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American Morning
Goldman Criminal Probe?; Oil Slick Threatens Four States
Aired April 30, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, happy Friday morning to you. It's the 30th of April, last day of April. Thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning, I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry, glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we're talking about in the next 15 minutes. First, the oil spill, the disaster growing off the Gulf of Mexico and making an environmental disaster looming.
As we speak, the first ribbons of oil are reportedly already staining Louisiana's fragile coast. Fishermen and military are gearing up and crews are racing to stop the flow of oil before this disaster tops the damage done by the Exxon Valdez spill.
ROBERTS: Their executives were just grilled by U.S. lawmakers, now Goldman Sachs could be the target of a criminal investigation. Reports say the Securities and Exchange Commission has referred the case to the Justice Department. How good is the government's case against the Wall Street giant? Christine Romans will lay it all out for us.
CHETRY: Living in Feartown, the life of a Latino in Phoenix as the battle lines are drawn over Arizona's new immigration law, we look at how even some legal immigrants are being forced to live in the shadows or even move back to Mexico.
And of course the "A.M. Fix" blog is up and running. Head to CNN.com/amfix and we'll read your comments throughout the show.
ROBERTS: Let's get you updated on our breaking news this morning. An ecological nightmare in the making, that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reportedly reached Louisiana's shoreline. It has been declared a spill of national significance, covering an area that is now more 100 miles long and 45 miles wide.
The slick is passing over the nation's most fertile waters, threatening hundreds of species of birds and fish, shellfish, the region's fishing industry. Right now the White House is staging a show of force, ready to send in military reinforcements to help contain the spill.
Louisiana's governor is declaring the state must be prepared for the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL, (R) LOUISIANA: I issued a state of emergency response to the spill which positions us to deploy state assets and further engage the federal government. We've been working with local officials to assess their needs, and they have set up their own command centers.
We've asked BP and the Coast Guard to have direct contact so they've got direct communications with the Parrish leaders to make sure they are immediately getting their needs and their concerns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: This morning we've got the story covered. Rob Marciano is tracking the wind and the waves, hampering containment efforts. We also have Reynolds Wolf live in Venice, Louisiana. That's where we'll start. What is the latest down there as we talk about these first ribbons of oil are reaching the coastline this morning?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Some of the first reports we have, Kiran, have to do with that oil, although there have been reports the coast guard has yet to confirm those.
However, within the hour, the coast guard is expected to go up, aerial reconnaissance, take a look at the oil slick and see if it has made contact with land at this time.
With the governor's emergency declaration just yesterday, they have already moved about 175,000 feet of that emergency boom around parts of the state. They are expected to move another half million feet of that. And they are expected to move it not just here in Louisiana but in many other places around the region.
CHETRY: You were on the boat, and you had to actually turn back. What happened?
WOLF: What happened yesterday is we did get on a craft, a 65- foot vessel into the Gulf of Mexico. About a mile out into the Gulf, once we moved in there into an area of convergence where you had the Mississippi moving into the Gulf of Mexico, the strong winds moving in the opposite direction.
It was incredibly rough. The seas had us bouncing all over the place. The instrument light cluster on part of the front of the boat was knocked off. Our photojournalist losing footing and our producer, same thing. To be plain and simple to you, it was scary as hell, not just for me but also for the boat captain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: And what would happen if we had stayed that course and kept going? Any chance we could have gotten knocked over by a wave?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, whenever you turn around, it could roll you over.
WOLF: This is a big boat. We're talking 65 feet. Most people would say this can handle it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative. No way.
WOLF: What does it say about the guys trying to contain this oil? If they are in boats this size, they have to go back to shore?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they were in boats this size, but most of them are on bigger boats than this size, 110 foot plus. So they can handle it right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: There's no question that the wind played a tremendous factor in creating those waves. That's a really important component to mention, because that is one of the things transferring the oil from one part of the Gulf to the shores here in Louisiana threatening many of the places you and John have been talking about throughout the morning, those federally protected wildlife areas.
One of ten of them could be affected. Just to the south, the Delta National Wildlife refuge -- and keep in mind there are 10 in Louisiana and Mississippi that may be affected in the coming days. We could see the oil spread to the coastlines of Alabama and even into Florida on Monday.
That is the latest guys, let's send it back to you in the studio.
CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf for this morning, some scary moments trying to get out there on ship and get a closer look. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Let's check in now with Rob Marciano, who is monitoring the wind, the waves, and the currents as to where this oil slick may go. He's at the Weather Center in Atlanta. What are we looking at today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Rough seas, as Reynolds mentioned. They'll build throughout the day as will the winds. So that's the main concern. Coastal flood watch has been post, was posted yesterday, not because of the oil slick but because the water will be moving onshore and the high tides will make it much higher than normal.
Here's where the slick is. Some of the winds we're seeing across this area into the teens and 20s as far as what sorts of winds are affecting it, all blowing the slick directly to the shoreline.
Last night this is what it looked like, very close to the shoreline. Today this is what they expect for a forecast. If it's not already onshore, it will be today. The black highlighted area is the uncertainty, meaning -- if the forecast is worse than they anticipate, much more shoreline and sensitive coastline will be affected.
Saturday brings it east of Lake Pontchartrain up to coastal Mississippi. And then you can imagine what Sunday brings, probably a little farther north and to the east.
Winds not helping us at all. I don't see a wind shift, John and Kiran, until Monday or Tuesday. Until then, they will be onshore and onshore in a very strong fashion. Back to you.
CHETRY: Well, no cooperation from the weather, that's for sure. Thanks, Rob.
At this rate this could easily eclipse the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the Exxon Valdez disaster. We get more now in an "A.M. Extra." And 11 million gallons of oil leaked from the grounded tanker in Alaska's Prince William Sound. That was back in 1989.
In the three months that it could take to drill a relief well, and that's the worst case scenario right now, 200,000 gallons a day, this spill could dwarf that one. Officials say there is a lot more in the wells than there is in a single tanker.
So what can official dozen now that the disaster is getting out of control? Just ahead we'll talk to Rear Admiral Sally Brice O'Hara. She is the deputy commandant for the operations with the U.S. coast guard.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning, President Obama whittling down his short list of candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Sources tell CNN Solicitor General Elena Kagan is considered a frontrunner. Federal appeals judge Diane Wood out of Chicago is also said to be a top choice.
The president wants to nominate someone by the end of May.
CHETRY: And two local coal miners now confirmed dead at a Kentucky mine accident. They were trapped after a roof collapsed in western Kentucky. Officials say that this is a mine that had a history of safety violations. State and federal records show more than 40 orders to close sections of the mine since January of 2009.
ROBERTS: A final police report on the whale attack at Sea World, Orlando, says the trainer briefly freed herself before being killed. Forty-year-old Dawn Brancheau was working with the 12,000 pound Orca when her hair floated into the whale's mouth and she was dragged under. Police say the video of the attack reveals she was killed in less than three minutes.
CHETRY: A headache for rush hour travelers in Boston after an electrical fire brought the city's subway service to a grinding halt overnight. Several people were treated for smoke inhalation. Officials say the intense heat from the fire damaged a series of power lines. Subway service is back up this morning, but it is delayed.
ROBERTS: This is not exactly what NASA had in mind. Strong winds sent a helium balloon and its state of the art telescope crashing through a fence on takeoff, forcing spectators in Australia to run for their lives.
The balloons are launched into the stratosphere, carrying cutting edge telescopes that are supposed to give astronomers a much clearer view of space. Next time NASA says the public will not be allowed so close just in case there were to be some sort of a mishap.
CHETRY: Yes, but all of those years of work and then it just comes crashing down like that. They don't think they can salvage any of it.
ROBERTS: Back to the drawing board.
CHETRY: Right now it can only cost them cash, something they have plenty off, but some Goldman Sachs executives will now pay for the process perhaps with their freedom? The tales of possible criminal charges against the bank that can't lose, Christine Romans joins us with more.
ROBERTS: And living in Feartown. Latinos in Phoenix fleeing illegal or not in fear of the backlash from a new immigration law.
CHETRY: Also at 7:30, oil spilling ashore, hundreds of thousands gallons behind it. We'll check in with the coast guard on efforts to stop what could be an epic environmental disaster.
It's ten minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's 13 minutes after the hour. Christine Romans is here "Minding your Business." The SEC complaint may get bumped up a little bit because the DOJ looking into Goldman Sachs collateralized debt obligations.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And the only commenting on this is Goldman Sachs, frankly. DOJ, SEC, no one is giving us anything on the record about where they are about a criminal investigation into Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs says "Given the recent focus on the firm, we're not surprised by the report of an inquiry. We would fully cooperate with any requests for information."
"We would fully cooperate with any requests for information." It leads you to believe this is just beginning. In fact, the reports are it's the SEC that referred this to the Department of Justice on Thursday. This would be a criminal probe into Goldman Sachs' trading, the very kinds of things the SEC has already charged fraud for.
As you know, this is all about one transaction between the big hedge fund manager, a guy who's a billionaire, who wanted to bet short on some mortgages, and according to the SEC actually helped design and pick the bad mortgages to go into this product, a product that Goldman Sachs then sold to other investors without disclosing.
Goldman Sachs said they didn't do anything wrong. At the very fascinating hearings this week on Capitol Hill, Lloyd Blankfein addressed the SEC case. He is the CEO of Goldman Sachs. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD BLANKFEIN, CEO, GOLDMAN SACHS: While we strongly agree with the SEC's complaint, I also recognize how such a complicated transaction may look to many people. To them it is confirmation of how out of control they believe Wall Street has become, no matter how sophisticated the parties or what disclosures were made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So there you have it. I mean, this is just the beginning of the troubles I think many people think for Goldman Sachs here. This is not very surprisingly really a criminal investigation. Because, look, when you've got an SEC case of this magnitude, of course, you would expect, you know, the Feds to take a look at it. The question is where it goes from here.
Is this business as usual as he was sort of saying, very complicated stuff? You know, we understand how you can look at it from the surface and not quite understand how all of this works, or was there something illegal going on? That's what they're trying to figure out.
CHETRY: And a lot of financial analysts say it's going to be tough to prove. I mean, fraud is hard to prove. And you know, in this case with all of the complicated derivatives and all of that, that it might be harder to prove.
ROMANS: There's also a back story going on here about why the SEC didn't elect Goldman or didn't try to settle with Goldman, which seems to be another interesting part of the case because there are many people who say that Goldman may have been interested in trying to settle this, which is usually what happens on Wall Street is settle -- you know, and many are denying the deal.
ROBERTS: That hearing was amazing though, inside and outside the hearing room.
ROMANS: Oh.
ROBERTS: You chasing Fab Tourre down the hallway.
ROMANS: I know. Chasing him with all of these other people and the French press just mobbing him. What's your defense, sir? What's your defense, sir?
ROBERTS: And then you say he looked like he wanted to throw up.
ROMANS: He looks like he wanted to throw up. And then I heard somebody. Somebody yelled at him, how does it feel to be the man responsible for destroying the American economy?
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: And here's just this guy trying to get out of there. You know, I can never --
CHETRY: Protesters were wearing prison colored jumpsuits and handcuffs.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: And running after him.
ROMANS: And they think the bottom line for this criminal investigation is a lot of people, what this mean for you, or a lot of people are saying, we want -- we want to see someone, you know, really -- really pay.
ROBERTS: Yes. They want blood from someone.
ROMANS: Right. And so, you know, we'll see. The criminal investigation underway.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: "Minding Your Business" this morning.
CHETRY: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, we're going to be speaking with Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara about the Coast Guard efforts to contain the spill. The president promising more resources. Will other branches of the military also lend a hand, and how soon may they be able to stem the flow of oil?
Seventeen minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 20 minutes past the hour now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We'll following the latest this morning on the oil spill in Louisiana. President Obama now sending three of his top officials to the state. He wants them to see firsthand the massive oil slick that's threatening to become one of the most environmental disasters in U.S. history.
ROBERTS: Four states are on alert: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. For more, let's bring Rear Admiral Sally Brice- O'Hara in. She is the deputy commandment for operations with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Admiral, great to see you this morning. Where is the bulk of the oil spill now? How much is coming ashore? And what's the status of efforts to keep most of it from coming onshore?
REAR ADM. SALLY BRICE-O'HARA, DEPUTY COMMANDANT FOR OPERATIONS, U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to talk this morning. I want to assure you that the federal government has had immediate sustained and scaled response to this incident. It is very serious. We have good coordination among all of the federal agencies, but more importantly, the responsible party, BP, has had close oversight of their actions to respond and cleanup this oil. Our first priority is to get it stemmed at the source, but that is ongoing with all of the surface efforts at sea. And now our focus has turned to the shoreline. We've 180,000 feet of boom deployed to protect those sensitive ecosystems.
CHETRY: Right. And let's start with the options for trying to stop the spill underground right now. What are they and how likely are any of them to work?
BRICE-O'HARA: Well, they continue to try and work with the blowout preventer. There's some technologies that they continue to apply to try and get that crimped to stop that flow. They are also engineering a dome of copper band (ph) that will be lowered to the ocean floor to enclose that area that's leaking. And then we'll be able to have a line rise to the surface from which we can extract that product until they can get the relief well drilled, which is the permanent solution to closing down the well that is causing this leak.
ROBERTS: Admiral, last week about this time last week, maybe a day earlier, we heard from the Coast Guard, Coast Guards, that things seemed like they're pretty good, there's no oil leaking from the rig. Was the Coast Guard premature, was the Coast Guard too quick in saying there is no oil leak, it looks like it's contained? And is too much trust being put in the oil industry to assess incidents like this?
BRICE-O'HARA: Well, initially, you'll recall this incident started as an explosion with significant fire. So the oil that was leaking literally went up in flames. It burnt off and then as the rig collapsed, sank to the bottom, then we realized that we were still having some leakage. And it has been apparent that the quantity has been better calculated and understood as we've learned more about where the leaks are, as we've observed on the surface what the spread of the product has been. And it has allowed us to refine. The science has helped us refine the estimates of what's being discharged.
ROBERTS: Admiral, if I could, though, we were told by Admiral Mary Landry after the rig sank, that submersibles had gone down and that there was no oil leak. Was that assessment premature? And again to my point about oil companies, is there too much trust being put in these oil companies to assess the situation?
BRICE-O'HARA: Well, there was a 5,000-foot line that had to be assessed. And so it took very careful scrutiny with these ROVs to look at every piece of that pipeline and riser to ensure that we knew what was happening. And it was then that we detected two leaks and then more recently this week, the third leak. And so we've learned more as we have gone through continued evaluation, technology assessments and scientific examination of what we're seeing on the surface.
CHETRY: On top of that, the president is talking about helping you guys out, meaning the Coast Guard, the first responders to this, by bringing other aspects of the military, other branches of the military to help you out. Where will they be of the most help? And where are they going to be deployed as this disaster starts to grow and get closer to the coastlines?
BRICE-O'HARA: Well, we have a number of different efforts that are ongoing. At sea, we are working to apply dispersants to break up the oil. There are skimming operations to collect the oil. We've collected more than 20,000 barrels of oily water mix. And that will be ongoing. That's going to be sustained effort for quite a while to come.
We also have the controlled burn that was very, very successful. We're waiting for a window of weather so that we can safely do another controlled burn to remove some of that product and keep it from getting to shore. As we've watched trajectories and seen this spill moving closer to shore, the focus has been to get booms in place to protect critical habitats and to also have boats and skimming equipment at the ready when this comes close to shore. There are a number of volunteers that are being employed on the beaches. We're working with the federal family and we are certainly very carefully watching the responsible party, BP, in their efforts to fight this oil.
ROBERTS: Admiral, sorry, can I just come back to this point one more time because you didn't answer the question when I asked you. So I just want to put it you one more time.
Initial estimates by BP were 1,000 barrels a day were leaking. The government went down, took a look and said no, it's 5,000. Is too much faith, too much trust being put in the oil companies to assess incidents like this?
BRICE-O'HARA: I believe that it has to be a combined effort by the industry, specialists as well as the government specialists. And as we move through our understanding of what we were dealing with, 5,000 feet below the surface, it has been continually refined as we got more information as we assess that information and as we combine that assessment with what we were seeing on the surface.
So it has been a very difficult and complex effort to precisely state what the release has been. But we continue to bring every asset to bear just as we have been doing since this started on the 20th of April.
ROBERTS: OK.
BRICE-O'HARA: We continue to bring assets to fight this oil.
ROBERTS: OK. Rear Admiral Sally Brice, thanks for joining us this morning. Good luck in the efforts to contain that spill. Appreciate you coming in.
BRICE-O'HARA: Thank you. Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks.
Well, they call it living in "fear town." Latinos in Phoenix, Arizona, fleeing, illegal or not, some say because of fear of a backlash from a new immigration law. One married couple's tough choice as well.
Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Half past the hour now and checking this morning's top stories. A state of emergency in Louisiana. A 600-square mile oil slick from a leaking offshore well has reportedly reached the coast now. So far, robots working under water have not been able to slow the leak. And other strategies to stop it could take weeks, if not months, to succeed.
CHETRY: Buses will replace some trains in downtown Boston this morning after a smoky fire forced riders out of underground subway trains last night. Witnesses say that the heavy smell was consistent with an electrical fire. Emergency workers say they treated 20 people for smoke inhalation.
ROBERTS: A NASA launch takes a terrible turn in Australia's strong winds sent a helium balloon and its state of the art telescope tumbling across the landscape crashing through a fence on takeoff, hit an SUV, bam.
Spectators ended up running for their lives when the balloon runaway. It was supposed to carry cutting edge telescopes into the stratosphere to give astronomers a much clearer view of space. NASA is promising another launch and a better launch. Next time, they say, we'll keep the public a little further away just in case. Watch this. That's a close-up look if ever I saw one.
CHETRY: The guy right outside the SUV running for his life. He got lucky as well.
Turning to our top stories this morning. There are new reports oil is washing ashore on Louisiana's coast line, home to hundreds of species of wildlife. Joining me now to talk more about the impact of this spill could have on the environment from Venice, Louisiana, Luann White. She is an environmental health and toxicology professor at Tulane University.
Also from New Orleans, Dean Blanchard. He is the president of Dean Blanchard Seafood. It's certainly hard for so many fishermen and others who rely on the wildlife and sea life there to make their living like you. Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
DEAN BLANCHARD, DEAN BLANCHARD SEAFOOD: Good morning.
CHETRY: Let me start with Dr. White quickly just about the environmental impact right now. They say the oil is reaching shore, the coast guard will be doing a flyover to confirm that. What about the potential environmental consequences of this spill?
LUANN WHITE, DIRECTOR, TULANE CENTER FOR APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, there's certainly immense potential consequences. This is such a fragile eco system. We have thousands of birds, of aquatic life. We also have our swampy grasses and marshland that protect us from more coastal erosion.
CHETRY: And not only that, but in some cases, Dr. White, they say this disbursant is actually toxic for some of the sea life as well. It doesn't seem like there's any great options here. I know they are doing hundreds of thousands of feet of boom to try keep some of that oil away from the shore. But meantime, how big of a calamity are we looking at in terms of the environmental impact?
WHITE: Well, it could possibly be immense. As oil comes up, it depends what state the oil is in. Some of it has been out there for a very long time so it has aged so it will be more tarry and more gooey. Other that hasn't been out there as long may be more like an emulsion. It is that emulsion that's more likely to cause the greatest damage to the ecosystem.
CHETRY: Dean, I want to talk to you about your livelihood here, 80% of your product in your shrimp business comes from the Gulf Coast. You say that basically what you do is you spend half a million dollars trying to getting ready for the season and make your money during the season which is now. What is your impact on your business that you're bracing for?
BLANCHARD: Well, basically what it is, it's like a farm. We're been nurturing our crop to harvest and can't get in the water to harvest. We're in bad shape. We would like to see BP is come down there and talk to the locals and let the locals get out in the water and help them with the oil spill.
Our locals know the water better than anybody else. And they got a stake in this. You know, I think BP is making a big mistake by not going to the local communities and getting with the people that live there and know the waters best and willing to work and do the job.
CHETRY: What would be some of the things you would be able to do as local fishermen and locals who are familiar with those waters?
BLANCHARD: Well, our fishermen know how to dodge run. They know every nook and cranny in the water. They're willing to work because their livelihood is at stake here. They could put out booms and everything. They tell me what's going on in the gulf right now is not doing their job. The fishermen saying that if they let them get out there, they think they could do a better job.
CHETRY: Right. And are you guys going to be asking for compensation, reimbursement from BP?
BLANCHARD: Well, we're going to need some help. We're going to definitely need some help. This is a disaster. We definitely need some help. I wish BP would come down here and just talk to us. The way it looks now, the only ones that come out of this is the lawyers.
CHETRY: Dr. White, we also have thousands of water fowl. They are nesting right now, it's the height of the breeding season. When you look at the fear about the long-term significance of this, not just right now in the short term but in seasons to come, what are we potentially looking at here?
WHITE: Well, during this time, we have our red fish coming in and they are spawning. We certainly have migratory birds flying in from the south. They use this as their nesting grounds. It has a potential not only for affecting what happens this year, but in future years as a reproductive cycle is broken.
CHETRY: Dean, you also feel that there was some corner cutting going on, one class action lawsuit being filed on behalf of the commercial shrimpers against BP. What do you guys think -- who do you think is to blame for this?
BLANCHARD: I believe this is all greed. This all happened because of greed. Apparently, BP didn't take the necessary steps to have the valve in place to close the thing. It seems to me they should have had a backup system. It all comes down to greed. They are looking to save money. And we're beyond that point right now.
What I would like to see BP do is come in and put our locals back to work. The people they put out of business, put them back to work. Use our hotel and restaurants, let our communities continue to strive. You know, right now we're just a shut down community. Nobody got no money left. Everybody put all of the money into getting ready for shrimp season and we won't be able to harvest our crop because of the greed of BP.
CHETRY: Well, it certainly will have a devastating impact both environmentally and financially. We'll continue to follow it. Dean Blanchard, thanks for giving us your perspective this morning and also Dr. Luann White. We appreciate talking to you as well.
ROBERTS: From the ocean to dry land and the fallout from the new immigration law in Arizona. Has it created a hostile environment for Latinos who are here legally? Do they have no choice but to leave? We'll take a look at that, 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Arizona's new immigration law, Latinos in Phoenix, legal or not, say they are already being targeted.
CHETRY: One of them telling our Thelma Gutierrez that "dogs are treated better than us." Leaving many to live in fear.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, here in Arizona, among some groups within the immigrant community, the fear is palpable. Even though this law will be challenged, some families told us they are not willing to take that risk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): This family is spending their final evening together. In less than 24 hours, this woman, whom we'll call Anna, will say good-bye to her husband and send him out of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's me and my husband.
GUTIERREZ: He is undocumented. She's an American citizen. They are legally married, but say they feel unsafe in the state.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): You're an American citizen, they're obviously not going to be able to deport you. Why are you fearful?
ANNA, HUSBAND IS UNDOCUMENTED: Because this law leaves a lot of room for mistakes.
GUTIERREZ: Don't you have faith in the police in the sheriff's deputies here in the state?
ANNA: No, they also need to enforce the law. If this law becomes into effect, they need to do their job.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): If Anna's husband were stopped, he would likely be arrested and prosecuted under Arizona's new law for being in the state illegally. He says, he has no choice but to leave.
(on camera): You don't want to go? You were happy here? Why are you leaving?
GUTIERREZ: He says he doesn't want his immigration status to jeopardize his wife in any way. Anna is a family counselor and says she can't leave because of her job.
ANNA: I'm a citizen, I'm no criminal. I went to school. I have a master's degree. I'm a professional and I still have to feel this way. I think it's unfair.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): A critic might say that you chose to marry someone undocumented.
ANNA: How do you tell your heart not to? We're not machines. We're not robots. We're humans.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Anna says she's sure other families are leaving because of fear.
ANNA: They were hoping for this exodus of undocumented people. Now it's happening.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Isn't that -- aren't you giving them what they want?
ANNA: They are going to regret it though. They will regret it.
GUTIERREZ: How?
ANNA: Financially, they will not have people working the farms. They will not have people working, picking up strawberries.
GUTIERREZ: What will you tell people about why your husband is not living with you?
ANNA: I will tell them the truth. This is why he's not here. He had to leave. He's not wanted here. And i don't feel that we are wanted as Latinos, we're not wanted here. My heart is broken. I'm in pain.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Thirteen hours after we met them, they spend their last morning together as a couple in Arizona. Then it's time to head out. She wouldn't say where he was going. And she doesn't know when she'll see him again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: Anna and her husband are not alone. We talked to several families who told us, they too will leave Arizona if the law is enacted within 90 days -- John and Kiran?
CHETRY: Unbelievable. Just to see one family's story and she's here legally and just horrible about it.
ROBERTS: That's the concern so many people have with the law. People will be looking at anyone who looks Hispanic with a suspicious eye.
CHETRY: We're going to continue to follow that story as well as severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes in some cases targeting parts of the midwest as well as the gulf area. We're going to get an update from our Rob Marciano coming in a minute, 44 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Live picture of New York City this morning, where it's mostly cloudy, right now 59 degrees. But all of that is going to change a little later when it gets sunny and a high of 78 degrees for the last day of April. Not bad.
ROBERTS: And if you think today is good, wait till tomorrow, 10 degrees hotter than that.
Rob Marciano tracking the weather forecast across the country. What do you got for us today, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, it's going to be a -- a sea of white, and a lot of people bearing skin, I think, in Central Park this weekend, so just bring your shades and take it easy out there and wear the sun sauce if you're sensitive to that for sure.
If you live in the midsection of the country, we're looking at, well, a lot of red, and that's not necessarily good, all the way up to the Canadian border, down south to the Gulf of Mexico. Pretty wide expanse of where we think there's going to be some severe weather today, and we'll see temperatures that will be in the lower to mid-80s in many spots and due points and humidity levels coming up as well.
So the ingredients are there to see some thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes. Right now, just a slight risk of seeing that happen according to the Storm Prediction Center, but, again, a pretty wide swath of it.
We did see some reports of thunderstorms yesterday that could produce tornadoes, six reports of tornadoes yesterday, especially across parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Those lines of thunderstorms have begin to wound down, with the exception of this one about to toll through Kansas City. Still some development with this line of thunderstorms, and we'll see that increase throughout the day today.
And then it will kind of stall out, so we're probably going to see some rain that will produce some flooding across the mid-south from, say, Memphis, Tennessee, south down I-55 and east towards Nashville. So rainfall over the next couple of days will be heavy at times during that time span.
All right, southeast winds continue to come in off the Gulf of Mexico, so this oil slick is coming onshore. I mean, there's -- there's no doubt about it.
We've got coastal flood warnings watches that have been posted for Southeast Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and with winds that have been blowing 20 to 25 miles an hour now it's just taking that top layer of water and anything on it and moving it onshore. So this is coming and it's imminent at this point.
As far as the forecast is concerned, beyond tomorrow, we'll talk more about that at the top of the hour. But, certainly, the -- the sensitive wetlands of Louisiana and even Mississippi look to be definitely inundated by at least -- at least the -- the leading edge of this sheen. Hopefully they can keep the bulk of the more coagulated crude oil offshore, but until then, right now they're just trying to fight back the oil.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Yes, and they got a huge, huge, monumental task ahead of them.
All right, Rob. Thanks so much.
Meanwhile, it's 50 minutes past the hour. Your top stories just a few minutes away, including we're continuing to follow our top story, 120 miles of oil starting to creep ashore, now on track to be one of the worst environmental disasters ever.
We're live in Louisiana. We'll show you what it looks like right now.
ROBERTS: Plus, in half past, get your kids off of Facebook now. The plea from one middle school principal that's got his student body in an uproar. Here's -- he's here to explain.
Those stories and more coming your way, beginning at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Coming up on 54 minutes after the hour. We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
It's time for an "A.M. House Call" and we're "Paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta" on a touching and really remarkable story about fatherhood and friendship.
CHETRY: After being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer, Bruce Fieler enlisted six of his closest friends to look out for his twin daughters in case he doesn't survive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRUCE FEILER, AUTHOR, "THE COUNCIL OF DADS" (voice-over): Dear friends. As you know, I recently learned that I have a seven-inch cancerous tumor in my left leg.
That Tybee and Eden were just turned three. They came running to greet me, laughing, giggling and falling to the ground.
I crumbled. I kept imagining all the walks I might not take with them --
FEILER (on camera): Will you show me your twirls?
FEILER (voice-over): -- the ballet recitals I might not see.
Will they wonder who I was, I thought.
FEILER (on camera): Oh, Daddy painted their faces.
FEILER (voice-over): Will they yearn for my voice?
I believe Eden and Tybee will have plenty of opportunities in their lives. They'll have each other, but they may not have me. They may not have their dad.
Will you help be their dad?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sick, scared and worried, Bruce wrote that letter to six lifelong friends, men who knew his voice, who could be fathers for his daughters. He decided to call them The Council of Dads.
By late July, weeks after his cancer diagnosis, Bruce took the letter 200 miles north to Putney, Vermont, the home of childhood friend, Jeff Shumlin.
JEFF SHUMLIN, COUNCIL OF DADS MEMBER: He said to me before coming up, I want to find some time to -- to spend alone with you.
GUPTA: Nothing could have prepared him for what Bruce was about to ask.
SHUMLIN: Of course, without skipping a heartbeat, I said, Bruce, absolutely yes.
FEILER (on camera): I was saying, will you just be there? Will you take this one side of me and will you convey them that idea?
GUPTA: Jeff would capture Bruce's adventurous side. His philosophy, get off the beaten track. And that's the spirit Bruce wanted Jeff to teach Eden and Tybee.
SHUMLIN: I will get them out of their comfort zone and help them to see the world.
OK, ready? Here we go (ph).
GUPTA: It would take five more men to complete the council. Childhood buddy Ben Edwards, to show the girls where their dad came from; college roommate, Max Stier, to help them live life with passion; poet Josh Ramo, to make them take time to reflect on life; business partner David Black, to teach them to never give up; and close confidant Ben Sherwood, to challenge them to always ask questions; and then, Linda, who would be in charge of them all.
The council, now formed, snapped into action.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're safe now. Don't worry.
GUPTA: In the months to come --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
GUPTA: -- each man assumed his role and began making special connections to Eden and Tybee.
FEILER: We sat down and we were talking about the -- about who these men are, and they were going through it. They're like, oh, yes. There's tadpole Ben, and we went tadpole fishing with him. And there's tractor Jeff, and he took us skiing, OK? And there's chocolate chip David, because he -- he likes to make chocolate chip cookies with us.
DAVID BLACK, COUNCIL OF DADS MEMBER: That smells great.
FEILER: So already, even in their minds, each of them has a personality that they already associate with them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's amazing.
And you can hear more about Bruce's extraordinary story this weekend on the special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." Saturday morning, 7:30, right here on CNN.
And, you know, for -- it's so amazing to kind of be surrounded with such amazing people in his life.
ROBERTS: Isn't it, though? CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: That's so -- that's so great, that, you know, if the worse were to happen, his daughters would be well taken care of.
We're back with your top stories right after the break. Don't go away.
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