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Oil Slick Approaches Gulf Coast; Arizona Immigration Law Continues to Stir Controversy

Aired May 01, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN Saturday morning for this first day of May. I'm T.J. Holmes.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Brooke Baldwin. It is 10:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 9:00 a.m. in Memphis. Two big stories we're all over for you this morning.

First happening in Arizona, thousands of people taking to the streets to protest. You've heard us talking all about it, this controversial immigration law passed in Arizona two Fridays ago. It is a law some say might lead to racial profiling.

HOLMES: Other huge story we're watching today, going to be a big story for a while. It could be the largest environmental disaster ever on the Gulf coast. That massive oil spill still hasn't officially made landfall but still waiting on than to happen.

Also just a short time ago we got word that the president will visit that region sometime tomorrow morning. In the meantime, what the president is doing today, he's making a stop in Ann Arbor. This is the commencement ceremony that's going to be taking place at the big house as it's called in Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan.

This place seats about 105,000, 106,000 people. It looks like they're going to get a really good crowd. They haven't had a lot to celebrate, at least the football team, in the Big House lately. At least they can celebrate graduation and the president being there at least.

But we will have his comments, his commencement speech live when it happens. Expect it around 11:30 eastern time. They are collecting those graduates, again a huge place, huge venue with the president on his way there now.

But first, we want to give you a look at some other stories making headlines this morning. In southern Arizona a sheriff's deputy is recovering after being shot by a suspected drug dealer who is also a suspected illegal immigrant. This happened while this deputy was on patrol and he found bales of marijuana out there in the desert.

The officer is expected to be just fine, but this incident now is probably going to fuel some debate over last week's -- fuel even more debate I should say over last week's signing of that new immigration law called one of the toughest in the country. BALDWIN: Well, it is May Day, international Labor Day, and that is sparking some protests. Check it out there. This is Athens, Greece. Police out in full force, really wearing their riot gear because there are these protesters throwing items, starting fires according to our correspondent there on the ground, even burning up a TV news van.

And this whole anger is really over this government plan to deal with the financial crisis the country is facing. The deal is expected to cut the salaries of these workers, hike the taxes not just in the public but also the private sectors in Greece.

HOLMES: And Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Congress should leave "don't ask, don't tell" alone just for now, however. He wants first a Pentagon review to be done. That review would figure out how exactly repealing that law would affect the service members. The White House says President Obama supports Gates' position.

Again, another big story we're keeping an eye on this morning, the potential ecological disaster that's looming for the U.S. Gulf coast after last week's explosion on that oil rig now, at 1.5 million gallons and counting. Some 210,000 gallons are being spilled from that oil well every single day according to the coast guard.

Here is what we know right now. The defense secretary, Robert Gates, has approved the request from Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal to mobilize some 6,000 National Guardsmen in light of the spill. Just a few minutes ago we also got word that the president will visit the area tomorrow morning.

Also, while the spill poses a major long-term ecological and economic disaster to the region, the cleanup has already created long lines for jobs. These people you see in this picture here are lining up for jobs that could possibly help clean up this whole disaster. Some 500 jobs at least expected to be created by this.

So exactly where is the spill headed? That's the big question everyone has on the coast right now. This is what it looks like. You get an idea of how this thing has kind of been moving around a bit. This is not a weather picture you're looking at here. This is actually an oil spill we're now having to keep our eye on as it inches towards the Gulf coast.

You see the states down there that have declared disaster areas already in anticipation of that oil slick making its way over there to several of those states.

So, when is the big question, when exactly is the oil slick going to make its way there? We still don't know. We're still actually waiting to find out if, in fact, it has made it yet. We expected it at some point last night, but it hasn't made it just yet.

Our Reynolds Wolf, I believe, is standing by for us. We can let you see here our correspondents, where exactly they are, and they are certainly on this story for us, but our Reynolds Wolf is one of them standing by for us. Reynolds, we keep asking this same question this morning. Is Reynolds with me? Do I have Reynolds Wolf, guys?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: T.J.

HOLMES: Sorry, Reynolds, didn't know if you were there, buddy. But we're still trying to figure out exactly when this stuff is going to make it. Has it made it yet? I keep asking you this morning, waiting on official word.

WOLF: T.J., that's a great question to ask. We have some information this morning from some officials in two separate parishes in both St. Bernard parish and Plaquemines parish that some of the traces of that rainbow sheen has actually made its way to some of the pockets of land just right at the very end of the Mississippi Delta.

But in terms of it reaching the mainland, the main coast, the main shoreline, it hasn't as of yet, but that may come in a matter of time. Some of the places that are most vulnerable right along the very southern tip of the Delta are places Governor Bobby Jindal is most concerned with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY NUNGESSER, PLAQUEMINES PARISH PRIEST: As this oil comes ashore, we're going to set different crews out there with the support of BP -- we're working together with them and the coast guard -- to make sure we can get as much absorbent material to catch it as it hits the marsh and hopefully minimize the damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: That was actually -- that was actually Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, but I will tell you his concerns echo that of the governor.

What they have been doing to protect the shoreline in this situation is pretty simple. What they have been using is the protective barrier, the protective boom, if you will. They have had about 217,000 feet of it that's been placed around parts sensitive areas not just in Louisiana, but Mississippi, Alabama, and eventually into Florida.

And they have got another 300,000 feet that will also be deployed in short order.

That's the latest we have from here T.J. It's certainly a frightening prospect at best of what this could mean economically and ecologically for much of the Gulf coast.

HOLMES: Reynolds, thanks so much, buddy.

BALDWIN: Economically, ecologically, even also politically. We'll get in all that momentarily.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: We will have much more on the oil spill and really the potential impact on the seafood industry. The fishing industry is huge down there, so in seven minutes we will talk live with Cassie Calloway, the executive director of the Gulf Coast environmental group the Mobile Bay Keeper.

HOLMES: Also this morning the other big story we were telling you about, Arizona's tough new immigration law. Demonstrators marking May Day with protests in at least 70 cities. They say the law exposes immigrants to racial profiling. Arizona lawmakers tweaked the bill to address those concerns yesterday.

Casey Wian is joining us live from Phoenix this morning. Why did they think it was necessary to make the tweaks? Just public pressure?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, T.J. They have made subtle changes in the law, but because protesters have had concerns about racial profiling the lawmakers clarified the bill does not allow police to stop anyone because of the way they look or because of the color of their skin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: She signed Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigrants. Governor Jan Brewer did little to calm the fear and anger felt by opponents with a stumbling answer to a simple but loaded question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does an illegal I immigrant look like? Does it look like me?

GOV. JAN BREWER, (R) ARIZONA: I do not know. I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like. But I know if we AZ post gets theirselves together, works on this law, puts down the description, that the law will be enforced civilly, fairly, and without discriminatory points to it.

WIAN: AZ Post is the agency that trains police officers. A description of an illegal immigrant or racial profiling was never part of the original law. Yet, President Obama apparently didn't see it that way.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Now suddenly if you don't have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you're going to be harassed. That's something that could potentially happen.

WIAN: State Senator Russell Pearce authored the law.

RUSSELL PEARCE, (R) ARIZONA STATE SENATE: Shame on President Obama and others who spoke before they read the bill. In Washington they have a habit of not reading their bills. Actually in Arizona we read them, we know what's in them.

WIAN: Still, legislators have now changed the law seeking to clarify what they call "misinformation" that has stoked the fears of Latinos in Arizona. The original law stated police can conduct an immigration status check during any, quote, "lawful contact," if they have reasonable suspicion a person is an illegal immigrant. It replaces "lawful contact" with "lawful stop, detention, or arrest," clarifying police may not stop people without cause. The revised law also removes the word "solely" from the phrase "The attorney general or county attorney shall not investigate complaints that are based solely on race, color, or national origin." That's intended to remove fears about racial profiling.

Even so, some in law enforcement say confusion will persist.

JACK HARRIS, PHOENIX, ARIZONA PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGER: It puts my officers in a very difficult position if they enforce the law or if they don't enforce the law. So they're being put in a place where if they enforce state law, they're going to be sued because they're violating federal law. If they abide by federal statute, they're going to be sued because they're not enforcing the state law.

WIAN: Friday Brewer signed the revised version of the law.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Here outside Governor Brewer's office at the Arizona state capitol, we're expecting protesters later today. They still don't like the law even with those revisions -- T.J.?

HOLMES: That was going to be my next question. Are they saying it's still not good enough? What do they want to do? They want this bill to be scrapped no matter what changes you make to it, is that right?

WIAN: They want President Obama and the federal government to step in and exercise their authority that the federal government has sole discretion to enforce immigration laws in the country. Supporters of the bill say that that's not true, that states can do it as well.

The debate is probably going to turn to the issue of legalizing the status of those millions of people who are here in the United States illegally now that the law has been changed. Protesters say they still don't like some aspects of it, for example, that police can question someone about their immigration status if they're caught violating a minor civic ordinance.

So they have lots of concerns about this bill and we're expecting to hear more about those later today, T.J.

HOLMES: Casey Wian for us. Thanks so much, this morning.

BALDWIN: Still to come here, we're just now beginning to see the impact of the oil slick in the Gulf Coast right now as it heads closer and closer to shore. For a lot of people, this disaster is very personal. They are making their living on the water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS SKRMETTA, FERRY BOAT CAPTAIN: The third generation, and my sons will be the fourth generation. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could lose this.

SKRMETTA: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Also this morning, we're going owe to be taking a look at that woman. A new tell-all book that a lot of people are talking about, and the central character, Oprah, wants nothing to do with it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A lot of people have their eyes on the Gulf coast right now, including a ferryboat captain. He's watching for that oil slick to come his way because he takes his living taking tourists to Mississippi's pristine Barrier Islands. Now that's all in jeopardy.

BALDWIN: CNN's all platform Sarah Foley (ph) shares the story of this local businessman who is simply afraid his business is going to go under.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SKRMETTA: If you look at that beam over there, that's how high Katrina pushed the water in here. You have $3 million worth of boats sitting here. What am I going to do with them?

At least Katrina left us clean water. We had something to eat. This is worse than Katrina, this is worse. The third generation and my sons will be the fourth generation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could lose this.

SKRMETTA: Yes. I can't even talk.

We've never had this problem before. It's always been on the west side of the river. Now it's coming our way into Alabama and Florida. We're in for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A lot of folks don't live anywhere near the Gulf coast, and you may be thinking this massive oil slick is not going to make a difference in your life one way or another, but you would be wrong. The ripple effects from this disaster have only started.

In just a just bit we'll be talking to the executive director of Mobile Bay Keeper that keeps an eye on just what and how important the Gulf coast is for this country's economy.

BALDWIN: Well, have you ever heard of 287G? It's this law. It's been in place depending on where you live for a couple years, but it has major consequences for one woman, a 21-year-old college senior and also an illegal immigrant. Hear her story. I spoke with her. She is in jail as this immigration debate heats up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: If you don't live anywhere near the Gulf coast, you may not think the oil slick will make a difference in your life, but there are some ripple effects we are all going to feel, and they've only just begun.

Let's bring in Casey Callaway. She's an executive director of Mobile Bay Keeper. Ma'am, good morning to you. How much trouble are we in the Gulf coast right now?

CASI CALLAWAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MOBILE BAY KEEPER: Well, frankly, we're worried. We don't know exactly how much trouble we're in, but we do know we're -- we are the largest seafood producer in the world, and that's at critical stake right now.

HOLMES: Say that one more time because a lot of people might not get that. The largest seafood producer in the world comes out of the Gulf coast. That's at stake right now.

CALLAWAY: Exactly, exactly -- 69 percent of the oysters, 70 percent of the shrimp domestically generated come from Apalachicola Bay, Florida, to Louisiana. So that's us and that's where the oil has the potential to go, frankly.

HOLMES: To go how close? You have a better idea of just the main areas there where the shrimpers get their shrimp and the oysters are coming from out there in the large Gulf coast, so I guess how close is this oil getting to those prime areas?

CALLAWAY: Well, night before last it hit those prime areas. The kind of toe of the boot of Louisiana, that's where the oil is hitting and started hitting yesterday or yesterday morning, so it already started that area. That is the largest producer of all.

But Mobile Bay estuary is fourth largest drainage basin in the country, and it's a huge producer. Plus we land so much shrimp in Alabama and so many oysters in Alabama, and it's all -- with the south winds heading north to us, we are -- it's coming to us. It's already covering shrimp beds and shrimp grounds in the Gulf.

So it's here and it's now and it's happening.

HOLMES: Casey, what is it doing to all of that seafood? Everybody is used to getting it on their plate and not understanding where it comes from. What is the potential impact? What is it doing to that shrimp? What is it doing to those oysters? Is that stuff just going to be no good anymore? I read an article people said, don't worry, you're not going to have oil on your shrimp. But still ...

CALLAWAY: You're not going to have shrimp. Not going to have it. The kind of biggest deal right now for us is when you cover the grass beds, that's where the shrimp are born. That's where they come and grow and live. We have had a cold winter so they're just now starting to come out. When those grasses are covered and buried, the shrimp are gone. Gulf shrimp come from the bottoms and the bottoms is where we're pushing the oil with the disbursement they're using. So it's laying on top of the shrimp beds. We won't have shrimp is the potential worst case or oysters.

HOLMES: Or oysters. Last thing here, how long will it take? And you said it's starting to get into that area, not a complete disaster and total wipeout of it just yet. But it keeps getting worse.

How long will it take to recover from something like that under -- I don't want to say a worst case scenario, but suppose it gets pretty bad and you say we don't have the shrimp. How long to recover?

CALLAWAY: Under a worst case scenario and it's hard for me to say this out loud. Oyster beds we're looking at potentially 20 years, maybe longer. Shrimp beds and grasses, it just depends on how badly we decimate them.

There are ways to protect our grasses, and I assure you are everyone on our coast, everyone on Louisiana's coast, Mississippi's and Florida's coast is doing everything they can with or without permission to try to protect our shorelines and grass beds. They're just so important.

And it's not just the environment. That's what I do, sure, but it is the economy of our community. It's -- the Gulf of Mexico is the sixth largest economy in the world. It's $665 million in seafood and it's $20 billion in tourism, and that's two of the industries.

HOLMES: And maybe we need to hear that more, quite frankly, because everybody in here just kind of sat up a little bit when you said it would take 20 years to possibly recover. But tell me, and again, what impression do you have right now, how much damage has been done so far?

CALLAWAY: Last night we attempted to meet with Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, and frankly got overwhelmed by people asking her questions and heard that over 300 shrimpers and oystermen in Mississippi showed up to meet with her last night.

They are saying now that they're already done, that their season is over and it was just beginning. We asked Governor Riley last night if he had intentions to open up oystering and shrimping early, and he really didn't have a good answer for that yet because, you know, the shrimp are so tiny because they're such babies they aren't really valid but if we wait maybe they will grow enough.

In some areas they're protected still. Our northern delta of Mobile bay, prime spawning grounds we have to protect at all costs. Luckily they're far enough away we will have time to do that.

So it's hard. We don't know exactly where we need to be allowing shrimping or oystering, but it's going to be -- I haven't missed a seafood meal in the past week, I'll tell you that. HOLMES: Casey, ma'am, we appreciate you coming on and appreciate your frankness, the honesty, and like you said, it's hard for you to even say that stuff out loud, but we are looking for a huge economic impact here. Thank you so much. We'll be talking to you plenty throughout hopefully.

CALLAWAY: Thanks for having me.

BALDWIN: Twenty years, hard to believe.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: The immigration law in Arizona certainly not the only one that is causing a little concern about the potential for racial profiling.

I want to tell you a story about a case here in Georgia, a college senior that's in jail, and it all started with a traffic violation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now, I know we have been talking a whole lot about this new legislation in Arizona regarding immigration, but there's another law already in place in 26 states that immigration advocates claim also leads to racial profiling.

Local authorities say they are just enforcing the law and targeting hardened criminals who are here illegally. But I met a 21- year-old girl, a college senior, who quite simply got caught.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: This mother of four is breaking the law. She's living in the U.S. illegally. But it's her oldest daughter who causes her to cry.

"GLENDA," UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT (via translator): So many I tell you, for example, in the nightclubs, in the streets, drinking, and they're free. And her, she didn't do anything.

BALDWIN: And 21-year-old Jessica is in jail. She, too, is an illegal immigrant.

BALDWIN (on camera): Hi Jessica, this is Brooke with CNN. Can you hear me?

JESSICA COLOTL, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: Yes.

BALDWIN: Last month police pulled her over for a traffic violation on the campus of Georgia's Kennesaw State University where she was a senior and months away from graduation. The next day Jessica was arrested and put in jail for allegedly driving without a license.

COLOTL: I'm here in a place where I'm being treated like a criminal. I'm leaving my family behind. Basically my life has been destroyed because of this minor incident.

BALDWIN: Jessica was jailed in one of 71 jurisdictions in 26 states nationwide where an immigration detention program known as 287G allows local sheriff's deputies to screen inmates to determine their immigration status.

Since January of 2007, local law enforcement trained by immigration and customs enforcement are credited with initiating removal proceedings of more than 158,000 illegal immigrants like Jessica. The program's focus is sending hardened criminals home, but critics say it's fallen short.

JERRY GONZALEZ, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GALEO: The reality of what's happening, and you can look at the numbers, the reality of what's happening is people are being deported for minor traffic violations. It's a waste of resources. It's a waste of law enforcement's time when they could be going after the drug dealers and the drug cartels. They're going after people for driving without a license.

BALDWIN: Nationally Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows just 16 percent of people deported from jail enforcement programs had been picked up after allegedly committing minor crimes like traffic violations.

But according to the Department of Homeland Security, that number is higher in Georgia's Cobb and Gwinnett counties, where critics have accused the sheriff of racial profiling.

SHERIFF BUTCH CONLEY, GWINNETT COUNTY, GEORGIA: That's bunk, that's absolute bull. There's no racial profiling involved. The opposition likes to throw that out, but it is not true.

BALDWIN: Meantime, 21-year-old Jessica had been studying law in college. Now, she's living with the consequences of breaking it.

BALDWIN (on camera): Do you feel like this law, this 287G law in Georgia, is unfair?

COLOTL: I don't understand why local authorities would be trying to do something like they're doing. What kind of people are they? They don't have a heart.

"GLENDA" (via translator): Many wouldn't understand it. So much work, sacrifice, sleepless nights, and for what?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, I did reach out to the Cobb County sheriff's department where Jessica was initially jailed. And here is what the sheriff told me, quote, "The ultimate decision regarding deportation rests with ICE and the immigration court. Typically an individual brought to jail for a traffic offense is charged with not having a driver's license. These are not minor violations."

An update on Jessica. This week an immigration judge denied her bond and ordered her to leave the country within 30 days. She will have to go back to Pueblo, Mexico, a place she hasn't been since she was 10 years old.

I also spoke with Kennesaw State. They say they are doing everything they can to try to help her earn her degree. But, you know, technically she is here illegally. She's been here illegally for 11 years. And it sort of exemplifies on a micro level this struggle between local and federal on immigration.

HOLMES: So many stories out there like hers. But now the debate will be a national one even though it started in Arizona.

BALDWIN: It rages on.

HOLMES: We're going to turn back to what's happening on the Gulf coast as well with that whole oil spill. It's been dubbed by some now as "Obama's Katrina." Questions about whether the White House moves quickly enough in addressing the oil slick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The White House telling CNN that President Obama will head to the disaster zone off the Gulf coast to see the massive oil slick tomorrow morning. The plan is still coming together.

BALDWIN: And Dan Lothian now looking at the reaction from the administration so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So concerned was the Obama administration of appearing ill-prepared for the Gulf coast oil spill that for the second day in a row the president commented on the government's response to the crisis during remarks on unrelated subjects.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are fully prepared to meet our responsibilities to any and all affected communities.

LOTHIAN: After initially taking a less aggressive public approach in the hours after the spill ...

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The coast guard has been directing the response to the leaking.

LOTHIAN: The White House is pushing hard to fully engage in the region and publicize its efforts. Aides released an early morning e- mail detailing the administration's quick action. Then hours later the president walked into the Rose Garden and again repeated he's dispatched key members of his cabinet, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to the Gulf coast.

OBAMA: I expect their reports from the ground today.

LOTHIAN: And apparently trying to dodge the political ramifications of being tagged with blame, the administration from the president on down hasn't missed an opportunity to point the finger at BP.

OBAMA: BP is ultimately responsible.

GIBBS: BP as the responsible party ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: BP is the responsible party ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: BP as the responsible party ...

LOTHIAN: As the response to the crisis intensifies, so, too, is the pressure from some lawmakers to scrap offshore drilling plans recently announced by President Obama. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey wrote a letter to the president asking him to reverse course

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he hasn't seen the letter, but added the White House will wait for a review of the accident before deciding how it will impact all drilling decisions going forward.

LOTHIAN (on camera): The president has directed that every deep water platform in the Gulf be inspected. As for the overall operation, BP is in charge but the federal government is overseeing the effor.

Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: President Obama taking a bit of heat about how the White House dealt with this crisis, did they move quickly enough. Let's turn to our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, who is with us again. Why is it so critical the way at least the public views the administration's response to this oil slick?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Here is why, T.J. T.J., let's go back five years. Remember President Bush in the White House and there was a lot of criticism of him and his administration for what was perceived to be a slow and weak response to hurricane Katrina, and that was damaging politically to the White House, to the Republicans in the 2006 and '08 elections.

This White House is very aware of that. That's why I think everything you just saw Dan Lothian report, the quickened response in the last couple days, and now the president heading down there in the next day or two to visit as well, T.J.

HOLMES: And the president, as well, not quite drill, baby, drill, but the president was going to push for a little more offshore drilling. How does that change the game now?

STEINHAUSER: The president yesterday saying that any new oil drilling must have further safeguards, but he is still -- take a listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security, but I have always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That plan the president put out about a month ago to expand areas of offshore drilling, as Dan Lothian reported, now under attack by a bunch of lawmakers from states along the coast. Remember, this was part of a bigger clean energy climate change bill. What's happened now in the Gulf is going to make that much tougher, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Paul Steinhauser for us from D.C. As always, we appreciate you, my friend.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

BALDWIN: One key element in this whole oil spill story is really the weather. The winds, the choppy water, because the issue is it may be pushing the oil closer to shore. Bonnie Schneider will have those details coming up.

HOLMES: Also, it's a tell-all book that a lot of people are interested in, but the central character in the book doesn't want anything to do with it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: Teachers, they're used to getting apples from the students. Maybe not from the president though.

HOLMES: A CNN hero also we're going to be telling but this morning that's saving young girls from an unthinkable life.

Also, the unauthorized tell-all biography on Oprah. You may be surprised by what the author is claiming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: An Iowa woman has been recognized by the president as the nation's teacher of the year. High school English teacher Sarah Brown Wessling, she was introduced by the president at a ceremony at the White House's Rose Garden. Wessling incorporates everything from singing to Facebook in her 10th and 12th grade classes at Johnston High School.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH BROWN WESSLING, JOHNSTON HIGH SCHOOL, IOWA: If you were to come into my classroom the first thing you would notice is that my desk is in the back corner. Despite the building designed to make it otherwise, my desk is in the back corner. This is but an outward sign of an implicit philosophy -- teaching must be learner centered.

The desk in the back of the room displaces hierarchies, creates an environment where a teacher becomes a lead learner, evolves into a web of interdependence where the classroom walls become boundless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wessling was chosen for her passion and innovative instruction techniques, I guess like having a desk in the back of the classroom.

HOLMES: We'll going to turn to one of our CNN heroes who is really taking on a tough, tough topic. This is about young children who are condemned to a life of sexual slavery. Young girls being lured from Nepal to India with promises of a better life.

BALDWIN: This week's CNN hero has made it a personal mission to rescue these young girls. She goes inside the brothels in India to bring us these stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): They came and said they would take me to my sister's house. So I went with them. After six, seven days I didn't know anything. Someone came to me and explained I had to do the bad job.

I realized I was actually sold into the brothel. If we said no, then they would start beating us with the sticks, throw hot water at us, or tie us in a corner with a rope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Families will never, never give up girls. They are always here. These are all criminals, these traffickers. This gentleman, he was trafficking 32 child at a time in a bus. Those parents do not go to the police station. They come with the photographs to complain to us that their child is missing. That is how we know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via translator): I always imagined how I would get out of that place. Now I feel like this is a new life for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they come, I talk to them. I say now you are safe, you are at home, please relax. I will talk to you later, and then I don't talk to them for a few days. They are in my confidence very quickly.

If they want to go home, they can go home. If they want to catch the criminal, I go myself to catch the criminal. Nowadays we are planning from the high level and we do the raid. We are going to catch a criminal today. Hopefully we will be successful.

These are all the convicted criminals -- 15 years, 12 years, 12 years at 64,000 rupees. I always thought people who did good work served the nation, served the world are heroes to me, selflessly, without any invested interest. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: If you think you know someone who should be the next CNN hero, you can nominate him or her. It's real easy. Go to CNN.com/heroes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: She tries to go behind what she calls the myth of powerful public figures. Her critics say she's just really digging up dirt. I'm talking about Kitty Kelley and the latest subject of her unauthorized biography is none other than Oprah.

I talked to Kitty Kelley about her book, lots of issues considered controversial by many, including some of the comments about Oprah and sex abuse as a young girl. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KITTY KELLEY, AUTHOR, "OPRAH, A BIOGRAPHY": So it is quite true that Oprah's family members, at least the ones I talked to, do not believe her. They choose not to believe her.

I do believe her, and I do think that coming forward with that taboo, shameful, shameful occurrence is her best legacy. She didn't just do one show. It has become her signature. She has done many shows. She has proposed legislation. She has become a true hero, a champion of victims. I think in doing that she's led an awful lot of people to recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: I do want to let you know we of course reached out to Oprah Winfrey for her reaction to that comment and the book in general. They did not respond.

But we have seen one public comment from her about the book. Here is what Ms. Winfrey said just a couple weeks ago when her close friend and "O" magazine editor-at-large Gayle King was honored in New York City at the Matrix Awards. Here is Oprah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY: May I say that last week was a rough week for Gayle when a so-called biography came out. Every day she's getting herself more and more worked up about all of my new daddies that are now showing up.

(LAUGHTER)

New daddies saying, hello, daughter, call me, I need a new roof.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Well, Kitty Kelley's book is out at bookstores now. By the way she has never been successfully sued for libel and has never had to retract a single statement.