Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Close-up View of Gulf Contamination; U.S. Backs South Korea; $700,000 Plus to Meet Prince Andrew ;Search For Recorder in India Air Crash; BP Readies "Top Kill" Plan; Arizona Cracks Down on Teacher Accents; Hoops Help Haitians be Kids Again
Aired May 24, 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.
How much more of this can the gulf take? More than a month and gushing strong. BP has got a new plan, plan C. We all know how well A and B worked out.
And a real prize for storm chasers. A real twisted monster for everyone else. Welcome to South Dakota.
And the healing power of hoops. Haitian school girls learning a cool new game from an NCAA coach. All the dribbling, passing, and layups helping them get their childhood back.
We begin with the oil gushes, the frustrations mounting, and BP preparing to execute its top kill plan. Plugging that leaking wellhead some 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.
We're 35 days in and more than likely, you've seen this live, streaming video of the rupture. Well, today, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will accompany a bipartisan group of senators on a flyover of that area.
As the Obama administration responds to growing criticism of the federal response to that spill, beginning today at noon, the president will now hold daily briefings with governors of the Gulf Coast states that are coated with crude.
Louisiana is demanding federal approval now to allow dredging of the gulf floor for the creation of sand breams that would hopefully better protect coastal marsh lands.
Well, we've been talking about weeks for how this oil is contaminating the gulf waters without really seeing it up close until now. It's a CNN exclusive and David Mattingly brings it to us live in New Orleans.
So, David -- David, show us exactly what you got.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we've always been able to see that oil on the surface. We see what it looks like, we see those orange-reddish-orange bands that have been stretching from horizon to horizon on the gulf. That's the oil that's come in contact with the dispersant.
What we haven't been able to see is how far down in the water that emulsified oil is going. Well, now we have an answer. We were able to take a submersible camera. A little ROV of our own, about the size of a suitcase, and we've sent it down for it to send video pictures back to us.
And what we were able to see was a little bit surprising. When we went down through one of those bands of oil, we actually saw those particles of oil going down about 50 feet in the water cove.
Now we - -from the surface, you could look down and see that it extends down there but we never knew exactly how far but in one location, this was about 20 miles from where this oil well is spewing this oil out into the gulf. We were able to see those particles of oil about 50 feet down below the surface.
Now we also took that immiscible I believe a lot deeper than that. We went down to 1,000 feet at one point, down to the bottom of the ocean. We were able to see there was some sea life down there, not a lot. We were able to see plants, some fish, squid. All of it seemed healthy and normal.
We were also able to go to a coral reef which was about 200 feet down. We were looking for signs of oil there. We didn't see anything that was absolutely blatant. But we are going to be getting some experts to take a look at our video for us so that their learned eye might be able to see something that we missed.
But we were able to see what appeared to be healthy coral, what appeared to be some healthy fish, not an abundance of sea life but we did see some down there. So this is suggesting that what is living below that oil spill is still going about its daily life in some semblance of normalcy.
So what we see at the top, though, that was a bit surprising. That 50 feet in the water column of these oil particles.
PHILLIPS: Yes. From sea life to wildlife, it's affecting all of it. David, thanks.
Angry, frustrated, downright furious at BP from Louisiana's bayous and beyond Sunday Interior Secretary Ken Salazar teed off at the company. And earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, BP'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: I am probably just as frustrated as the secretary is. You know, we've been at this every day for more than a month now trying to get this flow stopped and actually trying to fight this thing offshore.
So what I would say is we're doing everything we can. We've got the brightest people, the best people, every resource available putting at it. And we're going to stay at it, despite the frustration, despite the setbacks. We won't quit until we get this job done. I can promise you that.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And we have much more on John Robert's interview with BP's COO Doug Suttles in our "AM Extra." That's ahead in just about 40 minutes.
On the other side of the world, tensions ratcheting up between North and South Korea. And once again, the U.S. is weighing in.
South Korea says its warship was cut in half by a torpedo from its sworn enemy North Korea. The nuclear power denies that charge and is warning against any international punishment.
Now President Obama is promising full support to South Korea while also trying to keep this mess from escalating out of control.
CNN's John Vause is in Seoul.
So, John, how big of a deal is it?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. If you go to that statement that President Lee Myung-bak made today it seems that the South Korean are doing pretty much everything to respond to this attack by the North Korean short of their own military action.
The president announcing immediate suspension of trade, closing the waterways toward all North Korean ships. Those two actions could cost the beleaguered North Korean economy about U.S. $2 billion a year. President Lee demanding an apology, at one point even talking about regime change.
And he said these attacks by North Korea will no longer be tolerated and in all of this, Kyra, he has the support of the United States.
PHILLIPS: What's next?
VAUSE: Well, we need to watch what happens with the North Koreans now. It really is up to them. Will they try and test the South Korean government's resolve in some way, maybe send a ship to the Korean strait. See if the South Korean government really is serious about this.
On the diplomatic front, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Beijing. It was a pre-planned visit. But right now she's been trying to convince Chinese officials to back some kind of action at the U.N. Security Council.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: So we must work together. Again, to address this challenge and advance our shared objectives for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We ask North Korea to stop its provocative behavior, halt its policy of threats and belligerence towards its neighbors and take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and comply with international law.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now Secretary Clinton says that the Chinese recognize how serious the situation is. They understand South Korea's response to all of this and she's still hopeful that maybe the Chinese will come on board, much like they did last year when sanctions were imposed on North Korea after it carried a nuclear and missile tests -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: John Vause, we'll follow it.
We're also following a developing story out of Yemen right now. Two American tourists, their driver and their translator, all kidnapped by tribal gunmen. Now their captors are reportedly demanding a swap.
They say they'll hand over the tourists in exchange for two of their jailed tribes men. Government sources tell CNN right now that they've started moving forces to that kidnapping scene near the capital. But the first option is negotiations.
Now this comes on the heels of an ominous new message from an American-born cleric believed to be hiding out in Yemen. Anwar al- Awlaki says that we will kill your people. That radical preacher has just posted a new online video. He is praising the man who tried to bring down a plane on Christmas Day and he says he's inspired that the deadly attack happened at Fort Hood Texas.
Now al-Awlaki says that more violence is in the works.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANWAR AL-AWLAKI, ISLAMIST CLERIC (Through Translator): If the American crimes continue, we will see a new Nidal Hasan. 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.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Al-Awlaki is on the CIA's list of targets for assassination or capture, along with other suspected al Qaeda leaders.
Search teams are combing through the wreckage of an Air India flight hoping to find the flight data recorder. That overshot the runway Saturday at the Bangalore Airport and crashed into a valley below. 166 people were killed. Eight survived.
Now later this hour, we're going to hear how one of the survivors made it and how she got out of there alive. Gunshots and fire bombs echoing through slums in Jamaica where gangster are fighting to protect a suspected drug kingpin and his turf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: As a matter of fact, right now, parts of west Kingston are transforming into fortresses. :Police stations now targets for gangsters with guns and torches. Two officers reportedly hurt. A state of emergency has been declared. And American tourists have been put on alert by the State Department.
At the epicenter of all of it, one man -- Christopher Judas Coke -- is facing possible extradition to the U.S. where he is charged with drugs and arms trafficking.
If you got three-quarters of a million? See if you could afford a couple of minutes with the prince of England, right? Or the duchess of York busted on camera with cash selling access to her family.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, hopefully, you had a nice and relaxing weekend. But no rest for storm chases across parts of the northern plains where they saw some of the incredible storms including a large tornado about a half mile wide.
We're going to show you that coming up in a few moments. Plus we're going to let you know about the possibility of a second ram to severe weather.
Plus a sneak peek at some at some action out in the tropics. That's coming up moments away. You're watching CNN. See you in a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a royal embarrassment for the Duchess of York. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK: We want to do a big deal through that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do. Of course. OK. Of course. So you need 500,000 in pounds.
FERGUSON: But that's in wire transfer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That has to be in wire transfer. I mean obviously.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's Fergie. And in that black bag, well, a whole lot of cash. She was busted by a British tabloid selling time with her ex. And apparently, a few minutes don't come cheap. Phil Black, live outside Buckingham Palace.
So, Phil, how did this all go down?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, that video you just saw is really the result of what was a sophisticated sting operation carried out by the Sunday tabloid newspaper, "The News of the World."
One of its reporters went undercover pretending to be a wealthy businessman. He managed to infiltrate Sarah Ferguson's inner circle at a series of meetings starting in New York eventually moving to London over dinner and then there was that final scene which you saw in the apartment with the hidden cameras rolling.
They agreed on a deal where Sarah Ferguson would provide access, a meeting, to her former husband, Prince Andrew, the duke of York, who is also a special trade representative for this country. He travels the world selling British business, British business interests and industry.
And it was in that capacity that this journalist made it very clear to Sarah Ferguson that he would be very interested in meeting Prince Andrew, and meeting the people he knows, and knowing what he knows. The big international deals that are going down.
And as well, you heard it, Sarah Ferguson initially insisted on a $40,000 cash deposit to make this happen and then a further fee to be transferred. More than $700,000 to be transferred to her bank account in order to set up this meeting and give this alleged businessman just what he wanted.
And of course, she is now being stung very publicly and in a very embarrassing way -- Kiran.
PHILLIPS: So the royal family, how is it responding?
BLACK: Well, a very short statement to basically knock down one of the claims that Sarah Ferguson is heard making in that video. She is heard saying a number of times that Prince Andrew is aware of the deal, even suggesting that he came up with the figures being discussed, that $700,000 figure there.
So the royal family has released a statement saying that is not true. Prince Andrew knew none of it. And now Sarah Ferguson has released a statement where some of that is repeated.
Let me read it to you in its entirety. Just taking special attention to the language that she's using here.
She says, "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 have 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 a very sorry, a very embarrassed Sarah Ferguson there, now coming to terms with the fact that she has been outed in this very embarrassing and public way.
What it means specifically for the relationship of the duke of York and Sarah Ferguson remains to be seen because they are still very close. They live under the same roof. They describe themselves as the happiest divorced couple in the world.
If that is still the case, given everything that this country has learned in the last 24 hours, that remains to be seen -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You kind of wonder if there's more to the story here. I mean you see that video and it's very seedy with her -- the cigarette and sort of the -- you know, it kind of sets the mood of kind of a gangster film.
But a lot of people wondering, was she that desperate for money? I mean did the royal family completely cut her off after that divorce? And I know she came to the states. She made a lot of money making commercials and doing other appearances.
BLACK: There is one thing that certainly comes over from watching that video, and that is certainly a sense of desperation. It's been commented on widely here, in fact. And it certainly points to a sense of vulnerability that perhaps the Duchess of York had.
But it would certainly say from a statement today that what the British press has been reporting in recent months suggest she is in financial difficulty again.
Initially following her divorce back in the mid '90s she fell into deep debt. She was up to it in millions. She moved a lot of her business interest to the United States, wrote books, appeared on television, spoke publicly, made a lot of money back during that time.
It appears that since then, well, she has a reputation for being a bit of a spend thrift and she has now fallen into debt again with those business interests in the United States perhaps drying up over the last year or so -- Kiran?
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a story we'll follow. Phil Black, thanks.
Well, unless you've been living under a rock or on a deserted island, you know that "Lost" came to an end last night and after six years of edge-of-your-sweet -- edge-of-your-seat, rather, twist and turns, we weren't the only ones showing some "Lost" love.
Look at the attention that this gained, not only on the front page of "USA Today" but also, take a look at these other newspapers -- China, France, all paying tribute to this last chapter of the passengers of Oceanic 815.
And while we're talking about big TV news, well, how about Bret Michaels? Once again on the headlines, overcoming all sorts of odds to win celebrity apprentice. He suffered a brain hemorrhage one month ago, as you know. He was hospitalized again after warning a stroke or after a stroke, rather, a stroke warning just a few days ago.
And then last night, the rocker heard two magic words. You're hired.
And finally from the NEWSROOM, actually one of the number one top stories on news polls on CNN.com, Britney Murphy's husband found dead at his Los Angeles home five Mondays after his wife died. Police say it looks like Simon Monjack died of natural causes. He was 39 years old.
The "Lost" finale got us reminiscing about our favorite series finales -- "M.A.S.H.", "The Sopranos", "Seinfeld." Well, that long. And we want to hear from you. What was your all-time favorite TV series finale? Go to my blog, CNN.com/kyra, and let us know. I'll share some of your favorites on the air next hour.
Well, staring down a monster size tornado. If you haven't seen this video yet, stick with me because you'll want to. Back in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. BP now on plan C. Come Wednesday, workers will try pumping thick liquid into that leak site. If it works, they'll seal the wellhead with cement.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling on North Korea to explain what it knows about the torpedo strike that sunk a South Korean ship. Clinton in China as part of an Asian tour also says the North should stop its belligerence.
And you're getting a break at the pump. Lower crude prices helping out here. Gas prices have dropped more than 9 cents over the past two weeks. And here's the good news. You may see even cheaper gas coming in the next couple of weeks.
An earthquake turned their world upside down. Stole their childhood. And -- so how did they get it back?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's the beauty of that age group. It didn't matter if they're Haitians or Americans, when you get excited, and you high-five, all of a sudden, it really break down -- it breaks down barriers.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The healing power of hoops. Giving school kids in Haiti something to smile about.
Let's flashback 75 years, shall we? Tonight, in 1935, the boys of summer played their first official Major League game at night. At night with lights. The Reds beat the Phillies 2-1 Rosa Field in Cincinnati. President Roosevelt threw out the first switch from the White House.
Now this might have been the first official night game but the idea wasn't new. Got to give a shout-out here. The Kansas City monarch in the Negro Leagues had a portable light system. They'd pull it behind the bus, take the daylight with them.
So how about a big -- shout-out, rather, today for Satchel Page and Cool Papa Bell. Bell was so fast apparently he'd be home in bed before the last light went out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really freaking close to the house. We're going to be --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. And we're going to have to get out in a hurry. But I'm trying to stay on it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That's exactly what the storm chasers are supposed to do when you get your money shot. And of all places they got this bad boy on tape in north-central South Dakota. That's where they had a few reported funnel clouds Saturday night. This twister blew down few farm buildings but not much else. Luckily, there were no injuries.
Reynolds Wolf, have you ever chased storms? I asked Rob Marciano that. He said no.
WOLF: I saw five.
PHILLIPS: I think he said he's too much of a wimp. I think that's what he said.
WOLF: I saw five in one afternoon but certainly not at that magnitude like that. I mean it was an amazing --
PHILLIPS: Wait. You chased five once in an afternoon?
WOLF: No. We saw five one afternoon.
PHILLIPS: OK.
WOLF: But nothing like that.
PHILLIPS: But you didn't answer me. Have you ever chased anything?
WOLF: Yes. Yes, yes. Indeed.
PHILLIPS: You have? So you are crazy.
WOLF: Well, we don't need storms to prove that. I mean come on. We can go -- we can do -- that's a whole different show.
PHILLIPS: Tell me more.
WOLF: Exactly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
PHILLIPS: You may not own a single share of stock but you have a vested interest in the so-called Wall Street reforms. It's all about protecting your money and preventing another meltdown.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, as you all know, last week is a pretty brutal one on Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 dropped 4 percent, with NASDAQ fared even worse. And Felicia Taylor, well, she's been watching it all and waiting for the bell to ring.
So what do you think? Are we going to see any kind of bounce back today?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, we could. I mean, stocks were set for a lower open as indicated by the futures market, then just a few minutes before the opening bell, things did seem to turn around but not for long. Indeed, that's exactly what we've got. It's because of Europe's debt problems. The euro is lower again. After Spain, Central Bank swooped it and bailed out one of its regional banks. Even though, it's a relatively small financial institution in Spain, the move is a reminder that the debt problems are not contained to just Greece.
Now, here at home, a two-year investigation into AIG has reportedly come to an end, and no criminal charges are being filed because the justice department doesn't have enough evidence. The government was investigating whether or not AIG executives misled investors when they said that some of the AIG's portfolio would not produce significant losses. Of course, the insured nearly collapsed because of those risky investments prompting the government to bail out with about $200 billion. So, indeed, let's take a look at the numbers where the opening bell stands.
The Dow is off about 44 points. The Nasdaq down about a fifth of 1 percent. The S&P is off about a third of 1 percent. Now, finally, Kyra, millions of people tuned in last night for the series finale of "Lost." But it doesn't have to be over right yet. ABC is auctioning off 100 props from the show this summer, including lock's iconic wheelchair. A collection of Dharma food and beer cans will also hit the auction block. Some cans are open and, yes, they're empty. Others still contain some kind of a liquid. I don't know if it is beer or not. You can check out the gallery of items.
PHILLIPS: Never know what you're going to get. TAYLOR: Exactly. You know, what can I say.
PHILLIPS: So, do you watch this show? I'm just amazed at the buzz. We're talking every international newspaper, every domestic newspaper. Ali Velshi is shaking his head right now. Do you watch it?
TAYLOR: I don't. I was afraid you're going to ask me that. And the truth is I don't watch it. I didn't get caught up in the buzz. I know I'm the only person on the planet that didn't watch the show.
PHILLIPS: No, I'm with you.
TAYLOR: Oh, thank goodness. There's a trifecta. Ali didn't watch it either, right?
PHILLIPS: You do watch it, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I have seen a couple of episodes. I haven't followed it well.
PHILLIPS: But you didn't get addicted to it?
VELSHI: Your schedule doesn't allow you to watch late night TV.
PHILLIPS: We can't stay up that late. Exactly.
TAYLOR: Right. We're studying other thing to prepare for the show.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Exactly. Thanks so much, Felicia. I'll tell you what Ali Velshi is studying, and we're trying to figure it all out. This financial minutia, regulation. How is it going to make our life easier.
VELSHI: Re-write a tax code. We have not fixed financial regulation in -- really, we haven't fixed it in decades. We've done a little tapering around the edges. So, this is a complete rewrite. It passed the House in December. Now, it passed the Senate last week. And now, they're going to try and reconcile it and hopefully, by July 4th, they'll have a bill.
PHILLIPS: But is this going to prevent another financial crisis or will it prevent things from getting worse? What does it mean for our bottom line? Still, every day, we're looking at our 401(k)s thinking we're still getting hosed.
VELSHI: Remember this financial crisis like you and I talked about it every day while it was happening. It looks like a perfect storm. It wasn't one thing that led to it, and this financial regulation should deal with some of those things. To give you some of the highlights, it's going to deal with regulation on a very high level. So, that doesn't sort of involve us on a daily basis.
But hopefully, regulators will be able to see when bad things are developing. They'll be able to get some sense of it and intervene rather than having all sorts of agencies doing it separately.
PHILLIPS: Because we haven't had that regulation and that's why we are where we are.
VELSHI: First of all, we haven't had great enforcement of it and then we've had all sorts of different bodies. Remember before 9/11, how national security was governed. There were all sorts of different bodies. They all had little bits of information --
PHILLIPS: But they weren't communicating properly.
VELSHI: Right. So that will be part of it. Number two, there will be better protections for consumers. So, if you got a credit card statement, you'll notice in the last couple of months, they've started telling you if you only pay the minimum payment, this is how many years it will take to pay it off and this is what your total will be. Imagine when mortgages start to get like that.
PHILLIPS: Will our mortgage contracts will be easier to read?
VELSHI: Mortgage contracts will be easier. They're not going to go from that big of a pile to that, but they will become easier to read. They will become more comprehensible. There will be better laws about what source of penalties you pay. Credit cards will be governed more closely. That's the part that you'll actually feel. So, there will be changes. There are a lot of critics who say it doesn't go far enough to prevent the kinds of things that caused this financial crisis.
And here is the irony, there are critics on the other side who say for all of this legislation, it's going to make America less competitive because other countries don't have these kinds of rules. So, our businesses will be smothered under rules and will make less money.
PHILLIPS: It's true because, you know, greed and corruption has helped the competition unfortunately.
VELSHI: Yes. There you go.
PHILLIPS: We're trying to do the right thing here.
VELSHI: We just need -- you know, I always say, it's like murder has always been illegal, but some cities then go and say we're going to put moral cops on the street, and it lowers the murder rate. A part of it is getting out there and enforcing more. So, some of it is the rule changes and some of it is a shift in culture that says, business can be good and can be allowed to run. Let's just have a few rules and let's actually, from time to time, enforce them and create an environment which says, let's be fair and successful together.
PHILLIPS: Let's hope it turns out that way.
VELSHI: We'll keep a close eye on it.
PHILLIPS: OK. One of the eight survivors of that India air jet crash is actually talking about the very moment when everyone on board knew that something was wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Investigators at the site of an Air India crash are searching through the rubble for the plane's flight data recorder. The plan crashed on landing at Mangalore Airport Saturday. 158 of the 166 people on board were killed. India Civil Aviation chief says it could be months before the cause of that crash is determined. Only eight people survived the Air India crash, and we spoke with one survivor who actually told CNN's Sara Sidner how she escaped that wreckage before a fireball ignited.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL 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 death, 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 has kept going really fast the, 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 believe 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: 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 that it had to be real.
SIDNER: She had to free her foot that was trapped in the wreckage to get out.
SABRINA: Either someone pushed me out of the plane or I jumped out and I landed on the forest floor. After that, I remember that, you know, whenever a vehicle 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: Five or six of them were trying to maneuver me out through the woods.
SIDNER: She was safe but terribly shaken.
What was the first thing you've 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: As she lies in her hospital bed with more than half a dozen injuries. She knows what 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)
PHILLIPS: We'll have more in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. Got some new numbers from the FBI about crime in the U.S. These are for 2009. Violent crime, down more than 5 percent versus the year before, murders down more than 7 percent, and robberies down more than 8 percent. The FBI isn't explaining the decrease. Don't think anyone is complaining, though. President Obama sending Congress an anti-pork bill. It would let them take a couple of months to look for wasteful or unneeded spending in bills that have already been signed into law. He could then send Congress a list of cuts.
And BP going for the top kill in the gulf, trying to seal the oil that's been gushing for 35 days. Today, homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, and interior secretary, Ken Salazar, will fly over that area with a group of senators.
That leads us to our AM extra with John Roberts. We're talking, of course, about that hemorrhaging wellhead of oil coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. John, a lot of folks got to be wondering how a company with the size, the riches and responsibilities like BP can actually be licensed to drill offshore without any real contingency plan for such a disaster. For example, this top kill plan, what is that? Basically, it's not even guaranteed.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, when you're dealing with things at that depth and you're doing it by those remotely operated vehicles, Kyra, nothing is guaranteed. What they'll do with the top kill, it looks like it's scheduled for Wednesday morning is they'll try to pump heavy mud down into the drill hole and then try to put some cement in on top of that, let it all settle in, and see if they can plug the hole that way. They're saying that the chances of doing that are probably pretty good. I asked Doug Suttles who is the chief operating officer for exploration and production just did whether or not he thought that that would work. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, BP'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: The challenge here is, of course, what we don't know, the details that you can't measure when something is on the seabed. I've been asked this before, and people have asked me on a scale of 1-10, what would I say? It's not a 10. It's not that certain. It's above a 5 in my own personal view. I think a 6 or a 7. We're going to give it every shot. We're going to make sure everything is ready before we go, because we need it to work. We're going to make sure every piece of equipment, every piece of planning is done. Every resource is available.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He's talking about every plan, every resource, every idea, but the bottom line is nothing has worked. And when you look at a company like this with so much money, so much power, they're supposed to know everything about this and now see the environmental impact, the impact on livelihoods of everyday people, you just to have wonder, what were they thinking?
ROBERTS: Here' the problem, they had that thing called the blowout preventer on the ocean floor and that is what is supposed to handle anything that goes on with the well that is not according to plan, but as we now know, that blowout preventer wasn't operating properly. There were dead batteries. There rams that weren't in place. And so, now, they're looking at what other contingency plans do we have if that doesn't work? And proving very quickly that they don't have contingency plans.
They tried the containment dome, it didn't work. They tried the top hat, it didn't work; the pipe's that siphoning off the oil. None of that so far has worked to the degree where we can stop this oil. So in the meantime, it gushes into the Gulf of Mexico unabated.
So it was rather remarkable to hear the company's CEO, Tony Hayward saying last week that he believes that when all is said and done, the overall environmental impact of all of this is going to be, as he put it, quote, "modest".
I asked Doug Suttles if he agreed with that assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, BP'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: What you can know right now is just that -- it's not modest to the people who live here; it's not modest to me. And until we get this thing capped and until we get this thing cleaned up completely and until we go through the monitoring, which is going to take years, we don't know.
I do know, though, that there have been large spills in the Gulf of Mexico before. I do know there are natural seeps out there and I do know the Gulf of Mexico has been robust to those. But it's way too early I think to say that. And I can tell you to the people who live here and to me and my team this is a very, very, serious event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: OK, "modest". I mean, it's just hearing that word, kind of throws you back in the chair.
ROBERTS: And you'll notice that he seemed to contradict his boss, Tony Hayward, there. But when I pushed him and said, well, is Tony Hayward incorrect in saying that, he refused to go there.
But it's pretty clear that BP is adopting a new posture this week and I think they've been really for the last couple of days, to be very apologetic, to be very concerned.
You know, this is a PR nightmare for them. And the way that they were handling it in the early going is a suggestion Kyra, that that was not the way to deal with it. So you're hearing him very contrite. But the bottom line is running out of options and those relief wells won't be drilled until August.
So if what they are planning to do in the next week or two doesn't work, we could be stuck with this thing for two more months.
PHILLIPS: Well, and you'll keep hammering Suttles every morning and we'll be trying to get some answers. We'll talk again. Thanks John.
So you want to be a teacher. Great, how thick is you're accent. Well, some teachers are wondering if they're going to still have jobs because of the way they talk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. This story gets to a lot of us. And I just can't let it go.
We've talked about this new crackdown in Arizona; the crackdown on teachers' accents. Too thick -- you're out. There is the door. Have a nice day.
I just don't understand how some measures -- accent thickness. It's not like there is a breathalyzer for it.
Let's hear from a teacher though, who is holding her breath as higher-ups check her accent and from the superintendent who thinks these accent checks are needed.
Check out the story from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez and then let's talk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTINA PARSONS, IMMIGRANT TEACHER: Some people are saying that teachers like me should not be teaching students who are learning English.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some teachers like Kristina Parsons in Tucson believe they are being targeted by the Arizona Department of Education because they have accents.
(on camera): A state monitor came into your class?
PARSONS: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: They audited you? PARSONS: Yes. They just walked in, in the middle of class.
GUTIERREZ: Parsons, who was born in Brazil, has taught ELL, English Language Learners, for more 20 years. She has two university degrees. This is the first time she's been audited. And she resents the extra scrutiny.
SUPT. TOM BORNE, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: You could have a Ph.D. and be a bad teacher.
GUTIERREZ: State School Superintendent Tom Horne says, as part of "no child left behind" he's been monitoring ELL teachers for bad grammar and mispronounced words for the past eight years.
Are you going after one particular accent?
HORNE: We're not going after any accents including Spanish accents. It has to be faulty English. If students are being taught English and they're going to refer to a comma as a "coma" people are going to misunderstand them.
GUTIERREZ: English professor Roseann Gonzalez disagrees, saying studies actually show that nonnative speakers make better English teachers.
Are you saying that a teacher's pronunciation of specific words is not important?
PROF. ROSEANN GONZALEZ, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: That's right. Because language is very contextual, we depend on the context to understand what words mean.
HORNE: You would tell somebody who could not be understood that they need to go into another profession.
GUTIERREZ: Of the 1,500 teachers who were monitored last year, 25 were found to have pronunciation issues. That worries teachers, Charles Collingwood from Trinidad and Ian Keith from Ireland who wonder who is judging.
CHARLES COLLINGWOOD, TEACHER: You can't say there's one way to pronounce anything in America.
IAN KEITH, TEACHER: Seeing what kids are learning, those are more important thing than if I say think instead of think.
GUTIERREZ: Horne's critics say he's going after immigrant teachers.
HORNE: It's totally idiotic. I grew up in a house where my parents spoke Polish and they certainly spoke English with a heavy accent.
GUTIERREZ: But here you are superintendent.
HORNE: Right. GUTIERREZ: So it didn't hurt you.
HORNE: No, but my teachers spoke proficient English.
GUTIERREZ: Kristina Parsons says she's also proficient.
PARSONS: The Arizona Department of Education gives us a certificate saying, yes, you are certified to teach. After that, they say, no, I don't think you can do it so I'm going to go into the classroom and see if you are doing a good job.
Let's go.
GUTIERREZ: Parsons is still waiting results of her audit. If she doesn't pass, she could be reassigned to another position somewhere else in the district.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: (AUDIO GAP)
Would a guy like the governor of California be allowed to teach Arizona kids how to learn English? Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian accent is as thick as his biceps but his English seems to be just fine. How about Paula Deen? Her accent's as thick as three melted sticks of butter in a frying pan.
It seems just wrong to judge a teacher by his or her accent as to judge on their hair or skin color. Their accents reflect who they are and where they came from. What's more important -- what teachers say or how they say it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So how do you help a child get her childhood back? It's a tall order, but Drake University's women's hoops coach is trying. She went to Haiti with some basketballs and a whistle and worked some magic.
Eric Hanson from our affiliate KCCI reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC HANSON, KCCI REPORTER (voice-over): When your whole world is shaken before age 12, escapes are simple and rare, especially for girls. You see, boys near the epicenter of Haiti's earthquake don't let a flat basketball derail a good time. But girls, their green pigtails stay on the sidelines, until a Division One women's coach shows up --
AMY STEPHENS, DRAKE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH: I might be just as nervous as they are.
HANSON: -- and convinces 40 young Haitians to trade green dresses for bulldog blue.
STEPHENS: Put your arms out in front and if they can touch someone, they're too close.
HANSON: Even though they can't understand a word she's saying.
STEPHENS: One, two, three -- oh.
HANSON: Or why in the first 15 minutes of basketball camp, baskets aren't being shot.
STEPHENS: We're making the number eight around our legs.
HANSON: Once ball handling became comedic, the coach used to precision decided she might as well turn them loose --
STEPHENS: OK. Lay-ups. We're doing right-handed lay-ups.
HANSON: -- on the baskets they'd been eyeing.
STEPHENS: Yes. Oh, almost.
HANSON: Air balls, there were plenty until baskets started falling. When they did, 6th grade girls became 6th grade girls.
STEPHENS: That's the beauty of the age group. It doesn't if you're Haitians or Americans. When you get excited and you high five all of a sudden it really breaks down -- it breaks down barriers.
ISAAC FILS, HAITIAN COACH: They're just so happy about playing. They're playing, so they feel very, very happy. You know? So they're enjoying themselves, you know.
HANSON: Suddenly, the boys were jealous.
ANDIE HATFIELD CLUBB, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, DRAKE UNIVERSITY: This is a group of girls who they said, don't play basketball.
HANSON: And the girls burdened with adult-sized problems discovered it's OK to play.
CLUBB: Their joy, their excitement -- just to watch them playing. They're playing just like 5th and 6th graders play. It's hard to believe, especially when you look behind them and they're living in tents and there is rubble from the earthquake. It's overwhelming.
FILS: When they play, they forget about the awful earthquake that happened in Haiti. Sport is very, very good for them to make them forget some things like the earthquake. It's a good thing. You know?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A few days after that clinic, the girls actually formed a basketball team. They persuaded Isaac Fils, the translator, to actually be their coach and they started regular practices. Now they just have to find another team to play.
