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Israel Slammed for Deadly Raid; BP Preparing to "Cut and Gap"

Aired June 01, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get you caught up some of the day's top stories here.

The cleanup continues. Here we are, Day 43 of that Gulf oil spill and here's what's going on tomorrow. BP plans to lower another one of those containment domes, a tighter-fitting cap to trap, they say, most of the oil -- not all of it.

Meantime today they will have to make those precise cuts with a diamond cutter on that riser before they can place that custom-fitting cap. The danger here, as I said, even more oil might spill if the cap doesn't quite fit.

Also, monitors of Islamic web sites say Al Qaeda is confirming the death of its number three man, this is Mustafa Abu Yazid. He's a reputed money man, Afghan ops commander and intermediary for Osama Bin Laden. He was killed in a suspected U.S. drone missile strike over Pakistan.

And that Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in the Fort Hood massacre, that was back in November will make his first court appearance in a military courtroom today. This is Major Nadal Hasan. He is not expected to make a plea or even speak for that matter in court. The hearing though is to determine whether or not Hasan will face trial for last year's massacre.

And global outrage erupting over Israel's deadly raid on those six aid ships sailing to the blockaded Gaza strip with food, medicine, building supplies for Palestinians. The reaction, take a look at the video. This tells the story. It is furious. It is instant in Pakistan, Turkey, Gaza City, really around the world. Tens of thousands of people are protesting and another high seas confrontation might be in the works.

Pro-Palestinian activists say another aid boat is now off the coast of Italy heading toward the Gaza strip to challenge that three- year blockade. Keep in mind, this comes as the U.N. security council is calling for this impartial investigation in an attempt to untangle this web. We've heard both sides of the story just a few minutes ago, these conflicting stories about what went on before dawn Monday.

Here is what we know. Here are the numbers. At least nine people are dead, dozens are injured and more than 600 activists are still being held in the southern Israeli prison although none of them has been charged with a crime, but Israel, you just heard from the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. saying their troops acted simply in self-defense while activists onboard the boat say it was indeed a massacre.

The video, take a look with me. We're going to split this for you. Take a look on the left. This is the video, this is edited by the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force showing naval troops being attacked by passengers. On the right, different story, different picture. This is from Turk TV, the Turkish TV station showing bloodied activists there.

Our senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth is standing by for us in New York. And Richard, the U.N., we know, to quote them, "calling for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent probe into this."

Good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.

Just moments after the security council approved a statement, there were disagreements on what it meant after marathon closed-door negotiations, the security council with the approval of all 15 members, approved a statement which calls for that independent - excuse me, that impartial, credible investigation.

But it doesn't say who should conduct that investigation. The Palestinians, Turkey, Brazil, those two powerful council members they think it should be an outside independent body, perhaps appointed by Secretary General Ban.

However, the deputy U.S. ambassador said look, we didn't agree to that. We agreed on Israel conducting its own investigation and Washington's delegate believing Israel is quite capable of doing that. The statement also did not determine who was at fault. It did not specifically blame anyone. It just condemned, "the acts of violence." Brooke?

BALDWIN: We just heard from the Israeli ambassador saying, indeed, Israel will go along with this impartial investigation, but Richard, what about the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.? What is he saying?

ROTH: Well, he thinks that Israel is the one to do it. Washington is Israel's closest ally and has been historically at the security council and that's why these talks ran until about 2:00 in the morning because the United States was not willing to go along with much harsher language that would have specifically condemned Israel and called for an independent outside inquiry, something that Washington knows Israel certainly will not accept or doesn't want. The Middle East remains the United Nations' constant hot potato for decades.

BALDWIN: Hot potato. Richard Roth for us in New York. And again, we're drilling down on what it was that really went down in those moments during that pre-dawn raid on that flotilla, still very much so, as you can imagine this tangle of conflicting stories from activists and from the Israeli government.

Minutes ago, I spoke with an American citizen who was onboard one of those ships, but not the one, not the big Turkish ship where all of the violence and the deaths occurred. Huwaida Arraf gave me her firsthand account what it was, how everything went down. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUWAIDA ARRAF, AMERICAN FLOTILLA MEMBER (via telephone): When we were well into international waters and we were traveling relatively close the six vessels and our vessel is much smaller, but it was right next to the (inaudible), the Turkish ship, and we saw the Israeli naval boats go up to them and start firing and we heard a number of explosions from the passengers that were on the (inaudible) we could see them using hoses to defend themselves to keep the soldiers back but the soldiers were throwing concussion grenades and firing also at the ship.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So from your vantage point, Huwaida, you probably couldn't tell who fired first, could you tell?

ARRAF: I saw the people on the ships just using hoses and I saw the Israeli Navy soldiers throwing things I'm assuming concussion grenades because we heard explosions, but from the ship, we could see them using hoses in order to keep the soldiers away but then -

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Meantime, a couple of minutes later we heard a very different story from Michael Oren, he is Israel's ambassador to the U.S..

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

MICHAEL OREN, ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Well, we did go about it in a pacifistic way. Again, five out of the six ships were towed to port without any incident. Only on that Turkish ship were our soldiers who again, who came aboard with paintball guns were greeted with knives and with iron bars and apparently with guns as well because they did suffer some gunshot wounds.

I am hard pressed to see how any state could defend itself against such surprises. I think if the United States Coast Guard, if members of the Coast Guard were attacked with knives and guns they would do what was necessary to defend themselves as well.

BALDWIN: You say it was purely self-defense?

OREN: Purely self-defense? And I say that without the least bit of reservation.

BALDWIN: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Keep in mind, of course, here at CNN, we're going to be following the story. We'll bring you the latest developments from both sides here, the activists and from Israel and really all around the world.

Meantime, we're still counting down here, day 43 of the Gulf oil spill and all eyes are on the latest attempt to smother that underwater gusher. At any time, BP will be using those ROVs, those robots to cut off the damaged pipe from the broken oil well that is a mile under water.

Keep in mind, this has never been done at this depth before. Crews hope to lower another kind of containment dome and this cap as early as tomorrow. Now BP is warning that even if that operation is successful it will not trap all of the escaping oil. They're just saying most, also in a couple of hours, the president -- President Obama will be meeting with leaders of a new commission and its focus, how to prevent future spills like this one.

The sad reality of that spill is that even if the leak were somehow magically shut off today the environmental catastrophe is massive and every day it's getting worse. Much of the hope now rests with cleanup efforts and we wanted to see just how effective it's been. So CNN's Carol Costello boarded a boat for a firsthand look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So where are we going?

MEL LANDRY, ENVIRONMENTALIST: We're going to Grand Terre Island and East Grand Terre Island.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Mel Landry is an environmentalist and he's taking us on a tour to see if BP's efforts to clean up oil washing ashore are effective?

(on camera): Are you here to clean?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma'am.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Locals contracted out and trained by BP are on the island suiting up and for the first time willing to talk with us.

Shane Trahan, a fisherman by trade grew up here. He's disgusted by the thick discs of sand-encrusted oil onshore. It's his job now to pick them up. 61 bagfuls in two and a half days.

(on camera): So do you feel as you're cleaning up what's already here that you're fighting a losing battle?

SHANE TRAHAN, CLEANUP WORKER: Personally, myself, I think so. I really do, but we have to try. We have to try. It's something that's pretty sad to see. COSTELLO (voice-over): One of the first things he spotted on the island was a dead dolphin. BP tested it and determined it did not die because of the oil, but the dolphin's corpse disturbed Trahan.

TRAHAN: It's very sad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something should have been done a lot sooner than what it is.

COSTELLO: He's afraid of what may come next. Now that BP has been unable to stop the leak. Right now there are globs of oil and sand and drops of oil in liquid form on the rocks, absorbent towels are used to soak them up. We leave (inaudible) Grand Terre to talk with Mel our environmental expert.

(on camera): I must say the absorbent towels seemed a little useless to me.

LANDRY: No, that was made for oil cleanup. Those towels will only - don't absorb water. They're only absorbing the oil. So they are very useful.

COSTELLO (voice-over): BP has ratcheted up the shoreline cleanup efforts. It's hired 20,000 people so far and officials told me BP is ready to hire thousands more. Some of them will be housed on flotillas, living quarters built on top of barges that can house thousands of people and then be moved to wherever they need to be to stop or clean up the oil.

Hundreds of fishing boats armed with booms are busy skimming oil from the water and they're also dropping booms or floating barriers around land masses. The big question is, is all of this enough?

(on camera): On a scale of one to 10, BP's containment efforts where would you put that number?

LANDRY: Offshore, I think their containment efforts are working very well. And once it's making landfall, I think there's room for improvement.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Landry says more bodies and more equipment are needed onshore. The oil is leaking again. The spill growing ever larger and there's no way to know where it's all going.

(on camera): To complicate things hurricane season is upon us. A big storm will push more of that oil onshore. BP says it's prepared for that. It's going to hire even more people.

Carol Costello, CNN, Grand Isle, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And it says if the Gulf Coast doesn't have enough to worry about, right? This is the first official day of hurricane season. June 1, and forecasters are warning it will be a busy one.

CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has a look ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Got two pieces of kind of cool weather video we want to show you. First it almost looks like a floating tornado. This is a huge, well-formed tornado that actually touched down in southeastern Colorado. We're showing you these pictures. Jacqui, pointed out earlier, because the good news is no injuries and no major damage to the rural area. Amazingly but you can imagine lots of power lines down by that thing.

And take a look at this. I don't know about this. Jacqui, maybe you can chime in here. People in Guatemala City say heavy rains and poor drainage caused this giant, perfectly circular sink hole to open up, just about perfect. Witnesses say this three-story building and house fell into the hole. What a week though, you know, for Guatemala. If you have been following the stories, you got a volcano blowing Thursday, tropical storm Magda hitting over the weekend and now this sink hole that is very real though it looks like almost -

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they assure us it was real. I know. We were all very skeptical when we saw this picture. And the reason why, you see a lot of sink holes and it's usually a very probable that it was caused by the remnants.

BALDWIN: Sure.

JERAS: But what makes is a little suspicious to us when we first saw it was is that it's so cylindrical.

BALDWIN: Perfect.

JERAS: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Yes.

JERAS: And that it was so deep, too. You can't even see the bottom of that thing, you know, but we just have our international desk call and they say yes, it's real. So that's really amazing to see it. It makes you think that they did a little construction underground before they built up that area so that could be one of the reasons why it's that way.

All right. Let's start talking a little bit more about what's left of Agatha because check this out. This is amazing the way this thing has blossomed today. This is the remnants of that storm that caused all that damage and flooding across Guatemala and the National Hurricane Center says that the probability is low. They're putting a 10 percent chance or less that this will just develop into a tropical system.

Now in the Atlantic, which is the western Caribbean here, but there is some potential for this thing. I think potentially, certainly with this type of a flair. Now, the winds are not very favorable, especially north of the system so that's one thing that's working against it, but it's something certainly that we're going to be watching pretty closely.

Now it is June 1, so it is the very beginning of the hurricane season in the Atlantic basin. We got a couple of changes here, by the way, and these are changes for the better. Certainly, when the hurricane center issues watches and warnings they have actually expanded the lead time now.

So we're going to get landfall forecasts 12 hours earlier than we used to. So watches, 48 hours in advance, warnings, 36 hours in advance. Also another change, the cone of uncertainty, here's an example of that. You remember these types of map, right? That little cone that shows you the margin of error in the track. That's going to be a little bit smaller this time around. So both of these things show us that the Hurricane Center has a lot of confidence in the forecasting and it's improving with technology and forecasting over the years.

Also, the Sanford Simpson scale when we issue, category one, two, three, four, five, for hurricanes, they are no longer going to put a surge forecast in there. And a lot of that had to do with things like Hurricane Ike which had a storm surge much greater than what you would typically see for a hurricane of that size.

A quick look at the names just because it's fun. If for no other reasons, starting with Alex and ending with Walter. The hurricane center put out their forecasts last week and they're saying we're going to use up this list.

BALDWIN: Who gets to name them? The hurricane center?

JERAS: Yes, well, the World Meteorological Organization comes up with the list of the names and there's a list of six names - you know, six lists and they alternate every six years then and if there's a notorious hurricane like Katrina, Rita, Wilma, they get dropped off the list and a new name is added. So they get to vote on it. I don't get to vote or you know there would be a Jacqui in there. Just saying.

BALDWIN: I don't know if you'd want to be a hurricane. I'll pass on that one.

(CROSSTALK)

JERAS: A nice one.

BALDWIN: OK. Jacqui, thank you. We're going to get a check of your top stories in just a moment. CNN will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Checking our top stories now.

It is day 43 of that Gulf oil spill and that massive cleanup. BP under water robots will be making the series of cuts on this new custom-made cap for that gushing well to cap most of the oil, they say. The company admits the latest effort will not capture all of the oil from that busted wellhead. It should take four to seven days for that.

Meantime, President Obama will be meeting with co-chairs of the newly commissioned panel to investigate this oil leak. That includes former Florida governor and Senator Bob Graham and former EPA administrator William Riley. They will be two of those people on that board, will be meeting with the president. USAG Eric Holder is on the Gulf Coast to meet with attorney generals of the affected states as well surveying the scene along there.

And it is primary day in three different states. Voters in Alabama, Mississippi and New Mexico heading to the polls today. Incumbent governors in New Mexico and Alabama are not on the ballots. Why? Those term limits.

And blame it on the booze. Sarah Ferguson saying she was drunk and to quote her, "in the gutter," when she tried to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. The shady deal was the duchess - she got caught because she was caught on tape. Fergie has opened up to Oprah, of course, about it and she says she has had money problems. She has apologized and you can watch that interview today on "Oprah."

And it was one year ago today, General Motors hit the bottom. They filed for bankruptcy and they really put Uncle Sam, remember the huge bailout story? They put Uncle Sam in the driver's seat. So what has the company learned over the past 12 months and is there a new GM? We're taking a closer look in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And before we talk to GM, let's get a quick check of the numbers on the big board. You see behind me, 10,168, up about 32, 34. Moving up on the big board there in New York. You can get all those numbers at cnnmoney.com.

And as promised let's talk about GM. One year ago today, the unthinkable happened. General Motors, remember this? They filed for bankruptcy. Hundreds of GM dealerships across the country were forced to close and CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins me from New York, and Poppy, I remember - I remember you being out at a dealership and everybody was very worried. One year later, how's business?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Things are looking a lot better. You know, part of the whole GM restructuring was sort of a tough pill to swallow for a lot of dealerships because they were closed as a result. But what we did is we spent the day at a dealership in New Jersey. It was one of the few that survived if you looked at the hundreds, the thousands that were closed and the owner told us that GM's management as the company, more responsive and more customer oriented.

He's seeing a comeback. Sales are up more than 20 percent from a year ago, but when we talked to him about coping with the past year he said it was pretty much the hardest time in the dealership's history. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEVE BARNA, PRESIDENT, HAWTHORNE CHEVROLET: I've been here 30 years and the dealership has been established since 1927. So more history, 1967 tow truck and the 1953 used car lot.

HARLOW (on camera): Have you ever seen a time like one year ago now when GM declared bankruptcy?

BARNA: That was probably the most trying time. We had uncertainty which we've never had before. We have approximately 100 employees at this particular location and we did not know what was going to happen.

STEVE MESSNER, TECHNICIAN, HAWTHORNE CHEVROLET: That was a very scary period of time especially because my wife has been out of work for over a year and a half.

HARLOW: You know, looking back a year at the GM bankruptcy, your dealership was one of the lucky ones. I mean, you weren't terminated, but hundreds of other dealers were, and that's the big question. Was that the right move for GM to make? To kill what are essentially small businesses?

BARNA: Well, I think the marketplace would have taken care of many of these smaller dealers. What this does to dealers that survived is it makes us a little more profitable. This is about half of what we would wield normally stock -

HARLOW: Really?

BARNA: 12 months ago. General Motors is determined not to flood the market with the cars.

The biggest windfall for us was our service business has increased tremendously. The dealers that have gone out of business. The brands that have gone out of business. Saturn is no longer in business. Pontiac is no longer in business so these people need to find a place to honor the warranty, which we do.

Most of our customers were repeat customers. We are now seeing new people in the showroom.

HARLOW: Are you a GM driver right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I've only ever had Ford.

HARLOW: This dealership didn't know if they are going to stay afloat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why I'm here.

HARLOW: Really.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I saw it on the signs and you know, I rather shop locally and make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Basically, we wanted American. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And you know, that's the sentiment we heard over and over again. We wanted to buy American. We wanted to help this company that was struggling. Of course, those buyers, the taxpayers are the ones that propped up General Motors. We the taxpayers still own 61 percent of this company. So what's next for GM? They're going to go public with a stock offering as the new GM, a new company.

We don't know when that's going to be, but if you take a look at this story and CNN Money goes all through it. This company needs to be worth $67 billion, Brooke, when it goes public for taxpayers to make their money back on that one. One good sign, last quarter, GM turns its first profit in nearly three years. So things are looking up at GM, one year later, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I thought it was a pretty good chunk, 61 percent of the U.S. taxpayer has that stake.

HARLOW: Yes, a lot.

BALDWIN: Poppy, thank you.

HARLOW: You got it.

BALDWIN: Agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or ATF, rather, it discloses claim that there is this culture of retaliation within the agency. Our investigation is coming up in just a few minutes from now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are on the front lines now in this fight against homegrown terror. Gun smugglers, militias, all kinds of groups, but they risk their lives every day.

But now several of them are speaking out. Talking to us about what they say is a culture of retaliation within ATF. Special investigations unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vince Cefalu is a 24-year veteran of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF. His work undercover with drug dealers, motorcycle gangs and white supremacists has earned him many honors.

That's Cefalu in the car, under cover, posing as a bad guy on a murder-for-hire case. He looks the part, and he knows it.

VINCE CEFALU, ATF SPECIAL AGENT: My forte has been in street level violent crime, gangs, undercover.

BOUDREAU: That was Cefalu's career for 19 years. Then, suddenly, he says ATF turned on him.

(on camera): Five years ago, Cefalu was the lead agent on a racketeering case.

(voice-over): He became aware of what he says were plans for an illegal wiretap involving the main suspect. So he complained to his superiors.

CEFALU: I was told if I didn't sit quiet -- I can't say it on television, but they were going to bring it to me.

BOUDREAU: ATF disputes Cefalu's claims of an illegal wiretap plan. Still, since then, he says the bureau has done everything it can to force him out.

CEFALU: Had I not exposed some unethical, potentially criminal conduct and actions by law enforcement that I was working with, I would still be out working in the field.

BOUDREAU: Instead, he sits in his office near San Francisco with little to do. He says it's punishment for speaking out.

CEFALU: Now, I report to where they told me to report to, and I sit for eight hours a day and I go home.

BOUDREAU (on camera): You do nothing?

CEFALU: I do nothing.

BOUDREAU: And he's not exaggerating. We gave Cefalu a camera and asked him to document five days at work.

CEFALU: It's 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Watching a little news, surfing the Net, answering some e-mails, doing whatever, waiting to find something to do.

In-box again. Still, I have no pending assignments, no waiting assignments.

Took a few minutes, drove over and got some Taco Bell. That's been the highlight of the day so far.

BOUDREAU: Cefalu is still a special agent with ATF and gets paid more than $150,000 salary, plus benefits.

CEFALU: It's been personally, physically, emotionally draining.

BOUDREAU (on camera): It appears that complaining at ATF can be career suicide. We've talked to dozens of other active and former ATF agents, supervisors and employees who said that, once they filed a complaint, they were labeled as troublemakers or were demoted.

HIRAM ANDRADES, ATF SUPERVISOR: It's almost like being in a -- in an abusive relationship, actually. It's almost like domestic violence, really.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Hiram Andrades is currently an ATF supervisor in the Washington, D.C., field office.

ANDRADES: You know, you think that things are going to get better and things are going to improve, but they don't.

BOUDREAU: ATF has not had a director in four years.

(on camera): What needs to happen?

ANDRADES: We need to get a director that's going to come in there, and it's not going to put up with this nonsense and put up with this bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Basically, that's what needs to happen. Right now, they're leading this agency into the ground.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Deputy Director Kenneth Nelson has been leading ATF since last year.

KENNETH NELSON, DEPUTY ATF DIRECTOR: When I first came into ATF. When I went around and talked to people at headquarters and around the country, my specific and very emphatic message was that everybody is to be treated with respect and dignity and there will not be retaliation. I will not stand for retaliation against people who are abiding by our orders and reporting violations of law or regulations.

BOUDREAU: Our investigation found that, in the last six years, ATF has had more complaints filed per employee than either the FBI or the DEA, both much larger agencies.

Nelson says since he joined the agency, the number of discrimination complaints has gone down 40 percent.

(on camera): Then why are we hearing from so many people the same story, that if they file a complaint, they're retaliated against? And this is under your leadership. NELSON: Well, there hasn't been retaliation under my leadership that I know of.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): But agent Vince Cefalu says he's being retaliated against right now.

The bureau says he's had discipline and performance issues. We saw Cefalu's personnel evaluations. Every one is good, with the exception of an unacceptable review following that 2005 wiretap complaint.

CEFALU: I am sitting here with an empty inbox and nothing to do.

BOUDREAU: Nelson is not allowed to talk about specific cases.

(on camera): How would you feel if you knew about an agent who sits around and does pretty much nothing all day long?

NELSON: Well, I certainly would look into it and find out why he's not doing anything all day long. I'm sure his job description doesn't tell him to do that.

BOUDREAU: Why not leave? CEFALU: I spent my whole life standing up to bullies. That's all I'm good at. The bullies right now are government bureaucrats who are abusing their oath and abusing the expectations of the public.

I'm not leaving until this is resolved.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Abbie Boudreau, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, our investigation continues here with the man Agent Cefalu says retaliated against him. In fact, they have something in common. That other half of the story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is small compared with both the FBI or even the DEA. It has just 5,000 employees, about half of them are special agents. But some of those agents tell CNN the bureau has a huge problem. They describe a culture where speaking out or simply filing a complaint brings retribution.

Special investigations unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau uncovers how that retaliation can even happen at the top.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Most ATF agents say they're happiest in the field. That's how Vince Cefalu spent the first 19 years of his career at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF. But those days are over.

Now he just sits in this office all day and pretty much does nothing. He says it's punishment for complaining; ATF's way of forcing him to quit.

(on camera): So we gave him a camera and asked him to document five days at work.

VINCE CEFALU, ATF SPECIAL AGENT: After several transfers, suspensions, attempts to terminate me, attempts to attack my credibility and my reputation, the end game was they would assign me to this position.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Five years ago Cefalu was the lead agent on a racketeering case and complained to supervisors about what he says were plans for an illegal wiretap. ATF disputes his claim and says he's had disciplinary issues. But since then, he says ATF has made his life miserable.

(on camera): Cefalu says there's a lot of blame to go around. But there's one man he especially singles out, Edgar Domenech, the former second in command at ATF.

CEFALU: For years, Edgar Domenech had been part of a machine that had created this circle of distrust and self-promotion of the senior managers using the agency for their personal playground.

BOUDREAU: Domenech had been named in several complaints by agents who blame him for retaliation and discrimination at the bureau.

(on camera): Some of these people are now seeing psychiatrists because they feel like they suffered depression. They feel like their lives have been turned upside down because of your retaliation.

EDGAR DOMENECH, ATF MANAGER: I can sympathize with them. And I know there are folks who accuse me and have blamed me for their ills. And all I would say is that in any proceedings that have been taken against me, there has not been one where I have been found to be -- have done anything in error or have been wrong.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): We asked him about Cefalu.

(on camera): Do you think he was a good agent?

DOMENECH: I have absolutely -- I wish Vince well.

BOUDREAU: But do you think when he was out on the street, a street agent, do you think he was a good agent?

DOMENECH: Again, I wish Vince nothing but the very best.

BOUDREAU: You don't want to answer that question?

DOMENECH: No.

BOUDREAU: But you think that there's more you could have done to make sure that this kind of retaliation wouldn't take place against agents while you were the deputy director?

DOMENECH: I would dispute the issue of the term Vince -- regarding retaliation. I would dispute what he terms to be retaliation versus what was management's prerogative. BOUDREAU (voice-over): And yet, it's odd, the two men, Cefalu the agent and Domenech, the former deputy director at ATF have something in common.

(on camera): Both spoke out when they saw critical problems at ATF. Both paid for it.

(voice-over): At one time Domenech accused his boss of wasting money on the new $207 million ATF building. So he reported it.

DOMENECH: I thought this was money that could be used elsewhere within the agency. I just didn't think it was a proper use of taxpayer dollars.

BOUDREAU (on camera): so how difficult was that for you to go and report all of this?

DOMENECH: Very simply it was career suicide.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Domenech says he anonymously reported the abuses to protect himself and his family. But his name later came out through the investigation. And that's when he says his career was destroyed.

(on camera): What did you feel like?

DOMENECH: I pretty much felt like my value had just been discarded. And that was very, very demoralizing.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Domenech thought things would get better after his boss, the director, resigned. But when a new one arrived, Domenech was told ATF was going in a different direction and he was demoted. He went down not one level but three.

Cefalu feels he got what he deserved.

CEFALU: Only when he became subjected to the system he maintained for so many years then did he cry foul. And he may have been subjected to reprisal. He built the system.

BOUDREAU: Domenech filed retaliation complaints and he settled with the bureau for an undisclosed amount. He is still a manager at ATF. And though he's no longer in charge, agents tell us there is still a fear of retaliation just for filing a complaint.

Deputy director Kenneth Nelson has been leading ATF since last year. He's not allowed to talk about individual cases.

KENNETH NELSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ATF: There hasn't been retaliation in my leadership that I know of. The instances where there's allegations of retaliation occurred well before I came to the ATF.

BOUDREAU (on camera): You take this seriously?

NELSON: I take it absolutely seriously -- absolutely seriously. If there's somebody that is afraid that they're going to be retaliated against, if they file or complain about fraud, waste, abuse, or illegal conduct, then they can come talk to me about it and I'll make sure that not only will the investigation be conducted, but they won't be retaliated against.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Cefalu says if retaliation can happen to Edgar Domenech, it can happen to anybody.

CEFALU: He was the second highest man in the bureau. If that -- if he cannot feel comfortable and strong enough and have enough power and position to confront unethical conduct in the government, why should I?

BOUDREAU: Abbie Boudreau, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, neither the former ATF director who Domenech reported nor the one who demoted him would comment, and claims of retaliation are so widespread at the bureau that agents and employees share their stories on a Web site. It's called cleanupatf.org. But the deputy director Kenneth Nelson says he has the site blocked from ATF computers, simply because he says it contains unfounded information posted anonymously. But he does say employees are free to look at it on their own time. If there are updates with the ATF as a result of Abbie's stories, we'll let you know.

Here's what we do know. We know 228 people were killed, but that's pretty much where the facts pretty much run out. Do you remember the crash of Air France Flight 447? It is still a mystery one year later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: For BP, this past weekend marked another failed attempt to stopping the leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Remember, we learned that the top kill failed, and the reaction now on Wall Street today, fast and furious.

Alison Kosik on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for us with the details. Alison, I know we checked in with you last hour. Those BP shares were already falling. Are they still falling?

ALISON KOSTIC, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're holding steady right now. They're down about 11 percent, Brooke. In the London Stock Exchange, they were also taking a major hit. It was Saturday when BP said its top kill failed. And what you're seeing right now is the first chance investors have to react because the markets were closed yesterday for Memorial Day.

And if you're thinking that BP isn't feeling this on their bottom line, think again. I want you to look at this chart. BP shares have fallen 38 percent since this rig collapsed, and it has everybody asking how much is this spill containment cost going to be? So far, BP has spent $990 million so far. Now, analysts are estimating that BP can wind up spending $4 billion to $20 billion when all is said and done.

And if you go ahead and throw hurricane season into the mix -- hurricane season starts today -- it could drive those costs even higher. I mean, think about it. If you get a severe hurricane in the area, it could slow the containment process. It could also move the oil to other Gulf coast areas and wreak havoc on the economies there.

As for the overall market, we're seeing a big turnaround here. The Dow right now up 50 points. The NASDAQ is up as well. We've got some positive news domestically here on construction spending was up. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Alison, $4 billion to $20 billion. Those are big numbers, but we also know BP has big pockets.

Alison Kosik for us in New York, thank you.

I want to get you caught up on some of the day's top stories, including -- let's get the effort to contain that leak. BP planning to lower yet another containment dome. They hope to do that at some point tomorrow. In the meantime, here's what they're doing today. They're going to make these cuts to the riser where then they'll place the custom-fit cap to try to trap some of the oil. In fact, they say it could be most of the oil, but it won't be all of it.

In other news, Israeli officials are saying Israel regrets the casualties during the pre-dawn raid on the Gaza aid flotilla. Remember, those six ships, about 600 passengers headed to Gaza, they say to deliver aid. But Israel is blaming these activists for inciting the violence. Israel maintains it simply acted in self- defense. At least nine people were killed yesterday.

And some possible fallout from the deadly high-seas raid. An Israeli air strike killed three people in Gaza today. That strike came after two rockets launched from Gaza, they landed in Israel. No one was injured in that attack.

News from al Qaeda, saying its number three man has died. U.S. officials telling us that this is Mustafa Abu Yazid, believed to be killed in Pakistan's tribal region. Yazid breeds would-be terrorists who came from the U.S. for (INAUDIBLE) overseas.

And memorial services today in France for all of those victims of the Air France Flight 447. It was one year ago today since that Airbus ran into severe weather and then crashed into the Atlantic between Rio and Paris. All 228 people onboard that plane were killed. The crash, though, still pretty much a mystery. The flight recorder, the black box never found. Meaning the answers are still sitting on the ocean floor, and that made this past year especially tough as you can imagine, for the victims' loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WINI SCHMIDT, GERMAN VICTIMS ASSOCIATION: This tragedy has split our hearts, and it has left deep scars on husbands and wives, on fathers and mother, brothers and sisters, other family members, and friends. May our loved ones rest in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Some of those loved ones are pushing Air France to launch another search for that black box.

And a sister sharing memories of a fallen soldier, and she thanks his comrades for being there to help her. Today's "Home and Away" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now, Memorial Day may be officially over, but we here at CNN are still committed, of course, to bring you stories about the men and women who gave their lives in combat. And "Home and Away" is part of our initiative for you along with CNN.com. We'll tell you in a moment just exactly how you can make your own tribute, like this one. I want to read it for you.

This is for Sergeant Kyle Daggett. He died in May 2008 after a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle in Baghdad, and here is what his sister is sharing. She says "Kyle's spirit truly lives in all of his family and friends. We continue to tell stories and share our memories of Kyle. He was such a good-hearted, funny, crazy guy who respected each and every person he came across. I thank God for having met his great friends with whom he served. They are now like my brothers, and I'm sure Kyle would have wanted it that way."

We thank you for sharing that with us. Love reading all of these, and now it's your turn. Take some time. You can navigate around our Web site. It's really easy, I promise. I've done this, you can do this. It's CNN.com/homeandaway, and there is a map of both the U.S. and also tabs for Iraq and Afghanistan. You can click around on the different dots, those are the different hometowns. And you can actually pull up short bios, pictures of all these service men and women.

And the best part, you can add your tribute in your own words. Include your pictures, videos and send it to us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BALDWIN: Listen to this story. A marathon, we'll call it that, with a little movement officially come now to the finish line. Performance artist Marina Abromovich (ph) spent 700 hours -- 700 hours -- in a chair, silently staring at strangers. This has happened since March 14. People have lined up to sit across from her.

This is at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. More than 1,500 people took the seat. Some people sat for a minute. Some people sat for seven-and-a-half hours. Among those who took a seat at the performance, actor Sharon Stone and former CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

Tony Harris, sitting across from her? No, no, not Tony Harris. You know what? I'd probably last, like, five minutes, and then I'd get hungry.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hungry! What do you get, a blessing or something? Is that what happens?

BALDWIN: It's art, friend!

HARRIS: It's art.

BALDWIN: It's art.

HARRIS: Oh - OK. Brooke, have a - have a great day.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Over to you, friend. Thank you.

HARRIS: All right. Thank you.