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American Morning
Oil Disaster Day 51: New High Resolution Video to be Released; Oil Workers Suffer From Moratorium; Van der Sloot to Reenact Murder Scene; Women Win Big in Primaries; Saving the Pelicans; Bullet Across the Border; Oil Spill from the Sky; Economists Warn of Gulf Disaster's Ripple Effects; Gulf Double Whammy
Aired June 09, 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: Good morning and welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday. It's June 9th. I'm Kiran Chetry. Hey, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts coming to you live this morning from New Orleans.
We're now 51 days into the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Frustration rising over the fact that no one, not BP, not the government, no one can accurately measure the depth of this disaster. We've got more live pictures this morning of the oil still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, down there 5,000 feet under the water, coating the water and the wildlife over an entire region and it's threatening to end a way of life that has supported generations. We'll be covering all of those angles during the next hour here on the Most News in the Morning.
But first for you, here are the latest developments. Take a look at this. BP releasing stunning high definition video of the leaking well that was taken last Thursday. You'll remember just after the pipe that riser was cut to fit a containment cap. The oil giant only releasing the video because Congress demanded it. BP CEO Tony Hayward is due to testify before a congressional committee next week. Lawmakers are also requesting that he bring along someone who can answer technical questions about the spill.
And we are also learning that President Obama will come back to the Gulf Coast next week. He is going to be here for two days. He's going to be traveling to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. And that should give you some idea just how big the spill is and where it could be headed in the days and weeks ahead.
Those are the headlines this Wednesday morning. We want to show you again those sickening high resolution images of the leak from last week. The video that BP is only now providing nearly a month and a half into this disaster because it was pressured to do so by Congress.
Now for comparative purposes, take a look at the high and then the low resolution versions of that same image side by side. The low resolution video is what we have been seeing for weeks. But in the new video, you can clearly see the plumes of oil and gas that are polluting the Gulf of Mexico. This is so important because scientists are trying to accurately measure the flow of the oil and the size of the leak, which was difficult to do in that low resolution photograph on the right. To get a look at what's going on the left, they may be able to get a much better idea by looking at the rate of flow of just how much oil and gas has been leaking into the gulf.
Those are horrifying images for the people who live and work here. But what is equally upsetting for many people, the shutdown of new work in the oil fields that provide so many jobs in this region. The Obama administration said that it will lift the ban on new shallow permits, shallower than 500 feet after implementing new safety requirements. But that ban on deep water drilling is going to continue for many more months. And that has raised concerns of the potential for a second economic disaster in southern Louisiana. First, fishing closed down, now oil and gas.
I went down to Port Fourchon, Louisiana to see that pain firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): It's the heartbeat of the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, Port Fourchon, where thousands of workers service the big offshore rigs. More victims of the BP oil spill after President Obama declared a moratorium on deep water drilling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 240-foot OSB, service the deep water Gulf of Mexico.
ROBERTS: Shane Guidry is the CEO of Harvey Gulf Marine. Louisiana born and bred, he runs the company his grandfather, a one- time oyster man, started in the 1950s.
SHANE GUIDRY, CEO, HARVEY GULF MARINE: The fishing industry was killed by the oil and gas industry. Then the government shut down the oil and gas industry. It's just when does it stop? What do we shut down next?
ROBERTS: Guidry will soon have a decision to make, keep his idle supply ships in port and potentially lose millions or send them overseas to other oil fields and hire local crews. Either way, it could spell bad news for lifetime mariners like First Mate Tom Levins.
(on camera): Are you worried, Tom, about getting laid off?
TOM LEVINS, FIRST MATE, HARVEY PROVIDER: Well, sure, everybody is. You know -- I mean, you do something for 28 years. You put your life into it --
ROBERTS: It's tough when it all comes crashing down.
LEVINS: Sure. Sure.
ROBERTS (voice-over): And the ripple effects could spread far and deep, well beyond the crews of these boats. Before the moratorium, Guidry was about to expand his fleet. GUIDRY: We had three we were going to build in New Orleans. We have Trinity. But as of yesterday, those were completely canceled.
ROBERTS (on camera): What was that contract worth for Trinity?
GUIDRY: 140 million.
ROBERTS (voice-over): There are two themes that you hear repeated so much regardless of who you talk to, that the people who work in oil and gas know somebody in fishing or vice versa, or many times the same person has got a foot in both worlds doing one thing part of the year, the other the other part of the year. The other thing you hear so much from so many people is that this is all they know how to do. So if you've got fishing shut down, if you've got oil and gas shut down for a period of time, the economic blow to this area is just going to be devastating.
JAYME SONGY, CAPTAIN, HARVEY PROVIDER: Makes it really nice and neat.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Captain Jayme Songy personifies the complex relationship between oil and environment on the Gulf Coast.
SONGY: My wife's entire family is commercial fishermen. I'm the oil field side of the family.
ROBERTS: At the moment, it's an uneasy marriage, but one for the sake of the local economy and livelihood that Songy says needs to be worked out.
SONGY: We've been through problems before inside Louisiana, and we're going to pull through it. We're going to clean it up, fix what we got to fix and keep going. That's how we do it.
ROBERTS: As the crews of these boats await their fate, it's clear there is little love lost for BP. They too say the company needs to be held accountable for the accident and do whatever is necessary to put things right. The blowout they believe was human error, easily avoidable and something they say in true Louisiana fashion, you can protect against.
GUIDRY: I'll tell you how you to protect against it. You get the guy who caused the human error. You get the guy who didn't follow procedure policy, and you indict him for 11 murders for 11 guys that died. Then the next guy is going to do his job right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, there are about 12,000 people who work the ships here in the Gulf Coast. According to industry figures, that if you include land-based operations, close to 100,000 jobs may be at risk if the oil fields stays shut down. Now as catastrophic as this spill is, Florida Senator Bill Nelson has a hunch that it could be much worse than we suspect. He claims there is evidence of an underground blowout that could be thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor. Now if he's right and it's a doomsday scenario, stopping this leak just got a lot more difficult.
Take a look at this graphic that we put together for you. Senator Nelson says he fears that the well's casing may be pierced or have collapsed at some point. Then if that's true, oil is not only spewing from that ruptured riser that we've been watching for so many weeks. Then they also will be pouring up through the seabed, something like a leaking sponge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: We're looking into something new right now, that there's reports of oil that's seeping up from the seabed, which would indicate, if that's true, that the well casing itself is actually pierced underneath the seabed. So, you know, the problems could be just enormous with what we're facing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now if that underground casing is indeed ruptured, the relief wells being drilled right now by BP could be the only hope for stopping this disaster. But there's also a potential that if that crack in the casing were to be above where they are drilling down to, or at least below where they're drilling down to, they may not be able to get that oil shut off. So more concerns here for everyone along the Gulf Coast.
For now, let's send it back to New York. And here's Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see whether or not those high resolution pictures offer any more information or clues as to exactly what they're dealing with down here.
Meanwhile, we have some other top stories this morning. She was seen as vulnerable, but incumbent Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln survived beating Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter in the Democratic primary runoff last night. In California, former CEO's Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina won Republican primaries for governor and senator. And in Nevada, tea party support carried Sharron Angle to victory in the GOP Senate race. She'll be challenging the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, in November.
In Nebraska, storm chasers capturing some dramatic pictures of a tornado forming on the ground in Scotts Bluff. Storm clouds practically covered the sky. The 80-mile-an-hour winds sent debris flying across the highway and sparked power lines. Thankfully though there were no reports of injuries or property damage.
And a day after confessing to murder, authorities in Peru are taking Joran van der Sloot back to the scene to reenact the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. Her body was found last week in van der Sloot's hotel room. Video surveillance shows the two entering the room. Van der Sloot is seen leaving by himself several hours later.
Right now, let's go to CNN's Rafael Romo. He's live for us in Lima.
Good morning. Tell us more about how this walk through will actually happen. What does it entail?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR EDITOR FOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS: Kiran, we've been standing here since yesterday when police told us that they would bring Joran van der Sloot to the crime scene. This place where I'm standing right now, it's the Hotel Tack here in Lima. They told us it would happen yesterday. Then it was canceled and they tell us that it may happen at some point this morning.
Now let me show you right here the gate to the hotel, to the parking lot is open right now, which may indicate that at any time police may bring Joran van der Sloot to this location. Now, police are giving us more details about what happened on the morning of Sunday, May 30th, when the homicide apparently took place.
They tell us that Joran van der Sloot got out for a few moments after spending several hours with the victim, 21-year-old Stephany Flores. And he went, just walked a few steps to that gas station right there. He got some coffee and bread and a few minutes later, he returned. And once he got back into the room, he realized that Stephany Flores had been going through his computer and had learned that he was implicated at one point in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
He became very upset. There was an argument -- they started fighting. She slapped him. This is all according to the confession that police are telling us, are giving us details now. And then he started hitting, beating her up violently and ultimately breaking her neck.
Now police are also telling us at this point that Joran van der Sloot has confessed that he was under the influence of marijuana at the point -- at the time that he killed Stephany Flores. And also another revolution, Kiran, they also told us that there was no sexual intercourse the night they spent together here at this hotel.
CHETRY: We'll see what else we learn after that reenactment takes place. Rafael Romo for us this morning in Lima, thanks so much.
Well, it's 11 minutes past the hour. Time for us to get a check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center for us this morning. Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, Kiran. We've got a lot of wet weather to start you out with this morning. Once again, farther south than where it was yesterday morning. So we're focusing in on places like Kansas, Missouri, on through the mid- south, into the Ohio Valley. The northeast holding OK at this hour, but before the lunch hour, we do think those showers and thunder showers will start to pop up.
We're also watching an upper level disturbance across the state of Texas that's bringing torrential downpours. This is going to be moving up to the north today. And flash flood watches in effect for you from the Dallas Fort Worth area. As you take a look at the big picture you'll see the risk of severe weather in the red areas across the lower Great Lakes and then also the western high plains. And we're seeing hot and sticky across parts of the south.
Lots of travel delays expected. We'll talk more about that when I see you again. We'll be back half an hour. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Sounds good, Jacqui. Thanks so much.
And we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, voters across the nation had their say in the primary election. So we're going to break down the key races. Who survived and what it may mean for the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Our CNN political analyst -- independent analyst, John Avlon, joins us next.
Twelve minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 15 minutes past the hour right now.
Voters across the nation had their say and the battle lines are now being drawn for the big, highly anticipated midterm elections taking place this fall. From GOP races in California and Nevada, to a Democrat narrowly hanging on in Arkansas, it was a big primary night for women.
And here to break it all down for us is CNN contributor and independent analyst, John Avlon. You know, thanks for being here, by the way.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.
CHETRY: We're laughing about the fact that, you know, they spent (ph) so much money, are they going to have any money left come midterms? I mean, these were -- these were tough primary fights.
AVLON: These are tough, expensive primary fights and a huge political light (ph) last night. But, really, what you saw is -- is not only a big night for women, but I think the Senator struck back. You saw Blanche Lincoln, who'd been written off as dead. Well, she's looking like Lazarus this morning. Big win against big Halter, who'd been -- big labor had been backing in that Democratic primary.
In California --
CHETRY: And -- well, let's talk -- let's talk about Blanche Lincoln for a second --
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: -- because people did write her off for dead, and part of the reason why is that, you know, there were a lot of competing interests. There -- there didn't seem to be a place for somebody who said, well, sometimes I side with this -- with this side and sometimes I side with this side, and doesn't necessarily have to do with extreme partisanship. And that wasn't really what these voters wanted to hear. So how did she pull it off?
AVLON: Well, she -- first of all, exactly as you said, let's look at the opposition. Big labor put $10 million into that race, huge backing. The net root strongly backed Lt. Governor Bill Halter, but, you know, Arkansas is a conservative state.
That seat has been carried by a Democrat for over 130 years, and what she was able to do is by hewing to the center (ph), by making that case that, look, she wasn't too far to the left. She could reach out and she's gaining some energy from her opponents on the left. Not only did she pull off this primary just narrowly, but she's well positioned for still what is a tough fall fight, but well positioned for it.
CHETRY: All right. Well, let's see what happens in South Carolina, because this got really ugly. This was a Tea Party candidate, Nikki Haley, who is backed by Sarah Palin, and all these allegations of extra-marital affairs. You had two men come out and say that they had one-night stands with her --
AVLON: Yes.
CHETRY: -- and it got really ugly for a while, a she ended up pulling out a win.
AVLON: She sure did. And, look, I'm -- I'm a big fan of South Carolina, but its politics does have a circus-like atmosphere. No exception here tonight.
But something extraordinary happened. I mean, this is a 38-year- old Indian-American, first ran for office in 2004, protege of Mark Sanford. She'd pulled out 49 percent. She'll still going to have a runoff, it looks like, but a huge win for someone who had not been a major figure and come under enormous heat (INAUDIBLE).
And now the Republican Party is in the unusual position, for them, of having potentially two Indian-American Republican governors in the South. So major seat changes.
CHETRY: That's very interesting. Yes. And she also said, you know, it's not enough to just be Republican, we need every office here in the state of South Carolina to be conservative, and she got huge cheers for that one.
So she's -- there's no center for her.
AVLON: No, no, no. That -- yes, that's right. And it really is -- Sarah Palin's endorsement was the real turning point in her candidacy.
CHETRY: All right, I want to also ask you about a couple of other ones, because we haven't heard about the Tea Party. The oil spill seems to have eclipsed talk of the Tea Party.
And, you know, as -- as the Tea Party Movement sort of gained a lot of steam, talking about limited government, now you see people on all sides of the aisle screaming for, where's the federal response? We need the federal government more involved in its cleanup. How does that potentially affect these candidates heading into the midterm? We're day 51, if this oil is still leaking?
AVLON: Well, let's take a look at Nevada because it's a great example of how that could play out. You know, we haven't really seen the impact of the BP oil spill take its, really, root in the American psyche with voters yet.
But take a look at Sharron Angle, Tea Party-backed candidate, took on the establishment. An amazing case -- race in some ways, but is a candidate who really opposes, who supports ending the Department Energy and the EPA going to play well in the wake of the BP oil spill come the fall? That's a tough one.
We're going to see if the Tea Party can keep that up that small government (INAUDIBLE) at a time when the common sense seems to say, we need more government, more regulation to take on this disaster that's unfolding in the gulf.
CHETRY: Maybe they can sort of, you know, weave -- thread that needle and say mart regulations. Smaller, smart regulation.
But, you know, Rand Paul could be facing the same --
AVLON: Yes. You may see that slogan.
CHETRY: We just made up a slogan right here.
AVLON: That's what we did.
CHETRY: John Avlon, great to talk to you. We'll see you back here in about an hour.
AVLON: Great.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
Well, still ahead, the helpless victims of the disaster in the Gulf. We're going to take you inside of a place where they're saving pelicans by the dozens from the devastating effects of the oil.
Nineteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning here along the banks of the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
The Baltimore National Aquarium is on stand by today, ready to offer its services to some of the most helpless victims of the oil spill in the gulf. They are experts at nursing sea turtles back to health and they are ready to take in any animal impacted by the oil spill or send staffers down to the Gulf Coast to assist there. Meantime, help for some of the oil spill's human victims is on the way in Alabama. There have been a lot of complaints about the adjusters who were hired by BP, making the claims process just too complicated for fishermen and other affected workers. Now, Alabama's Emergency Management Agency is stepping in and will assist in getting those claims filed with the oil giant.
And BP, always waging the PR battle, says it is selling the oil that it's now collecting from the spill and will use the net proceeds to help restore wildlife in the Gulf States. So far, BP claims that it has collected more than 64,000 barrels of crude. It's not clear how much money the oil company plans to donate from those sales.
But one thing is clear, there is a lot of wildlife that needs restoring and rescuing. As the oil keeps gushing, the casualties are mounting along the Louisiana coast. Our Brian Todd brings us that part of the story from Buras, Louisiana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In this facility behind me, workers are now treating about 50 oiled birds a day, casualties of the gulf oil spill that could well have died if not found and brought here.
TODD (voice-over): Huddled in a pen, covered with oil, they arrive at the bird cleaning station in Buras, Louisiana. Some are found by state workers, other spotted by volunteers.
So far, 600 birds have been brought here, 200 of them dead on arrival, but the others have all survived.
REBECCA DUNNE, BIRD CLEANING FACILITY MANAGER: The animals we're getting in are heavily covered in oil, but they're healthy animals, so that makes us feel hopeful that we have a chance to save most them, and we have been pretty successful so far.
TODD: They don't always say thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TODD: After a physical and a day in a pen to de-stress, it's time for a scrubbing. The birds are washed with simple Dawn soap, then rinsed off and dried. After the scrub, it's out to Pelican Island, the pens where they're kept for recovery and observation.
Stars from the New Orleans Saints football team visited to thank the volunteers and to give locals a boost.
DREW BREES, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS QUARTERBACK: It's all about doing whatever we can down here in South Louisiana, the Gulf Coast, to help these people come back.
TODD: These pelicans will soon be released in Florida, where they're less likely to run into oil. But not all birds are so lucky. GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: You know, for every bird they rescue, there are many more birds out there that are oiled that they couldn't rescue. For every bird they rescue and release, there are many nests and many eggs that -- and many baby birds that wouldn't able to be rescued, and that is what is so heartbreaking for the people of Louisiana.
TODD (on camera): Behind me is a new pen put up to allow workers to treat more oiled birds. And officials here tell us they plan to put up at least eight more of these.
Brian Todd, CNN, Buras, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Wow. So much need all across this region.
The spill in the gulf is affecting millions across four states already, but economists say the ripple effects from this disaster will soon be felt across the country. We'll talk about why this is a national problem, coming up.
It's now 25 minutes after the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for an "A.M. Original", something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
A bullet fired across the border creating more friction with Mexico this morning. The shooter in one country, the victim in another, and it's complicating a case that the FBI is now taking over.
Our Jeanne Meserve is following developments live from Washington. Tell us, first of all, what happened here.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, the Mexican government is asking for a full investigation into this shooting near an El Paso, Texas border crossing. There are conflicting accounts and many questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Fifteen-year-old (ph) Mexican boy lies dead on the Mexican side of the border, shot in the head by a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
The FBI says two Border Patrol agents on bike patrol Monday night were detaining two suspected illegal aliens when others began pelting them with rocks. According to the FBI, one of the agents ordered the rock throwers to stop. They did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Custom Border Patrol, while he was restraining the guy with his knee in his back, started firing.
MESERVE: This eyewitness, who doesn't want to be identified, says she saw only one boy throw one rock and it didn't hit anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't believe the kid that was killed this evening was the -- was the kid that threw the rock. It was a different one.
I thought the reaction of the Border Patrol was overreaching. It was the use of deadly force when I didn't feel that his life was -- was in jeopardy.
MESERVE (voice-over): The Mexican foreign ministry is calling it a disproportionate use of force, particularly coming from authorities who received specialized training on the matter. It's unclear whether the young man was on the U.S. or Mexican side of the border when he was shot. It's an area FBI describes as a known high risk crime area, where rocks are regularly thrown at border patrol agents and where other assaults have been reported.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Customs and Border Protection says the agent who fired the shot is on administrative leave while a thorough multi- agency investigation is conducted. The State Department last night issued a statement saying the U.S. regrets a loss of life.
Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about that as the investigation continues. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning -- thanks.
Right now, it's now, it's half past the hour -- time for a look at our top stories. BP is releasing brand new crystal clear H.D. video of the leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. It's a big difference. You can see the size of the cloud much more clearly compared to what the oil company has let us see so far. Fifty-one days into the disaster and this is the first time that we're seeing it, the first time scientists also trying to determine the size of the leak are seeing it as well.
Gold record -- gold prices are climbing to a new record high. But investors are putting their money in the metal could be bad news. Analysts say that it's reaction to a tanking stock market and also fears that Europe's debt crisis could trigger another global collapse.
And it was the biggest night of baseball in the Washington Nationals' young history. After five years of losing, their phenom rookie pitcher, 21-year-old Stephen Strasburg made his debut in front of a wild packed house and somehow he surpassed his height, striking out a team record 14 battles in seven innings, that's before they decided to pull him, including the final seven batters that he faced. He actually hit 101 miles per hour on some of his pitches on the radar gun. The Nationals, by the way, went on to a five-to-two win.
So, congrats.
And that's quick look at this morning's top stories. Let's send it back to John in New Orleans.
Hey, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, thanks so much. Fabulous performance from him last night.
Well, the new images that we're seeing from the below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico are stunning and much more telling than what we had seen before. But to get a real perspective on this oil spill, you have to see it from above. Hundreds of boats, miles of boom, pools of oil, even fire on the water.
Our Rob Marciano went up with the Coast Guard for a look at this spill, a view that you're only going to see right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Rob is joining us. He's just down the Gulf Coast, a little ways from where we are in Pensacola Beach this morning.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John.
And we got to spend some time with the top brass. As you know, Kyra Phillips went out with that's Commander Thad Allen of the unified command. Well, he was supposed to retire and his successor, well, he's only been on the job for a couple of weeks and we got to spend the afternoon with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: We're riding with the Coast Guard with newly- appointed commandant, Admiral Robert Papp. He is yet to be out to the well site, and neither have I. And you get to come along for the ride.
(voice-over): The plane is designed for search and rescue. But this is a recon mission.
(on camera): Admiral Papp, Rob Marciano, CNN.
ADM. ROBERT PAPP, COMMANDANT, U.S. COAST GUARD: Bob, how are you?
MARCIANO: My pleasure. Thanks. Likewise.
(voice-over): He's been the Coast Guard's top boss for only two weeks and already, it's been a historic ride.
PAPP: I don't think in history have we ever put out this much boom to contain a size or length of coastline as large as this. So, this is pretty historic for us.
MARCIANO (on camera): Is it something that the Coast Guard had imagined to have to train for or do?
PAPP: Oh, well, you know, not to this magnitude.
MARCIANO (voice-over): It's the first time he's seeing the spill up close.
PAPP: That's Dauphin Island that you see now. (INAUDIBLE) right now.
MARCIANO: Parts of the Gulf seem completely clean, its trademark blue water, clear. As we get closer to the well site, we see more boats and more oil.
(on camera): We're getting on top of the spill site now and they just opened up the back door for us to get a better look.
You could smell it. Oh, my goodness. There it is.
You're looking at the core of this operation, the main platform that's sucking up the oil and natural gas. And on either side of that, the two relief wells that are being drilled to finally put this thing to bed sometime in the middle or end of August.
(voice-over): Oil is being burned off the water, throwing dense plumes of black smoke into the air.
Alongside me, Admiral Papp looks over his flotilla battling the spill, pleased with the progress, but still awestruck by its scope.
(on camera): In all of your years in the Coast Guard, did you ever think you'd see an operation like this?
PAPP: Never, never. Not in my wildest dreams. We dealt with major spills before, but nothing ever of this magnitude.
MARCIANO (voice-over): This flight also gives the admiral a chance to thank his team below.
PAPP: Coast Guard Cutter Elm, this is Coast Guard 2301, commandant on board.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Admiral, good afternoon.
MARCIANO: From the cockpit jump seat, he radios his skimmer. His words of encouragement are tight throughout the ship.
PAPP: It does my heart good to see you out here. I wish we didn't have to send you on a mission like this, but I'm also glad that we have you to do a mission like this. So, really, best wishes to all the shipmates on the Elm, and please keep up the good work out here, over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: You can hear the excitement on the other end of that radio. They very much enjoyed hearing from the commandant on the boat. You could imagine how hard the sailors are working. I asked him, "What's it like being called commandant? Kind of a weird yet impressive title." He says, "Well, my wife still calls me Bob."
I'll tell you this, John, as far as the -- what's going on with the oil, just last week, Tracy Sabo and Dominic Swan, photojournalist and producer, did get to take the same trip. And they said there is markedly less oil that we saw yesterday. Of course, the weather has been much better for burning and for skimming, and now, seemingly, we're putting a little bit less oil out there. So, maybe they're getting to catch up just a little bit.
But the scope of this mess is seemingly insurmountable, at least for now. Hopefully, in next couple of weeks, couple of months, we'll get a better handle on it. But it is a big old mess out there for sure -- John.
ROBERTS: It sure is. No question about that, Rob. And, you know, any little bit of good news, I'm sure people along the Gulf Coast will take. Great overhead look at what's going on there.
Rob Marciano for us in Pensacola -- Rob, thanks so much.
You might not live anywhere near the Gulf, but the worst oil spill in this nation's history is everyone's problem, from your wallet to your dinner table. We're back live from New Orleans after a short break. It's now coming up on 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 40 minutes after the hour. Live this morning in New Orleans on day 51 of the disaster in the Gulf.
And right now, it's mostly people here along the Gulf Coast who are feeling the pain from this oil spill -- direct impact of tourism, shutdown of fishing. But economists are already warning the ripple effects will be felt across the country.
"Minding Your Business" this morning is David Yoskowitz. He joins me via Skype. He's the socioeconomics chair at the Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico studies at Texas A&M University.
David, great to see you this morning. What do you think is going to be first of all the immediate financial impact of this oil spill in this region?
DAVID YOSKOWITZ, HARTE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: Well, the immediate impact is going to be looking at fisheries prices and seafood prices. What we're already seeing in Iowa is a 25 percent increase in seafood prices. In Wisconsin, 25 percent to 50 percent increase of prices. Those people that like blue crab in Maryland, 50 percent increase in those prices.
So, that's the immediate impact in terms of seafood. But, also, there's quite a few people from the interior of the country that come to the Gulf of Mexico for vacation. And while we think of tourism as being a local effect, when that opportunity is taken away from them, then that impacts them as well. So, that's also an immediate impact.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, you can -- you can see a ripple effect everywhere. You know, one of stories that I took a look at when I arrived here yesterday was the ripple effect in the oil and gas industry. There has been this moratorium on new well development since a little while after the rig blew up back on April the 20th. The administration has promised it will reopen shallow water drilling above 500 feet of depth. But new safety regulations, and some people are worried that there's going to be a lot of red tape, it would still be a while before those wells can be developed.
But when you look at the economic impact of the moratorium on the oil and gas industry and the ripple effect of that throughout this area, what are we looking at?
YOSKOWITZ: Well, if you're looking at, as you reported yesterday, potentially 100,000 employees that could be impacted in terms of those who service the oil rigs. If they're not working and they're averaging $60,000 to $80,000 a year in income, and they're not spending that income, they don't just buy locally in the Gulf of Mexico region, they buy from across the country.
So, those could, you know, impact people that produce goods and services throughout this country that aren't going to be selling to those individuals in the Gulf of Mexico that could potentially put out a work as a result of the moratorium.
ROBERTS: You know, a city like New Orleans where we are, it's fairly diverse. There's a lot of businesses to get involved in. But when you go further south, down toward Port Fourchon or Grand Isle, Venice, places like that, or along the Gulf Coast, and there's basically three or four things are involved. You're either involved in tourism, you're involved in fishing, you're involved in oil and gas, or you're involved in shipping. Everything is so interconnected in that area.
And very often -- we met some of these folks yesterday -- you get the captain of an oil supply ship whose wife's family is in the commercial fishing industry. So, all of this is placed together. So, if you got the fishing industry shut down, if you got oil and gas industry in a real slowdown because of the moratorium, there are a lot of people who are being very severely impacted.
YOSKOWITZ: Absolutely. I mean, we could see whole communities possibly just go away as a result of that.
As you hit upon -- you know, these communities are built around just a couple of different industries. And if those industries can't do the work that they are set out to do, then this is a -- this is an impact that, you know, who's going to step in at that point? Is it going to be the state government? What kind of resources do they have? The federal government? I mean, you know, we're facing significant deficits and debts as it is.
So, these communities go away, but that's a loss to the American people as well. I mean, the Gulf of Mexico is America's sea. Very little of the Gulf of Mexico is international waters. It's mostly shared between the United States and Mexico. And so, as America's sea, I think it's imperative upon us as America's people to take a look and care for those that are on the Gulf Coast.
ROBERTS: If I remember correctly, if you take the Gulf of Mexico as an economic zone, this is United States and Mexico. It would rank as, what, the 29th largest economy in the world?
YOSKOWITZ: That's right. And that's very -- we did that study a couple of years ago -- and that's a very small number in terms of total economic impact. That was looking at only four industries and the productive value of those industries.
So, yes, that's larger than the economies of Peru and Chile and Venezuela.
ROBERTS: So, is it possible to put a dollar figure at this point on the potential losses?
YOSKOWITZ: Well, I think it's really early in the game. I mean, you know, one of things that we have to remember is that while a lot of this hasn't come -- yet come ashore, a lot of that oil is still out in the Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico is an incredibly important nursery for commercial fisheries, from blue fin tuna that they catch in the northeast, to snapper and groper and shrimp and blue crab and oysters that we all enjoy around the whole belt of Mexico, as well as the tourism industry.
So, it's really early to tell, but, you know, we're working on those numbers and hopefully we'll hash something out shortly.
ROBERTS: I expect that it will be a big number, too.
David Yoskowitz from the Texas A&M University -- good to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
YOSKOWITZ: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Let's send it back to New York and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. John, thanks. It's 45 minutes past the hour. We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, Jacqui Jeras will be along with the morning's travel forecast. More stormy weather in the forecast for today. She'll break it down for us in just a moment.
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CHETRY: When we say start me up today, we're talking about the rainstorms because there's going to be all over the place. It's 48 minutes past the hour right now. It's 56 degrees in New York. A little bit later, only going up to a high of 67 and there are some afternoon showers in the forecast. Time to get a check of the morning weather headlines. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN Weather Center. And, it's been stormy, it's been rainy, and when I take a look at your radar, there are very few places that aren't going to get hit with something today.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. It's that zonal flow we've been talking about, Kiran. We just haven't been able to break this weather pattern, so the northern tier, you know, in the middle part of the country is just seeing storm after storm after storm. Every couple of days we've been seeing this new one coming here, but the pattern is going to change a little bit, and you're going to enjoy this cooler wet weather because things are going to get really hot and really sticky as we had towards the weekend.
In the meantime, the showers and thunder showers are strong at this hour, though, not necessarily severe, and we're seeing lots of lightning popping up from Cincinnati down towards Louisville and even into the Nashville area. So, kind of slow going to start you out this morning. The northeast, as we saw that live picture from New York City, things are doing okay. We're dry enough at this hour that it's going to take a little time to saturate the atmosphere before we start to get some of the showers. So, it's going to be more like the lunch hour you're going to be needing that umbrella.
Heavy thunderstorms across Central Texas. Lots of delays expected today, but most of these cities, your delays will be in the afternoon. So, the earlier you get going, the better off you're going to be. And we do have that slight risk of severe thunderstorms across the Central Appalachians and the high plain states today and stay warm and muggy across the Gulf Coast states in those south easterly winds that moving over those Gulf spill areas.
Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Jacqui Jeras for us this morning, thanks.
You may have seen iris scanners in sci-fi movies or airports, but might not expect to see them used to keep patient medical records in order. Gary Tuchman takes a look on "The Edge of Discovery" this morning.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This health clinic in New York City is serving a community in need.
DR. SAMUEL DE LEON, URBAN HEALTH PLAN: The South Bronx is one of the poorest congressional districts in the country.
TUCHMAN: Urban Health Plan is trying to meet those needs with the help of some cutting edge technology. When patients first visit the clinic, technicians take a picture of their iris and get other information like name and birth date.
ALISON CONNELLY, URBAN HEALTH PLAN: No two irises have the same pattern that's why it makes such an accurate method of identification.
TUCHMAN: When patients return, they get another quick scan and all their records pop up immediately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, I'm going to scan your eye.
TUCHMAN: The clinic sees over 37,000 patients a year. Some of them speak limited English, and they could have more than 50 patients at a time with the same first and last names.
DE LEON: Humans tend to make mistakes. It's only natural. This technology prevents that.
TUCHMAN: Dr. De Leon partnered with a company called Eye Control to develop a system over three years. When the cameras got smaller and the system more affordable, Urban Health Plan bought it with grants, including one from the New York Department of Health.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we all done, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's it. It's pretty cool.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
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ROBERTS: Five minutes until the top of the hour. Now, a steamy morning here in New Orleans. The temperature when you factor in the humidity (ph) was up about 100 yesterday expressing another hot one today. We're back with our special coverage for New Orleans this morning and more from the Gulf just minutes away, including a double whammy for the oil disaster near ground zero. Not only have fishermen lost their jobs, but now, because of the moratorium on deep water drilling and the slow down in shallow drilling, families, who service the rigs, fear that they could be the next ones out of work.
Ten minutes after the hour, New Orleans is finally regaining its footing five years after hurricane Katrina. So, will this new disaster deliver another blow to the city's culture and economy? And at 07:30, the push to change the president's mind when it comes to the six-month moratorium on deep water drilling. Many insist the crackdown is just not worth the economic pain. Much more ahead from New Orleans.
Right now, back to you New York and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. And right now, we'd like to show you a new initiative from CNN.com. It's called "Home and Away." It's a tribute to our fallen war heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan. You take a look at the interactive map, and you can see if I hit Iraq here, these are parts of the country where people were killed in combat and here over at this map corresponding to where they're from in the United States.
And this morning, we are remembering Corporal Jeremiah Jewel Johnson. Now, he died January 6, 2007 of wounds that he suffered when his vehicle rolled over in Baghdad, Iraq the day after Christmas in 2006. His mom says he was a dedicated soldier and a loving father devoted to his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELIZABETH JOHNSON, CPL. JEREMIAH JEWEL JOHNSON'S MOTHER: He had crystal blue eyes that just pierced your heart. They were just amazing. And his little son, Isaiah, has the same eyes. He loved being a dad. He just loved it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to say hi to Isaiah and Riyah (ph), how are you guys doing? I love you.
JOHNSON: He'd come in the door and the kids were just all over him. He was the life of the family. He put fun in the family. He was very easy going. He accepted everyone. Not a whole lot really ever stressed him out. He just took life pretty easy, took it as it came to him and learned to adjust to whatever was thrown his way. And I think he just really tried to give as much as he could out of each day that he had. And whether it was with his family or whether, you know, it was in barracks or over in Iraq, he did the very best that he could each day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And you can learn more about the brave men and women who've paid the ultimate price for America in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just log on to CNN.com/homeandaway. Two minutes until the top of the hour. We're bringing your top stories after a quick break.
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