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Flooding Devastation in Nashville Continues; More Background Information Emerges on Suspected Times Square Bomber; Oil Creeps up on Chandeleur Islands; Gulf Clean-Up Attempts Continue; Rep. David Obey May Announce Retirement, Say Democratic Sources; Arizona Immigration Law Debate; Oil Spill Costs Climbing; Britain's Immigration Woes; Oil in the Water
Aired May 05, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. The people behind today's big stories.
First, a Tennessee flood victim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a miracle of God. That's all you can say. Uh --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just kept watching.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it had been at night, we would have never made it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wait until you see Mike Lee's house splattered across the highway. The power of water will absolutely shock you.
Also, the view from next door neighbors talked about the New York car bomb suspect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like -- to come out and wear all black and go jogging. His family, his wife didn't speak much English. His daughter played with my daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: How an American success story ended in terrorism charges.
Let's do this. Let's get started.
Heartbreaking scenes in Nashville as flood waters start to inch their way down. Some of the thousands of people who fled their homes are returning to mud-caked floors and soggy furniture. Other neighborhoods are still under water. CNN's Martin Savidge live now from Nashville. And, Marty, you know, we talk about the Cumberland River cresting and starting to recede, but there is still an awful lot of water in Nashville. If you would, describe the scene in that city today.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right, Tony. The water is going down. This is the Cumberland. You can see it's sort of rolling by at a pretty good clip here today.
It's gone down. It's gone down actually a number of feet, three feet, they claim. As a result of that, that means most of the tourist areas in the city of Nashville have been recovered, so to speak.
Power's out in the heart of the city. Probably because water got into the transformers. It's going to be at least until Friday until they get it turned back on. That's hampering getting the water out of the basement so the businesses and the hotels, anyway.
As the waters go down it's also revealing the damage. And there is a concern that it may raise the death toll because now you have the rescuers who can get into areas they were not able to get in a few days ago.
We joined a team of searchers that were in Cheatham County, and we went out to see what they're up against. Here's what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): We meet Captain Tony Clark, who's only had about eight hours' sleep since Saturday, as he leads his team into another neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lady that lives there by herself and she left yesterday.
CAPTAIN TONY CLARK, ASHLAND CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We still need to go in and do our search. I understand that. But just in case, we need to see if we can get into the house.
SAVIDGE: These specially trained firefighters were here over the weekend helping people to evacuate. Now they're back, making sure everyone made it out -- alive. CLARK: This will keep us from having to search these houses again. We'll mark them, we'll know they're clear and we won't have to come back and waste resources again.
SAVIDGE: Located down the stream from Nashville, Ashland City is still battling the water. It's down some but still has a long way to go. And so does Captain Clark.
CLARK: Everything's clear here, so we're going on to our next area from here.
SAVIDGE: A half-mile from city hall on a road that's now above ground, we hitch a ride with a group of different firefighters searching where only boats can go. For Deputy Chief Derek Noe, these are familiar waters. His son usually plays soccer on field 15 feet beneath us.
The floodwaters have brought new dangers of which propane tanks are just one.
(on camera): Here's the latest hazard these days of navigating the Cumberland. You have to avoid the traffic lights.
(voice-over): Out here, the water plays tricks on you. Some houses don't look so bad until you realize until you're looking at the third floor.
(on camera): Sunday, when these crews first came out, it was to warn the residents that the floodwaters were coming. About two-thirds decided to stay. Ever since then, the teams have been out pulling in all the people who stayed behind.
DEPUTY CHIEF DEREK NOE, ASHLAND CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We had some that even got ugly with us and said they'd sleep on their roof or whatever if they had to, that they weren't going to leave, they were going to ride it out. We picked them up the following day off their roof, so they got their wish.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Just trying to get to a home for a closer look isn't easy. First you have to clear the trees.
NOE: You don't know what's underneath you, trampolines, swimming pools.
SAVIDGE: In the end, we fortunately don't find anyone and head back. You wonder how long it will be before Ashland City gets back to normal. From the looks of things, it's going to take some time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Tony, we should point out the death toll officially in the state of Tennessee now stands at 19. As the flood waters recede, people are really getting an idea of just how bad this devastation is.
HARRIS: Yes. It looks and sounds like it's pretty nasty.
Marty, what about drinking water? We're hearing stories about pumping stations and the ability of those pumping stations to get clean water to folks.
SAVIDGE: Right. There are about 622,000 people that live in the city of Nashville. They have two water treatment plants. One of them did get flooded. The other, they barely stopped from getting flooded.
The problem is now, with only one plant, they've got to conserve water (AUDIO GAP) people to do that, many people have no -- they started filling the bathtubs, bringing in water, thinking the city is going to run dry. It won't, but the city does have to conserve, and that's something the mayor has been stressing over and over.
HARRIS: Okay, Marty Savidge for us right there on the Cumberland river. Marty, good to see you. Thank you. It could be a long, long time before Nashville is back to normal. Our Ines Ferre is following that part of the story for us. Good to see you, Ines.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony.
Let's head straight to Nashville, where we just want to show you the flooding that's taking place there. And the water is receding, as marty had just noted. We spoke to the department of transportation in Tennessee. They said that the interstates are now open. All the interstates. But they still have flooding in some areas and some of the state routes are closed.
And we also want to take you to Cheatham County. This -- now, take a look at this. This is part of a roadway, asphalt --
HARRIS: Is that like highway, freeway or something there?
FERRE: It literally is this roadway that's -- the asphalt just kind of lifted up, and it destroyed a home there. Mike and Cindy Lee, their home was destroyed. Listen to what they have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE LEE, HOME DESTROYED BY FLOODING: It was just a miracle of God. That's all you can say --
CINDY LEE, HOME DESTORYED BY FLOODING: He just kept watching.
M. LEE: If it had been at night, we would have never made it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FERRE: Saying that they're just lucky to be alive. I spoke to the Department of Transportation also. They said that with the flooding that was just so bad that, you know, it's no wonder that that happened. Now, we want to show you this video.
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
FERRE: And this is a wakeboarder. This is from one of our iReporters. He's a approached by a policeman, and he was then arrested for clinging to a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was also arrested. Some misdemeanor citations they received.
HARRIS: A couple of shots around the head and neck would be appropriate there. Oop, I didn't say that.
All right. Ines, appreciate it. Thank you.
FERRE: Yes.
HARRIS: President Obama hasn't made it to the flood zone just yet, but he's authorized a major disaster declaration for four counties, including Davidson, where Nashville is located. The declaration makes federal funding available for flood victims. Other counties in Tennessee are expected to be in the list in the coming days.
We are learning more about the suspect in the Times Square attempted bombing, including what he said to authorities. Law enforcement sources say when Faisal Shahzad was taken into custody he said, quoting now, "I was expecting you; are you NYPD or FBI?". Shahzad's father-in-law and a friend of his are among several people detained and being questioned in his native Pakistan. That's according to intelligence sources.
Department of Homeland Security is tightening the no-fly list policies in response to Shahzad's arrest. He was able to board a plane for Dubai, despite being added to the list.
What caused Faisal Shahzad to abandon what seemed like the American dream and allegedly attempt an attack in the heart of America's biggest city? CNN's Joe Johns has more on Shahzad's background.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So who is the guy who, according to authorities, has admitted of trying to blow up an SUV in Times Square?
He's 30, born in Pakistan and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He's highly educated, has an MBA, he's family man, his wife, Human Main (ph), a graduate of the University of Colorado. They have two kids, a boy and girl.
Shahzad left his job at a marketing and data management company last year and he got hit with foreclosure. He owed $200,000 on his home in Shelton, Connecticut last fall.
A neighbor who does not want to be identified said the family was low-key.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a very private person. Kept to him, liked to come out at night and wear all black and go jogging. His family, his wife didn't speak much English. His daughter played with my daughter, his oldest daughter played with my daughter. No one suspected anything that he would do something like this.
JOHNS: Other biographical notes: Shahzad's father is a retired senior Air Force officer in Pakistan.
In 2005, Shahzad graduated from the University of Bridgeport. He made little impression there.
ASST. DEAN WARD THRASHER, UNIVERSITY OF BRIDGEPORT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: People remember his name but don't remember a lot about him as a student in the classroom.
JOHNS: Still, the emerging picture of Shahzad is unsettling. Shahzad was in the U.S. on a work visa, and then a year ago, he took the oath of American citizenship. Then five months later, according to court records, he admitted having traveled to Pakistan. In fact, just last February, an immigration inspector at Kennedy Airport in New York stopped him. Authorities say Shahzad told him he had been in Pakistan for five months visiting his parents. Said he was planning on staying at a motel in Connecticut while he looked for a job and a place to live.
And he told him his wife was back in Pakistan, though something about his travel profile at the time set off red flags. For example, we know he bought a one-way ticket for the flight and paid for it with cash.
JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Without getting into a lot of detail, he was screened when he came back because some of the targeting rules applied.
JOHNS: What we now know is Shahzad admits he had bomb making training in Pakistan on one of the trips.
Back in Connecticut, Shahzad moved to an apartment in Bridgeport. One neighbor said she didn't even know he was there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So now we don't know that someone was in the second floor. I thought someone lived on the third floor, but still, we never see the guy.
JOHNS: He may have been invisible to the neighbors but he was apparently no expert at stealth and concealment. In some ways he was creating a neon sign for police pointing straight at him.
SHAKIRA ALI, SHAHZAD'S NEIGHBOR IN BRIDGEPORT: It looked like he came here last year and he bought a couple of phone cards.
JOHNS: Court records say they traced his telephone calls made on a prepaid cell phone. Calls that went to Pakistan and calls made to a fireworks store in Pennsylvania that sells the type of fireworks linked to the makeshift bomb.
Joe Johns, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. We will turn our attention back to the Gulf oil spill. A tiny bit of progress to tell you about. But who will pick up the clean-up bill, BP or the taxpayers?
First, though, "A Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Shocking police activity. Always an electric "Random Moment of the Day." This suspected carjacker caught the end of a Taser after a foot chase along Oregon's Clackamas Tiver. He even dove into the river at one point to escape, giving the Taser a little extra tingle.
And look closely here. A 17-year-old knucklehead got Tasered at the Phillies game Monday night after he ran on to the field. That's what knuckleheads do, expecially when they're 17, right?
And how about this? "A Random Moment" flashback. Classic from 2007.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tase me, bro. Don't tase me. I didn't do anything. Ow! ow! ow!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Our "Random Moment of the Day." Stories so random, we promise you'll never get burned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We're talking about a stretch of uninhabited islands selected as a refuge for wildlife, now in serious jeopardy because of a manmade disaster. Our Gary Tuchman took a boat out to the Chandeleur Islands. An area thriving in marine life. And first in line when the oil spill hits Louisiana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're 35 miles south of the Gulfport of Mississippi. These are the Chandeleur Islands, actually in Louisiana waters and right now you are looking at the oil that is threatening to come on this island.
The protective boom is right here, this yellow thing is the boom, it looks like foam but this is the oil from the massive oil slick.
People on the coastline obviously in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are very concerned. But we can tell you because we took a three and a half hour boat ride to get out here, that the oil is still at least 35 or 40 miles away. I mean, you could see it right now if it wasn't for this protective boom it would be on these islands.
These islands are amazing wildlife refuges. These are places where migratory birds come on their way between North, Central and the South America. And you can see the birds as the sun is going down on these islands.
These islands used to be about 20 miles long, north to south but because of hurricanes over the years, Katrina, George, it's now about 16 miles. And ultimately the fear is that in the years to come and there's the more damage here, the islands will be gone.
They're uninhabited no one lives here although about a couple hundred years ago, there were a couple hundred people who lived on the islands. Now, it's a wildlife refuge. The oil you see is right here next to the boom and there's great concern it will go over the boom on these islands and then on the coastline.
This is Gary Tuchman, CNN, on the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Chad Myers, I'm in your space in the Severe Weather Center.
(LAUGHTER)
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's OK. Your light, it comes this way. My light comes this way.
HARRIS: OK, we're good?
MYERS: Can't get too close, because in the middle, there's darkness.
HARRIS: Yes. We wanted to take a look at the Gulf region again. And take a look at the Gulf of Mexico because this is the window of opportunity, right?
MYERS: It is, big time. The winds have died off. This is the opportunity that they didn't have for the past seven days to corral some of this stuff with the booms and actually either light it on fire or get it off with a skimmer. Have you seen that the skimmers, how the skimmer boats work?
HARRIS: No! No.
MYERS: Man, the skimmer boats are awesome. They put a boat here and a boat here. Then skimmer boats in the back, and they connect all three of them with a boom. They all three move in unison. So, all the oil is collected in this chamber and goes back and is funneled down to the skimmer boat. The skimmer boat sucks it off.
Yes, it's pretty awesome. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil mixed in these skimmers. They're doing that. That's working. Right now, here are the numbers. Fourteen fixed-wing aircraft dropping dispersements. Doing overviews. Three remotely operated vehicles. Those are the ones that kind of go down and do their thing under water. You can't go down 5,000 feet. I mean, I'm a diver, you can't go down there. There's no such thing as anybody being able to go down there. A hundred and seventy vessels out there either taking the containment booms out or doing something with that all of that.
The good news is we had a wind for a while out of the Southwest. Today the winds have died off, and literally, this is awesome. It's not blowing toward land anymore. Not blowing toward shore.
I'm going to open up this number four, so we can put in -- we have images that we wanted to talk about. A couple of images we've been seeing. You can go on to Google Earth and type in oil slick or Gulf oil problem, and then type in images, and you will see those images. You can see the dispersements being put in the airplanes and how those things are pumped in and flown over.
HARRIS: Really? MYERS: I said weeks ago it's kind of like a 409 product. It's a little bit higher tech than that. But you're trying to cut the grease. You're trying to cut the oil. And so, as you cut the oil, you spray it over. The oil gets cut, it gets mixed in with water, and all of a sudden it flushes out.
HARRIS: Do you want to see something cool?
MYERS: Yes.
HARRIS: We can -- can we walk this way and actually take a look at the dome that's being loaded there --
MYERS: Is that live?
HARRIS: I think it is!
MYERS: No kidding.
HARRIS: OK -- it's a live picture now.
MYERS: They painted it then, because it was orange. It was kind of a rusty orange color. Unless that's another one. Painted it white -- look at that. This thing weighs tons and tons and tons. Made of concrete and steel. They are going to drop this thing on top of the --
HARRIS: The well head?
MYERS: The wellhead.
HARRIS: Really?
MYERS: It's going to go completely over the blowout preventer, because the blowout preventer -- didn't work. Blowout preventer is leaking because of the way the line kinked. So, the line kinked and oil was coming out of the top of that where the blow out preventer shouldn't be allowing it to come out.
So, all the oil is going to collect in here, float. Because oil floats. It's going to float up to this funnel, and then all of a sudden, they're going to drop a line on this funnel, and they're going to suck the oil out of that container.
So, it's going to stop the flow of oil into the water. It's going to be pumped into a ship up above. And that ship can hold about 125,000 barrels of oil before it has to be off-loaded or replaced or pumped out, whatever it is. But this is the latest and greatest possible thing they can do. That right there --
HARRIS: Yes. You took the words out of my mouth.
MYERS: That's the 30-footmark. There's 25-foot mark. But they have to tow this thing out there. They have to remotely try to operate it. Think about it -- this is -- I don't know what kind of game this is. Like playing Plachinko (ph). The winds and waves and currents are taking it back and forth, and all of a sudden, you have one wellhead that you're trying to drop it on top of. That's what they're going to try to do with it.
HARRIS: Good stuff, Chad. Got to get out of here.
Quick break. We're back in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Very quickly now, we want to get you to our Capitol Hill -- our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar, who has some important news to share with us. Brianna, what are you following right now?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this involves the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, David Obey. This is a very important role, arguably one of the most important roles that a lawmaker can play up here on the Hill.
We're hearing from Democratic sources, Tony, that he is going to announce that he is going to retire. That after this November election, this session of Congress, he is no longer going to be up here on the Hill. This is a very big deal because, as they say, the power of Congress lies with the fact that Congress controls the purse. Well, if Congress controls the purse, the Appropriations chairman is hanging on to the purse strings.
This is a role that David Obey has had for years. He has been very instrumental in helping Democrats push their legislation for years, including here in this last session of Congress. And my producer, Deirdre Walsh, has been talking with Democrats outside of a meeting they are having, normal weekly meeting. And many of them admitting this is going to be a big loss for them.
David Obey was going to be facing a very tough re-election battle in November because you have this anti-incumbent feeling, right, that we've talked so much about where you've got someone like David Obey, basically an institution, has a lot of power. But actually, that power has become a bit of a liability for him.
So, we're awaiting an announcement from him at 1:00 p.m. We don't know why. We don't know, we're going to hear about what he has to say about why he decided to step down. But politically, Republicans jumped on this, Tony. They've been calling Obey the architect of President Obama's failed stimulus. So, they're basically saying in their opinion it has to be because he was facing a tough re- election. That, of course, is the spin we're getting from that side of the aisle.
We're waiting to hear from David Obey in his own words. We're thinking that should be happening here in the next half hour or so.
HARRIS: And he was absolutely critical, as you know, Brianna, to the administration's efforts to get health care reform passed as well. I can absolutely remember seeing some of those hearings.
KEILAR: Very instrumental.
HARRIS: Yes.
KEILAR: And you have someone like Obey who has been in Congress, been in this role for so long. He understands how to get things done. And that is why Democrats say this is going to be a major loss for them going through this really tough midterm election. What's going to promise to be a tough session of Congress.
HARRIS: OK. Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar for us.
Breaking news. It's a big one, too. Brianna, appreciate it. Thank you.
The Arizona immigration law, is it fair or not? You're letting us know what you think. A couple of our CNN iReporters will give us their very different takes on it, coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're an illegal alien, you don't have rights. You should leave. Get the green card, get the proper documentation you need to be in your country, that's cool. That's fine. That's dandy. But when you're here illegally, we don't know who you are. Are you a drug dealer. Are you a terrorist? You know, that's my number one concern. Terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Pictures, information, insight you won't find anywhere else. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. Anything can happen.
HARRIS: So, the Phoenix Suns have jumped into the fight over Arizona's new immigration law. They'll wear Spanish-language jerseys that say "Los Suns" at tonight's NBA playoff game. The team says it is a way to honor the Latino community on the Cinco de Mayo holiday, but also acknowledges it's making a statement about the new law.
Reaction is mixed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's great for the Hispanic culture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't approve of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's wonderful.
STEVE KERR, PHOENIX SUNS GENERAL MANAGER: There is a political statement. And that is that, you know, we felt like however well intended, the law was not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Okay. And from the basketball court to the judicial court. Arizona's immigration law seems to have everyone talking, including our iReporters. Gabino Ramos is in Dallas. He is against the new law. And Jason Asselin is in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is in favor of stricter immigration laws.
Gabino, let me start with you. Why did you decide to share your view on this issue in an i-report?
GABINO RAMOS, OPPOSES NEW IMMIGRATION LAW: I'm sorry. I didn't hear you.
HARRIS: Why did you decide to share your views on this issue with us in the form of an iReport? What are you concerns?
RAMOS: OK, I decided -- my concern is that there are many concerns that I have for all of the Americans and the illegal immigrants or immigrants, as I like to use. People, because that's what they are. But I decided to send the iReport in because I felt like I should take a stand in what I believe in, and we're all brothers and sisters and one father --
HARRIS: What's your stand? What do you believe in?
RAMOS: I believe that what Arizona is doing is completely wrong. It's very wrong. I didn't know we can legalize racial profiling. That's what they're trying to do, exactly what they're trying to do, is legalize racial profiling. That is against the law. That is not right.
HARRIS: Gotcha. Jason, look, you live in northern Michigan. Why is this an important issue for you?
JASON ASSELIN, SUPPORTS NEW IMMIGRATION LAW: Pretty much all over the United States, we're dealing with job issues and Americans that don't have jobs. Unemployment is an all-time high in the state of Michigan. I myself right now is unemployed.
And 12 million illegal immigrants right now in this country. If we didn't have those illegal immigrants in our country, American people would be back to work. People that flock to those areas and take those jobs, and maybe I would be back to work. Maybe it would be easier for me to find work.
HARRIS: So, you at all blame the employers who hire the illegals?
ASSELIN: It's absolutely, the employers are the number one concern. When they talk about racial profiling, when you go to Mexico -- I'm sorry, when you go to Arizona and places like Memphis, you will see street corners filled with people looking for work. How come they don't go apply for work? How come they don't use a Social Security number? Those people are illegal immigrants, for the most part. So, those people are taking out of my pocket, out of American people's pockets.
HARRIS: OK. Gabino, why do you -- what do you say to people who will say to you, look, we need immigration reform and the Arizona law may not be absolutely perfect, but for a lot of people, particularly people in Arizona, 70 percent by some polls, it is a step in the right direction.
RAMOS: Okay. Well, what I would say to them is, yes, I agree. We do need immigration reform. But the way Arizona is going about it is all wrong. And you cannot make, you know, allow state by state to make their own immigration laws up and try to pass them. I mean, that has to be sent to the federal government. You know, a higher Supreme Court.
And back to what the other iReporter was saying, you know, many immigrants in this world, in the country need work. They come here for a better life, the land of opportunity, you know. And, yes --
ASSELIN: But the land of opportunity deals with -- the land of opportunity deals with-
RAMOS: I'm sorry.
ASSELIN: The land of opportunity deals with people that come into the country illegally. The people that sign - you know, that go through the proper channels, not the people that just cross our borders every day. Those people shouldn't come here and steal our work, is what they're doing.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And, Gavino, last word to you on this.
RAMOS: (INAUDIBLE).
HARRIS: OK. All right, gentleman, appreciate the debate. And thank you for your time.
ASSELIN: Thank you.
HARRIS: As we mentioned earlier, today is a very important day for Mexican-Americans. Cinco de Mayo simply means May 5th in English. It marks the anniversary of the 1862 Mexican military victory over the French. Interestingly enough, it is a much bigger holiday here in the United States than in Mexico. And with the new debate over Arizona's immigration law, it has taking on special significance this year.
It is going to cost, I don't have to tell you, a pretty penny to clean up this mess. Will taxpayers get stuck with the bill for the Gulf oil spill?
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, Mark, come on over here. I want to direct everyone again to cnnmoney.com. If you want the latest financial news and analysis, this is the best site in the business. And our Money team does a terrific job. The lead story here, "what's missing from Wall Street reform." A lot of folks say a lot is missing.
Let's get you to the middle screen here for a look at stocks. New York Stock Exchange. Three hours into the trading day. We've been in negative territory for most of the day and it remains the case. We're down seven. NASDAQ, Jen, what was that again? NASDAQ is down 13. We'll follow these numbers for you throughout the day here in the NEWSROOM.
And while we're focusing on money, let's discuss for a minute here the growing bill related to that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Cost estimates for clean-up of the damages are right now well into the billion of dollars. I think I heard a figure earlier today of about $14 billion when all is said and done. We're getting conflicting messages on who will pick up that tab. Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on that story.
And, Dana, good to see you.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You too.
HARRIS: What's the bottom line on this? Is BP ultimately, as the president has suggested, going to pick up the whole tab on this?
BASH: There's confusion over the answer to that question, Tony. You mentioned that the cost could be about $14 billion. Well, federal law only requires BP to spend $75 million in economic damages. And you listen to the White House, they say, of course BP is going to pay.
But there's a lot of skepticism here on Capitol Hill, especially from Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. He met with BP executives yesterday at their request. And afterwards, I want you to hear what he said about this. But first, I also want to play for you what the BP CEO said in response to a question from our own Ted Barrett about this issue. He said that they would pay legitimate costs, but never explained what legitimate is. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HAYWARD, BP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: What I said is what I mean. All legitimate claims will be honored. And I would add one further point. I think it is inevitable that the over-cap will be exceeded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: The CEO of BP has stated that they expect to exceed the liability cap of $75 million. And when I said, will you be responsible for the economic damages, he said, that is something that we will have to work out in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Whoa, yes.
BASH: Now, after that meeting last night, Senator Bill Nelson there, along with some other senators, formally introduced legislation that would bump that cap up significantly to $10 billion and make it retroactive. I just asked the Senate majority leader a few moments ago whether he supported that. He said, yes, but wouldn't commit to bring it to the Senate floor. HARRIS: Yes. And, Dana, as BP gets set to face a lot of scrutiny over this, probably important to make the point that this is a company that kind of knows its way around Washington, D.C., a bit.
BASH: Oh, they sure do. I mean, look, let's just start with the question of whether or not -- they were here yesterday and they were here making the rounds big time.
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: And one of the things that they did was they met with the committee that is going to be investigating them. An interesting tactic there. They were invited by the committee. But what was fascinating, Tony, is that it was bipartisan. That they were not satisfied with their answers. Joe Barton, a Republican, said that they looked like deer in head lights. Those are the executives. And listen to what Democrat Ed Markey said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We asked a lot of questions. We did not get all of the answers that the American people, but especially the people down in the Gulf region really deserve. BP is now known as British Petroleum. If this leak is not shut off soon, it will become known as bayou polluter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now they're very frustrated that there not only are not answers, but that they say that BP simply did not prepare for this worst case scenario and they simply don't understand why they're doing it, in their words, on the fly and on the run.
You mentioned the fact that they are no - that BP is no stranger to Washington.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
BASH: I just want to quickly put up some numbers on the screen for you just to show you how much they've invested in lobbying and campaign money. First of all, in lobbying, last year, nearly $16 million. And this year alone, they have already spent over $3.5 million. That's just in lobbying.
And then campaign contributions in the last decade, Tony, over $3 million. And this year, in this election cycle alone, already spent $108,000 and the tab is running up. And guess what, the committee that received the most campaign contributions from BP is the committee that will hear BP executives next week.
HARRIS: Isn't that amazing.
BASH: They know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes, yes, for sure. All right, our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. Dana, great to see you, as always. Thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Greece convulses in violence. The latest developments when we check top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: OK, let's do this. Let's get you caught up on top stories now.
Flood waters in Nashville, Tennessee, finally receding after catastrophic downpours left entire neighborhoods submerged. The mayor is asking for donations of diapers, formula, brooms, mops and additional clean-up supplies.
Athens, Greece, now. We'll take a look at these pictures. Police sirens and the smell of tear gas fill the streets around the parliament building after protests against government spending cuts turn violent, then deadly. Three people were killed when a fire bomb hit a bank in the center of the city.
And here in the United States, the arrest of that New York bombing attempt suspect aboard an airplane is prompting stricter rules for the no-fly list. Airlines now required to check the list within two hours of being notified about changes. They were previously required to check for updates every 24 hours.
Got to tell you, British voter go to the polls tomorrow, but it could be foreigners who ultimately decide the winner. Really? I'll explain.
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HARRIS: Immigration issues in Great Britain under the microscope for upcoming parliamentary elections. The British public has been growing increasingly frustrated. CNN's Atika Shubert is in the middle of it all in London for us.
And, Atika, tomorrow voters are headed to the polls. And just like here in the United States, immigration is a major issue. How do the candidates for prime minister stand on this issue?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some pretty big differences here. David Cameron of the conservatives says that they want to put a cap, a numerical maximum limit, on the number of non- E.U. immigrants that come here. Gordon Brown of labor has already put in place a points based system, and that basically allows for immigration, but only in certain area where's there's a skill shortage in Britain. And then Nick Clegg (ph) of the liberal democrats, who's made some gains in recent polls, is saying that he also wants to see a one-time offer for immigrants that are here illegally to get an earned citizenship, provided that they don't have a criminal record.
But the thing is, even with all of these three proposals, for most voters, this doesn't really hit the issue, because what they're worried about is immigration that's coming from Eastern Europe. And it's perfectly legal for them to come over, according to the European Union laws. In fact, in a recent poll by CNN/UGOV (ph) shows that voters say -- 77 percent of voters say they want net immigration to decrease, no matter which where it comes from.
Tony.
HARRIS: So, Atika, maybe you can take us right there into the neighborhoods. What does the immigration issue look like on the ground there?
SHUBERT: It really depends on where you are. But we did go to one area in the U.K., Peterborough, where they've had more than 20,000 immigrants coming there since 2004. Many of them from Eastern Europe. And the recession has made some of them homeless and without a job. Here's a look at what we found there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT (voice-over): Meet Milash (ph). For the last year he's been living on the banks of the river Nine (ph), with his partner, Yitana (ph), in a tent made of plastic tarp and old wooden pallets.
SHUBERT (on camera): But you stay here all winter, December, January, February, you're here?
MILASH: Here. (INAUDIBLE).
SHUBERT: It's too cold. Too cold.
MILASH: Here. (INAUDIBLE).
SHUBERT (voice-over): Milash is from Slovakia. Yitana is from Lithuania. And under EU regulations, both can work here legally and, in broken English, Milash explains neither wants to go home. They do odd jobs and seasonal work, gardening, painting, picking produce and sometimes factory work earning about 20 pounds, or $50 a day. That's much more than they could get back home. When they have enough money, they rent an apartment. When they don't, they live here.
Milash and Yitana have the right to work here, but if they go without work employment for more than three months, they can be deported and they fear separated. An estimated 20,000 immigrants have come to Peterborough since 2004, the year the U.K. became a part of the EU and opened its doors to Europe.
Most are from Eastern Europe and many have found steady jobs, boosting the local economy. But others, like Milash, have not, and the burden on public services has grown. Local council member Charles Swift says either there needs to be less immigrants or more money for local government. And he wants tough action on migrants sleeping rough.
CHARLES SWIFT, PETERBOROUGH COUNCILLOR: Tomorrow I would open a place and with all these camps down, I'd raise them to the ground and get them all into empty factory units, sew the wheat from the chaff and then those that should not be here, or illegal, and causing all the problems that we've got, they'd be on the next boat out.
SHUBERT: For locals their new neighbors have become part of the community, for good and bad. Chris (ph) owns a canal boat and lives on the river.
CHRIS: We need them. Without them our economy - it would fail. A lot of people see it as a problem.
SHUBERT: They have become visible symbols of Britain's immigration woes with no easy solutions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SHUBERT: Now Milahs and Yitana, of course, won't be voting, but it's their case that will be on the minds of voters when they go to the polls tomorrow, Tony.
HARRIS: All right, CNN's Atika Shubert for us in London.
Atika, good to see you. Thank you.
Hey, we've got a live picture we want to show you right now. Let's see, is that picture up here? All right, there we go. This is from Port Hushan (ph). That's in Louisiana.
And, Chad, come on in here and help me with this. This is that giant container dome, right?
MYERS: Yes, when you hear the word dome, you expect it to be round, like the Georgia Dome.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: This is a box, OK, with a funnel on top. And it is going to be lowered over the top of the wellhead. All the oil is going to leak into it instead of the water.
HARRIS: Yes.
MYERS: They're going to suck the oil out of that thing, because the oil is going to float to the top of that funnel like device. You see above the letter "s." So that's "sw", I guess that's south and west or that -- could that actually work? Yes, that would work. So that would work, south, west, east. I didn't know what the "w" was earlier. I saw just the "w" and went, oh, that's interesting, they put a "w" on there.
But so that's how they know how to align it when it gets down to the bottom because it could probably spin on the way down. That means that it's probably not a square. They made it some type of oblong issue to fit over the top of this blowout preventer. And so the oil that's leaking out of this kink in the blowout preventer's hose is going to go right into this thing and they're going to take it to the top.
And they're also, today, brand new, just coming off of the wires, they're going to start these controlled burns again today.
HARRIS: Oh, good. Good, good, good.
MYERS: And we thought that the weather was going to be good enough and this was going to be a great window of opportunity for that. And, in fact, that's the case.
HARRIS: All right. More with Chad in just a couple of minutes.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: I got to tell you, while the Gulf Coast oil spill hasn't hit the shore just yet, it already is taking a terrific toll on marine life. CNN's David Mattingly went out into the Gulf to get a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boat captains in port told us where to find it, an ugly reddish brown wave of oil. A bumpy two-hour ride later, it was impossible to miss.
MATTINGLY (on camera): Finally, here we are 15 miles out. We slowed down. The seas are still pretty rough, as you can see. But I don't know if you can see it or not. Just right here in front of us, looks almost like a red muddy line through the water. That is the oil.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger believes the impact on wildlife is inevitable.
LARRY SCHWEIGER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: You can see it's been treated, so it's breaking up and it's dispersing into the water column.
MATTINGLY: It looks like pea-sized blobs in the water. Millions of them, all the way down.
MATTINGLY (on camera): OK. I'm going to grab a towel here. This stuff is rubbing up against the side of the boat. There it is. That's what's in the water. That's sticking to the side of the boat right there.
SCHWEIGER: Yes.
MATTINGLY: If this is doing this to the boat, what is it going to do to anything that lives in this water?
SCHWEIGER: It's going to be very, very hard on the fish and shellfish.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): And the oil seems to go on forever.
MATTINGLY (on camera): Over here, as far as the eye can see, there is like a red line of that oil going right across the Gulf of Mexico. It is endless. MATTINGLY (voice-over): And as bad as it looked, it was about to get worse.
MATTINGLY (on camera): This is something we didn't expect to see. This is a sea turtle. It's right here in the water. It's right near the top. It's swimming right in the middle of all that oily mess out there. We're going to try and get as close as we can to --
SCHWEIGER: And he's having trouble. That's why he's doing that. He should not be doing that.
MATTINGLY: He's clearly in distress. The turtle has to come up for air.
SCHWEIGER: The turtle's coming up for air. And when it does, it's gulping the surface and it's picking up that oil that's floating on the surface.
MATTINGLY: So it's taking it into its body.
SCHWEIGER: So it's taking it into its body. And, of course, if you're drinking oil, it's not good for the digestive system. So he's in distress.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): It seemed to be having breathing problems. After a few moments, it disappeared into the reddish oily muck.
MATTINGLY (on camera): OK, we're about to take off. Didn't want to leave without getting a souvenir. There it is, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. That's just one leading band of it. And you can see how it's floating to the top and how nasty it is. All of this is going that way back towards shore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK, very quickly, let me do this here. Let's go - let's go to live pictures. Do we have those from Port Hushan on the coast of Louisiana? Terrific. This is the giant container, the container dome, that will be leaving port shortly. And here's the plan. The plan is to lower that container some 5,000 feet into the water off the coast of Louisiana, Chad, right?
MYERS: It looks like they cut the bottom off of a milk carton. And now they're going to put the milk carton over a hose and try to get all that stuff - but it's going to work because the oil is going to float to the top of that box and they're going to vacuum it off.
HARRIS: Yes. OK, fingers crossed. We need it to work.
MYERS: Yes. Absolutely.
HARRIS: We really need it to work.
MYERS: It better work.
HARRIS: All right, Chad is back at the top of the hour. Let's take a break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon in for Ali Velshi.
