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American Morning
Al Qaeda Number 3 Dead: Bin Laden Former Financial Chief Killed; "Cut and Cap" Operation Under Way in the Gulf; Israel Slammed for Ship Raid; Riding with the Bomb Squad; Jobs for New Grads; B.P.'s Cut and Cap Begins; Do Muslim Soldiers Face Persecution?; Fleet Week Freak Accident; Memorial Day Rainout
Aired June 01, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Tuesday, it's June 1st. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, it's hard, you know, to think that May even started and now it's over and we're --
CHETRY: That's right. Now we're in June.
ROBERTS: Where does the time go? Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes here on the Most News in the Morning.
Word of a major blow to Al Qaeda. The terror group saying its number three man, a man with direct ties to bin Laden is dead. Analysts say that it could be a serious blow to Al Qaeda's plans to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
CHETRY: Well, the "cut and cap" operation is under way in the gulf this morning. Robots with power saws preparing the gushing riser for a clean cut. It could happen as early as tomorrow. Then, a new containment device will be lowered on top of that. BP is hoping to contain most of the leaking crude that's now closed 62,000 square miles of ocean to fishing.
ROBERTS: And a deadly commando raid on ships carrying supplies to Gaza sparked global outrage and a new diplomatic crisis. At least nine activists were killed. The Israeli military claims self-defense, but the activists tell a very different story. So who's to blame? We're live in Jerusalem this morning.
And of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: But first, a developing story in what's being called a major victory in the war against Al Qaeda. The terror group saying that its number three man in charge may be the closest man to Osama bin Laden is dead. U.S. officials believe Mustafa Abu al-Yazid was killed in a missile strike in Pakistan's tribal areas. At one time, he was bin Laden's top moneyman and was the man in charge of operations in Afghanistan.
Our Nic Robertson is live for us this morning in Kabul with more. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
The 9/11 Commission said that he was the main financier behind the -- behind the 9/11 attacks. He is widely seen as an operational commander as well as money gatherer in the Afghan-Pakistan border region here. He appeared on an Al Qaeda videotape claiming responsibility for that strike on a CIA camp in Afghanistan late last year that killed seven CIA operatives. He's also known to have been in direct contact with young would-be Al Qaeda people coming from the United States getting Al Qaeda training in Pakistan and then intending to head back to the United States to perpetrate attacks.
So, while he dropped out of sight for many years, he has been back as a main and significant player and a direct threat to the United States in as recently as the last couple of years -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Nic Robertson for us this morning. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Robots armed with power saws. BP's latest weapon in the next desperate attempt to stop the disaster in the gulf. This is day 43 now of the oil spill. The weekend "top kill" a total failure. BP's cut and cap operation has begun. It features robots using high powered circular saws equipped with diamond tipped blades. They are already slicing pieces of pipe off of the leaking riser plugging holes, preparing it for a clean cut through. That could happen tomorrow. Then BP will try put a lid on the gusher with a new containment device called the LMRP cap.
Meanwhile, federal officials have closed 1,200 more square miles of ocean to fishing. Twenty-eight percent of the gulf is now off- limits. Our Carol Costello is live in Grand Isle, Louisiana this morning. And a lot of crude still lurking off the shore this morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, more than 100 miles of the Louisiana shoreline has been hit by oil. The frustrating thing if the oil goes in it goes out. You don't know where it's going to hit. It's sort of killing the coastline here by degrees, tiny degrees. BP though says it's doing a good job of cleaning up the oil that has reached the shore. We wondered if that was true, so we set out to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So where are we going?
MEL LANDRY, BARATARIA-TERREBONNE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM: We're going to Grand Terre Island and East Grand Terre Island.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Mel Landry is an environmentalist. He's taking us on a tour to see if BP's efforts to clean up oil washing ashore are effective.
(on camera): Are you here to clean? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma'am.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Locals contracted out and trained by BP are on the island suiting up and for the first time willing to talk with us.
Shane Trahan, a fisherman by trade grew up here. He's disgusted by the thick heap (ph) of sand encrusted oil on shore. It's his job now to pick them up, 61 bag fulls in 2 1/2 days.
(on camera): So do you feel as you're cleaning up what's already here that you're fighting a losing battle?
SHANE TRAHAN, CLEAN-UP WORKER: Personally myself, I think so. I do, I really do. But we've got to try. We've got to try. So it's something that's pretty sad to see.
COSTELLO (voice-over): One of the first things he spotted on the island was a dead dolphin. BP tested it and determined it did not die because of the oil, but the dolphin's corpse disturbs Trahan.
TRAHAN: It's sad. It's very sad. It's very sad.
COSTELLO (on camera): Why?
TRAHAN: Something should have been done a lot sooner than what it is.
COSTELLO (voice-over): He's afraid of what may come next now that BP has been unable to stop the leak. Right now, there are globs of oil and sand and drops of oil in liquid form on the rocks. Absorbent towels are used to soak them up. We leave Bon Terre (ph) to talk with Mel, our environmental expert.
(on camera): I must say the absorbent towels seemed a little useless to me.
MEL LANDRY, BARATARIA-TERREBONNE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM: You know, I mean, that's a specific technology made for oil cleanup. Those towels will only don't absorb water. They're only absorbing the oil, so they are very are useful.
COSTELLO (voice-over): BP has ratcheted up its shoreline cleanup efforts. It's hired 20,000 people so far. And officials told me BP is ready to hire thousands more. Some of them will be housed on floatels, living quarters built on top of barges that can house thousands of people and then they moved to wherever they need to be to stop or clean up the oil.
Hundreds of fishing boats armed with booms are busy skimming oil from the water. They're also dropping booms or floating barriers around land masses. The big question is, is all of this enough?
(on camera): On a scale of one to ten, BP's containment efforts, where would you put that number? LANDRY: Offshore, I think their containment efforts are working very well. Once it's making landfall, I think there's room for improvement.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Landry says more bodies and more equipment are needed onshore. The oil is leaking again. The spill growing ever larger and there's no way to know where it's all going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And to add to that problem, John, hurricane season is upon us. If a big storm breaks out, they have to stop work not only cleaning up the oil on shore but they have to stop at the leak site itself and with this new effort to cap that leak.
ROBERTS: Yes. Today is the first official day of hurricane season. If they've got a contingency plan to put in place to deal with hurricanes but that's not going to be ready until the end of June so still a lot of work ahead.
CHETRY: Yes. And also, Carol, did you get the sense somebody was in charge, that somebody was sort of directing this operation? I mean, that's one of the big questions and criticisms from locals as well is who really is guiding this effort?
COSTELLO: It seems to be getting a little better. The federal government is stepping in. They're talking about it more. I think a big part of the problem with it seeming disorganized was there was no one spokesperson. You couldn't get any information from people.
That's improving. As for one central place where they're giving out all of the orders, I don't know. We called the Coast Guard. They hooked us up with certain people. We went out to the island and we happen to run into all of these people working. And one of them finally agreed to talk with us. So that's -- that's still a valid question and we really don't know the concrete answer to that yet.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see you a little bit later on this morning. Carol Costello for us this morning. Carol, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Meantime, the federal government has just declared another 1,200 square miles of ocean now off limits to fishing. That means 62,000 square miles are now restricted, 26 percent of the gulf. And those band waters are getting closer to the shores of Alabama and Mississippi as well. It's a terrible blow to local fishermen because they say the areas that are closed down are actually the ones that are the most rich in fish and shrimp. Red snapper season opened this morning. That's normally a very strong tourist draw.
ROBERTS: Bob Dudley is going to be joining us in about 20 minutes time. He's BP's managing director. We'll ask him about the cut and cap operation that they're engaging in this week and the backup plan should that fail.
And be sure to see "TOXIC AMERICA." It's a two-night CNN investigation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's going to be examining one of the chemical dispersants being used by BP. It's banned in other countries. So why is it alright to use it here in the waters off of America? "Toxic America" beginning tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern on CNN.
Also new this morning, Sarah Ferguson says that she was drunk and not in her, quote, "right place" when she was caught on tape selling access to her ex-husband Prince Andrew. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the duchess of York says she was, quote, "in the gutter at that moment.: The videotape sting shows Ferguson offering access to Prince Andrew for 500,000 pounds. That's $724,000 to a reporter who was posing as a wealthy businessman.
CHETRY: Plus a giant sinkhole opening up in Guatemala City. It almost looks like an Internet fake. But we called the Guatemalan government and officials there say no, this is indeed very real. People who live in the neighborhood are blaming heavy rains from tropical storm Agatha and also a bad drainage system. Residents also say that the hole swallowed a three-story building as well as a house. A local newspaper is also reporting that a private security guard was killed when that sinkhole opened up.
ROBERTS: Wow. You know, you look down into the mud (ph), that sinkhole, it looks like there's a huge cavern beneath it.
CHETRY: Right, you don't where it ends.
ROBERTS: Yes. It looks like they built that whole neighborhood on some sort of cave.
The severe weather in southeast Colorado kicking up a nasty tornado. Just take a look at this enormous funnel cloud from yesterday afternoon. Local police tell us it touched down just after 1:00 p.m. local time.
CHETRY: Also, the worst of the damage seems to be a whole lot of downed power lines. Police also say that they haven't heard of any injuries from the tornado. But our Jacqui Jeras is tracking things from the extreme weather center this morning.
The picture of that Guatemala City sinkhole, it almost looked fake. I mean, you know, we called and verified if it's unreal.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it really is. That was the discussion around the weather center as well, is that thing real because it's very perfect. And usually when you see sinkholes it's not quite so symmetrical. But when you do look at it from the ground, it looks a little bit more realistic. But boy, just, you know, terrible, terrible conditions there in Guatemala.
And we're also watching the remnants of the energy from what was Agatha, by the way. And we'll talk a little bit more about that. We're back half an hour.
In the meantime, today, we saw the pictures out of Colorado. Well, the severe weather threat out there again today. We'll be watching parts of the upper Midwest. Elsewhere, the East Coast just getting slammed with showers and thunderstorms. They are going to be heavy at times today, just bringing torrential downpours. Not really expecting severe weather but certainly impacting your travel. We'll talk more about that and talk about some hot and sticky conditions too. That's coming up in a little bit. We'll see you then.
CHETRY: Jacqui Jeras for us, thanks.
Well, meanwhile, developing today, sharp reaction after a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla carrying supplies to the Gaza Strip. We first showed you the video yesterday. Israeli commandos boarding one of the ships. Nine activists on board were killed in that raid. The Israelis say that they were attacked first and acted in self-defense. But the battle that began on the Mediterranean Sea has now sparked international outrage.
ROBERTS: Heated protests extend across the globe. This was the scene in Washington as hundreds of people gathered outside the Israeli embassy. In Paris, police fought back crowds waving Palestinian flags. And one of the biggest demonstrations of all rocked Pakistan. Angry crowds burned tires in the streets there.
Our Atia Abawi is live in Jerusalem this morning. And what's happening now to the people who are on board those ships, Atia?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're actually trying to wait to hear exactly what's happening. What we have heard from the Israeli police is that around 45 of those activists are in the process of being deported back to their home countries, but nearly 600 of them are being detained at a prison in southern Israel. They say detained but not arrested. These are activists they say have not given them identification cards, and it will take longer for them to process them. And in fact, they're going to need the assistance of other foreign diplomats. So right now, nearly 600 of the activists are being held at an Israeli prison.
CHETRY: And we're also hearing reports that two more ships are on the way to Gaza. What does that mean for the current situation?
ABAWI: That's what we're hearing at the moment too. We are getting reports that two other ships are coming. We're trying to independently confirm that information. It looks like the Free Gaza Movement and the other eight organizations that were a part of this six-ship flotilla that was attacked yesterday by the Israeli military, they're still going on with their mission. Two more boats.
It is said that around three other boats were left behind because of some technical issues. Two of those boats, the technical issues have been fixed and are on the way. But the Israeli government says that it doesn't matter. They will stop those boats from entering the Gaza Strip. They say the blockade is still in effect. That those ships should be coming to Israeli ports and the aid should be filtered through them and go to the Palestinians and Gaza and that way.
Of course, the Palestinians and the activists are against that because they say when the aid goes through the hands of the Israeli government, it gets filtered and much of the much-needed aid does not make it to the Palestinians. So obviously, two sides of the story. Israel says that they're trying to prevent arms from going in but the activists say that the aid that's needed is not going into the Gaza Strip.
CHETRY: As you said, two very different sides of the story. Atia Abawi for us this morning, thank you.
And still to come on the Most News in the Morning, some say it is the toughest job in the NYPD. Our Susan Candiotti had a chance to ride along with the city's bomb squad. She'll show us firsthand what it was like.
Thirteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour.
The man accused of trying to set off a homemade car bomb in New York's Times Square is expected to be back in court today. Thirty- year-old Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American, appeared briefly at his arraignment two weeks ago. Shahzad is charged with five felony counts, include ago tempted terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
CHETRY: Well, ever since the botched Time Square plot, the NYPD's Bomb Squad has been busier than ever.
ROBERTS: CNN's Susan Candiotti got exclusive access to this elite unit and this morning, in the part two of her "A.M. Original" report, we go along for a ride with the bomb squad, where every call is a matter of life and death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barely into their 16-hour shift, they're on the move and there's no time to spare.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): What does it sound like you might have here?
DETECTIVE GREGG ABBATE, NYPD BOMB SQUAD: It's apparently down the police headquarters.
CANDIOTTI: There's a report of something suspicious, maybe a backpack, and we'll -- the team will go down to see what you can find out. So let's head down.
Now, are you already thinking that, all right, we might have to suit up for this one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going through my head.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): CNN is given unusual access to the NYPD Bomb Squad that diffused the Times Square bomb to get a feel for a typical day.
There's no mistaking their office, a vintage grinning bomb hovers over the entrance. On a wall, a sea of faces who belong to the historic unit, going back to 1903. Detective Ray Clair qualified 13 years ago.
DETECTIVE RAYMOND CLAIR, NYPD BOMB SQUAD: You make one mistake, it was -- it's probably -- it could be the last mistake you ever make. Your I.D. card will be on the -- on the front of the newspaper.
CANDIOTTI: Within minutes, they arrived at a park near police headquarters.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): We're here. There are certain restrictions. We'll only be able to get so close.
SGT. JOHN RYAN, NYPD BOMB SQUAD: It's going to go (ph). We're getting our equipment together and we formulate a plan and we're going to attack it.
CANDIOTTI: So there's no taking chances with any of this. He's got the suit on, he's putting the -- the helmet on now. But it's beyond the police checkpoint. If you look down this -- this sort of tunnel here, it's all the way to the right.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): After about an hour, the all clear sign is given.
RYAN: Yes, just a back pack with clothes and some papers and stuff. Somebody either left it there, you know, by the garbage or inadvertently left their bag there.
ABBATE: I got to treat that like it's a bomb until I find out it's not.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): It was just sitting here and there's city hall right there.
ABBATE: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: Police department.
ABBATE: Entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge.
CANDIOTTI: And the Brooklyn Bridge.
ABBATE: All major landmarks.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): No need for a remote controlled robot this time.
The squad doesn't like to precisely show the public its bells and whistles, except to say it can shoot video, blast something to bits, and adjust its height of traction. A bomb suit is usually a must to get close.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): How much does this weigh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 85 pounds all together.
CANDIOTTI: Woah!
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The unit invites me to try it on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slightly put in your --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tilt your head down. OK.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Got it.
I could see if you were claustrophobic, this would not be a job for you. This thing is solid, Frank (ph).
That's a good idea (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we're going to see if you can just pick up the keys.
CANDIOTTI: I don't see how you possibly can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you try to kneel down. Spread your -- there you go.
CANDIOTTI: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
CANDIOTTI: You know, I can't see it but I can feel for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting close. There you go. All right.
CANDIOTTI: Got it.
I'm going to -- no, let me -- let me get up myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. There you go. All right.
CANDIOTTI: OK. Very good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice job.
CANDIOTTI: If you were out in -- in the direct sun, this got to be super hot and hard to maneuver.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Yet bomb techs do it with skill and good natured competition. That's right, despite the potential danger of being blown to bits.
ABBATE: We actually have arguments about who's taking the job.
CANDIOTTI: And when people see them on the job.
CLAIR: They know we're going to take care of it, and when we leave, they know it's safe to go back to whatever they were doing.
CANDIOTTI: Prepared, they say, for whatever happens.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Is it just me, or did she look a little bit like one of those Ninja Turtles when she was dressed up in that there?
CHETRY: You know, it -- she illustrated just how much harder it is than it looks. I mean, they make it look easy.
ROBERTS: Seriously. And, these days, after what happened in Times Square everyone of these calls is treated like it's the real deal. There was -- there was a bomb scare around the corner from the (ph) apartment, and they shut down the West Side Highway and all of that for about an hour while they were checking this whole thing out.
CHETRY: And that's the other thing too. They have to get to it, obviously, quickly but also take care of it quickly, not to tie up, you know, the -- the whole surrounding area for hours on end.
ROBERTS: They managed to do that, though.
Coming up on the Most News in the Morning, college grads facing a tough job market. Some tips on how to get a leg up on the competition. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business", coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-four minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We're "Minding Your Business" and this one is actually just for the class of 2010, or their parents, wondering if they're ever going to be able to pay off their debt. New college grads who have their education and now a diploma to prove it now have an even harder challenge ahead, and that's landing a decent job.
ROBERTS: With unemployment nationwide still teetering around double digits, finding your first job is harder than ever and Christine Romans here with some tips that you can use this morning. Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we've been talking to a lot of kids and, you know, you look at the graduations across the country this spring and many of these kids are moving out into a very, very tough job market.
There's one -- 1.65 million of these kids graduating. They're young, they're very well educated, and they're graduating in one of the worst job markets in decades.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS (voice-over): Nina Daoud and her friends at Connecticut's Fairfield University know full well even with a college degree finding work is not easy.
ROMANS (on camera): Who has a job already lined up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do.
ROMANS: Do you have a job?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grad school.
ROMANS: Grad school. Job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No job.
ROMANS: No job, no job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paid intern.
ROMANS: Paid internship.
ROMANS (voice-over): Nina's degree, English and marketing.
With two unpaid internships under her belt, she tried to find a job in PR, but with no luck.
NINA DAOUD, STUDENT: Yes. Competition is extra fierce now. I've been trying to make contacts, but, you know, even they're sort of helpless in this economy.
ROMANS: In fact, says Cathleen Borgman, director of Career Planning, on campus recruiting was down 44 percent this year, and graduates are also competing with the class of 2009.
CATHLEEN BORGMAN, DIRECTOR, FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY CAREER PLANNING: Rather than think of it in the negative, just focus on the positive and what you need to do to get yourself on track. Just get on that bike. Move.
ROMANS: Emmanuel Ephie took this advice. A Finance major after two high profile internships and dozens of interviews, he finally landed a job with Goldman Sachs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emmanuel Ephie.
ROMANS: Ephie is one of the lucky ones. Only two out of 10 graduates from the class of 2010 have a job lined up.
Career consultant Marianne Ruggiero.
MARIANNE RUGGIERO, CAREER CONSULTANT: You really just can't sit home and wait for a job to knock on the door and find you. ROMANS: Her advice to newly-minted grads like Nina, network, meet people face to face, research your industry, find companies you'd like to work for and approach them.
RUGGIERO: The strategy is to get there before the job opens or to be there before they post it.
ROMANS: Ruggiero says be able to explain what distinguishes you from everyone else. And, most importantly, be persistent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations graduates in the class of 2010!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. The number one thing you can do is have the right major, believe it or not, because the people who are getting the job offers are Accounting, Business, Computer Sciences and Engineering, Mathematics. These are the places where people are getting the most. And they -- and in some cases --
ROBERTS: You mean Art History is not a big hire --
ROMANS: You know, Art History and I'm -- I'm sorry, but English, no. Spanish, Music, Education, Secondary Education, Elementary Education --
CHETRY: All the Liberal Arts --
ROMANS: -- all the Liberal Arts. Those -- demand for those majors is down, even from 2009.
So where you're seeing kids get the jobs, Finance majors. We met a young man who, you know, got a job at Goldman Sachs after two very, very -- yes.
ROBERTS: He's going to have a nice life.
ROMANS: Yes. After two very prestigious internships.
And Nina, who we've profiled in this piece, she had two internships, unpaid. She said, I already did my -- I did my time, unpaid. I worked hard for -- for companies, and she's still -- still having a lot of trouble.
CHETRY: You know what, there's an -- there's supreme confidence, still, among a lot of these graduates.
ROMANS: You're right.
CHETRY: They're not going to believe -- nearly 60 percent of them, according to some studies, believe that they will within three months at least find a job that they want.
ROMANS: This Generation Y is so much different than Generation X or the Boomers or any of the other generations because they've been told by their parents that they deserved the best so they're like, OK, I deserve the best --
CHETRY: I'll wait for it.
ROMANS: -- and I will wait for it.
So it just means --
ROBERTS: They might be waiting a while.
ROMANS: They might be, and it means that your -- their parents might be actually footing part of the bill there for a while.
CHETRY: There you go. Well, good luck to you because it's not --
ROMANS: Exactly.
CHETRY: It's not easy to get the start.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, BP getting ready for another procedure aimed at stopping the flow of oil. We'll talk to BP managing director Bob Dudley, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty minutes past the hour -- time for a look at your top stories this morning.
And, al Qaeda saying its third in command is dead. The U.S. believes he was killed in a strike in Pakistan's tribal region. U.S. officials say that he was the commander of operations in Afghanistan and outlet to Osama bin Laden.
Protests erupting across the globe after Israeli's deadly assault on a flotilla of ships carrying the supplies to the Gaza Strip. Israel says commandos only open fire after people on board one of the ships started attacking them. U.N. Security Council condemned the use of force and requested Israel release the seized ships.
And the cap and cut operation has begun in the Gulf. They are slicing pieces of pipe off of the leaking riser, trying to plug holes, preparing it for a clean cut through. And that could happen tomorrow. Then B.P. would try to put a lid on the gusher with a new containment device called the LMRP cap.
Later today, President Obama meets with the heads of his newly- formed oil spill commission to get briefed on the disaster -- John.
ROBERTS: If they the cut and stop operation can't stop the oil leak this week, what is the next step? A relief well won't be finished until August, and that's not even guaranteed to work. And what about B.P.'s claim that all of the spilled oil is on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and not in underwater plumes, despite to the contrary by scientists.
Bob Dudley is B.P.'s managing director. He's joining us live from Houston this morning.
Mr. Dudley, this LMRP cap, work is underway on that. Nothing has worked so far.
Why do you have any confidence that this attempt will be any different?
BOB DUDLEY, B.P. MANAGING DIRECTOR: Good morning, John.
We want to minimize the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and we're well into an operation to do that. We've begun an operation that will put the cap on the well. Within hours, we will begin the series of cuts where the robots take a set of sheers, cut off a pipe, and then a diamond cut saw will make a clean cut across the top of the well. And then we'll be able to lower over it, one of a number of caps that we have available depending on the cut, to bring the oil and gas to the surface.
ROBERTS: But --
DUDLEY: John, that's just the first --
ROBERTS: Right. I was just going to say --
DUDLEY: That's just the first in the series.
ROBERTS: I was going to say that, as you know, you know, we've been looking at this for 43 days now and B.P., has been, well, we're going to try this, well, that didn't work -- well, we're going to try this, well, that didn't work. Why do you have any confidence that this LMRP work in any of its iteration that you got planned?
DUDLEY: Well, we learned a lot in the first containment dome that we tried. We understood the effects of the hydrates and we've designed this cap to pump warm sea water down with a little ethanol to mitigate the risk of the hydrates. The engineering on this, while it's never been done at 5,000 feet, is more straightforward.
This operation today is one -- is the first step in a series of three containment steps that we'll take. After this cap is on, with the objective of eliminating and minimizing the flow into the Gulf, we'll start a second one to create a second flow path through the blowout preventers on the top of the well by using equipment that was used in the top kill, essentially reverse the flow. So, we'll have two paths of flow up to the surface.
And by the end of the month, we are engineering a completely separate system that will make it more storm-proof with a free standing riser that would allow for quick disconnects if needed.
ROBERTS: What --
DUDLEY: So, this engineering is different than the top kill engineering.
ROBERTS: Right. Of course. And you were pumping fluids in the top kill. This time, you try to put a cap on the very top of it. But when you cut of off that riser just above the blowout preventer, there are estimations and nobody is sure about any of this, but there are estimations that the flow could increase by 20 percent because you'd be cutting before that crimped off part of the riser pipe.
Do you have enough certainty in this method that you're willing to risk a temporary increase in flow of oil?
DUDLEY: Yes, we do. We -- it's hard to say. I mean, the flow rate increase could be anywhere from zero to 20. There were some large holes on the top of that riser due to the flow -- heavy flows of mud there. Even with an increased flow rate, this cap will be able to handle this.
ROBERTS: In 1979, in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, Mexican side, there's the famous Ixtoc well blowout. Everything was tried to kill that well, including what they called, back at the time, a sombrero, which would have been their version of your top hat. They tried virtually everything that you're trying.
They couldn't get the well shut off. It raged on for 10 months, filling 30,000 barrels of oil every day into the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't finally until those kill wells were drilled that they stopped it.
You know, you've increased the technology to drill at extreme depth in the past three decades. But why hasn't the ability to deal with the disaster really improved in that time?
DUDLEY: Well, the blowout -- so, that was 21 years ago. And the oil and gas industry's technology has moved on tremendously since then. First, the ability to drill the relief wells faster and more accurately exists today. The blowout preventers themselves have evolved even further with more failsafe mechanisms in them.
We haven't seen a failure like of a blowout preventer with any of the 5,000 wells that we drilled in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico. So, it's a very unusual accident.
ROBERTS: Yes. It was actually 31 years ago now, 1979.
DUDLEY: Thirty-one, yes.
ROBERTS: You know, Tony --
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ROBERTS: We're getting older all the time, especially watching all of this happen, a lot of gray hairs and lot of people developing.
Tony Hayward said over the weekend that he thought that all of the oil that was coming out of the wellhead down below the surface was coming out to the surface, which would be in contradiction to findings by scientists who have said that there are enormous subsea plumes out there that they have measured.
Where's the evidence that all of the oil is coming to the surface and not existing in these subsea plumes?
DUDLEY: Well, the scientists have -- NOAA scientists and other research vessels have been testing out there, haven't found evidence of plumes. They have found evidence of very small decreases in oxygen levels, which is what you expect when the bacteria eats the oil. Actually, everyone is out there looking for these plumes, haven't found them yet.
And I think it's -- the science of the plumes hanging in the water doesn't feel right. What happens is dispersant breaks, it drops down into very, very small drops and they move around and then they start to break down. So, we're all absolutely taking these ideas seriously and looking at them. We haven't found them yet and neither has the government.
ROBERTS: All right. Bob Dudley from B.P., thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate your time.
DUDLEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: And coming up next on the Most News in the Morning: the man accused in the Fort Hood shooting is set to appear in court today. And this is coming as Muslim soldiers say that they are finding themselves increasingly the victims of harassment in the military. Chris Lawrence with a live report -- next.
It's 38 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-one minutes past the hour now.
Fort Hood shooting suspect, Major Nidal Hasan, heads to court today. He's accused of killing 13 colleagues and injuring dozens more last November. Hasan was then shot by military police officers during that incident and he's now paralyzed from the chest down. He's in a wheelchair. Hasan will arrive in the courtroom under heavy security.
Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is tracking the case and also new claims that the Army may not be doing enough to treat Muslim soldiers with respect. He's live at Fort Hood this morning with our "Security Watch."
And some of the soldiers -- the Muslim soldiers who have been complaining about this, did they say that it's gotten worse after the Nidal Hasan incident?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran. And to be fair, you know, hundreds of American Muslims who serve every day with absolutely no problem. Many right here Fort Hood.
But there are some that say, after this Fort Hood shooting, they were called to account for what happened, which they feel is just entirely unfair.
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LAWRENCE (voice-over): The trial of Major Nidal Hasan could reveal new details about his past and call into question whether the military did enough to identify his problems. But another American- Muslim soldier says Fort Hood is failing the mission of respecting all faiths.
SPEC. ZACHARI KLAWONN, U.S. ARMY: On base, you know, there is no Islamic service.
LAWRENCE: Specialist Zachari Klawonn is suing the Army, accusing officials of allowing a pattern of harassment, the slurs --
KLAWONN: Hajji, hajji, a terrorist. You know, see that hajji (INAUDIBLE).
LAWRENCE: -- to a note mailed to his barracks in February.
(on camera): What exactly did the letter say?
KLAWONN: Right. Excuse my language. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) raghead burn in hell.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Fort Hood officials are investigating that note, but say there have been no complaints since then. They admit there's no imam to lead prayers for the 180 Muslim soldiers on base but are working to get one approved. And, "The command chaplain met with 13 Muslim soldiers who overwhelmingly indicated they did not feel discriminated against because of their religion."
Troops often find religious sensitive amplified in warzones like Afghanistan. At a recent Easter Sunday service, troops celebrated inside this tent, but outside --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You really had to watch what you say. Even just here on Leatherneck, you're around a lot of interpreters and a lot of people that don't believe the same way you do.
LAWRENCE: This country has been repeatedly attacked by Islamic radicals. We are at war in two Muslim countries. It seems a little naive to think there wouldn't be some hostility towards Muslims among the troops.
KLAWONN: Absolutely. (INAUDIBLE) coming in the military.
But when you raise your right hand in front, you know, that American flag and you take your oath, you agree to a certain set of rules.
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LAWRENCE: Now, today's hearing is just sort of like what you would think of as a civilian grand jury. But based on some of the evidence that Hasan's defense attorney is asking for, he may be trying to prove or look into whether the government did enough to act on certain intelligence that may have suggested Hasan had contacts with Anwar al-Awlaki. He's an Islamic cleric with suspected ties to al Qaeda.
Now, that kind of relationship could prove that Hasan was mentality unfit for duty as an Army officer -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Chris Lawrence for us this morning right there at Fort Hood -- thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Forty-four minutes after the hour. Jacqui Jeras has got this morning's travel forecast right after the break.
Heavy snow predicted for Miami. Kidding. Just seeing if you are paying attention.
She's up for the forecast right after the break. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Ten spectators are recovering from a freak accident during a Memorial Day fleet week show on Staten Island in New York City. Powerful wind blasts from a Marine Corps Osprey V-22 aircraft knocked branches off of trees 600 feet away. Those falling tree limbs injured ten people. Seven of those people had to be taken to the hospital. Fortunately though, none of the injuries were serious.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. A powerful storm wiped out President Obama's plans to host a Memorial Day ceremony in Illinois. The president was making his way to the podium yesterday at Lincoln National Cemetery and that's when a thunderstorm erupted.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A little bit concerned about lightning. This may not be safe so I know that all of you are here to commemorate the fallen. That's why we're here. What we would like to do is if possible to have people move back to their cars --
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ROBERTS: That's where he was headed. Let's get a quick on this morning's weather headlines, Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center for us and looks like a lot of the bad weather has moved off, although that stuff that was in Chicago, I guess, is now in upstate New York.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we've all kinds of wet weather up and down the east coast once again today. Chicago on the foggy side, though, by the way. It's not terrible out there this morning across much of the east coast, but we're going to see things heat up as we continue through the afternoon. And Even though most of the rain is into New England, we still have a lot of cloudiness and haze across the megalopolis. Take a look at the flood picture. Auto man hat (ph) and you can sure see that. Not a terrible start this morning, but we will see showers and thunderstorms on and off throughout the day.
High temperatures just over 80 degrees. So, we do expect to see some travel delays, by the way. If you're flying out of New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, also some delays expected, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami due to thunderstorms, Chicago due to the fog, low clouds, and Detroit and Charlotte expecting some thunderstorms and low clouds, and San Francisco, pretty usual this time of the year. Severe thunderstorms will be possible later on today will be focusing on the nation's midsection, a large hail and maybe some damaging winds with these thunderstorms and maybe an isolated tornado or two but not expecting that to be widespread.
Temperature wise today, we are going to be staying rather sticky and very warm. Look at Kansas City, 90 degrees there, 98 in Dallas. You, guys, should be hit in a triple digit as you approach the weekend. It's June 1, unlike, John Roberts still joke about April Fool's Day Fair, the snow in Miami, yes, that's not going to happen, but June 1 does mean that it's a hurricane season in the Atlantic. And you saw the pictures and heard about all the devastation in Guatemala. The remnants of that area of low pressure in the Western Caribbean, something that we'll be watching over the next couple of days. We don't think it will be develop into anything, but just something to let you know that that continues to be out there. John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Jacqui Jeras for us this morning. Jacqui, thanks.
CHETRY: That was your June Fool's Day joke. No snow in Miami.
ROBERTS: No snow in Miami. I don't think they've ever had any real snow in Miami. Maybe a flake or two and that's about it.
CHETRY: If you end up getting bumped from your flight, you could end up with more money in your pocket. The federal officials are expected to raise the amount the airlines have to pay passengers if they lose their seat. Right now, the payout is between $400 and $800. The passenger rights groups want the limit set between $800 and $1200. Carriers have been cutting seats for overbooking flights in the past few years in an effort to make money.
ROBERTS: This morning's top stories just minutes away, including developing this morning, al Qaeda saying its third in command was killed. He was an outlet to Osama Bin Laden. Just how big is this and how close are we to getting his boss? We're live in Kabul this morning.
CHETRY: Also robots with saws, working a mile underwater, BPs latest long shot attempt to cut and cap the well that's been gushing oil for six weeks. We're live along the Gulf where more fishermen are out of work this morning. ROBERTS: And with iPad demand through the roof, workers who are making them are being asked to make a pledge to not kill themselves. Yes, to not kill themselves. We're taking a closer look at Apple's Chinese suicide problem. Those stories and more coming your way at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Fifty-five minutes after the hour.
We want to show you a new interactive feature on CNN.com. It's called "Home and Away." The Web site is dedicated to honoring the brave men and women who gave their lives for their country. Now, what you see here is a map of Afghanistan on the right hand side and United States. Circles on the map in Afghanistan, there are dots and the dots here in the United States. The dots here in Afghanistan sadly mark the location of where service members have fallen and then the dots over here in the United States are the home towns of those service members.
And if we hit this tab up here, we can bring up the information from Iraq, more than 4,700 of our service members killed in Iraq, and I hope you took time yesterday during Memorial Day to honor their sacrifice. We're going to drill down just a little bit morning because this is what's great about this Web site is all of these dots, while they look in person on this map are actually individuals, and today, we're going to be talking about Lance Corporal Jourdan Lin Grez. Family members and friends can use this Web site to upload their memories of their loved ones.
Here's information about Lance Corporal Grez from Harrisonburg, Virginia, 24 years old, Company B, 4th Combat engineer. He died when his amphibious vehicle was struck a bomb outside Karabilah, Iraq, May 11, 2005. Just to show you how versatile this Web site is, let's take a look at the slide show that his mother put up here.
We (ph) do this via the iReport facility. It takes a second to load. So, there's all sorts of photographic memories here of Lance Corporal Grez that are available on this Web site. So, you can take a look at this. You can also go on. You can look for people who you might know or if you know somebody who's not yet honored on home and a way, go on to Web site and do it yourself.
So, log on, check out your home town that should be to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, CNN.com/homeandaway. Top stories are coming up next.
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