Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama Heads to Gulf to Assess Damage Being Done, Assure Action Being Taken; Congress Taking Action to Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; Gunman Storm 2 Mosques in Pakistan; Father of BP Oil Rig Blast Victim Discusses Son's Life, Congressional Testimony on Accident

Aired May 28, 2010 - 09:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In just three days, it will be Memorial Day, the day set aside to honor those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. In preparation, just yesterday, U.S. soldiers placed flags on the graves of more than 250,000 service men and women. Vice President Joe Biden will attend the Memorial Day service there on Monday.

A look now at other top stories we're following this hour. More than 70 people are dead after an attack in eastern Pakistan. Officials say suicide bombers and gunmen targeted people at two mosques in Lahore. The worshippers are members of a persecuted minority sect. Seventy-eight people had been hurt.

And at least 70 bodies have been pulled out of mangled train cars in India. A passenger train jumped its tracks and slammed into a freight train early this morning. Authorities are linking the wreck to Maoist rebels. Some officials blame it on an explosion but the Home Minister calls it, quote, "sabotage", saying part of the track was missing.

All right. Congress is moving closer to scrapping the Pentagon's controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. It bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The full House is expected to cast a final vote today on a defense bill that includes a repeal of the ban.

We'll have a live report from Capitol Hill in just a few minutes from now.

And we have new details this morning on the efforts to shut down that massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Crews are resuming work today on the so-called top kill method, pumping more mud into the ruptured well.

Also this morning, BP revealed that it has tried a junk shot, that's the method of cramming shredded tires and golf balls into the well. Here what BP CEO Tony Hayward had to say earlier on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: As I say, we go back to pumping mud later today. I think it's probably 48 hours before we'll have a conclusive view of this. I know that's frustrating for everyone. I am probably more frustrated than many. I want to get this thing done and over with, as soon as we possibly can. We are doing everything we can to achieve that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And this morning, President Barack Obama is headed to Louisiana to deliver assurances that the government is on top of the oil spill. CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us now from Grand Isle, Louisiana, which is about 100 miles or so southwest of New Orleans.

So, Ed, what is the president hoping to accomplish? What is he likely to see on this trip? This is the second trip to the gulf region.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The first one on May 2nd. It was just a quick trip. It was raining that day, so he couldn't really do the full helicopter tours and other things to really get a bird's-eye view of what's going on the beach here, what's going on in the water, get a close look at the oil.

What he's also going to see is the front page of the New Orleans' (INAUDIBLE) Louisiana needs its fair share now, Mr. President. A front page editorial basically saying that Louisiana doesn't get what they believe to be fair share of royalties, oil and gas royalties, but instead get stuck with the tab when there is an accident like this when there's a problem like this, and they're obviously looking for some aid.

They're looking for some understanding. There's been frustration here on the ground, as you've seen play out in recent days, that maybe the federal government hasn't been quick, hasn't been nimble enough. The president back at White House yesterday pushing back hard on that notion and insisting that BP is not in control, that the federal government essentially is calling the shots.

That's different from what we've been hearing in recent days from White House aides. But frankly, the White House is not too concerned about whether the message is consistent enough. They want the message, more importantly, to be direct to the people here, that they've finally gotten the message and that the federal government is all over it. And so that's what the president is going to try to send today, Fred.

WHITFIELD: How likely is he going to be there because, you know, the last trip was fairly quick. He was able to talk with some fishermen and some people who rely on the industries there along the gulf. Will he have that kind of time with people this time?

HENRY: We expect he should have some time with people here on the ground, be here about two or three hours. He's going to be inspecting the beach here. He's going to be getting a look, we would expect, at the water behind me. But he's also going to be getting some high level briefings from the Coast Guard, which is the commander on the ground. We've been talking so much about the commandant, Thad Allen, but also the governor, other top officials. But we'd expect some time with people here on the ground as well. Then the president's going to be making a statement to the American people to try to lay out exactly where we stand on all of this.

So, again, critical moments here for this president following up so quickly after that news conference at the White House yesterday to speak directly to the American people, the people here on the ground, in the region, that they've gotten the message in the federal government and they're doing everything they can to try to finally solve this, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much from Grand Isle, Louisiana, where the president will be landing, will be arriving there, throughout this morning.

All right. The government, the federal government, has faced harsh criticism for lax oversight of offshore drilling before but one former executive with Shell Oil dismisses the idea that the government is not doing a good job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HOFMEISTER, FMR. SHELL OIL PRESIDENT: If there was, it was a marriage built on, you know, harsh relationships because I found the government was continuously doing its job. There may have been isolated incidents where individuals went off the reservation, did what they should not have done.

My experience was being looked at rigorously, looked at continuously, and having to meet the specifications of everything we were doing, which was why we taught our staff to live in a compliance culture and do what they were expected to do, and not to treat the government officials as friends, as relatives. They were government officials out there to do their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: John Hofmeister said, when he ran Shell, his company, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, practiced responses to spills. He also said it's the government's job overall to protect the water and shore.

All right. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", may soon be scrapped. Congress is taking action to repeal the law that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military. The full House is expected to cast a final vote today.

CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill to give us an idea of the forecast of the day.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the vote in the full House and also a key Senate committee yesterday, they were huge victories for opponents of the military's ban on gay servicemen serving openly. But they actually got this repeal through Congress but it does not mean that this is going to take effect immediately, not even close.

And I'll put up on the screen parts of the compromise that allowed this to go through the full House. It's a compromise with the White House. The repeal would not take effect until the military completes its year-long review at the end of this year. And it is certified by the defense secretary, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the president, that this would not impede military readiness or unit cohesion.

Now, that could take a while. But even with that latitude that the military has with this legislation, Fredricka, a lot of Republicans, in fact, most Republicans said, "wait a minute, we're getting way too ahead of the Pentagon. This is not for Congress to do until the Pentagon is comfortable with that.

Even though the defense secretary did reluctantly say he is OK with this. There are several members of the top brass who said that they simply thought that this was going too fast for the Congress to get ahead of the military review. That was part of the passionate debate that went on in the House yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BUCK MCKEON (R), CALIFORNIA: After making the continuous sacrifice of fighting two wars over the course of eight years, the men and women of our military deserve to be heard. Congress acting first is equivalent of turning to our men and women in uniform and their families and saying, "your opinions don't count."

REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: America has always been the land of the free and the home of the brave and our men and women in uniform make it so. We are so because they have been willing to fight for our country. Let us honor their service by committing to the values they fight for on the battlefield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So you may ask, why is Congress acting now if members of the military, from the top down, really said that they are OK with this, just give them a little bit of time. Well, the answer, Fredricka, is simple math, and Democrats have a pretty good majority right now but they don't think that's going to be case after November's election. So there was a lot of pressure on them to get this done, especially by gay activists who have not been happy with the Democrats being in charge and not acting on this sooner.

WHITFIELD: Dana Bash on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

BASH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Our breaking news now overseas. At least 70 people have been killed in eastern Pakistan, after gunmen stormed two mosques. Let's go live now to Reza Sayah in Islamabad with more on this. Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, just an awful scene today in the city of Lahore in one of the deadliest examples of sectarian violence we've seen in Pakistan in years. 70 worshippers killed, according to police. Another 78 injured, after simultaneous attacks targeting two mosques, both of these mosques belonging to the minority Muslim Akmed (ph) sect here.

This is a sect that's so despises here in Pakistan, that even Pakistan's Constitution has declared that they should not be considered Muslims. It's briefly tell you about the attacks, both of them taking place around 1:30 p.m. local time, right in middle of Friday prayers. The time when mosques are packed with worshippers.

Police say two men on motorcycles stormed one of the mosques, went inside with automatic weapons and grenades, five miles away at least four militants attacking another mosque. The video from the scene showed some of these attackers taking positions way up top in the mosque in the (INAUDIBLE) with what appeared to be automatic weapons.

Police say three of the attackers were suicide attackers because they have recovered their heads. These are just some of the grim details that come with these types of attacks. A video from local GO- TV shows one man being led away and beaten up. GOTV here reporting that this man was one of the attackers. CNN has yet to verify this, Fredricka, but you can tell by tat video how much emotions were running high. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Reza Sayah, thank you so much for that update out of Islamabad.

All right. Back in this country. Treat it like a war. That's the battle cry from one Louisiana official whose parish is under siege from that gulf spill. We're live from one of the hardest hit areas next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Looking at top stories right now.

BP says it could take another 48 hours to know whether its top kill operation is a success. For the first time, BP's top official is calling the impact of the gulf spill an environmental catastrophe.

And at least three people are dead after a volcano erupted in Guatemala. The president has called a state of emergency. Ash and soot rained down on the capital. The city's airport is closed.

And actor Gary Coleman is in a Utah hospital in critical condition. The hospital is not saying what's wrong. Coleman has suffered from seizures and has had kidney problems in the past.

11 workers died when the BP oil rig burst into flames in the gulf more than a month ago. This morning the father of one of the victims joins us live to talk about his loss and why he is now lobbying Congress in memory of his youngest son.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. Louisiana has begun constructing a wall of sand between its fragile coastline and the sludge that is inching toward it. Already more than 150 miles of beaches and wetlands have been polluted.

CNN's Kiran Chetry joins us now from Grand Isle, which is about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. So all morning long you have been on that beach. It's been very lonely because we've seen no people. Where are people on Grand Island and how are they feeling what's encroaching upon them?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's a lot of anxiety. I think that would be the main sentiment here right now. A lot of people are wondering what's going to happen. First and foremost, they are concerned about whether or not the gusher's even going to be able to be stopped, and when.

And secondly, they're wondering if federal officials, the White House, BP, and even state officials understand just how serious this is. I mean, the locals here are saying, where's the urgency? They say every single night right here in this gorgeous coastline they see the oil at high tide wash up and of course, the crews come out and quickly remove it.

But this is supposed to be filled with boats right now. You can literally see the fish jumping out of the water. It's a prime recreational fishing spot. And again, the beaches are bare. They're closed. The only people here are members of the media and cleanup crews that are working it

One of the things that they're most concerned about is whether or not enough is being done offshore to make sure that skimmers are out there. Many of the scientists that we talked to, that went out there on boats said, "where are the skimmers? Why are we seeing half an inch of oil sheen and as far as we can see 20 miles in each direction, there are no cleanup boats there?"

And that's something we put to Jefferson Parish, Homeland Security director earlier today, Deano Bonano. He says that this is a very serious situation. And he's not sure if everybody yet realizes it. Let's listen in to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANO BONANO, DIR., HOMELAND SECURITY, JEFFERSON PARISH, LA.: Our approach has to stop being an oil-spill cleanup. We have to treat it like a war. The Navy and the Coast Guard needs to have a fleet, a flotilla of skimmers. Hire more skimmers. Protest the coast. Enemy's the oil. (INAUDIBLE) skimmers in Grand Isle, not enough. Hire more skimmers, let's protect that coast. The enemy is the oil. Let's put a fleet out there and every skim we can find, skim of as much. (INAUDIBLE) because here in Louisiana, our marshes are so fragile that once the oil get there, the battle is over.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: And the man - the gentleman in the pink shirt that was standing between Deano and I, is the mayor of Grand Isle, David () and he also was saying he's trying to address the concerns. He's meeting with fishermen every day, people are coming to his office asking, "what are we going to do."

His primary goal, of course, is to secure the way of life here and that is making sure that not only are people compensated, but that these coastal areas are protected so that in future years and in future generations they will still have a place to come back to.

Right now in Grand Isle, that's very much uncertain and the future is not known and it has many people here scared. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Kiran Chetry, thanks so much from Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Meantime, T. Boone Pickens is one of the best known American oil men and he says it's not time to panic yet over the gulf spill. We'll have more of his interview with Larry King in just 90 seconds from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: Veteran oil man T. Boone Pickens is voicing his opinion about the gulf oil crisis. Here what he told CNN's Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: You've operated in the gulf about, you're in the oil business all your life. What do you make of this?

T. BOONE PICKENS, FOUNDER, BP CAPITAL MARKET: 100 year storm's is what's happened to them. And I don't they how you prepare for that. I'm - somehow I don't like the attitude of a lot of people that we panic now. And it's not time to panic. Get it fixed. We know what the problem is, that's obvious.

We've lost control of the well. But don't try to place the blame at this point. I mean, we've tried to get MMS. MMS people are people like you and I are, and you've - you know you try to - Transocean, at one point, could have been responsible. They lost 11 guys on that rig. They had an eight-year record of no injuries on that Transocean Horizon rig. Those are real professionals working on the floor of that rig.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. We have seen countless images like these from the oil spill. Oil contaminating the water, washing up to parts of the gulf coastline. It's taking a toll on the while life and the workers in that area. But we haven't seen too many pictures like these. A family torn apart by the blast. Gordon Jones was one of the 11 workers killed and he leaves behind a wife and two young sons, one born just two weeks ago, after Gordon's death. Well, his father spoke to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, and at time he was holding back tears when describing the loss of his youngest son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH JONES, SON DIED IN BP ACCIDENT: We know that Gordon's body was cremated, then the fireboats washed his ashes out to sea. I admit having nothing to say good-bye to is much, much harder than I thought it would be. Call it closure or whatever, something is missing for us.

If you want these companies, one of which is headquartered in Great Britain, and another in Switzerland, to make every effort to make sure their employees don't act as these did, putting American lives at risk, you must make certain they're exposed to pain and the only place they can feel it, their bank accounts. As a friend recently said, make them hurt where their heart would be if they had a heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Keith Jones is now with us this morning. So, Mr. Jones, yes, you painted a beautiful picture of your son, Gordon, who died in this blast. But your mission was two-fold. One to let them know who, among the 11 were killed during that blast, and number two, you're actually trying to push for a change in federal law so that families, so that victims, of these offshore accidents could find some sort of compensation.

Give me an idea this objective and how you were able to make that case.

JONES: Well, first of all, my son and I, Chris, came here not just to talk about Gordon but to try in hopes of when we talk about Gordon and also talk about the help the families of all 11 workers who were killed, the law which is called the Death on the High Seas Act, is antiquated, passed in 1920.

And as it stands now would allow Michelle and those two boys to recover only what are called pecuniary damages. That is to say a loss of Gordon's income minus what he would have paid in income taxes, minus what he would have consumed himself, reduced to present day value, and that's that.

Nothing to Michelle for the loss of her husband, the love of her life, the man she wanted to grow old with. Nothing to those boys for loss of their dad, to teach them how to play golf, and play baseball, go to church and look another man in the eye with a firm handshake, all of the things that fathers are there to teach their sons as they grow up. There's nothing in the law now that provides or would force BP or anybody else to compensate them for that and it's just plain wrong. WHITFIELD: So you want some sort of change, similar to change that was made in the year 2000, as it pertains to plane crash victims that there would be a legal avenue that family members could take. Did you get a sense, while testifying, that perhaps your testimony might indeed make a difference, create a pathway, towards some change?

JONES: I don't know if my testimony did. I think that the fact that people are learning how unfair the law is and how back in 2000, an exception was carved out for airline passengers because this accident happened, but it doesn't apply to anybody else that dies on the high seas, including crews line passengers if they die as a result of the fault of someone else, no matter how egregious, they're limited to the same recovery that Gordon's family is limited to and so we want Congress to do the right thing.

My impression was from the congressman I was able to talk to yesterday, during the hearing, after the hearing, is that they understand it's just plain unfair. The law in 2000 was made retroactive to the day before that plane crash. And so we know they can do it. We know they know how to do it and it's time for them to do it for these 11 families.

WHITFIELD: Are you feeling any encouragement by the President heading to Louisiana today? You work in and live in the Baton Rouge area, you've been watching this very closely, clearly not just because your son was involved in this accident, but you live in a place, in a state, that's being directly impacted by this. What are your hopes for the president's visit today?

JONES: I hope that the president can still - a little optimism in Louisiana. Right now BP is very honestly public enemy number one in Louisiana, and they ought to be. The - they appeared - the company man, the man who makes all the decisions on the rig, the one who is responsible for making all the decisions that made this blowout more likely, more and more likely and then likely to happen, the company man was supposed to testify at a Coast Guard hearing yesterday and or a day before yesterday and didn't come because of some undescribed (ph) illness he had.

Instead, BP sent somebody else who gave his name and took the fifth amendment and wouldn't testify, in fear of incriminating himself. That's the picture that BP has in Louisiana. And I hope the president can bring positive feelings to the people of Louisiana and know that our - our future, the future of our shores, the future of our wildlife, the future of our culture, is in the hands of somebody, somebody other than BP.

WHITFIELD: Keith Jones, thank you for your time. And our deepest condolences for the loss of your son, Gordon and the loss of the 10 others who died in that very same explosion April 20th. Thanks for your time.

JONES: You're very welcome. Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: From the human tragedy to the environmental disaster now. We're covering all of the angles and we'll have the latest on efforts to plug that leak and try to contain the damage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This hour, President Obama is on his way to the Louisiana coast, and it will be his second visit to the Gulf since the oil rig explosion more than a month ago now. He faces growing criticism that the administration was too slow to confront the crisis.

Meanwhile, the ruptured oil well continues to gush. A live video feed right now. You're seeing the submersibles there. They've got lots of different angles that are being provided. BP company officials say it will be two more days, perhaps, before they're able to convey whether the latest efforts to try to plug that leak have been at all successful. BP's top man says the work has led to, quote/unquote, "some success."

Meanwhile, Louisiana has begun constructing a wall of sand between its fragile coastline and the sludge inching towards it. Let's take a closer look now at these berms of sand, what they're intended to do, how effective they just might be.

Reynolds Wolf is here. This is kind of, you know, similar to what you may see, you know, when they try to cut back on erosion taking place or protect the coastline by building up sand berms, but this is an entirely different equation.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Think of this as being a fortification for the coastline. That's all they're doing, creating like a barrier, so to speak.

But a lot of people may be wondering, what about the other barriers they've had, all the booms -- miles and miles of emergency boom. That was never a permanent answer to the problem. In fact, it's not very durable, either.

Take a look at this, the shot on some of the shoreline pushed aside. Thi is one example. Here's another example here, basically the same deal. You need something a little bit stronger than that.

So, that's where these berms come in. Where they would be setting these up would be actually right between Venice and Grand Isle. And they're going to start off by just a bit of a prototype, of anywhere of say, three to five miles. They basically would be dredging up the sand and putting right it near some of the very, very exposed marsh land.

Now, that's the first step. They're going to try that, see how it works. But grand term is to -- the grand plan, rather, is to make this berm extend for 80 miles or so. And if it works well there, wouldn't be surprised to see it in Florida, maybe in Mississippi, perhaps even on the Alabama coastline as well. One step, one measure, to tray to hold back this oil.

Fred, let's send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Reynolds Wolf, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

WOLF: You bet.

WHITFIELD: They look like torpedoes, but underwater robots are actually helping the scientists keep an eye on this oil spill. Kathryn Bursch from our affiliate WTSP has more of that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY KIRKPATRICK, MARINE BIOLOGIST: It goes into the water, we put it in the water from a small boat.

KATHRYN BURSCH, WTSP-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marine biologist Gary Kirkpatrick holds a small model but bigger gliders like this one are now patrolling Gulf waters. They're the underwater eyes of scientists.

G. KIRKPATRICK: This payload can detect oil and oil product.

BURSCH: This map shows the locations of three gliders, including one launched by the (INAUIBLE) marine lab Tuesday.

G. KIRKPATRICK: We put in a glider north of Key West.

BURSCH: Every two hours, the glider reports in, sending information via satellite.

G. KIRKPATRICK: It comes to the surface, sticks its tail fin out of the water.

BURSCH: And so far, no signs of oil.

G. KIRKPATRICK: We haven't seen any big red splotches show up in this area.

BURSCH: While Molt (ph) gathers spill information, the lab also gives it out.

BARB KILPATRICK: And we're in nine counties presently and 33 beaches.

BURSCH: Its beach conditions report Web site contains up-to-date info from people in the know.

B. KILPATRICK: All are sentinels are either park rangers or lifeguards, so it's people who know their water and know their beach really well.

BURSCH (on camera): Right along with the spreading oil, interest about what's happening here in Florida is spreading, too. People from around the world are checking out Moat's (ph) Web site.

B. KILPATRICKS: That tells us there's a lot of interest in our beaches in Europe.

BURSCH (voice-over): Big interests about this nation's big effort spill.

In Sarasota, Kathryn Bursch, 10 Connects.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. A plane passenger fall asleep and wakes up to find the plane totally empty and the door locked. That's in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHTIFIELD: All right. The spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now been labeled the biggest in U.S. history.

Stephanie Elam in New York, and looking whether the spill means higher prices at the gas pump this summer. We probably know the answer to this one, right?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You may think you do, Fred. But the truth is, gas prices have been falling for the past 22 days. Right now, the national average stands at about $2.75 a gallon. Yes, every day, 19,000 barrels of oil are estimated to be spilling into the Gulf. There's no argument how terrible that is.

But the truth is, it's not much oil in terms of global consumption. Compare that 19,000 barrels to the 80 million barrels of oil that the world uses every day, the spill's just a fraction of the oil we use. If oil prices go down as a key component of gasoline, then gas prices tend to go down as well, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So,if the spill's not moving oil prices, what would?

ELAM: It really comes down to the global economy. When the economy does well, demand picks up and oil prices tend to rise. That's what we saw earlier this year.

If you take a look at a chart of oil prices over the past three months, you can see that prices rose as the U.S. economy showed signs of recovery. But earlier this month, prices plunged by 20 bucks because of serious concerns about Europe's economy. Also, remember that most of the world's oil, it doesn't come from the Gulf of Mexico. It comes from Saudi Arabia and Russia, and all of that factors into this as well. So, just something to keep in mind, as people are heading into the holiday week here.

Also, just one little thing here. We're seeing signs of calm on Wall Street today as people get ready to take off and enjoy sun, hopefully. The Dow off 30 points - 10,228. NASDAQ off 3 at 2,274, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, you have a great holiday weekend, Stephanie.

ELAM: Thank you, Fred. You, too.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.

All right. A Michigan woman is suing United Airlines and one of its partners. Why? She fell asleep on the flight earlier this week. But when she woke up in her seat, the plane was empty, and the door was locked. Hank Winchester from CNN's Detroit affiliate, WDIV, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINGER MCGUIRE, WAS TRAPPED ON EMPTY PLANE: By the time I got out of the plane, I was done. I was out.

HANK WINCHESTER, WDIV-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ginger McGuire says what started as a nap on a United flight turned into a nightmare on the tarmac, because when she woke up, she realized she was alone on the aircraft.

MCGUIRE: I just woke up, and I looked at my phone. I grabbed my phone, looked at it, which use like "Oh, my God, 3:00 in the morning." And I got up, and there's nobody on the plane.

WINCHESTER: On Monday morning, after being bumped from a few flights, Ginger flew from Detroit Metro to D.C. There, more delays. She finally took off from Washington and landed in Philly around 12:30 Tuesday morning.

The flight landed safely, everybody including the crew got off. Everyone except Ginger, who was fast asleep in the last seat on board. A few hours later, a cleaning crew made their way on to the aircraft. They didn't wake her. Instead, they called the police. Moments later, Ginger was awake and being questioned by the TSA. Finally, after several more hours, she was released.

Now, attorney Geoffrey Fieger has taken on her case.

GEOFFREY FIEGER, ATTORNEY: For a crew of United Airlines and Trans State airlines to leave her there and lock her in a plane is beyond unacceptable, beyond a gross abuse. It constitutes a false imprisonment.

WINCHESTER: Ginger says she didn't take any sleeping pills and she doesn't suffer from a sleeping disorder. Instead, she was just exhausted. And now, she can't believe her snooze has turned into a scandal.

MCGUIRE: You never think it's going to happen to you, and then here we are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. The plaintiff wants up to $75,000 in damages. TransStates airlines confirmed that the incident did happen and said flight attendants are supposed to check the plane to make sure that no passengers are left on board. United says it is working with Trans States to try to make things right.

Religion and comedy are teaming up to bring people of different faiths together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A single Jewish woman seeks single Jewish man with dead mother.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It's amazing what a little laughter can do. The story, two minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Their religions might be different, but the laughs are for everyone. CNN's Richard Roth shows us how religious comedy is helping bring people together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take one Baptist minister who uses humor in sermons and standup --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police said the chair was powered by a converted lawn mower and had a stereo and a cup holder.

(LAUGHTER)

ROTH: Add a part-time rabbi, full-time comic --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Single Jewish woman seeks single Jewish man with dead mother.

(LAUGHTER)

ROTH: And a Muslim lawyer turned comedian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a Muslim, I get sick and tired of having to apologize for every single wacko who does something in the name of Islam. Like, maybe the explanation is he's just crazy!

ROTH: Three people, three faiths, making America laugh and think.

AZHAR USMAN, COMIC: We called it the "Laughing Peace Tour for a reason. It's become our belief based on real data and real information and real people coming to us after shows that, you know, we're convinced if people can laugh together, it's really hard to hate each other.

SUSAN SPARKS, PASTOR/COMIC: I would hope that we are all standing hand in hand, trying to figure out how to make this world a better place. And we're hoping humor is the first step to do that.

BOB ALPER, RABBI/COMIC: The original idea was to have a three comic show. A Muslim, a Jew and Christian but we couldn't find any Christian comedians.

ROTH: These days, making fun of religion can have serious consequences. However, the comics believe joking with religion can often help cultural understanding. In a two-man appearance in a synagogue, the rabbi welcomes the Muslim comic by unexpectedly frisking him.

(LAUGHTER)

ALPER: Good to go.

USMAN: I had so many Jewish friends from childhood. Now that we're all grown up, I have to tell them I turned out to be more Jewish than half of you guys. I got the beard going. I keep strictly kosher, and I went to law school.

(LAUGHTER)

ALPER: As we cross the state line, the Muslim population doubled.

(LAUGHTER)

USMAN: Put your hands together one more time for my dear, dear friend, rabbi Bob Alper.

ROTH: The rabbi's dear friend was only too happy to return the security favor.

ALPER: I feel like a lot of people are afraid to make fun of religion.

ROTH: Jamie Killstein performing in a Manhattan comedy club is definitely not one of them.

JAMIE KILLSTEIN, COMIC: The sad part is there is some beautiful stuff in the Bible. I'm not trying to make fun of religion, as much as I'm trying to stick up for people being oppressed by religion.

So much violence caused from religious oppression! There's no parts of the Middle East where if you're a woman, you can be stoned for adultery. The people who do this say they're doing this because the Koran told them to. I haven't read the Koran - I've skimmed the Koran. I haven't read the Koran.

(LAUGHTER)

KILLSTEIN: If you're a rational human being who is of the Muslim faith and you're going to hear me crack a joke on the Koran. But at the same time, you're also hear an American saying we need to stop going over there and pursuing an imperialistic agenda.

ROTH: I asked this Muslim comic, is Islam hyper sensitive to criticism?

USMAN: Nowadays, you find a lot of Muslims get very upset because they also feel Islam's being mistreated in a way that other religions are not. In other words, they have this almost siege mentality, like they're out to get us.

SPARKS: Let me share with you the pain of being a standup comedian in seminary. Oh, Lord.

ROTH: Every comedian sets their own limits.

SPARKS: My whole schtick is to try to bring us together, not tear us apart.

USMAN: I think it's just a matter of time before we begin to see a much more homogenizing sense of comedic sensibilities. And stand-up in many way is becoming a global language.

ALPER: We think they could be healing between Jews and Muslims and Christians.

USMAN: Muslims and Christians and Jews.

SPARKS: Wait, wait, no. Christians - hello? -- Muslims and Jews.

ALPER: I think it should be old age before beauty.

SPARKS: Whatever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. Richard Roth joining us now. So, I wonder, is this humor different in the pulpit versus at a comedy club?

ROTH: Well, pastor Susan Spark says the bar is a little lower in church. The writing is a little different. She says in comedy clubs, you've got to score on every line. She says that she hopes, in her sermons, to give people something to think about in their practical life, but using humor to get the message across.

WHITFIELD: All right. Laughter certainly breaks a lot of barriers sometimes. I think we all agree with that one. Richard Roth, thanks so much in New York. Appreciate that.

All right. Up, up, and away. A daredevil with a dream and a lot of helium floats his way into the sky and into the headlines. We'll tell you how he pulled off this stunt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Robert Sweeney is making his mark to make the world a better place. He's a mail carrier in Sacramento who does a whole lot more than deliver the mail. He also saves the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ROBERT SWEENEY, MAIL CARRIER: I smelled some smoke, and then I walked up to the lady and she had her baby in her arms. And she was kind of, like, panicking. I asked her what was wrong, and she pointed to the garage.

VEYLY GUZMAN, SAVED BY THE MAIL CARRIER: My garage started getting on fire, and he just throw his mail in the yard. And he just grabs the hose and put water on the thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Last year, Sweeney was on his route when he gave CPR to a baby who couldn't breathe. And Oprah honored him for that.

All right. The president arriving in Louisiana next hour to check on the oil disaster. We'll be following him. Also ahead, our tech expert shows you what you can do to your Facebook page because of the latest privacy changes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The oldest Medal of Honor recipient has died at age 100. Retired Navy lieutenant John Finn was awarded the nation's highest military honor for his courage during the attack on Pearl Harbor harbor. President Obama described his valor this way, saying, quote, "Under a torrent of gunfire, Lieutenant Finn defended his fellow sailors, holding his position for two hours, despite suffering serious wounds."

Our military men and women are showing that same bravery on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. And we're saluting them in a new project we're working on with CNN.com called "Home and Away." And we're inviting family members and friends to send in their memories, pictures, videos of service members killed in action. We'll tell you how you can do that in just one minute.

First, we want to tell you about Private First Class D.J. Bentz. He was killed in Iraq back in 2007. His mom told us about his love for soccer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY GEONNOTTI, MOTHER, PFC., DAVID JOHN BENTZ, III: He was not out for himself. He really played with a team. He believed in the team. He didn't care who got the goal or whatever. He had a loss, he'd say all right, that's okay, maybe next time.

I looked forward to going to his games. I loved watching him.

We are here at the D.J. Bentz Memorial Soccer Complex that dedicated with built in honor of my son who loves soccer. His first phone call when he got to Iraq, he called and he asked, I said, "Do you want anything? He said no, all I need is my soccer ball." He said, they're losers over here. They don't know anything about soccer. Everything's football. That's all they want to talk about. I have got to show these guys. He said, send me my ball.

He could play by himself hours at a time. I mean, just in the backyard, by himself, kicking it against the wall, against the shed, kicking against the shed. You know, till your yell, stop kicking the shed! You know, busted windows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that piece on D.J. Bentz one that CNN produced, but we want you to sent us your own stories of loved ones. Take some time to navigate around the Web site. CNN.com/homeandaway. And this is how you do it. Click on your hometown, and you can pull up short bios on the service members who gave their lives. You can add your own tribute in words and pictures and sent it to us. We're committed to remembering the fallen in an extensive library that everyone can use.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This just in. A new detail about possible White House involvement in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate primary. Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us from Capitol Hill with the latest on this. Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An open question whether or not the White House tried to convince Democrat Joe Sestak not to run and do that by offering him a job, and the answer we've learned this morning is yes.

CNN has confirmed a New York Times report out this morning that Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, enlisted former president Bill Clinton as intermediary to go to Congressman Sestak and try to convince him not to run and to offer him some prominent but unpaid positions in the administration. For example, a position on the Intelligence Advisory Board. This is something that we're going to learn formally later today, we understand, when the White House puts out a full report.

One question has been whether or not there was a law broken here. The White House counsel is apparently going to say there was no law because this -- broken because it was not a paid position that he was offered.

But to use a familiar analogy, I think you're going to have Republicans say, this is something along the lines of it depends what the meaning of is, is. Because certainly when it comes to transparency and things being different in Washington, Republicans will say this doesn't look like it. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dana Bash, I know you'll be following that throughout the day. And we'll be elaborating further in the NEWSROOM.

Tony Harris on board with the NEWSROOM right now. Going to hand it over to you, Tony! Have a great holiday weekend.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, you do the same. Thank you! Have a great weekend, Fred.