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Oil Spill Chokes Economy; U.S. Doubts on Afghanistan; UK Welcomes New Prime Minister; Kindergartners Killed in Cleaver Attack; Disney to Raise Prices; Do Not Adjust Your Set; A Segregated Field Trip; "Change" in a Nightclub

Aired May 12, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what we're working on for you this morning.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, most of it is still offshore. Onshore, the slick has spilled into the economy, jobs suffocating.

Secrets behind the badge. What happens when cops have rap sheets of their own? That means convicted criminals could walk free.

And is inspiration color blind? A school picks a speaker for its message of success. If you're black, you can go. If you're white, forget it.

Up front this hour, a small child is the only one who survived a plane crash this morning in the Libyan capital. A spokesperson for Afriqiyah Airlines says that a flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to Tripoli crashed as it tried to land.

Libya's state-run news agency says the bodies of 96 people have been recovered so far. 104 were believed on board. Right now workers are looking for the plane's flight data recorder. More details as we get them.

But the headline, a plane crash in Libya this morning, more than 100 people on board feared dead. The one survivor, a young boy.

Now to that oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. Executives of three companies at the center of this mess back on Capitol Hill today. We're going to get to some day-one highlights in just a second.

But first, BP is trying to put a top hat on that underwater leak. That's the name of the smaller containment cap. It's on the sea floor right now, but it won't be over the leak until the end of the week.

Onshore, people lining up to get paid. BP promised to pay, quote, "legitimate claims". Lost wages, empty hotels, things like that. BP says that they'll open more claim centers by this weekend. Now right now there are eight for the entire Gulf Coast.

So far just a small amount of oil has hit the beaches. The tip of the iceberg, so to say, but the beaches are just one part of the economic equation.

CNN's Reynolds Wolf live in Pass Christian, Mississippi this morning.

Reynolds?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you, just moments ago we were walking around the dock and actually found this burlap sack. This burlap sack is one of hundreds that we would get that would actually come off these boats, like this oyster boat that you see right behind me.

This one specifically has a tag on it. It's from Crystal Sea Seafood. Ironically, that's the company that we actually highlighted yesterday. It is one of many in the area that has just been pounded, of course, by this moratorium on fishing, detrimental to both the businesses and their people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER JENKINS, MANAGER, CRYSTAL SEAS OYSTERS: This is our cooler, and this is everything we've got.

WOLF (on camera): Now on a normal day how full would this room be?

JENKINS: It would be full.

WOLF (voice-over): So were the sharking (ph) line. These processing stations and this machine would be flash freezing thousands of oysters each day.

(On camera): So just your average a day you have about 120 people in here shoulder to shoulder? All working like crazy? Like mad? I'm sure it's loud as can be, isn't it?

JENKINS: It is very loud. You can't even hear yourself think.

WOLF: And now, silence. Virtually all the gulf fishing grounds are closed for business. Jennifer Jenkins said good-bye to half her employees this week. Sixty hard workers. Some she considered family.

(On camera): That's got to be tough.

JENKINS: You just kind of explain to them what's been happening as best as you can.

WOLF (voice-over): All the more frustrating, this year's catch was one of their best since Katrina.

Crystal Seas Oysters was sailing smoothly through the recession. Now just snapshots of better days.

(On camera): Ever wonder what a four-month supply of oyster shells looks like? Take a look at this. It's huge. Tons of shells. But unfortunately, production has now come to a screeching halt. (Voice-over): And some of the last off the line went to half shell oyster house in Gulfport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what we -- that what tourists come here to eat. My restaurant, 75 percent of the menu is seafood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just right there and just gobble up the oysters as fast as I could.

WOLF: While the supply of oysters is quickly diminishing, there's no shortage of frustration for those responsible.

JENKINS: It appears that they could also regulate themselves a little better from ruing a whole coastline because they'll probably walk away from it in much better shape than we all will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: Sixty people laid off. And wrap your mind around that one. Sixty people without jobs. That's 60 people who have to make rental payments, 60 people that feed families.

It's a horrible thing to see. And the thing is, Kyra, it's not like they can go across the street and work at a different business because everyone is shut down along much of the coast.

It's a very -- very, very tough thing. And you know if they want to work and stay in this business, they have to go to the east coast or the west coast where things are still operational. But here on the Gulf Coast it's pandemonium.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And I think it's going to get a lot worse. Reynolds Wolf, live there from Pass Christian, appreciate it.

One day was just wasn't enough, by the way, so Congress is set to try again with executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton. They're drilling down to get the facts well on this drilling disaster, and the House hearing gets under way next hour.

One day senators took the lead. They wanted to know who's to blame. No one stepped up on that one. All pointing fingers to their left and right, none to themselves.

The other common thread was who's going to pay and what are those legitimate claims that BP keeps talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAMAR MCKAY, PRES., BP AMERICA: Obviously, we can't keep from being sued, but yes, we have said exactly what we mean. We're going to pay for legitimate things.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: OK. So if it's a legitimate claim, a harm to the fishing industry, both short term and long term, you're going to pay.

MCKAY: We're going to pay all legitimate claims.

CANTWELL: If it's an impact for business lost from tourism, you're going to pay.

MCKAY: We're going to pay all legitimate claims.

CANTWELL: To state and local governments for lost tax revenue, you're going to pay.

MCKAY: Question mark.

CANTWELL: Long-term damages to the Louisiana fishing industry and its brand.

MCKAY: I can't -- I can't quantify or speculate on long term. I don't know how to define it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As you just heard, Senator Cantwell was ticking through the list of problems from the Exxon Valdez disaster as her example. BP's Lamar McKay says that the claims process is at the front line of assessing the impact and that damaged beaches and the loss of tourism are all considered legitimate claims.

This morning at the White House a critical meeting about loyalties and mistrust. Publicly, President Obama has mostly kind words for his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, but behind closed doors, the two men have plenty of issues.

President Obama is expected to raise a huge issue again, concerns over corruption in the Karzai government and its possible ties to the Taliban.

Let's drill down a little deeper on this. Here's White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.

So does President Obama really trust Mr. Karzai?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, that's really difficult to say, but you know most of the administration officials that we speak with will say that this is somebody that they have to work with so they're not giving these kind of glowing recommendations here about Karzai's character.

There's a lot of frustration behind the scenes. This four-day series of meetings is meant to press the reset button and essentially the Obama administration has been trying with carrots and sticks to try to get Karzai to do what they want him to do.

That is essentially to try to help route out the Taliban in the south, to have Afghan forces take over their own security, and eventually allow U.S. troops to leave by July 2011.

That is the Obama administration's fold here. Over the last couple of months, what has happened here is a real deterioration of the relationship. The Obama administration saying, look, Karzai is not doing enough to fight corruption and the drug trade and then Karzai himself accused the United States and international and NATO forces of making things worse, even threatening to join the Taliban at one point.

So what is this all about? It is about lowering the rhetoric, allowing both leaders to save face and trying to figure out a way to move forward.

Now I had a chance to talk to Valerie Jarrett, the presidential adviser to Obama, and I pressed her on this. Does the president trust Karzai? Does he have confidence in him? And here's how she put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE JARRETT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Well, we have to have a partnership with him. There is absolutely no choice in the matter. We have a huge investment in that country both in terms of resources and in our men and women who are serving there.

And so it's an essential partnership that we have to make and we have to work hard to make improvements that are necessary and make it work.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Kyra, what you're hearing here is very polite speak from senior administration officials publicly here saying this is a partnership of necessity. This is a relationship that has to happen here. It's got to work and to work better.

What we're going to hear from Karzai as well as President Obama is some way to move forward on negotiating with the Taliban, trying to figure out who are the good guys, who are the bad guys in this group, and to essentially move forward and try to figure out a way that the Afghan government can essentially be on its own eventually with the help of the United States, with the help of NATO forces but in a very timely fashion -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll see how it goes. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks.

Well, hello, Mr. Prime minister. David Cameron is his name. The Conservative Party's number one now in place at the top of Britain's government.

Gordon Brown, don't let the door on Downing Street hit you on the way out.

CNN's Paula Newton live in London this morning.

So, Paula, who is David Cameron, and what kind of leader is he going to be?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: David Cameron is young, 43 years old, the youngest prime minister they've had here in almost two centuries.

He's a pragmatic guy by all accounts. He's really credited with some reviving that Tori party, that conservative party that for so long was identified here with Margaret Thatcher in terms of he's saying that he's trying to make it a more compassionate party.

The other thing is that we've also seen a very personal face to David Cameron for years now. He has two small children, another on the way. But last year one of his sons, Ivan, passed away. He was disabled. A lot of that went on in the public media and we got to see a very human face to the new prime minister of Britain -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So any idea about the impact that he's going to have on U.S./British relations?

NEWTON: It was really startling to see how quickly he took that phone call from President Obama and the fact that the White House wanted to reach out to him and continue to talk about the special relationship.

Look, Kyra, there's no doubt these are still going to be two very close allies. What's different? This is a coalition. They basically had to cobble together this government with a third party and that's Nick Clegg, a completely different party with a completely different set of priorities.

And they have to kind of learn to get along. For U.S. policy that definitely mean something. Just look at one issue. Banking policy. We've heard about that in the Senate and Congress.

Well, here they're going to start with a new parliamentary committee talking about that, and there might be a lot more compromise on those issues especially because this party not so much an easy fit with those conservatives.

As one person described it here, Kyra, it was like -- you know, one labor politician was saying it's like, you know, you're a vegetarian and you've been asked to work at McDonald's. That's what it's like for this small party to actually have to work with the conservatives.

Having said that, you know, Kyra, it's a new day. I've seen a lot less cynicism and a lot more hope in this country than I've seen in a long time in terms of the commentary. So fingers crossed, the White House may actually get the kind of ally that they really need for those serious issues ahead.

PHILLIPS: Well, that is definitely good news. Paula, thanks.

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wasting no time interviewing for her dream job. Just two days after President Obama nominated her, she heads to Capitol Hill. Next hour, she's going to start meeting with some of the senators who will decide whether she'll be confirmed.

The good old Senate judiciary meet and greet. Some Republicans have questioned Kagan's qualifications that she's never been a judge at any level.

One minute, mom, dad, and the kids were watching TV at home. The next minute, their home was gone, the family buried, and a small town shaken.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. The latest on heavy rain and flash flooding in the nation's midsection.

Plus, do you have the right to complain about the cold? Find out just how unusual it is. That's coming up in your forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: For the fourth time in a little over two weeks an armed man has attacked a school in China. The latest? Well, this morning police say a man with a cleaver hacked a kindergarten teacher and seven students to death before committing suicide.

From Beijing, CNN's John Vause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to state media, this latest attack happened in Nanzheng County, about 300 kilometers southwest of Xi'an, the city famous as being home to the terracotta warriors.

The rampage took place at a kindergarten around 8:00 a.m. local time just as parents with their children would be arriving for the start of the day. It's believed the attacker was armed with a knife. Early reports indicate several children may be among the dead and wounded.

This is the seventh violent attack targeting children in China in almost two months. Officials have ramped up security at elementary and middle schools as well as kindergartens. In some schools, guards are now armed with pepper spray and restraining poles.

One school not far from the scene of this latest incident has told CNN it has three check points before reaching classrooms. And right now security there has been increased.

China has a ban on personal firearms which is why knives are being used. In some cases the attacks have been the result of personal grievances.

Well, state media has reported those responsible are, in fact, mentally ill but there is growing speculation that the violent rampages are the result of frustration because of the gap between rich and poor.

At this stage, the reason for this latest rampage remains unclear.

John Vause, CNN, Beijing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: American parents may soon be able to adopt children from Russia again. Remember the Tennessee mom who sent her adopted Russian child back to Moscow with a note? It caused a big brouhaha last month. They've been -- there have been, rather, no adoptions to U.S. parents since then.

Russia says it wanted more control over the process and the living conditions that the children face in the U.S. The AP now reporting there is a deal between Moscow and Washington. It'll be signed in two months. That's the word from Russian officials. No word yet from the U.S.

Looks like the pirates are back in business off the coast of Somalia. Hijacked a chemical tanker with a crew of 15 Bulgarians in the Gulf of Aden. That's the word now from the European Union naval force.

And this morning we're getting reports of another ship that's been seized in that area. It's described as a Greek-owned cargo ship flying under an Iberian flag with a crew of 24.

We're going to keep you posted on that story.

Now there's better news coming out of Oklahoma today about that deadly outbreak of tornadoes on Monday. The State Department's emergency management revising the death toll from that storm -- revising it down.

At first it reported five people had died. But now apparently it's two people that have died. Emergency officials blame it on miscommunication. Fortunately for the southern plains, they could have another outbreak of severe weather today.

Dad, mom, and the two girls were sitting in the TV room, rooting on their beloved Montreal Canadians. Well, then without warning, a sinkhole swallows their home. Rescue teams and friends dug all day in the rubble, sometimes using their hands.

Their worst fears were confirmed last night when four bodies were found. The town of St. Jude, Quebec, just 1,000 people, now in shock.

We were talking about Oklahoma's deadly outbreak of tornadoes earlier this week. The incredible pictures are still coming out of Oklahoma City.

Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has a bit of a play-by-play.

Pretty unbelievable pictures, Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes. Let's go ahead and roll them, Kyra. They are amazing. As we roll this video you'll see that there's a van that you're going to watch for that gets picked up by the tornado and begins to roll and get pushed with that. I don't believe that's the correct video, but there you can see some of the damage across the area. And like Kyra said, a little bit of good news is that the death toll a little bit lesser, though we are concerned about that threat again later on today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Jacqui, thanks.

Well, he went from middle-class suburbia to the terror training camps in Pakistan. But the real cautionary tale came when he returned home to kill fellow Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.

Plan B for BP. Workers at the site of that massive oil spill have lowered a second containment box to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. The bigger one didn't work.

The death toll has been downgraded to two in the tornado outbreak that smacked Oklahoma Monday. The plain states could be in for more severe weather today.

And a jetliner crashed trying to land at Tripoli, Libya airport. Around 100 people are believed dead but there's a report that a child survived.

If you're in London, you can barely walk around in public without a security camera watching your every move. Do you think that's a good idea for New York, a good terror deterrent? The mayor does.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A new kind of attacker hiding in plain sight. That's how one member of Congress describes the suspect in the Times Square car bombing attempt.

Here's the latest. Some lawmakers are calling for tighter screeners of travelers between the U.S. and Pakistan. Suspect Faizal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen, has not been arraigned since his arrest last week.

Authorities say that he's still cooperating, still talking. Senator Dianne Feinstein says Shahzad has waived his right to a speedy arraignment.

Surveillance cameras helped police nabbed Shahzad and New York's mayor wants to know more about the cutting edge technology that helped do that. Yesterday he visited London to check the city's vast network of security cameras.

It's called the ring of steel. Twelve thousand cameras watching London's subway system alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: You know, we spend a lot of time talking back and forth because what's applicable here is pretty much applicable there. We do some things they don't do here, they do a lot of things we don't do. They're way ahead of New York City in terms of having cameras to survey platforms.

Cameras help deter crime which is the thing we'd really like to do, but if a crime does occur, they are very useful in terms of finding out who did it and apprehending the guilty party.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: New York City has heavy security downtown and in the Wall Street area, but the system is being expanded to popular tourist areas including Times Square and Broadway.

Al Qaeda in America and the terrorists among us. We're going to follow one man's journey from New York suburbs to a terrorist camp in Pakistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Stocks have been all over the map lately. Yesterday we saw the Dow dropped 100 points and then swing to a gain of almost that much.

Stephanie Elam is following the ride from New York.

So, Stephanie, what do you think? Is Wall Street ever going to calm down?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Is the Bucking Bronco going to take a break, Kyra? Yes, that's a good question.

(LAUGHTER)

ELAM: But I think we actually may see some -- like an idea of normalcy today so that's a good thing. Stocks are set for a higher opening but there are still some underlying nervousness in the market even though Europe has a $1 trillion rescue plan in place.

The euro is hovering near a 14-month low against the dollar and this as some people are really worried about the effectiveness of that plan.

Gold prices, though, they are at a record high, $1,245 an ounce. Yes.

All right, we're also keeping our eyes on Morgan Stanley today. The "Wall Street Journal" says federal prosecutors are looking into whether or not Morgan misled customers. The report claims Morgan packaged and sold mortgage derivatives, but at the same time, the company's own traders were betting their value would fall. Morgan Stanley tells us that it hasn't been contacted by the justice department at this point, but investors are still sending shares of Morgan Stanley down 4 percent.

So, now, we have the opening bell and we have the Dow on the upside by 14 points. Nasdaq is up about half a percent right now. So, we'll be keeping our eyes to see if this continues, but that sounds pretty mild.

And finally, Kyra, a story here about Disney. That whole Disney vacation, it's still going to cost a family a bit more this fall. Disney is trying to wean guests off of deep discounts that were put into place to woo vacationers during the recession. So, people who are still saying it was expensive then, guess it's going to be more expensive, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, you're changing that whole family trip once the baby is born then? You're going to have to take Simon some place, though. Maybe on a trip to the New York Stock Exchange.

ELAM: Which is always so exciting.

PHILLIPS: That's always a wild ride. Come on.

ELAM: A little G-Force teacups, just like that, exactly.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Steph.

Do you know who your neighbor is? Sure, you may know where they work or what they drive, but do you know what drives them? We continue our focus on a middle-class New Yorker who drifted into radical Islam, trained to be a terrorist over there, and then he came back here to kill fellow Americans. CNN's Nic Robertson now with his investigation of "al Qaeda in America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Penn Station. It is the busiest train station in North America. It is one mile from Times Square, about two miles from Ground Zero, and 50 miles from where Bryant Neil Venus grew up in a middle-class suburb. It is also a target, the young American would help al Qaeda plan to attack.

Bryant grew up on this street on Long Island. He loves swimming, baseball, and biking. He was a good student, an altar boy. Everything was right until, at age 14, his parents separated. For Bryant, it was traumatic. He got angry, disconnected from his family. It was the start of a dangerous journey. For five years, the boy tried a lot of things. He joined the army then quit boot camp. He made new friends. In time, Bryant became fascinated with the Koran.

His conversion was fast. He'd come to a mosque run by Tablighi Jamaat, members like Jehovah's Witnesses, spreading the word, looking for converts. They avoid politics. And although Tablighi Jamaat is not considered a radical movement, counterterrorism officials point out that its members' passion can make some of them vulnerable to radical recruiters. Bryant Neil Venus had unwittingly taken another step on his path to al Qaeda. ALEX ACEVEDO, BEST FRIEND: You could see it in his face, in his eyes that he was more focused, more happy, more outgoing. There was no more playing softball, doing this and that. There was more praying.

ROBERTSON: But his vulnerability plus his eagerness to absorb Islam drew him into a new and more radical circle of friends, young men on Long Island with extremist Muslim views. He connected with people like Ahmed Kayoon (ph), who would soon move back to Pakistan, and Ahmed Surini (ph) who was front and center of protests in New York City staged by the radical Islamic thinkers society, a radical Islamist group. Federal investigators believe this is about when Bryant's odyssey turned to ideas about Jihad. About wanting to fight the U.S.

MITCH SILBER, NEW YORK POLICE: They're almost bug lights for aspiring jihadist. They've got an anti-western, anti-democratic, anti-U.S., pro-al Qaeda message.

ROBERTSON: But the group is entirely legal.

SILBER: As much as the Islamic thinkers society might put out an extremist message, it seems that they go right up to the line with the first amendment.

ROBERTSON: Now, in his early 20s, Bryant is spending time with his radical new friends. His growing views also fueled by the internet. His own extremist site for hours at a time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Bryant was looking at this, what was he thinking? He was saying (ph) get out, get out of this country.

He grew convinced that the U.S. was behind the 9/11 attack and is an enemy of Islam. Alex Acevedo, a friend from high school, saw Bryant transforming.

ACEVEDO: Yes. There's a war against Islam.

ROBERTSON (on-camera): This is what Bryant believed?

ACEVEDO: This is what Bryant believed. You know, he was always pissed off, always mad.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Soon, Bryant would give Alex the biggest clue yet to his intentions.

ACEVEDO: He was, like, I'll see you in your dreams. I didn't know what he was talking about. I was dumbfounded. And he just gave me a book, and the book was jihad.

ROBERTSON: The next day, Bryant was gone.

(on-camera): On September 10, 2007, Bryant Neil Venus flew from here in New York to Lehore, Pakistan. It had been five years since he'd been a U.S. army recruit, a little less since he converted from Catholic to Muslim. Now, he was on his way to Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops.

(voice-over): Bryant can't do it alone. He's never been there before. But one of his radical friends was returning to his home in Pakistan, which is where we tracked him down.

AHMER QAYYUM, FRIEND: We had planned to come back, like, together, but, you know, my flight got delayed for like a few days and he arrived in Lehore before me.

ROBERTSON: Qayyum claims Bryant tells him only he had come to Pakistan to attend a religious school, a madrassa.

(on-camera): U.S. security officials tell us they believe not only did Qayyum know about Bryant's plans to fight U.S. troops but also helps him hook up with contacts here in Pakistan who could introduce him to militants on the border with Afghanistan, the land of the Taliban and al Qaeda. Qayyum denies this.

SILBER: With the reasons (ph) seems like he's involved with military action, guerrilla action out there.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He actually joins militants on a mission targeting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

SILBER: We've almost called Venus the Forrest Gump of the jihad in the sense that he seems to find this way to get himself involved in operations or attacks that seem way beyond a 20-some-odd convert from Long Island should be involved in.

ROBERTSON (on-camera): He was resourceful and persistent. Bryant made a number of zigs and zags between Taliban militants here in Pakistan. He even volunteered to become a suicide bomber. But what he really wanted to do was connect with al Qaeda. He was determined. He disguised himself as a woman dressed in a burqa and set off alone to find the al Qaeda camps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson says that Bryant Neil also told investigators something else very disturbing. He talked with al Qaeda about attacking the Long Island railroad that ends at Penn Station. Officials reacted swiftly, stepped up security there, just in time for Thanksgiving 2008.

Sorry, there's a problem with your cable service, but can you get a repairman in outer space? Maybe between 8:00 and 2:00? Yes, don't count on it when your favorite shows go on to hash all because of satellite that go in rogue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now, severe storms could be headed back to the plains today. That could mean more tornadoes. Good news, three kids feared killed in this week's Oklahoma twisters were found alive. The death toll revised downward to two. Dropping a hat on the oil leak. BP hoping this finally caps the gusher. All this while top oil exploration executives return to Capitol Hill for round two of the grilling on drilling.

A sole survivor found in the rubble from an airliner in Libya believed to be 10 years old. At least 100 people have died in that crash of plane, crashed trying to land still don't know why.

It ain't rocket science. Actually, it is. Some kids perfect for inspiring a field trip, but what about those kids left behind? Did they not have the right stuff or did they just not have the right look?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Come on, that's the perfect song.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was perfect.

PHILLIPS: Dave Matthews, we love that. We're talking about this runaway satellite apparently just zipping through space. It's not going to hit the earth, though, but it is going to burn up before then. We talk about the effects. It could be even worse actually than a direct hit. No cable TV. Josh Levs, what would we do?

LEVS: Isn't that the worst?

PHILLIPS: No CNN.

LEVS: Isn't that the worst?

PHILLIPS: Just like your biggest nightmare, especially when you can't sleep. What the hell do you do?

LEVS: That's our biggest nightmare. So, by the way, these are really cool pictures. This is space debris that's out there. And one thing I like about the satellite, it just reminds us of how much is out there. This is just some delay images out in NASA, some of the space debris that's been running around out there.

Now, there is a difference between this and the problem that we're talking about. The problem is right here, cable interference, coming satellite threatening U.S. cable. We actually have a little piece of video that kind of represents what the problem is that I love that our folks put together.

See that. That's the satellite threatening your cable, and here is the basic idea. We can go to the web for a second. What we have here is there's a couple different satellites out there and one of them has basically gotten loose. It's out of control. It's called Galaxy 15. It's out of control, and it's getting into the same orbit as another one that feeds a lot of U.S. cable. This other one here is called AMC 11. I like this here from GPSWorld.com, which kind of tracks you through the paths of the satellites and what their relevance is and how they can get really close to each other.

We also have something here from NASA that shows you how well this satellites work. This is basically -- this is what it basically looks like out in space. It's taking a lot of this imagery, a lot of the data that ultimately feed your cable and sending it to you on earth.

All right, let's go back to the facts here. Because what I want you to understand now is exactly when this is going to happen and how it could potentially affect you. This is the day that the officials who are following this are saying there could be a problem. May 23rd, that is when the satellite that's loose is expected to cause enough problems in the orbit of the satellite that feeds our cable that some of you might have some interference.

The folks with the Associated Press basically got this great mega-list of all the places in the country to take a look at what's going to happen to you. Comcast at this point says it's monitoring the situation. DirecTV is saying it will not be affected at this point. Anything could change here. Cox Communications saying at this point they could not specify.

And if you look at this last one over here, you've got Dish Network, Time Warner Cable and the Charter Communications and Cablevision all saying at this point that they don't have immediate word on how it could ultimately affect what they're offering.

Kyra, I will tell you this, all the officials who look at this are saying it's pretty definite that there's going to be interference. They're looking into what they can do. Can they shift this problematic satellite out of control over in a way that it stays within its orbit but minimizes the impact to cable subscribers in the United States?

That we don't know. And that brings us back to how incredibly much stuff there is out there in space and why some of this can sometimes be a problem. So between now and the 23rd, we're going to be keeping a close eye on this loose satellite and see what kind of problems it could cause for America -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. We'll track it; hopefully it won't be a big problem.

LEVS: Yes, everyone here hopes.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I know, God this is our livelihood.

LEVS: I know.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: And we won't lose that, thanks Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, he served with them at Pearl Harbor and now he rests with them. Anthony Schubert has been buried with fellow shipmates of the "USS Arizona". The Irish took Schubert's remains underwater and placed him in gun turret on the sunken ship. Schubert's daughter says that she knows it's exactly what her father would have wanted; even though he never talked about the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONAY HAYWARD, SCHUBERT'S DAUGHTER: I would not have discussed it with him. The "Arizona" was a taboo subject. His young comrades destroyed in an instant and he never got over that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now Schubert's name has been etched on the wall of the "Arizona's Memorial Shrine room along with his shipmates, 300 crew members survived the Japanese bombing. Just more than 20 are still alive. They also have the option of a burial on "The Arizona."

New hotspot with presidential pizzazz, welcome to the Obama Club. We'll lift the velvet robe and get you right inside. No cover.

An end to the country's most infamous kidnapping case, the body of the Lindbergh baby discovered on this date in 1932. The 20-month- old son of legendary aviator, Charles Lindbergh was taken from their home March 1st.

And March 12th, 1943, the North African campaign of World War II ended with the surrender of Axis Forces in Libya; 275,000 prisoners of war. At the end, U.S. forces in the fight were led by General George Patton.

And a Rolling Stones' masterpiece, celebrating a birthday; 38 years ago the band released "Exile on Main Street." Like classic of "Happy" and "Tumbling Dice", it's being reissued with ten new tracks later this month.

We'll have more for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I totally get this.

You have African-American students at a Michigan elementary school lagging behind their white peers in homework and crucial test scores. So the principal says hey, these kids need role models. Let's go meet one. In this case, a black rocket scientist in Ann Arbor, a successful, smart guy with some good advice for the kids.

Here is the problem. The trip was just for the black students. The white kids didn't get to go. Does that sound fair?

Take a look at this report from Kim Bora at WDIV-TV. Then let's talk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BORA, WDIV TV (voice-over): It was supposed to be a field trip, a chance to meet a real-life African-American rocket scientist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He showed us his cool, like, lab and stuff he does.

BORA: What wasn't cool for some was how Principal Mike Madison chose to handle students in one class after some were heard booing African-American students who took part in this trip. Parents say they were told the principal raised his voice at them, shaming the very students he excluded by not giving them a chance to go on this trip, but not all parents are convinced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was something that was very simple that was blown out of proportion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's very important for people to realize that the majority of parents at Dicken are very happy with Principal Madison.

BORA: In a letter addressed to parent the principal said in hindsight things would have been handled differently. He wrote, quote, "I'm sorry if any kids were upset by the field trip or my discussion afterwards with them, and I have let them know that."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that anything they're trying is a good thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that kids were booing the kids that were returning from this field trip in my opinion would have upset me had I just planned a field trip that I felt really good about and I just saw the kids being really excited by it and inspired by it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think that there has been a lot of reactionary talk. I think that the firing and the lawsuit discussion is pretty absurd at this point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: OK. Here's the thing. White kids need black role models, too, why? Because, let's face it, there's still racism in this country. KKK members, white supremacists and less radical racists raising kids and the Internet with all kinds of racist poison out there; kids might believe that stuff unless they're challenged not to. See it debunked right before their eyes.

Role models come in all colors, all genders, all professions; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. So I'm glad to hear that now that the school program in Michigan is being suspended so school officials can tweak it and make it more inclusive. Good thing because the segregated field might have violated Michigan law.

What do you think? Unfair field trip or justified lesson? Let us know on my blog, CNN.com/Kyra. We'll read some of your thoughts later in the show.

All right, here's what's coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. We're going to start with Congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, back on the hot seat for a second day in a row, BP and other top oil execs. This time they're before a house committee that has promised a scathing, a blistering report and investigation into the Gulf oil disaster.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Could the effects of the BP oil spill in some ways ultimately be even worse than what followed the Exxon Valdez spill? I'm Josh Levs. I'm going to have that for you at the top of the hour.

PHILLIPS: OK. And also, we're going to be talking about an intern murder, the Congressman suspected and a nation enthralled with plenty of missteps along the way. New developments in the Chandra Levy case nine years after the fact next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Some fans of President Obama are borrowing his name and the campaign slogan to sell a new nightclub. CNN's Emily Chang checks it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the hottest new spot on the Shanghai scene, a Vegas-style club with a presidential twist, the Obama Club.

Inside, it's more hip-hop than White House with an American owner and Chinese investors. There's a mega-sized dance floor and private room named after American cities.

Why did you decide to name this place the Obama Club?

WING TANG, CEO, OBAMA CLUB: Well, because Mr. Obama is an idol to our owners because of what he said, change. We're trying to change the concept of entertainment in Shanghai.

CHANG: It's not the first time President Obama has been spoofed in China. Check out these communist Oba Mao t-shirts depicting him in a Red Army suit. The Chinese government temporarily banned them during Obama's state visit to China last year, worried they might offend the American president.

The T-shirts are back on the market. And Obama Club managers said they've had no run-ins with the government so far, but it's yet to be determined if this club indeed brings about the change they say Obama is famous for.

Emily Chang, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)