now to explain.

Boy, this is alarming when you first hear those words. You think, OK, my child has bad headaches that might bet diagnosed as migraines. Then you feel good about having a diagnosis because you know how to treat it.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

COLLINS: But not always the case.

GUPTA: Yes. And you know, I want to preface it by saying the numbers are very small as far as this relationship between these headaches and some sort of psychiatric illness. It was a small study, but, you know, what sort of prompted all this was a study out of Taiwan specifically looking at teenagers and their propensity, if you will, to develop some sort of psychiatric problem, whether it was a chronic daily headache, or a migraine headache.

Now, first of all, a lot of people say, what is a migraine headache? A couple things happen during a migraine.

First of all, you have -- and I think we have an animation there to show this. You have these blood vessels that are going in the brain or around the brain that actually dilate and constrict. That happens back and forth a lot, and what happens is it actually sends these nerve fibers, activates these nerve fibers which causes the pain.

You can get this pulsating pain. Oftentimes it's just located on one side of the head. That's one of the cardinal symptoms, just one side of the head. You become sensitive to light, you may become nauseated. It's awful if you get it.

And now the study actually looking specifically at psychiatric illness and these migraine headaches, saying about 47 percent of the time, almost half the time, people will actually develop some sort of psychiatric problem. About 20 percent of the time it was suicidal thoughts.

Now, this was based on a questionnaire. It's not a perfect study.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: They started with 7,900 teenagers, and they whittled it down to about 120 teenagers that actually fit the pattern. So small numbers overall -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, some pretty small samples.

I used to get migraines with the visual aura where you can't see anything.

GUPTA: Yes.

COLLINS: And they were prescribing Imitrex.

What is the best way to treat a migraine now?

GUPTA: Well, you know, and they may have told you about this as well, Heidi, with your migraines. First of all, you try and think about what triggers there might be.

People have various triggers. Some of them can be the same in teenagers and adults. Things like stress, which there's no shortage of. Hormonal changes as well, especially going through puberty. Certain foods, sleep disruptions can also be a problem.

But Heidi, you and I also talked about a new combination of medications in the past. Imitrex, which actually stabilizes those blood vessels...

COLLINS: Right.

GUPTA: But also Aleve, which is an anti-inflammatory. Doctors have used those separately for a long time as actually a combination medication that seems to have significant benefit.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, that's interesting. And most teenagers, though, end up with headaches at one point or another. Probably cause a few more for their parents, right?

GUPTA: I'm learning that myself.

COLLINS: How do parents know, though? Yes. And they're just little.

GUPTA: Right.

COLLINS: How do parents know, though, when it has become more serious?

GUPTA: Yes, that's a good question. And, you know, again, we preface the whole thing by saying I don't want people to really get worried about this small study. But something to keep in mind with regards to chronic daily headaches, here's a little tidbit.

Fifteen days a month for three months, 15 days out of the month for three months, lasting more than two hours. That's a lot of headaches. That's a lot of concern.

Certainly if they have a migraine pattern as well, get it checked out. There's good medication out there for it. COLLINS: Yes. Wow. All right. We'll be watching this one, for sure.

GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: Yes. Thank you.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning, pet food fears, widening investigation. Will it impact what's on your dinner table?

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Got milk? Well, if you want more, it's going to cost you.

I'm Stephanie Elam in New York, and I'm going to tell you all about that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In northern California, a new test for Bay Area commuters. Today they'll be dealing with a collapsed freeway without the aid of free transportation. The state waived all fees yesterday to help relieve the traffic nightmare that was expected. The traffic tie-ups never materialized, but officials warn it will take months to replace the overpass that links Oakland to San Francisco.

On a related note, an investigation is under way into the truck driver who crashed the tanker and ignited the inferno that brought down the roadway. Records show he was both inexperienced and had a history of felony convictions.

HARRIS: Got more for milk? That's what consumers will be saying as the price of milk shoots up. What's going on here?

Stephanie Elam is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Stephanie, all right, so the price of milk is up. By how much?

ELAM: Hey, Tony. Well, we're looking that by the fall we could see a jump of about 60 cents in some areas where there's milk.

HARRIS: Oh, come on.

ELAM: I know. It sounds like -- it sounds like I'm making it up, but I'm serious. This is really what we're looking at.

In fact, some people may see, like, 30 cents, up to 60 cents. We're seeing this growth here. So, as far as the numbers are concerned, looking on average about a nine percent jump...

HARRIS: Wow.

ELAM: ... from the price of milk from January until we get to the fall later on this year.

HARRIS: Well, what's going on? What's driving this?

ELAM: Well, a lot of this has to do with the rising cost of energy, as well as the rising cost of feed. Now, this is probably not too much of a surprise, because you've heard about ethanol.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: And you may be going, "What does ethanol have to do with my milk?"

HARRIS: Well, it's the corn.

ELAM: Eight, exactly. It's the corn, and cows eat corn. But because it's been so expensive, farmers haven't been feeding their cows the corn, and so, therefore, the cows are like, we're not giving you as much milk either.

HARRIS: I see.

What about the rising fuel cost? Is that transportation cost?

ELAM: That's part of it, too, but all of it feeds into it. If the demand for this energy goes up, then it's going to affect the feed, and that's what affects the cows here.

So that's part of the reason why we're seeing this ramp up. And farmers have actually had two and a half years of this low price of milk actually hurting them as well. So this is actually kind of coming around.

It's also easy for department -- department stores -- grocery stores...

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: ... to actually lift the cost of milk without you really having, you know, much say in it, because they can say -- they can pad those numbers, too. So you can see that number feeding over there.

One interesting tidbit, though, Tony...

HARRIS: Yes?

ELAM: ... a lot of times you would think people, when they see things going up they don't spend as much. With gas, you see people may not drive as much. But with milk, consumers have got to have it. Usually they keep on buying it. They just cut back a little bit, but not the huge demand cutback as you might think.

HARRIS: Well, you know what? The other thing I'm thinking about here is a company like Nestles, there's milk, there's milk chocolate. And I would imagine -- you know the connection I'm making here?

ELAM: Oh, I see it. There's milk chocolate and chocolate milk. HARRIS: That's right.

ELAM: So you have all these things covered. And they're saying they can't even keep their prices increasing fast enough actually to match up -- on the retail side, at least, to match up with the increases necessary for the energy costs and feed costs for milk. So, when you see the companies talking about it, then you know you're going to be paying some more at the grocery store, too.

HARRIS: Everything is just getting more and more expensive. That's just life in any city these days.

Stephanie, great to see you, lady.

ELAM: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Have a good day.

ELAM: You, too.

HARRIS: OK.

COLLINS: The U.S. says he calls the shots for Al Qaeda in Iraq. Now is he on the receiving end of the shots?

Al-Masri, dead or alive? In the NEWSROOM.

Also, immigration. In Washington, it's about making policy. In New Mexico, it's about making a living. A rancher on the frontlines of the border battle, his story then and now, right here in the NEWSROOM.

Also, a truck on the tracks, and here comes a train. Ouch. Exclusive I-Report pictures ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Among our top stories this hour, we are following reports of the death of a reputed terror leader in Iraq. Abu Ayyub al-Masri, head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, said to have been killed in fighting with Sunni tribes. This has not been confirmed by the U.S. military or the Iraqi government. Iraqi security forces are trying to retrieve the body and perform DNA tests. Born in Egypt, al-Masri followed Abu Musab al- Zarqawi as head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda in Iraq, has been blamed for much of that country's insurgent activities.

Sectarian violence in Iraq getting the blame for a sharp rise in worldwide terror attacks. A new State Department report says there were 14,000 terror attacks around the world last year. Almost half of them in Iraq. The total is more than 25 percent higher than the year before. The report says more than 20,000 people lost their lives in last year's attacks. Two-thirds of those deaths were in Iraq, and the report also says al Qaeda and other Islamic militants have found a new safe haven in a border province in northwestern Pakistan.

Then and now. Last year amid the marches we took a look at the immigration issue through the eyes of someone who lives along a porous border. In fact, his land is the first American soil touched by thousands of illegal immigrants.

Here now is his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): It's 8:40 in the morning. The New Mexico, Mexico border. James Johnson and his father head out to survey the family business. For five generations this family has ranched and farmed an 18-mile stretch along the U.S.-Mexican border. The Johnsons say there have always been people crossing their land illegally from Mexico. But in the past few years it's gotten much worse.

(on camera): That's a...

JAMES JOHNSON, BORDER RANCHER: Pickup.

COLLINS: Pickup with what about, what do you think?

JOHNSON: Probably 10 people in it.

COLLINS: Ten people.

(voice-over): It's the end of the morning rush across the Johnsons land.

(on camera): It's now 10:45. And for the last 45 minutes we've been looking all over the Johnson's land for new trails, new footprints and they are basically everywhere you look.

JOHNSON: You can see individual footprints. I mean, you can see a man's footprint right here. This looks like a man's work boot. And over here is probably a man's tennis shoe.

COLLINS (voice-over): The family says at least 500 people try to cross every day, damaging fences, destroying water supplies, and leaving trash everywhere.

JOHNSON: But if you look in, I mean, there's cans of tuna, there's bottles of water, there's actually, I think, a Pedialite looking bottle there on the ground. This has kind of become a shelter for illegals.

COLLINS: Here's where it starts. This small Mexican town, Los Chavez (ph), has become a staging area for illegal crossings. It's just a stone's throw from the ranch. The once thriving village now dilapidated, full of guns and drug dealers. The Johnsons can give you the play by play. JOHNSON: Go down here and basically unload at the little store. A lot of the people will go inside this store and get water bottles and burritos and things like that, though, and then these people will -- they'll find their way basically from there to find their guide for the night.

JOHNSON: From there, pickup trucks take them high into the hills, where a coyote or a human smuggler, will guide them down and across the Johnson's land into the United States. The Border Patrol is adding 250 new agents. With better surveillance, infrared cameras and eyes in the sky, they're saying you can run but you can't hide.

We watch as one chopper circles and spots a target. A few minutes later a group of illegal immigrants are brought down the hilltop.

We asked, why do they take the risk? The answer, they need work.

(on camera): It's 12:40 in the afternoon, and now the next stop for these 16 people is Columbus (ph), New Mexico, just a little ways down the road, where they'll be processed. If they are, in fact, all Mexican, they'll likely be back across the border by 5:00 tonight.

(voice-over): As for the Johnsons, whose ranch is ground zero for this high-risk game, they fully support legal immigration. James thinks many of these problems would end with a good guest-worker program.

JOHNSON: We feel for the Mexican people. I almost feel like these people coming across are my people, too, because I've lived around them and been with them my whole life.

COLLINS: It's now dusk, around 7:30. Another group of illegal crossers are returned back to the Mexican border. Most vow to try again. Hide and seek, the game goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and see if we can get an update on this situation now, exactly one year later. James Johnson is the rancher you just saw in my report. He's joining us now live this morning from El Paso, Texas.

Nice to see you again, James, sans the cowboy hat today.

Let's talk for just a minute, if we could, about what has changed since I was able to walk around your land with you. Give us a big picture.

JOHNSON: Well, we have seen the increase of the Border Patrol agents. I'm not sure that we've seen the 250. The Border Patrol won't tell us their current numbers. What we've also seen tin flux of the National Guard along the border. And for a time it slowed things down. In October and November we really didn't see a whole lot of traffic across the border. It dipped sharply in December, which is kind of a seasonal drop anyway. But now we're starting to see lot more crossings again and they're starting to find the weak spots in the defense system that they've created along the border.

COLLINS: What is the weak spot? What is the trick now that apparently there is at least some increased patrol that allows them to still be able to come in?

JOHNSON: Well, where there's a will, there's a way, Heidi. And a lot of these people have done nothing but sit and study the National Guard and sit and study the Border Patrol. You know, we know that there's still a success rate because of the amount of bus traffic that's on the south side that's going between Columbus and Los Chapas (ph), and that bus traffic has escalated since Christmas, and that's always a seasonal increase, and we know that, but as long as there is bus traffic going back and forth, there's an obvious success rate.

COLLINS: So would you say then that nothing has changed?

JOHNSON: Well, I would say that, you know, it's definitely slowed down and it's made it harder for these people. But, you know, part of our plan, or part of what I thought would be a good system would be three parts, and I think we're building the infrastructure, which was one thing. We've increased the manpower, which was the second point. But these people are desperately seeking employment. They're desperately seeking a better life. Where there's a will, there's a way, and they're always going to find the weaknesses in our border.

COLLINS: It's interesting to me, because toward the end of the piece there you say, you know, I kind of feel like these are my people, too. I mean, I've lived around them my whole life, don't feel good about the situation in any regard. You talk a lot about a guest- worker program. Lay it out for me.

JOHNSON: Well, you know, we're really literally on the fence on both issues. We're right along the border, but we're also huge agricultural employers, and we're starting to feel the crunch of the labor situation now. And with our proximity to the border it's impossible for us to work illegal aliens. So we have an entirely legal workforce. And we're starting to feel there's a very small percentage of people on unemployment right now in our state, and everybody around us is having a hard time getting the numbers of employees. And we're working with very thin margins as it is. So it's hard to say, OK, just pay the people more money and they will come.

So, you know, most of these people don't want to become U.S. citizens anyway. They're just seeking a better life. Their allegiance lies to the Mexican flag. That's why you still see them when very -- they're marching from the streets, they have the Mexican flag. So I really like the idea of a guest-worker program. I think it gives them a good way to come over here, earn a living, it's very clean money, and they go home when their job is done.

COLLINS: But you did say, James -- I mean, are you saying that it's difficult for you and fellow ranchers, at least in that area, to employ -- I mean, you have a lot of land there -- all legal workers?

JOHNSON: Well, you would think that it wouldn't be with our proximity to the border. You would think that it would be very easy for us to employ illegal aliens. But we have literally probably 20 Border Patrol agents on the farm and the ranch per day. And you know, they don't know who's the good guy and who's the bad guy. So they usually end up stopping everybody and asking questions. So it's impossible for us to ever employ an illegal aliens.

COLLINS: Well, I know that the Border Patrol is certainly increased, with questions about the length of their training and how much they're learning about exactly what to be looking for have also come up. So we'll continue to follow this story along with you, if that's all right. James Johnson coming to us from El Paso, Texas today.

James, nice to see you. Thanks.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HARRIS: Author, anchor, on-air activist -- Lou Dobbs and his battle against illegal immigration. He joins us in the NEWSROOM coming up.

The children of deported illegal immigrants face a tough choice. Follow their dream or follow their parents. That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Well, they don't make car bumpers like they used do, do they? One gator that's not afraid of the law. The law not too worried about him either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alligators are very docile creatures. We just try to get it back to its natural habitat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Yes, he looks docile, right? Well, We're going to answer that age-old question, why did the gator cross the road? Coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And as we get the business day started and open the books on a new month, the Dow begins May at 13,062 after closing down 58 points yesterday.

Heidi, investors are taking some chips on the table, cashing in a bit. Here we go. We're up 26 points. This is the way we want to start May. We are checking the business headlines with Susan Lisovicz, back from a couple days off. She joins us throughout the morning right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A pair of DUI charges cost a college president his job. William Frawley fired from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Frawley was charged with drunken driving on consecutive days in April. The first after he flipped his car. He left the hospital against his doctor's advice and was arrested again when police saw him driving home with a missing front tire.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right, so this is a scary story. A traffic tie-up on a San Antonio freeway, not from a vehicle, but from a seven-foot reptile.

Eric Runyon (ph) of affiliate WOAI has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC RUNYON, WOAI AFFILIATE: Cornered in a drainage ditch and prodded by police, a seven-foot gator strikes a pose. This gator's early-morning errands took him out of the water and on to 410.

OFC. ALBERT SILVA, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: We all responded to the area, try to get him off of the highway. It's a pretty hard task, but we finally got him.

RUNYON: But not before the gator got a bite of bumper.

DAVID CHAVEZ, STATE GAME WARDEN: Alligators are very docile creatures.

RUNYON: Though they tend to be a little stubborn -- when popped on the head.

CHAVEZ: We just try to get it back to its natural habitat.

RUNYON: It took a true Texas tradition to finally get the gator going in the right direction. And with a quick belly roll for a camera and a wink goodbye, the gator got the hint -- he'd over-stayed his welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: OK. Well, maybe it wasn't that scary of a story. And you think that the officer doing the old...

HARRIS: For the camera, a little bit? A little showy. A little.

COLLINS: Who's criticizing. A long time since I wrangled up an alligator.

HARRIS: And you did do that in another life. What haven't you done? The list of Heidi's -- I'm sorry.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, pet food fears are widening the investigation. Will it affect what's on your dinner table, interesting question. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM. COLLINS: Also, President Bush describes it, dead before arrival. The controversial war funding bill could end up on his desk today. What then? I think we know. Find out in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And the United States, a melting pot, heating to a boil. From the beltway to the border, why immigration is the No. 1 issue for millions of men, women and children. A closer look, coming up.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Tainted food for animals, not just a problem for household pets. Now, getting closer to what we eat.

CNN's Joe Johns has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FDA says 38 poultry farms in Indiana received contaminated feed from China in early February, and fed it to poultry within days of receiving it. Thirty of the farms raise broiler chickens for people to eat. Eight farms raise chickens for breeding.

The FDA says all of the broilers, which are believed to have eaten feed contaminated with melamine, have since been processed into human food.

The agency adds, the likelihood of illness after eating those chickens is quote, "very low."

When melamine first showed up in tainted pet food, it appeared that this might have been an isolated incident. But Chinese business officials have told the "New York Times" that melamine has been routinely added to various types of animal feed there for years. Why? To make buyers think that the protein levels were higher than they actually were, increasing the market value.

So why did melamine suddenly start killing pets? Scientists now say it was combined with another chemical.

ALAN WILDEMAN, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH: Well, I think we've identified what we feel is an important and likely underlying causative agent of why the animals are getting sick.

JOHNS: Scientists from Canada and the U.S. believe they may have unlocked a mystery. They've learned that melamine combined with another contaminant found in the pet food, cyanuric acid, forms crystals in the kidneys.

WILDEMAN: What we've done is experiments that show, if you take cat urine and you add melamine to it, and cyanuric acid, the crystals will form in the cat urine in a test tube as you're watching them. So it happens within a matter of hours.

JOHNS: It's the crystals that are suspected of killing the pets. The ASPCA has seen a case that suggests that's exactly what happened.

DR. LOUISE MURRAY, ASPCA BERGH MEMORIAL ANIMAL HOSPITAL: We actually had a case recently where the cat's kidneys were completely obstructed. And when we went to surgery, to try to relieve the obstruction, there was no normal stone. Instead, the aortas were completely full of these melamine-type crystal.

JOHNS: And now the pet food investigation has turned into scrutiny of the human food supply.

CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL, CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: We see the pet food recall as a warning sign for the government that they need to do more to protect the food supply. It could easily happen to an ingredient used in human food as well.

JOHNS: The FDA has already announced that 6,000 hogs in several states may have eaten tainted pet food and should be destroyed and not put into the human food chain.

Meanwhile, the FDA investigation into China continues. A lawyer for one of the U.S. companies that received tainted wheat gluten from China confirms that his client received a search warrant for documents and computer files that was served last week. And FDA inspectors are expected to head to China to continue the probe.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, the face of terror, rival militants clash in Iraq, possibly killing a top leader. We're chasing down reports for you this morning in the NEWSROOM.

Also, arthur/anchor, on-air activist, Lou Dobbs and his battle against illegal immigration. He'll join us in the NEWSROOM, coming up.

But first, the children of deported illegal immigrants face a tough choice -- follow their dream or follow their parent. That story for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A house divided, children fending for themselves when their parents who are here illegally are deported.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERES MATA, DAUGHTER OF DEPORTEE: We are sad and depressed, living in Mexico.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are the words of a desperate young girl to the president of the United States.

MATA: I am 15 years old. Can you please help us?

GUTIERREZ: Teres Mata's world was turned upside down after her mother, an undocumented worker, was arrested and deported to Mexico after living in the United States for 20 years, leaving Theresa and four brothers all alone in Yakima, Washington.

After their mother was deported, her older brother had to drop out of high school to support his siblings. For four months they struggled to stay together, but couldn't make it. So neighbors raised money to fly Theresa and her two younger brothers to be with their mother in Jalisco, Mexico. A country they had never been to before was now home.

(on camera): In Mexico you had to leave school in order to work?

MATA: Yes. Because we didn't have money.

GUTIERREZ: What would happen to your education?

MATA: Well, I just went away for a while, but I didn't want to leave school, because like, that was something really important and I wanted to graduate and be something in my life.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Teres' dreams of becoming a veterinarian dashed at the age 14.

MATA: I feel sad.

GUTIERREZ: What makes you feel sad?

MATA: Like just remembering every day I had to wake up early in the morning and go to work.

GUTIERREZ: Where did you work?

MATA: In a cafeteria.

GUTIERREZ: Then something happened that would change her fate.

(on camera): One day while Teres' mother was waitressing, she met a California couple and told them her story. She asked the couple to help her American children return home.

(voice-over): Alicia Flores went to Teres' home and shot this videotape.

ALICIA FLOES, GUARDIAN: I wanted to see the suffering, especially the suffering of these children.

GUTIERREZ: Flores returned to California, and a few weeks later Teres faxed her this letter, appealing to President Bush. Her touching words prompted Flores to bring Teres back to the United States.

Teres is just one of 3 million American children born to undocumented parents who face separation if their mother or father is deported.

GARY MEAD, U.S. IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: They really only have two choices. They can take the child with them back to their country of origin or they can leave the child with relatives or other guardians.

GUTIERREZ: That's why Flores offered to open her home to a girl she didn't know, an agonizing decision for Teres and her mother, who would have to be separated once again.

Recently, Teres' brother, Jesus, also came to live with the Flores family in California.

It is a bittersweet homecoming. Teres and Jesus are back in the country of their birth, living with a family of strangers, not sure if they'll live with their mother ever again.

MATA: Oh, God, I wish I was you so I could bring my mom back again, but I can't.

GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Oxnard, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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