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American Morning

Fugitive Cleric Warns of New U.S. Attacks; Interview with Doug Suttles, B.P.'s COO; An Offer He Could Refuse?; Republican Takes Hawaii Seat

Aired May 24, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning. Thanks so much for being with us on The Most News in the Morning as we begin a brand- new week. It's the 24th of May. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot of big stories we're breaking down in the next 15 minutes.

We start with the crisis on the Korean peninsula. South Korea now promising North Korea will pay a price for sinking one of its ships. No more trade and no more sharing waters. The White House weighs in, and we're live in Seoul just ahead.

ROBERTS: The White House turning up the heat on BP this morning, blasting the oil giant for taking too long to stop a disastrous oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. BP now two days away from going for the kill, a risky maneuver using mud and cement to try to cap the leak. But not everyone, including BP officials, are confident it can work.

CHETRY: And a royal embarrassment. Duchess Sarah Ferguson saying she's quote, "very sorry" after a newspaper sting showed her accepting money for access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew. The former Weight Watchers pitchwoman and author admits she had a lot of money problems since the divorce. What is the reaction from London? We'll find out just ahead.

Meantime, head to our blog and join the live conversation. Go to CNN.com/amfix.

ROBERTS: First, a new escalation in the volatile Korean peninsula, South Korea taking a hard line against towards North Korea as tensions rise following the sinking of a South Korean warship. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak telling Pyongyang there will be a price to pay for the sinking of the ship.

Trade has been suspended now, Seoul's military ready to strike if needed. And Lee is asking the United Nations Security Council to respond. This as North Korea continues to deny it had anything to do with the attack.

Our senior international correspondent John Vause is live for us in Seoul, South Korean this morning. John, just how strong was this response from President Lee? JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, this is about as far as he could go short of ordering some kind of military strike. It does say the relationship between north and south has not dramatically changed. Long gone or the days of the so called sunshine policy of Lee's predecessor when the south tried to improve relations.

Today during his presidential address, Lee said that South Koreans had made a mistake. That he had forgotten that they face the most belligerent regime in the world. As a result of that, military capabilities in this country would be upgraded and further attacks would not be tolerated. John?

ROBERTS: So President Obama is giving support to South Korea, John, but many people may be wondering this is a presage to war on the Korean peninsula?

VAUSE: That's really in the hands of North Korea. Certainly Lee Myung-bak put the ball right back in Kim Long-il's court, warning that if there was another attack that this country will defend itself.

But the words coming from the White House will be welcome here and expected. It also shows Washington is following Seoul's lead not just on a diplomatic point of view but also militarily. President Obama ordering the U.S. military to work closely with South Korea to try and prevent further attack, John.

ROBERTS: And the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Beijing today talking with the Chinese. Is she having any luck with them?

VAUSE: She's been locked in fairly long negotiations with her Chinese counterparts. She does seem to be hopeful that maybe the Chinese will come on board and support some kind of action in the U.N. Security Council much like they did last year after the North Koreans tested a nuclear device.

She did say though the Chinese understand how serious the situation is and they do understand South Korea's action to all of this. One other point coming from Beijing today, Secretary Clinton did say it's unlikely the U.S. will relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism but it doesn't seem to be any evidence Pyongyang is engaged in terrorist activity. John?

ROBERTS: John Vause for us in Seoul, South Korea this morning with an update.

CHETRY: Following our other developing story this morning, and that is the latest with the Gulf oil spill. It will take at least two more days before BP will be ready to plug a gushing oil well at the bottom of the Gulf.

Here's a live feed from the ocean floor. It is becoming painful to watch. Oil has been pouring into the open sea. It has been like this for 35 days now, more than 65 miles of coastline now coated with crude. BP says it hopes to finally cap that leak Wednesday, but the Obama administration is sounding anything about confident. Here's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, get used to hearing the words "top kill" over the next few days. It is the best hope in stopping the oil spill.

Dozens of shipping vessels are moving into place in the Gulf of Mexico, preparing for what could be the most crucial moment in the battle to cut off the oil spill. BP says in the next few days crews will be ready to attempt what's called the top kill, a process that will inject drilling mud into the blowout preventer on the ocean floor.

The hope is the cement will seal the well. But it's not a sure thing. The risks are great. Failure means the well could keep spewing oil into August.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would stress these operations are quite complex and we won't start until all of the equipment is staged and everything in place.

LAVANDERA: But as the moment draws closer, the stress and the emotion are building up across the Louisiana coast.

KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETARY: I am angry and frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this well from leaking.

LAVANDERA: Three cabinet secretaries from the Obama administration were dispatched to the region and talk is turning to mistrust of the way BP is handling the crisis.

SALAZAR: Do I have confidence that they know exactly what they are doing? No, not completely. Since the incident began, I promised we would keep our boot on BP's neck, and in the past few days, we have been absolutely doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us at BP are trying to solve the problem. Those words hurt a little bit because we've been open about what we're doing.

LAVANDERA: If the top kill effort fails, BP officials have other ideas to stem the flow of oil and vow to keep trying to shut of the well. More and more oil is creeping into the Louisiana marshland every day, threatening a pelican nesting grounds near Grand Island where the beaches are closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is clear the resources needs are not here -- boom, skimmers, all in short supply. All sits and waits for cleanup and every day that it sits in cleanup more of our marsh dies. And we know this is only the first wave. There is more oil coming.

LAVANDERA: With it, anxiety builds on Gulf Coast. That anger an anxiety is starting to fester along the Gulf coast as many people are wondering is the worst still yet to come. John and Kiran?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Ed, thanks.

And our crews along the Gulf are giving you a look at this disaster like no one else can. There is CNN exclusive video now of the damage going on down below. Using special underwater cameras we're getting a real look at the spill some 200 feet below the surface.

Our David Mattingly will be joining us live with more in the next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING."

Also coming up at 6:40 eastern, we'll be joined by Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production. We're going to ask him about the top kill plan, the delays, its prospects for success, and why BP continues to deploy toxic dispersants that the EPA has asked the oil giant to stop using.

ROBERTS: Also new this morning, human error could be behind India's deadliest plane crash in 14 years. The country's lead aviation official says weather conditions on Saturday were normal for a safe landing. The plane overshot the runway and plunged over a cliff and landed in a ravine, killing 158 people. Only eight passengers survived.

CHETRY: An emergency in Jamaica, police in Kingston fight off armed gangs using sands bags and barbed wire to stop the extradition of a drug kingpin to the United States. The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert Friday and is monitoring the situation closely.

ROBERTS: Former president Bill Clinton was no worse for wear after a car crash over the weekend. He was headed to Yale when the SUV he was riding in was rear-ended. He made it to the campus in time to give his commencement address.

CHETRY: In another bizarre twist in the story of late actress Brittany Murphy's, her screenwriter husband Simon Monjack was found dead last night. Police are investigating. Murphy died five months ago after going into cardiac arrest at the couple's home.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROBERTS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, a royal embarrassment. How much does it cost to get access to the prince? Just ask his ex-wife. A live report from London is coming up next. It's 10 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 13 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There are new developments out of London where the latest scandal is rocking the royals. A British tabloid put up a video showing Duchess Sarah Ferguson offering access to ex-husband Prince Andrew in exchange for more than $700,000.

ROBERTS: The prince denies knowing anything about it. The palace says he's always been a man of integrity. And Fergie is falling on her sword and calls the video embarrassing and inexcusable. Our Phil Black is live outside of Buckingham Palace for us this morning.

Phil, talk about an embarrassing thing to get caught up in. How did this all go down?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you say, kicking Fergie is very much a national sport for the newspapers in this country. It's been going on for years.

This is the headline that started it all this time -- "Fergie sells Andy for 500K," British pounds, of course, more than $700,000. But this was more than a newspaper article. This was a sophisticated sting caught on hidden camera.

A reporter went undercover. posed as a wealthy businessman, infiltrated her private circle, set up a series of meetings. In the final one Fergie is caught during a series of edited highlights on video offering to introduce this man to her ex-husband, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who is also a special representative for trade and business for this country.

She offered to set up a meeting for him, meet the people that he knows, and be privy to the information he gets on the big international deals that are going down.

For all of that she is caught demanding $40,000. She receives that as a down deposit, and demanding, as I say, more than $700,000 for the final meetings to take place. It's all caught on video. And it's all very embarrassing. John, Kiran?

CHETRY: Embarrassing, but also what other potential fallout? Could she be facing charges for this?

BLACK: Well, it would seem unlikely. This is a method of entrapment that is regularly used by British tabloids here, catches out celebrities all the time. This is probably the biggest fish to be caught so far. But she has released a very wholesome (ph) apology. Let me share it with you now.

She says, "I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused. It is true that my financial situation is under stress. However, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment and I am very sorry that this has happened.

I can confirm that the Duke of York was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred. I am sincerely sorry for my actions. The Duke has made a significant contribution to his business role over the last 10 years and has always acted with complete integrity." Now, as I mentioned, Fergie is regularly hit by the newspapers here. She's a regular feature in scandals going all the way back to 1992. You may remember the famous toe-sucking incident, when still, as Prince Andrew as husband, she was photographed having her feet kissed by a man who was a financial adviser at the time.

Through all the scandals that have followed, there has been some degree of public sympathy for her. That public sympathy will now be tested as she tries to bounce back from this latest big hit -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: Wow. And -- and there's also talk that she may move out of the home, because even though they're not married, they still live in the same house, correct?

BLACK: Yes, that's right. They have what some have called an unusual relationship for a divorced couple. They have maintained living under the same home. She maintains a rented room in his royal residence and have done -- they have done so for many years now.

She often said that they're the happiest divorced couple in the world. She says they are divorced to each -- not from each other, but their very civil relationship has been a source of some respect, really, and they've often been described as very good parents. They've maintained their very civil relationship with their two daughters, and that has all worked very well.

But there is now a question mark in some of the British papers today about whether or not that relationship can continue because the key criticism perhaps of her behavior is that by offering to invite strange people into the family home to meet her ex-husband, she's compromising not just their reputation but their security as well -- John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: Truly -- really remarkable to think that these people recognize this extraordinary lapses in judgment after they've been caught. Maybe they should think about that before they do it.

Phil Black this morning outside Buckingham Palace. Phil, thanks so much for that.

Coming up next in the Most News in the Morning, what's in store for the U.S. economy? Well, believe it or not, things may continue to improve.

Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" as always. She's here with a preview. Hi.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Well, Europe's problems and apparently Fergie's problems are -- are taking the spotlight. But let me tell you something that's happening here in the United States. A group of economists say there's a recovery underway. It is solid and it might be almost a year old.

I'm going to tell you what it means for you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. Checking other stories new this morning.

By the way, that was not Rascal Flatts.

CHETRY: What? It's not Rascal Flatts.

ROBERTS: No. It's Tom Cochrane.

CHETRY: I mean, he sounds -- they sound exactly like Tom Cochrane.

ROBERTS: Don't they, though? It's incredible.

CHETRY: Wow. I mean, it's amazing impersonation.

ROBERTS: Rascal Flatts didn't even have harmonica in their version of it. Good version, though.

By the way, here, we digress. A shortage of road paint is threatening road work across the country this spring. "The New York Times" reporting this morning that road crews and transportation departments don't have enough of the white and yellow paint because there's a shortage of a particular chemical compound in it, and that's due to economic cutbacks and production problems.

So you may have to deal with fading lines on the roads across America this summer.

CHETRY: Unfortunately a lot of people don't stick within the lines, even when they are bright. That's a big problem out there in the roads.

Well, hey, it's 22 minutes past the hour. Christine Romans is joining us right now. It's a little bit of good news and we ended last week of course on a jittery note after the up and down Wall Street, fears about Europe.

ROMANS: And we've been talking about Europe so much that it's interesting that report comes from the National Association of Business Economics that things are looking solid in the U.S., that when you take your eye off the ball as it sort of -- as it's sort of been thrown around the rest of the globe, you look here and you see actually stronger growth, according to the NABE economist, improved consumer spending.

They say that consumers -- you and I, folks, are less thrifty consumers than we thought we would be a year ago, and that would be good overall for the economy. They see robust job gains.

What does robust mean? I want to be clear about this. Nine point four percent unemployment by the end of the year and 8.5 percent unemployment by the year end of 2011. That's robust job gains to get you still to a condition where too many people are unemployed, so please keep that in mind.

And they say businesses will drive growth, business investment, because for two years, companies were doing things like not making the chemical compound that's going to go in the yellow and white lines for road work, and now they have to restock. They have to move very quickly to restock, and that will help move the economy forward.

Two big concerns, they point out. One, housing. They say the setback in the housing market in the early part of this year surprised them, that they had thought that things would come back a little better than they have so far. So housing is a big concern and a large federal deficit, which is just sort of the understatement of the year, a large federal deficit. I mean, that's something that is a very serious concern.

ROBERTS: If any one of them had to put a home on the market and tried to sell it, they would have known that it wasn't too good out there.

ROMANS: I know. I know. This thing about economists, these are -- this is the National Association of Business Economists, so these are not the people who can -- who can date when the recession started or stopped. But they say they think that our recovery is almost a year old, that the worst of it was in June of 2009 and now we're coming out of it.

You know, the next five years we'll see growth of maybe 2. 8 percent each year for -- you know, it's not blockbuster growth, but it is a solid recovery. That's what they say.

CHETRY: Hopefully.

ROBERTS: It will take a while to put all those jobs back. I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

ROMANS: It's going to take a long time to put those jobs in the map. And still watching Europe and hoping that Europe and other sovereign debt problems around the world wouldn't derail this solid. But, I would say still fragile.

ROBERTS: Nice to see the cost of a European vacation come down, but, you know --

ROMANS: But who could afford a vacation if you don't have a job? Right.

ROBERTS: Exactly.

Thanks. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning.

And next up on the Most News in the Morning, some schools in Arizona cracking down on English teachers who have accents. Thelma Gutierrez with an "A.M. Original" coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's 27 minutes after the hour.

It's been a month now since Arizona passed its controversial immigration law that has sparked protest from coast to coast. Now, state education officials want immigrant teachers with heavy accents removed from classes for students who are still learning English.

They say they're simply following federal guidelines that were set up by the Bush administration back in 2002. But critics are calling it an ethnic witch hunt.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez looks at the new great debate in this "A.M. Original".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CRISTINA PARSONS, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Some people are saying that teachers like me should not be teaching students who are learning English.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some teachers like Cristina Parsons in Tucson believe they're being targeted by the Arizona Department of Education because they have accents.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): A state monitor came into your class?

PARSONS: Yes.

GUTIERREZ: They audited you?

PARSONS: Yes. They just walked in in the middle of class.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Parsons, who was born in Brazil, has taught ELL, English Language Learners, for more than 20 years. She has two university degrees. This is the first time she's been audited and she resents the extra scrutiny.

SUPT. TOM HORNE, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: You could have a PhD and be a bad teacher.

GUTIERREZ: State School Superintendent Tom Horne says as part of No Child Left Behind, he's been monitoring ELL teachers for bad grammar and mispronounced words for the past eight years.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): Are you going after one particular accent?

HORNE: We're not going after any accents, including Spanish accents. It has to default to (ph) English. Students are being taught English and they're going to refer to a comma as a coma, people are going to misunderstand them.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): English professor Roseann Gonzalez disagrees, saying studies actually show that non-native speakers make better English teachers. GUTIERREZ (on camera): Are you saying that a teacher's pronunciation of specific words is not important?

PROF. ROSEANN GONZALEZ, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: That's right, because language is very contextual. We depend on the context to understand what words mean.

HORNE: You would tell somebody who could not be understood that they need to go into another profession.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Of the 1,500 teachers who were monitored last year, 25 were found to have pronunciation issues. That worries teachers Charles Collingwood from Trinidad and Ian Kipp (ph) from Ireland who wonder who's judging.

IAN KIPP (ph), HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: You can't say there's one way to pronounce anything in America.

CHARLES COLLINGWOOD, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Seeing what kids are learning, those are more important things than if I say think instead of think.

GUTIERREZ: Horne's critics say he's going after immigrant teachers.

HORNE: It's totally idiotic. I grew up in a household where my parents spoke Polish, and they certainly spoke English with a heavy accent.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): But here you are, superintendent.

HORNE: Right.

GUTIERREZ: So it didn't hurt you.

HORNE: No, but my teachers spoke proficient English.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Cristina Parsons says she's also proficient.

PARSONS: The Arizona Department of Education gives a certificate saying yes, you are certified to teach. After that, they say, no, I don't think you can do it, so I'm going to go into the classroom and see if you're doing a good job.

Let's go.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Parsons is still awaiting results of her audit. If she doesn't pass, she could be reassigned to another position somewhere else in the district.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: We'd like to hear what you think about it, CNN.com/amFIX. Great reporting, Thelma.

Well, meanwhile, we're checking our top stories at half past the hour.

President Obama is backing South Korea's response towards North Korea. Seoul is cutting trade, closing off its water, and promising Pyongyang will pay a price for sinking one of its warships back in March. South Korea's president is also asking the U.N. Security Council to weigh in. North Korea is denying any involvement in the attack.

ROBERTS: The top kill cap down is underway. B.P. eyeing Wednesday as the day they'll try to plug a gushing oil well in the gulf by pouring mud and cement in it.

Meanwhile, the White House is coming down hard on the oil giant. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is blasting B.P. for taking too long to stop the spill.

CHETRY: Also, the Duchess of York is now apologizing for a first class royal mistake. A British tabloid posted video on its Web site showing Sarah Ferguson offering access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, in exchange for $700,000. An undercover reporter posed as a businessman for the sting. Fergie says she's been under financial stress and had a lapse in judgment.

ROBERTS: An American-born cleric who was on the run from the feds says a new warning for America, "We will kill your people." That and a whole lot more are coming from a video from Anwar al-Awlaki that has just been posted online.

CHETRY: And he's thought to have been inspired recent terror plots, including the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. U.S. officials also think he's hiding in Yemen.

For more, let's bring in our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve.

And also more than just inspiring, right? The U.S. government is saying that he also may have had some sort of operational involvement as well?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John and Kiran. In the video, Anwar al-Awlaki justifies and encourages the killing of American civilians because, he says, they elected this administration and are financing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Al-Awlaki, U.S.-born, living in Yemen, is believed by intelligence officials to be playing an increasingly operational rule in the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and has been linked with several recent terror attacks. He exchanged e-mail with the alleged Fort Hood gunman, U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan. In the video, he calls Hasan heroic and great. And he asked every Muslim in the U.S. Army to follow suit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANWAR AL-AWLAKI, RADICAL CLERIC (through translator): If the American crimes continue, we will see a new Nidal Hasan. There are now mujahedeen in the West and from America fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this phenomenon will grow because of the criminal acts committed by the American in the Arab and Muslim world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: In the video, al-Awlaki also praises the man who tried to bring down a plane on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He says those who could have been killed in that plane are a drop in the sea.

U.S. officials suspect Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki had contact when Abdulmutallab traveled to Yemen last year -- John and Kiran.

ROBERTS: Jeanne, any reaction thus far from the U.S. government to what al-Awlaki said.

MESERVE: Well, al-Awlaki is on the list of suspected al Qaeda leaders targeted for capture or assassination. In Sunday, White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, had this to say --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will continue to take action directly at terrorists like al-Awlaki and keep our country safe from their murderous thugs.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Are we actively trying to find this guy?

GIBBS: We are actively trying to finds him and many others throughout the word that seek to do our country and to do our interest great harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Al-Awlaki was reportedly the target of a December air strike in Yemen. But in his video, the cleric claims to move freely in that country and he says, "If the Americans wants me, let them come and look for me and God will protect me."

John and Kiran, back to you.

CHETRY: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.

Meanwhile, it's 34 minutes past the hour. Reynolds Wolf is in for Rob Marciano today. He'll be along with the travel forecast right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

CHETRY: There's a shot of Atlanta this morning. Sixty-eight degrees, it's clear, a little later going up to a high of 82. And Atlanta could see thunderstorms this afternoon.

ROBERTS: Yes. Some unsettled weather across a lot of the country. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines with Reynolds Wolf. He is in the weather center.

And good morning to you, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Good morning, guys.

You know, and speaking of unsettled weather, we were talking earlier about some unsettled weather out in parts of the tropics. Take a look at this. To give you bearings at home, this is the southeastern United States, you got Florida, of course, the outer banks, and then you see this big cluster that's all enhanced with some of the reds, the yellows, even some of the greens. This is some deep tropical moisture and this disturbance is just slowly pushing its way up towards the east.

This area of low pressure is expected to get a little bit closer to the eastern seaboard. And right now, thankfully, all computer models that we have indicate that this is expected to remain offshore. But there's a chance it could intensify and it may actually become our first tropical system of the season, possibly under the name Alex.

So, it's something to watch out for. But right now, poses no threat to the U.S. What may pose a threat to us could be a chance of some strong storms.

You know, we had a large tornado that developed up in parts of the Dakotas yesterday. We could see that happening again today -- all due to this area of low pressure, this frontal boundary, all the moisture coming in into the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with their daytime heating will give us some pretty rough stuff.

Parts of the Four Corners could see again more wildfires spreading, especially in parts of New Mexico. Heavy snow, yes, snowfall for parts of the central and northern Rockies. Very nice for you, a mix of sunshine and clouds out to west. Eastern seaboard looks pretty good as we mentioned. So, scattered showers are possible for the Carolinas.

But when you get up into New York, it should be picture perfect for the day today with high temperatures in many spots that will be well above normal for this time of year, 71 going to New York. But look to the south, 85 for Atlanta, 75 in Washington, D.C. But the high humidity, it's going to feel warmer in most of these spots. Ninety-two in Dallas -- as we wrap things up -- Las Vegas with 75.

So, enjoy your day. It's going to feel like summer for much of the country, but then a cool-down expected as we get closer to the weekend.

Let's send it back to you in New York.

CHETRY: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning -- thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, coming up next on the Most News in the Morning: more than a month later, 35 days, the oil is still pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to be speaking with B.P.'s chief operating officer, Doug Suttles. He's going to join us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

Dozens of ships are now heading to the spot where a ruptured well is spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In just two days, the crews on these vessels are going to be attempting to plug the leak using mud and cement.

ROBERTS: It's a potentially high risk procedure called top kill. If it fails, there's the potential that we could deal with this disastrous leak for months.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the oil giant's Houston headquarters yesterday and did not exactly offer up a ringing endorsement of B.P. when he emerged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETARY: I am angry and frustrated that B.P. has been unable to stop this well from leaking and to stop the pollution from spreading.

If we find that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, this morning, joining us from Robert, Louisiana, is Doug Suttles. He is B.P.'s chief operating officer for exploration and production.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

So, you can hear that increasing frustration, Doug, from Ken Salazar, as well as others in the administration. He's going as far to say that, you know, they may push you out of the way. How do you respond to that?

DOUG SUTTLES, COO FOR EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION, BRITISH PETROLEUM: Well, Kiran, I'm probably just as frustrated as the secretary is. You know, we've been at this every day for more than a month now trying to get this flow stopped and actually trying to fight this thing offshore.

So, what I would say is we're doing everything we can. We got the brightest people, the best people, every resource available putting at it. And we're going to stay at it, despite the frustration, despite the setbacks we have. We won't quit until we get this job done, I can promise you that.

CHETRY: But practically speaking -- I mean, if the government takes this out of your hands, could they take over this operation from you in an attempt to plug the leak themselves?

SUTTLES: Well, they could, if they chose to do that. They very well could. I think, as Admiral Allen was stating yesterday, the technology that's out there is very specialized. It's very precise.

We're the biggest of the international companies. We have the biggest deep water capability. We do more of this than anyone else. We got the best contractors in the world. We pulled in the best scientists from the government and from across our industry.

So, I don't think anyone else could do better than we are. I know that that's frustrating to hear and our performance to this point, I wish was better. I wish this was done. But we're doing everything we can. And I don't actually believe anyone could do any better, unfortunately.

ROBERTS: Sometime in the next couple of days, you're going to try a top kill -- pump some mud and potentially cement down into the drill hole to try to stop it up. What's the likelihood that that's going to work?

SUTTLES: The challenge here is, of course, what we don't know, the details that you can't measure when something is on the sea bed. I've been asked this before and people have asked me on a scale of one to 10 what I would say. It's not a 10, it's not that certain. It's above a five. In my own personal view, a six or a seven.

We're going to give it every shot. We're going to make sure everything is ready before we go because we need it to work. We're going to make sure every piece of equipment, every piece of planning is done, and every resource is available.

And right now, we're -- our forecast has that happening first thing on Wednesday morning.

ROBERTS: You've tried so many things. You tried, first of all, the containment dome and that didn't work. You tried the top hat, that didn't work very well. You tried the pipe inside the drill riser, that hasn't worked extraordinarily well. If the top kill doesn't work, what's left other than this relief wells that are being drilled and they won't be ready until August.

SUTTLES: We do still have some remaining options, both to stop the flow and contain it. If the top kill procedure doesn't actually work, the next step we'll take is the next containment device, which is a tool we'll place over the top of the riser. We'll cut and remove the riser where it comes out of the top of the blowout preventer and put the next containment device we believe quite tightly over the top of that piece of pipe, which we think will even capture more of the flow than we're doing now.

And then we still have a number of other options to kill the well, those include the junk shot technique you've heard about, but there are also techniques where we could put another blowout preventer on top of the existing one.

CHETRY: But each of these it seems the likelihood gets less and less that they will work, right? It's the least preferred of the options as you go on down because, obviously, you would done that first if you thought it work. So, it just doesn't sound reassuring that you, guys, sort of have a handle on what's happening.

SUTTLES: The challenge here is, of course, what we need to do is we need to make sure that every option we take, it either makes things better or solves the problem completely. We don't want to take any action which could make the situation worse. Some of the options we're pursuing know, why it's taking this long to get through them is we had to get the data. We had to be able to do the analysis to make sure that in the event we tried them and they didn't work, the situation wouldn't be worse.

That's what's taking the time. And some of them are even more complex. They take more planning. They take more engineering to do. So, the timing is more about what it takes to prepare for them and the risks that surround those jobs than anything else.

ROBERTS: BP CEO, Tony Hayward said in recent days that he thought when all was said and done, the environmental impact of the spill is going to be very, very modest. And obviously, that's raising a lot of objections from environmental groups, from state officials whose territories are in harm's way there because of this oil spill. Do you believe, Mr. Suttles, that the environmental impact from this is going to be modest?

SUTTLES: You know, what you can know right now is it's not modest to the people who live here. It's not modest to me. And until we get this thing capped and until we get this thing cleaned up completely and until we go through the monitoring, which is going to take years, we don't know. I do know, though, that there have been large spills in the Gulf of Mexico before. I do know there are natural seeps out there, and I do know the Gulf of Mexico has been robust to those, but it's way too early I think to say that, and I can tell you to the people that live here and to me and my team, this is a very, very serious event.

ROBERTS: So, was Hayward wrong in saying that?

SUTTLES: You know, I don't want to speak for Tony. Tony can speak for himself. You know. what's clear though is the resources he's applying to this. I mean, he's made every resource in our company available to me and my team to fight this thing. We spent $750 million, so far. I think that's commitment.

CHETRY: I want to ask you quickly about the dispersant because the EPA ordered you, guys, to find a less toxic dispersant and they correct it 9500. They say there are 18 others on this approved list that may be less toxic and more effective on certain creatures. Why are you still using the Corexit?

SUTTLES: we're still using it because as of today it's still the best product available. It is on the approved list. It is safe to use. It is the most widely use, but I can tell you we've met with the EPA again last night. We're continuing to look to see if there is a better alternative. Some of the products that are out there have problems with them, the long-term impacts on fish and wildlife that we're not willing to use. But we're going to continue to study this with the EPA. We're going to work with them every single day. We've met again last night with them, if there is a better product that's available, we'll use it.

ROBERTS: All right. Doug Suttles from BP today from Robert, Louisiana, thanks for joining us.

SUTTLES: Thanks, John.

CHETRY: Thanks. This morning's top stories are just minutes away, including much more on the oil spill. A CNN exclusive, a look under water. Our cameras and crews take you down below the surface to see the growing environmental crisis.

Plus, more fees to fly? Our Christine Romans is tracking what will cost you more and which airlines are up in their prices. What you need to know before planning a summer getaway.

CHETRY: Also ahead, speaking of higher prices, we're kicking off an "AM Original series" investigating the high price of college. Does a higher education always mean the end in debt? Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.

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ROBERTS: Fifty-three-and-a-half minutes after the hour. If you can't beat them, hire him. That's what Republicans claim the White House tried to do in order to keep Congressman Joe Sestak from challenging Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate primary last week. Sestak went on to win the nomination and now has the backing of President Obama, but over the weekend, he confirmed that a job offer was standard by the administration months ago when the White House was openly supporting Specter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the White House offer you a position in the administration if you would not run?

REP. JOE SESTAK, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I was asked that question months after it happened. And I felt an obligation to answer honest and I said yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us what job?

SESTAK: Then I said at the time, anything beyond that gets into politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The administration says it has checked into discussions that took place with Congressman Sestak and claims that nothing inappropriate happened.

And for the first time in nearly 20 years, a Republican will represent Hawaii in the House. Charles Djou captured a special election last night over two Democratic challengers to replace long time Congressman Neil Abercrombie. He resigned to run for governor. His seat will be up for grabs again in November -- Kiran.

CHETRY: It's time now for your "AM House Call," stories about your health. Swimming lessons for toddlers are okay after all. That's the new position of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation's largest group of pediatrician, and they had warned that swim classes could give kids and parents a false sense of security. Now, they're relaxing that stunt saying it is fine to enroll children in swim classes even children as young as a year old.

There's also new research showing that yoga could have big benefits for cancer survivors. Doctors say that for people who've had chemotherapy or radiation treatments in the past, yoga can help improve sleep, boost energy, and even help cut the use of sleeping pills.

And men have had the little blue pill to lift libido for the last dozen years. Women soon have one too. There's a STA panel that next month will be considering backing what's called a pink Viagra. A German pharmaceutical company wants to sell the drug which was developed as anti-depressant, and they claimed that as a side-effect it increased sexual desire in women. You know, they've gone back and forth on that for a long time saying that it's not as easy as a little pill for females.

ROBERTS: With men, it's mechanical. With women, it's emotional.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROBERTS: And isn't that always the way.

Two television shows reach their climax last night --

CHETRY: Go on.

ROBERTS: Rocker, Bret Michaels was crowned the new "Celebrity Apprentice" by Donald trump beating an actor, Holly Robinson Peete. Michaels has gone down a rough road since taping stop in the show. He had an appendectomy, that serious brain hemorrhage just like last week and suffered a small what they called warning stroke, a temporary ischemic attack. It was discovered that he's got a hole in his heart, which was probably what was responsible for throwing off that blood clot.

CHETRY: Unless, you've been stranded on an island, you probably know last night was the "Lost" series finale. No spoilers for those who of you who tivoed (ph) it, but the finale had to tie up six years of plot twist and a mere two-and-a-half hours lost many mysteries, helped build a cult status following among its fans. Did you stay up?

ROBERTS: No, I DVR that one today. Plan sometime today when they finally get home to left the seat in front of the television --

CHETRY: So, no one spoiled it for you yet?

ROBERTS: Not yet.

CHETRY: A lot of "Lost" fans said that they weren't taking part in any social networking or going any websites because they were afraid people going to --

ROBERTS: Hey, I've looked a couple of times, but you know, unless it completely jumped out in mean the first paragraph, I haven't looked any further. So, looking forward to seeing it within today. Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.

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