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Arizona's Immigration Law; Coast Guard to Set Part of Oil Slick in Gulf of Mexico on Fire; Greece Trips U.S. Economy

Aired April 28, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour for you in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. Here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is kind of a tough economy, even if it weren't, I'm not going to stop doing business with my clients in Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Big divide over whether to boycott Arizona over its illegal immigration crack down. Should money be a weapon in the growing battle? That debate this hour.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very technologically advanced these days, and you're required to use your mind a lot more than just your hands now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Working at a factory is no longer a job for those without high-tech skills. Companies now paying workers to learn how to do the work. Apprenticeships making a comeback.

Let's do this -- let's get started.

Arizona's strict new immigration law could become a federal case. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department is working with the Department of Homeland Security to decide how to react. House lawmakers on both sides are clear on what reaction they want to see. They held separate news conferences a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ (D), NEW YORK: It is irresponsible for any city, state or elected official to legalize racial profiling and discrimination. And that is a tactic that the governor of Arizona and the Republican-controlled legislature have done. This shortsighted law is a step backward in our nation's ongoing struggle to provide civil rights for all. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: Congresswoman Gifford and the other members who have signed on to this letter asking that the president enforce the rule of law and be responsible as the commander-in-chief of the country, and also the person that is responsible for border security, to send the National Guard to the southern border of the United States, as requested by governors in those southern border states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, some Republican political hopefuls and former politicians are speaking out against the Arizona law. Among them, Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio; California candidate for governor, Meg Whitman; and former Florida governor, Jeb Bush.

Some critics of Arizona's immigration law want to hit the state where it hurts. They're calling for a boycott against Arizona in California. A San Francisco supervisor offered a resolution to stop doing business with Arizona, and he supports ending city-funded travel to the state. The mayor is concerned about the larger impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMPOS, SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR: Basically it's telling Arizona that there are consequences when you do something like this, and hurting them in the pocketbook because our experience has been that that's when state agencies respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM (D), SAN FRANCISCO: There's a practical reality that's different than doing sanctions against Burma. It's different than doing sanctions against a country where they may be one or two businesses that indirectly are involved in the life of your city. In this case, this is a state, it's just a stone's throw away. And who knows the relationship in terms of business-to-business operations or city-to-government operations?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. So here's what we'll do. We will discuss this further at the bottom of the hour. I will be joined by Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association president Debbie Johnson. And you from just a moment ago San Francisco Supervisor David Campos, who you just heard from.

Arizona's new immigration law puts sweeping new powers in the hands of police. Law enforcement unions have weighed in.

Ines Ferre joining me now from New York to look at how officers view this new law. What are they saying to you, Ines?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, while some law enforcement officers may not agree with it, some big police unions are agreeing with it.

And with us, we have Levi Bolton. He is with the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. They represent about 2,500 members. And this association, also, is one of several groups that helped to draft the legislation.

Mr. Bolton, thanks so much for being with us.

And we want to know from you, why does your association feel that this law is necessary, and what does this do for your officers?

LEVI BOLTON, PHOENIX LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSOCIATION: Well, first and foremost, the law has a lot of facets to say that I have to compartmentalize it.

Our involvement first came with our objection over Operation Order 1.4, basically making it problematic for a police officer to ask a person's legal status in the United States. The first portion of the bill was to basically deliver sanctions and discourage sanctuary city policies, but it's the balance of the bill that give further impetus, that allow officers to do what we've asked for a long time ago, which is to make a discretionary phone call to ICE.

The important thing I think to know is that city of Phoenix has been test-driving this legislation for almost two years. And some of the issues that we're hearing out there on the streets are unfortunately not substantive.

FERRE: Now, the law states that an officer has to have reasonable suspicion before asking about immigration status. And one of the opponents of this law is actually Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. He says that he doesn't plan to enforce the law, and here's why.

And let's listen.

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SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: A very controversial part of this law which is going to be challenged immediately is this reasonable suspicion. That is going to be declared, in my judgment, unconstitutionally vague.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FERRE: Mr. Bolton, what's your reaction to that?

BOLTON: Well, I can't substitute my judgment for what the sheriff's intent was in responding in that fashion, but I can tell you this -- there are only three circumstances that a police officer can make contact with a person in this country, and it doesn't matter where you're born. Voluntarily, that contact predicated upon reasonable suspicion or probable cause. That wouldn't have changed -- that was the tenet before this bill and will certainly be the case afterwards.

Illegal immigration is not a race, it's conduct. Police officers deal with conduct.

FERRE: OK. And can you also answer for us -- some people are saying, look, we're really worried about racial profiling. And they're worried because, you know, you're walking down the street, and even though this law says that you can't solely implement this based on race or color or country of origin. So what do you say of that?

BOLTON: Well, first of all, it sounds like to me that you're describing a bad cop, not bad law. Racial profiling, biased policing, it's illegal. It was illegal before this statute, it's illegal and will be illegal afterwards. I think that's an issue to be taken with individual agencies.

I think the law enforcement community has stood very prominently saying that we will not (INAUDIBLE) racial profiling, or to allow race or ethnicity to be indicative (ph) of criminality. That's an absurd proposition. And frankly, law enforcement officers are starting to get a little upset with the idea that, suddenly, they will become unilaterally unprofessional because of this provision.

FERRE: Thank you so much.

Levi Bolton, from the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. Thanks for being with us.

BOLTON: You're quite welcome.

FERRE: And Tony, I spoke to other unions. The Arizona Police Association is supportive of the law. They're the biggest union in Arizona. While the Arizona Chiefs of Police Association, they didn't want the governor to sign it, but now that it is law, they say that their law enforcement officers will do their best to comply with it -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, there was a lot in that interview. We need to parse that out and consider it. There was a lot there. Good stuff.

Ines Ferre for us in New York City.

Got to tell you, with the strict new law about to take effect, many illegal immigrants are starting to leave Arizona. Some are returning to Mexico, others are fleeing to other states.

And then there is this -- illegal immigrants applying for Mexican citizenship for their U.S.-born children. The Mexican Consulate in Phoenix says it has seen a 100 percent increase in the number of illegal immigrants applying for dual citizenship. Parents want kids to be able to join them in Mexico if they are deported.

Mexico issues an advisory for its citizens in Arizona. In response to the new immigration law, the Mexican Foreign Ministry advises citizens to begin carrying all immigration documents to avoid -- quoting here -- "needless confrontations." The advisory says -- quoting again -- "As long as no clear criteria are defined for when, where and who the authorities will inspect, it must be assumed that every Mexican citizen may be harassed and questioned without further cause at any time."

So, what do you think of the Arizona immigration law? We want to hear your thoughts on this hot-button issue. Man, is it hot.

Send in your comments, if you would, please, to my blog. That's CNN.com/Tony. And I will get a few of them on the air this hour.

We have been talking about it all morning, the Coast Guard getting set to set fire to a huge oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil coming from the oil rig that exploded, then sank last week.

Our Chad Myers monitoring the winds and currents from our Weather Center. And our Reynolds Wolf is near the action but safely onshore in Venice, Louisiana.

Let's get to Reynolds first.

And, hey, Reynolds, I talked to a commander from the Coast Guard last hour. It sounds like they're going ahead with this planned burn.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it does appear that is what's going to happen. And what I'd like to do is share with you and the rest of America about how the process works, what exactly is going to take place.

Well, Tony, what they're doing to do is they're going to take about 500 feet of this fire-proof fire boom, which is almost like an aquatic fence. And what they'll also use is a team of work boats, and they almost make almost like a semicircle shape, so to speak, and it actually will skim the water. And they try to take away some of the heavier crude.

They separate it from the rest of the oil slick and then they set it on fire. And what they're going to do is they're going to repeat this process, probably have several of these small fires. Each one is going to last for roughly 60 minutes.

Now, there's no question this is something that's very dangerous, to say the very least, but it is going to be monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure that there isn't going to be any kind of stress, say, to wildlife, aquatic, or even airborne. And, of course, they want to watch this very carefully to make sure this stays up to cold, safety standards. The people who are actually going to be performing this task, and, of course, for people who live on the coast, they don't want to cause any danger there.

Now, in terms of these booms, long-term plans are not going to be just in terms of putting out these fires. They're also planning on establishing some protective booms right along parts of the Gulf Coast, here in Louisiana. Also in places like Mississippi, Alabama, and in to, of course, parts of Florida as well, as this oil inevitably will start moving away, moving and dispersing outward. But it's going to be very interesting to watch how this unfolds this afternoon. HARRIS: Yes.

Hey, Reynolds, I know you were up in a helicopter yesterday. Give us a sense of how massive this thing is from the air.

WOLF: Oh, it's mind-boggling. You know, it's funny. I mean, as we were flying over the southern half of the state, you go from the marshland to just a hodgepodge of a few islands. And then you have the brackish, brownish water.

But then when you go out and you punch into the blue, the cobalt blue of the Gulf waters, you will see dark spots. But then you see that shimmering kind of rainbow sheen that we've been talking about over the past couple of days.

And then you'll see those ugly streaks of thick, reddish-brown oil that have been popping up. The reddish-brown oil, well, that's the crude that they plan on burning off over the next couple of hours. And, of course, the shimmery thing, well, that happens to be the rainbow sheen.

It is amazing to see. And, of course, as we've been saying and telling people all day long, it's still coming out. Still roughing (ph) from 5,000 feet down. And that's the reason -- one of the big reasons why they're trying to skim off the spread, so to speak, by burning some of it today.

HARRIS: OK.

Reynolds Wolf for us.

Reynolds, appreciate it. Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Hey, we want to take you now to the Quail Hollow Golf Championship. It's in Charlotte, North Carolina. And there's the man of the hour, Tiger Woods, number one golfer in the world. His personal life still up in the air.

He's answering questions from the media at the pre-tournament news conference. Not sure what will come out of it, but let's have you have a listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

QUESTION: And specifically, why did you want to play at Charlotte this week?

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Well, that's a great question.

As far as my playing schedule, it's kind of up in the air. I'm trying to get back to normal seeing that. But Charlotte has always been one of my favorite tour stops.

The golf course -- we don't get a chance to play golf courses like this very often. And it's always a treat to play a golf course like this. And it's very similar to a major championship, especially right now.

HARRIS: OK. You know, I don't know if he's going to answer questions. Who knows if he's going to answer questions about his personal life. He may.

So, right now, the questions are about golf, and he's answering those, talking about his schedule moving forward. He doesn't usually -- I don't think he usually plays this event, but he is this year. The first event after the Masters.

So we'll just monitor this and figure out if there's anything to learn about where he is in his personal life. That's the only reason we would be taking this.

We'll follow it. And if there's some news there, we'll fill you in on it.

U.S. stock markets stabilizing after taking a huge tumble yesterday. The reason for the fall? The troubled economy of the nation of Greece.

Why is this happening? We are going to talk to CNN's Richard Quest in London.

And guarding your privacy online. A new feature on Facebook could be telling the world what you're looking at online.

But first, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: CNN Money, of course, your source for the latest financial news and analysis. And the lead story there is what we're going to get to in just a moment, all kinds of concerns about Greece's debt situation.

But let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange now, just ahead of, what, three hours into the trading day? The NASDAQ is down a bit, and you can see stocks are rebounding a bit after yesterday, trading positively, up 17 points.

Got to tell you, the financial crisis in Greece spilling over in to world markets and on to the streets. Civil servants took to the streets in Athens today to protest the country's massive debt and a bailout plan they fear will lead to even tougher times.

CNN's Richard Quest, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," joining us now from London to talk about the crisis in Greece and its impact.

Hey, Richard, you know, is there some fear of a contagion here? We're seeing the impact of Greece's debt situation, and starting to spread to other countries, correct?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are, indeed. In the last couple of hours -- in fact, in the last 90 minutes, Tony -- Spain has just had its debt decreased and devalued. Spain has had a downgrade, which doesn't really matter. It's gone I think from BB plus or BB, or some variant thereof.

But the fact is that what we are seeing is a contagion through all the Club Med countries. We have now seen Greece, Portugal, Spain. Questions will be asked whether it's Italy and Ireland next. And the core problem remains -- we now know that all these countries have been running deficits in the regions of 9, 10, 11 percent.

HARRIS: And look, a lot of these economies got into trouble the same way the United States got into trouble with a meltdown of the financial system and efforts to bail out those banks. Correct?

QUEST: Yes, but -- well, up to a point, as they say. Up to a point.

Look, if your house is hit by a hurricane, which house stands, the one that is built properly or the one that's riddled with wood rot, leaking timbers and shaky foundations? And what is being discovered now in parts of southern Europe is that the houses stood because of the economies, withstood it because of the amount of fiscal stimulus being put in.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

QUEST: But now -- what's that famous line about, you know who is naked -- swimming naked when the tide goes out? What's happening now is the tide is roaring out, and we're starting to see the economies showing all their bits.

HARRIS: So, Richard, what happens here now? I mean, the IMF? What's being done to approve this situation?

QUEST: Well, two things to note.

Firstly, don't think smugly on the western side of the Atlantic you're immune from all of this. You're not.

If there is contagion and chaos within the European Union, you will feel the effects of it. Yes, the dollar might strengthen as a bastion of safe haven, but clearly, the European Union remains a major market for U.S. exporters. So, let nobody think that this is just a European issue.

The second thing though --

HARRIS: The second thing -- go ahead.

QUEST: Well, the real problem is the inability of this nascent European Union to actually deal with it. They're not planning to actually have a meeting until May the 10th to decide to bail out Greece.

The commentators I'm reading today, Tony, are all saying the same thing. Back to my house analogy. The house is burning, but somebody really does need to switch on the hose pipe. HARRIS: That's good stuff.

All right. Richard Quest for us in London.

As always, great to talk to you, Richard. Thank you, sir.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Too much information or business as usual? Four United States senators are taking on Facebook, saying your privacy is at risk.

Josh Levs is here to explain.

And Josh, what are they concerned about?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, because Congress didn't have enough to worry about, Tony. Right.

HARRIS: This week, this year.

LEVS: This week, yes. I know, time to go after Facebook, although it is -- I'm going to tell you this, my analogy that I always use for Facebook. I think of it as a mutant octopus because it has all these tentacles that reach out in all these different directions, but it's unlike anything that's ever existed before.

We can talk about a million aspects of privacy, and people who are big Facebookers out there would love us to. But there's one specific one I need to focus in on right now, because this is where the senators are coming from. And I want everyone to understand what it is.

We talk to you a lot about the changes that just took place last week on Facebook. And you can read more at CNN.com. But I want you to know one thing that it is not.

If you go to various Web sites, including CNN.com, you will now -- if you logged in to Facebook at any point, you're automatically going to see a box that pops up right her here, knows who you are, talks about what your friends are doing. This is not what the senators are worried about. This is the most common thing you see, because so many Web sites are going to build this now.

What they are worried about is something more like what you see on this Web site here called Yelp. And we have a little video.

I want you to take a look at this little video from Yelp, because what happens is, if you're on Facebook and you go to Yelp, which does a lot of reviews now of shops, restaurants, you see that line at the top where it says "Yelp is using Facebook to personalize your experience."

What happens at Yelp and a couple other Web sites -- Pandora, this thing called Microsoft Docks (ph) -- as soon as you get to the Web site, it automatically pulls your information from Facebook. HARRIS: Oh my.

LEVS: This is something new that Facebook is trying. It pulls up information on your profile, your friends, everything that you made publicly available. But this is a company that's automatically pulling it up. This is what several senators are concerned about, including Senator Chuck Schumer, who said this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: We believe Facebook should reverse its policy so that users have to opt in to sharing data rather than opt out. And this would ensure that the default setting for all users is that their information is kept private. With the current system, the up-front disclosure of what's happening with your personal information is confusing, at best. The onus here should be on Facebook, not on the user.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: He's saying this whole system should not exist of any Web site automatically pulling your Facebook info unless you have told it, I would like you to start doing this.

Now, we have a response from Facebook, and I want you to see this quote, what they said. They said, first of all, "If you opt out, your public Facebook information can still be shared by your friends to these partner sites unless you block the application."

Now, basically what they're saying that you need to do there is they're giving you specific instructions about how to make any changes that you need so that it won't happen. You get to the Web site, it doesn't have to happen.

And I'm just going to tell you, Tony, what they have said repeatedly is that this is not designed in a way to take anything that's supposed to be private. They say it's looking at public information. They say 400 million people use this, and they put utmost as important what should remain private.

They're giving you the tools to make sure you do that. They're not trying to give your personal information to any private company. That's their stance -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Well, how do people go about -- I guess this can be complicated -- changing the settings to protect privacy?

LEVS: Yes. It is a little bit tricky.

And so what we've done, because it takes several steps -- I mean, when you get to these Web sites like Yelp, there's a little "X" box at the top. You can get rid of that. It doesn't quite do everything if you want to block the application.

So in order to give you a step by step, I have posted one at my FaceBook page. So here's my FaceBook page. You can see on the screen. It's right in the middle. Facebook.com/joshlevscnn.

When you get there, what we have is a -- there's this great site out there called Mashable. They're good friends of us at CNN and cnn.com. They have a step-by-step instruction on how to block as much of this new change as you want on your FaceBook page. You might love it.

But I'm also going to tell you, Tony, a rule of thumb that I got from a guy at Mashable, Ben Parr, a great guy. He says, he doesn't put anything online anywhere that he wouldn't want his mom to see, because it can get out anywhere. So, as a rule, don't expect total privacy of anything you put online. If you wouldn't want your mom to see it, don't put it there.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Man, it's just a new day. Just a new -- all right, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

LEVS: New day. It is that.

HARRIS: You have to embrace it.

More fallout from that controversial immigration law in Arizona. If a California official has his way -- there he is -- his city won't be doing business with Arizona anymore. Officials in Arizona say, wait just a minute here. A boycott will hurt a lot of hardworking people here. We have got both sides of the debate straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're illegal, I don't think you should be here in the states. I don't think it's prejudice, I just think it's just for illegals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a cry for help to get the federal to come in.

REP. PAUL GRIJALVA (D), ARIZONA: It's about economic consequences to the extremists that put this law together. It's about political voting. And it's about a legal strategy to challenges (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. The battle over Arizona's strict new immigration law now leading to calls for a boycott at the state. Critics of the law saying, fight back with your dollars. San Francisco is already on board with that. Its mayor has announced a moratorium on city employee travel to Arizona. San Francisco supervisor David Campos is behind that move and a call to stop doing business with Arizona. And he joins me from San Francisco.

David, good to see you.

DAVID CAMPOS, SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR: Thank you.

HARRIS: And with us from Phoenix, Debbie Johnson. She is president and CEO of the Arizona Hotel and Lodging Association.

And, Debbie, good to see you as well.

David, let me start with you.

The city has already banned travel to Arizona by city employees on city business.

CAMPOS: Right.

HARRIS: You want to go beyond that, don't you? And tell us why.

CAMPOS: Sure. We want to follow the model that was followed about 20 years ago around the MLK holiday controversy when a number of us from other parts of the country boycotted this state. Following that model, we believe that it's not just travel that should be limited, but that we, as a city, need to make sure that our taxpayer dollars are not spent in Arizona or doing business with companies that are based in Arizona.

But let me be clear. This is not targeted at the people of the state of Arizona. This is targeted at the leadership of the state of Arizona, which passed this misguided law.

HARRIS: How do you draw a distinction there? Can you target the lawmakers and not target the people in the state? How do you do that?

CAMPOS: I think it's a hard balance. And, quite frankly, I think the model that we're following is a model that was followed before. A model that proved effective. We think that the only way that the leadership of the state of Arizona, be it the governor or the state legislature, is going to respond is if they are impacted in the pocket book. And that's what's happening.

And it's not just San Francisco. Following our action, we have a number of cities, not only in California, but in other parts of the country, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., El Paso, Texas, that are following a similar course.

HARRIS: Debbie, what impact have you seen since the governor signed the bill? And what extra impact do you anticipate should this boycott move forward?

DEBBIE JOHNSON, PRES. & CEO, ARIZONA HOTEL AND LODGING: Well, I think the things that we've seen so far have been a few group cancellations, some folks who come to Arizona on vacation who have expressed concern. But I really -- my biggest concern is that the pocket book that it's going to affect are the 200,000 families that are employed in the tourism industry and really depend on those paychecks to take care of their families. And that's our concern and that's our whole motivation here is to protect those families who really are being caught up kind of in the politics, but it's -- unfortunately (ph), it's their pocket books that are going to be effected.

HARRIS: So what would you say to David? He's here. He can hear you. What would you say to him? JOHNSON: I would encourage you to continue to visit Arizona. I absolutely understand the political concerns that you have. I would encourage you to express those political concerns. But please understand that these 200,000 families that are out there, that include many Hispanics who work in the hospitality industry, they need their paychecks to feed their families, to support their families. And, unfortunately, they're sort of the innocent victims being caught up in this.

HARRIS: David, how would you respond?

CAMPOS: I would say, first of all, I think that the best thing that you can do for those Hispanic workers who you're talking about is to lobby your governor and your legislature to change course because those same workers, when they step out of your job, are going to be discriminated against.

Again, you know, I have visited the state of Arizona. It's a lovely place. Really friendly people. This is about the leadership taking the wrong course. And it is not a political statement. It's a human rights statement because the law, as written, necessarily will lead to racial profiling.

I used to be on the police commission here before I got elected as a supervisor. And I can tell you, that that kind of unfettered discretion being given to a police officer is dangerous. What does an undocumented immigrant look like? The governor herself could not answer that question. And we, in the Latino community, know very well what it means, is that if you look Latino in Arizona, you are going to be suspect. And that's wrong. That's un-American.

HARRIS: And, Debbie, the bottom line there, it seems to me, is, and maybe this question, how do you feel about your state as someone who is promoting -- your beautiful state, your state being branded in some quarters as racist?

JOHNSON: You know, I think we're being branded so many different names, so it's hard for us to get involved right now in the politics side of it because we're so concerned about the families that are out there. Obviously we're concerned about this issue. There are things that we are doing on our end to work with our legislature, to work with our governor's office. But, most importantly to us, is the members that are out there and those employees who have been already so hard hit by the tourism effects in Arizona and the devastation that we've seen because of the AIG effect and the recession. And now to have another hit on top of it really is a challenge for them.

HARRIS: Yes. Well, David, Debbie, thanks for the conversation. Good stuff. Appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HARRIS: Let's do it again.

CAMPOS: Thank you. HARRIS: You know, this would not be the first time Arizona was a target of a boycott. Arizona was one of the last states, as you just heard, to adopt a holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. A boycott, while it was holding out, costs the state hundreds of conventions and the chance to host the Super Bowl back in 1993. So what do you think of Arizona's immigration law? This is an opportunity for you to weigh in here. We want you thoughts on this hot button issue. Send us your comments, if you would, please, to my blog. Here's the address right here, cnn.com/tony. I'll read a few of them before we jump off the air this hour and make way for Ali Velshi.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on top stories now.

We are awaiting word from the Gulf of Mexico, where they've been getting ready to set parts of that huge oil slick on fire. They are hoping to burn off the oil before it can reach the Gulf Coast. The 80-mile long slick is the aftermath of last week's explosion at a BP drilling rig.

Sandra Bullock is losing a husband, but she is gaining a son. The actress tells "People" magazine, she is in the process of adopting a three-and-a-half-month-old baby and she is naming him Louis Bardo Bullock. Bullock is currently in the process of divorcing husband Jesse James.

A procedure that might cost you hundreds of dollars in a Maryland hospital, could cost you thousands in New Jersey. Why the big price gap? We'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Reigning in medical costs. It is a key challenge across the country. If you get sick and have to go to the hospital, you'll pay a lot more or a lot less depending on where you live. So why the difference? Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen went looking for the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm here at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Now, let's say that they brought someone in here who just had a heart attack. It costs a certain amount of money to treat that person. The drugs, the nurses, all of that.

Now, Hopkins, like other hospitals, on top of that charges a profit margin. A mark-up, if you will. And now to talk about these mark- ups, I'm here with Professor Gerard Anderson.

Now, tell me, how much of a mark-up does Hopkins and other hospitals in Maryland charge? GERARD ANDERSON, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Twenty-one percent.

COHEN: Twenty-one percent. Now other hospitals and other states in the country, do they also charge a 21 percent mark-up?

ANDERSON: No, it's only Maryland does it. Other states, the mark-ups are much higher.

COHEN: Much higher. OK. Well, I'm going to go take a tour of states around Maryland to see how much it costs there to have a heart attack.

Now, I've just crossed the line into Delaware, where they mark up prices by 85 percent. And, remember, in Maryland, they only mark up prices by 21 percent. By wait, it gets even worse.

Just crossed the line into Pennsylvania and they have a 277 percent mark-up. This heart attack is getting very expensive. But wait, we still have one more state to go.

In New Jersey, hospitals hike their prices higher than any other state in the country, 326 percent.

I wanted to understand why hospitals mark up their prices this way. So I've come here to ask the president of the American Hospital Association.

Nationally, mark-ups are 180 percent we're told. That just seems, to most consumers, that just seems like a huge mark-up.

RICHARD UMBDENSTOCK, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: You'll find mark-ups in every walk of life. And it depends upon the variables. The cost of providing that particular service and the factor of how much do you actually in fact then get paid.

COHEN: Other states right next to Maryland charge so much more than what they charge in Maryland.

UMBDENSTOCK: Everyone doesn't have the same type of payment system that Maryland has.

COHEN: So Professor Anderson, how does Maryland keep its mark-ups so low?

ANDERSON: Well, there is the state government and they establish the rates for each hospital in Maryland.

COHEN: So Maryland takes care of patients more inexpensively. So let's not forget about the patient here. Does that hurt our patient that Maryland's spending less money on him?

ANDERSON: No. In fact, the quality of care at Johns Hopkins, the quality of care in the hospitals in Maryland is all quite good.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: Whoa, whoa, Elizabeth. All right. So, tell me this. Hospitals, a state like New Jersey, I mean Maryland says charge this. Why aren't other states, like New Jersey, doing the same thing?

COHEN: Well, you know what, Maryland's been doing this for like 30 something years. And some other states have decided to -- at one point decided to do that. In the '70s and the '80s they said, oh, let's follow Maryland's lead and start telling hospitals what they can charge. And, you know what, it didn't last long. They said, ah, no, that was an experiment and we're not going to do it anymore. Now can you imagine why they stopped?

HARRIS: Why?

COHEN: Because the hospitals didn't like it.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

COHEN: The hospitals made less money that way and they protested and so they went right back to the system.

HARRIS: So states like New Jersey, do they always get what they want?

COHEN: They don't always get what they want. In other words, they may ask for a 326 percent mark-up. They don't always get that full mark- up. Insurance companies aren't always willing to fork that over. But certainly they fork over a whole lot more than they do in Maryland.

HARRIS: Yes. Elizabeth, what a story. That's eye opening. Thank you. Appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: Starting over at a brand new career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANT BISHOP, REGISTERED APPRENTICE MACHINIST: I had made a go at an entrepreneurship of a restaurant of my own at a time when the economy was beginning to slip. And, as it did, I knew I needed to make an exit from there as quickly as possible. And I needed to look at a field that would provide for my family, give me skills.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: From restaurant owner to machinist, it is a 180-degree turn. But some companies are paying to train smart people from scratch. Our special report is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, as the economy improves, some companies are paying workers to learn. An apprenticeship for the worker. It is a sweet deal. And it is helping companies in need of highly skilled workers get back on top again. It's another one of our stories on "Where the Jobs Are." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS (voice-over): Brant Bishop's workday starts at 11:00 at night. While most of us are getting ready for bed, he is running around on a factory floor serving an apprenticeship in a plant operated by Bosch Rexroth, an international manufacturer of industrial components and controls. BRANT BISHOP, REGISTERED APPRENTICE MACHINIST: Right now I'm going to tool an insert change coming up.

HARRIS: During the day, Brant attends classes at Greenville Tech in South Carolina pursuing a degree in machine tool technology. It is a 14-hour day, but he's got to do it to learn a new profession. Two years ago, this father of two and his wife were running their own restaurant. Then the recession hit, and they went from being entrepreneurs to unemployed.

BISHOP: We really just kind of had to close the doors to avoid getting in deeper than we wanted to in debt.

HARRIS: But don't feel too sorry for Brant Bishop. He'll soon graduate from his long days with new skills and a new job, all paid for, even the schooling, by his employer. It is part of a registered apprenticeship program dating back to the 1930s administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Apprenticeships are as ancient as medieval times. A baker passing on the craft to his young worker. A master shoemaker sharing the tricks of his trade. Knowledge passed on to the next generation.

Today the Department of Labor says apprentices work for more than 6,000 U.S. manufacturing companies. Earning a modest wage while being trained for higher paying jobs.

BISHOP: The kind of manufacturing you're looking at today is not your granddad's manufacturing. It's a lot more complex.

HARRIS: Brant's employer says investing in the apprenticeship program benefits the company as much as the worker.

BRYAN MCCORMICK, PLANT MANAGER, BOSCH REXROTH: In the end, all sides win. South Carolina wins because we're developing high-paying skilled jobs right here at home. We're paying the training costs. The associate obviously wins because, through this career and this training, they're now advancing to a higher pay. It can take months really to find the right personnel, so you're not agile enough if you don't have a program like this.

HARRIS: These apprenticeship jobs are highly competitive. To land one, a worker has to take tests, measuring aptitude for mathematics, machining, team work and communication skills. At this South Carolina plant, Rexroth is only a dozen apprentices out of a staff of 100s.

BISHOP: You know, you need to have a strong head for math. With the blueprint readings, with the adjustments that we have to make in tool offsets and different changes to programming. HARRIS: Charles Wilson is on the U.S. Labor secretary's advisory committee for apprentices. He started to apprenticeship program in Greenville Tech after watching South Carolina's signature industry, textiles, collapse, sending many manufacturing jobs overseas.

CHARLES WILSON, GREENVILLE TECH., DEPARTMENT HEAD: When I saw people who had worked in textiles all their life, losing their jobs, I couldn't sleep some nights. I said, what can one person do to help?

HARRIS: Brant says he realizes how lucky he is to have gotten one of a coveted apprenticeships, especially considering South Carolina's 12 percent unemployment rate, one of the highest in the country.

BISHOP: A tremendous amount of people out of work at the moment. And I know that the competition's high for pretty much any job in the field right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, it is not just manufacturing. Other fields use registered apprentices. If you're interested, just go to the Department of Labor's website. It's there at the bottom of your screen.

So you know the Senate bill designed to rein in financial institutions? Try to get a vote passed, get to 60 votes so that debate can begin on the legislature? Well, it stalled again. Republicans remain unified and denying the debate vote. They've got to get to 60. The vote this time was 56-42. And again, you need 60 votes to begin debate on the bill. So strike one, strike two, strike three.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, I've got to turn it over to this man, but I can't do it without telling you, you, Christine, the Money team, terrific yesterday