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Oil Hits Shoreline; Flood Waters Recede Leaving Behind Destruction; Rescued: Haiti's Orphans; Protestors Fill Streets of Greece; Ending Corruption in New Orleans Police Department; Salad Spinner Becomes Centrifuge and Starts Saving Lives; Lessons From Spain on Dealing With Oil Spill

Aired May 06, 2010 - 13:00   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. Tony Harris, thank you very much.

I'm Don Lemon in for Ali Velshi today. I'm going to get right to the point. We have two big, developing stories today, two major stories, both examples of the power of nature. During this newscast, workers in the Gulf of Mexico will finally begin lowering that giant upside-down funnel to the ocean floor. The question is: can it cap the gushing oil leak so deep into the ocean?

Plus, the misery in Tennessee. As the water recedes, the heartbreak and the scope of the damage surfaces. How and when will the people of one of America's most iconic cities recover?

It has now been 16 days since an offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. And this could be the day that BP puts a lid on the problem. Or starts to put a lid on this problem.

As we speak, a so-called copper dam, a gigantic oil containment vessel, is at the site of that catastrophic spill, awaiting a long, slow, difficult trip to the ocean floor.

Now, in the meantime, almost 8,000 people and 200 boats are fighting the oil that's already leaked. More than 100 miles of boom are helping hold back an ever-growing slick, and weather still favorable for burning and aerial dispersing. That's good news.

But none of that compares to this. If this thing works, it is a four-story tall, 100-ton structure that will be lowered almost a mile, capping the ruptured well and eventually siphoning the spill into a tanker on the surface. It is a stop-gap measure at best, but it would buy time to complete a so-called relief well that could finally stop the leaks.

So we want to get straight to the Louisiana coast where we have a confirmation that oil has hit land. Oil has hit land. That is a confirmation.

CNN's David Mattingly is in Venice. David, what did we learn so far?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, this is our first confirmation that oil has impacted a shoreline. We're told that it's come ashore at Freemasons Island. That is a small island, the southernmost island in the chain of the Chandelier Island chain off the coast of Louisiana here that's in St. Bernard Parish.

We're told that two water teams and one air team have been deployed to the area. They're going to go there. They're going to assess what kind of damage there is. They're going to be re- establishing some of the booms that were already there in the area, and they may be applying more booms if necessary.

We have no context yet as to exactly how bad this was, if it was a black mess that was coming up on the shore there or if it was a sheen that was impacting the shore. We don't know that yet. We're expecting to have confirmation sometimes today on that.

But again, the first confirmation now of an impact on the shoreline from this oil spill that has been resulting from the 5,000 barrels of oil going into the Gulf of Mexico every day now for the last two week weeks.

LEMON: And David, that containment vessel, have they just reached where -- above it on the surface, or have they gotten to the area where -- where they want to start lowering it?

MATTINGLY: BP tells us that the vessel has arrived at the location it needs to be at. This is -- now they're going into the very difficult part of the operation, actually having to lower that down almost a mile down to the ocean floor to where the oil is leaking. They've never done anything in this kind of depth of water before. It's going to be a very slow operation. Could take a couple of days.

And again, this has never been attempted before. They've only built one of these large containment facilities, so they want to make sure nothing happens to it on the way down. And it's going to be very delicate, very tedious. They want to make sure they get this right the first time.

LEMON: David Mattingly in Venice. David, thank you very much for that.

And I want to talk more about this monumental effort to contain the leak on the ocean floor. It has never been tried at this depth before. BP is predicting challenges, they say, along the way.

Tom Fowler joins me now on the phone. He is a reporter who covers energy for the "Houston Chronicle."

Tom, thanks for joining us. Tell us more about the supposed work here. How is it supposed to work?

All right. We'll get back to Tom Fowler in just a minute. Again, we're covering that story.

You heard our David Mattingly say they've just gotten on the surface where they can start lowering that containment vessel down. We said it's an upside-down funnel. It's supposed to go down 5,000 feet. Never been tried at these depths before. But again, they're going to start trying it. And again, BP says they expect to have some problems -- face some problems with it, but they're going to -- they're going to at least try to do it.

All right. We're going to move on here, because coming up, imagine not having a mom or a dad, living in terrible poverty, when the earthquake devastates what little you did have left. This is the reality for orphans in Haiti right now. But someone is coming to the rescue, and you're going to meet them.

And also, since Ali is off this week, I am taking over his "X-Y- Z." You've been hearing a lot about athletes getting into all kinds of trouble lately, and you're about to hear about another one. I'm going to weigh in on these stories and the media's coverage of them. And I want you to weigh in, too. Stay tuned for my "X-Y-Z" at the end of this newscast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now to our other developing story. We're going to turn now to Tennessee where the devastating flood waters are finally starting to recede. But the clean-up from last weekend's torrential rains is really just getting started.

Nashville is at the center of all of this destruction. And you have seen the images: streets, homes, buildings, even the Grand Ole Opry, all are partly under water. At least 21 Tennesseans died in the storms that dumped more than a foot of rain there. Nashville's major says the damage will easily total more than a billion dollars.

People across the region are starting to return home. But in many cases, there's nothing left to come home to.

Our Gary Tuchman is out there with them. He joins us now by phone.

Gary, what are you seeing? This is just devastating.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): It really is, Don. And what's amazing is most of the water has receded. It's just amazing. Two days ago, there was four or five feet of water on the ground, and many neighborhoods all gone now.

But it's still a very frightening time because not everyone is accounted for yet. We spent the day today with the urban search and rescue team here in Nashville. They're going door to door into the hardest-hit neighborhoods that are now dry, but they're not quite sure when they get to houses they're going to find someone who, A, needs help or, B, may not have survived. They're frightened as they go door to door, hoping for the best.

So far, the good news is that the Tourde (ph) subdivision, which had about 250 homes in the northeast part of Nashville, that was under five feet of water for days, 200 people had to go out in boats to get out of there. But not everyone got out of there on the boat. So it was either they got out earlier or perhaps they got trapped.

Well, so far, the good news is that the members of the urban search and rescue team that I'm with have found nobody who perished, nobody who desperately needs help. They go door to door, and what they do is they knock. A lot of times the windows are broken. Refuse is all over the place. They yell inside to make sure there's no one inside who needs any help. And so far, everything is good in this particular subdivision where we've been with the urban search and rescue team.

LEMON: So far, anything, anything in the area salvageable, because from the pictures everything is wiped out, at least, if not partly under water or completely submerged.

TUCHMAN: Yes. And I would tell you that a huge percentage of the city was under water. Now that you see the water gone, you see there's certainly devastation. But you know, we've covered stories like this before, whether it's Katrina or whether it's the Mississippi River flooding or the Red River of the north, in North Dakota. And people are very perseverant.

And already, we see insurance adjusters and we see restoration experts on the scene. And people have really good attitudes. The people whose -- whose first floors have been destroyed, they say, "You know what? We're alive. We're grateful about that. We can fix our house. We will." And I guarantee you they will. They'll be back next year, and these people will be back operating with flying colors.

LEMON: Yes, yes. You know, I always say we come together as Americans, and I'm sure those people pull together and help each other out. But here's the thing, Gary: doesn't flood in many of the areas here. So anyone have flood insurance there?

TUCHMAN: And that's a really good point, Don. I mean, when we cover the flooding in places like the Mississippi River and North Dakota, people are aware -- or the Mississippi coast, for that matter, people are aware that this can happen. And a great percentage of flood insurance.

There are a lot of people here who do not have flood insurance. We saw the same thing when we had flooding in Atlanta, Georgia. You know, people don't expect it. They have rivers, the Chattahoochee in Atlanta. Here, they have the Cumberland River, but they don't expect it to flood. And that's the big problem that a lot of people now are thinking about as they try to clean up their houses and total the amount of damage: how they're going to pay for it, because they don't have the insurance.

LEMON: Gary Tuchman. Thank you very much, Gary. Appreciate your reporting. And we'll look forward to watching you tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, "AC 360."

To find out how you can make a difference and help the flood victims in Tennessee, I want you to visit our "Impact Your World" page at CNN.com/Impact. The devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti to the core forced its orphans to face even harsher realities -- realities than growing up without a mom or a dad. Things were tough before the quake hit, but it got a whole lot worse, fast. More sickness, hunger and death.

Look at what Haiti's kids face: 19,000 have AIDS. Nineteen thousand of them have AIDS. Fifty-four out of every 1,000 die before their first birthday. Seventy-two die before age 5. And 2,000 children are trafficked to the Dominican Republic. Another 1,000 work as spies and even soldiers for gangs.

It's Haiti's orphans that are most vulnerable to these heartbreaking facts. But our Soledad O'Brien found some people coming to their rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ariana Manassero has dreamed of helping Haiti's orphans since she was 9 years old. She's now one of thousands of missionaries living in Haiti. Her journey started in California with a few coins.

ARIANA MANASSERO, MISSIONARY: I started putting a little money in a jar, just planning on, like, going to Haiti. That jar just got so full, and my dad started putting little coins in it. And I started more, like, dollars in it.

O'BRIEN: In 2004, Ari and her parents, Bill and Suzette, visited Haiti. One year later, this family from California had relocated permanently.

(on camera) Some people would say, now how did a bunch of grown- ups follow an 8-year-old to Haiti?

BILL MANASSERO, MISSIONARY: Yes. It wasn't my -- wasn't my plan. I'll tell you that. I was -- you know, we wanted to encourage her and we thought it was wonderful. This little 9-year-old girl had this dream to build an orphanage, a school, a church and all these things in Haiti. I never thought I'd be here with her.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Bill and Suzette Manassero founded Maison du Lumiere, the Lighthouse Orphanage.

(on camera) You started with all boys?

SUZETTE MANASSERO, MISSIONARY: All boys, 12.

O'BRIEN: When did you start the girls' orphanage?

S. MANASSERO: That started December 2006.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): They were consumed by a desire to help the children. Haiti has among the highest rates of infant mortality, child sex trafficking, and child slavery in the world.

B. MANASSERO: Ari's dream, more than anything else is that these kids, that our kids at this orphanage, are going to be the ones out there handing out that cup of water. You know, 50 kids going out there, doing that and influencing others to influence others, you know, can make a difference in a country.

O'BRIEN: But the faith that had secured them for years was about to be tested when a powerful earthquake strikes Haiti.

B. MANASSERO: So right now we do not think it's safe to be here. We're trying to get extra security. So until we do, we have a plan. And you really don't have a choice of what to do. We are going to tell you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Wow, can't wait to see that. Looks like some excellent reporting by Soledad O'Brien there. You can catch the rest of "Rescued." It airs this Saturday, 8 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Imagine if your government cut your pay, hiked your taxes and upped your retirement age. What would you do? People in Greece took to the streets. And if you thought they were angry before, you have not seen anything yet. Our Stephanie Elam has the latest, straight ahead for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Look at that. Massive protests have been filling the streets of Athens, Greece, for a few days now. And after what happened just last hour, the protesters are only getting angrier. The Greek government has now passed a set of dramatic and, to say it, well, really unpopular measures to get the country out of a massive debt hole.

Our Stephanie Elam has been following this Greek tragedy, we're going to call it, very closely.

Stephanie, what in the world is going on here?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, if you take a look at what's going on today, you'll see why people are angry in Greece. What we're hearing is that the Greek parliament has finally passed this evening over there some austerity measures today: 172 votes for it, 121 votes against it. So that's probably why it took so long for them to get to a final vote this evening.

But the Greek finance minister said that the bailout is the only way for Greece to avoid bankruptcy. And as he put it, "It's our country's last hand." And take a listen to some of these conditions, Don, like salary cuts. They're talking about that for public sector workers. That includes lawmakers as well. They're going to see taxes on cigarettes, fuel, gambling all being raised. And the retirement age for female public sector workers is going to go up, as well.

There's also going to be an increase in a tax consumers pay on purchases. And this is all, obviously ,making a lot of the people there very upset about that. Leaders of the 16 Euro nations are going to meet tomorrow in Belgium to finalize the bailout details. But if you imagine, like, if something like that were to happen here, Don, there probably would be a lot of angry people here, as well.

LEMON: Well, here's a question, because Greece's problems, we're hearing, are spreading all across the European Union. Are there some concerns that they could come all the way to American shores, Steph?

ELAM: There definitely are concerns about that. And if we can kind of break down why we care about this.

Take a look at how small the world is now. Europe and the U.S., we're connected, basically, through investment and trade. You take a look at the euro today. It's trading at a 14-month low, at $1.27. So what this means for Europeans is that things that they're being exported from the U.S. to Europe are now more expensive.

In fact, one analyst says we could reach parity in a few weeks, meaning one euro could go for one dollar. That's just a few weeks away, contingent upon what's going on in Greece, obviously.

Now, the U.S. exported $258 billion in goods last year, but if Greece's problems spread, that could lead to fewer U.S. exports this year. And no doubt, that would hurt our economic recovery. Still in that fragile recovery mode here.

Also, many U.S. banks, they hold European debt, so if European nations start defaulting on their loans, our banks will take a hit.

And then the other thing that we've seen is that this fear of contagion, how it's impacting U.S. stocks. That's already been happening, obviously. You take a look at a week like this week, and you can see that impact. We will see it first in the financial markets and then in the economy.

So the Dow down 300 points or so over the past two days, not counting today's losses, which are not looking -- not looking that good either at this point, I should say. Bank stocks really taking a hit.

So all in all, the idea is it may not just be Greece. We could see this spreading to Portugal. We could see -- whether or not this is going to happen in Italy or Ireland and also Spain. And because all of that together is what we're concerned about and the fact that these nations, these 16 nations use the same currency, this is why we care so much about it here in the U.S., Don.

LEMON: And bottom line, stay tuned. And you can go right now. There's a lot to stay, Stephanie.

ELAM: Yes, I'm having issues. I'm blaming it on the pregnancy. I'm sorry.

LEMON: All right. Stephanie, take care. Good to see you. OK? And we want to tell you that Stephanie is part of the best financial team on television. You catch them on "YOUR $$$$$," hosted by Ali Velshi and Christine Romans. That's Saturday, 1 p.m. Eastern and then the encore presentation Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

And we want to check your top stories right now.

Authorities stopped an Emirates Airline flight on the tarmac at JFK, but an administration source tells CNN it was a mix-up, just a mix-up on a passenger on the no-fly list. The flight was bound for Dubai. You may recall that the suspect in that failed Times Square bombing was caught on another Emirates-bound plane at JFK on Monday.

And in Pakistan authorities are interrogating four men in connection with that failed attack on Times Square. That's according to a Pakistani intelligence official. All four are suspected of having links to a banned militant group. The main suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was born in Pakistan and recently visited the country.

In the Gulf of Mexico, workers will try to lower a four-story dome over the gushing oil well any time now. It can happen during this news cast. The idea is to contain the oil and then suck it up to a tanker, a ship on the surface. BP hopes to get it working by Monday.

And in Annapolis, Maryland, the Navy announcing the first group of women who will train to serve on submarines. The Navy reversed its policy on female cadets a week ago, and they have been allowed to serve on surface ships for the past 16 years.

The water is receding, but what's on the surface for Tennessee? The last thing this swamped state needs is more rain. Our Chad Myers looks ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We've been reporting a lot on what's happening in Tennessee. Getting the very latest numbers on the water levels there. The flood in Tennessee, that's the only way of putting it. And now there's more rain on the horizon.

I turn now to our Chad Myers for a forecast. Is there more rain on the horizon?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little bit. You know, I mean, we're not talking about flooding. We also talked to the Army Corps, and they said they're not worried about this amount of rain, because we're not going to see the storms parked over this one area like they were parked over the weekend.

Sunny today, drying things out. Windy tomorrow. Windy is actually good, Don. Wind helps evaporate things. So you get the water out of your house, and then you get the wind to blow through it. Even though it's damp, that will help.

Then we get colder here. That's going to -- that's going to delay or put off the evaporation a little bit. And then the showers possibly come in on Monday.

So here's what we're looking at. We're looking at showers here across the Midwest today. Snow up here. And then some wind coming onshore but a lighter wind today. Light wind for the oil workers down there trying to get all that all soaked up, absorbed, or covered up, or whatever they're going to do with it.

There's your showers across parts of the northeast at this point in time. We're not going to see a lot of rain anywhere today. And I guess that's good, because at some point we don't want anymore.

LEMON: So listen, the rivers there, but they are expected to crest. Are they below flood stage, flood levels now?

MYERS: Many of them are down below flood stage. But now, that's still a relative term because, you know, you get a puddle of water someplace just because the river goes back down into its banks. That does not mean that all of a sudden the water from everywhere can get down into the river. Could be stuck in sewers, could be stuck, you know, in all kinds of things.

Water standing now. You have problems with good sanitation. You have lots of bugs that are going to be breeding everywhere. You could be talking about all those things that these flooding conditions, dirty flooding conditions can take.

LEMON: Yes. They've got a heck of a lot to deal with and everybody's thinking about them. At least good, you said windy, so it helps absorb some of the water.

Chad Myers --

MYERS: You got it.

LEMON: -- appreciate it. Thank you very much, sir.

You know, you Americans can't vote in these elections, but you should be paying attention to them. The political future of one of America's closest allies is being decided today. And it's a tightest race in recent memory in the U.K.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. So it may not be happening here but guess what? It is vital to American interests. Voters in the U.K. are heading to the polls right now in a very close general election to pick a new parliament. It could mean a shift in political power in the U.K. and a shift in attitude toward the United States.

We're going to turn now to our Max Foster. He is standing by live for us in London.

Hello, Max. So people are saying this is a game changer. Why is that?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in this country we're used to a two-party political system, really. You've got the Conservatives and Labour have always dominated politics in this country. And what seems to have happened is the third party, the Liberal Democrats, have done really well over the campaign term.

Their leader, Nick Clegg, really seems to have hit a nerve, his big message being, you no longer want old politics, you want new politics; I can offer you that. And he seems to have done extremely well. The Conservatives still ahead in the opinion polls, but in second and third place there seems to be this interchange between Labour, the ruling Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats, and they've come from nowhere. No one knew who Nick Clegg was a month ago.

LEMON: So listen, what's changed things in this particular election? We saw very interesting debates that were heavily broadcast here and of course, that gaffe by Gordon Brown leaving his microphone on. Were those game changers?

FOSTER: Well, they certainly played into it. We haven't had leadership debates before an election in this country before. You're, of course, used to them in the U.S., but in this country they're very unusual. And what you had was the three party leaders up on stage together and they're really easy to compare. And that's where Nick Clegg did really well, on TV, and that's really the resurgence in the Liberal Democrat support base.

Gordon Brown just never performed well. The prime minister didn't perform well in those TV debates, he's just not great on camera. And then, he had this disaster off camera. He had met a Labour supporter who asked about immigration. But in the car he still had his microphone on, the TV cameras picked up on what he was saying. He basically called her a bigot. Massive apology afterwards, but it really didn't make him look very good.

LEMON: Yes, he said, that was a disaster. I should never have been put with that bigoted lady. And then he sort of cringed, you know, I think they played it when he was on a radio show, Max. And I mean watching it, I think everyone else cringed.

When are we going to find out the results?

FOSTER: Well, if one party gets a majority, so over half of the vote, then we'll find out this time tomorrow. What's different now is because of this dynamic with the Liberal Democrats and we don't really know what's going to happen. If one party doesn't get an outright win, so Labour or the Conservatives don't win outright they may have to do with deal with the Liberal Democrats, and that's going to take some time.

But I've been out and I've speaking to voters today, Don, and this is what people said they were going to do with their vote today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Who has your vote? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know, I'm still undecided? I think it's only going to be when I get in there and look at the paper and I'm holding my pencil over the box that I'm going to know.

FOSTER: What do you think that says about this election?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually think it's going to be a hung Parliament, the result, and I think it might be a good thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conservative.

FOSTER: Were you always going to vote Conservative?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

FOSTER: So what changed your mind?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gotten steadily worse under Gordon Brown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Labour. All the way Labour.

FOSTER: You didn't feel tempted towards the Lib Dems?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, cause if I'd have voted for them I'm sure we would have gotten Cameron in and we don't need him. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Everyone's got an opinion, Don, but it shows how tight it really is. And when people talk about hung Parliament, this is when there isn't a decisive win by one of the parties. We're just not used to that in this country. Everyone is a bit worried about it. But like that lady said, some people think it's a good idea. The parties will actually have to work together.

LEMON: Max, we'll be watching. Thank you, sir, appreciate it.

I want to tell you, polls will be open for a few more hours in the U.K. so make sure you stick with CNN. "THE SITUATION ROOM" will have analysis of the exit poll results, 5:00 p.m. Eastern and more on the global impact of this race. Stay tuned.

So how do you fix a police department riddled with corruption? Ask Uncle Sam to help. That's how New Orleans is tackling the problem now, but will it work? That's the question.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your top stories right now.

Some drama at JFK airport today as an Emirates flight to Dubai is ordered back to the gate. Authorities haul two passengers off over security concerns. They quickly realized it was a false alarm and these people were not on a no-fly list. On Monday, the Times Square bomb suspect was hauled off the Emirates flight to Dubai.

The father of that man, Faisal Shahzad, has been grilled by interrogators in Pakistan, both U.S. and local investigators taking part in that. Shahzad's father is a retired senior officer in the Pakistani Air Force. He has not been arrested, nor has he been detained.

As flood waters recede in Tennessee, we're getting an idea of the extent of the damages there. Nashville's mayor says they'll top $1 billion in his city alone. At least 21 people confirmed dead in Tennessee by last weekend's devastating storms.

And former New York Giant Lawrence Taylor, known as L.T., has been arrested. Police say it's part of an investigation into a reported rape in suburban New York. No formal charges yet. Taylor's lawyer says he is confident the hall of famer's innocence will be proven. We're keeping an eye on this story and we'll bring you any new details as we get them.

You know, they're supposed to serve and protect, not brutalize and cover up. But the New Orleans Police Department is plagued with allegations of brutality and corruption. So now, in his first week on the job, Mayor Mitch Landrieu is hiring a new chief and he's asking the Justice Department to come in and help fix the police department there.

Who could forget the Danzinger Bridge police shootings that left two people dead in the days of the Hurricane Katrina? Four former officers have already pleaded guilty of a cover up and that's just one of eight cases of alleged police misconduct already under federal investigation.

Sam Walker is an emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, and he has studied the police force and police forces all around the country.

So, Professor, calling in the government is a pretty dramatic step, but you say that the stars are all in alignment to clean up this police force. It's much needed.

SAMUEL WALKER, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, UNIV. OF NEBRASKA-OMAHA: Yes, this is really a historic event. The reputation of the New Orleans Police Department has been terrible for decades, for corruption and brutality and a lack of accountability. This mayor is really doing the right thing, inviting in the Justice Department and also hiring a new police chief who is committed to this reform; and he also hired a local police monitor. So really the stars are in alignment for finally, you know, bringing some real improvements to this very troubled police department.

LEMON: We saw that after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the crime rate spike. Many people leave and then those who either stayed or some who came back, increase the crime problem there. So how bad is it now, because for awhile it was thought it had slowed and they were cleaning up the police department? WALKER: Well, there probably was no progress in cleaning up the department. And one of the things we have learned around the country is that in order to deal with crime, you really have to build trust and gain the cooperation of citizens. Now you can't do that if you're engaging in brutal practices and racial profiling and so on. So effective crime fighting and effective accountability really go hand in hand. They require each other.

LEMON: So listen, I want to read an expert from a letter from Mayor Landrieu he wrote to the Justice Department. And here, this is a quote, "I have inherited a police force that has been described by many as one of the worst police departments in the country. This assessment is made based on several indicators including the number of violent crimes, incidents of rape and the malfeasance by members of the police department. It is clear that nothing sort of complete transformation is necessary and essential to ensure safety for the citizens of New Orleans."

Do you agree, Professor?

WALKER: Yes, I agree. The mayor told it like it is, and it's long overdue for somebody to do that. And bringing in the Justice Department and negotiating a consent decree that will bring about, you know, a series of organizational reforms, there's the possibility that we can turn this department around.

LEMON: Tell us about the steps here. So what happens? The Justice Department comes in, so what are the next steps here?

WALKER: Well, apparently they will negotiate some kind of an agreement, maybe consent decree memorandum of understanding. And that will include a series of reforms, such as the ones that were brought to Cincinnati, Los Angeles, the New Jersey State Police, and we know what those are and we have experience with them. And at this point in time, these are the best practices that are most likely to change the organizational culture of a police department and bring about sustained reform.

LEMON: Mr. Walker, let's talk about the victims here. It's not just the people who were allegedly had been terrorized by these people, it's not just those people, so let's talk about the victims here. What recourse do they have? They have been allegedly brutalized and their families have been terrorized. This reaches everyone who lives in New Orleans, everyone who visits. It's a terrible problem and let's talk about the victims of this.

WALKER: Well, individual victims of police misconduct, of course, have a right to sue. But simply dealing with a particular incidents or particular officers doesn't bring about any lasting change. You really have to change the organization, and that's what these federal consent decrees do and can do. And the reports of independent monitors, you know, from Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, New Jersey State Police, found that it does work. It can happen.

LEMON: Sam Walker, appreciate it. You know, it took something you might have in your kitchen and turned it into a life-saving medical equipment. We'll tell you who and how straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: "The Big I." Time for you to learn about something about something really cool. We told you about the walking device yesterday that creates energy as you move. All right, well, this one is an interesting device that could revolutionize health care in developing countries and it also makes salad? What's that all about? Talk about multitasking.

Look at them smiling there. I'm going to let the inventors explain themselves. Lila Kerr and Lauren Theis are students at Rice University who have really hit home, a home run when it comes to their homework assignment. Both ladies are joining me now with their big idea.

Good to see you, thanks for joining us. You guys are OK?

LAUREN THEIS, CO-CREATOR, SALLY CENTRIFUGE: Yes. Thanks for having us.

LILA KERR, CO-CREATOR, SALLY CENTRIFUGE: Thanks for having us.

LEMON: OK. So, Lila, how did you come up with this big idea? I have a Salad Spinner, I'm sure many people have Salad Spinners. Never once did I think of making it into something for like a centrifuge or anything.

KERR: Well, this is actually an assigned project for class within the Beyond Traditional Borders Program at Rice University. We were told we needed to build a centrifuge that didn't require electricity and that was very inexpensive. And so, we just thought within our group what is a really inexpensive device that spins. And so, Salad Spinner came to mind.

LEMON: So here's something interesting, am I right, you are majoring in sociology, right, at Dayton, Ohio?

KERR: Yes.

LEMON: OK, sociology; and then, Lauren, you're majoring in political science.

THEIS: Yes.

LEMON: It would seem like you guys would be like biology majors or medical students or something. Lauren, I mean, how did you get this as a political science major? How did this come about?

THEIS: Yes, I really just stumbled upon the class this fall. I've always been interested in international affairs and being able to apply political science in more of a policy scope and more technology, being able to see things from a different point of view, I've really just found a passion within it. And I am hoping to be able to explore the rest of the world and impact the -- (AUDIO GAP)

LEMON: Sorry, we had a little issue with that. We'll get her back.

Listen, I want to ask you this, Lila --

KERR: OK.

LEMON: -- I know that -- I wanted to get your background because I thought you guys had interesting backgrounds. But here's the thing, explain to me how it works now. How would this work, just a regular old Salad Spinner?

KERR: Well, we actually installed a base in the Salad Spinner using --

LEMON: In terms that I can understand, because I'm not as smart as you are. So, we'll start there.

KERR: Well, it's really -- I'm not sure if I can hold it up.

LEMON: You can. Go ahead. We'd like to see it.

KERR: Can you see it there?

LEMON: Yes, go for it.

KERR: So, yes, you can see inside the Salad Spinner there's a yogurt container that's propping up cones. And in between the teeth of cones we just set these tiny little test tubes that contain the blood samples. So we spin it for about 10 minutes just using the pump on top. And afterwards, the blood will separate into the plasma and blood cells and then we'll be able to determine hematocrits.

LEMON: You said the pump on top, the regular old spinner pump? It works that way, you didn't really have to overhaul it much or reconfigure it to work?

KERR: Oh, no. It's all the Salad Spinner's own mechanism. Lauren and I don't have the engineering background to completely revamp the Salad Spinner.

LEMON: You're going to take one to Ecuador later this month, I'm hearing? Are you excited about that?

KERR: Yes. Oh, I'm really excited. We've been testing it in the lab all semester, so it will be nice to demonstrate in Ecuador. We're not actually able to test it, so we're going to get feedback from the physicians about the design of the device. And then Lauren will take it to Swaziland and two other students will take it to Malawi.

LEMON: And you should know that Lauren had a satellite issue there in which we're working to get her back.

KERR: OK. LEMON: And then, as you said, a third team will go to Malawi in June. I've been to Malawi, it's great. I haven't been to Swaziland, haven't been to Ecuador, but I would imagine that the people there are going to be excited about you coming and helping.

What do you want to do besides show them, you know, your centrifuge or Salad Spinner? What do you hope that the people get out of this?

KERR: Well, for this summer, we just want their feedback so that we can improve the design. It really is a collaborative process with them because obviously they know the needs of their community better than we do. And so, we want to be able to enhance the design that we created in our class. And then hopefully, ultimately this can be something that can benefit community health outreach workers in these underdeveloped communities.

LEMON: As we say good-bye to you, hold it up again and let us see it. There it is. Right in your house, right in your own kitchen, now that is ingenuity. You guys are awesome, thank you.

KERR: Thank you.

LEON: All right, Lila Kerr and also Lauren Theis. We lost Lauren, but we'll, you know, we'll say good-bye to her later. Thank you.

It seems like everyone is hurting in this recession, but we found a place in middle America that is doing just fine really -- steady growth, low unemployment. How do they do it and what can we learn from them? That's a question our Poppy Harlow just back from there and she'll tell us what she found. Poppy Harlow, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's already being called the Great Depression, we all know someone who has lost a job, lost their home or somehow suffering in these tough economic times. But not everybody or every place is reeling, and our Poppy Harlow just back now from Omaha, Nebraska, a city that has managed to bypass the nation's economic slowdown.

Poppy, tell us what did you learned.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes, it's interesting, you know, Omaha actually reminded me a lot of my hometown of Minneapolis, Don. It's a little bit smaller, but you expect all these cornfields and cows and it's not exactly what you get. You've got small businesses that are booming and their unemployment rate, well, it is one of the lowest in the country.

Very impressed with how they're doing their business in Omaha. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALICE KIM, BUSINESS OWNER: You been to Omaha before? HARLOW (voice-over): A high-end boutique selling thousand dollar purses and books about Paris, not exactly the fields you'd expect in Omaha, Nebraska.

KIM: It was kind this kind of childhood fantasy of mine since I was seven to move to Omaha.

HARLOW: So Alice Kim (ph) moved from the Big Apple to the Big O, as they call it here, and opened her boutique at the peak of the recession.

KIM: I knew that there was going to be like great steady wealth here.

HARLOW: As for the hangover from the Deep Recession? Well, let's just say Omaha skipped the headache.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a tendency to kind of grow steadily, so we don't end up with bubbles. It's a slow growth, conservative approach to doing business.

HARLOW: That conservative attitude helped keep the housing bubble at bay, and as a result, Omaha has one of the nation's lowest foreclosure rates. And the city's diversified economy, from farming to insurance to railroads, has helped Omaha get by with an unemployment rate of just 5.9 percent, far below the nearly 10 percent national average.

And on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the home of Warren Buffett and the College World Series is buzzing. Here in the old market, warehouses are turning into condos, shoppers are buying, and Ron Samuelsson's two restaurants are filling up for lunch.

(on camera): You've made it through the recession, and is business good?

RON SAMUELSON, CO-OWNER, M'S PUB: Business has been very good. I mean, we've had our ups and downs. It hasn't been, you know, a cakewalk for the last couple of years. We try to concentrate on what we do well.

KIM: Right now, with all the building of the condos and all the real estate really being snatched up, at this point, you know, I just continue to see, you know, lots of growth.

HARLOW: So what's their secret for riding out the recession? Living within their means.

SAMUELSON: We have a tendency to do things, kind of crazy things like only spend money when we have money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For people in a place like Nebraska or Omaha, it's just common sense. I mean, it's not rocket science.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARLOW: And, you know, Don, he said it's not rocket science to not spend more than you have. You've also got a lot of local banks there that all the business owners told me work well with them, work closely with them, get to know the people they loan the money to so they don't wind up in the big mess that we saw here in New York on wall street and really around the world, Don.

It's really impressive what a small, relatively small town is doing beating the recession by a mile when you compare it to the rest of the nation.

LEMON: People coming together.

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: Here's the question, though. I'm wondering how is the local government part of this equation in Omaha?

HARLOW: You know, we got into a lot of politics talk with these store owners and the small business owners, and we couldn't put it in the piece per se, it didn't fit necessarily. But what they said, and there was a lot of resentment toward Washington, saying Washington is overleveraged, overbuying, putting us into this debt, but our local government is not.

That business owner, Ron, that you heard from really praised the local leaders there in government for working with small businesses, for keeping taxes low, for keeping home values sort of steady and said that local government played a huge role in why they are able to ride out this recession. Listen, he said it's not a cakewalk, but the government working with the businesses spending the money they have and not more is why Omaha is doing well, doing well, Don.

LEMON: Hope you're watching, there's a lot to learn from this.

Poppy Harlow, great reporting. Thank you very much.

An oil spill devastates a coastline bringing small fishing villages to their knees. We're not talking about the Gulf of Mexico. We're going back to 2002 and the coast of Spain. Remember that story? Is there anything to be learned today from disaster? We're live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Crews are working rapidly to try to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but is there anything we can learn from the past? Back in 2002, off the coast of Spain, the oil tanker Prestige spilled its load and polluted thousands of miles of coastline. The cleanup really took years, and our Ivan Watson is there and he joins us from Muxia.

Ivan, what are you seeing there?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it's very interesting. This was a horrific accident that took place here. This fishing port right behind me was hit by what locals call as La Marea Negra, the black tide, that's how they describe the sludge of oil, more than 17 million gallons, more than in the Exxon Valdez disaster that hit Alaska, washing up on these beautiful shores. It killed an estimated quarter million seabirds and it brought fishing, which all the locals here rely on to make a living, to a complete halt.

Now, what's interesting is it's been almost eight years since then. When you walk on some of these rocky beaches here, you'll still find tar and oil and stained rocks from that disaster. However, the fishing boats just arrived. They brought in the day's catch behind me, and we talked to the vendors there. They say that fishing has pretty much come back to normal.

Billions of euros were spent on cleaning up here and on compensating the people who lost their businesses, but life does appear to have come back to normal. There is hope here after what some described as the biggest nightmare that they'd ever seen in their lives -- Don.

LEMON: even all the way over there, Ivan, have residents heard about the Gulf oil spill? And if so, what are they saying about it?

WATSON: They are very sympathetic. They're watching the news very closely. The people we've talked to, one fisherman, for example, he says, the most important thing right now is to act swiftly to combat this crisis.

Let's take a listen to what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They must move fast. It is good that Obama has put the blame on British Petroleum, but I think it is imperative that he mobilize those who have the resources, the military, so that the military use all of its technology to deal with this catastrophe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, here in Spain, Spain did not have some of the resources, the ships that are needed to suck up the sludge from the sea. Those are the kind of equipment that they purchased after the crisis here in 2002. Some of the shipping people we've talked to have said you have to work harder on human resources to prevent these crises. One fisherman we talked to, he counseled patience and courage for the victims of this crisis in the Gulf of Mexico -- Don.

LEMON: Ivan Watson in Muxia. Thank you very much, Ivan.