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American Morning

President Remarks on Efforts Dealing with Gulf Oil spill; Tar Balls Hitting Florida Beaches; Van der Sloot Confessing to Murder; Stopping the Flow of Oil in the Gulf: James Cameron Offers Idea for a Fix; Showdown in Arkansas; Giving Autistic Children Hope; Delicate Wildlife at Risk; Helen Thomas Retires; Unveiling Apple's New iPhone

Aired June 08, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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


JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Tuesday, the 8th of June. It's the Most News in the Morning. A lot to tell you about today. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Yes, we have a lot of big stories coming up in the next 15 minutes. Here's a look.

Breaking news, a confession this morning in a high profile murder case. CNN learning that Joran van der Sloot did confess to killing a young woman in Peru. That admission coming hours after hours of interrogation. So, what led van der Sloot to claim that he did, in fact, murder? We're live in Peru with the inside story.

ROBERTS: You wanted tough, you got it. President Obama bluntly defending his response to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially had the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And there was action to go along with those words, an about face on oil drilling, and a giant loophole for oil closed. All the new developments just ahead.

CHETRY: Also from feisty to offensive, crossing the line cost legendary White House reporter Helen Thomas her career. We'll talk to a former colleague about Thomas's sudden retirement and her now tarnished legacy.

ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning, the playboy suspect Joran van der Sloot twice arrested in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway has according to police confessed to killing a 21-year-old Peruvian woman. Her body was Wednesday morning in this hotel room. You're looking at a photo CNN has obtained of that room taken before the crime took place last week.

Our Rafael Romo joins us from Lima, Peru with the breaking details. Rafael, what's the latest?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. Apparently Joran van der Sloot broke down in tears when he made the dramatic confession in the presence of a prosecutor and a defense attorney assigned to him. His words were "I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life."

What does he mean by that? Well, apparently the 21-year-old victim, Stephany Flores was looking at some information on his laptop, and learned that he had been a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, and that's what caused him to go into a rage.

He exploded with rage and broke her neck after 21-year-old Stephany Flores grabbed the laptop. There was also another exchange, moment where he says, "She had no right. I got closer and she became scared and wanted to escape. And I grabbed her by the neck and started hitting her." That's what he said as being quoted in the local newspaper here in Lima.

Today the prosecution is expected to file charges in front of a judge, and also a very important step in the process today is what they call here the reconstruction of the crime. The suspect, Joran van der Sloot, or I should say now, the one responsible for this murder, will be taken to the hotel to describe to authorities how everything happened.

He will later be moved to a maximum security prison, and also today his mother is expected to arrive here in Lima, Peru. He had been requesting to see his mother for the last few days, John.

ROBERTS: So there is no death penalty there in Peru, Rafael. So what could his possible sentence be?

ROMO: There's no death penalty exactly. There's also nothing like life in prison. What they have here is the maximum sentence could be anywhere from 15 to 35 years.

Now, the judge is going to be taking a look at the aggravating factors in the case, the fact that he fled, the violent nature of homicide. And also the fact that he confessed is probably going to help him a little bit, but in any case, it's a very violent murder.

And we were looking at the picture obtained by CNN this morning of what the room looked like. We also took a look at the report from the crime scene obtained by CNN yesterday where you see sheets on the floor, an extremely messy room.

So all of that is going to be taken into account by the judge and he's going to ultimately determine how much time he spends in jail, John.

ROBERTS: Rafael Romo from Lima, Peru. Thanks for the update.

CHETRY: It is now day 50 of the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Here are the latest headlines. Right now more heavy oil is now being spotted off of Louisiana's coast and more oil-soaked dead wildlife is being reported in the region. Also tar balls washing up in Mississippi and in the Florida panhandle with a pool of oil lurking offshore.

ROBERTS: The president also pulling an about face saying he'll move quickly to reopen offshore drilling in shallow waters. Many Gulf coast residents say political officials say the president didn't think about the thousands of people who earn paychecks on the rigs.

CHETRY: The White House going along with a plan to make BP pay the entire tab for the mess, the administration lifting the cap on the liability, which is now $75 million. That's a virtual drop in the bucket, which ironically is what BP's CEO once thought about the spill.

ROBERTS: And from keeping the boot on their neck to placing it somewhere else, President Obama responding to critics who say he's been too soft with real tough talk yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf. A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be.

And I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially had the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: There you go. You heard it from the president.

Meanwhile, of course, the oil slick continues to grow. Our Jim Acosta had a chance to get a bird's eye view. He's with us along the panhandle in Destin, Florida. You went up there in a parasail to check out the oil over the gulf. What did you see?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we didn't see much. I think that's a big sigh of relief for the folks in Florida. They are breathing easier this morning, Kiran, because what happened in Louisiana and Mississippi just has not happened here yet.

And we found reason for hope. We went five miles out into the gulf, 30 miles down the coast line to check out the conditions not just from the water but from up in the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: As soon as tar balls starting coming ashore, people in the panhandle feared wave after wave of oil would wash ashore. This didn't happen, which is why the Pensacola mayor hopes the trend is turning.

MAYOR MIKE WIGGINS, PENSACOLA: The trend looks better every day. Every one of us needs to send the message out, that Pensacola is open for business now.

ACOSTA: To get a look for ourselves, we hired Chris Hoy, a former oil boat captain, to take us out on the Gulf.

ACOSTA (on camera): If we run across oil, you're going to know it?

CAPT. CHRIS HOY, FLAMINGO PARASAIL COMPANY: Right. If we were to run across a sheen or whatever, I would be able to see it and smell it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But we didn't just check out the conditions on the water.

HOY: Hold onto the blue.

ACOSTA: Captain Hoy also takes tourists out for parasail rides.

ACOSTA (on camera): There's a point to all of this, to see what we can find 500 feet above the gulf. Here we go. Looks like blue skies and blue water and all around me, just incredible. Right now I'm not seeing any bands of oil on the Gulf, which is good news.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But a few minutes later I spot what could be light oil sheens. The only way to know for sure is to get back to the surface.

ACOSTA (on camera): I saw what could have been bands of oil or sheens of oil. It's not really clear.

ACOSTA (voice-over): We pull into a spot that could be a light sheen.

ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think it has a little bit in it?

HOY: A little bit of oil in it.

ACOSTA: These tiny little dots, they are reflecting in the sun, right?

HOY: Correct. You can see it better here. That's not from the boat for sure. We're running gasoline in this boat. I don't smell anything.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Captain Hoy is encouraged that we only found traces of oil and not massive amounts of crude.

HOY: It's not here yet, they can keep on coming on vacation.

ACOSTA: These days, vacation plans are being scrapped.

ACOSTA (on camera): What's it been like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're significantly down. Our tourism has dropped. I would estimate 40 to 50 percent. ACOSTA (voice-over): And the parasail boat's owner says BP isn't making her life easier. She filed her claim three weeks ago and hasn't seen a dime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My crew isn't being paid. They have rent obligations, and my mortgage is late.

ACOSTA (on camera): You're saying this is taking too long?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is taking too long.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Even though we found reason to hope on the water, Captain Hoy worries more oil is somewhere out on the horizon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can never be too cautious with something like this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And another encouraging sign, federal authorities have reopened a previously closed stretch of about 340 square miles of water on the Gulf of Mexico, that along with the fact that Florida officials are saying the beaches along the panhandle are safe to swim in for now is at least a sign to vacation-goers that they can come here and have fun on the Gulf.

The big question, Kiran, will be how long is that going to last? Obviously that oil is out there, just not getting here yet.

CHETRY: That's the scary part. They know it's out there and eventually it could come to shore. It's the waiting game in the middle of the biggest tourist season. Jim Acosta for us this morning, thanks.

ROBERTS: Could long security lines at the airports soon be a thing of the past for frequent flyers? Haven't we heard this one before? The industry is trying to bring back privately run fast lanes. Details are coming up next. It's 10 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: New this morning, privately-run fast lanes for prescreened air travelers who want to avoid long check-in lanes are about to make a comeback. "The New York Times" reports that express lane operations will start up again at airports in Indianapolis and Denver. The company that used to operate the Easy Pass style system in 18 airports went out of business last summer, taking $200 of mine.

CHETRY: Maybe you can use it again.

ROBERTS: I tossed it.

CHETRY: Not in any airports you travel through anyway.

There was a natural gas pipe line explosion that happened in Texas. One person killed and five others injured. When you look at the fireball in the sky, you imagine how bad it must have been. You can see the flames eight miles away. Officials say the crews are working on an underground pipeline when it ruptured.

ROBERTS: Helen Thomas of the White House press corps is retiring. Her sudden departure follows her controversial remarks about Israel, saying "Israel should get the hell out of Palestine." Hearst newspapers announced the 89 year old Thomas has decided to retire effective immediately.

Former White House correspondent and bureau chief in Washington, Frank Sesno will talk about Helen Thomas's sudden departure and her no tarnished legacy.

CHETRY: A movie director by trade, but James Cameron has another area of expertise, deep sea exploration. He is now offering up his ideas on how to stop the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. But is BP or the government listening?

Jason Carroll had a chance to speak with Cameron.

Hey, Jason. What is it like to talk to him about the oil spill? He feels passionately about trying to solve the problem.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He does. You hit the nail on the head, his passion in dealing with this particular crisis. He was able to draw together a team of experts and they were able to come up with something tangible, a report with recommendations on how to deal with this crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: The world watches as oil continues to spew from the damaged pipe, the massive spill throughout the Gulf, coating marine life, choking the financial livelihood of fishermen.

JAMES CAMERON, DIRECTOR: Anybody who loves the ocean as I do has got to have -- has got to be touched, you know, heartbroken by what's happening down there.

CARROLL (voice-over): Miles away in Malibu, California, director James Cameron watches from a unique perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: While noted for creating "Avatar"s fantasy world --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iceberg right ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: -- and sinking the "Titanic" --

CAMERON: And three, two, one.

CARROLL: He's also known in the real world for his deep sea exploration, his work with scientists and robotic subs, documented at staggering depths.

CAMERON: Typically two or three times as deep as that well is, you know, we kind of waive the 5,000 feet on the way by.

CARROLL: Cameron put his experience to work, convincing experts to meet at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington d, D.C. Among those attending, oceanographers and representatives from the White House and Coast Guard.

CAMERON: I said, look, no such thing as a bad idea. Let's just get our ideas up on the white board.

CARROLL: Cameron has been quoted as criticizing BP's handle of the spill at a technology conference.

CAMERON: And those morons don't know what they're doing.

CARROLL (on camera): What happened with that?

CAMERON: Oh, it's taken out of context. So starting a story in two parts, I said, where I started was, I looked at this like everybody did, like these morons don't know what they're doing. Then I went on to explain that when we got into it, when the team got into it and got thoroughly prepped and kind of, you know, dug into it layer by layer, we realized that it's much more complex.

CARROLL: Can you give me just a couple of suggestions what the team came up with?

CAMERON: There should be a type of cap that's going to be installed with a valve that can throttle the flow, manage the pressure, get some mud down there and get this thing stopped way down, 13,000 feet down in the formation.

CARROLL (voice-over): The conclusions detailed in a report released to several government agencies, recommendations including how to stop the oil at the source and encouraging the government to independently monitor the site instead of relying on BP's cameras.

(on camera): What do you think is the next step?

CAMERON: Ideally for us, the next step would be that the government agencies review our report and if they see any value there whatsoever, they put us in direct contact with BP.

CARROLL (voice-over): Cameron says he tried to meet with BP before the EPA meeting.

(on camera): Are you disappointed that BP in some ways said we want to handle this in our own way?

CAMERON: Well, look, I think that what all of us who were at that meeting feel is that it would be great if we could have some direct communication with the inner working group at BP.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: OK. So here's some other recommendations come out of that report. More transparency from BP's operation, also the idea of developing some sort of a rapid response team so there's a team ready to go on the ground as soon as something like this happens in the future, if it does. This report, Kiran, will be released to the public sometime after these officials get a chance to review it and hopefully adopt some of the recommendations. We'll see.

CHETRY: Yes. We'll certainly keep following it. Jason Carroll for us this morning in Los Angeles, thanks.

ROBERTS: Coming up, an election showdown in Arkansas. Will Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln be the latest incumbent to bite the dust? The White House has got a lot riding on her. We're live in Little Rock just ahead. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's big primary day with voters in 12 states going to the polls. One key race is in Arkansas, where incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln is battling Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.

CHETRY: The two candidates are going head to head today in a runoff election and Lincoln addressed the anti-incumbent fever in her TV ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: I'm Blanche Lincoln, and I know you're angry at Washington. Believe me, I heard you on May 18th. I'm even being attacked for where my family lives. But I won't back down to the Washington unions or the Washington banks that don't care about Arkansas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Dana Bash is following the Arkansas race and she joins us live from Little Rock this morning. It's interesting because there's another ad out against her, right, that talks about her connections to big oil. And you know, this oil spill is also sort of playing into the local politics in this race.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Everything is playing into the politics in this race here. You name it, something happens, God knows where, it will play into this race. And the ads are everywhere, you cannot turn on the TV here in Arkansas without seeing a TV ad from either of the candidates or some of these outside forces. And that is not a usual thing here but what is happening is that Blanche Lincoln is trying to avoid becoming the third sitting senator to be defeated in his or her own primary by voters in their own party. And so what we're seeing is Blanche Lincoln trying to prevent or make voters come out. She can tell you that voting will start behind me in a little more than an hour.

And she's been barnstorming the states and trying to say, look, incumbency is not a dirty word, that seniority is important, her experience matters and help Arkansans. But we talked to her challenger, Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, and he is still riding the wave of anti-Washington sentiment. He insists that momentum is on his side. And we asked him why?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. BILL HALTE, ARKANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I think the message has clearly been that if you send the same people back to Washington, you're guaranteed to get the same result. Now, underneath that, there's a whole set of differences between us that we have -- that we've outlined. And I think voters are making a choice based upon that. So, for example, on fiscal policy, and Senator Lincoln has been in the Senate now for, you know, over 11 years. In the last 10 years, that has gone up by $7 trillion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So, Dana, you know, when we look at this race, there's a couple of things that are really playing into it that have been affecting Blanche Lincoln. One was health care and her position on that. And also, she mentioned it in her advertisement she's not going to cave into the Washington labor unions.

What kind of role are they playing in this race?

BASH: A huge role. That is one of the fascinating subplots of this race that really does have national implications. And that is that labor unions have come into the state, which is not a heavily unionized state at all and may have made it abundantly clear that they want to make an example out of Blanche Lincoln. That she has not voted with them on their issues from hosing (ph) a public option on health care to supporting trade deals and so forth and that they want to show other moderate Democrats like Lincoln that they shouldn't cross labor, because if they do then labor will come out and spend millions like they have here.

We watched some of the phone calls that they have been making. They are certainly working very, very hard. We understand that there have been hundreds of thousands of phone calls at least made by labor workers and we talked to one of the leaders here of the AFL-CIO about why it is so important for them to try to beat Blanche Lincoln.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN HUGHES, PRESIDENT, ARKANSAS AFL-CIO: Bill Halter sat and listened to us. Senator Lincoln has not. She's turned a deaf ear on us. We felt like she's out of touch with the middle class. We're talking about families that need help. And I'm saying need, not want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now what Senator Lincoln has been saying across the state is, look, don't listen to labor. They're not really us. They're not really Arkansans. They're coming in from the outside. And she's trying to turn that anger on its head, if you will, and say, look, don't listen to these outsiders. It's unclear if it's going to work. Look, there's no reliable polling down here, John and Kiran, and so we are just going to be watching the polls to see what happens later tonight in this crucial runoff.

ROBERTS: And regardless of who wins, tough fight against the Republican challenger.

BASH: No question about it. You cannot find a Democrat here nationally or here who says that they think at this point that either of these Democrats could beat the Republican.

ROBERTS: All right, Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks so much. And stay tuned to CNN tonight for complete primary coverage from the best political team in television starting with "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 Eastern. And then at midnight, a special live hour of reaction and analysis of up to the minute primary results. All that ahead tonight on CNN.

Right now, it's 26 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. When a child is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, parents often don't know where to turn. But doctors say that one thing is emerging that can make a huge difference and that's early intervention therapy. Today, we bring you one family's story in part two of our special series, "Inside the Child's Mind."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY (voice-over): As a baby, Jake Excorn (ph) was everything his parents hoped for, happy and healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He hit all the developmental milestones. He walked, he talked, he played.

CHETRY: But at 17 months, the light began to fade from Jake's face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, he stopped responding to his name. And then he stopped playing. Then by his second birthday, he stopped speaking entirely.

CHETRY: Karen worried it may be a hearing problem or a speech delay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never expected to hear the words, your child has autism.

CHETRY (on camera): And what was that like to hear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was completely devastating. It meant that there was no hope for my son. And yet, I was determined to help my son in any way that I could.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jake, Jake --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew that I wanted a treatment for Jake that had science behind it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jake, do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a lot of treatments don't but the one that had the most science behind it was a treatment called ABA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Good job.

CHETRY (voice-over): ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready.

CHETRY: Is an intensive approach that uses repetition and rewards to teach autistic children the things that come naturally to most kids.

KAREN SIFF EXKORN, JAKE'S MOTHER: We wanted to teach Jake to respond to his name. We would say Jake and we take an M & M and we hold it up just between our eyes -

Jake, good looking, good boy.

CHETRY: Day after day. 40 hours a week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Say I.

Very good.

CHETRY: They plugged away hoping to help Jake relearn what autism had taken away.

EXKORN: Going into this, there were no guarantees. Nobody ever mentioned the word recovery to us. So that wasn't our goal, ever.

CHETRY: And there continue to be no guarantees. But for the first time a recent study shows that early intervention therapy can improve language skills and behavior and raise IQ, giving hope to parents of children with autism.

GERALDINE DAWSON, AUTISM SPEAKS: What we know is that if children receive early intensive behavioral intervention, some of the children do lose their diagnosis.

CHETRY: Geraldine Dawson is the chief scientist for the advocacy group Autism Speaks. She helped design the study and says symptoms of autism can begin as early as eight months.

DAWSON: So the most important thing is to be alert for those symptoms and then get into intervention right away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good for you.

CHETRY: Jake after a year of ABA therapy, showed progress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Julie.

JAKE EXKORN, UNDERWENT EARLY INTERVENTION THERAPY: My name is Jake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're the best.

CHETRY: Then at age four, a turning point. When Karen took him for ice cream and without prompting, Jake told the man what flavor he wanted. Nil-la.

EXKORN: The man had no idea this was this defining moment to my life. But this was huge. This was huge. And this marked the beginning of spontaneous language for Jake.

CHETRY: What soon followed was an even bigger milestone, when at Jake's four year checkup, Karen was told her son no longer had symptoms of autism. The doctors said Jake had recovered.

CHETRY: Did you believe it?

EXKORN: You know, hearing her say that, blew me away in the same way as when I heard her say the diagnosis.

CHETRY: Today Jake is a thriving 13-year-old. He plays basketball. Football. And is every bit the typical teenage boy.

JAKE EXKORN: I like to hang out with my friends and I don't love to study, even though sometimes I have to. I would describe myself as outgoing, athletic and nice. I think the best part -

CHETRY: A dramatic transformation for a family who once thought they lost their little boy to autism.

JAKE EXKORN: I don't think about too much about what I do. It is kind of crazy but my mom and dad put in a lot of effort into it and so did I. And it paid off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: There you go. Jake is thriving as we've just shown you. But his case is heartening although rare for kids with an autism spectrum disorder to recover so completely. Experts say that most autistic kids who lose their diagnosis still have some lingering problems, possibly with anxiety or in some cases attention issues.

And researchers also don't know why some children actually respond better to therapy than others do. ROBERTS: It is incredible when you look at it though. The parents thought that they had lost him, you know, he was developing normally and then boom the setback. And to come through it like that.

CHETRY: Right. It is amazing. She said she was researching it at a time where there wasn't much information out there. And she picked the therapy that she thought had the most science behind it at the time.

ROBERTS: Yes, but it was really intense, 40 hours a week.

CHETRY: Yes. It was a job as a two-year-old.

ROBERTS: Wow. Unbelievable.

Well, back to our top stories this morning. BP now saying its cap on the well collected 11,000 barrels of crude in the past 24 hours and more heavy oil is now being spotted along the south eastern coast of Louisiana. Tar balls also washing up on the Florida pan handle beaches.

Our Rob Marciano is live. He's in Pensacola Beach this morning and Rob, you went out with a marine biologist to take a look at the wildlife that's now at risk there. What did you find?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we found a lot of amazing birds and we found out that this is certainly a different area. Everything is kind of ramping up in Louisiana as far as the number of oiled birds that have. Here they've had a handful of oiled birds but compare the landscape to Louisiana and compare it to this state, this is a whole different battle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO (on camera): So over there is where you saw the loggerhead?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right after -

MARCIANO (voice-over): Fish and wild life expert Tom Mackenzie knows the northern gulf coast.

(on camera): So it's a whole different animal here in Florida compared to Louisiana, isn't?

TOM MACKENZIE, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE: Obviously. You're seeing the beautiful white sandy beaches. You got some different species with the terns and some of these nesting sandwich terns.

MARCIANO (voice-over): The birds crisscross over their young, nesting right along the shore. These narrow sand dune islands are vital. A natural haven and birthing ground for seabird life in the Gulf of Mexico.

(on camera): What is the worst case scenario in your head?

MACKENZIE: You got a full blown oil slick right here and with the thick, gooey tarry stuff that you see in Louisiana.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Booms and skimmers stand ready at the inlet to protect the bay and its estuaries from any approaching oil. Just beyond those booms other floating nurseries are completely exposed.

(on camera): This seaweed is called (INAUDIBLE). Look at these little critters we found in the seaweed, baby shrimp, baby crab, just a mile from Pensacola beach where all those tar balls have been rolling ashore.

(voice-over): The seaweed also rolls ashore onto this beach.

DR. RICHARD SNYDER, UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN FLORIDA: When this stuff is floating out there, it's really - sometimes the only structure that's out there. So it's a nursery habitat as well as just a feeding area for a lot of fish.

MARCIANO: Dr. Richard Snyder and other scientists from the University of Western Florida are taking water samples in the surf zone and soil samples near shore. They'll be chemically analyzed to determine if the oil we can't see has infiltrated Pensacola Beach.

SNYDER: We suspect that most of it is dispersed or sunk to the bottom and what we see floating on the surface is a small part of it.

MARCIANO: A small part of a big spill, dispersed or not, the toxic stuff can be easily consumed by the fish, making an easy meal for some of these majestic birds.

MACKENZIE: It just tears your heart out. You want to reach out and help that bird get out. Our people do that. Can we get there in time? That's the tough question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: So far since the beginning of the spill, 413 live oiled birds have been rescued. 50 live oiled turtles as well. As far as what's going on on this beach right now, today, first day we really haven't seen any tar balls.

So with this north wind that we've had in the past couple of days. It looks like what oil that is out there at least for now is staying offshore. Whether or not that's the long-term forecast, we'll have to wait and see. John and Kiran.

ROBERTS: Finding solace in an offshore breeze this morning. Rob, thanks so much. Rob Marciano for us from Pensacola Beach.

And in Louisiana, thanks to the hard-working volunteers at a bird rehab center, there have been a lot of happy endings. Dozens of creatures ready to be released back into the wild.

CHETRY: That's right. Conservation groups are looking for more volunteers though to help out in Louisiana, in Mississippi and Alabama and Florida. They are getting many more of these oiled birds like the brown pelican you see there. And if they get to them in time, they are able to clean them up and release them back, it's just wonderful that they are able to do that. But they do need help. You can find out how you can help by going to impact your world at cnn.com/impact.

Well, coming up, a sudden end to one of the longest careers in the history of the White House Press Corps. Former CNN correspondent Frank Sesno weighs in on Helen Thomas and her now tarnished legacy. 38 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

ROBERTS: 41 minutes after the hour. She has covered every president since JFK and given all of them a hard time. But now Helen Thomas is vacating her front row seat in the White House Press room. Her recent remarks about Israel sparked a storm that forced the venerable reporter to resign.

She said that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine and go back to Poland and Germany because that's their home, the United States too."

Joining us from Washington now, former CNN White House correspondent and former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno. He's now the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.

You know, Frank, I was talking to Ari Fleischer yesterday, he was the one who called for her to step down or be fired. He said, you know, it's sad that he disagreed with her but had a measure of respect for her. But this just crossed all boundaries.

FRANK SESNO, DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: That's right. I got one of those Ari Fleischer e-mail blasts right after it happened too. So I saw his early calls. You know, John, I mean, I think a lot of people are saying, well given Helen Thomas's age, she should be cut a break.

I think the fact boils down to this and sort of what Ari is getting at. It is very sad, I mean, it's an unbelievable career. 67 years with United Press International alone. She's been at the White House covering presidents since John Kennedy. You and I both worked side by side with her. Her work ethic is unbelievable but words matter, especially in this business.

And you are accountable for what you say no matter who you are, no matter how old you are and that's what happened here.

ROBERTS: Yes, I sat beside her for six years in the front row there at the White House.

SESNO: Got a few jabs, didn't you?

ROBERTS: Certainly. Well, she was always focused on the person in front, not the people beside her. She did apologize on her web site saying "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

You know, the Anti-Defamation League said that that's not enough and you briefly alluded to this. Some people say, "hey, she's 89 years old. Cut her a break." One of those people is Ellen Ratner, Talk Radio News Service. She says she is Jewish. She says that she is a supporter of Israel and a long-time friend of Thomas. She said "Let's face it, we all have said things or thought things about other groups of people, things that we would not want to see in print or in video. Anyone who denies that is a liar. Helen is three months short of 90 years old and her brain's filters might not work as well as a 40-year-old's. Give her a break." What do you think?

SESNO: I think it's fine to say that. And I sympathize with that but I also think that it's kind of ageism in reverse if we say that. You know, you are responsible for what you say. Our words matter. Helen has a long and incredibly distinguished body of work behind her. But where she stands now is where she is now. And the words that she says and words that she prints should be held to account just the way she holds others to account.

I mean, her position, John, and her bias on behalf of Palestinians and the Arab population in the Middle East and all of the voiceless in the world for that matter, are well known. She once asked, I think it was Ari Fleischer, when he was briefing, why President Bush, when he was launching the Iraq war, wanted to bomb innocent Iraqis? I mean, she pokes and jabs at her questions. That's part of her track record.

ROBERTS: Yes, I remember -

SESNO: This is beyond the (INAUDIBLE) and that's why she's stepping down.

ROBERTS: I remember many times when the pointed question to Ari Fleischer or Scott McClellan who succeeded him would be, "Why do you keep killing Iraqis?"

SESNO: Right. Right.

ROBERTS: And of course, they would never really have a response to that. She was always direct and outspoken when she left her job at UPI to become a columnist at Hearst. Even more so, you know, she had a sharp tongue and as you said, her views and perhaps her personal sentiments on the Middle East were well known.

But what do you think happened here, Frank?

SESNO: I - John, I absolutely refuse to believe that Helen fully processed and appreciated what she was saying. I simply can't believe that. I don't think that Helen is fundamentally an anti-Semite. I don't think she was saying, well, send the Jews back to the holocaust. I - she didn't mean that. It's not - it's just doesn't - it's - it's not remotely possible. We all know her and - on that - on that level.

That being said, I think that journalists are and have to be accountable for what they say.

ROBERTS: Right. So --

SESNO: You know, Mike Barnicle plagiarizes, he's out. Dan Rather blows it on Memogate, he's out. It doesn't matter who you are, you got to -

ROBERTS: Yes, but - but Dan Rather continues to live on, just at a different place. Do - do you think -

SESNO: Well, she may too. She may - she - she can be reemployed.

ROBERTS: Do you think that this is going to tarnish her legacy? You know, she was known for so many great things up until this.

SESNO: Yes, I think it will, unfortunately. I think, sadly, this is a very unfortunate way to - to end an amazingly distinguished career. Over time and for those, certainly, who knew Helen and for those who studied her work, over time, will put it in context.

ROBERTS: Yes.

SESNO: I don't think that this was some egregious, intentional, journalistic error. I - this was a gaffe. This was an error by someone who's 89 years old and - and let's hope that over time it does assume that context.

It does raise another question, though, John, and that is why do columnists have front row seats at the - at the White House, which is another issue.

ROBERTS: Well, I think that was -

SESNO: That -

ROBERTS: That was grandfathered or maybe grandmothered in.

SESNO: Yes. That's right. That's a Helen only thing, and that will go with Helen.

ROBERTS: Yes, and there certainly was only one Helen Thomas and probably only ever will be. And - but, Frank, it is, as we said at the top, just sad that it ended this way.

Frank Sesno, great to talk to you this morning, as always.

SESNO: My pleasure, John. Great to see you.

ROBERTS: All right. CHETRY: It is now 47 minutes past the hour. Jacqui Jeras will be along. She has the morning's travel forecast. Quite a stormy day, actually, for much of the country.

ROBERTS: Yes. Yes. The Midwest too, particularly in the crosshairs yet again.

Jacqui's coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Is that supposed to do that? I don't know.

It's coming up on 50 minutes after the hour. Good morning, Indianapolis, 65 degrees right now. Later on today, 67.

Scattered storms, the unsettled weather continues across the Midwest today. So let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines with Jacqui Jeras in Weather Center.

Good morning, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.

Yes, we've got a big complex of thunderstorms that's going to be rolling right into Indy later on today. Right now it's moving across Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. No watches out there any longer today but we could see some lighter wind damage associated with these and some really heavy downpours. The ground already saturated here.

There's been two to six inches of rain in the last week. Today, we're getting another two to four on top of what you already have. So flood watches and advisories are in effect across the area, so take it slow going this morning.

And, yes, we're going to some have delays at the airport, places like Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City. We're going to have some delays in the northeast too, New York and Boston, due to those cross winds. Your weather's going to be gorgeous in the northeast, don't get me wrong, but those winds that go in the wrong direction makes it hard to land for you. Houston, due to some thunderstorms, 30 to 60 minute delays there. Los Angeles and San Francisco could have some light to moderate delays due to the low clouds and fog.

The big action today will be across the nation's midsection. You can see we've got our strong area of low pressure here. So that severe risk really stretching from the western high plains into Colorado, all the way into the Ohio River Valley. Indy, we don't think you'll have a lot for severe weather but you will have those heavy downpours.

Now, on the south side of the system, it is going to be hot and muggy. Yes, the heat really going to start building across parts of the south over the next couple of days. We do have heat advisories in effect for you in New Orleans. Temperatures are going to be feeling like 105 to 110 degrees. And, John and Kiran, you know, all those people are out there on the beaches, trying to clean up some of these tar balls and the oil spills and trying to keep them clean. Not fun on a regular day, but how about in that kind of heat?

CHETRY: Yes. That's unbelievable. I mean, you see them working out there and in - in some cases, they have the huge hazmat suits on as well.

JERAS: Yes.

CHETRY: So that makes it even hotter. Unbelievable.

Jacqui Jeras for us. Thanks so much.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, iPhone part 4? And a little bit of an oops at the presentation. We'll show it to you, coming up.

Fifty-two minutes past the hour.

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

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs says that the new iPhone 4 is the biggest leap forward for the device since it debuted back in 2007. Seems like yesterday.

Jobs unveiled his company's latest gadget at a tech conference in San Francisco, and one of the coolest features that a lot of people were looking for this time around is called FaceTime. It uses a front-facing camera so you can video conference, and you can do it in one single step if you have someone else who has an iPhone 4.

The new version also has a five megapixel camera with a flash that can shoot and also edit HD video.

ROBERTS: The model's also got a sharper screen. It's four times better than current iPhones.

Jobs says it's years ahead of anything else on the market. He also promises this model's battery will last longer, enough for seven hours of talk time on a 3G network or 10 hours of web surfing on a Wi- Fi network.

One thing hasn't changed, though, you still have to get your service from AT&T, and it's probably really great when it works, because even if you're Steve Jobs, you can still have problems with your internet. It's just a lot worse when the entire tech world is watching.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE JOBS, APPLE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Our networks in here are always unpredictable, so we have no idea what we are going to find. They are slow today.

You know, you could help me out. If you're on Wi-Fi, if you could just get off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Oops.

By the way, the iPhone 4 goes on sale June 24th. It's going to cost between $199 and $299, depending on which model you buy.

CHETRY: Well, there you go. Hopefully it'll work when you try to connect to Wi-Fi. Poor Steve.

Top stories coming your way in just two minutes.

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