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Immigration Reform Rally and March in Chicago; War Funding Bill Headed for Veto; Two Large Immigration Demonstrations Planned in Los Angeles County Today; The Immigration Debate; Oil Drilling; May Day In Houston; Human Smuggling Violence; Chicago Immigration Rally; Lidle Crash Report.
Aired May 01, 2007 - 14:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: May Day is rally day from coast to coast. For the second year in a row, demonstrators are filling city streets to focus on immigrant rights. Their goal, helping turn an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants into legal U.S. residents.
Our correspondents are in place for all the key rallies and the marches.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Susan Roesgen, filling in again for Kyra Phillips.
You are live in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: And we want to get straight to Chicago, the scene there of a huge rally, and also a long march.
Or very own Soledad O'Brien is there. She's following the story for us.
Hello, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.
Since the last time we talked, the wind has picked up quite a bit, but the weather has held out. We were getting some potential reports of storms coming. It turns out that's not the case. They're going to have a nice day. And that will affect the numbers, as you well know.
Now, the Chicago Police Department has told us they think about 10,000 people are on the streets of Chicago right now, marchers. You've got to take any number at this point with a grain of salt, because those numbers, one, they'll change. Two, everybody has got an agenda.
Some people like to underestimate, some people like to overestimate. And so at this moment we're going to really hold off on analyzing how many people.
But you're looking live at the scene behind me. This is a park that when we talked earlier was sort of kind of filled with some big green patches. You can see it's pretty much filled up.
The local high school march has come our way as well, about a thousand people. But it's really impossible at this point to tell how many people are here in Union Park.
People are still streaming in. We see busloads of people coming in as well. Last year's march numbers, 400,000 people. Some said actually it was as high as 700,000.
Last year, the big issue was Sensenbrenner's bill that passed the House and ultimately failed in the Senate. This year, the issue is these raids, these immigration raids and criminal raids that have been taken place over the last week as well. And some people here say that the message today is a call for a moratorium on the raids. And they also want the deportation hearings to stop, those hearings which split apart, frankly, parents who are illegal from their children who are American citizens.
Now, there is one woman in this city who has really become the point person on this issue, ironically, for both sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN, (voice over): In this tiny Methodist church on Chicago's west side, Sunday service. When it ends, this woman will stay. She says maybe for years.
She is Elvira Arellano, a symbol of what many say is wrong with U.S. immigration policy. In the eyes of the law, she is a criminal.
(on camera): (SPEAKING SPANISH)
(voice over): "No," she says, "I'm only a mother working to have the best for my son."
A mother to eight-year-old Saul, and that's what complicated this case. Arellano is Mexican, Saul is a U.S. citizen. He's got a right to stay here. But like three to four million other children, a parent who's illegal.
(on camera): Like many immigrants in Chicago and around the country, legal or illegal, Elvira Arellano worked as a nanny. She cleaned houses. She did odd jobs. She was working cleaning airplanes making $7 an hour with no benefits when she was nabbed by federal agents who were clamping down on airport security.
(voice over): Arellano was ordered deported. But for the past eight months, she's been living with Saul, claiming sanctuary in an apartment above the church.
(on camera): Would you go back with her?
SAUL ARELLANO, AMERICAN CITIZEN: No.
O'BRIEN: You wouldn't go back? You don't want to go back to Mexico? Why not? ARELLANO: I have my friends here, my school.
O'BRIEN: So you would stay here without your mom?
(voice over): Saul won't say.
ROSANNA PULIDO, "YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME": I think she needs to be deported and take her son with her.
O'BRIEN: Rosanna Pulido is part of "You Don't Speak For Me," American-Hispanic voices speaking out against illegal immigrants.
(on camera): So there must be people who say, it's kind of heartless, whether you're talking about Elvira's case or any other case where you have a mother potentially being deported and a child who's an American citizen.
Doesn't that sort of pull on your heart strings at all? Don't you feel for them? Not at all?
PULIDO: No. Again, again, American citizens are the victims.
O'BRIEN (voice over): Arellano has become a national poster child for both sides in the immigration debate -- those who say the laws break up families, and those who say illegal immigrants are taking advantage.
So why haven't immigration officials arrested Elvira Arellano? They say their priority is national security and their job to enforce immigration laws, without regard for an alien's ability to generate media attention.
Reverend Walter Coleman, who runs the church, has been doing just that, going on a hunger strike for more than three weeks.
REV. WALTER COLEMAN, METHODIST CHURCH IN CHICAGO: Do they have a right to the human dignity of being able to stay together with their families in a legal manner or are we going to just treat them like mules?
O'BRIEN: How long will Elvira stay?
COLEMAN: We're in God's time in this church, and we'll be here as long as it takes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: So, is Elvira Arellano a criminal, a person who's had lots and lots of opportunities at due process? Or is she really this symbol of what many people here today would say is an immoral law, is a cruel law that literally splits mothers from their children? Both sides, ironically enough, would say immigration policy needs to be reformed. Some say it needs to be more enforced, others say it needs to have a way to make the 12-plus million people who are in this country illegally find a path to citizenship or some kind of legal residence in this country -- Don. LEMON: All right. Soledad, it looks like the crowd is getting even bigger behind you there. And we're going to check back with you throughout the afternoon right here in the NEWSROOM.
Thank you for your report.
ROESGEN: And now let's go back to CNN's Kathleen Koch, who has more on the president's planned veto today of the war funding bill -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Susan, it was never a question of if, but when, and now the White House has made it official. According to counselor to the president Dan Bartlett, President Bush, the White House will receive the emergency spending bill for Iraq at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. President Bush will then return to the White House as 5:45 from Tampa, and then the White House has requested 10 minutes of air time from the networks at 6:10 p.m.
So the expectation then is some time there between 5:45 and 6:10, the president will veto that spending bill. As we know, that is because it contains these hard and fast timetables for withdrawal from Iraq, which President Bush has firmly rejected. And then at 6:10, assuming the networks give the president the time, he will speak to the nation about his decision. Then it's on Wednesday in the 2:00 hour that he gets together with leaders in Congress from both sides to try to hash out some sort of compromise -- Susan.
ROESGEN: Yes, Kathleen, since he's been very clear as to why he's vetoing this bill all along, you kind of wonder, why would he need the 10 minutes of air time to tell us again why he doesn't want this bill?
KOCH: Well, obviously, the White House feels that this is something very important, that the president said in his remarks yesterday, "I told Congress I was not going to budge on this." He simply feels that this measure ties the hands of commander in Iraq, and -- besides the timetable -- and it also contains extraneous domestic spending.
But Democrats, for their part on Capitol Hill, believe that was a mandate that they got in November, that America wants to see U.S. forces out of Iraq sooner versus later. They believe that they're doing their duty by putting this forward, though they insist they also are very, very firm on getting the troops in Iraq the funding that they need.
So, this is an exercise they're going to go through, and tomorrow sit down and try to work things out.
ROESGEN: OK. We'll be waiting for the next step. Thank you, Kathleen.
KOCH: You bet.
LEMON: There's other news in the war on terror. He's been in the crosshairs of U.S. troops for nine months now, ever since he took over Al Qaeda in Iraq, but unconfirmed reports today said Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed by rival Sunni insurgents north of Baghdad. Denials came quickly on an Islamist Web site. Iraqi and coalition officials are trying to learn the truth and explaining what al-Masri's death might mean if true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: It is now a very decentralized terrorist effort, so while removing its current head would be a good and positive thing, I think we have to expect that we will need to continue dealing with further al Qaeda attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Al-Masri succeeded the notorious terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. air strike last June.
ROESGEN: And now more on our immigration day coverage.
Two demonstrations are planned in Los Angeles County, which we've said is home to about a million illegal immigrants. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is there.
And Thelma, earlier today, Javier Rodriguez, one of the organizers of the March 25th coalition march, said, oh, the rally is going to be just as big as last year, bigger than last year. And we've been saying all along, we don't expect the crowds to be that big.
What are you finding on the ground there?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Susan, I can tell you that it's a bit difficult to say at this point. Again, that march is not scheduled to start for another hour or so. But if you compare it to last year, there was so much hype, there was so much talk about the march leading up -- in the weeks leading up to May 1st, and you knew -- you could feel the buzz, you could tell that something was going to happen.
This year, it's been a little bit more quiet. It's hard to tell, but I just ran into an organizer a short time ago who told me already hundreds of people are gathering about a mile and a half away. They're organizing, they are now ready to march up in this area.
Now, this is the area where it's all expected to happen. Thousands of people are expected to converge on City Hall in about the next hour or so.
Now, last year, there were 650,000 people out here, some say up to a million people who gathered out here in front of City Hall for a big rally right in front of City Hall on Spring Street. There was some criticism at the time, because so many of the marchers were waving flags from their native countries, from Honduras and Mexico and El Salvador. A lot of the marchers say they were doing so to show pride in the countries from which they came. This year, however, many people, many of the organizers are calling on the marchers to carry American flags to show their love for their new country. And some of the vendors, in fact, have said that's all they're selling, are American flags.
Now, in preparation for the large crowds that are expected to be out here today, LAPD is on tactical alert. There are paramedics that have lined the area in the event that there are any problems.
The fire hydrants have been hooked up to drinking fountains, so in case the weather heats up, that there's a way to keep people hydrated. There are also port-a-potties, as you can see, all along the march route in this area.
You could see people are already starting to show up. Again, we had mentioned they wanted to carry American flags. There you see a group of people carrying those flags.
They're walking in this area. And they're carrying signs saying (SPEAKING SPANISH), they want justice. And people are asking for a migrant program to help those people who have come to work the fields in this country.
Again, organizers setting up a platform right in front of the City Hall, where they are expected to hold a rally. In about an hour, there will be another -- another march a little bit later today at MacArthur Park -- Susan.
ROESGEN: What about boycotts there in Los Angeles, Thelma?
GUTIERREZ: Well, you know, the organizers of this particular march, the May 25th coalition, are asking for boycotts. They've asked people not to buy anything today, not to call Mexico, not to send any money to other countries.
They said they want to make their presence known that way. But the organizers of the other march later on today are saying let's not do that, let's stay in school, let's go to work. Come and march after you get off of work. A very, very different message -- Susan.
ROESGEN: OK. Thank you, Thelma.
While we wait for that second march, we can get sort of an overall look of the first rally as it gets under way there in Los Angeles. A live look now from overhead, as they're beginning to start rallying there in Los Angeles.
The question, of course, is, ease immigration rules or tighten them? The debate over how to reform U.S. immigration law heats up ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Protesters are preparing to march here in New York for immigration rights.
We'll have details coming up next in the NEWSROOM. LEMON: And a tight turn on a windy day. The NTSB reports back on the small plane crash that killed Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Our Miles O'Brien joins us with details.
That is straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: It is 17 after the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And here are three of the stories we're working on today.
Islamist militants say the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq is alive and well and still fighting. They deny the report earlier today that Abu Ayyub al-Masri was killed today by rival Sunni insurgents north of Baghdad.
A New Jersey man has withdrawn his complaint against Governor Jon Corzine for not wearing his seat belt when his SUV crashed last month. Corzine did apologize yesterday as he checked out of the hospital. He said he set a bad example for other drivers, other people in cars. The ticket for his not buckling up would have carried a $46 fine.
And tainted wheat gluten from China, it has prompted that huge dog and cat food recall. Now they say that same toxin has turned up in chicken feed on farms in Indiana. However, health officials say the risk of your getting sick from eating that chicken is low.
LEMON: We're following immigration for you live all day long here on CNN. You're looking at live pictures -- Chicago, Denver, L.A.., just three cities we're live in. We're live all across the country today.
They're going to be talking immigrant rights, of course, today. Supporters saying this is a way to make possible for millions of illegal immigrants to come to the U.S. And the turnout, we're told, is expected to be lower this year than last. But we heard from a guest who said not so. He's expecting it to be more than last year.
We want to get you to New York now, where a rally is about to get set, under way this hour.
CNN's Allan Chernoff, our senior correspondent, joins us now from Washington Square Park right in Manhattan.
Hi, Allan.
CHERNOFF: Hi, Don.
Well, I can assure you that that certainly will not be the case here in New York. We're not going to have anything close to the turnout that we did have last year.
First of all, let me tell you that the protesters right now are actually in church. They've just begun a little interfaith service at the Judson Memorial Chapel here on the southern end of Washington Square Park. And this park through the years has been home to so many protests, through the '60s, '70s. So a real history here of protests.
This is where the people are going to come out in a little while, in about a half hour, and where the rally will be held down here. And the organizers are saying there's no question that they will have fewer people, partly because they don't have that House bill hanging over them as they did last year. Of course, you'll recall the bill that would have declared any undocumented aliens to be felons, and anyone helping them to be felons as well.
What the protesters have done here is they've painted a symbolic tree showing the roots that, of course, immigrants want to set here, and also the leaves you see symbolizing how many people can easily be separated from their families who perhaps have been left behind. And in fact, one immigrant we have right over here, if we could -- join us right now.
Lupe, if you could join us for a moment, please. Lupe is actually from Mexico. He's been here for about 15 years. He and his wife are here with his children.
Lupe, who have you actually left behind in Mexico?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father and my mother.
CHERNOFF: And are they well or ill? Su madre?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mother is sick, and I can -- I don't go to Mexico. I can go -- it's difficult for me. I not talk to my mother since (INAUDIBLE).
CHERNOFF: She has difficulty speaking?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Difficulty speaking.
CHERNOFF: I follow you. OK.
So a very good example here of somebody who is an undocumented immigrant unable to go visit his mother and father, even though his mother is actually ill. He has eight children here in the United States, some of whom of course were born here since he's been here 15 years. These are several of Lupe and his wife Emma's (ph) children.
So, just one example of so many immigrants who are undocumented and, of course, rallying today, hoping to have some immigration reform that would actually permit them to become legal immigrants here -- Don.
LEMON: Allan, and so many stories today from our reporters and our correspondents across the country.
Thanks for your report.
ROESGEN: Well, ease immigration rules or tighten them? The debate over how to reform U.S. immigration law heats up, just ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: T.J. Holmes is monitoring some of the immigration rallies across the country today.
T.J., what are you finding out for us?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they're happening all over the country. We've got a couple here we just want to bring to you. A couple -- one in Phoenix, one in Denver. We'll take you to Denver first, where there's a pretty good rally last year.
That's the one you're seeing on your left on your screen right now. But it looks like a pretty good size there, but no estimates just yet of just how many folks are marching through the downtown streets of Denver this year.
A lot of the focus has been -- on the one there, has been a lot of the raids that they're upset about that have been happening, essentially the government rounding up and cracking down on illegal immigrants. Just had a raid there in the Denver area not too long ago, where 19 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested. So that's kind of the focus a lot of folks had, the protesters there in Denver.
Also, on the other side of your screen, in Phoenix, we've been talking a lot today about some of the demonstrations being smaller than they were last year. This is certainly the case so far in Phoenix, where last year, about 100,000 people turned out. And right now the estimate there is about 2,000 people that have showed up for demonstrations today, marching through from the state fairgrounds in Phoenix to the state Capitol there for a rally. Another rally happening there in Tucson, in Arizona as well, about 1,500 people at that.
So certainly we are seeing the numbers are panning out right now that these rallies certainly smaller than the huge numbers, much larger numbers than we did see last year, but they're still happening. Also take note that at Phoenix, especially, it seems like a lot of teenagers are there, a lot of young people. Certainly, they were urged all around the country not to get out of school and not skip school for this, but certainly seeing that a lot of them are doing so.
So we're keeping an eye on all of this back here and some of these rallies. Just wanted to bring you those as well -- Susan.
ROESGEN: OK, T.J.
You know, we've been talking about the citizenship test that new Americans have to take, these immigrants can take. And before we went to the break, our question was, what is the tallest mountain in the U.S.?
Do you know what it is?
HOLMES: Oh, man. That's a good question.
(LAUGHTER) ROESGEN: I had to take a guess, and my guess turned out to be right. So take a guess.
HOLMES: That's a tough -- if I had to pass that right now to get my driver's license, I wouldn't get it.
ROESGEN: Well, you know, it's not in Georgia. Let's put it that way. The answer is in Mt. McKinley.
HOLMES: Is that -- where's McKinley?
ROESGEN: I don't know. In Alaska?
HOLMES: Is it the one in Alaska? I thought it was the one out in Oregon or something?
LEMON: Oh, jeez.
ROESGEN: Oh, I think you're thinking of Mt. Hood. Not McKinley.
HOLMES: Yes.
ROESGEN: OK. All right. We all need to get a refresher course on basic geography, basic topography in the United States, but just wanted to give you some of the questions on that citizenship test.
LEMON: Yes. And they're kind of tough questions.
ROESGEN: They are. They are.
LEMON: And I felt for T.J., because when you asked me the question, I was like, you know what? I'm not exactly sure as well.
ROESGEN: You know, spring up.
LEMON: Yes.
We're going to continue on with this, a day of marches and rallies in support of immigrants' rights. Most expect the crowds to be smaller than last year's, last May's protests, but the big issues are just as big. And my next guest represents both sides.
Dan Stein says immigration laws should be tougher. And he is the executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Brent Wilkes, well, he wants to ease immigration laws. He's the national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Can we accomplish anything with these rallies today? Go for it.
BRENT WILKES, SUPPORTING EASING IMMIGRATION LAWS: Absolutely. We can accomplish tremendous amounts.
These rallies are a great outpouring of democratic spirit in our country. People are voicing their opinion on a very important issue. And they're saying let's give these individuals a chance, let's give them an opportunity to adjust their status, become permanent legal residents of the United States, and to live the American dream like so many immigrants before them.
And in fact, the majority of Americans support this. We've seen polls recently, 78 percent of Americans in the "USA Today"-Gallup poll say they support the opportunity for immigrants to pay a small fine, to learn English, to undergo background checks, to do all the right things, and to have a chance for permanent legal residency. So it's a tremendous strategy and it's working well.
LEMON: Dan, are we accomplishing anything with these rallies today?
DAN STEIN, SUPPORTS TIGHTENING IMMIGRATION LAWS: Well, I think the rallies are a lot smaller. I think they are setting their cause backwards, because people look at this and they go, wait a minute. I mean, I thought we, the American people, decide who gets to come in, how many, and under what conditions. I didn't think that people have the right to just break our laws, force their way into the country, and then demand not only the right to stay and be rewarded with green cards and citizenship, but also to bring millions and millions of relatives down the line.
I mean, the outcome of this debate will be determined whether or not we're actually a country anymore that actually can decide who comes in and whether we control or borders.
LEMON: And many of the people who are out there today, and some who are not out there, are saying these stepped-up raids that have happened in the last couple of months are keeping them away. Let's listen to our homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, talk about these raids, and then we'll talk about it as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're obviously sympathetic to the plight of children who find themselves caught in the situation, but we do have to remember, it is the parents' choice to break the law. We always do these raids in a way that takes care of children, makes sure that we have taken steps to coordinate with the local authorities, but at the end of day we cannot compromise on enforcing the law simply because somebody has given birth to a child in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: He's talking about the children that sometimes get left alone after these raids and people are taken into custody.
Brent, what do we do about that? Because there is a human side to this, of course.
BRENT WILKES, SUPPORTS EASING IMMIGRATION LAWS: Well, there's absolutely a human side to this. The fact is that we have the opportunity in the United States to pass comprehensive immigration reform, to stop splitting families apart. And that's what we should do. We have the ability to do that. It's good for us. It's good for immigrants. And there's no reason in the world we shouldn't do it, except to be spiteful and mean-spirited and negative.
We should not do that. That is the wrong thing to do. And we don't have to split these families apart. Now the secretary, he has a job to do, I understand that, but they're enforcing the law in a way that they shouldn't have to. They should go after those worst offenders, like the secretary is committed to doing, the people who are really committing crimes and are doing things, other than immigration violations, that are doing things wrong.
LEMON: Dan, jump in here. I mean, are we doing this just to be mean-spirited?
DAN STEIN, SUPPORTS TIGHTENING IMMIGRATION LAWS: No. The point is you can always reunite the family back in the home country. A parent who's deported has a legal and moral obligation to take the minor child back with them. They're setting up this ludicrous situation here which, in the end, is polarizing the debate.
There's not even a legitimate effort on The Hill. The so-called comprehensive reform doesn't really have the basic elements that would actually help us regain control of our border. We should not be leading the debate by deciding, what do we do with people here illegally now? The first question should be, how do we restore credibility to U.S. immigration policy and law, how do we get control of our borders and make immigration serve our interests as a people, not foreign governments, not people who want to come here and work and cheat the system, not, you know, dictators who want to off-load people that they ought to be working to find jobs for. We should be deciding who comes in.
LEMON: All right. Well, both of you guys, I want to hit a couple of the hot buttons issues. Of course, the raids. And then also language. There's this big discussion about language. People who come to the country should speak English. Not everyone does. What do we do about that?
Dan.
STEIN: Well, look, if the numbers could be brought down, I hear people say we need a moratorium on raids. No, what we need is a moratorium or a time-out on immigration so that we can absorb and assimilate the millions and millions of people who are coming now. Instead, Congress is going to set off a chain tidal wave with the bills in the Senate. It would add another hundred million people to our population in the next 60 years.
A lot of them from countries that don't speak English. How can we absorb and assimilate people unless we take some kind of a pause and give ourselves an opportunity to absorb and assimilate this huge tidal wave of immigration that has come since 1975.
LEMON: But people say, what's wrong with being bilingual? What's wrong with being more educated and speaking different languages?
STEIN: Hey, there's nothing -- I want my kids to learn 15 -- everybody should learn 20 languages. That's very different than saying you who live in Dayton, Ohio, cannot go to L.A. to get a job as a firefighter unless you speak Spanish. And that's what's happening. Discrimination and victimization of U.S. citizens.
LEMON: Brent, is that what's really happening here?
STEIN: Yes.
LEMON: I mean if you can't, in English speaking places in America, are people applying for jobs in huge numbers and not --
STEIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
LEMON: Do you agree with that?
WILKES: Not at all. I think the reality is all immigrants -- the vast majority want to learn English. They're desperately trying to do that. In fact, we teach about 50,000 people English every single year. You know Dan's group, they haven't taught a single person English and yet they think they're the champion of English. We're the ones who are helping people assimilate. We're providing them the tools. We can help them assimilate. We can help them become full participants in the American dream. We've got to stop listening to these divisive people that are trying to tear our country apart and pit American against immigrant..
LEMON: OK, guys.
WILKES: We have always been a nation of immigrants. We've always had an opportunity to bring families together in this country.
STEIN: That's a lot of rhetoric (INAUDIBLE).
WILKES: Their hard work has contributed to the success of our nation. We need . . .
STEIN: What we need are polities . . .
LEMON: I'm going to have to -- guys, I'm going to have to jump in here because -- I'm going to have to jump in here because we're running out of time. But I want to ask, real quickly, in 10 seconds, I mean this, both of you or I'm going to cut you off, what do we do with the 12 to 13 million people who are already here?
Dan, you've got 10 seconds.
STEIN: All right, enforce the law. Interior enforcement. Employer sanctions. Detention deportation. The vast majority will either go home or marry citizen. Enforce the law. In 10 years the problem will take care of itself.
LEMON: All right. That's your 10 seconds.
Brent, go ahead.
WILKES: We need to find them with a fine that's commensurate to the violation of law, which is a misdemeanor violation of law. Make them pay their fine and then let's move on. Give them a chance to become full participants in the American dream. We can do it. We have the ability to do that and it's just a matter of willpower.
LEMON: All right. That's going to have to be the last word. Thanks to you both.
STEIN: Thank you.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: OK. From America's borders to the American coastline, we could soon see more oil rigs along our coasts. But some of those areas are environmentally sensitive. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange to fill us in.
Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Susan.
Well, like immigration, this one also involves some spirited debate. The Bush administration proposing that nearly 50 million acres be opened up for oil and gas drilling. The locations? Off the coast of Virginia, Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico. Most of these are environmentally sensitive areas that have been closed to drilling for many years. Virginia, in fact, is covered by laws that ban new drilling. So the administration's proposal will not allow drilling within 50 miles of the shore, and includes measures designed to protect against damage from oil spills.
Susan.
ROESGEN: Well, you can already hear the alarm bells from the environmentalists on this one.
LISOVICZ: Yes, it's like oil and water, it just doesn't mix in many cases. Congressional Democrats, for instance, Susan, are criticizing the plan. Others say the protective measures just aren't enough. They point to the massive Exxon Valdez spill as an example, saying oil traveled hundreds of miles in just a matter of weeks.
As for Alaska, some of the proceed drilling areas are in places where drilling is allowed but none has been tapped before. In fact, one of the areas, Bristol Bay, was closed off in 1989 after the Exxon spill, but that ban has since been lifted. Congress has 60 days to object to the administration's plan. So not a done deal by any means.
Eventually more oil could lower the price at the pump. But for now, expect price to keep going up. The Energy Department says the national average for a gallon of regular gas now $2.97, up 10 cents from just last week. So if you're not seeing $3 gas yet, you will soon.
As for the markets, well, the Dow is also going up. It's had a tough session, but starting off May on a positive note, up 47 points or better than a third of a percent. The Nasdaq is up 2.5. And oil is down more than $1.25. So that's not bad either.
Coming up next hour, it ain't as exclusive as it used to be. The rising number of millionaires in the U.S. We'll have the numbers for that, too.
Don and Susan, hoping you soon join the club and me too.
ROESGEN: We'll have to be millionaires to be able to drive cars in this country.
LISOVICZ: Good point.
ROESGEN: OK. Thanks, Susan.
LEMON: Well, some smugglers don't traffic in drugs or illegal arms. Illegal immigrants are their payload. And competition is only get fiercer and deadlier. More on that as our live coverage of these immigration rallies across the country continues, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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LEMON: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM and rallies for immigration are heating up across the nation today. You're looking at live pictures. This is Los Angeles on your left and Phoenix on the right. A big crowd, it looks like, in Los Angeles. People are rallying across the nation to push for immigration reform. Supporters are calling for a way to make it possible for millions of illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens. An estimated 12, maybe 13 million illegal immigrants currently here in the U.S. Turnout, though, is likely to be lower this year than last. But stay tuned, it is still early.
ROESGEN: And a different kind of immigration protest in Houston, where some immigrants are joining a hunger strike. CNN's Ed Lavandera is there in Houston.
Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Susan.
Well, we're here in Houston because this is one of those cities away from the border, but it has essentially become a hub for illegal immigrants to dispatch themselves throughout the country. They come up through south and southeast Texas. And from here they launch into towards Chicago, the Midwest, the Northeast or the East Coast.
And how they get here is, by and large, in growing ways, through smugglers. And that has becoming a very dangerous situation. And if you were here in this intersection just a couple of weeks ago, you got an up-close look at how dangerous the world of human smuggling has become.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA, (voice over): Gunfire erupts in broad daylight in a busy Houston intersection. One man is killed, two are wounded. The gun battle stuns onlookers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bullets were ricocheting off the signs and off if buildings and everything. And I walked to the intersection and a guy was laying dead in the street.
LAVANDERA: Federal authorities say rival smugglers fighting over a load of illegal immigrants could be responsible. Human smugglers, known as coyotes, aren't just a border phenomenon anymore, they're moving north and could be coming to a neighborhood near you.
JULIE MYERS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ICE: They've seen increased presence on the border and so they think that they may be safer if they have a stash house in Phoenix rather than Tucson.
LAVANDERA: And the coyotes are becoming more violent, often treating immigrants like this.
ALONZO PENA, ICE PHOENIX: We've had, as I showed you there, the case where the guy's fingernails were pulled out. We have another case where they were, with a grinder, grinding a person's knuckles.
LAVANDERA: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Alonzo Pena took us on a drive through Phoenix. He says smugglers are now organized like drug cartels, willing to do anything to control illegal immigrants.
PENA: Some smugglers don't even want to go to the trouble and the overhead of smuggling a load from the border. They'd just rather rip it off here and then tell those aliens, I don't care what you've paid the other smuggler, you're going to pay me now if you want to be released.
LAVANDERA: Last week in Houston, 40 immigrants were found in this apartment, held hostage for days without food and water. Constable Victor Trevino worries smugglers are making the streets he patrols far from the border more dangerous.
VICTOR TREVINO, HARRIS COUNTY CONSTABLE: It's not just at the border. It's coming into our neighborhood. And it's coming into our -- the large cities.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And it's a multimillion dollar industry these days. Federal authorities tell us that smugglers are charging Mexican nationals $1,500 to come across. And anyone south of Mexico, anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000.
Susan.
ROESGEN: Smuggling people is big business. Thank you, Ed Lavandera, in Houston.
Coming up, we'll take you back to Chicago for one of those big immigration rallies. Soledad O'Brien is there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys.
I'm not sure if you can hear me or not, of course, because the noise is so loud on the ground. I'm not sure you're taking me live now. I'm going to give you, though, an interesting view. This is really the ground's eye view of what's happening at this march.
It makes its way out of the park. Twenty thousand people is the number that the Chicago Police Department has now given us. Remember, that's a very early count.
The crowd behind us is shouting (INAUDIBLE), it means, "yes, we can." In other words, organizer are trying to send the message, yes, there can be a show of force, even among people, and that's a large number of people, that (INAUDIBLE) are illegal immigrants.
I want to show you how we are able to broadcast this march to you from the ground. This is what we like to call our rolling remote feed point, or Mars Rover 2.0 is what we like to call it. There's a video and audio transmitter that's on the back of my camera right here. And as it comes in, it transmits to one of these four receivers.
Those receivers, if you follow the cables straight down, gets sent out as a wireless signal and then out, of course, back up to that circle. You can see the back side of it. That circle is pointed in the direction of another receiver. And it's on one corner of the park.
And we can go about 12 blocks with this crowd. We'll lose them a little bit in the middle, but then be able to go another 12 blocks as well. It's all pre-transmitted to another receiver, that's then cabled to our satellite truck, and that's how we're able to bring these pictures to you live.
On top there we've got a -- sorry about that. I just knocked over someone's stroller. We got a generator that is powering all the electronics. And we have phone communication. They can hear me in the control room, for example.
Because we've got -- (INAUDIBLE) guys, why don't we move down this way. Start moving. Hopefully we won't lose you. All of this so we can bring you this march right down on the ground level.
Now as you can see, some of the folks we've been talking to today -- that's the (INAUDIBLE), "yes, we can," have been telling us that they're marching mostly for their children. A big issue here in Chicago has been these immigration raids. Those immigration raids, in many cases, ending with deportations. Those deportations, in some cases, can separate an illegal who's been deported and an American citizen child.
So these are all the issues that in some respects have turned out the number of people that we're seeing here today. Still, of course, way to early to determine just how many people are out here marching.
Let's send it right back to you guys in the studios.
ROESGEN: OK, Soledad O'Brien, swallowed up by the crowd there in Chicago. Thank you.
Don.
LEMON: A tight turn on a windy day. The NTSB reports back on the small plane crash that killed Yankee's pitcher Cory Lidle. Miles O'Brien joins us with details straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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LEMON: And there is some new information into the CNN NEWSROOM. The final report is in on the plane crash that killed New York Yankee Pitcher Cory Lidle. But it doesn't fill in all of the blanks. CNN's Miles O'Brien, a pilot himself, has talked with the NTSB investigators and he joins us now from Washington.
And, of course, the first question is, Miles, what did you find out?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, I have the executive summary here of the probable cause. This is in NTSB- speaking a little bit. But basically here's what they say. "Determines the probably cause of this accident was the pilots'," using plural here, that's s', "inadequate planning, judgment and airmanship in the performance of 180 degree turn maneuver inside a place with limited turning space."
Now let's go rewind the clock six and a half months. New York City, October 11, 2006. Yankees' Pitcher Cory Lidle, having just finished his season for the New York Yankees, was on his way back ultimately to California. A long flight in his small, single engine airplane. A Cirrus SR-20.
He got in the plane with his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, and decided before they made their way on their first stop on their leg, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to take a little sightseeing mission around Manhattan. They ended up with the scene you're about to see, crashing into an apartment building between the 32nd and 33rd floors. Terrible fire there. One person seriously injured inside the building. Two others slightly hurt. And, of course, Lidle and Stanger killed instantly.
Now let me show you this route and give you a sense of what the National Transportation Safety Board investigators are talking about. First of all, they began up here, Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. They flew down, around the Statue of Liberty and then made their way up the East River.
Now the important thing to know is, at the end of the road here is LaGuardia airspace, where you have to be talking to an air traffic controller in order to fly in there. They were not talking to controllers at the time. They were in a corridor below the controlled airspace and framed by the river that allowed them to do this.
When it came time to turn, the wind was blowing them towards Manhattan. They did a steep, steep bank and ended up flying into the building, perhaps because they were trying to avoid flying into that airspace without having talked to air traffic controllers.
We talked with the chairman of the NTSB just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ROSENKER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: What we'll talk about here is the issue of poor execution of plan and poor execution of maneuver.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's pilot error?
ROSENKER: It could be characterized as pilot error.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Pilot error it is. Now, the families of Cory Lidle and Tyler Stanger insist that the controls on that Cirrus SR-20 locked up in some way. The NTSB investigators say there is simply no evidence of that fact at all.
And, by the way, this corridor here, Don, from here to here, is now closed to small planes doing just that, those sightseeing missions.
Don, back to you.
LEMON: And, you know, Miles, I remember that. And six and a half months ago, I mean, it doesn't seem that long ago. And again, as we tell people, you're a pilot. I remember you taking that exact route -- I'm not sure if it was in your plane, but a plane very similar. As you said, you've got Teterboro Airport and you've got LaGuardia there. All that airspace. And then you have Roosevelt Island and then Manhattan all in this little space there.
When you took that flight, is that sort of the conclusion that you got, not that you're an investigator, that it was just a quick turn?
M. O'BRIEN: That's exactly right, Don. I was under the impression that it was actually a little more space than it was until I flew there. I was probably one of the last civilian pilots to fly up this corridor before they closed it down. I flew the day after the accident.
I couldn't believe how tight it was. And during the whole process of flying up that narrow band of the East River, I was in contact with air traffic controllers because I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make the turn. And if I did, I wanted them to know I was going to stray into Manhattan and they wouldn't cite me or give me a violation.
The Hudson River is much bigger. This is only 2,100 feet across. They began the turn not on the far bank and the wind was blowing them this way. So there were a lot of things going against them.
Don.
LEMON: Miles O'Brien, thank you so much.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
ROESGEN: And coming up, we'll have more on the immigration day rallies from our reporters all around the country. You're looking now at what we believe is Washington, D.C., or is it Washington Square Park? In any case, we'll get the pictures back up for you when we come back.
LEMON: That would be Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
ROESGEN: I think it was Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: After a lengthy battle in the Bahamas, Larry Birkhead, the ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, has brought his multimillion dollar baby daughter, Dannielynn, back to the U.S. Back to Louisville, Kentucky. Last week Birkhead got Dannielynn a new birth certificate with his name listed as the father. And yesterday he picked up her passport. Access Hollywood had a camera crew on board their chartered plane when they came back. They say dad and daughter stopped briefly in Florida before flying on to Birkhead's home state of Kentucky.
LEMON: Well, people all over the nation today are pushing for immigration reform, and we're on top of it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Live pictures from Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago. We're going to have some live reports for you coming up right after a quick break.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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