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American Morning
Oil Spill Reportedly Reaches Coast; Forget "Drill Baby Drill"?; Eyes on Wall Street; Border Town Murder
Aired April 30, 2010 - 08:00 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 Friday morning and thanks so much for being with us on the Most News in the Morning. It's the 30th of April. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.
And we are tracking several big stories for you this morning.
Our top story: the leading edge of an oil slick now the size of Jamaica reportedly washing ashore in Louisiana. It could devastate the environment and the economy. Now, we say "reportedly" because there still has not been confirmation from the Coast Guard, although they are set to launch a flyover this morning.
Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared. Even President Obama is getting involved, offering additional military help.
We're live from Louisiana to Washington.
ROBERTS: Lawsuits, boycotts and protests planned in more than 70 cities this weekend against a strict new immigration law in Arizona. We'll tell you about an officer who says it is illegal.
CHETRY: And one school principal is telling the parents of his students: keep them off Facebook, adding there is absolutely no reason for kids to be using social networking sites. He'll be here to explain his point of view and why he thinks that you should take your middle schoolers off-line.
And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning. A lot of comments are coming in. And we want to hear from you. Go to CNN.com/amFIX. We'll be reading some of the e-mails throughout the morning.
ROBERTS: But, first, oh -- what a mess it is off of the coast of Louisiana. It's ugly. It's poisonous to wildlife.
And, now, there are reports that the monster oil spill is now hitting parts of Louisiana shoreline as we speak. The tides of crude are now threatening fragile marshland, wildlife, the entire fishing industry.
A state of emergency has been declared down there. The military prepared to move ships and personnel to the region.
Right now, the undersea leak feeding this spill is still uncapped, and efforts to slow the 200,000 gallon-a-day leak have so far failed.
Earlier, we spoke with Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara with the U.S. Coast Guard about how efforts to contain the spill are doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADM. SALLY BRICE-O'HARA, DEP. COMMANDANT FOR OPERATIONS, U.S. COAST GUARD: We have a number of different efforts that are ongoing at sea. We are working to apply disbursements to break up the oil. There are skimming operations to collect the oil. We have 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.
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CHETRY: Well, this morning, we are following the story like no one else can, bringing you the latest information on the efforts.
Our Reynolds Wolf is live along the Louisiana coast. Also, Rob Marciano is standing by with crucial information about how important the weather is in terms of the operations today. Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House. And we're also going to be talking to Florida Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, who is now calling for an immediate halt to the expansion of offshore drilling.
First, though, we start where it's all begun. We go to Reynolds Wolf. He's live in Venice, Louisiana, this morning.
And, Reynolds, just give us the latest on what they're doing today.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the first thing we got going on is plenty of action. People have been laying out about 175,000 feet of that protective boom over parts of the coastline, and not just here in Louisiana but in places like Mississippi and eventually going to move into spots around -- other places around the Gulf Coast, Alabama and even into Florida. But they're not going to stop there. Governor Jindal has also ordered another half billion feet of that emergency boom to protect these regions.
Now, one of the places possibly first affected, as we've been talking about to you much of the morning, will be some of the wildlife refuges. One of them just a short distance from here and that would be the Delta National Wildlife Refuge just to our south. But there are 10 of those, especially in parts of Louisiana and into Mississippi that may be affected.
And you have to remember that when this moves into these areas, these are environmentally sensitive spots. And right over my shoulder, you can see some of those grasses. The problem that we have is when that oil tends to move into these places, it can kill some of those grasses. Those grasses, the roots are really the anchor for some of the soil that you have back in these areas. So, if you have those grasses die out, the root systems are gone -- it will change the landscape here forever.
Now, some of the other animals affected, obviously, the oysters. The oysters, again, are bottom feeders. They are right areas of convergence where you have the river, you have that salt water meeting. And with that oil moving through, many of those could be contaminated. Clearly, not just the animals, but, of course, the industry.
Birds are also affected very quickly. You get the oil on the feathers, the birds can't fly. If they can't fly, they can't feed themselves and they could eventually starve to death.
Shrimpers will be affected. Fishermen are going to be affected.
And, of course, those beaches -- those pristine beaches especially in parts of Alabama and into Florida, people go where the crystal clear waters, they refer to some of that area as the Emerald Coast. If that oil makes its way onshore, it's detrimental in many ways, environmentally and economically.
CHETRY: All right. So, we talked a lot about that actually with one of the shrimpers. And he said this is just sort of the start of the harvesting season and he's very, very upset -- not only at, you know, the impact on his local fisheries and areas but also the financial impact for him.
Reynolds, I want to ask you a couple of questions about the dispersant and also whether they're going to try to set the oil slick on fire again. Both of those also pose some environmental hazards. Some environmentalists say that the dispersant actually is more toxic than the oil to the waters.
WOLF: Well, that's certainly one of the big issues that they have out there. I mean, one of the things -- the great thing about, of course, the fire is it tends to remove some of that crude. Whenever they do set those fires, they've have only set one so far, it will remove about 90 percent to 50 percent of the crude that they're able to corral from the main oil mass.
Now, they were fairly successful with it, but to do those, you have to have the weather conditions just perfect. Now, today, tomorrow, the next couple of days, it doesn't look like that's going to be the situation. But the weather may improve in weeks to come. And I'll tell you, that may be an option farther down the road because from now until then, I don't think this oil is going to go anywhere.
Let's send it back to you while I can still hear.
CHETRY: All right. Reynolds, I know it's tough trying to hear with all the boats back there. But thank you.
ROBERTS: High winds and waves are pushing the oil slick closer to shore.
Rob Marciano is tracking the black tide from the CNN weather center.
It's actually more of a sludgy brown tide, isn't it, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. And it comes up as white on the satellite picture because the oil reflects the sunlight so much. And we have a fresh satellite picture I want to show you out of NASA, high res shot taken yesterday.
And a couple of things, first of all, the box-highlighted area, that is where the slick is, the most dense areas in white in there. The sheen actually goes a little bit farther beyond that. You see the area to the west of New Orleans, those clouds indicating that the winds went onshore yesterday afternoon. There are no clouds in Mississippi and Florida.
So, we know that the winds turn to onshore -- and there's a close-up shot of the slick itself. Look how close it is to the mouth of the Mississippi River, if not already onshore by now.
All right. Winds are going to continue to be very strong today, anywhere from 20-25, 30 miles an hour. Potentially, coastal flood watches are still posted. Tides are going to be unusually high.
So, I mean, that's just the worst thing that we could ask for at this point. And those winds are going to stay that way for good couple of days.
Last night, this is where the slick was. When you see red that means that shoreline that is affected or will be affected. Today, the mouth of the Mississippi -- the Delta Refuge that Reynolds was talking about, that will probably -- will be inundated -- at least parts of it, and then moving up towards the Chandeleur Islands and the barrier islands of coastal Mississippi by Saturday and Sunday.
So, that's the forecast. We don't expect it to change, guys, because the winds aren't going to change. I don't think the winds are going to go, you know, remotely offshore until at least Monday, if not Tuesday. So, in this regard, Mother Nature is certainly not helping the cause.
Back to you guys in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thanks so much.
And they also say that they're -- the admiral told us that they're not going to be able to try another controlled burn until the winds die down a little as well.
ROBERTS: Yes, a little too rough out there for now. But I'll tell you, they've got -- they have got good a big problem on their hands --
CHETRY: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: -- with that clean up.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
And it's all hands on deck, says the Obama administration, responding to what it calls a "spill of national significance." Top administration officials will be taking an aerial tour of the Gulf oil spill today.
ROBERTS: Our Suzanne Malveaux is looking at the political fallout from this. She's live at the White House for us this morning.
And, Suzanne, you know, questions being raised now, whether too much faith was put in the industry, was the Coast Guard prompt enough in its response? What's going on there at the White House?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, John and Kiran, it is certainly very obvious the Obama administration is certainly on the defensive here against some local critics who said, look, that they did not respond fast enough.
And already, White House officials putting out statements for early this morning and yesterday, fighting back at that, saying, look, from day one, the U.S. Coast Guard was involved in this operation, this rescue mission. They had to hope to find the 11 missing. That did not happen. But that there were also federal officials, Department of Interior officials on the ground from day one, working with this oil company to try to figure out what had gone wrong.
But what was interesting was yesterday, at the briefing, the White House briefing, there were at least half a dozen officials they put out and very little answers to some questions here, basic questions still unknown, just what kind of damage this is going to cause, what happened in the first place. But what they are trying to do is make sure that this is not President Obama's Katrina here. That they are letting people know that they've got people out there.
So, the president was on the phone with the five governors of those states that are going to be impacted. Also, the secretaries of homeland security, the interior, the administrator of EPA, all are going to be out there today with that aerial tour that Kiran had mentioned, as well as working with federal officials to make sure there is a place -- a plan in place.
But, as you know, there are already some local officials and people are saying: why didn't we see this kind of mobilization from day one? The White House is pushing very hard against that -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House this morning -- Suzanne, thanks.
Forget "drill, baby, drill." Senator Bill Nelson of Florida wants to halt any new offshore drilling as the oil spill worsens. We'll be talking to him coming up right after the break.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: With the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico now far worse than anyone expected, President Obama is promising an all- out response from the federal government. This crisis comes just a few weeks after the president announced the expansion of offshore drilling to areas that are now off limits to it.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida now wants those plans shelved. He even wrote a letter to the president to that effect.
And Senator Nelson joins us now from Pensacola.
Senator, great to see you this morning. You know, David Axelrod in another program this morning reiterated the White House policy that there's not going to be any new drilling for the foreseeable future anyways because, you know, the executive order was just announced not long ago. And it's going to take time to ramp things up.
But what is it specifically you are asking the White House to do?
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Stop the five-year plan on drilling on the offshore Continental United States until we get to the bottom of this. You know, the president wants to pass a climate change bill later on. And a lot of the senators, especially Lindsey Graham, wanted that to include offshore drilling. I think that's dead-on-arrival now.
ROBERTS: Now, your Senate colleague, Mary Landrieu, who admits that she is an unabashed supporter of the oil industry, says: well, let's not rush here. There's a lot at stake. This is an isolated incident. You know, let's not do anything rash here.
What do you say to her this morning?
NELSON: Well, that's why we need the investigation, because why didn't those hydraulics work when the blow occurred? And is there something wrong with the cement that was ceiling the hole around the pipe? What about these remote-operated vehicles that are down there now trying to mechanically crank those valves shut? They've tried and tried and it hasn't worked.
So, obviously, we've got a serious safety problem.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, certainly, they tried to close that blowout valve. They tried to do it remotely. They tried to do it manually. Nothing worked and the oil continues to leak.
You know, things have changed so much, Senator, over the last few days, from what we initially heard following the sinking of that drilling rig. We had initially heard from the Coast Guard: it doesn't look like there's any oil leaking from the wellhead. Things seem to be pretty good.
Was that premature?
NELSON: It may be but, you know, I don't know how to assess blame. I know that the folks are panicked down here. This thing is going to start moving east toward Florida. We have our pristine beaches. We have all of this tourism. We have the delicate bays and estuaries. So it is important that we get to the bottom of this.
And this is why I have tried to keep drilling off of Florida, keep it at least 125 miles off of Florida so that our economic and environmental and the military interest. You know, this is the largest testing and training area for the United States military in the world. And you just simply can't have oil rigs where you're testing your most sophisticated weapons.
ROBERTS: Yes. Certainly, there is a lot at stake in that area, particularly from the spill.
Let me come back to something that Suzanne Malveaux told us from the White House just a few minutes ago. And that is, the White House, the administration is pushing back very hard against criticism that it didn't mount a vigorous enough response in the early going of this.
What do you think about that?
NELSON: No, I think they did. I have talked to Ken Salazar. I have talked Admiral Mullen several times. I have talked to the White House. They were on top of this. But, you know, what can the military do? The Coast Guard takes the lead. What can the Coast Guard do, except put out the booms, try to control burn, try to scoop up the 230,000 galloons they have already scooped up? You have really got to rely on the oil company to get down there and work those mechanical valves, and everybody is at the mercy of them.
ROBERTS: And is too much faith, too much trust being put in the oil company to look after the drilling rig, to make sure that everything is in accordance with safety standards, to fully disclose what's going on beneath the surface of the sea?
You know, the initial estimate from the oil company was that it was 1,000 barrels of oil that was leaking every day. Then the government went down there, and took a look and says, oh, no, it is five times worse.
Is there too much trust being put in these oil companies?
NELSON: Well, very possibly. That's why you've got to have safety backup systems, and they've got to work. And that's the role of the government now, containing this spill, but then getting to the bottom of this, and why did we have this failure and don't let it happen again.
ROBERTS: Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, from Pensacola this morning. Good to talk to you. Certainly, we're hoping against hope that those beautiful beaches there in Florida remain beautiful. NELSON: Amen.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it. Thanks for coming in.
Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: John, thanks.
Well, still ahead, stocks and with the biggest gains in nearly two months. Our Christine Romans is ahead "Minding Your Business" this morning, 18 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty minutes past the hour right now.
Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business." A lot of people probably watching the stock market saying boom, boom, pow, because it has gone up for, what, two months now.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Boom, boom, pow, if you are bold. I mean, really, if you have money invested in the stock market, you have seen a recovery. And this is why, because stocks go up when investors think that companies can make money and are making money.
And they are. As we are getting the report cards from these companies, we are finding that things are much better for them than they were last year. No surprise, really, right, because we've been seeing last year was total, utter annihilation for corporate profits. But look at the Dow. I mean, yesterday, another triple digit rally.
And, John, you and I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, maybe last week that sometimes it didn't look like the rally was coming on with too much steam. But when we've had rallies lately in the last week or so, yesterday, four stocks up for every one stock down.
ROBERTS: Yes, but there was a 200-point drop the other day, too.
ROMANS: Yes, there was. But on that drop, it tells you that people decided that they wanted to try to get in. So there are still a lot of people who try to get in.
CHETRY: It was also the fears in Europe, right, that caused that dip that day.
ROMANS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: But they haven't yet been resolved.
ROMANS: They have not been resolved. But now, we are starting to really get in and take a look at the books of American banks and try to figure out, how much exposure do American banks have. And most people aren't too concerned about American banks being hurt, at this point by Greece. So they got over Greece. They instead focused on Exxon Mobil earnings yesterday. Those were very, very good. That profit up, I think 38 percent.
Jobless claims were not as bad as people had feared. I think 448,000 people filed for first-time jobless benefits, which isn't great. It is not a sign of a healthy jobs market, but it's not a disaster. And that's what people were looking for. And we are going to have GDP later today, which is likely to show some growth again.
CHETRY: Is this for the quarter?
ROMANS: This is for the quarter, right. GDP for the most recent quarter. So, look, stocks rise --
(CROSSTALK)
Stocks rise when investors think companies can make money and companies are making money. The question is, how many of us are still investors and how many of us have missed the last big, long ride. And should you still get in? And I've said this many times. There are people who swear to me that the Dow has got to go to 14,000. There are others who swear it needs a 30 percent correction.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, everybody agrees in one thing is that the hiring needs to start again, because we're still not seeing that lagging indicator change.
ROMANS: That's right. That's right. And that means people who don't have a job were not invested in the stock market. That's for sure. So that just shows you again how we have these two things happening in the economy. You're absolutely right.
ROBERTS: Well, you know, there is a reason why they put that little label on the very top step of a ladder that says, don't step up here.
ROMANS: Right. You can lose balance.
ROBERTS: Exactly. So you get to 14,000, it's a long way down.
ROMANS: Yes, it really is.
ROBERTS: You got a "Romans' Numeral."
ROMANS: I do, and it's three, and it's three-quarters.
CHETRY: Three quarters of growth -- of GDP growth?
ROMANS: Yes. We're going to have three-quarters of positive growth. So, you know, a year ago, when we were sitting here, I didn't think it would -- we would be able to say the day, yes, we have three- quarters in a row growth, again, but we do. And we will find out exactly how much that growth was in the most recent quarter at 8:30. I will be back in like seven minutes to tell you.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: -- even though, you're still wearing black a year later. ROMANS: I know. I mean, that's the bottom. I was -- I mean, you know, I was losing my mind.
ROBERTS: That's just a New York uniform.
ROMANS: That's true. That's true.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, there is a call from one principal for parents to get tough and say, you know what, get your middle schoolers off Facebook. There is absolutely no need for them to be social networking. So what do the parents and teachers, and the students themselves think about this call for a ban on social networking?
We're going to talk to the principal behind, coming up.
Twenty-four minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: It's about 27 minutes after the hour. We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
Your top stories just a few minutes away now. But, first, Arizona is clearly ground zero in the fight over illegal immigration. And there are someone who say this new battle was triggered by a brutal act of violence.
CHETRY: It happened in Douglas, which is a small town that sits close to the border with Mexico. And it is there that police say an American rancher was murdered, and they suspect an illegal immigrant pulled the trigger.
Randi Kaye has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days, Arizona rancher Bill McDonald keeps one eye on his cattle, the other over his shoulder. He isn't taking any chances after his friend and fellow rancher, Rob Krentz, was killed just a few miles away. Shot dead, the sheriff says, by illegal immigrants, drug smugglers.
(on camera) Do you feel safe out here today?
BILL MCDONALD, RANCHER: Relatively safe. Not as safe as I used to feel.
KAYE: You don't carry a weapon.
MCDONALD: Well, I -- that's my personal philosophy. When I'm out here I don't want to look threatening to somebody who might have a weapon and probably has me outgunned.
KAYE: Krentz was killed just last month, March 27th, while working on his ranch. He had radioed his brother, the sheriff says, but the only words his brother could make out were "illegal immigrant" and "hurt."
When his brother radioed him back, there was no response. And Krentz didn't show up to meet his brother later on as planned. A ranger's helicopter spotted Krentz's body around midnight.
(voice-over) His body was found alongside his vehicle, his guns untouched inside it. Next to him, his dog, also shot. It's a tragic ending to something that, according to Krentz, had been building and building.
The Krentz ranch is next to the Mexican border, and he had been worried about the increasing illegal foot traffic and criminal activity on his ranch for years.
Krentz in 2005.
ROB KRENTZ, VICTIM: It's being overrun, and it's costing us lots and lots of money.
KAYE: Yet, despite his frustration, he would often give food and water to those illegally on his land. His wife Sue says all they wanted was to live in peace.
SUE KRENTZ, WIDOW OF MURDERED RANCHER: I have been seriously, seriously violated.
KAYE: In November 2007, fed up, Sue Krentz sent this letter to Congress. "We are the victims," she wrote. "We are in fear for our lives."
Despite all the backlash over the new immigration law in Arizona, Krentz's family and friends say his death is exactly why tougher immigration laws are needed.
(on camera) Is Rob Krentz's murder proof that more enforcement is needed?
MCDONALD: God, I hate to think we needed that kind of proof. But yes, I suppose that it -- you know, I mean, we said something was going to happen. It happened.
KAYE: There were fresh footprint at the scene, the sheriff says, and deputies followed them for more than 20 miles all the way here to the border but were unable to catch the suspects.
The sheriff says, though, that they did gather DNA, including fingerprints at the scene, but they're still trying to figure out who they belong to.
(voice-over) The sheriff says those crossing the border are more brazen than ever about robbing ranchers. One ranch was hit 18 times in the last three years. Eighteen times.
(on camera) Have you seen illegal immigrants, drug smugglers walking through your land?
MCDONALD: Oh, sure. There are people with the drugs and then there's people carrying food, water and that sort of thing.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One was hit 18 times in the last three years, 18 times.
KAYE (on camera): Have you seen illegal immigrants, drug smugglers walking through your land?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, sure. There are people with the drugs and people carrying food and water.
KAYE (voice-over): In a statement after Krentz was killed, his family blamed the federal government for ignoring their pleas. "We have paid the ultimate price for their negligence, incredibly securing our border lands."
KAYE (on camera): Do you blame anyone for your friend's death?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know who to blame. We are trying to figure out right now how do you get the border patrol deployed on the bored and not 30 and 40 miles north of the border playing cops and robbers in these mountains.
KAYE (voice-over): Rob Krentz may have been thought of as a quiet man, but in death he is a booming voice for the ranchers wanting to be heard.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Douglas, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We're half past the hour now. It's time for this morning's top stories.
Anxiety and fear in Louisiana this morning after reports that that massive oil spill is beginning to wash ashore. President Obama is sending the heads of three government agencies to the region today. He is also pledging to use every single available resource to help control the spill.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Buses will replace some trains in downtown Boston this morning. A smoky fire forced riders out of underground trains last night. Witnesses say that the heavy smell was consistent with an electrical fire. Emergency workers say that they say that they treated some 20 people for smoke inhalation.
And a NASA launch takes a terrible turn in Australia. Strong winds sent a helium balloon and it's payload and a state of the art telescope crashing to the ground. It went through a fence and hit an SUV, spectators running for their lives.
The balloon was supposed to carry cutting edge telescopes into the stratosphere to give astronomers a much clearer views of space. NASA is saying it's a setback but we will try it again. Next time, though, the public will not be allowed so close to the launch just in case they have any issues like that.
CHETRY: You see that guy running. An expensive mishap to say the least.
ROBERTS: And returning to our top story, oil reportedly lapping up against the Louisiana coastline threatening to destroy not only fragile marshland and wildlife but people's livelihood's as well.
CHETRY: Earlier I had a chance to speak with Dean Blanchard, the president of Dean Blanchard seafood. He said of particular concern to shrimpers like him, after spending nearly $500,000 getting ready, this was supposed to be the harvesting time that was just beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: What is the impact on your business that you are bracing for?
DEAN BLANCHARD, PRESIDENT, DEAN BLANCHARD SEAFOOD: Well, basically, what it is, it is like a farm. We have been nurturing our crop to harvest, and we can't get out in the waters to harvest. We are in bad shape down there.
What we would like to see BP do is talk to the locals and let them get out in the water and help them with this spill. The locals know the water better than anybody else, and they got a stake in this.
I think BP is making a big mistake by not going to the local communities and get with the people that live there that know the waters best and that are willing to work and do the job. This is as disaster. We are going to definitely need some help.
I wish BP would come down here and just talk to us. The way it looks to me now, the only ones that are going to come out of this is the lawyers.
CHETRY: There is a one class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the commercial shrimpers against BP. Who do you think is to blame for this?
BLANCHARD: I believe this all happened because of greed. Apparently BP didn't take the necessary steps to have the valves in place to close this thing. It all comes down to greed. They are just looking to save money.
And we are beyond that point right now. What I would like to see BP do is come in and put our locals back to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: In Louisiana, by the way, is opening shrimp season early to allow shrimpers like Dean to salvage what they can.
ROBERTS: Just in to CNN, some encouraging news about the economy. Christine Romans "Watching your Money" and joins us now with the first quarter GDP and our first look at it.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And as we expected, three quarters in a row of growth in the economy. Your economy is growing again after shrinking during that recession. How much did it grow in the first three months of the years -- 3.2 percent.
How does that compare with the end of last year? It is slower than the end of last year, but this growth looks like it is more balanced than the growth we saw in the end of last year. The end of last year, you had 5.6 percent economic growth, but that was driven by companies that were restocking their shelves because they have nothing on the shelves anymore, and that was pretty one-dimensional.
This looks a little more balances. Consumer spending is up 3.6 percent. Our exports are up a little bit, and our imports are also up, which shows we are hungry for cheaper imported products. So 3.2 percent, three quarters in a row now of growth.
This will help those economists who have been saying that the recession probably ended sometime late last year or last summer.
CHETRY: It has to keep going this way. Does this do anything to tamp the concerns of a double dip recession?
ROMANS: I think some economist will say yes, it does. It's slower growth than the end of last year but more balanced. They will say that this is the right direction to be going.
Critics will say, we have spent so much money and there are so many things trying to hold up the economy, why isn't it more than this? But for now, it is 3.2 percent economic growth, not necessarily with the jobs growth yet though.
ROBERTS: Still looming across the pond is the debt crisis.
ROMANS: It is looming and it is there and we are all watching it.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Still ahead, get off the Facebook. It is not cool in your school. A New Jersey principal is calling on the parents of his students to ban them from Facebook. We're going to talk to him coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Kids and technology can be a pretty tricky balance. Now one educator says that when it comes to Facebook, he wants his students offline.
The principal of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Richwood, New Jersey, told parents, quote, "It is time for every single member of the Benjamin Franklin community to take a stand. There is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be part of a social networking site, none."
Here to explain his point of view and how it is going over with parents and students is the school's principal Anthony Orsini. Thanks for joining us this morning.
ANTHONY ORSINI, PRINCIPAL, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL: Sure, good morning.
CHETRY: We have heard a lot of stories about bullying and cyber- bullying, and the worst case scenario is when kids are attacked online and in some of the worst situations, take their own lives because of it. What was behind your decision to send this call out to parents to say, you kids don't need to be on Facebook, let's take a stand.
ORSINI: I am surprised by the attention of it. I send things to my parents all the time.
Essentially, there wasn't anything specific. It's just that younger and younger students and kids are trying to be on social networking sites. Even Facebook puts the age at 13.
I just disagree by a year or two when it is appropriate for a middle school age student to be on there, because we are just finding, it is all so new, that kids aren't emotionally ready to deal with thing said about them on a site.
CHETRY: Right. It is easier to say things when you are posting things and you don't have to talk to a person face-to-face to say things that sometimes come off as cruel.
One of the interesting things I noted in some of your notes is that you say your guidance counselor, 75 percent of one counselor's day is spent dealing with social networking site issues. What do you mean about that?
ORSINI: It is not even necessarily bullying cases. Those are the extreme cases we want to prevent our student from having to deal with.
But what happens is it just consumes their lives. So two friends might get in a little tiff with one another, Frank and John might even, it could be boys, get in a tiff and say something about each other, and then 30 people comment about it.
People are commenting about this, which is really a nonstory, but this issue across the country, which I find amazing. What happens is when you are 13 or 14 or a middle school age kid, you can't handle it. It stays with you forever, and it kind of consumes everything about their lives at this age. CHETRY: I think a lot of parents, the reason it has got a lot of attention is because a lot of parents are saying, I don't really know what to do. I know my nieces are on these websites as well, and they are not 13.
Anyway, I want to ask you what the reaction has been from the parents.
ORSINI: OK.
CHETRY: What's it been like?
ORSINI: Directly to me, the parents have been very, very supportive of it. Some parents say we have had great conversations at home and have talked about it, and some of us are still deciding to allow us to do it.
And that's what I say. I am just imploring them and giving them the opinion of their community and an educator in their community of what we see, that we know they are good parents. All of our parents are excellent parents. But they can't control what someone else goes on and goes on there.
There is this new site that is unbelievably, this Forum Spring, that has partly pushed me to write this letter.
CHETRY: Forum Spring is a site that somebody can go on the site, post a question, and then people can comment on it, and that has led to some cruelty.
ORSINI: Anonymously.
CHETRY: Exactly. It's sort of like the writing on the bathroom wall but compounded because so many people can get access to it.
This is interesting, because while you said the parents have been supportive, some of your seventh graders told our CNN affiliate, "He is the principal of the school. It is none of his business what we do after school." Some are not happy you are saying this. What do you think about their arguments?
ORSINI: Well, you know, I'm a Red Sox fans in the middle of New York Yankee country, so I'm used to the kids giving me a hard time. They are great with their opinions, and our kids have been articulate in regard to forming an opinion. And they are talking to their parents, which is great.
Some of their reasoning isn't always -- it is middle school age reasoning. They enjoy doing these things.
We also have several students who aren't allowed to be on these sites who are totally well adjusted and have tons of friends. And so we know students that aren't on the sites and being talked about are just fine.
And we really want to just protect the kids. And I am just giving an opinion and an opportunity for parents to be able to say, you know what, maybe this isn't a great idea anymore. Let's wait a little bit until they are older.
But social networking sites are here to stay, and they are a great thing, just not for middle school age. They just can't handle it.
ANTHONY ORSINI, PRINCIPAL, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL: And we really want to just protect the kids. And we're just giving them, just giving an opinion and an opportunity for parents to be able to say, you know what, maybe this isn't a great idea anymore. It's kind of -- let's wait a little bit until they are older because social networking sites are here to stay and they're a great thing.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Right.
ORSINI: Just not for middle school age. They just can't handle it.
CHETRY: All right, well, Principal Anthony Orsini of Benjamin Franklin Middle School. You guys must be doing something right.
ORSINI: Sure.
CHETRY: Because our executive producer, Jamie, also went there when he was a little young guy and there was no such thing as the Internet.
Thanks so much.
ORSINI: Thank you very much. Have a good day.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: My son and daughter went there too.
CHETRY: They did?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: They did.
CHETRY: And you didn't have to worry about the type of stuff back then either, right?
ROBERTS: There's no social networking back then.
CHETRY: A whole new world.
ROBERTS: Yes, yes.
Severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes target parts of the Midwest in the Gulf area. Rob Marciano with your travel forecast coming right up at 45 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning Boston where it's fair and 56 degrees right now; later on today mostly sunny, a high of 74. You might be having a good night tonight but you got a great day leading into it.
CHETRY: That's right. You sure do and tomorrow, even better.
Rob Marciano is keeping track of everything for us. And of course, you know, we're talking about enjoying this sunshine. Meanwhile, they got a big problem down there on the Louisiana coast.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes you know, but you don't -- in fact you guys deserved it. You've earned it. It's been a long winter for you. So here you go.
Warm air coming up the East Coast -- a return flow around this high and then midsection of the country is going to see this batch of severe weather that is starting to slow down, at least the southern half of it. That will pose its own threat of problems and actually snow piling up still in the intermountain west. So, cold air behind this thing.
Forty-seven for a high in Denver today, but look at the warm air streaming up in the Gulf: mid-80s in Dallas; 72 degrees in Kansas City. So that's setting the stage for the potential severe weather today.
We had a handful of reports yesterday. I think they'll be a little bit more widespread today especially through Missouri and parts of Arkansas and northern Louisiana.
Tonight and tomorrow this begins to slide a little bit farther towards New Orleans. So that will be one other thing that they may have to deal with in the oil recovery efforts.
All right, Kansas City just south to Oklahoma City, this is the only spot at least right now we are seeing some rough weather holding on or try to redevelop. The thunderstorms from last night have diminished with these cells east of Wichita are beginning to pop as they progress towards the north and east. So we'll keep an eye on those over the next couple of hours.
And then over the next couple of days, a threat for rain; heavy at time four to eight inches potentially from Little Rock to Memphis up through Bowling Green. We have a flash flood watch that's in effect because of the central part of that system that will begin to stall out.
All right, here we go, high resolution NASA satellite, oil slick right here, you see the more dense oil right in the center of your screen. Also notice here: no clouds here, clouds here. These are onshore clouds coming in showing that the wind shifted yesterday. They haven't shifted yet across Mississippi and Alabama and Florida. They will likely do that later on today and tonight.
Again, the thick oil here -- almost kind of looks like a hurricane symbol -- and then the sheen fanning out ahead of that barely visible here on this satellite. Notice how close it is to the mouth of the Mississippi. If it's not onshore now, it will be within hours. There's just no doubt about that.
Winds are so strong out of the southeast at 20-25 miles an hour. Coastal flood warnings or watches have been posted to this area and anticipate -- just for the water, not even the oil slick just because for the water. And John and Kiran, I don't think the winds are going to shift to a more favorable direction until at least Monday if not Tuesday. So they've got their hands full for sure. Back up to you guys.
CHETRY: All right. Rob thanks.
ROBERTS: All right, listen to this, another medical warning, beware the ride on a rough rollercoaster, because of possible ear damage. We'll tell you what that's all about coming right up.
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CHETRY: Well, stories about your health right now at 54 minutes past the hour. It is being called a new era of fighting cancer. The FDA approving it's first of a kind cancer vaccine for prostate cancer. Researchers say the drug Provenge (ph) actually trains a patient's own immune system to fight tumors in man with advance prostate cancer.
ROBERTS: All right, if you love the thrill of a rollercoaster, listen up, amusement parks in constant competition literally to top that.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: But as roller coasters continue to push the limits of speed, acceleration, g-forces, doctors are warning, the thrill rides could damage your ears. The study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit says the force of acceleration from a coaster can cause a common ear injury called ear barrel trauma. They say that in extreme cases it can lead to temporary hearing loss.
CHETRY: Can you do anything? Can you wear earplugs?
ROBERTS: I don't think so. It is kind of all inner ear. It's just everything getting shifted around like that.
CHETRY: Right. Well, I'll tell you what. When you get older, roller coasters become less and less fun. You know. I used to love them.
ROBERTS: The last time I was in a rollercoaster -- it has to be ten years ago now. I went on the Aerosmith rock 'n roller coaster at MGM.
CHETRY: Me too.
ROBERTS: Three times in a row.
CHETRY: Loved that thing.
ROBERTS: It's such a headache.
CHETRY: That was a great one though.
ROBERTS: Your brain is bouncing around inside your noggin.
CHETRY: What's the one in Coney Island, the wooden one? I rode that then I found out about the --
ROBERTS: Cyclone.
CHETRY: I found out two weeks later I was pregnant, great. But anyway -- I mean this was years ago.
ROBERTS: What were you doing in the coaster?
CHETRY: I didn't know I was pregnant or I wouldn't have been on it obviously.
ROBERTS: Oh, you were on --
CHETRY: Got you.
ROBERTS: Thrill ride. You know.
CHETRY: Thrill rides, yes.
Well, too often, in places across the world, kids just don't get enough time inside a school house.
ROBERTS: Yes, but we found one man with two unlikely helpers in Colombia bringing the classroom to the kids.
Meet this week's CNN hero.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUIS SORIANO, CNN HERO OF THE WEEK: In the villages, life goes on in a stationary way. There is no change. Reading has made me laugh and dream. It has also shown me things I once see in my lifetime. Alphabet and I share the fact that we always lived here.
My name is Luis Soriano and my classroom is not traditional. My biblio-burro consists of books placed in saddles on top of my donkeys.
It is not easy to travel through these valleys, the burning sun or too much rain. You sit on the donkey for five or eight hours, you get very tired. It is satisfaction to arrive to your destination. We go to places that are not on the map where a child has to walk or ride the donkey for up to 40 minutes to reach the closest school. When they learn how to read, the child discovers a new world like I did.
Someone once said to me, you have educated a lot of people. You have ridden the donkeys like no one has. These children need it. Of course, they want to learn. That's what keeps motivating me to ride.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHETRY: The Friday morning ritual where we pour colored water into martini glasses.
ROBERTS: When you get up at 2:00 a.m., 9:00 Eastern is happy hour.
Continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. That will wrap it up for us today. We'll see you bright and early Monday morning.
CHETRY: That's right.
Meanwhile the news continues. "CNN NEWROOM" with Kyra Phillips. Hey, Kyra.
