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New Strategy to Contain Gulf Oil Spill; Miami's Farmers Market; Star Lacrosse Player Murdered

Aired May 05, 2010 - 13:59   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's kick off our next hour here on CNN.

Here's what I've got "On the Rundown" for you.

The oil is still gushing in the Gulf right now, moving toward precious shores. If today's latest strategy doesn't work, what then?

Plus, austerity measures -- austerity measures -- a complicated terms with complicated consequences. Just ask anyone in Europe.

This hour, our "Word Play" puts it in layman's terms for you.

Then my "XYZ" on the personal toll of terror on each of us and how whether we realize it or not, we instinctively protect what some want to destroy.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

It is new, it is big, and it has never been tried before, at least not 5,000 feet below the ocean. We're talking about a four-story, 100-ton concrete-and-steel box. It is now one giant unit and the best short- term solution to containing that disastrous oil spill threatening sea life and livelihoods all along the Gulf Coast.

Here's what this complicated -- this completed box looks like.

Right now, a barge is hauling it 50 miles offshore to the site of the blown-out undersea well. Once in place, the box will be lowered 5,000 feet to a position just over the ruptured oil pipe. If all goes according to plan, it will siphon some of the more than 200,000 gallons of oil that has been spewing into the Gulf each day since the big oil rig exploded and sank back on April 20th.

To visualize this, imagine an upside down funnel. An upside down funnel.

Now, if it works -- and it's a big "if" -- BP plans to lower a second smaller container to deal with a second leak in the pipe. You'll recall the pipe originally had three leaks.

And last night a victory of sorts in this battle. BP succeed in capping one of those leaks. Now, that didn't cut the flow of oil, but BP says it makes it easier to deal with the other two. So, joining us now on the phone from Robert, Louisiana, to tell us more about the giant box, its construction, and just how it will hopefully work, the man's name is John Curry. He is the director of external affairs for BP.

So, welcome to the show. Thank you very much.

We saw live pictures just a short time ago of that containment box being sent out. How long did it take to build this contraption, and the what are the chances of it working, sir?

JOHN CURRY, DIRECTOR, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, BP: Well, hi, Don. It's good to be here today.

The design and the implementation and the engineering and the fabrication of that containment system really was, as you can imagine, moved forward very quickly. We started -- the fabrication yard started building that containment system just a week ago, a week ago Monday.

They finished it yesterday. We've loaded it on the ship. As you say, it will sail out to the location, where we will lower it down over the major source of the leak underground, on the sea floor, and hopefully can funnel that well to the surface and help mitigate any impact to the environment.

LEMON: You said it funnels the oil to the surface. Basically, it sucks it up. And then what? Where does the oil go?

CURRY: Well, there will be a drill ship on the surface, and the containment system will be connected with a pipe from the containment system, all the way to the drill ship, where the oil will be taken off and put onto the ship, and collected and captured there. So, it will help to -- you know, it will help to minimize the impact into the ocean.

LEMON: How much at one time can it handle?

CURRY: The drill ship I think is capable of -- has storage capacity of 130-some-odd thousand barrels. It has a containment -- is capable of containing 139,000 barrels.

LEMON: OK, 139,000 barrels. I have to ask you this real quick.

CURRY: Sure.

LEMON: What if it doesn't work?

CURRY: Well, we are continuing to do whatever we can to ensure that it will work. We have the ROVs on the seabed currently right now that are preparing the seabed so that when this system comes down, it will enhance our chances for success. And our engineers are continuing to look at all different options.

We continue, of course, to try to activate that blowout preventer. We continue to try to mitigate the impact to the environment with some dispersants through the skimming. This is one option that we think will have a very good chance of success.

LEMON: Well, we hope it is successful, John Curry. Everyone, the entire country, really praying that this works.

He's the director of external affairs for BP, John Curry.

Thanks for your time. Please come back and update us, OK?

CURRY: Will do. Thanks.

LEMON: And it's time now for what we call "Sound Effect," few words that shed light on a very big story.

Today, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg almost pleaded with Congress to make it tougher for people on terrorism watch lists to buy guns.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: Our founding fathers did not write the Second Amendment to empower people who wanted to terrorize a free state. They wrote it to protect people who could defend the security of a free state.

Today, the security of our free state is being tested by terrorists, and I urge you to take the commonsense steps in this law to strengthen law enforcement, including closing the terror gap, and to protect the American people from more attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And guess what? That hearing was on the books before the Times Square bomb attempt, which New York's police commissioner points out was the 11th known terror plot targeting New York since 9/11.

Boy, oh, boy.

Birds, fish, jobs, people's livelihoods all could be victims of this disastrous spill. We'll look at the potential impacts, straight ahead, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Want to tell you a little bit more now on the growing Gulf oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

As we told you, a barge right now is hauling a giant 100-ton concrete- and-steel box out to the site of that spill. The game plan is to lower the box five feet to just below that well, and to suck out the gushing oil from that ruptured pipe.

Now, BP says it is the best short-term solution to containing that spill. The best one so far.

Now, last night, BP capped off three of those leaks. The latest satellite images indicate the oil has reached the Mississippi Delta and nearby islands off the coast of Louisiana.

Now, what's not clear right now is whether the oil is on the shore, but one official says it is very close. The images also show the oil drifting south towards a loop (ph) current. Scientists say the current, well, it could carry it toward Florida and the Florida Keys.

Boy, what is mess if that happens.

Officials say that the long-term effects of the spill on wildlife are not even clear yet, but dead endangered turtles have been washing up on Gulf Coast beaches, but they have no sign of oil. That's a very interesting part of this story. Federal officials are checking to see if aggressive shrimpers may have killed them.

Meantime, the efforts are full speed right now, full speed ahead in the containment effort by volunteers. The U.S. Coast Guard says it is planning to corral some oil and set on it fire. And local shrimpers are planning to use their boats to put down more boom in that area.

In all, about 7,900 people are working to protect the shoreline and wildlife, and some 170 boats are also helping with the cleanup.

Hey, listen. We want to get back to some breaking news we told you about in the last hour here on CNN. It is a refinery fire. It's in San Antonio, just southeast of downtown San Antonio.

Look at that big plume of smoke that we're seeing there. Imagine the possible environmental hazards here.

CNN has confirmed at least two people have been injured in this blast. This fire started at this AGE refinery. This refinery handles petroleum products, jet fuel, diesel. Founded back in 1991.

Again, two injuries here. It's a massive fire just southeast of San Antonio. It's an oil refinery, AGE refinery.

We'll continue to update you on this breaking news story right here on CNN just as soon as we get more information. So make sure you stay with us.

Next here, finding fresh food in the middle of one of America's biggest cities. We're "Building Up America" right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Bright lights, big city and -- farmers?

In the streets of Miami, something is sprouting up, and John Zarrella says it is helping to "Build Up America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the shadow of high- rises, a garden of greens: turnips, broccoli and something called callaloo, or Jamaican spinach.

(on camera): So, do you cook them or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we prepare them for cooking.

ZARRELLA: Or you put them in a salad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We cook them.

ZARRELLA: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put them in salad, too.

(voice-over): Here, too, once a week on Wednesdays, small family farmers sell their produce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have to go to Canada for greenhouse cucumbers anymore. You can go right to homestead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's absolutely delicious.

ZARRELLA: This is Overtown, smack in the middle of downtown Miami. A supermarket? Not around here. In a unique way, this farmers market fills that void.

Here, Eddie Stewart can use cash or his EBT card, known as food stamps, to fill his bag with fruits and vegetables.

EDDIE STEWART, OVERTOWN RESIDENT: It's homegrown, more fresh than anything else. You can't beat that. .

ZARRELLA: And you can't beat the prices. For every $1 in food stamps --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does $21 work? Is $21 good?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-one dollars is good.

ZARRELLA: -- you get $2 worth of produce, even exotic fruits like loquat

(on camera): I don't know. What does it taste like? You're the chef.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of them are sweet, others --

MICHEL NISCHAN, FOUNDER, WHOLESOME WAVE FOUNDATION: It's like a cross between an apple, a melon and a kiwi.

ZARRELLA (voice-over): This subsidized market is the brainchild of chef Michel Nischan. There are more than 100 now open around the country funded by donations and money from Nischan's foundation. The idea? Give small family farmers an outlet for their locally-grown produce.

Try tamarind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're eating the flesh which is around the seed.

NISCHAN: You think Worcestershire.

ZARRELLA: Most importantly, this market provides fresh food at an affordable price to communities where access to groceries is limited.

NISCHAN: When you provide the access and the resources, both, miracles happen. It's pretty cool.

ZARRELLA: You can pick up the "Overtown Cookbook" here, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we have a dessert. This is a mango- banana smoothie with granola.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Oh, I like that a lot.

(voice-over): Students at the neighborhood's Booker T. Washington High produced the book using recipes from home, but substituted healthy ingredients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of using molasses to sweeten up your food, you can use things like honey, apple juice.

ZARRELLA: In this neighborhood, the seeds of healthy eating have definitely taken root.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, John.

The TSA is tightening up its rules for its no-fly list after the suspect in that failed Times Square bombing boarded a plane and nearly slipped across the Atlantic. Until now, airlines have had 24 hours to check the list once it's updated. Now they have two.

Faisal Shahzad is facing WMD and terror charges here in the U.S., and several of his associates have been detained in Pakistan.

A series of jobs reports released today show that the unemployment picture may be getting brighter. Thirty-two thousand jobs were added to the private sector payrolls last month. That's according to ADP Employer Services. And another firm says planned job cuts in April dropped to the lowest level in nearly four years. All of this hints at good news at the government report due at the end of the week.

And Argentina's lower house of Congress has approved a law allowing same-sex marriage. Government-run media reports that the bill passed the Chamber of Deputies early today by about 15 votes. The Argentinean Senate will have to pass the measure before it becomes law.

It's back. Ash from that Icelandic volcano is causing more headaches for travelers. Airports in Scotland, Ireland and northern Ireland are closed right now. What is going on? This is the second straight day of restrictions there.

We'll be on this story for you when we go "Off the Radar," everyone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hey, a must-needed dry spell is on tap for much of Tennessee.

Boy, boy, boy, Chad Myers. They certainly need it. They've gotten bombarded, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They really have.

LEMON: Let's go Iceland.

MYERS: "Off the Radar."

LEMON: "Off the Radar."

Wait for it. There we go.

MYERS: All right. There's the volcano, here's the ash. It's back, all the way --

LEMON: Wow.

MYERS: I know. All the way from here, from the volcano, back down into Scotland and Ireland, back through the U.K., and maybe even down to the northeastern tip there of France. And then it's going to make a big swing and back up here.

Now, this wasn't a major eruption. What it was, was a major change in the wind direction that we've had. And so now the wind direction is blowing it in the direction of Europe, where the past couple of weeks, when we stopped talking about this, it was blowing it off to the east.

LEMON: We don't want what we had the past couple weeks, because that really threw a monkey wrench, as they say, into travel, not only in this area, but everywhere.

MYERS: I think this could be on and off for two years.

LEMON: Yes.

I like hanging out over here with you. I always learn a lot. This is great.

MYERS: Come on by.

LEMON: All right. I'm going to stay here.

Can somebody else do the rest of the show? Chad and I are going to talk.

MYERS: All right. We'll just chat.

LEMON: Thank you for taking us "Off the Radar," Chad. Thank you very much.

Endless campaigning, fiery debates, gaffers, controversies? Well, welcome to the democratic process. Talking about in Britain.

The U.K. is about to choose a prime minister. And we're about to go "Globe-Trekking" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is a really a disturbing that we have to tell you about, a pool of blood on a pillow, a fist-sized hole in a bedroom door, and an alleged murder confession. These are the details that are emerging from the University of Virginia right now after a star lacrosse player was found dead, allegedly at the hands of her ex-boyfriend.

Both Yeardley Love and George Huguely were chasing bright futures, just weeks away from graduating from UVA and playing in the lacrosse national tournament. But that all ended early on Monday.

A search warrant says that Huguely admitted to officers that he beat down the door to Love's bedroom, shook her violently, and banged her head against the wall over and over before leaving with her computer. Now Huguely sits in a jail cell, charged with first-degree murder. And his lawyer calls Love's death an accident with a tragic outcome.

Now, this isn't Huguely's first legal trouble.

In November of 2008, an officer in Lexington, Virginia, shocked him with a stun gun after resisting arrest for public intoxication. And police say they are checking into witness reports that Huguely was seen drinking in the hours before he showed up here at his ex- girlfriend's apartment.

Her body was found after a 911 call from Love's roommate concerned about alcohol poisoning. But by the time police arrived, they say Love was already dead.

So, who exactly is George Huguely?

He came from an affluent family in suburban D.C., and he went to the same prep school as several of those Duke University lacrosse players involved in a sex scandal. Remember?

Well, in 2006, Huguely actually spoke to "The Washington Post" defending them. Now, he's quoted as saying -- here it is -- "I sympathize for the team. They've been scrutinized so hard, and no one knows what has happened yet. In this country, you're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I think that is the way it should be."

All charges were eventually dropped in that case.

And the University of Virginia has decided that it will compete in the NCAA lacrosse tournament later this month to honor the memory of Yeardley Love.

The women's team in which Love was a star defender is ranked fifth, and to say that she will be remembered fondly is really an understatement. Love died Monday, and already more than 16,000 people have signed up for a Facebook page in her memory.

It is "Globe-Trekking" time here on CNN, and time is running out for the men who want to lead Britain, to win friends and influence voters.

Tomorrow's Election Day there, and CNN's Josh Levs joins me now to check across the pond.

What do you have? How are you getting over there? Are you walking, running, flying? What are you doing?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll do it any which way. I love it over there. Except for the weather.

Do you know something? We have some crazy election times in this country, we have some very close elections in this country. But what we're going to tell you about right now, folks, is maybe unlike anything you've ever seen.

Let's start by going "Globe-Trekking."

Here we are in America. We talked to you about Greece last hour. Right now we're talking to you about what's going on in the U.K. We've got the closest general election in nearly two decades, and that is just scratching the surface.

Let's go to these pictures. I want to talk to you a little bit about what the situation is right there.

What you have are three men who are in such an incredibly tight race, that there might be the first -- what's called a hung parliament in nearly 40 years, more than 35 years. And no one knows this story better than our Robin Oakley, who is going to join us right now.

Robin, talk to me about this. Can you just start off helping our viewers understand, why is it that now things are so tight in that election?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because the British public has been yearning for change after a corrupt parliament which was dominated by MPs' expenses scandals. They were look for change. They weren't quite convinced, many of them, that David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, was quite what they were looking for.

And suddenly, we had the first round of TV leadership debates in a British election ever between Gordon Brown, the prime minister, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats. And he was undoubtedly the star of the first two debates. Normally he gets howled down in the House of Commons because there aren't so liberal Democrat MPs.

He came through in the first two debates. People began to say, oh, maybe this is the change we want. And it's become, as you were explaining, a three-horse race. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Robin, you know, in the United States we can look back to the Nixon era at the time the TV debates began the way it changed politics in this country, changed the way presidential election works. Now, what we're seeing, across the pond, our friends over there are having similar changes in their own ways as a result of this introduction of this TV debates in a major role.

Let me just (inaudible) quickly on the screen behind me. I just want everyone to see, we have information and a lot of these are coming from cnn.com, where we talk to you about specifics about who all these are. Can you tell me, Robin, what happens if, as a lot of people expect, tomorrow this race takes place and there is not a winner? What happens to the government there?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Everything depends on the arithmetic really. There are 650 members of the House of Commons. To get a majority, you need 326 seats. Now, if a party - if the conservatives, who are in the lead in the polls, fail to get that 326, then there is a possibility, say the liberal democrats come through with 70, 80, 90 seats, that if the combination of the conservatives and the liberal democrats would give a majority, then they could combine in a coalition or in a working arrangement.

But, of course, they could - the liberal democrats could also possibly combine with labor. If labor is not too far behind, and such are the quirks of the British voting system that labour could even finish with the third share of the vote but more seats than the conservatives and the liberal democrats.

LEVS: You know, even I need a flowchart to follow this. Let me do this, we've got an American audience right now and I want to you a little bit talk among these three men, you're talking about Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg, is one of them a bigger friend to the United States? What impact will we see to America based on what may happen in this race if one of them does get a victory here?

OAKLEY: Gordon Brown has always been an instinctive ally of the United States. He always used to take his holidays in Cape Cod, for example, he's got lots of friends in the American political circles. David Cameron, it's a little bit difficult to say at the moment. He's an unknown quantity in terms of foreign affairs, foreign relations, but he's very euro skeptic. He wouldn't find it easy working with the European Union and American leaders these days want a British prime minister who can work effectively with the European Union and perhaps be a bit of a bridge for them as Tony Blair was.

Nick Clegg, liberal democrat, again not an awful lot known about him. Americans might be worried that he is prepared to put Britain's nuclear missile system - they tried the nuclear defense system into a defense review which the other two parties are saying they wouldn't do.

LEVS: Wow, those are fascinating, relevant values to the United States. Really quickly before I let you go, you've been covering this for us for a long time, you've been in the UK. Have you ever seen anything like what you're facing today?

OAKLEY: No. We just haven't had this kind of three-horse race, and it's really genuinely exciting.

LEVS: It is fascinating. Robin Oakley, thank you so much. Before we go, I want to see if we can take the camera and zoom way in. Is that possible? Can we way in here? I want everyone to see how carefully CNN is breaking down this race for you. Not only are we talking to you about who these candidates are, but we're actually talking to you about some of their major policy positions on all sorts of things. Where they stood on the Iraq war, for instance?

And also some of their major policies that they would enact if they do ultimately get power, including where they stand on the environment, all sorts of major issues to talk about. And I tell you, this is going to be a fascinating race for us to follow here at CNN. And I encourage you to follow it with us.

Don, this is a heck of a day to go "globe trekking" when we're seeing an historic race in a neighbor across the pond that for the first time with the TV debates and is now seeing a race unlike anything before, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: After listening to Robin Oakley, I thought, you know, you would come back with a British accent.

LEVS: You know what, when I'm there for a couple of few weeks, it starts to happen. But I didn't want to sound like Madonna.

LEMON: Quirks. That Madonna thing. All right. Thank you very much, Josh Levs, very interesting.

You know, for a lot of people who are homeless, better days ahead can seem impossible. We're going to meet someone who has taken that on as his mission possible. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to give you some of your top stories right now. A lot of people are wondering how a suspect in the botched Times Square car bomb was able to board a plane headed out of the country even though he was on a no-fly list. The Department of Homeland Security is now changing its no-fly policies to prevent that from happening again.

Faisal Shahzad was arrested Monday before the plane took off and allegedly has claimed responsibility. Other suspects have been arrested in Pakistan, but there aren't many details about them yet.

And in Tennessee, record floods have claimed 18 lives. Water levels are slowly coming down in Nashville, half of the deaths or most of the damage occurred there. In all the weekend storms killed 28 people across three states.

And in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has started hauling out a giant box meant to contain the growing oil spill. The company plans to put the container under water by about 5,000 feet. Above the ruptured pipe that continues to leak hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude each day.

Take a look at this. Live pictures now of that going out. It is going out now and they hope to contain most of it. It's only going to be about 85 percent containment once they do it, but, again, it is hopeful that this will work, and if they are able to do that, then that continues to full containment, we hope. They've also been spraying chemicals, dispersant chemicals. You heard our Chad Myers talking about that. Live pictures, we'll keep you updated and see what happens there in the gulf coast. Fingers crossed everyone.

Along with our new studio that you see here, isn't it beautiful? Very nice. You know, we're launching some new segments here this week to help you as a viewer. (inaudible) This one segment we call "Mission Possible" OK? We want to introduce you to people who aren't in the limelight but deserve to be in the limelight, people who are changing lives and often saving them.

Today's "Mission Possible" guest heads up a group called, guess what, "Mission Possible." So it is apropos that he's here. His name is Brian Postlewait and he joins us now from Vancouver. Good to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us. Listen, "Mission Possible," how did it come about?

BRIAN POSTLEWAIT, "MISSION POSSIBLE" : Well, we started about 20 years ago, providing basic street-level care for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Vancouver's downtown east side. But over the last couple years we've begun developing some social entrepreneurial kinds of programs. We just started a property maintenance company this last year. It's providing flexible supportive work for people experiencing barriers to traditional employment.

LEMON: Often when you see homeless people, you see people on the street, you think that they are, you know, unthought about, uncared for, that no one cares. So for you, did you - how did this place on your heart, you feel, to go out and help people who were essentially voiceless?

POSTLEWAIT: Yes, you know what, I think in my own life experience, opportunities from people and at times felt like I'm on the margins myself, but have experienced transformation in my life, and I see people on the street in Vancouver, some people look and say they really don't have - they have some challenges, some difficulties, but those are people with assets, abilities, capacities.

They just need to be cultivated out, and people have a lot to give, even those who are on the margins.

LEMON: You know, you see - when you see people on the street, you see homeless people, a lot of people shy away from them, some of them don't want to talk. You see them asking for money or what have you, most people don't have as close interaction with the homeless. What do you want people to know about them? And do you want to change their minds? I'm sure.

POSTLEWAIT: Yes. Totally. You know, I think the stereotype is someone who's homeless or on the street doesn't want to work, but I got to tell you from my own personal experience, people are knocking down my door every day. They want a job. They may not be able to work a full-time job. They may be a disability issue or a mental health issue that presents a particular challenge, but people want to work. People want to contribute. People want to give back. People want to have a sense of purpose and meaning in life, to have a sense of dignity. And so I think that we as individuals who maybe have resources need to begin to find creative ways to offer those opportunities to folks.

So, you know, go down to your - your local homeless shelter and volunteer. Maybe you're out of work yourself. Spend some time volunteering, and what we find is that people experience a real sense of transformation and they begin to give back.

LEMON: You know, I was just going to say that. I hear your pillars are someone, somewhere, something. And that's what your three pillars, really your mission. But, you know, I find that - and most people will say and I've experienced it myself, when you give or you help someone yourself, usually you end up, at least I fell, that you get more out of it than the person you're trying to help.

POSTLEWAIT: Oh, definitely, definitely, yes. I mean, we have stories over and over again where people come down, and maybe they start, they just start simply serving a meal to someone who is hungry, but they recognized the humanity in the person they're serving, that could be my sister, or brother, my mother, my father, and they experience a sense of transformation, at least somehow close to the social distance between those they are supposedly in need and those who supposedly have everything going for themselves, and we recognize the humanity in one another and I think that's where real social change begins to happen.

LEMON: Someone, somewhere, something. Brian Postlewait is the CEO of "Mission Possible" and we hope his message will catch on. Thank you, sir, best of luck to you, OK.

POSTLEWAIT: Thank you, Don. Thank you.

LEMON: Coming up next, Cinco de Mayo. There he is, Ed Henry. Come on, wave at us.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Me?

LEMON: Yes, you. Cinco de mayo turns political for an NBA team, now the White House might weigh in. There you see Ed Henry, he's got the lowdown coming up in our "the Ed Henry segment." OK, Ed, see you on the other side of the break, OK?

HENRY: See you, Don.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Take a look now at live pictures. This is from Fort Fourchon down in Louisiana. We're looking at that containment vessel that we told you about that's going to be lowered down 5,000 feet to the ocean floor to try to cap off that gushing well that has been spewing oil in the Gulf of Mexico for days and days and days now, and you've seen the oil all across the water.

These are live pictures. We actually have a crew who was out on a boat taking pictures and you see it going on out to sea. We spoke with a representative from BP earlier here on CNN, and, he said you know, he said they're pretty sure it's going to work. He said he's pretty sure, nothing is 100 percent, but the entire country especially the folks down there in the Gulf of Mexico, they are hoping that this works because they're concerned about wildlife, of course, they're concerned about seafood, really, their livelihoods and if it gets into the rivers and tributaries, it will cause a whole much bigger mess.

Let's hope they do it. Live pictures coming from the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to stay on top of this story.

Hey, why don't we go live to Washington, D.C., right now, politics and basketball. We know the president likes basketball. Well, they don't always mix, politics and basketball. But the Phoenix Suns are throwing themselves into the immigration debate and now I'm hearing the president might weigh in?

Ed Henry, what's that all about, sir?

HENRY: Well, Don, you're right. You saw the Phoenix Suns have these uniforms that say low suns. They're going to show them tonight, wear them tonight for Cinco de Mayo and their play-off game out there. And bottom line is Robert Gibbs was jut asked about it a few moments ago at the daily briefing. He basically thought it was a pretty good idea, people want to speak out in protest of this new immigration law out in Arizona, and he, in fact, said that he thinks the president may have a little more to say about it a little later this afternoon. He's having a Cinco de Mayo celebration here at the White House.

What's significant is that, as you know, the president's already called for comprehensive immigration reform, saying this Arizona law shows you can't have a patchwork system, each state stepping up and doing different things. But also right now, the Justice Department is weighing a legal challenge to that Arizona law. We have an extraordinary battle here between the U.S. Justice Department and the state of Arizona in the weeks ahead, Don.

LEMON: Yes, yes. This has been amazing to watch this story turn and change and that, I'm sure, Ed, obviously we haven't heard the last of this. A lot of people have been protesting this as well. Listen, I know the White House is keeping a close watch of this. We showed you the live pictures earlier of the oil, that containment vessel going out. The White House keeping close watch on that as well as the situation in Times Square. If you want to talk about out in the gulf, you can. But I wanted to ask you about this no-fly list.

HENRY: Sure.

LEMON: It was interesting we saw earlier today, some democratic senators, including Chuck Schumer of New York, Mark (inaudible) out in Colorado and (inaudible) came out and said they think there are some loopholes in this whole no-fly list because the suspect was able to get on the plane. Now, he was stopped from actually flying to Dubai, but when it comes after a separate issue with another terror watch list, that the underwear bomber was on, on Christmas day, but yet he was able to get on that plane, these senators are saying they want the president to pass a - sign an executive order to close some of the loopholes in the no-fly list.

Now, Robert Gibbs said, look, something like that might be a help. They're going to take a look. But they think in the end, the system works because even though the suspect got on the plane, it was eventually border patrol got to him, prevented him from flying.

LEMON: Redundancy, that's what everyone is saying. I heard the Police Commissioner Ray Kelly admitting on television this morning that, you know, this guy got away from us for a while and, you know, I'm concerned about that as an American, but imagine being on the plane and you're on a plane with someone accused of terror. I mean, that bothers me a bit.

HENRY: It does. And you know, like today, Robert Gibbs was saying, look, in the end, the system did here work, in contrast to December 25th when he said there was a systemic failure. Well, think back to what happened the days after the Christmas bomber. Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary, said the system worked, and we're all raising our eyebrows about that. The White House got angry and said well, she was talking about after the attack, the worked.

But now, months later they are saying it was a systemic failure on Christmas day. You know, government clearly in this case, they stopped him in the end after the fact and made sure he didn't fly to Dubai, but there are clearly some loopholes they need to work on.

LEMON: Yes, definitely. They need to work on. OK. It's going to get a little weird here, how do I say this, bro-mance? I heard. I don't know, Ali may have a reason to be jealous here.

HENRY: Well, you know, it's funny, Ali is out in California or somewhere vacationing right now and I think he was upset. I saw him tweeting last night, that he said that it was disturbing to him this budding bro-mance he saw on the air the last two days with me and T.J. Holmes. He seems to be getting a little jealous. And then I notice today that T.J. Holmes is not in the anchor chair, we got you, Don. Did they pull the hook last night or was it scheduled?

LEMON: No, everyone deserves a day off. Everybody needs a day off. T.J. needs a day off. Ali has a vacation.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: I wanted to make sure that Ali wasn't phoning in, saying get T.J. out.

LEMON: It's like, you two have this bro-mance going on and so, you know, he may have said, is Don there tomorrow? OK, make sure it's Don. But, Ali, I got to tell you, I'm digging - I'm going to walk over here and freak everybody out, I'm digging the shirt-and-tie combo here.

HENRY: Oh, man, I don't have a monitor so I can't see what you're doing right here. I can only imagine.

LEMON: Very nice. Very nice. Did you pick it out? Or was it your mom or your girl friend? Who did?

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: I just bought it myself the other day and I got it on sale, so it's a pretty good deal.

LEMON: OK. I love you, man.

HENRY: Maybe it looks cheap, I don't know. Did you hear that?

LEMON: Don't make Ali mad.

HENRY: No, no.

LEMON: Ali and I have a bromance, too. More on that later.

HENRY: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: It's getting really weird. Thank you, always good to see you, sir.

HENRY: See you, man.

LEMON: You know, it is a term that has set off deadly riots and has much of Europe shaking, we'll clue you in in today's "Word play." That's straight ahead here on CNN.

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LEMON: All right. We've been telling you about our new studio, right and our new segments here. A couple of them you saw in the newscasts. One we'll be doing almost every day at this time will be called "Word Play," it's called "Word Play." Keep that in mind. The idea is to take a term that keeps popping up in the headlines that might be unfamiliar to a lot of people and we want to explain it to you.

Yesterday we gave you the quick and dirty on clean skin. Well, today we've got austerity measures. Austerity measures. It sounds ominous, doesn't it? Well, and for good reason it sounds ominous. Austerity is economic lingo for what we might call belt tightening when the government reduces spending and/or increases user fees a.k.a. taxes to pay back creditors.

Austerity measures are usually taken when a government is deep in the hole. sometimes they are required by lenders or organizations like the International Monetary Fund, now under pressure from the European Union, they are now. Cash-strapped Greece just announced tough austerity measures including a 10 percent cut in public sector wages and spending, a higher retirement age and higher gas prices. Now that has set off on-going street riots in Athens that left at least three people dead.

Our Josh Levs told us about that just a little while ago. You know, I have been anchoring in New York for the past three days, right? And I was there when the attempted Times Square bombing went down. Actually, I was here. I was there when the person was taken into custody. The incident was frightening all the way around. The response of New Yorkers really amazing and inspiring. You've got to pay attention.

Coming up, I want you to please listen to my "XYZ" on all of this.

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LEMON: All right. Now, in the "XYZ" today, let's talk terror. Not about the investigations, but the personal side. My first up close- and-personal experience with terror started in 1993 when I was a young assignment editor at a station in New York City.

Over the police scanners came word of an explosion at the World Trade Center. The entire newsroom sprung into action. Many of us ran right to the scene and when we finally saw the giant crater the explosion left, it has hard to believe more people hadn't died. Six people were killed. The same number killed later that year in the Long Island Railroad massacre.

Remember Colin Ferguson? He was the gunman who said he felt wronged by white people. Carolyn McCarthy lost her husband in the massacre. Her son was severely wounded. The incident inspired her to run for Congress. Then two years later in 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh felt wronged by the government so he killed 168 people. I just covered the anniversary just a few weeks ago.

Then came 9/11 and we all know what happened there. And now this. All this misery and headache because someone felt wronged. The truth is that is not how we're supposed to do it in this country. That's not what a democracy is all about. If you feel something is wrong, you're free to speak out about it, and in fact, you are encouraged to. You can do what Carolyn McCarthy did run for office, become an activist.

The power of the vote is more powerful than any gun or bomb. After covering this latest terror incident it all came full circle to me last night as my flight from New York City took off. Every head on the plane craned to the left to look at Manhattan. The sun was setting on that great city. You could hear people sighing at the sight of that city. I said to the guy next to it, "it's beautiful, isn't it?" And without missing a beat, he said, "I never get tired of looking at it."

That said, how could anyone, American or otherwise, want to destroy such a place? A city, just like America, built out of nothing and now an example to the world that it can withstand anything and a city that people will protect. That's "the XYZ of it."

Time now for my good friend Rick Sanchez and "Rick's List."

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Don.