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Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico; Arizona Rancher Killer; Spain's Unemployment Rate Hits 20 Percent
Aired April 30, 2010 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Here are some of the big stories in the CNN NEWSROOM for Friday, April 30th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people work along the coast and some people just consume what comes off of it. But either way, you know, it's part of who we are.
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HARRIS: An economic and environmental catastrophe looming off the Gulf Coast. That massive oil spill moves closer to land, and the impact could reach all the way to your dinner table.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is Rob Krentz' murder proof that more enforcement is needed?
BILL MCDONALD, RANCHER: Well, God, I'd hate to think we needed that kind of proof, but, yes, I suppose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, an Arizona rancher shot and killed. Some say it is a tragic example of the need for tougher immigration law.
Randi Kaye on the battle over securing the border.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Crisis mode in the Gulf. A giant oil spill oozes ever closer to Louisiana's fragile coast. It is all hands on deck to combat this invasion.
Here's what we know.
Military assets are being put on standby for possible deployment. And the Coast Guard is conducting fly-overs to assess the slick. Louisiana's governor has declared a state of emergency. Three administration officials are traveling to Louisiana today to inspect efforts to contain the 120-mile oil slick.
Officials tell us the first likely areas to see any oil along the shore are Venice and Port Fourchon, Louisiana.
Our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is on the coast in Venice.
And a couple of questions for you here, Reynolds, to get us going here.
What are you hearing as to when this slick might make landfall? And then I've got a follow-up for you.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's a great question. That's one that everyone wants answered.
You know, earlier this morning, around 3:30 or so, Tony, there were some preliminary reports saying that it already made contact with land. All unconfirmed.
And then, around 7:00 this morning Eastern Time, the Coast Guard had an aerial reconnaissance over much of the coastline looking to see if, indeed, it had made contact with the coast. And we haven't heard anything back from that. But I will tell you that, with this oil slick, which continues to grow -- again, it's bringing out around 5,000 barrels per day -- it is inevitable that some of this is going to make its way to the coastline.
HARRIS: OK. And Reynolds, if you would, tell us about your experience yesterday. You actually went out in search of the spill.
WOLF: That is correct. We actually left this particular area in Venice, Louisiana.
We were on a boat just 65 feet long. I went out there. We had two crew members on the boat and two CNN crew members, Steve Zurich (ph), our photojournalist, and our producer, John Murgatoid (ph).
Made our way right through parts of the Mississippi Delta, then we went right through the main pass from the Delta into the Gulf of Mexico. After that, we went from some fairly choppy water, and then when we moved into the open waters of the Gulf, just a mile or so off the coast, things went crazy -- strong, heavy waves, they were coming in. The wind really began to pile in.
I can tell you that some of the waves got up to around, I believe, eight feet or so. And we had some that were so strong, we actually had to stop shooting at that point, just kind of hold on.
Some of these waves, Tony, were so strong, it actually caused the light -- there was actually an instrument-like cluster that was right in the pilot house, jarred loose, fell to the floor of the cabin. It was crazy. It was something that scared us.
Obviously, it was a great concern to the captain. We had to turn around. We had to come back. No going forward.
It was actually so bad, there were other experienced sailors out that were talking about some of the oyster boats that normally go out in all kinds of conditions. Many of them stayed in harbor all day. HARRIS: And it is this combination of the wind speeds and the chop out there that makes it so difficult to predict landfall for the slick. Is that correct?
WOLF: Oh, you're absolutely right.
HARRIS: OK.
WOLF: I mean, you really nailed it. You really nailed it.
See, that's one of the things that's most important about the story that we had yesterday, being stopped out there, is you have to remember that those strong waves and that wind that's pushing everything to the coast, that is a transferring mechanism. It is taking it from the source of where it's coming up, 5,000 feet down, to the surface, then those winds are carrying it right across the top. And that's what's driving everything towards the coast of Louisiana, back into Mississippi, Alabama, and, of course, into Florida.
A huge mess in the weather right now.
HARRIS: We will wait and see.
WOLF: And also, with weather like this, Tony, absolutely. And with the weather like this, we can't have any of those controlled burns either. You have to have pristine conditions. These are anything but pristine. It probably won't improve for that kind of scenario until we get into next week, possibly.
HARRIS: Reynolds, appreciate it. Boy, good stuff. Thank you, sir.
You know, it has been 10 days since the oil rig exploded. No cause yet. It burned for 36 hours before sinking about 41 miles off the Louisiana coast.
Eleven workers are still missing and presumed dead. Four others critically injured. And the family of one victim is suing Transocean Ltd., which operated the oil rig, and British Petroleum, which owns the well.
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HARRIS: You know, emotions run high over Arizona's tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration, but some who live near the Mexican border say it has come too late.
CNN's Randi Kaye investigates the killing last month of an Arizona rancher allegedly by illegal immigrants.
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KAYE (voice-over): These days, Arizona rancher Bill McDonald keeps one eye on his cattle, the other over his shoulder. He isn't taking any chances after his friend and fellow rancher, Rob Krentz, was killed just a few miles away. Shot dead, the sheriff says, by illegal immigrants, drug smugglers.
(on camera): Do you feel safe out here today?
MCDONALD: Relatively safe. Not as safe as I used to feel.
KAYE: You don't carry a weapon.
MCDONALD: Well, I -- that's my personal philosophy. When I'm out here I don't want to look threatening to somebody who might have a weapon and probably has me outgunned. KAYE: Krentz, who was 58, was killed just last month, March 27th, while working on his ranch. He had radioed his brother, the sheriff says, but the only words his brother could make out were "illegal immigrant" and "hurt".
When his brother radioed him back, there was no response. And Krentz didn't show up to meet his brother later on as planned. A ranger's helicopter spotted Krentz's body around midnight.
(voice-over): His body was found alongside his vehicle, his guns untouched inside it. Next to him, his dog, also shot. It's a tragic ending to something that, according to Krentz, had been building and building.
The Krentz ranch is next to the Mexican border, and he had been worried about the increasing illegal foot traffic and criminal activity on his ranch for years.
Krentz in 2005.
ROB KRENTZ, VICTIM: It's being overrun, and it's costing us lots and lots of money.
KAYE: Yet, despite his frustration, he would often give food and water to those illegally on his land. His wife, Sue, says all they wanted was to live in peace.
SUE KRENTZ, WIDOW OF MURDERED RANCHER: I have been seriously, seriously violated.
KAYE: In November 2007, fed up, Sue Krentz sent this letter to Congress. "We are the victims," she wrote. "We are in fear for our lives."
Despite all the backlash over the new immigration law in Arizona, Krentz's family and friends say his death is exactly why tougher immigration laws are needed.
(on camera): Is Rob Krentz's murder proof that more enforcement is needed?
MCDONALD: God, I hate to think we needed that kind of proof. But yes, I suppose that it -- you know, I mean, we said something was going to happen. It happened.
KAYE: There were fresh footprint at the scene, the sheriff says, and deputies followed them for more than 20 miles all the way here to the border but were unable to catch the suspects.
The sheriff says, though, that they did gather DNA, including fingerprints at the scene, but they're still trying to figure out who they belong to.
(voice-over): The sheriff says those crossing the border are more brazen than ever about robbing ranchers. One ranch was hit 18 times in the last three years -- 18 times.
(on camera): Have you seen illegal immigrants, drug smugglers walking right through your land?
MCDONALD: Oh, sure. There are people with the drugs and then there's people carrying food, water and that sort of thing.
KAYE (voice-over): In a statement after Krentz was killed, his family blamed the federal government for ignoring their pleas. "We have paid the ultimate price for their negligence, in credibly securing our border lands."
(on camera): Do you blame anyone for your friend's death?
MCDONALD: I don't know who to blame. I mean, we're trying to figure out right now, how do you get the border patrol actually deployed on the border and not 30 and 40 miles north of the borders playing cops and robbers in these mountains.
KAYE (voice-over): Rob Krentz may have been thought of as a quiet man, but in death, he's a booming voice for those ranchers wanting to be heard.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Douglas, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: May 1st has long been a day for immigration protests. Clarissa Martinez leads immigration and national campaigns for the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group in the United States. She joins us later this hour to talk about tomorrow's rallies across the country.
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HARRIS: You know, one of the troubled spots in the U.S. economy is the unemployment rate, and that is also the case in Spain. The jobless rate there has reached 20 percent. We're at 9.7. Twenty percent in Spain, 4.6 million people out of work.
The story now from CNN's Al Goodman.
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AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The weather is warm after a long winter, but waiting at the unemployment office in this working class Madrid neighborhood is not getting easier. ANA MARIA PADILLA, UNEMPLOYED RESTAURANT COOK (through translator): I've been out of work since last May. You go to look for a job, but since you're older than 45, they won't take you.
GOODMAN: She's got two kids and a mortgage. She's here to ask for additional aid.
(on camera): You see long lines outside unemployment offices across Spain. A growing group of Spaniards waiting patiently, trying anything that might lead to a job.
(voice-over): The door opens at 9:00 a.m. local time, just as the government releases the latest jobless figures. Unemployment is up a point, to 20 percent in Spain, second highest in the European Union after Latvia. But Spain is a major EU economy, and 4.6 million people are out of work here.
This Romanian immigrant lost his construction job two years ago and hasn't found anything since.
DANIEL MINTEUAN, UNEMPLOYED CONSTRUCTION WORKER (through translator): The situation in Spain right now is difficult. It seems to be stuck. Like, every avenue is blocked.
GOODMAN: Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero presides over Spain's deepening recession, but in parliament he insists that unemployment is at its peak and will soon decline. At this office and many others, they sure hope so.
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HARRIS: Watch agency waiting. That's all people along the Gulf Coast can do right now as the oil slick oozes ever closer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get going here with top stories.
Rescuers in Kentucky have found the bodies of two trapped miners. The men were in the coal mine when part of the underground roof collapsed. The mine has a long history of safety problems.
Heading to Iraq to make history, about 50 members of the South Carolina Air National Guard are deploying to Iraq, where they will team up with a unit from Shaw Air Force Base. It is the first time the two units will serve side by side on a full-time basis.
Got to tell you, an anxious wait along the Gulf Coast right now, where an oil slick threatens to devastate the environment and the livelihoods of thousands of people. One area bracing for the impact, Pensacola, Florida. IReporter James Amerson (ph) sent us these photos of the preparations under way there.
Amerson (ph) lives right on the coast. Workers have set up these orange booms to try to keep the oil from reaching the shore, but Amerson (ph) worries it will all be for nothing. The area has high seas and it is under a coastal flood warning. And this porpoise right there could be one of the animals threatened by the oil.
Got to get to Rob Marciano now.
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HARRIS: Hundreds of thousands of young girls, some only 6 years old, deceived, then sold as slaves. It happens all the time in Nepal. This week's CNN Hero has made it her life's mission to stop this exploitation.
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ANURADHA KOIRALA, CNN HERO: In the West, America, Europe, if someone comes and says, "I want to make your child a prostitute," they would give them one slap or shoot them. But here, families, they are tricked all the time.
Girls are brought from the villages by people who can lure them and tell them that they're getting a nice job.
The border between India and Nepal is the conduit point of trafficking. Once they are here, there is no way to escape.
I am Anuradha Koirala. And it is my strong hope to stop every Nepali girl from being trafficked.
When we go to the border at this point, we are intercepting call girls to find girls for this. After the rescue, the girl is taken to (INAUDIBLE).
We started this -- rape survivors, trafficking survivors. We take everybody.
Oh, good girl.
The girls who come back from brothels, they are totally psychologically broken. We give them whatever work they want to do, whatever training they want.
One day we will really stop it. The trafficking will end. These are all convicted. There is always a small scar that, yes, one day I was trafficked, but today I'm something new in my life.
They are my strength.
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HARRIS: The woman called Nepal's Mother Teresa has rescued and helped rehabilitate more than 12,000 girls. Man.
To nominate someone you think is changing the world, literally, just go to CNN.com/Heroes.
Seafood from the Gulf Coast is shipped around the world. We will show you how one seafood market in New York is already making backup plans to serve its customers. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Very quickly now, let's get you to the Rose Garden at the White House and a statement from the president.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- response to the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I have dispatched the secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security, as well as the administrator of the EPA, my assistant for energy and climate change policy, and the NOAA administrator to the Gulf Coast to ensure that we continue to do everything necessary to respond to this event. And I respect a report from the ground today.
As I said yesterday, BP is ultimately responsible under the law for paying the costs of response and cleanup operations. But we are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities. And that's why we've been working closely with state and local authorities since the day of the explosion.
There are now five staging areas to protect sensitive shorelines. Approximately 1,900 federal response personnel are in the area, and more than 300 response vessels and aircraft on the scene 24/7. We've also laid approximately 217,000 feet of protected boom, and there are more on the way.
I've ordered Secretary Salazar to conduct a thorough review of this incident and report back to me in 30 days on what, if any, additional precautions and technologies should be required to prevent accidents like this from happening again. And we're going to make sure that any leases going forward have those safeguards. We've also dispatched teams to the Gulf to inspect all deep water rigs and platforms to address safety concerns.
So, let me be clear. I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security, but I've always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment. The local economies and livelihoods of the people of the Gulf Coast, as well as the ecology of the region are at stake. And we're going to continue to update the American people on the situation in the Gulf going forward.
Now, I'd like to say a few words about the economy.
Every three months, the federal government measures the total output of goods and services our businesses, our workers and our government produce. It determines whether our economy is shrinking or growing. The single broadest measure of America's economic health.
At the height of our economic crisis, that measure all too often was offering grim news. But today it is a different story. In the first quarter of last year, our economy shrank at a rate of 6.4 percent. Today, we learned that in the first quarter of this year our economy grew at a rate of 3.2 percent. What this number means is that our economy as a whole is in a much better place than one year ago.
The economy that shrank for four quarters in a row has now grown for three quarters in a row. And that growth has been a condition for job growth. The economy that was losing jobs a year ago is creating jobs today. And to the single biggest economy crisis in our lifetimes, we're heading in the right direction. We're moving forward. Our economy is stronger. The economic heart beat is growing stronger.
But I measure progress by a different pulse. The progress of the American people felt in their own lives, day in and day out. This week I spent a few days visiting with folks in small towns in the Midwest. Places where the damage done by the worst recession in our lifetime was profound. They are still trying to recover from a shock wave of lost homes, lost businesses and more than 8 million lost jobs.
It's a tragedy that as families and communities across American, too often, feeling like they are on life support. So while today's GDP report is an important milepost on our road to recovery, it doesn't mean much to an American who has lost his or her job and can't find another.
For millions of Americans, our friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens ready and willing to get back to work, your hired is the only economic news that they are waiting to hear. And they are why the work of moving this economy forward remains our focus every single day.
Now, government can't replace every job that has been lost. That's not government's role. It is American's business all across the country. The private sector, businesses that have always been and will always be the engines of our job creations. Our task, then, is to create the conditions necessary for those businesses to open their doors, expand their operations, and ultimately hire more workers. That's precisely what we tried to do, by cutting taxes for small businesses. By backing thousands of loans, supporting billions of dollars in lending, and by making targeted investments in areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest, areas like clean energy.
So as an example this week, I visited workers at a plant in Ft. Madison, Iowa. Some of you, guys, went along. And just a few short years ago, that plant was shuttered and it was dark. Today, it is alive and humming with more than 600 employees at work manufacturing some of the most advanced blades for wind turbines in the world.
That facility capitalized on its growth by taking advantage of an advanced energy manufacturing tax credit in the recovery that we past last year, which allowed it to add equipment, boost output and hire new workers at that plant. In fact, this program was so successful that it was over subscribed by a ratio of three to one. That's why I've called for an additional $5 billion in investment into this project to accelerate the creation of clean energy jobs in America's factories, because every time a new factory or plant opens or expands in America, it becomes important to more people than the workers it employees. It becomes an economic lifeline to a community. Capable of supporting dozens or hundreds or even thousands of jobs indirectly. So the CEOs and the workers that we have here today can tell you the same thing. Malcolm Unsworth is the CEO of Itron. This is a company that produces smart meters to help businesses and consumers analyze real-time data about how they use energy. And these meters help produce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency and save consumers money. And they are critical components of the smart electric grid of tomorrow.
The $3.4 billion investment that the Recovery Act made towards that smart grid helped increase demand for Itron's products. And in January, Itron competed for and won its own advanced energy manufacturing tax credit. And it is using that tax credit to meet that new demand, adding production lines in its plants in Waseca, Minnesota, where it has hired 40 new workers, in Oconee, South Carolina, where it's hired 120 new workers. Carla Raysack and James Morris are here. And these are two of the workers who have just been hired.
James, a native of Oconee County, recently found himself laid off from a local plant after punching in for 28 years. Today, he and his wife, Angela, both work at Itron, helping to forge a clean energy future for their three daughters.
David Vieau, right over here, is president and CEO of A123 Systems. A company that produces advanced batteries for energy storage and next generation vehicles. Last August, following a nationwide competition among America's clean energy technology leaders, Vice President Biden traveled to Michigan to announce that A123 was one of the 48 companies to win a recovery act grant for advanced battery technology. That grant helped A123 hire 44 new workers, and that grant is supporting the construction of three new plants in the state of Michigan, which A123 expects will allow to hire more than 120 workers by the end of this year, more than 1,000 by the end of next year, and more than 3,000 by the end of 2012.
Two of those workers, James Fenton (ph) and Nino Behunda (ph), are here today. They lost their previous jobs in the recession, and then A123 both to help manufacture the batteries of tomorrow.
A123's already began construction of one facility in the city of Lavonia, which is scheduled to go online in July. And they've began designing a facility in the city of Rumens. And they've announced plans to build their first high volume factory in Brownstown. The truth be told A123 was looking to build that factory in Asia, but because they received that grant, they choose the state of Michigan for its largest and most innovative plant yet. And that plant will be one of 30 new plants to go fully operational over the next six years manufacturing electric vehicle batteries right here in the United States of America.
So this is what is possible in a clean energy economy. These folks right here. Doing extraordinary work. This is what happens when we place our bets on American workers and American businesses. And we're going to continue working to help them manufacture more success stories like these across all sectors of our economy. So we've still got a long way to go on our road to recovery. There are going to be more ups and downs along the way. But today's news is another sign that we're on the right track. And we're going to keep doing everything we can to help our businesses take the baton and power our recovery today, and lead us to a more hopeful and a more prosperous set of days in the future.
Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any plans to head to the Gulf to take a firsthand look?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's wait for an answer. Let's see if he is going to answer to a question, is the president is planning a trip to the Gulf, himself. We don't think we're going to get an answer.
All right, the president taking on the question of whether he would revisit domestic oil production, offshore drilling in light of the BP leak in the Gulf. The president saying that domestic oil production continues to be important to the nation's effort toward energy independence, but that it must be done responsibly. The president is sending teams to offshore drilling operations to do something of a safety check.
The president also drawing attention to three quarters of growth in the economy. First quarter gross domestic product, GDP coming in at 3.2 percent. Things in large measured to American's spending -- you, spending on cars and houses in a significant way.
The president also highlighting what he considers to be the positive impact of the stimulus on the economy with employers and employees who have been put to work. Employers adding jobs because of grants from the recovery act.
Let's do this quick break, and we're back in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: I've got to tell you, if you live anywhere near the Gulf Coast, you may be wondering how the oil spill there could affect you. Listen to this.
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DOUG BRINKLEY, AUTHOR, "THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR": Sixty percent of our fish comes from this region, 67 percent of our oysters, 72 percent of shrimp. This is the great nursery, really, for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: That's how this could affect you in the middle of the country and elsewhere. That has seafood markets and grocery stores across the country more than a little concerned.
Let's go now to Ines Ferre, who is working on this out of the story from New York. And Ines, good to see you. Good Friday to you.
What are you hearing?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we reached out to grocery stores and restaurants to see how concern they were about the oil spill affecting shipments. And on the phone we have with us, Matt Hovey, from Wild Edibles out of Queens, New York.
They owned a fish marketing Grand Central Station in New York City, and also sell to restaurants in the area.
Matt, thanks so much for joining us.
MATT HOVEY, WILD EDIBLES (via telephone): Good morning.
FERRE: How concerned are you -- good morning. How concerned are you that the oil spill will slow down seafood shipments, and what's your plan?
HOVEY: Well, we're concerned right now and we're making phone preparations to try and find alternate sources for products, out of areas like North Carolina.
(CROSSTALK)
FERRE: And what would that be --
HOVEY: North Carolina, Georgia and things like fresh shrimps, snappers and groupers.
FERRE: And, Matt, would the consumer see a price increase if shipments do slow down? Go ahead.
HOVEY: That's usually the case. The typical supply and demand. And if the supply gets scarce, the prices will generally demand a little more. You know, 10 percent, 20 percent is certainly possible.
FERRE: And you were saying that this morning you were speaking to some suppliers, correct? That you were speaking on the phone with some suppliers.
HOVEY: I have been in touch with some of our suppliers. Some of the guys in Florida don't seem too worried at this time. Alabama, crab meat seems like it could be a problem, and they are very nervous there with their supply of crab.
FERRE: OK. Thanks so much, Matt Hovey from Wild Edibles.
And, Tony, later we'll be speaking with someone out in Denver, Colorado, to see how that area could be affected.
HARRIS: Yes.
FERRE: How some grocery stores and restaurants could be affected. HARRIS: Well, it's going to affect all of us at some point, along the line. As Rob said, it's not a matter of if. It's just when the slick makes the landfall.
All right, Ines, see you next hour. Thank you.
You know, many viewers like you are concerned about the environmental impact of the Gulf Coast. There are organizations willing to help. Just go to CNN.com/Impact for information on how you can impact your world.
Here is what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. The Gulf Coast oil spill. We are talking to folks who will feel the impact of this disaster, up close and personal. We're talking about those who make their living in the fishing industry. What are they doing to prepare? Is there anything they can do?
And tucking kids into bed with a story as a childhood ritual that helps bond families together. But what about parents with kids in a war zone? CNN Sandra Endo reports on a new program that allows them to read to their kids from far away locations.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it's helping me out a lot, especially knowing the response that is coming from it. Just mentally calming me down and enabling me to stay focused.
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HARRIS: OK. I've got to tell you, training for a triathlon is physically demanding. The participants in this year's Fit Nation challenge have just seven weeks left for the big day.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks in with two of them to see how they are doing.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Getting ready for the challenge, Dean Hanan, worked out hard. Too hard. He strained his calf.
DEAN HANAN, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: Yes. I'm nervous because I'm seven, almost eight weeks behind. And I have begun it. I'm going to have to do a six mile run, after I do a 24-mile bike, after I do a smile swim. I feel like I can't do that now.
GUPTA: But he is drawing strength from his family.
HANAN: I have very high standards for myself. Because my dad has been a runner for years. He's run 13 marathons. My brother has ran one, but he's in amazing shape. So, you know, I have to be that way, too. You know, if you are a Hanan, you got to be in shape. That's the way it goes.
I've rehab. That chapters done. It's time to train. It's time to get in shape. You know, my focus in on July.
GUPTA: Linda Fisher-Lewis is also focused on July.
LINDA FISHER-LEWIS, FIT NATION PARTICIPANTS: I think a lot of people have put faith in me that I'm going to do this, and it would be hard for me to let them down.
GUPTA: But her trainer, Richard Earle, says she has no reason to be concerned.
RICHARD EARLE, TRIATHLON TRAINER: She'll cross the finish line. Somebody is going to have to club her over the head with a two by four, you know. And that would probably do is just slow her down.
GUPTA: When I first met Linda back in January, her biggest fear, not the 25-mile bike ride, or the 6-mile run.
(on camera) Are you apprehensive about this?
FISHER-LEWIS: I'm very apprehensive about the Hudson.
GUPTA (voice-over): But now she says it's time. That's her biggest adversary.
FISHER-LEWIS: The race is three or four hours long. And eventually, I'm going to be working out for three or four hours. And I'm just finding there's not that much time in the day.
GUPTA: But her old worry still remains.
FISHER-LEWIS: I'm still apprehensive about swimming in the Hudson.
GUPTA: For both Dean and Linda, apprehension and fear are slowly melting, giving way to determination and focus.
(on camera) Going to see you at the finish line.
HANAN: Yes, sir.
FISHER-LEWIS: Getting to the finish line is a big deal. I could be carrying my bike or dragging a leg or something, I think I'll end up finishing.
HANAN: Am I in? I think I'm in.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And you can follow Dean and Linda's progress, as well as the other Fit Nation participants by going to CNN.com/FitNation.
And be sure to watch "SANJAY GUPTA MD" this weekend. He introduces us to best-selling author Bruce Filer, who was diagnosed with a vicious form of cancer and thought only of his young daughters. The next year would be an unforgettable journey that will amaze you, move you and teach you about cancer and survival. It is a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA MD," Saturday and Sunday morning at 730.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Organizers say anger over Arizona's tough new immigration law has energized Latinos that will translate into higher turn out tomorrow at May Day rallies across the nation.
Joining me from Washington, Clarissa Martinez, who is the director of immigration and national campaigns for the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group in the United States.
Say that five times quickly.
Clarissa, great to see you. Thanks for your time.
CLARISSA MARTINEZ, DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA: Thank you.
HARRIS: Hey, I got to ask you. What do you think about this? Will Arizona's new immigration law provide sort of greater urgency for the May Day rallies tomorrow?
MARTINEZ: It absolutely does. I think that all of us who work on the immigration issue know that this is a national crisis. But Arizona has really helped elevate this at the national consciousness, and really, really mark the urgency for the precedent in Congress to take immediate action to solve this problem.
HARRIS: Yes, so Clarissa, what's the message going out to, say, rally organizers, getting ready today for tomorrow?
MARTINEZ: Well, we know there's going to be over 80 events across the nation. And it's not just Latino community. The faith community has been incredibly strong in doing this. There's going to be vigils in some places. In other places, rallies. But this is a broad effort.
We have business, faith, labor, multi-ethnic organizations. This really, really puts a fine point on we're in the midst of a national crisis and we need a response from the White House in the same level.
HARRIS: Clarissa, look, help me here. Help all of us. Bottom line this, when you've read the law -- have you read the law?
MARTINEZ: Yes.
HARRIS: OK.
What is your problem with the law as written? And do you understand the frustration of Arizonans who have pushed their lawmakers to craft this? MARTINEZ: Absolutely. We understand the legitimate frustration that not only people in Arizona but, frankly, Americans across the country have.
HARRIS: Clarissa, frame that for me. Let me stop you.
MARTINEZ: OK.
HARRIS: Frame that legitimate frustration.
MARTINEZ: We have an immigration system that has been me neglected for over 20 years. The legal side has broken so it feeds illegality, where people are coming with a smuggler rather than a visa. That's why we support a solution. Make sure our legal system works. Make sure the border is strong. And make sure that we crack down on bad employers that are putting U.S. workers against vulnerable, undocumented workers.
But the thing about to know in Arizona is there is legitimate frustration. I think what is shameful is that you have legislators who know this is not going to solve the problem, and are going out in any way to manipulate people's frustrations without any regard to what this is going to cause cost the tax payers in the state.
HARRIS: To what end? To what end? Manipulating to what end?
MARTINEZ: I think that we have seen a lot of strategies and trying to use anti-immigrant sentiment, which frankly has become anti-Latino sentiment to score cheap political points. And that is the most devastating thing about this, because they are real paths to solve this problem. But right now, everybody seems to be more interested in politics. And that's why we need urgency from Congress to step in.
HARRIS: OK. And bear with me here. We learned this morning, the Arizona legislature is proposing changes with the law, including tougher restrictions on police when they question someone about their immigration status.
OK. And a couple points here. The phrase lawful contact would be changed to lawful stop. And the word solely would be eliminated from the sentence a law enforcement officials or agencies may not solely consider race, color, or national origin in establishing reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally.
Thank you for bearing with me. Had to say it all.
Would those changes be enough to make you feel a bit more comfortable with the law in Arizona?
MARTINEZ: No.
HARRIS: No.
MARTINEZ: And here is why. Even right now, without this law, we know that the practice on the streets is different. Three words on that. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is facing multiple lawsuits from U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who have been caught in this dragnet of going and trying to enforce immigration laws at the local level. So the practice doesn't reflect what the law is. And if the governor is saying that racial profiling is not going to be tolerated, why has it been tolerated so far?
HARRIS: Gotcha. So far, there are, let's see, two legal challenges to Arizona's new law. One from an Arizona police officer, and the other a Latino clergy group that I know you're aware of.
Is that an option for you, for La Raza?
MARTINEZ: There's going to be more legal challenges. We know. We know they are coming. We're going to be party to some of that. There are many aspects of this law that are going to be challenged. And I think that is absolutely necessary.
Again, it goes back to the federal government. If they advocate their responsibility, they leave state and local governments to grapple with this issue, and the only thing that happens is that we create greater chaos over that broken system. This is just not the way forward.
HARRIS: All right. Clarissa Martinez, I appreciate it. Thanks for your time.
MARTINEZ: Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you.
I'm Tony Harris, top of the hour right here on the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the real people behind today's biggest stories.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's always in the back of everybody's mind. If weather picks up in the wrong manner and pushes it in our backyard, what effects it could have on us, and it could be devastating.
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HARRIS: Yes, devastating affects on them, and the Gulf Coast fishing industry, may affect you and what you eat. We are looking at all aspects of the oil spill of Louisiana.
Plus this --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a model citizen, what do we do? What do we do besides sitting here, you know, worrying and wondering and frustrated?
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HARRIS: And frustrated. Supporters of Arizona's tough new immigration law. They're worried voices getting heard. Let's do this. Let's get started.
The question is not if, but when that giant oil slick in the Gulf will reach shore. The projected expansion shows what's at stake here.
