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President Obama Travels to Gulf; Demanding BP Pay Up; Job Offer for Joe Sestak; Interval Training Cuts Down on Time, Increases Calorie Burn

Aired May 28, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Friday, May 28th.

President Obama is scheduled to arrive in New Orleans in 10 minutes. He will get a look at the oil disaster that is still spreading today across the Gulf of Mexico.

In Jamaica's capital, allegations police burned bodies to conceal the true death toll in this week's search for a drug kingpin.

And experts predicting double-digit spikes in travel this Memorial Day Weekend.

The economy is rebounding, gas is down, hotel bargains up.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments, right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the largest oil spill in U.S. history, and it could be another two days before we know whether BP's latest effort to stop the Gulf oil leak is successful.

You're looking at live images supplied by BP. But trying to get a true picture of what's going on is a different story altogether. For most of yesterday, you'll recall, BP left the public and the media with the impression that the top kill was taking place. Top kill was suspended while the company used another technique known as the junk shot.

Today, on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," BP's chief executive said the focus shifts back to the top kill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: As I said, 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) HARRIS: President Obama expected to arrive in Louisiana just minutes from now. He will get an update on efforts to stop the oil leak. The president, as you know, is facing criticism over his administration's response to the disaster.

Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry now in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Ed, good to see you.

What is the president going to be doing during this visit? Look, it's clear he's going to get an on-site briefing, he will ask questions and get answers.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony.

In fact, we expect the president may be coming out on the beach behind me, just down the way. We've been seeing our crews all morning. A little bit out of your eyesight there.

The beach being combed all morning, various preparations going on. We're not sure if the president's going to be there. A lot of secrecy behind exactly what he's going to be doing.

We've also been seeing some government boats just a moment ago going in the water behind me, inspecting the damage, et cetera. And then just down the way in that direction, on the other side of the beach, there's sort of a Coast Guard command center. And we're told the president's going to get some high-level briefings there, as well as then come out and make a statement to the press.

This is a chance for the president. As you know noted, he's under intense political pressure right now, including from some fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill who want him to show that he's got a more hands on role than the American people have seen so far. You saw him in that news conference at the White House yesterday trying so hard to push back on the charges that this is going to be Obama's Katrina. Various critic have been suggesting that.

He's pushing back, saying that from day one, he's been committed in the Oval Office, calling his staff together to figure out what they can do. He's going to try clearly to reinforce that message here today, that while BP is there on the ground, on the top kill procedure, and they've got the equipment to do it, that the federal government is involved in every decision trying to get this done as quickly as possible -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Ed, let's take a moment here. The president said in his news conference yesterday, look, I can't stop the gusher, can't do it. This administration doesn't have the expertise, the government didn't have the expertise to do this.

So I'm particularly interested in what critics, particularly from his own party, would like to see him doing more of. What are we talking about here? Are we talking about more photo-ops -- because that would be the criticism -- more pictures, more comments? What?

HENRY: Well, one critic has been Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida. He told Dana Bash a couple of days ago, look, you should get the military more involved, potentially. The pushback from the administration and, frankly, some officials on the ground in Louisiana, has been the military has been involved.

You've got the Coast Guard commandant. Thad Allen has been the president's commander on the scene. There have been others, clearly, connected with the Coast Ground here on the ground. And they're not sure there's too much more the military could do.

I think, though, critics have been suggesting, you're right, you can't just do photo-ops. That's not really going to help matters. That's just images. But showing that when the president said yesterday that the federal government is involved in these decisions, and not just farming them out to BP, having the president on the scene here inspecting the damage so he can see how it's affecting real people here, can perhaps help in terms of him pushing officials on the ground here to get this going.

But you're right, there's limits to that. I mean, I've been talking to Democrats, Democratic advisers to this White House, who have been complaining about optics in private of the president's fund- raising in San Francisco a couple of days as this has been getting worse. But those same critics acknowledge to me privately, there's no magic solution here.

It's not like the president had some switch that he could do that would suddenly change this. This is 5,000 feet below the surface.

I heard Republican Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi. I think he is the one who compared it to sort of doing brain surgery 5,000 feet under the surface, and said you really can't criticize the federal government here.

So, you even have some Republicans here in the region saying, look, the government is doing all it can. You know, the fact that this -- there's no conclusion is frustrating a lot of people, including the president and his own daughter, as you heard him say yesterday, that Malia interrupted him yesterday while he was shaving yesterday, saying, "Have you plugged the leak yet, Daddy?"

HARRIS: "Have you plugged" -- one more.

And folks in the control room, bear with me here, because I want to spend a little bit more time with our senior White House correspondent.

My thought now is, will we see the president? Is it part of his agenda today to connect more with the people who are being impacted by this -- fishermen, boat owners, business owners in the Gulf region? Is that part of the president's agenda? HENRY: It's a good question. To be honest with you, the information we have, which is very limited right now, because they try to keep the president's schedule as secret as they can for security reasons and whatnot up until the last moment, but for now, it's mostly just official briefings, likely a fly-over somewhere here behind me to get a better look at the damage.

But I will tell you that there are some holes in the president's schedule, what they call OTRs, off-the-record space, where, unannounced, he can go and do something. We would expect, but we haven't confirmed it yet, just to be clear and transparent, that the president would spend some of that time with fishermen, with real people here on the ground because, ultimately, that's what he has to do when talking about connecting with real people, is to do, frankly, what Bill Clinton was so good at -- I feel your pain, I understand it, we're doing all we can.

So far, it's been a lot of official briefings in Washington and here, but not a lot of connecting with real people. We would expect that would happen and we're waiting to see it.

HARRIS: There he is, our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry.

Ed, appreciate it. Thank you.

And this reminder -- if you can't watch the president's 1:30 speech right here on CNN, you can watch it live on our iPhone app.

Other angles on today's big story, the president is getting some real pushback over his decision to put deep -- new deepwater drilling on hold. Shell was scheduled to begin exploratory wells off Alaska in about a month.

A former Shell executive on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HOFMEISTER, FORMER PRESIDENT, SHELL OIL COMPANY: Well, I think this is a combination of horrible human judgment gone bad. We don't know exactly all of the causes yet.

There is a right of due process in the way in which this should be investigated. But I think the president's decision to stop all drilling was unnecessary.

They just inspected all of the rigs since the blowout. All the rigs passed inspection. I think it's a panicky decision to shut all drilling down to label every oil company as though it was the Deepwater Horizon.

I just think that is a mistake and it sends the wrong signal, and it sends pink slips to thousands of people who, through no fault of their own, are doing their job according to government regulations. That is, to me, an extreme decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Grieving family members are urging Congress to make BP pay. Federal law limits damages the company may face for the deaths of 11 workers on the oil rig. The brother of one worker told CNN BP has treated his family badly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": What has BP said to you? Have you gotten sympathy, a card from them, a call from them?

CHRIS JONES, BROTHER KILLED IN OIL RIG EXPLOSION: In the month or so since this accident happened, we haven't heard a single word from BP. In fact, after the memorial event, I saw them rushing out the back door, jumping into tinted-window SUVs with private security to avoid the media.

Today, at the hearing, there was a BP representative 10 feet away who didn't look at us, didn't say a word to us. And honestly, it's an insult.

You know, they're going to take responsibility for the economic damages, and that's what they talked about today. They haven't said a word about the families of the victims of this explosion on April 20th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Out of work, out of money, all because of the oil in the Gulf. Thousands of people are demanding BP make things right.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chris Battle and his crew of crabbers want more than just talk from BP. They want money.

(on camera): How much money do you think you have lost?

CHRIS BATTLE, CRAB FISHERMAN: Close to 20,000, $30,000. you know, I mean, that's a good bit.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Crab fishing waters closed for more than three weeks because of the oil spill, leaving these guys out of work. When Battle filed his claim with BP, all he got was a $5,000 check.

At this time of year, I'm catching $2,500 to $3,000 worth of crabs a day. And they wrote me a check for 5,000. It's just not enough. It's not what I lost. I mean, if you go by what I lost, I lost way more than that.

LAVANDERA: Deck hand Derrick Bennett says he only got a $725 check for the three weeks he was out of work and he says he can't find out from the claims rep when more money is coming. DERRICK BENNETT, CRAB FISHERMAN: He tells me to call him back every week. I call him every week and the same (bleep), tells me over and over again.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So far BP has paid $35 million on about 27,000 settlements. The company promises that this is just the beginning, that it's only a partial settlement. But around here, people who make a living off the gulf waters say it's going to take a lot more than that to make things right.

(voice-over): Anger is spreading across the Gulf Coast and many business owners like Buggy Vegas, don't trust BP to pay up.

(on camera): So business has completely disappeared?

BUGGY VEGAS: It is. It is. I sold four cups of coffee this morning.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Vegas owns the Bridgeside Marina in Grand Isle. He filed a claim more than two weeks ago and he is still waiting for a check.

(on camera): What did they tell you that you can get?

VEGAS: They put us in a large claim and they said we'll get $5,000.

LAVANDERA: That's it?

VEGAS: That's what the lawyers claim.

LAVANDERA: One check for 5,000?

VEGAS: That's what they tell us. That don't even pay the light bill.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): At town hall sessions BP claim representatives are getting an earful from angry folks out of work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When that oil is gone, BP is going to be gone too.

LAVANDERA: But the company vows to bring more money and streamline the process.

ALAN CARPENTER, BP CONTRACTOR: We're doing as much as we can as quick as we can as far as that goes. That is not the end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are taking the next step within - actually we've begun taking the larger claims, which affect businesses like yours. It wasn't there in the first 30 days, you're right. It's now time for the second phase.

LAVANDERA: Those are just words for Chris Bennett and his crab trapping crew. They won't count on any more money from BP until they see it. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Ed Lavandera reporting for us.

The oil leak disaster, personal and emotional on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLIE MENCALON (D), LOUISIANA: Even though this marsh lies along coastal Louisiana --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just in, new details about possible White House involvement in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate primary.

Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash -- boy, we're lucky, we've got the seniors today -- on Capitol Hill today with the very latest.

And Dana, tell us what you've learned. And then I've got a couple of questions for you.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, CNN has confirmed a report this morning from "The New York Times," Tony, which does, in fact, say that the White House will later today reveal details that they were in fact involved in that Pennsylvania Senate race, and in fact did, at the behest of Rahm Emanuel, send former president Bill Clinton to try to act as an intermediary, to go to Congressman Joe Sestak and ask him not to -- try to get him not to run against Democrat Arlen Specter, who, of course, he just beat earlier this month.

And by doing that, he said that he would offer him something that was non-paid, pretty prominent, but non-paid in the government. And that positions that they were talking about were things like position on the Intelligence Board.

And the reason is because -- just the pure politics of this -- is that the White House, they didn't want Congressman Sestak to actually leave his job because they were worried about losing his seat. This just shows you how entrenched they were at the White House in trying to game out the politics here in keeping Democratic seats on both sides of Congress.

Now, we understand that what is going to be revealed is that the White House has concluded that this did not break any law. Why? Because what was suggested to Congressman Sestak was an unpaid position, and that that explicitly does not break the law. But, you know, it is very unclear whether or not the political fallout is going to be stopped from that, because Republicans have been really stepping up the pressure, and even some Democrats have been saying, wait a minute, you've got to come clean on details of what exactly happened. One very interesting note, our John King, who had a very lively interview with both Congressman Sestak and David Axlerod on this issue earlier this week, he's reporting that there was deep unrest, basically, at the high of the levels of the administration about revealing these details of what happened because -- for obvious reasons. It looks perhaps -- people might say it looks unseemly. And they realize though that they had to release it because of the pressure mounting on the White House from both sides of the aisle to find out what exactly happened with Congressman Sestak.

HARRIS: OK. So, Dana, we're going to get details on this. At this point, the White House has to release, it seems to me, the details on this.

Is there any evidence yet that suggests that the former president and Congressman Sestak actually met, maybe once, maybe twice, to talk about this?

BASH: We don't know details of that yet. Presumably, we will find that out.

You'll remember, the president, in his press conference yesterday, promised there would be a full report on this. Now, he says that nothing wrong happened. We'll see what happens in the report. But we do expect to be hearing from our White House folks later today at some point.

But interestingly, our -- one of our intrepid congressional produces, Deirdre Walsh, she just hooked up with Congressman Sestak, who was over in the House for a vote just a few minutes ago. He would not comment on this, would not comment on any conversations he's had with Bill Clinton, but did say he would have more to tell us later today, after this report comes out -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, the chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel's name, is connected to this heavily. Can we just assume that Rahm Emanuel wasn't freelancing on this, but that he was acting on behalf of the president on this? Can we assume that?

BASH: Well, he is the chief of staff at the White House, and he does serve at the pleasure of the president. However, Rahm Emanuel, for people who don't know many of the details of his past, he also was somebody who was a senior member of the House Democratic leadership before he went over to the White House, and he was one of the architects of getting the House majority back for the Democrats.

He has been and still is very, very actively involved in trying to game out how Democrats keep seats in what is now the majority in both the House and the Senate. It is not unusual for White Houses in both parties to get actively involved in the politics of Capitol Hill when presidents want to keep seats in their own party in elections. But he is somebody who has been very, very involved, and that is abundantly clear in this information that we're getting, that he even went to the length, the great length, of calling his former boss -- by the way, he used to work for Bill Clinton -- and getting him to act as an intermediary. They felt that the best way to keep that Senate seat from Pennsylvania in Democratic hands was to have Arlen Specter run alone, run unopposed. And if they wanted to Arlen Specter to run, his political instincts, Rahm Emanuel's, were right, because Joe Sestak ended up beating Arlen Specter.

HARRIS: OK.

Folks are seeing lives pictures of the president arriving in Louisiana.

One more quick point here. Obviously, the president has a problem with this, and it's a real perception problem here. The president promised change. And this, Dana, as you know, looks and smells like business as usual.

BASH: I was just looking at my BlackBerry to start to see if we were going to get the Republican statements rolling in. We haven't seen them yet.

But all seven members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week -- this is part of the pressure on the White House -- this week, they sent a letter to the attorney general saying that they were demanding a special prosecutor to look into this because of that reason. They said that maybe the laws were broken.

Now, we're going to hear later today from the White House counsel he does not think the laws were broken. But there is the letter of the law, and there is the spirit of the law, and there is the political spirit that the president promised to bring into Washington, and would not be surprised at all if you hear a lot of calls and outrage that perhaps the spirit that President Obama promised has been broken.

HARRIS: Yes.

OK. Our Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us.

Dana, appreciate it.

The emotional toll of the oil slick in the Gulf surfaced on Capitol Hill during a House hearing. Louisiana Congressman Charlie Melancon broke down while discussing the environmental impact to the Gulf Coast wetlands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANCON: Our culture is threatened. Our coastal economy is threatened. And everything that I know and love is at risk.

Even though this marsh lies along coastal Louisiana these are America's wetlands.

Excuse me. I just wish to submit to the record. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Boy.

Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, dozens dead, hundreds arrested, and a section of Jamaica's capital in ruins. We will tell you what residents and police are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you caught up on our top stories.

The House -- there you go -- the House is set for a final vote today on a measure to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Senate still must act. Any repeal to allow gays to serve openly in the military would not take effect until a Pentagon review is complete.

Attacks today on two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan. More than 70 people are dead. Witnesses say gunmen opened fire with AK-47s and tossed grenades.

Police in India suspect sabotage in today's train disaster. At least 70 bodies have been pulled from the mangled wreckage. Investigators suspect parts of a track were actually removed, causing a passenger train to derail into the path of a freight train.

People in Jamaica's capital are telling CNN they are worried authorities might be trying to cover up the extent of this week's violence. It all started when police tried to arrest a suspected drug kingpin.

CNN's Rafael Romo takes us there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty-four people dead.

(CROSSTALK)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A woman shouts in frustration, suggesting security forces may have abused their power. This is Tivoli Gardens, the scene of bloody clashes between police and armed gangs for several days that left dozens of people dead in Kingston, Jamaica.

(on camera): Was your house hit by bullets?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes, yes. A lot. A lot of bullets upstairs, down (ph) the back. A lot of bullets.

ROMO (voice-over): After days of street warfare, the Jamaican government says its security forces have regained control of Tivoli Gardens and other conflict areas, and are keeping a heavy presence.

But residents are still traumatized.

(on camera): Tell me what happened. Describe to us what happened here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were a lot of gunshots and a lot of people dead.

ROMO: What did you do? Did you stay inside your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We stayed on the floor. When it was going on, we stayed on the floor.

ROMO (voice-over): Tivoli Gardens was controlled by Christopher Coke, a suspected drug lord who was the target of a massive manhunt. The violence started when gang members deeply loyal to Coke attacked police stations in an effort to prevent his arrest and extradition to the United States.

(on camera): In the first hours of the fighting, residents here in the community of Tivoli Gardens used barbed wire, also old tires. And at the same time, pieces of old cars to barricade themselves. This, in an attempt to stop police forces in the military from gaining access to this community where Christopher Coke was believed to be hiding.

(voice-over): Authorities have denied accusations that several bodies were set on fire.

GLENMORE HINDS, DEPUTY COMM. OF POLICE, JAMAICA: There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that any of the bodies are burned.

ROMO: Security forces have continued operations in different parts of Kingston. A member of parliament says at least one bystander died in an operation conducted in an area known as Red Hill, just outside of Kingston.

ANDREW GALLIMORE, JAMAICAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: The security forces have power, have authority to go anywhere and carry out operations, but, of course, they're going to have to be held responsible. And I'm there will have to be thorough investigations to outline what has transpired here.

ROMO: As for the heart of the business district here in the capital of Kingston, after three days of being deserted, it's open for business again.

Raphael Romo, CNN, Kingston, Jamaica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Anger in Louisiana over the Gulf Coast oil slick. The state makes a new move to protect its fragile shoreline.

Reynolds Wolf -- there he is -- will fill us in, in just a moment.

We're back in a second.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Going to get you to Reynolds Wolf here.

We're still struggling trying to come up with metaphors, analogies, to describe the effort to beat back this encroaching army.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right.

HARRIS: In this case, the oil slick. And now we're going to try sand berms, correct?

WOLF: Sand berms.

HARRIS: Sand berms.

WOLF: And sand berms, it's actually a structure that is made to be built on land. The problem is, when you have a marsh, you can't build the sand berms on the land itself. So it actually is almost like a small peninsula or a barrier that they're going to be building. That's exactly what it really is. It's like a fortress wall, so to speak. Many places again talking about not hard sand, it's marshland. And the marshland, if those grasses get inundated with oil, the oil kills the plants, the root systems die out and the marshes cease to exist. So that's what they're planning on doing.

If your plans include going to the coast for the holiday, hey, should be pretty nice out there. Take a look at water temperatures expecting. Mainly into the 80s on the Gulf Coast, 70s out towards the Outer Banks, 50s, obviously cooler when you get off to the Jersey Shore and by places like, say, Boston.

Meanwhile, if you're heading to the Gulf Coast, remember the beaches are still open for Florida, for much of Alabama, even into parts of Mississippi. Take a look at the beach cam. Great shot we have there. This is from -- is it 'Bama beach cams, I believe? 'Bama beach cams. That's right. Looks good there, panning around inside the I guess it's a -- see a few boats here and there. This is near Gulf Shores, Alabama. Same view of Pensacola. You got to love the beach this time of the year. Just fantastic.

HARRIS: We talked to a couple of gentlemen, one from Alabama, one from Mississippi, attached to the tourism industry there. Look, please, please, we're open for business, come on down and see us.

WOLF: Yes, I mean, this is a catastrophic event that we have in parts of the Gulf, but many of the places pristine, picture perfect.

HARRIS: All right, Reynolds, appreciate it. Thank you.

They fought for this country and now find it is tougher to come home, but some are getting a helping hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My pride is restored. I'm able to look for jobs, not worry about where am I going to go when I come home. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: How one CNN hero is taking his dream forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Every week we honor a CNN hero, an everyday person changing the world. Today, the spotlight is on Top Ten Hero from last year. Roy Foster, he is increasing help for homeless and addicted veterans. His new motto, no man or woman left behind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG KINNEAR, ACTOR: Please stand up and honor CNN hero Roy Foster.

ROY FOSTER, STAND DOWN HOUSE: I was overwhelmed at the tribute.

There will be no man left behind, as long as we are this nation.

To be honored in something that you love doing showcased internationally was tremendous, and it's still reaping benefits as we speak today.

We did come up with Stand Down House 10 years ago to provide assistance and services for homeless veterans. But every day they would bounce to another place, go to the hospital, go to the VA, trying to meet their criteria, it's a natural runaround and there was never that support for the family or the female veterans.

This year we have been fortunate enough to complete that vision. We were looking to establish a one-stop center, a place where we can move them through the process under one roof. That's what it's about.

Hello, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my living room.

FOSTER: The second part is the housing component for our female veterans and families.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My pride is restored. I'm able to look for jobs, not worry about where am I going to go when I come home.

FOSTER: CNN put us where I could share the full dream with people and play a pivotal role in actually being able to bring that dream forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The Department of Veterans Affairs says Roy Foster's housing facility for female veterans with children is only the second one in the country. To get involved with his program or to nominate someone you think is literally changing the world, go to CNNHeroes.com. This weekend we honor those American heroes who died serving notice United States military. The Army's ceremonial Old Guard places American flags on the 260,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just in, new details about possible White House involvement in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate primary. Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House and our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill.

And, Suzanne, let me start with you at the White House. The answer to the question of the involvement of the White House in this whole situation, the answer is yes. What are you learning from the White House?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, they are saying that they didn't do anything that was improper here. This is coming from the White House counsel, Robert Bower, who had just released this two-page statement essentially explaining this, and I want to go through each point because it is important.

HARRIS: Please, yes.

MALVEAUX: They're trying to essentially knock down what they say is some misinformation and they are confirming some information that we've heard before. The conclusion is, they say, is that the allegations of improper conduct rest on factual errors and lack of basis in the law. So let's go over this point by point.

On secretary of the navy, whether or not Sestak was offered this position, it says that it has been suggested that the administration may have offered Congressman Sestak the position of secretary of the navy in the hope that he would accept the offer and abandon the Senate candidacy, and they go on to say this is false. At no time was Congressman Sestak offered nor did he seek the position of the secretary of the navy.

Now second point, Tony, and this is important, these are unpaid positions, advisory board options. They say, we found that as Congressman has publicly and accurately stated, options for executive branch service were raised with him. Efforts were made in June and July 2009 to determine whether Sestak would be interested in service on a presidential or other senior executive branch advisory board, which would avoid a divisive Senate primary -- as you know, he was trying to run in the Senate primary -- allow him retain his seat in the House and provide him with an opportunity for high level advisory capacity for which he was qualified. Now they say that these advisory positions were discussed with the Congressman but they would have been uncompensated or he wouldn't get paid for it.

Now, this is important as well. White House staff did not discuss these options with Congressman Sestak. What the White House says, however, is that the White House chief of staff enlists support of former President Bill Clinton who agreed to raise with Congressman Sestak options of service on a presidential or other senior executive branch advisory board. It goes on to say that he declined these alternatives saying he still wanted to go ahead and seek that Senate candidacy seat.

Now the conclusion of all of this is they say there's no such impropriety. It has been suggested that discussions of these alternatives to the Senate campaign were improperly raised with the Congressman. They say no such impropriety, it was the Democratic Party Leadership. They said they had legitimate interest in averting a divisive primary fight and a similar legitimate concern about the Congressman vacating his seat in the House.

So they are going on to say that Congressman Sestak was to be viewed highly qualified to hold a whole range of these advisory pentagons in which he could, while still holding the House seat everybody have additional responsibilities that were of interest to him.

The conclusion, Tony, there have been numerous reported instances in the past where prior administrations, both republican and democratic, motivated by the same goals, have discussed alternative paths to consider these other positions in public office, but they say these discussions are fully consistent with the relevant law and ethical requirement.

So, yes, there were discussions between the former president and Sestak about some unpaid positions, and they say there was nothing wrong with that.

HARRIS: We need to know when discussions took place and to the extent we can get the income everybody, what was specifically discussed and something of the conversation between the two.

Let me ask you this, Suzanne, is it clear that it was the Democratic Party, maybe Tim Kaine as the chairman who was really concerned about this and took this idea to the president, or was this the president and Rahm Emanuel maybe who started down this road? Do we know?

MALVEAUX: We don't know the role of President Obama in all of this. What we do know is certainly the Democratic Party had an interest in making sure that Sestak remained in his House position and that Arlen Specter remain in his Senate position.

What we know that is Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff, was certainly involved in this, but got an intermediary, the former President Bill Clinton, to intervene and to present alternatives, these options to Sestak here, to the Congressman.

So it's still requiring a bit of digging here to see just how far up the food chain it goes and how many people were involved. But the bottom line here is that the White House counsel says in their reading of the matter, there was nothing that was illegal or improper that was done here.

HARRIS: Why does it take so long -- I know I'm asking a question here that many watching us around the country -- why does it take so long to get this story out?

MALVEAUX: You know, it has taken months since these conversations at least Sestak said, these conversations had taken place. This is not necessarily something that the White House was really, if you will, desired to get out there. It's not something they were really working on. But there was a lot of pressure, a lot of unanswered questions from democrats and republicans about trying to explain this and the president was faced with that question yesterday. So you can imagine that they put a little fire under them if you will to get some answers out there because this has been something that a lot of people have been wondering what's behind this, what's behind the allegations. The president said yesterday that nothing improper happened but clearly they had a lot of explaining to do.

HARRIS: Let's get to our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, you've heard a bit of our conversation here. And clearly, there are real political ramifications for this. We talked a little earlier, look, this is an effort that was going on at the behest of Rahm Emanuel, the DNC, however it shakes out, and now the president and this administration have a firestorm on their hand.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They do, and there's the political fallout and there are, according to republicans, already still from their perspective, legal fallout.

Daryl Issa, who is a congressman who is the ranking republican on Investigations Committee in the House, he's already told Deidra Walsh, off the floor of the house, where this is all buzzing as you can imagine, that the way he sees it is that he still thinks that what happened violates the statute that prohibits a politician or somebody in government from offering somebody something of political value. That is precisely what Daryl Issa says. He said he still believes that this violates the law.

The White House counsel, as Suzanne noted, says explicitly that he does not believe there was impropriety because what was offered to Sestak was an unpaid position. So that is still an open question and it's clearly something that republicans are not going to let go of on the legal side.

On the political side, you bet, Tony. This is something that is the last thing that I think the White House and democrats as a whole want to have out there five months before an election that democrats have a very, very tough go of it. And part of the anger of Washington is what happened? I thought things were going to be different in Washington and it doesn't look very different to people out there and this could potentially feed right into that. And so that is -- that is definitely what is going on here.

Just to quickly answer one of the questions that you asked Suzanne, the conversations, according to the White House, took place in June and July between President Clinton and Joe Sestak. It was to prevent him from jumping into the race against Arlen Specter. He said no, obviously, and then Joe Sestak declares candidacy in August. HARRIS: Dana, terrific.

One more for you, Suzanne. At some point the president has to answer the questions, the series of questions, what did you know about all of this? When did you know it? And did you sign off on this effort, correct?

MALVEAUX: Well, certainly. I mean, those are key questions that the president is going to have to answer. One of the things that they can always do for political cover is simply, you know, refer to the White House counsel statement here and say, look, our White House lawyers looked into this and they don't find anything improper so we don't really need to go any further. We've already heard that from presidential adviser David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, spokesman from the White House.

I don't suspect that if the president were to answer it he would answer it differently, essentially saying that our lawyers have looked at this and this, as the final statement says here, they've noted at least in their opinion, they have noted republicans and democrats alike from previous administrations have been involved in offering in either direct or indirect ways unpaid positions to prevent those from running or even to go ahead and support people that they want to run in certain important races.

HARRIS: But, as you know and certainly I know in sitting here and watching this, Dana, you know as well, no one says it quite as well as the president and folks want to hear it from him.

At the White House, Suzanne Malveaux, and our senior Congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us. Ladies, appreciate it. Thank you.

When you don't have much time for exercise, interval training might be a good option. Do you know what that is? Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how it works in today's "Fit Nation."

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HARRIS: You know, sometimes the biggest obstacle keeping you from reaching your fitness goals are simply carving out the time to exercise. Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks out a new trend where investing just a little time can result in a big, big payoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA COZIK, CERTIFIED ATHLETIC TRAINER: All right. Focus on the finish.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Taylor Malkemes is getting a lesson in interval training. Short bursts of intense exercise like running all out, uphill --

COZIK: Come on! You're done! Nice.

GUPTA: -- followed by short recovery breaks. In this case, a slow jog back down again.

TAYLOR MALKEMES, INTERVAL TRAINEE: Good. OK.

COZIK: I'm glad you like that. You've got four more.

GUPTA: And you go through this drill over and over.

COZIK: It's going to be harder.

GUPTA: Taylor is looking for shorter workout options.

MALKEMES: I have a dog. I have work. I have, you know, friends. So it's really hard to get a good solid workout in.

GUPTA: And recent research shows 20 minutes of high intensity exercising burns more calories and builds more muscle than jogging leisurely for an hour, but it's not as effective for muscle endurance.

COZIK: We're going to head over to the staircase.

MALKEMES: Sounds Great.

COZIK: OK, excited?

MALKEMES: Stairs!

GUPTA: Whether it's running or riding a bike, interval training is hard work and should only be done once or twice a week.

MALKEMES: Couple more.

COZIK: Three, two, one!

GUPTA: You don't have to be as fit as Taylor to get started.

COZIK: You can run one minute and walk one minute. Run one minute and walk one minute if that's where you're at in your fitness level.

GUPTA: Taylor says the hard work is paying off.

MALKEMES: I feel great now. I'm sure I will be feeling it tomorrow, too.

GUPTA: I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Learn how you can live better and longer by clicking on CNN.com/fitnation. And watch this weekend as we talk to experts exposing dangerous chemicals, "SANJAY GUPTA MD" Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7:30 Eastern.

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HARRIS: You know, there has been a lot of anger and frustration over BP's horrific oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. How would you feel if you were a BP stockholder? A lot of you might be and not even know it. We'll talk about that next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, sisters in service, six women with a unique bond. Our Fredricka Whitfield shares their story ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

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