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Political Pressure Builds Over Oil Spill; Air India Crash Survivor Tells Her Story; Radical Cleric Threatens Violence; CNN Viewers Offer Oil Leak Fix Ideas; Sarah Ferguson Caught on Tape Asking for Bribe; Cyclist Landis Admits Drug Use

Aired May 23, 2010 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Every day, the situation gets worse and worse down in the Gulf of Mexico. Don't take my word for it. Just look at the pictures. Why after a month is that oil is still gushing?

One of the world's most wanted terrorists releases a new video promising to kill Americans anywhere they are. The White House says the, quote, "murderous thug" is being hunted down. Who is he?

And an incredibly embarrassing moment for the Duchess of York, caught on tape appearing to accept a bribe. And it involves her ex- husband, Prince Andrew, the father of her children. We have her response tonight.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LEMON: And hello, everyone.

"Make it stop." That is the sentiment from everybody down in the Gulf region and probably from you at home -- and rightfully so. Just look live at the oil spewing into the water right now, millions upon millions of gallons so far. An angry Louisiana governor spoke out a short time ago. More of what he said in a moment.

But first, a key week ahead in the oil battle. On Tuesday or Wednesday, B.P. will try to do a top kill on the well and it could be the best last chance of capping it. The method involves pumping heavy drilling fluids into the well and then trying to seal it with cement.

So, why is it taking so long? A top kill has never been done so deep before, nearly a mile underwater, and B.P. has to get equipment in place before moving forward. Meanwhile, some key officials are giving mixed messages about how much confidence the government has in B.P.'s efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETARY: I have no question that B.P. is throwing everything at the problem to try to resolve it because this is an existential crisis for one of the world's largest companies. So they are throwing everything that they can at the problem. Do I have confidence that they know exactly what they're doing? No. Not completely. ADM. THAD ALLEN, COAST GUARD COMMANDANT: When I give them direction or the federal on-scene coordinator gives them direction, we get a response. I've got Tony Hayward's personal cell phone number. If I have a problem, I call them. Some of the problems we have had that we worked through are more logistics and coordination issues.

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Do you trust them?

ALLEN: I trust Tony Hayward. When I talk to him, I get an answer.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

LEMON: Well, the Gulf tourism industry is already feeling the pain from the spill. And Florida Governor Charlie Crist says B.P. should have to pay for it. He wants the company to fork over --out $35 million for advertising to reassure tourists that the oil isn't ruining Florida's beaches.

You know, with each day that oil spews into the Gulf, the political pressure is also mounting. But as our Kate Bolduan tells us, both the administration and B.P. are trying to get critics to back off this weekend -- Kate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, the White House is strongly defending the government's response to the spill so far. White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, is pushing back on the mounting criticism from the right, the left, and in between, that the government isn't doing nearly enough to take control of the catastrophic situation still unfolding in the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's a lot of criticisms that one can have certainly for B.P. and even for the government in how we got to this. But I don't think anybody could credibly say, even as frustrated as they are and as frustrated as we are, that the government has stood around, done nothing and hoped for the best. We were activated the moment that this oil rig exploded. This has been on the president's agenda ever since that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: A top B.P. executive is also trying to answer criticism today that the company can't be trusted and has been trying to downplay what's actually going on 5,000 feet below the surface.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB DUDLEY, BP MANAGING DIRECTOR: Those words hurt a little bit because we've been open about what we're doing. We've -- what we're doing is certainly not anything in secret. We've had direct oversight and involvement from government agencies from the very first hours afterwards. There's nobody, nobody who's more devastated by what's happening and nobody that wants to shut this off more than we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The White House announced yesterday, President Obama has formed a special independent commission to investigate the oil spill and figure out how to prevent it from ever happening again, be it changes in regulations or something else. And two more top Obama administration officials are heading down to the Gulf tomorrow, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano -- Don.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Kate, thank you very much.

Make sure you get the latest updates and full coverage of the impact of the oil spill has had on the Gulf Coast region, go to CNN.com/oilspill. It's a great place to see all of the reports as they come in.

Meantime, investigators at the site of that Air India crash have found the plane's cockpit voice recorder. They're still looking for the flight data recorder, hoping for clues to what caused a Boeing 737 to overshoot the runway in Mangalore, killing 158 people.

India's civil aviation minister says human error cannot be ruled out in the crash and a top government regulator says it could take months to determine exactly what happened. The plane took off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Only eight people survived the accident.

CNN's Sara Sidner talked with one of the survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sabrina is in serious pain and wants to keep a low profile -- so we agreed not to show her face. She is one of only eight people who survived this -- one of India's deadliest plane crashes in more than a decade.

Everybody thought that they were about to land safely, a split second, before the wheels of the Air India Express 737 touched down in Mangalore. They were wrong.

SABRINA, CRASH SURVIVOR: Instead of decelerating and stopping, it picked up more speed and just kept going really fast, and we all knew that it was something abnormal because everything was shaking. After that, I remember, like, we had some sort of plunging sensation as though we were going down a slope.

SIDNER: They were going down a slope, a steep embankment just at the end of the runway. The plane was about to crash into the thick valley forest below. Authorities initially believed the pilot overshot the runway. But they're not sure as they must now collect details from the flight voice and data recorders. Sabrina is a living witness to what happened. When the flight ended this way, it was so dark and quiet she thought she must still be sleeping.

SABRINA: Especially in the beginning, I thought I was dreaming, but then when I was walking, I felt the pain. So I knew that I wasn't dreaming and it had to be real.

SIDNER: She had to free her foot that was trapped in the wreckage to get out.

SABRINA: Ether someone pushed me out of the plane or I jumped out. And then I landed on the forest floor. And after that, I remember that, you know, of big (ph) crashes, it bursts into flames.

SIDNER: That is exactly what happened -- but not before she was rescued by a handful of farmers who heard her cries.

SABRINA: There were five or six of them who are trying to maneuver me out through the woods.

SIDNER: She was safe but terribly shaken.

(on camera): The first thing you said to your mom --

SABRINA: I just told her I must be really lucky and that God must have something specific in mind for me later on.

SIDNER (voice-over): As she lies in her hospital bed with more than a half dozen injuries, she knows one thing. She now knows what it's like to be a patient so she can be a better doctor. Sabrina is in the final year of medical school.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Mangalore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We're following a developing story from the Middle East where an American-born Muslim cleric is warning of new violence inside the U.S. -- more ahead.

Plus this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really freaking close to the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A force of nature up close. Maybe a little too close for me and probably you, as well. And don't just sit there. Make sure you become part of our conversation. Send me a message on Twitter, on Facebook. As a matter of fact, follow me on Twitter and then check out my blog, CNN.com/Don. We want to hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We have this just in to CNN and it involves a former president, Bill Clinton, who was giving a speech today at Yale University. He was involved a minor accident.

Again, this information is just coming in to CNN. And we are hearing that the Connecticut State Police say that a van carrying the former president was hit from behind on the parkway when he was on his way to deliver that class day speech at Yale University.

According to our affiliate, WTIC, on Sunday, the accident was just a fluke. They said and that he was fine.

And the New Jersey State Police -- again, this is just coming in -- says traffic was nearly at a standstill just north of New Haven because of another accident when the civilian vehicle struck the Secret Service van carrying the former president -- a very low rate of speed. The van continued to Yale where Clinton gave his address to seniors and made no mention of the accident during his speech.

And there you go. You can see the video of his van there. The former president rear-ended, it looks like, on his way to give a speech at Yale.

So, we'll bring you the very latest on that if it develops.

In the meantime, we have some other developing news. A new video released just today, a fugitive American-born Muslim cleric is warning of future attacks against U.S. citizens. In the video, Anwar al- Awlaki justifies the killings of civilians as revenge for U.S. forces killing women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan. An excerpt from the video was released in April. The entire video, however, has now been posted on radical Islamic Web sites.

CNN's Tom Foreman now has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al-Awlaki is thought to be hiding somewhere in remote mountains in Yemen, a fact which he seems to acknowledge as he welcomes his interviewer.

ANWAR AL-AWLAKI, FUGITIVE MUSLIM CLERIC (through translator): Thank you for going through all the hardship to get here.

FOREMAN: In a 45-minute interview, al-Awlaki contrasts what he sees as the West's desire for a liberal democratic Islam and what he sees as the real Islam.

AL-AWLAKI: There are two camps of Islam nowadays: the camp of glory and the camp of humiliation.

FOREMAN: Throughout the interview, his theme: a war of fates. Again, he praises the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, who is charged with 13 counts of murder and 32 of attempted murder.

AL-AWLAKI: By God, how can we be opposed to Nidal Hasan's operation? He killed American soldiers en route to Afghanistan and Iraq. Who would object to such an operation?

FOREMAN: Al-Awlaki exchanged e-mails with Hasan before the shooting and describes him as one of his students. He predicts more acts of violence in the United States.

AL-AWLAKI: If the American crimes continue, we will see a new Nidal Hassan. There are now mujahedeen in the West and from America fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And this phenomenon will grow because of the criminal acts committed by the American in the Arab and Muslim world.

FOREMAN: Al-Awlaki also repeats his praise for the Nigerian student accused of trying to blow up a U.S. airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, who was allegedly trained by al Qaeda in Yemen. And he claims all Americans, including civilians, are legitimate targets.

AL-AWLAKI: Now, when it comes to the American people as a whole, they are participating in the war because they are the ones who voted for this administration. And they are the ones funding these wars.

FOREMAN: An immediate response from the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs is saying the U.S. is actively trying to track down al- Awlaki man and others like him.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will continue to take action directly at terrorists like al-Awlaki and keep our country safe from their murderous thugs.

FOREMAN: In recent months, senior administration officials have said al-Awlaki is an operational figure within al Qaeda and he has been targeted for killing or capture. The Yemeni government says if it catches al-Awlaki, he won't be sent to the United States but will face trial in his homeland.

From his hiding place, al-Awlaki makes it clear he won't surrender but continue to urge jihad, holy war, against the country he describes as today's pharaoh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And Tom Foreman joins me now here live.

Tom, the question is: What will analysts, I guess, investigators look for in this particular video?

FOREMAN: Well, they're going to go through every frame of this, first, to look for any hint about where he is, what kind of health he's in, anything that tells them can we narrow in on where this guy is?

But beyond that, they're also looking for the messages within the message. There's a message here also always for his own constituencies around the world. You hear him speaking out to other Muslims around the world.

And one of the interesting points he's brought up here is a debate that's going on for quite sometime in Muslim communities. You hear him talking about the Fort Hood attacks. The Fort Hood attacks are the kind of things that there may be more agreement among radicals on because they would say, that's an attack against soldiers.

There actually have been aggressive debates in recent years between radical Islamist factions over the legitimacy of attacking civilian targets and when you can attack them and to what degree. So, you hear him make those arguments still, look at that also, to say, is that a clue to that rift growing deeper, separating him from other fractions. And if so, does that open an avenue for finding someone who might want to lead them to him?

LEMON: And you know how the administration feels about Robert Gibbs calling him a murderous thug and said they were hunting him down.

FOREMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely. Many, many, many messages hidden within a long message like that, including some that he may not be aware he put there. That's what intelligence analysts were looking for.

LEMON: Tom Foreman, thank you, sir. Always good to see you.

The tea party is making inroads in this week's primary elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I think it is a difficulty for the Republican Party. I think they've lost some very, very good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Two governors are weighing in on whether the tea party's momentum will carry over to the next round.

And Sarah Ferguson's very embarrassing moment, the Duchess of York is caught on tape appearing to take a bribe to provide access to the royal family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tea party favorite, Rand Paul, went from political unknown to political star this week when he stormed to a victory over a fellow Republican backed by Kentucky's party establishment.

Well, on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley, two governors analyze the tea party's impact on politics. Pennsylvania Democrat Ed Rendell mentioned Rand Paul. Rendell sees the tea party as a big problem but not for his party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENDELL: I think it is a difficulty for the Republican Party. I think they've lost some very, very good people, like Governor Crist, who I think Tim and I both admired for a long time, like Senator Bennett who was a conservative, was anti-spender, and he was targeted and defeated. I think the tea party candidates are going to be more easy to beat in a general election. I think that's the case with Rand Paul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Republicans, of course, see things differently. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty told Candy the tea party has invigorated his own party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: The tea party movement represents, I think, new energy, new ideas, passion around these themes of we've had enough, government's too big, the debt's too big. And to the extent that accrues to the Republican side of the ledger, that's a helpful thing. We'll take that energy. It's still, you know, a little chaotic in some ways but it's a good thing. Every generation has an insurgency in politics. It brings new energy, new people, new ideas. I'm the glad that energy is on the side of the conservatives and Republicans in most of these races.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Rand Paul ran into some rough waters in the days after his big victory. He questioned the 1964 Civil Rights Act and one interview, and in another, he came to the defense of oil company, B.P. Well, it seemed like he was all over the airwaves until this weekend when he canceled a scheduled appearance on the Sunday morning talk show.

Our political editor -- our political director, I should say, Mr. Paul Steinhauser joins me now.

So, Paul, what do you make of Rand Paul's sudden rise to political stardom and then his decision to sort of back away from the spotlight? Because we'd be playing sound bites from him today, probably had he kept his appearance on the Sunday show.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: First, his rise to stardom, Don, you know, he was very successful in running for the primary in Kentucky for the Senate nomination on the Republican side, as an outsider in this year of outsiders and anti-establishment candidates, and he was able to paint his major opponent, Kentucky's Secretary of State Trey Grayson as an insider, as a Washington establishment figure -- even though they kind of agreed similarly on the issues.

He was also lucky to tap into his father, remember his father is congressman from Texas Ron Paul who ran for president. His father has a good national network. Rand Paul was able to tap into those supporters and he trounced Grayson in the primary.

As you mentioned, he got into some trouble the day after with those comments. It's like going from the minor leagues, Don, almost to major leagues. The primaries are over. Now, it's the general election. Democrats will be targeting Rand Paul -- just may be a taste of things to come, Don.

LEMON: Yes. And that's what they call the glare of the spotlight, you know? All of a sudden, it's like, whoa, here it comes.

So, listen, how -- what about the tea party overall? Was Tuesday a good day for tea party activists?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. It was a very good day for them with the Rand Paul victory in Kentucky. They also, on the House level, one of their candidates that they back also beat a more mainstream establishment candidate.

We're going to see this tea party versus more mainstream Republican battle continue in Nevada and in California. Those primaries are coming up in about two weeks. And we'll see if they continue to have success. They had success in Utah, as well.

But you just heard that sound you just played it from "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley. The Democrats love this. They say this is like a Christmas gift for them, Christmas come early, because they figure, if they there are more tea party candidates running on the Republican side, it will maybe make them a little out of the mainstream.

That's how the Democrats will try to kind of portray these candidates as out of the mainstream and maybe not -- maybe moderates an independents, the people in the middle who win elections or who sway elections will find these candidates maybe not so appetizing.

You heard Tim Pawlenty, though, just say just the opposite. The tea party is where all the energy and enthusiasm. And the Republicans want to tap into that, Don.

LEMON: Yes. It's really how you shape the message. And we're going to see how this will play out eventually come November.

Here's a question. I want to turn to Hawaii now, because a Democratic seat that's been held for decades there is in danger of being taken over. And, of course, this is, you know, the president is from Hawaii. What's a significance of this, Paul, if any?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. This was a family feud among Democrats and it allowed the Republicans yesterday win this House seat back. They hadn't controlled the seat in over 20 years, a rare victory for Republicans in Hawaii. It was the first congressional district in Honolulu area.

Don, yes, this is where Barack Obama grew up. This is where he spent a lot of his childhood, where he went to high school. Democrats dominate in this district.

But what happened? There were two Democratic candidates on the ballot. Neither would drop out for sake of party unity. That allowed the Republican candidate to win.

National Democrats are saying, you know what? We'll win the seat back in November when in theory there's only one Democrat on the ballot, Don.

LEMON: Paul, you're a learned man. And I always appreciate your insights. Thank you. We'll see you in a little bit later on, correct?

STEINHAUSER: You got it.

LEMON: We'll see you in a bit. Thank you, sir.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: I want to check your top stories right now.

Thousands of British Airways cabin crew workers may strike at midnight over pay and working conditions. But now, the union representing has offered to call off the strike if the airline reinstates travel perks abolished in March. British Airways says it will all flights from Gatwick in London city airports and more than of the flights from Heathrow if there is a strike.

And a terrifying scene in South Dakota: an enormous tornado ripping across the plains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A really freaking close to the house, Randy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. And we're going to have to get south in a hurry. I'm trying to stay on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Unbelievable. Storm chasers caught this monster storm late yesterday in north-central South Dakota. Several other tornadoes and funnel clouds were reported in the region. The storms tore down power lines and destroyed farm buildings but no reports of injuries. Unbelievable.

Soccer star David Beckham visited British troops in Afghanistan's Helmand Province this weekend. That's a heartland of Taliban territory. Beckham can't play in the 2010 World Cup due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. So he showed up to support the British and U.S. troops battling the Taliban and told the soldiers what they're doing is, quote, "amazing." Big city crime is putting pressure on police departments from the east to the Midwest. Both New York and Chicago have seen jumps in their murder rates this year.

And in Detroit, the sight of a child-size casket broke hearts across the city yesterday. A service was held for a 7-year-old girl killed during a police raid.

The Reverend Al Sharpton gave the eulogy criticizing the police and the community for playing a part in the death of Aiyana Stanley Jones.

He and I spoke right after that service.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think that, first of all, they found the person in the other house and I think that you have a right to question police procedure. But as you stated, I also challenge the community because at the same time, we cannot harbor people that were accused of killing a member of our community.

I think that we find ourselves now, Don, in where we've got to fight on two fronts. We've got to call for police accountability but community accountability. A police officer robbed and killed in Chicago day before yesterday, deaths are rising in New York, all over the country.

So, we cannot sit by and allow this kind of suicidal, self- destructive behavior going on in our community, particularly on our young people and not challenge it, not say we've got to find a way to work together to clearly make this kind of situation become something that is decreased and that also means another kind of engagement with police. But police have got to come to the table and also admit where they're wrong and where they're over the top.

If there's an accident, fine. But I think if procedures are violated, or if you have different strokes for different folks, we cannot solve the problem. We've all got to share some blame here and deal with trying to improve what's going on.

LEMON: I think it's interesting what you said. You said that this was a breaking point. I think your quote was, "It's time for the community." And especially, let's just be honest, you're talking about the black community, because a lot of these -- this violence is happening in the black community. You said it's time to look at the man in the mirror and not only look at the community, but you are challenging leaders -- and leaders not only in Detroit but especially in Chicago.

SHARPTON: Chicago, when we see a policeman killed like this, Reverend Al Sampson who pastors in Chicago was with me in Detroit today. It's heartbreaking.

Here's a young policeman bringing to the school to show his parents. He gets surrounded by four so-called brothers to kill him. These are not brothers -- this whole "stop snitching" thing. Snitching is if I'm your partner in a crime and I tell on you. Snitching is not when I'm your victim or the relative or friend of your victim and I'm supposed to cover you with silence?

We've got to turn the culture of raising gangster-ism and thug- ism around in our community and that's on us. Yes, we must hold the police accountable, but we cannot allow our children to continue to romanticize violence because the results are -- I'm looking at a 7- year-old girl in a casket today.

I thought about how last year, a year an ago next month, I preached at Michael Jackson's funeral. He said, I'm looking at the man in the mirror -- we got to look at the man in the mirror while we also hold other forces accountable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Preach (ph) Reverend Sharpton.

There is a video of this raid, both the police and Aiyana's family attorney are viewing it.

If B.P.'s "top kill" method to plug that massive oil leak in the Gulf doesn't work, we are looking at what other options might be available. The possibilities -- straight ahead.

In the meantime, do you have a solution to fix that problem? Some of you have submitted some big ideas and Bill Nye the Science Guy will check them out for us. So stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's really just unbelievable the way things are happening in the Gulf of Mexico, and this week could bring the last best chance to cap the oil gusher in the gulf. And the government's impatience with BP is starting to show right now. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says BP missed deadline after deadline, and while he believes the company is trying everything, he is not confident BP knows what it's doing. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal toured some of the affected areas on the coast just today. He says his state will not wait for the federal OK to start building sand barriers to protect the coastline. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We were waiting for detailed protection plans. And when we saw there weren't detailed plans coming, Louisiana's leaders -- Louisiana's coastal parish leaders put together their own plans, working with the state, for each and every parish in the absence of any detailed plan from BP or the Coast Guard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So on Tuesday or Wednesday, BP will attempt to do a "top kill" to cap the leak. Crews will pump heavy drilling fluids into the well and then try to seal it with cement, OK? The method has never been used so deep before, nearly a mile under the water.

So why don't we head over to Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist here, because she has been following this and she knows this. So if this "top kill" -- this is so frustrating, especially for someone from down South, because you're, like, it's going to end up being that they're not going to get it shut off until the two months when they drill down and get it. We know.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Potentially.

LEMON: Potentially.

JERAS: But it could work. It's worked before, right? It just hasn't worked this deep.

LEMON: We hope.

JERAS: So we're hopeful that it will work out because...

LEMON: If it doesn't, though, what's going to happen? Is this their last and best chance to get it shut off quickly?

JERAS: It may be. There are some other options, but there are a lot of risks involved with those options, so they're not sure what they're going to try. And you know that they're even asking the public's help. I mean, people like Kevin Costner, right, have been coming up with some ideas to try and help out the situation. So you know, when that much oil continues to gush out at any one given time, any type of short-term solution that you can help even make it come out less, even a little bit, is some good news.

OK, you talked about the top kill. Something just like a top kill is what we call a "junk shot." Same type of procedure, but instead of doing the mud, what you put in there is a bunch of junk, literally, like tire shreds, golf balls, just shredded up pieces of mats, perhaps. So they'll put all that into the blowout preventer, try and get it to stop, that flow to stop, and then they'll put the cement in. So same type of thing. It's called a junk shot.

Another thing that they can do is called a "hot tap." What the hot tap will do -- we've got two breaks along the riser -- basically, it's just, you know, the pipe where the leak is coming out of. They just tap right into it. They're going to try and make some kind of drill or some type of procedure to put a hole in it, put another pipe in it and get that on out. There are risks involved. The pipe could crack, for example.

Now, they could also put in some type of valve or an additional BOP -- blowout preventer -- on top of the blowout preventer. This thing is just a series of valves, so they're going to try and maybe mess with that a little bit and try and get a different type of valve to work. Maybe, maybe not.

Ultimate solution, the relief wells. They've already started drilling these, Don. One's been in the process for a month. It takes three months in order to complete the process. So if everything fails in the interim, they say this will work unquestionably. It's just going to take a long time to happen.

LEMON: We hope. You don't have the live video under water anywhere, do you?

JERAS: I do have the live video.

LEMON: Do you have it? And the reason I say that, Jacqui, because...

JERAS: It gives people an idea.

LEMON: We know the frustration of our viewers. Our viewers are frustrated. I'm seeing it and hearing it on Twitter. And so a lot of people have offered some suggestions, right, our viewers.

JERAS: Yes.

LEMON: And "The Science Guy," Bill Nye took a look at some of them and he's going to tell us if they're going to work or not. We're going to do that after the break. So we're back in a moment.

JERAS: Good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Over the past few weeks, CNN viewers have been submitting their own solutions to cleaning up the gulf oil spill on CNN's iReport. We received so many suggestions, we invited Bill Nye -- you know him, he's "The Science Guy." We wanted him to take a look at your suggestions and tell us if any of them would work. So check this out, will you?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NYE, "THE SCIENCE GUY": As you may know, I used to work very briefly at a company that skimmed oil slicks, so I'm going to look at some of the iReport videos and look at the ideas that all of you've had to help these engineers solve this problem, to seal this leak on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Let's take a look.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You slide this in place (INAUDIBLE) the hole's stopper going (ph) up the pressure, which will plug that gap. You then drill several fastening bolts to fasten it in place. At this stage, basically, all you need do is either tap into the pipe through the dam (ph) and pump in the golf balls, the rubber, the crap (ph), that will flow down and block.

NYE: As soon as somebody says, Drill through here, you're really in trouble. The stuff is unbelievably hard. And it's broken. It's brittle. I mean, when you start to drill through it, it'll just crack and you'll have this crack propagate up and down the pipe and the leak will actually get even more difficult to deal with.

And just consider that the idea of drilling a relief well is coming in from the side. You have to drill through solid rock. But wait, there's more. You have to drill through this very hard drill casing, this special alloy steel casing. And for that, the engineers are allowing three weeks. So all you got to do is drill a hole! Not so easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, this is simulating an oil spill in the water. And you just sprinkle some sand on it. As you can see, immediately, the sand is absorbing the oil and bringing the oil down to the bottom, which makes the top very clear.

NYE: Yes, yes. This is great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) take the sand for it to absorb.

NYE: So here's the problem. A lot of people don't want tar on the bottom of the ocean, either. And the amount of sand involved, when you have an oil spill that's 10 nautical miles by 20 nautical miles, ends up to be a very large amount of sand. So this way, they're using a lot of -- or they're trying a lot of dispersants, which is sort of a dishwashing liquid, and it mixes with the oil even when it's rough.

And so -- his demonstration is fine, but just taking the oil to the bottom of the ocean isn't a complete solution. It's OK. But it's a huge amount of sand. It's a moving ocean. And this is another idea that has limited effect. Meanwhile, the oil is still coming out of the pipe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got two scenarios. We think, first of all, you can actually disperse it on the spill that's out there now. You soak up the oil there now. You got skimmers come along and skim up the hay, or use you could the shrimp boats out there with their nets to pick it back up or something along that line. Or if it washes up on shore, it's going to be just like seaweed, and you can take traditional beach cleaning equipment and you just pick it up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our medium will absorb the oil. I'm not giving away the secrets on our medium. We will set it on top of the water -- this is real time -- and you can already see where -- look at all the oil (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at all the clean water.

NYE: Air filters might work very well. Yes, there's really good stuff, polyurethane, and to a limited extent, polypropylene (ph). And these are things that are kind of like Tupperware but a little bit different. And hay. They're suggesting hay. Hay might work pretty well, too. And oil just sticks to that material, just sticks to it if you can get that stuff out there, and that's what -- when I worked on oil slick skimming boats, that's what we used. And so hay might work. It's just, once again, you need a lot of hay, a lot of human hair, a lot of any type of absorbent.

People have this thing, like, Why don't "they" do something about that? Well, the people working on these problems are engineers. These are people who nominally can do calculus, people who are very good at physics, people who've studied chemistry, people who've gone -- dedicated their lives to learning about nature, to learning about science, to learning about the process by which we understand the world.

And so I just -- I hope that along with all the concern, we do get respect for how complicated it is to provide everyone with all this energy that we all use all the time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thank you, Bill Nye "The Science Guy." What a cool guy. Love to have dinner and just talk to him. Bill, come and have dinner with you, wherever you are, one day.

So hey, viewers, keep submitting your fix suggestions and check out those that others have made. Just go to CNN.com/ireport -- CNN.com/ireport. What a good series that is. I enjoyed that.

Sarah Ferguson is an ex-British royal and no stranger to controversy. Wait until you see what she's done now, and it was all caught on tape. It's embarrassing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know what? The last time many of us saw ex-British royal Sarah Ferguson, she was a pitchwoman for a weight loss program. Remember? Now it appears Fergie may be pitching something else -- access to her former husband, Prince Andrew.

Take a look at this video. It was posted on line today by a British tabloid -- the British tabloid "News of the World."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK: Now, on to the next thing -- 500,000 pounds, when you can, to me -- open doors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be Prince Andrew?

FERGUSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a deal?

FERGUSON: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Oh, boy! The newspaper says the duchess spoke to an undercover reporter posing as a businessman. Prince Andrew is fourth in line to the British throne and an international British trade ambassador. He and Fergie divorced in 1996. They have two children.

And late today, Sarah Ferguson went into damage control. In a statement, she said, "I very deeply regret the situation and the embarrassment caused. It is true that my financial situation is under stress. However, that is no excuse for a serious lapse in judgment, and I am very sorry that this has happened. I can confirm that the Duke of York was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred. I am sincerely sorry for my actions. The duke has made a significant contribution to his business role over the last 10 years and has always acted with complete integrity."

So joining us now to talk about all of this, the Fergie fallout, is royal watcher Lady Colin Campbell. She was married to the queen's cousin and wrote a biography about Princess Di.

So was the royal family shocked or surprised by this? I'm sure they were.

LADY COLIN CAMPBELL, ROYAL WATCHER (via telephone): Well, I should think embarrassed would really be the more appropriate word. But you know, everybody in royal circles is very used to (INAUDIBLE) Mahmoud (ph), who is the "News of the World" reporter who's called the "fake sheik" because he goes around entrapping people. He entrapped the Duke of York's sister-in-law, the countess of Wessex, a few years ago. He's set some very clever stings, and you know, gets royals and others very (INAUDIBLE)

LEMON: So you say Fergie should have been -- she should have been more aware of this. She should known better.

CAMPBELL: She should have been aware of it and she should have been more cautious. And I will say one thing in her defense. I think it was a serious lapse of judgment, but you know, playing the role of fixer in the Middle East -- and she thought she was dealing with a very reputable Middle Eastern businessman -- in the Middle East, fixers have a perfectly valid role and people do get a percentage, as well as an introductory fee.

So if you look at it from that point of view, she's mixing in a very international world and she was doing a perfectly valid international financial transaction.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMPBELL: I agree that she has been very badly caught out by Mr. Mahmoud...

LEMON: But I think that people would expect instead of the duchess doing it, that it would be -- she would have her people doing it. So it just looks bad when she's doing. Hey, listen...

CAMPBELL: Oh, absolutely, and...

LEMON: Lady Colin Campbell, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it, OK?

CAMPBELL: Yes. Sure.

LEMON: OK.

You know what? He spent four years fighting to prove he was innocent. Now a former Tour de France champ admits to being guilty of cheating.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: American cyclist Floyd Landis admitted this week to using performance-enhancing drugs and accused seven-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong of doing the same. Armstrong again denied the charge and said he had been the subject of threats from Landis for years.

So our sports business analyst, Mr. Rick Horrow, joins us now from West Palm Beach. Rick, Landis was, you know, stripped earlier, was it in 2006, of his Tour de France title. And he has spent an estimated $2 million fighting the decision. So why come clean now? And everyone says it looks like there may have been some professional jealousy. But really, why come clean now?

RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, professional jealousy is fine but these are very serious accusations, and he admitted to consistent use of EPO, which is a chemical that you're just not supposed to use. There is a federal investigation going on. The world doping agency and U.S. cycling says, We can't talk about it, so this is the beginning of a very long book.

LEMON: OK, so then how serious -- how big of a problem, if at all, is this for Lance Armstrong, considering, as we said, he's an American hero, he has fought cancer and what have you? Big problem for him?

HORROW: Well, seven-time champ, obviously, came back after a three-year retirement, third on the podium this last year. And the bigger issue, by the way -- we blogged about this on your Web site, about the foundations and the monies raised. His Livestrong foundation raised $325 million with those bracelets. So it is one of those allegations that doesn't go away. It's a serious allegation. Landis has some specifics now. So obviously, Armstrong vehemently denied it, but this is not over for him, either.

LEMON: Let's switch topics now. We've been talking a lot about Tiger Woods. You know, he has set a lot of records and he could set another record. He may be at the top of the list, but I think this is a list that you don't want to be on.

HORROW: Yes. He would rather set a record for 18 majors, not the world's biggest celebrity divorce.

(LAUGHTER)

HORROW: You know, Michael Jordan's big divorce, 168 million bucks, Greg Norman's, $103 million, Mike Tyson, Michael Strahan. Lance Armstrong's divorce from his first wife and Jeff Gordon, those are all the top five athlete divorces. But this Tiger Woods one is not one you want to deal with. And coming full circle, you know, his foundation raised money for 10 million kids. Lance Armstrong's, as well. We blog about that. Is Lance Armstrong looking more like Tiger Woods or is he looking more like Bono in terms of raising money for celebrities? Quite an energy synergy today.

LEMON: Synergy. Where did you get that, synergy? That's, like, a word... (CROSSTALK)

LEMON: That's, like, a word you use in television, like, Oh, what about the synergy of our company?

HORROW: No, no. I have one new word for you a day so you can respect me a little more. How's that?

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: I'm going to start calling you Merriam Webster. All right, sir...

HORROW: Don't call me Merriam anything!

LEMON: The word of the day. Good to see you, Rick Horrow. Thank you, sir.

HORROW: Word of the day is, See you next week.

LEMON: All right. See you next week.

All right, and you can read -- and make sure you read Rick's blog, I want to tell you. It's on my blog, CNN.com/don -- Rick Horrow's blog. It's going to be very interesting.