Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Lawsuit Filed Over Arizona Immigration Law; Gulf Coast Disaster; How Many Illegal Immigrants; Laura Bush's Revelations

Aired April 29, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. There's always two sides to a story.

HARRIS: Yep.

TAYLOR: While there is improvement in the quarter, the question is, why and will it become a trend? We'd like to see that. But the answer truly is maybe not. That's because the lower number of foreclosures may really be because of government sponsored programs. That's particularly a prevention program that facilitates these quote, unquote, short sales, which are actually cheaper for the banks, not necessarily great for the homeowner but cheaper for the banks. So the declines in the sun belt buck the national trend where actually foreclosures increased by 16 percent. So like I said, there's two sides to this coin. On the one hand, foreclosure is down but only in certain areas. But, yeah, that's the good news today.

HARRIS: Boy.

TAYLOR: It's all about earnings. Wall Street likes what it sees. We've had good earnings from Aetna, Motorola and Viacom and a drop in jobless claims. Dow right now up 1 1/4 percent. Same thing for the NASDAQ. Tony?

HARRIS: Felicia, appreciate it. Thank you.

Hi, everybody. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour for you here in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. Here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. ALISON HARRINGTON, SOUTHSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: We have come here to call this legislation what it is, sin, flat out sin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Looking to a higher authority. Religious leaders in Arizona enter the immigration battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just started to get back on our feet again. That's all we need is an oil spill to come in right now and devastate our grounds to kill our shrimp and fish and oysters. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yeah, keeping a worrying watch on that massive oil spill in the Gulf as it creeps closer to the coast. We look at the danger.

Let's do this. Let's get started. The battle over Arizona's strict immigration law heads to court. A Latino clergy group today will file the first lawsuit challenging the measure. The Associated Press reports the group will ask a Federal judge in Phoenix to issue an injunction preventing authorities from enforcing the law. They will argue that Federal law, follow me here, preempts state regulation of national borders and that Arizona's law violates due process rights by allowing pretrial detention of suspected illegal immigrants. One other point here, other Latino and several rights groups also plan lawsuits.

Some religious leaders in Tucson plan to outright defy the law, they call it a sin. They are coordinating a resistance plan. Craig Smith of affiliate KGUN takes us to the strategy session.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. ALISON HARRINGTON, SOUTHSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: It is immoral, unethical and unjust. And as faith leaders we are called to struggle against sin, to call our leaders into repentance and to call our communities into action.

CRAIG SMITH, KGUN CORRESPONDENT: Religious leaders gathered at Southside Presbyterian church to promise to resist the new immigration law. Part of the law forbids knowingly transporting an illegal immigrant. Here's what the pastor at (INAUDIBLE) Good Shepherd Church of Christ plans to do about that.

REV. RANDY MAYER, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: As we continue to encourage all people to come to church, to worship, yes, that means we will be giving people rides to worship, like we always have been.

SMITH: Some Tucson area churches, Southside Presbyterian in particular, have a history of activism. In the 1980s now retired Pastor John Fife was convicted of violating Federal immigration law for harboring refugees from the civil war in El Salvador. He served five years on probation. Now churches and temples will ask law enforcement not to come on their grounds, looking for immigrants.

Could you end up housing people on parish grounds indefinitely and effectively daring law enforcement to come get them?

REV. JOHN FIFE, RETIRED PASTOR: We'll see. What you see today is the beginning of faith leaders in this community carefully considering what they must do in order to resist.

SMITH: And some of these leaders say they are willing to risk their own arrest to fight a law they find unjust. Craig Smith, KGUN 9 on your side.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: I tell you the fight over Arizona's immigration law spreads to America's past time. Demonstrators plan to protest Arizona's baseball team, the Diamondbacks. Start a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs just a couple of hours from right now. Protesters say they will be on hand at Wrigley Field. Organizers set up a Facebook page to publicize the protest and to urge people to bring signs and banners. Wow. This could really get interesting. By early today the Facebook group had more than 800 members. You have some strong opinions about the Arizona immigration law and we are hearing them through your I-reports. Gavino Ramos Jr. (ph) says, most of the illegals that come to the USA just want a better life for their family. Those who break the laws who are already here should be punished just like a citizen of the USA. It just amazes me at my young age of 25 that we are still able to turn our backs on our brothers and sisters who simply want a better life. Being that I'm Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, I personally like to use American citizen.

So just how many people are in the United States illegally? The U.S. government says there's been a dramatic change in the number recently. Josh Levs has been crunching the numbers and he will have that for us in about 20 minutes.

Now, to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, growing by the hour and moving closer to shore. It is far worse than anyone thought, about 5,000 barrels of oil a day are spewing from an underground well. British Petroleum is the company that owns the drilling site. Its chief executive officer talked with CNN's Brian Todd about clean-up efforts and also last week's explosion on the drilling platform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HAYWARD, CEO BP GROUP: Responsibility for safety on the drilling rig is with Transocean. It is their rig, their equipment, their people, their systems, their safety processes.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And BP bears none of this responsibility?

HAYWARD: BP -- we will deal with these issues in the fullness of time. Today we're focusing on the response. But as I've said, the system's processes on a drilling rig are the accountability of the drilling rig company.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Contacted by CNN, a spokesman for Transocean said the company would not respond to those comments from the head of BP. I want to get to Chad Myers here. I see you've got a map in front of you there. Chad, what are you thinking here? When could this slick begin to make landfall along the coast there of the Gulf states?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the wind is really bad in this direction. Coming from the southeast, blowing the wind really, the oil, directly onshore. There's no question that the wind coming from here through the oil spill will bring it right on into the delta region. And that's when Rob Marciano and the specialists from the aquarium last hour made such a big impact on how this is going to affect especially waterfowl and then it will eventually move into the plankton and then the food chain. As you begin to lose the original part of the food chain, which would be the plankton, then all of a sudden you are going to lose other -- I don't want to say species but you will lose other animals, other fish as they start to eat those plankton that are dead and obviously contaminated with oil.

Here we go on Saturday, just coming onshore. I believe on Sunday this weather will probably push it all of the way to these outer barrier islands. And then -- and then by Monday we're probably talking all of the way up even into possibly west of Mobile, all of the way into the Lake Ponchartrain area because the wind direction doesn't change for the next 72 hours. And that push, that push of the weather right on into this is very concentrated eco system, fragile eco system is going to be very tough for the environment there.

HARRIS: I think we're going to get some more on what's happening right now. I want to take you to the White House briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is going to be joined by the secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Let's listen.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Also to answer some questions if need be. Let me start with a few words of the president's involvement. The president has been actively following the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, receiving multiple updates and consulting on the response since the incident occurred. The president started his daily intelligence briefing in the oval office this morning with an update. And last night on board Air Force One on the way back to Washington, the president was briefed on the new information regarding the additional breach.

The president urged that out of abundance of caution and mindful of the new information that we must position resources to continue to aggressively confront this incident. Following that, Rear Admiral Landry announced that while BP is ultimately responsible, the administration will continue to be aggressive in our response and we will use all available resources, possibly including those at the Department of Defense, to see if there are technologies that might be used that surpass the capabilities of the commercial and private sector.

Again, in accordance with the 1990 oil pollution act, passed after the Exxon Valdez, BP -- as the responsible party, is required to fund the cost of the response and clean-up operations and they are doing so. The president has also asked that Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano, Interior Secretary Salazar and EPA Administrator Jackson go to the Gulf coast to ensure that BP and the entire government is doing everything possible to respond to this incident.

In addition, the president has directed responding agencies to devote every resource to not only respond to this incident but to determine its cause. Earlier this week Secretary Napolitano and Secretary Salazar laid out the next steps for that investigation. We have a lot of folks up here. We've got a couple of slides that we will put up. This is the satellite picture as of 6:00 a.m. this morning. You see where the BP depot on the horizon was and the area that we're monitoring. So with that, let me turn this over to Secretary Napolitano.

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Well, thank you. I'd like today to update you with the latest information about the BP oil spill, the steps BP is taking to minimize the environmental and other risks of this incident. Last night BP alerted us to additional oil leaking from their deep underwater well. They are working with our support to estimate the size of this breach. As has just been mentioned, the president has urged out of an abundance of caution and mindful of new and evolving information that we must position resources to continue to confront this spill. That being said, we have been anticipating and planning and today I will be designating that this is a spill of national significance.

What that means is that we can now draw down assets from across the country, other coastal areas by way of example, that we will have a centralized communications because the spill is now crossing different regions. In addition to the command center that we have operational in Robert, Louisiana, we are opening a second command center in Mobile, Alabama, for the BP spill. As was mentioned as well, as part of our oversight of the response, I will be going to the Gulf coast tomorrow, along with Secretary Salazar, EPA administrator Jackson, to inspect ongoing operations. We remain focused on continued oversight. We'll be taking a very close look at efforts under way, particularly to minimize the environmental risks in the area effected by the leaking oil.

We'll be meeting with other Federal, state and local officials deployed to the area and helping in the response effort. And we will be meeting again with BP officials to discuss clean-up planning and operations. As the president and the law have made clear, BP is the responsible party as required to fund the cost of the response and clean-up operations. But our visit to Louisiana and the effected areas tomorrow will also help inform our investigation into the causes of this explosion which left 11 workers missing, three critically injured, in addition to the ongoing oil spill.

Meanwhile, a coordinated group of Federal partners including the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, Interior and the EPA continues to work and oversee BP's deployment of a combination of tactics, above water, below water, dozens of miles offshore, as well as closer to coastal areas. As you know, yesterday BP began a controlled burn designed to remove large quantities of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and marine and other wildlife. The trapped oil was consumed in about 28 minutes. BP continues to use chemical disbursants (ph) which, along with natural dispersions of oil, will address a large portion of the slick, nearly 100,000 gallons of dispersion has been used to date.

Among other response activities, are on water skimming, subsurface well head operations, continued efforts to see if they can get that shut off valve to close and significant booming efforts under way to protect vital shoreline. Right now, at least 174,000 feet of boom have been deployed and other boom will be deployed at six staging areas and they are ready to be deployed right now.

In addition, approximately 1100 total personnel are currently working the spill and 685,000 gallons of oily water have been collected so far using nearly 50 vessels and multiple aircraft who are engaged in the response. We will continue to push BP to engage in the strongest response possible. We will continue to oversee their efforts, to add to those efforts where we deem necessary and to ensure again, that under the law, that the taxpayers of the United States ultimately are reimbursed for those efforts.

But that is not the key focus, I must say, right now. Our key focus is making sure that people know what is going on and they understand what relief efforts are under way, what the extent of the response is, what we know, what we don't know about this incident and how we intend to move forward. And with that, let me introduce Rear Admiral O'Hare.

REAR ADMIRAL SALLY BRICE O'HARE, U.S. COAST GUARD: Thank you, secretary. Good afternoon. I was asked to give you an update on the activities today but I think the secretary has covered that very well. Let me help put into perspective some of the interactions that occurred. The Coast Guard is the Federal on scene coordinator so we have the leadership role for spills that occur in the coastal zone for this spill in particular. We have been very aggressive and proactive in our response, but we have not been alone. We work with Federal partners. There are 16 Federal agencies who form the national response team. We also work very closely with state and local authorities and with non-governmental organizations. As we move forward with the response, there are roles that volunteers can take and the NGOs are critical in helping us properly channel that drive and energy.

And finally, the responsible party, British Petroleum, BP has taken a number of steps, as have been mentioned. The controlled burns, the skimming, the booming, the activities to try and secure at the sub- floor surface. We are working very closely with them, but as responsible parties, the role of the Coast Guard and the unified command partners to ensure that they move forward with activities that are safe, that are appropriate and that will do the job to secure and remove this oil.

Our focus in particular today is looking very carefully at the preventive booming that's occurring, using the best science that's available to us, working in conjunction with NOAA's scientific support experts as well as EPA, to ensure that the responsible party is taking advantage of all the preplanning that has been done to protect fragile areas. Because at this point the trajectory has the spill, the leading edge of the oil, reaching landfall in the Mississippi delta region sometime later tomorrow. We are working very carefully at sea as well so that we continue the skimming operations. The controlled burn yesterday was very successful. The sea and wind conditions today do not allow us to continue to have a controlled burn today. As soon as there is an appropriate window, we will continue the controlled burn activity because it was very effective yesterday. And with that, I'll take a break and answer questions one time.

DAVID HAYES, DEP. INTERIOR SECRETARY: Thank you. I am David Hayes, the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior. I'm here today for Secretary Ken Salazar who is in Houston at the BP command center reviewing the operations, asking the tough questions. He's getting an update on the company's progress in closing the leaks from their well and to ensure that they clean up the spill as quickly as possible.

HARRIS: A lot of news there. The oil spill expected to make landfall, I believe that's along the Louisiana coast, tomorrow, late tomorrow afternoon, early evening. The president really mobilizing departments of the government now to gather resources to aid the effort of getting a handle on the Gulf coast oil spill. What is clear is that the president is ramping up pressure on BP to really get control of this spill, pushing BP to make the strongest effort possible to control it. The key focus is making sure people know what is actually going on, the real risk of this spill. Interior Secretary Salazar is in the area now, in Houston, I believe I heard just a moment ago. Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson heading to the region. I believe that's tomorrow. One of the big questions left unanswered at this point is just how will this oil spill impact the fish you eat and the people who catch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a disaster. It's a crying shame what is happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We're going to take you to Louisiana where shrimpers are bracing for the worse from this disaster in the Gulf. We're back in a moment here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I don't know if this next item is breaking, developing but it is hot news. Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash with some really big news on immigration? Really, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at 5:45 CNN has learned will join other top Senate Democrats to formally unveil the outlines of a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform. Tony, obviously given what's going on in Arizona and given the very, very hot political topic right now of immigration, this is critically important, especially since we've heard from the folks in Arizona that they are doing this because of a lack of movement on a Federal level.

Now, the question is, what are they going to do? First of all, we have a draft of the proposal. It's 26 pages. It is not in legislative language. It is simply an outline. And what these Democrats are proposing is a series of border security measures first. This is an attempt to woo Republicans. Border security measures first as benchmarks before they go ahead with what had been pushed by Democrats for years and years in the past and that is giving legal status to the nearly 11 million illegal immigrants in this country. So what is going to happen is the Senate Democrats are going to have this press coverage later today and they're going to say that they are working to get Republican support on board. We are told by Democratic sources that Democrats have had meetings with some potential Republicans. So far, none are on board. But I actually asked Chuck Schumer, who's one of the leading Democrats on this about this push earlier today. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: Bottom line is that the system is broken. Thousands and thousands of illegals come across the border. We reject people who should legally be here because they're needed and we need to fix this system. And I am meeting, I'm meeting with Republicans right now to try and still come up with a bipartisan bill that can pass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Let me give you a little bit more information that we've gotten from our sources about how this came to pass. Tony, last night we were told that about six Democratic senators, including Schumer, Harry Reid and other leaders, met with the advocates, outside groups, the key and influential advocates for immigration reform. What they concluded at that meeting is that the Democrats would unveil this proposal today and that these outside groups would try to help get Republicans on board. So that leaves the question, well, what happens if Republicans aren't onboard? Because right now the political atmosphere does not look good at all for that.

Harry Reid it is probably no secret to most of our viewers at this point, that he is in a very tough re-election battle in Nevada where about a quarter of the population is Hispanic and he made a promise. He's going to push for this. It is going to be a very interesting thing to watch politically as to whether he does go ahead and push for this or whether some of these outside groups we are told are going to be reluctant if they can't get Republicans on board to push for what one advocate has said could be a political suicide mission for this issue.

HARRIS: This is so interesting. So you mentioned politically, politically what you have here then, Dana, you have Democrats putting down an early marker on immigration reform, attempting to define and frame the argument moving forward and let's face it, the only way Dems are likely to get any Republican support is if they start with the question of border security. Correct?

BASH: Exactly. It is very, very transparent attempt to get Republicans on board.

HARRIS: Yeah.

BASH: Look, we have talked to several of the Republicans senators. We're talking about Lisa Murkowsky of Alaska, her office, Richard Luger of Indiana and others who have been called not just by the president and he actually called them last night, but also by some of these Democratic leaders and these outside groups and so far no one has bitten, so to speak. One of the things that we are told is that these outside groups said in this private meeting with Senate Democrats last night, what the Republicans are saying we have nothing concrete. Show me something concrete and maybe I'll sign on to it. That's why we're going to have this press conference.

One quick thing, though, we are talking about Republicans opposed to this. I wand to play for you a sound bite that just happened. It's the House minority leader, the House, not the Senate, but still, gives you an indication of how opposed Republicans are to this concept. Listen to John Boehner.

HARRIS: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R) MINORITY LEADER: We ought to have an immigration reform plan move through Congress. But you can't do immigration reform in the middle of a boiling political pot here in Washington, DC and secondly, you can't do it without serious bipartisan conversations and bipartisan discussions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, that is generally what we are hearing from most Republicans, Tony, including, and we should mention this important person in this issue, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina because, remember, he made big news over the weekend when he made -- because he was a Republican who was talking to Democrats about immigration reform. But he said, no way. I can't do this. I can't push forward on this. And he was upset about another issue but he can't push forward on this for the reasons that John Boehner just articulated. It's too much, too fast and too hot of a political environment. That's why the reality is that not a lot of Democrats, they privately admit they don't think they're going to get Republicans on board and they're going to show the groups out there, show the key constituencies at least they're trying.

HARRIS: And it puts Republicans in a position of having to respond to whatever the framing of the Democrats. This is -- this is really compelling stuff. Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us, Dana appreciate it as always, thank you. A quick break and we're back in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill oozes closer to shore, there's growing fear of an environmental disaster. People are worried an entire ecosystem could be devastated, not to mention the fishing industry. Here's Evan Anderson of our affiliate WVUE.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Off a fishing bayou in Wycloski (ph), two brothers, Ricky and Charlie Robin, prepare for an unpredictable shrimping season. A season that has turned into one unlike any other. CHARLIE ROBIN, SHRIMPER: We just started to get back on our feet again. That's all we need, is an oil spill to come in right now and devastate our grounds to kill our shrimp and fish and oysters.

ANDERSON: The Robin brothers say they are preparing for complete devastation.

C. ROBIN: We're in big trouble. This east (ph) side of this river's (ph) in big trouble.

RICKY ROBIN, SHRIMPER: It's all going to get caked with oil. It's a disaster. It's a crying shame what's happening.

ANDERSON: The thoughts of a major oil spill washing up on the Gulf Coast has these seventh generation shrimpers worried. Ricky and Charlie say they were looking forward to a good season.

R. ROBIN: We've got the biggest crop of shrimp I've seen in my life getting ready to be hatched.

C. ROBIN: Plus, right now, your big trout are in right now laying their eggs.

ANDERSON: But the brothers may never be able to catch their harvest.

C. ROBIN: Bad timing. Bad timing for this situation.

ANDERSON (on camera): Right now, the wind is coming from the west, which is keeping the oil offshore longer. But these shrimpers say they're concerned because in the next few days, the wind's direction is expected to turn.

GEORGE BARISICH, UNITED COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN'S ASSOCIATION: Now it's going to start switching out to the northeast. So the winds are going to -- the tide's going to start coming up. Then it's going to start switching out to the southeast, and the tide's going to come up faster and it's going to push it. So it's going to push this whole spill on to our environment.

ANDERSON (voice-over): And the oil well, 5,000 feet under water, is still pumping into the Gulf.

BARISICH: The potential is just -- is devastating.

ANDERSON: At this point, the shrimping industry is at its knees as they wait to see exactly what's going to happen in the coming days.

BARISICH: It's another beating that you -- that I can't take. I can't take one more bad year. You know, we're some tough people, don't get me wrong. I said, but -- I (ph) said, it's only one straw that breaks the camel's back, you know? The one oil is liable to break our backs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: My goodness. Did someone poison former President George W. Bush during one of his international trips as president? We will check out a startling new revelation from former First Lady Laura Bush.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama says Congress may not have the appetite to tackle immigration reform right now. But the president says the nation does need a comprehensive policy on immigration rather than shortcuts that can polarize the country. He spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand people's frustrations about the border. You know, if you've got hundreds of thousands of people coming in, not playing by the rules, that's a problem. And the federal government has been advocating on its responsibilities for a very long time on this issue. That's why I've called for a comprehensive immigration reform and I want that to proceed. But I want it to be done on a bipartisan basis.

What I think is a mistake is when we start having local law enforcement officials empowered to stop people on the suspicion that they may be undocumented workers, because that carries a great amount of risk that core values that we all care about are breached.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, I hope you were able to make that out. I didn't know the audio was quite that sketchy on that. My apologies for that.

We know it's a big problem facing the country. But just how big is it? How many illegal immigrants are there in the country? Well, the government is offering an answer and saying there's been a bit of a change here. Josh Levs is here with that story.

Josh, what is the number?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you'll be able to hear me pretty clearly. No, it's all good though. I mean if you talk about hundreds of thousands of people continuing to coming across. And we hear these numbers thrown out there pretty often. And you all know that, folks. So one thing we are looking at is what is this real number? It's so hard to be sure.

Well, the Department of Homeland Security thinks it actually has a pretty good idea of how many illegal immigrants there are in America. And there it is for you. Look at that, 10.8 million they're saying illegally in the United States.

Now, this is an estimate. It's a report that came out this year that has the figures as of the beginning of last year. And check out this, Tony. We made a little video here. The number actually went up throughout the last decade and now it's dropping. The government's latest estimate says it's falling a little. It was at 11.6 million in 2008 and then down to 10.8 million. So down about a million that year.

HARRIS: OK.

LEVS: And while there are several possible reasons, Tony, why it might have dropped that way, officials note that the drop came at the same time as the economic downturn here in the United States. Could clearly be one factor.

HARRIS: How is the government coming up with these figures, Josh?

LEVS: Yes, I've been piecing through this report. And what they really do -- it highlights how complicated this is. In order to try to come up with this, what they had to do is cull a bunch of statistics from a bunch of different studies and records and places by using some immigration facts, some census figures, and trying to put everything together and doing their best possible guesstimate based on all of that. So, again, it's a rough estimate.

HARRIS: Do we have any idea of where most of the immigrants are coming from?

LEVS: We do. Yes, you know, I think a lot of people have the sense that it's like 90 percent from Mexico.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

LEVS: Not quite. Look at this. Sixty-two percent came from Mexico. And then you have in there 4 percent Guatemala and El Salvador in t here. And then 28 percent is other countries. There are a bunch of other countries, 2 percent here and there. So you have about 60 percent from Mexico.

And what's also interesting as we think about this coming across the border, is that the majority, about two-thirds, of the illegal immigrants in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Tony, have been here since before 10 years ago.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: They've been here at least 10 years. So, yes, there is still this huge problem of people coming across. But, you know, they are saying -- and other studies say the same thing, the vast majority of people illegally in this country are believed to have been here for at least 10 years. A reminder of how huge this problem is and how long it's been going on.

HARRIS: Yes, I've got to tell you though, but at 62 percent, if you get a handle on the illegal immigration from Mexico, you're way ahead of the curve on the problem it looks like.

Josh, appreciate it, sir. Thank you.

LEVS: You got it. Thanks.

HARRIS: You know, we've got some video you'll want to see. It's what happens when cats, and we're talking about little tabby cats here, go bad. Really bad. And we'll show it to you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Boy, got to tell you, a startling surprise in former First Lady Laura Bush's forthcoming book. She is suggesting she and her husband and several aides were poisoned during a trip to the G-8 summit in Germany three years ago. You might recall, the former president, George W. Bush, got sick on that trip. Our Ed Henry was there with the president and his entourage. I think we're referring to the president's entourage, not Ed's.

Ed, good to see you, sir. You were, as I recall --

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I had an entourage as well.

HARRIS: Yes. You were the only TV reporter, as I recall, in the pool of reporters with President Bush.

HENRY: Yes, a small group.

HARRIS: Yes, and you got the first word that he was sick. What did you think?

HENRY: There was just a handful of us. And I have to tell you that we're always prepared in this job, whoever we're covering at the White House, that at any moment, God forbid, the president of the United States could die.

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

HENRY: And you're standing there and covering this. And this was -- that was the only day in 2007 where my heart literally skipped a beat because, set the scene. It was early in the morning in Germany and we were going to be led into a brief meet that President Bush was having with the new french president, Nicolas Sarkozy. And before the meeting, the Bush administration was really playing this up because Sarkozy was very popular with conservatives. They wanted to kind of show there was a new day in U.S.-French relations. So we were all waiting for them to emerge together for a big photo-op, hugging each other, arms around each other, et cetera.

Instead, President Sarkozy came out alone. So myself and a couple of other reporters said, what in the world is going on. And then President Sarkozy started talking in French. And I will admit, I don't know French. So I was looking at some of my colleagues. And a colleague who knew French, their eyes started bulging because President Sarkozy basically said, your president is indisposed right now. They're checking on his condition, et cetera, et cetera. And then he moved on and said, but I will be visiting New York later in the year and the rest of the meeting went well. And he kind of turned and left. And left all of us reporters saying, indisposed? What is going on?

HARRIS: Yes. HENRY: And so we started looking for Bush officials to get some answer. And I had to report all this back, since I was in the pool, to the other four networks from the U.S. to say, look, something is going on but I don't know what. And so finally someone from the Bush White House said, we're going to take you in to see the president, but you can't bring cameras. You can only bring, you know, notebooks. And I said, what in the world -- why wouldn't they let us photograph him?

HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.

HENRY: What is going on? And I literally thought, was he dying? Was he mortally ill? What was is going on?

HARRIS: Yes.

HENRY: And the bottom line is, we were brought over to Dan Bartlett and Dana Perino, some of his top aides, and they said, look, he's OK but he's sick. Something weird happened. We think he's got a bug.

But I always thought later that, number one, something else was going on. It was always very odd and peculiar, I should say. And, number two, this was, say, 8:00, 9:00 in the morning in Germany. So it was about, you know, say 3:00 in the morning back here in the United States. And I always thought, if this had happened later in the day in Germany and the U.S. markets were open, Wall Street would have just plunged.

HARRIS: Wow.

HENRY: Because our initial reports were, you know, look, President Bush is indisposed. We don't have more information right now.

HARRIS: Yes.

HENRY: And I think the Bush White House, in their initial response, fumbled a little bit because they shouldn't have just had President Sarkozy come out, maybe he did that on his own, and given us sort of half the story.

HARRIS: Yes.

HENRY: But now, looking back, maybe it's because the Bush people didn't have the whole story either and they were trying to figure out what was really going on.

HARRIS: Now, I think we have a clip here of the president actually caught on camera, on mic, talking about how he didn't feel so well. We've got it? All right, let's have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Get (ph) some fresh air. I got very sick this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: So, Ed, how did they -- we're seeing it here, but you were in the room with him. How did the president look when you saw him?

HENRY: Yes. Well, and so we went on and we were actually not let in to see him in Germany at that moment.

HARRIS: Oh, OK.

HENRY: Then he went on to do some other meetings. And so there was still this news vacuum of, we need to see him. And we finally saw him, I think, at meeting in Germany with a larger group. But he didn't look great.

And then we went on with Air Force One on to Poland, a small group of us, because he was making a quick stop in Poland. And I remember we were on the deck of the Polish president, of his Camp David, his sort of vacation area, and President Bush came out with the first lady. I remember the first lady was sort of holding him a bit and he looked just sort of white as a sheet. He was not himself. He did not have the color, the vibrance that you would normally see in President Bush. And he said, either in that statement or another one, I'm feeling better but I was sick this morning. And so, you know, thankfully he got better pretty quickly. He went on with the rest of the trip.

But there was always this something, what else was going on there?

HARRIS: Right.

HENRY: I should say that Fran Townsend, one of our contributors, who was a top Bush aide, was on with Wolf Blitzer last night saying that while they investigated the possibility that the president was poisoned, the president, first lady and others, the Secret Service and the U.S. government in general sort of determined they didn't think that was the case. They were just sort of out of an abundance of caution because it seemed unlikely, of course, that the Germans, our ally, would have poisoned him, but could someone else, trying to do something bad to the U.S. president, could they have done something to his food or something? We don't quite know. And I think the first lady is raising that issue.

I should note that the U.S. military, even when the president is overseas, it takes care of the food. It's not handled by some restaurant or something. So they have custody of that. So it's sort of one of these mysteries.

HARRIS: Wow. What -- how bizarre. Ed, and you were there, for all of it.

HENRY: Yes.

HARRIS: Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry for us. Ed, appreciate the time. Thank you, sir.

HENRY: Thank you.

HARRIS: Saying good-bye to the godmother of the civil rights movement. We will look at the life and amazing legacy of Dr. Dorothy Height.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama, today, praised civil rights pioneer Dorothy Height for what he called her record of righteous work. The president joined hundreds who packed Washington National Cathedral for Height's funeral. She died last week at the age of 98. The president talked about Height's signature style and her influence on his political career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We did come to know her in the early days of my campaign. And we came to love her as so many loved her. We came to love her stories and we loved her smile and we loved those hats which she wore like a crown, regal. In the White House, she was a regular. She came by not once, not twice. Twenty- one times she stopped by the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And, yesterday, people lined up for blocks to attend Height's viewing. Women in the crowd wore their best hats to pay tribute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEHON MILLER, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: She did a lot for the women. That will go down in history that we shall never forget Dorothy Height.

DELORES LEVALLE, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: I have always admired her as a lady, her charisma. She did a lot for black American women.

MARION REDD, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: She taught us that no matter what, things will get better. And you just don't stop. You have to have the faith to keep on moving.

JANICE PARKER WATSON, WASHINGTON RESIDENT: She was also very effective at getting work done. Most of it behind the scenes without a lot of public recognition.

MILLER: Always beautiful and smiling. And a woman of hats.

VANILLA BEAN, HATMAKER: Dr. Height was one of my favorite customers. She never went out without a hat. She would come in and, you know, she would look at the different hats and she would spot one and take it. It's very, very sad to think that I won't have her to make a hat for. I made it for Dr. Height's going home service. And it's an expression of my love for her.

LEVALLE: Dr. Height would like to see us in our hat for -- as a final tribute.

REDD: I wore my hat because I wanted to say, hat's off to you, Dr. Height, and thank you very much for everything that you've meant to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. This is a little crazy. A house cat flips out in Idaho. It is our random moment of the day. Take a look at this. Jackie Ostermiller says her cat panicked in the middle of the night and went to town on her. The cat had just delivered a litter of kittens a few days before. And Ostermiller thinks the cat was protecting them. She says she was left with 35 bite marks and 15 bruises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE OSTERMILLER, MAULED BY CAT: I was being mauled, literally for the kill. She had got a hold of either my nose first, my face first, my arms first. I was literally screaming, Blaine, get her off. Get her off. She's attacking me. Get he off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mauled by the tabby cat. Ostermiller says she and her husband gave the cat to a shelter, quickly. Good-bye for you.

You know, it is rough for kids with parents deployed oversea, especially at bedtime, but the military has a program that allows parents to record bedtime stories for their children, which are then delivered via video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it's helping me out a lot, especially knowing the response that's coming from it. Just mentally calming me down and enabling me to stay focused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And, tomorrow, CNN's Sandra Endo tells us more about how military families are staying connected.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, a spill of national significance. That's what the White House is staying about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Just minutes ago, President Obama finished speaking with the governors of five gulf states impacted by the spill. The administration promised an all out response. Three cabinet members will head to the region to oversee the clean-up in the Gulf. We are following all the developments and so is CNN's Ali Velshi. And he takes over from here. You rock.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I wonder what those cabinet members are going to do to help up that spill. Looks like a lot of oil that has to be mopped up.

All right, have a great afternoon.

We're going to continue on that story. I'm Ali Velshi. I'll be with you for the next two hours today and every