Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Seepage Detected in Gulf; "Growing Beyond Control"; For Now, BP Containment Cap Stays Put; Who's Behind Utah Immigration List; The Smell Of Success; Secretary of State Clinton Unveils Aid Package for Pakistan; Taking on the Triathlon; The Blues Bring Them Back

Aired July 19, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning to you. Thanks for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's July 19th. I'm Kieran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us. A lot to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it for you.

The government's go-to guy in charge of the oil disaster response is sparking new fears that crude oil could be seeping from the crippled well, but not actually from the pipes. This is the ocean floor we're talking about. He's also asking BP to pork over plans to reopen the containment cap.

In just a moment, we'll take you live to the Gulf for all of the latest details.

CHETRY: Also, a look in to the top secret world the government created after 9/11. A new two-year investigation by "The Washington Post," out just a few hours ago, is saying the intelligence community has grown out of control, to the point where no one knows if it's really working anymore.

ROBERTS: Two Utah employees are on leave this morning. State officials are trying to figure out if they are responsible for a now infamous list circulated across the state -- 1,300 people all accused of being illegal immigrants. The list also includes personal information such as birthdays, addresses, phone numbers, even pregnancy due dates.

We're talking live with Utah's attorney general coming right up.

CHETRY: And, of course, and the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation by going to CNN.com/amFIX.

ROBERTS: But, first, after days of encouraging news, the government's point-man on the oil disaster saying a seep has been detected on the sea floor. This suggests that the Macondo well could be damaged and that BP may have to reopen to containment cap to avoid making the situation worse.

Our Reynolds Wolf is live in New Orleans for us this morning. And, Reynolds, we remember back more than a month ago, Florida Senator Bill Nelson was suggesting that the wellbore may have been damaged and that oil could be seeping up through the sea floor. This is kind of begins to put a little bit of evidence to his fears. Is that what they think might be happening?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right now, it's who knows? I mean, it's certainly going to raise some eyebrows, or people who are going to hearken back to Senator Nelson's words, no question about it, John. But the thing about it is: when it comes to seepage, the whole thing is shrouded in mystery.

When the information came out from the federal government and BP last night, they never mentioned where it was actually located, where the seepage was located, how they obtained the information and, really, what it is. We have no idea if it's oil, if it's a hydrocarbon. It is shrouded in mystery.

But the thing that's scary about it is it may be something that could pertain to something even more damaging, perhaps a rupture underneath the sea floor. It could be a broken pipe. It could be something that could very devastating.

But what they're watching is not just the seepage, but they're also keeping a very, very sharp eye on the psi. For our viewers who are tuning in from home, psi -- being very quick here, just to give you a quick explainer, is pounds per square inch.

Take a look at this little pad that I've got here. And if you were to take my wallet, which is a George Costanza style wallet, it's roughly a pound. When gravity pull pulls down this thing, it's roughly pound per square inch, that's the pressure you got on it.

Well, imagine that, at 6,778. That's based with the pounds per square inch you have right now. Now, that number has been going up very slowly, John, about an hour -- per each hour, about one to two psi. That's great news.

If you see the seepage and then you see that number drop begin to drop dramatically, that indicate that there is some kind of rupture below the sea floor. And again, that is a whole different deal to deal with. That could be just devastating, no question.

ROBERTS: Well, how -- how do you deal with it? At least until that kill well is put in place?

WOLF: Well, I tell you, that's -- that's something that hasn't been approached yet. I'm sure no one really wants to even get to that point yet. What they're going to deal with, though, it appears that we may have something that could be catastrophic like that. One of the first steps that maybe coming up would be to open some of the choke valves, possibly replacing the cap itself with that riser and begin the containment process of pulling the oil up to the surface, nearly a mile up to those containment ships. But we're hoping that it won't get to that point. But that's where we may end up going, to the containment process once again. We also have a little bit of a variance on that. It seems as though Thad Allen is certainly in favor of using the containment process. BP seems very happy with just keeping that containment lid on until those relief wells are complete. But it looks like the relief wells are really going to be the game changer. That's the thing that really could put an end to this process.

But if we're lucky and that ends up really solving the issue with the well itself -- John, we still have long-term effects on the environment, the economy along the Gulf Coast. It could last for generations.

ROBERTS: A distinct lack of good news when it comes to this whole thing.

Reynolds Wolf for us in New Orleans this morning -- Reynolds, thanks.

CHETRY: And A.M. "Security Watch" now: a top secret intel community is growing out of control. A two-year long investigation by "The Washington Post" just out a few hours ago has found that the 9/11 terror attacks created an intelligence community so large, and in some cases, so redundant, that nobody knows how much it really costs or whether it's even working. Close to 1,300 government organizations and almost 2,000 private companies are working on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security, as well as intelligence; and an estimated 854,000 people with top secret security clearances.

Barbara Starr has reaction live from the Pentagon this morning.

What are you hearing about this report?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, good morning to you.

The Pentagon and in fact, the administration knew this article was coming from "The Washington Post" and had been concerned about it because of the potential for classified information appearing in public.

Now, I talked to a senior Pentagon official a while ago who says, look, we know the intelligence community grew after the 9/11 attacks. We know that it grew very fast, that were some inefficiencies, but we also believe that we thwarted some attacks. They say they're looking at the inefficiencies and trying to cope with those and see what they can cut back on.

Redundancies, absolutely. There are a lot of redundancies in the intelligence community. Some of them are good, some of them are planned, because you want to have competing points of view on a specific intelligence problem.

But if spending is out of control -- that is something that Defense Secretary Robert Gates has really tried to get moving on, because a lot of the intelligence spending does come here at the Pentagon.

What had been the big concern about this "Washington Post" series? They have a Web site, and this is a very savvy interactive Web site that "The Washington Post" has published, showing thousands of buildings around the country that house both the intelligence community, government organizations and private companies. There had been concern that they were going to publish addresses, and that could have been a targeting list for terrorists.

By all accounts now, the government convinced "The Washington Post" not to publish the addresses on that Web site. It looks like you see it there -- plenty to see, however, plenty of locations around the United States, where the U.S. intelligence community operates -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning -- we're sure to get more reaction later in the day, thanks so much.

ROBERTS: Also new this morning: President Obama is expected to tackle the economy and tell Republicans to get out of the way in a speech at the Rose Garden today. The White House says the president will call on Congress to extend unemployment benefits for millions of Americans, something that the GOP has blocked three times in the past few weeks. You can watch the president's Rose Garden speech live at 10:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN and CNN.com/live.

CHETRY: Well, this latest economic push comes as the new poll from "Politico" shows that the economy is still weighing heavily on people's minds and weighing down their lives as well. It says close to 2/3 of the country thinks the economy is still headed the wrong way. And it says, "Do you believe things in the country are headed in the right direction?" Sixty-one percent says wrong track.

ROBERTS: Not good numbers for the president, certainly now going to an election season.

Anyways, Jacqui Jeras is tracking the weather forecast across the country for us today -- some storms and lots of hot temperatures in the offing.

Good morning, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.

Yes, it's going to be like a broken record this week across parts of the Midwest, is that we're going to get these clusters of thunderstorms that develop in the overnight and early morning hours that move on through, bringing torrential downpours. We're concerned about flooding and severe weather there as well as into the northeast corridor.

Let's take a look at what we can expect as we're heading into the afternoon hours. We do think that there's a good chance of seeing large hail, damaging winds. Even some isolated tornadoes, the big threat area in that darker red which includes you from Sioux Falls down towards, maybe into Omaha as well as into Des Moines, and then a secondary risk into the Northeast.

The thunderstorms you're seeing this morning in the Northeast, by the way, relatively calm and expecting stronger thunderstorms later on for today.

The heat advisories -- they are out there across the Southern Plain states, as well as New York City. We're going to be feeling like 100 degrees in parts of the South. A little cooler, though, across parts of the Upper Midwest.

And a quick peek at the Tropics showing you that we got two areas of disturbed weather, neither of which have much chance for development to the next 48 hours. But beyond that, conditions become a little more favorable. So, just you know, we're keeping our eye on the Tropics.

John and Kiran, back to you.

ROBERTS: All right. Glad to have you on the job for us this morning -- Jacqui, thanks so much.

Nine minutes after the hour now. A star is born in the world of Gulf. Twenty-seven-year-old South African Louis Oosthuizen, a virtual unknown on the pro tour, won the British Open on Sunday -- going away and made it look so easy.

CHETRY: His seven-stroke win is the largest margin of victory at the major tournament in 10 years. And it seems he's sort of -- oh, look at the baby, so adorable, by the way. His family was there to cheer him on as well. On the same day this happened, former South African president, Nelson Mandela, celebrated his 92nd birthday.

ROBERTS: It was - it was a great win. The finish of it was -- it's just tremendous to watch him do that. Well played. Well done.

Coming up now at 10 minutes after the hour, Utah state employees, are they behind the illegal immigrant list? Mark Shurtleff, Utah's attorney general, joins us -- coming up next to talk more about this.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes after the hour.

Developing this morning, two Utah state employees are on administrative leave right now. Officials say they may be involved in a now infamous list of 1,300 people all accused of being illegal immigrants. The list was sent out to Utah government offices and the media. It included extremely personal details, contact information, Social Security numbers, even pregnancy due dates.

Joining us with the latest on the investigation is the attorney general of the state of Utah, Mark Shurtleff.

Mr. Attorney General, thanks so much for being with us. These two employees who have been identified and placed on administrative leave, who are they and what do you think they were up to?

MARK SHURTLEFF, UTAH ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, actually, the governor had his agencies all start looking into this and issues a fact-finding mission. Our office is an investigatory office. And so, we haven't received the names or information. There may be others besides the two.

I was told by the governor we should expect that information today. At which point, we'll launch a formal investigation. Those accused, so to speak, will be -- are considered innocent until proven guilty. And we're going to do a formal investigation and see how far- reaching the decimation of the list is -- but that all will probably begin today.

ROBERTS: So, again, you don't have the names at this point?

SHURTLEFF: I do not have the names at this point.

Now, we want to keep that separation, let them do their fact- finding in the governor's office. These are traditional state agencies who are often our clients. But in this situation, they needed to come up with the information and submitted to us to do a formal investigation where all the rules apply, where these people will again be considered innocent, where their rights will be protected, but it's important we get to the bottom of it immediately.

We have condemned this list, the decimation, the use, the purpose of the list, with the strongest possible terms. And with do believe that action needs to be swift and we will immediately begin the investigation as soon as that information is turned over to us.

ROBERTS: Now, when you talk, Mr. Attorney General, about action being swift -- what kind of charges could, not only the two people who have been identified by the governor, if they are involved, but other people who might be involved -- what kind of charges could they face?

SHURTLEFF: Well, there are actually strong rules and actually crimes if a state employee who is entrusted with protecting the privacy rights of individuals breech that trust. In addition, there are -- there are state privacy laws, there are potentially federal privacy laws, some of which could rise to the level of felony-type crimes.

So, we'll do the investigation. If there are -- if there are federal laws involved, then we'll cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office. And so, it may be a -- you know, may be a multi-level, multi- jurisdictional type of a prosecution ultimately if, in fact, we find that they committed crimes.

ROBERTS: Do you have any idea at this point what kind of crime may have been committed? As you said, they could rise to different levels. My understanding is if they were releasing protected information, that might be a misdemeanor, but if somebody is found guilty of actually steeling state records, that could rise to a felony.

SHURTLEFF: Yes, it could. And we don't know if they are data security breaches or if it is just individuals who were trusted with this, with the information -- just sharing it with other people. So it is a little early. I don't want to speculate exactly what the charges or what the crimes might be, but we are talking about, particularly when it comes to some of the medical information on the list, as you mentioned pregnancy dates on women, children's names and so forth, it could involve federal HEPA laws, which at certain extent felony-level type crimes. And there are certain punishments in place for certain employees to breach confidentiality. - people have to have confidence in the government that those records would be protected.

ROBERTS: Well Mr. Attorney General, let's take a look at the overall effectiveness of this. We had Tony Pious (ph), a radio show host on the program on Friday, he said that the Hispanic community are being terrorized, people who are on this list are being terrorized. Some of them being telephoned. And being told by the person on the other end of the phone, you are here in this country illegally, get out or we are coming to get you. You, yourself have compared this to a hit-list that was used in Nazi, Germany times.

SHURTLEFF: Well if you look at the language on it. See there are two things here. There is -- perhaps crimes committed in generating and preparing the list at the state level, state employees. Then there's the use of the list. And it's the use of the list, the language and the cover letters that clearly is not even meant as a blacklist, it is more like a hit list. It is I think to put people in fear, to terrorize, to get people to mobilize to do things. And the fact is that the names on the list are innocent until proven guilty. And we are finding that some of those names aren't even - are - excuse me, are here legally. In so, look, in this country, yes, we have to resolve the immigration issue. The federal government, we all have to get involved in this. In Utah, we believe there are certain things you can do at a state level, but one thing we know is absolutely unacceptable in this country, in Utah, is to put together a list like this and go after people and terrorize them and put them in fear. That's not the way to solve the problem. We need to leave the political rhetoric aside and work on a reasonable comprehensive workable solution to the problem.

ROBERTS: Well how do you think this will affect the immigration debate in your state because the governor is holding a seminar, is holding a meeting tomorrow. The original intent of the meeting was to discuss potentially for the state of Utah and Arizona type of law when it comes to illegal immigration, how do you think this is going to affect the overall tone of the debate and the way that it is framed?

SHURTLEFF: Well I almost hate to use this cliche but it is almost a blessing in disguise. Because what it has done is universally this list has been condemned. This is by people with (inaudible) project, people who traditionally are strong possibly strong Right-wing conservatives. They have all said he list is not the way we do things, but it has elevated the debate, got everyone involved, everybody coming to the table to say, look, this is not the way we do things. Can we find a workable solution? Again, let's put the hate, the hate mongering, the applied and outright racism aside. Let's talk about how we, in the state of Utah can work cooperatively with the federal government together and even bilaterally with the State of Mexico and other American countries to find a rational reasonable solution pending the federal government doing a better job at resolving the overall issue.

ROBERTS: Yes, let's hope. Because as you said, Mr. Attorney General, this is not the way to do it. Privacy is expected to rise to a higher level in the country. Mark Shurtleff, the Attorney General of the State of Utah, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate it.

SHURTLEFF: You bet, John.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Nineteen minutes past the hour. Who would have thought Old Spice is the new hot thing. Well they had an ad that went viral, it actual broke records with 5.2 million YouTube page views and they continued making more and more. Here's the guy behind it. We are going to talk to him about why this is so unexpectedly successful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a man that smells like they can bake a cake -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old Spice means quality said the captain to the boson. So ask for the packets with the ship that sails the ocean. Yahoo, yahoo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Old spice has been around for generations. It was once the go-to gift for dads everywhere. Well, today a new old space ad campaign has taken the internet by storm. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello ladies. Look at your man, now back to me, now back at your man, now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me, but if he stopped using lady scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could look like he is me. Look down, back up, where are you? You are on a boat with a man your man can smell like. Look at your man, back at me. I'm an oyster with two tickets to the thing you love. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice and not a lady. I'm on a horse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Jason Bagley is part of the creative team behind the new Old Spice ads and he joins us from Los Angeles. These are really taking the world by storm. People loves these ads, so congratulations that.

JASON BAGLEY, CREATED "OLD SPICE" AD: Thank you.

CHETRY: How did you think of it?

BAGLEY: Well, actually, it was one of my creative teams, Eric Baldwin - sorry Eric Coleman and Craig Allen, who came one the original concept and kind of created this character for the first spot. So they deserve a lot of credit for that.

CHETRY: And the actor, here's great. You can't imagine anyone else in that role. How did you find him?

BAGLEY: We were really lucky. We were on an extremely tight timeline when producing this spot and it was over the holidays. A lot of casting agencies were shut down. We looked at a lot of people. And he came in and we instantly knew he was the guy. He just nailed it.

CHETRY: He's hilarious. And of course, the interesting thing is that you guys were actually targeting a whole new audience. I mean you realize, according to the research, right, that women in the house buy three quarters of body wash. Which is a huge market and so you had to sort of get them thinking Old Spice was somehow cool and get their husbands to think so as well.

BAGLEY: Yes, exactly. We knew that a lot of guys were just using their lady's body washes in some cases. And the women were buying the body wash. So we really wanted to go after women, which is something we had not done. And so it helps to have Isaiah Mostoff to look at if you are a lady in the spot - he's quite the handsome man.

CHETRY: The second commercial is pretty funny. This is one you did after the first one took off. Let's take a look at that as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, ladies. How are you? Fantastic. Does your man look like me? No. Can he smell like me? Yes. Should he use Old Spice body wash? I don't know. Do you like the smell of adventure? Do you want a man who smells like he can bake you a gourmet cake in the dream kitchen he built for you with his own hands? Of course, you do. Swan dive into the best night of your life. So ladies, should your man smell like an Old Spice man? You tell me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Now you talk about your own personal story as well. You said you fell in love with him and so did you wife when you were figured out who would front the ads.

BAGLEY: Yes. We were actually away on Christmas vacation, and we were looking at -- I was looking at the casting remotely. I was kind of running them by my wife to get a female perspective. And she said he was a pretty sexy man. And I totally agreed. I had a huge crush on him as well. CHETRY: You are not ashamed to admit that on national TV -

BAGLEY: No -

CHETRY: So that's wonderful. You know, we are also interested in the new commercial that was uploaded at the end of June had close to 10 million views. You guys won first prize at the Con Advertising festival, and now you have been nominated for an advertising Emmy, the "Cleo." So does all of this buzz translate into dollars?

BAGLEY: Well, most consumers don't pay attention to advertising awards, unfortunately. I wish they did. Because I would be much more famous, but it does, the buzz around the spots, in general, has just been incredible. And yes, that does translate into sales for sure. I think our client is very, very happy with the results.

CHETRY: You have people using Old Spice again. So that's pretty awesome.

BAGLEY: That is right.

CHETRY: Jason Bagley, creator of these ads, along with your team, congrats and thanks.

BAGLEY: Thank you very much. Good to be here.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: I'm still shocked of this idea that men were using women's body wash because they didn't have their own. Not that I've ever done that. Hillary Clinton unveils a major aid package to Pakistan. We'll check in with our Reza Sayah live at Islamabad, coming right up. It is twenty-seven minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up at the half hour now, it is time for this morning's top stories. A possible snag in BP's efforts to contain the Gulf oil spill. National incident Commander Thad Allen says tests have revealed that substance seeping from the ocean floor near the well. He says pressure tests have been lower than expected, meaning that oil could be leaking from somewhere inside the well boor.

CHETRY: A major break within the Tea Party Movement. The National Federation has expelled Mark Williams and his group the Tea Party Express after his controversial remarks on race. Williams' posted what he said was a satirical letter to President Abraham Lincoln from the current NAACP President on his blog. Critics say the letter was clearly offensive and have called it racist.

ROBERTS: An intelligence community too big to fit into 22 U.S. Capitol Buildings or almost 3 Pentagons. That is what a 2-year Washington Post investigation into the Top Secret post 9-11 world has uncovered.

We asked former Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend about it earlier on "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: There's a suggestion here that this may have grown out of control. Has it?

FRANCES TOWNSEND, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I don't think it is fair to say it has grown out of control. I do think that there are pockets of excellence around the intelligence community. Unfortunately, we have seen, whether it's the Christmas day attempted bombing or the Fort Hood shooting, they are not all talking to one another and sharing the information.

Do they have the actual knowledge we needed to have to prevent these things? That's a right concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The paper says it is almost impossible to figure out how much it is costing and whether it's even working.

CHETRY: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Islamabad unveiling a $7.5 billion aid package, but the focus is not on military aid. Instead, they are targeting Pakistan's water and power shortages along with its struggling economy problems. Washington is trying to win hearts and minds in Pakistan, a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to turn things around across the border in Afghanistan.

For more on that, let's bring in our Reza Sayah live to Islamabad for us. Hi, Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. The U.S. has made it clear that it desperately needs Pakistan's help in the fight against militants. When you need someone's help, you have to be nice to them and say nice things, and sometimes you have to do nice things.

That's exactly what Mrs. Clinton was doing here during her visit to the federal capital of Islamabad, unveiling a number of programs, using lots of U.S. aid money approved by Congress in an effort to win the hearts and minds of Pakistanis.

The programs are specifically designed to meet Pakistan's biggest needs, among them, the energy crisis and shortage of water and unemployment. Among the plans for Pakistan is improving Pakistan's power grids and building of hydroelectric dams.

One of the programs is designed to increase the export of Pakistan's world famous mangos. That program, the U.S. is hoping, will create more jobs. Here's Mrs. Clinton at a news conference earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We know that there is a perception held by too many Pakistanis that America's commitment to them begins and ends with security. But, in fact, our partnership with Pakistan goes far beyond security. It is economic, political, educational, historical, cultural, rooted in family ties.

That this misperception has persisted for so long tells us we have not done a good enough job with our partnership with concrete improvements in the lives of the Pakistanis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Make no misstate here, the big picture, the ultimate goal is for success in the fight against militants here. It's the Obama administration's position that there's never going to be any success next door in Afghanistan if Pakistan doesn't help or continue to go after militants, especially the militants who have taken refuge here on Pakistani's border.

It has not been easy to get Pakistan to do more because of the rampant anti-Americanism here and because of the huge trust deficit between Washington and Islamabad. Kiran, Mrs. Clinton and the Obama administration hoping some of the aid proms programs will bridge that trust deficit.

CHETRY: Thank you, Reza.

ROBERTS: The Straits of Florida off limits to U.S. oil drilling, but what about on the Cuban side of the Straits of Florida? Will a Spanish oil company will the first to seek a well down there just 45 minutes from the Florida keys? It calls for President Obama to step in on this one. It's 34 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's 37 minutes after the hour.

Florida, which is already dealing with an invasion of oil from the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, the BP well, is facing a new threat this morning, deepwater drilling off of the coast of nearby Cuba. Our David Ariosto is in Havana with that story this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to oil drilling Cuban style. This is what many of Cuba's oil rigs look like. They are onshore land based rigs, and they are hauling up the black stuff for this country's cash-strapped economy. But the U.S. geological survey says there's much more out there that has caught the attention of this oil giant Repsol.

The company is part of the consortium exploring oil drilling in Cuban waters, but their plans have caused quite a stir among Florida politicians wary of BP's deepwater disaster.

Florida prohibits most deepwater drilling off its coast, but a 1977 treaty between the United States and Cuba defines the water between the two countries right down the middle. That would allow oil companies to drill as close as 45 miles from the Florida Keys.

PHIL PETERS, CUBA ANALYST: This is clearly in Cuban the territory. And every president has respected that since the Carter administration.

ARIOSTO: It is unclear how close to Florida the Repsol rig might be, but images like these are some calling on the U.S. president Barack Obama to be more proactive with neighboring countries, especially Cuba.

PETERS: Why be bashful about dealing with the real problem that we have. The fact is, if there's an accident in the areas where Cuba plans to drill, within three days the Gulf stream carries that oil to our shore. We have a very clear interest in preparing now for an emergency, just as we do with other countries.

And so why is the Obama administration being so timid about it?

ARIOSTO: A near half century of the freeze in diplomatic relations has not helped.

"I think it is something good that they are looking to drill," this woman says, "because it is expensive, and if they do it, it will help improve the country."

"In this way, there are people working to get the oil that could be cheaper for us," this man said.

The region is rich with natural resources housing billions of barrels of oil by recent estimates, but it is also home to pristine marine life already threatened by oil in the Gulf. For now, Repsol's waiting for its Chinese-made rig to be built before moving ahead with oil exploration off the Cuban coast.

David Ariosto, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Something else to think about in all this. Racers face a heat wave. In the New York City triathlon that took place yesterday, how did our contestants and Sanjay Gupta do?

CHETRY: We tracked their whole journey, and so we finally get to see their results. We'll bring that to you, coming up.

Also, thunderstorms in the northeast and Midwest. Jacqui Jeras is following the extreme weather for us as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's coming up on 47 minutes after the hour. For months now we have been following our Dr. Sanjay Gupta and six AMERICAN MORNING viewers as they trained for this past weekend's triathlon here in New York City; the three-part competition taking place despite stifling heat yesterday.

CHETRY: Yes, can you imagine being a first time tri-athlete and dealing with the weather yesterday? It was unreal. In fact one racer from London is actually in critical condition after collapsing just shy of the finish line. It was very oppressive heat, but our "Fit Nation" team did a pretty good job.

Here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All right. Good morning. We are supposed to wake up at 3:15. It is 3:08. How did you sleep?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually slept really good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that's realistic?

GUPTA: Here's out setup over here; all the bikes, the "Fit Nation" team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do well, Sanjay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be strong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was it?

GUPTA: It was well worth it. I'm tired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing. I almost died a few times, I felt like. But it's just so good, it feels great to finish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: There's the team photo. Sanjay joins us now live from Atlanta. So you had a 1,500-meter swim, a 2,500-mile bike ride and then a 10-kilometer run. How did you do?

GUPTA: I thought I did pretty well. It was my first triathlon so I didn't quite know what to expect and it was pretty hot out as you guys mentioned, but I took some personal best times and those are right between three hours and three hours, 15 minutes which was -- that kind of what I expected to do.

But I had a couple of things. Right when I started to swim, I don't know if you saw in the video there, my goggles got kicked off because I was right behind this other swimmer that just flew off my head for a second so I had to turn around and grab them in the Hudson and put them back on but little things like that.

I also tried to be a little too social during the transition times talking to people, you really got to move through those quickly, but I -- I felt -- I felt very good and very strong throughout the whole race.

CHETRY: Well, congrats to you. I know --

GUPTA: Thanks.

CHETRY: -- I mean, part of it is just the trepidation in thinking about doing it. What about -- what of the three sports was hardest for you actually to do?

GUPTA: You know, surprising -- I'm a runner, and I have been running for a long time in other races, but the run was the hardest.

And I -- in part, because I think it's last and you're already getting pretty tired at that point. Also, I started to have some -- some quadriceps and the thigh muscle cramps during that. And I talked to a lot of people about that afterwards, and people suggest all sorts of strategies for that.

I was pretty good at being hydrated, but people talk about taking a little bit of salt before the race and at some point during the race to help with that. But the run was probably the most challenging.

And also it got to be the warmer part of the day because we start early in the morning, by the time you get to the run, it's getting hot.

ROBERTS: Yes there's certainly no lack of heat. You did the race in over three hours. You talked about quadriceps problems, was -- was there ever a point that you thought and this is the point that I usually hit five minutes into my spin class that, I'm never going to finish this thing?

GUPTA: You know when you get off the bike and the bike felt really good and it was just beautiful coming down the west side highway as you guys know. So that was very inspiring. You get off the bike and you're obviously using a certain muscle groups, certain muscle groups to ride that bike.

And then you got kind of the jelly legs coming off, so you had a -- you had a steep incline right off -- right at the beginning of the run. And it was at that point I thought, boy, you know, I don't know if I can do this for six miles --

CHETRY: Wow.

GUPTA: -- but you just sort of motor through it. And guys you know there is so much energy in New York City. So many people on the sidelines --

ROBERTS: Yes.

GUPTA: -- just cheering, they got the signs and just pushing you to go on and on so you really want to do it.

There's also a lot of athletes who are -- who are disabled -- who have prosthetic legs, for example. And you watch them and think, boy, they are so inspiring. If they can do it, I want to do it as well. So it's just -- it felt good. Good energy there.

CHETRY: You know it's funny a lot of people talked about the jelly legs after getting off the bike and coupled with the heat in the hills where you guys were running. I heard a few other people saying that they thought they weren't going to make it at point either.

But actually, there were some who didn't make it. A couple of people had to be hospitalized, some serious. And you actually stopped to help an injured tri-athlete on the bike course. What happened there?

GUPTA: Yes, this was an -- there were some pretty bad wrecks on that bike course. You have some big hills and people can gather some significant speed.

I think on a particular biker that I saw he was coming down a hill pretty fast. I think he had the intent to pass on the left and realized at the last second he couldn't do that and swerved hard to the right and hit the curb. I thought he may have injured his neck so I wanted to stop and check, make sure he was moving his arms and legs, but there were emergency vehicles coming up and down.

I dismounted for a few minutes and talked to him and the emergency vehicle came and got him. But he was out of the race. His bike was completely destroyed. There were a few accidents out there like that, so you have to really be careful especially on that bike with the speed.

ROBERTS: Yes, well, we are glad that you stayed safe through it all. And I have to tell you, you got up at 3:00 a.m. yesterday, you did the race. You flew to Atlanta last night. You got up early for us and you have surgery today. How do you do it?

GUPTA: Yes. You have to keep going.

CHETRY: Yes. You are the ultimate iron man.

GUPTA: Take a salt tablet and stay hydrated.

ROBERTS: I want some of that mojo.

GUPTA: That means a lot coming from you guys. I appreciate that. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Sanjay thanks. Good on you for finishing it up. It looks really great. Thanks.

CHETRY: Amazing he did it.

ROBERTS: I don't know where he gets it from. I really don't. He's just incredible. If you want to see more of our "Fit Nation" team at the New York City Triathlon, check out "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." this coming Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. You know the doc will be up early again.

CHETRY: Oh, yes. Well, congrats once again.

Meanwhile, how music is helping the state of Mississippi get through some pretty rough times. Our Tom Foreman on the CNN Express, "Building up America".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Today in our "Building up of America" series, strictly an American art form, the Blues.

CHETRY: People in Mississippi still singing them to make it through and prosper in tough times. Tom Foreman joins us live from Bay St. Louis this morning with more. Hi Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, how are you.

This isn't really about music but it's really about the business of music. This morning, they're doing the same thing here on the beach they do every day. They're out here checking for booms, checking for oil, seeing what the impact of this oil is going to be on the state.

But they are remembering a lesson from Katrina. The more they can build up their inland industry and business, the better off they will be overall once all this comes to rest.

Take a look at what they are doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Any time, any day, you can hear blues in the Delta. This is the land of legends, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and it is home to their musical heirs like Terry "Big T" Williams.

TERRY "BIG T" WILLIAMS, BLUES MUSICIAN: I don't care if it is a fast-played blues or a slow-played blues, it is still saying something about, I'm feeling bad, but yet and still life is okay.

FOREMAN: And lately life has been more than okay here, even in the wake of the oil spill, Katrina and all the economic turmoil, because of a rising tide of blues tourism. At the Delta Blues Museum, the crowds are growing so steadily with people from every state and dozens of foreign countries, that it will soon be expanded to more than twice its size.

This town alone pulled in $54 million from visitors last year. People are tracing the history of blues and rock through a string of historic sites throughout the region called The Blues Trail.

Kappi Allen is with the county tourism commission. KAPPI ALLEN, DIRECTOR OF TOURISM: this year so far we have seen an increase of 13 percent in our tourism tax numbers.

FOREMAN (on camera): And all of that in the middle of the recession?

ALLEN: Absolutely. We are open for business.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Some say the surge is because the blues speak to folks in hard times. Some say it is because people here are doing a better job marketing their attractions. But Bill Luckett, an owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club, says whatever the cause, the results are undeniable.

(on camera): How important do you think it is to building this part of America in these hard times?

BILL LUCKETT, GROUND ZERO BLUES CLUB: Well, we have lost a lot of our factories, a lot of our base manufacturing lines, but Blues music and tourism and interest in Blues music is replacing that as an industry.

FOREMAN (voice-over): According to lore, the great blues man, Robert Johnson, met the devil at this crossroads and traded his soul for the gift of music. That's just a legend, but this is the fact.

WILLIAMS: The tourist attraction used to be seasonal, now it is year round. They come all the time.

FOREMAN: And in the wake of so many problems for many folks, that feels heaven sent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: The simple truth is many people inland feel like this is a really important time for them because they know the Gulf has always been terribly important to their whole state's economy. But now between Katrina the anniversary coming up, and the oil spill here, they know that any growth they can promote there will help their whole state stand stronger and that will include the Gulf in the face of this disaster -- John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: It was great to see you getting yourself really involved in the story there, Tom. I didn't know you were a player.

FOREMAN: You don't know I'm a player? You have to play some time with me. I have my mojo working.

ROBERTS: Excellent.

CHETRY: That sounds like a challenge. You can play, too.

ROBERTS: We'll have a duel at the crossroads. Sort of like a --

FOREMAN: That will be a good time. There's a lot of guys up there I'm afraid will duel us right off our guitars. ROBERTS: Yes, sure, sure they will. Well, rouse up your bones and get ready for that.

FOREMAN: We'll play for a fiddle made of gold, how does that sound like? All right.

ROBERTS: Thanks, tom.

Continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amfix. That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you again tomorrow.

CHETRY: Meantime, the news continues. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now.