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Oil Threat Moves to Alabama, Mississippi; Oil Leak Fix Explained; Activists & Israelis Armed With Video; Outmanned by Oil; Where the Oil Waste Goes; Where the Earth Opens Up; Hot on the Web
Aired June 02, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody. Coming up at the top of the hour here now. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in for Tony Harris.
In the NEWSROOM right now, anything can happen. Here we go with some of the stories we're keeping an eye on and some of the people who are making those stories.
Of course, it's Day 44 now and counting of the Gulf oil leak. And fishermen have been getting sick. Their families now speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one's hanging over the boat, throwing up. This one says he's dizzy and he's feeling faint. That's abnormal for our guys. This is a bunch of tough, hard-core fishermen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also that black goo is spreading. We'll show you where and when the oil is expected to hit next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't swim in it personally. I wouldn't let me kids swim in it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In this area there are just so many. And just to think what's coming behind this is just horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And you are online right now and so are we.
Ines Ferre following the top stories trending on the internet.
Hello there, Ines.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, T.J.
For all you tennis fans out there, Serena Williams loses to Samantha Stosur at the French Open quarterfinals.
And also, check out this. What if you spent 520 days inside a capsule, but not in outer space, but on earth? -- T.J.
HOLMES: Wow. That's what's trending.
All right. Ines keeping an eye on things for us. We'll talk to her again here in just a bit.
But let's get to our lead story, which is day 44 and counting of the oil leak in the Gulf.
BP hitting a snag now in its latest attempt to contain that oil. A saw being used to cut away the damaged riser pipe on the well is stuck now. The government's point man, Admiral Thad Allen, says crews were making progress on the cut-and-cap procedure before this setback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Over the night we were successfully able to do a shear cut of the marine riser pipe. That is that 5,000 feet of pipe that's crumpled on the ocean floor that used to connect the wellhead to the mobile drilling unit.
We are in the process right now of trying to do the second fine cut with a diamond wire saw. That saw blade has become stuck inside the riser pipe. They're working to move the riser pipe to set it free.
Anybody that has ever used a saw knows every once in a while it will bind up. That's kind of what's happening there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So the saw is stuck right now and they can't proceed with this new measure until they get that thing unstuck.
Let's take a closer look at the tools we're talking about here.
This is a diamond saw we've been talking about that got stuck. It's been described as looking like a giant deli slicer. The saw is being used after the initial cut was made with a large pair of metal shears.
Once the final cut is made, crews will try to install this cap, the lower marine riser package cap, to put on top and try to siphon out most of the oil. We are told, of course, this is not going to capture all of the oil. We're told most, but we don't exactly know how much "most" means.
A troubling new concern in the oil leak as well. Until now, Louisiana's marshes have borne the brunt of the oil washing ashore, but now oil has made it ashore on barrier islands in two other states.
Patches of oil and tar balls washing up on Dauphin Island in Alabama. Mississippi, a strand of oil reached Petit Bois Island, south of Pascagoula. The strand is about two miles long, three feet wide. And this undeveloped island is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Florida panhandle could be next in line. An oil sheen was spotted this morning about nine miles off Pensacola Beach.
And keep in mind this latest attempt that they are making right now, they won't capture -- even if it works perfectly, it's not going to capture all of the oil. We're told, still, this could be going on until August, when the relief wells are actually done, and that is the only real permanent solution, we have been told, to this.
So, we're on day 44 and counting. And it looks like it could be counting for quite some time.
Our meteorologist Chad Myers tracking the oil and where it's going to be headed. He's here with me in studio. Also, our John Zarrella getting a firsthand look at the globs of oil washing ashore along the Alabama coastline.
John joins us now from Dauphin Island in Alabama.
We got this warning a little earlier, John, from Thad Allen. And you are seeing it first hand. He said now the threat is moving to Alabama and Mississippi.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, T.J. And as we've been saying, it's no longer just a threat. It's the reality.
The oil is here. And in many places along Dauphin Island here, it looks -- they look like patties. That's what they look like. It's just little patties of oil along the beach.
As you walk along, you can see them. And not just tar balls, but really just patties of oil, all shapes and sizes, a few inches long, a few inches wide. Some may be circular, the size of silver dollars.
And it's all according to folks with the Alabama Health Department. They say it does look like it's very weathered oil, old oil that's made its way up here, probably oil that's been affected by the dispersants that have been used. But nonetheless, it is oil, and it is on the beaches here at Dauphin Island.
And it is a long way between where we are standing, probably three football fields long, all the way down past the fishing pier, out to the water. And it's interesting, because to the right of the fishing pier, there isn't any of this oil. But it's all to the left of the fishing pier, is where you find it.
And we walked out there a few hours ago. And, you know, as we were walking out there, you're just looking down, and there's some oil, there's some oil, there's some oil. It's just all over out there in little clusters.
And, you know, what's interesting, with all the weather that we've had -- a lot of thunderstorms here today -- and with the tidal action, some of it that we saw earlier in the day, it's now gone. Now, where did it go? Maybe it got covered up, maybe it got washed back out in the water. We don't know.
What we do know is that there are crews that are supposed to be coming out here today to start the cleanup on this beach at Dauphin Island. The problem is they're supposed to be out here first thing this morning, but big thunderstorms rolled over this area. I'm sure Chad saw them on the radar today. And they had to stop that, get them off the beach, these workers, not let them come out to the beach, because of the concerns for their safety.
Now, yesterday when our APJ, Patrick Oppmann, was out here, and saw all of this first hand, he talked to some people out here who are pretty disgusted with what's happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just doesn't seem like there's a lot of urgency, because you can see it's all big blobs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And people don't even know. There's people just a few feet away getting in the water. They haven't informed them that this is going on right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, we also saw just a little bit ago a Coast Guard helicopter flying over. Before that, a National Guard helicopter flying over. Don't know exactly what they're doing, but very likely surveying the area to see if they can spot any more oil that may be close to shore -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. John Zarrella for us, where it appears the oil has arrived.
John, thank you so much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: We're going to take a closer look as well at the remote- controlled operations that are under way. Again, these are going on a mile under water.
Our Josh Levs explains the complex cut-and-cap procedure going on now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They needed to make these two cuts, and that's why we're seeing this kind of drama under the water. And I'll tell you quickly what these two cuts are.
The first one, if you -- understand this, this is the blowout preventer we were just talking about. And you have this pipe right here that needed to be cut in two places. First, they had a robot that's designed to use these hydraulic shears to cut it way down here. Then, let's think of this as the money cut, right? The most important cut is way over here. It's right at top of the blowout preventer. You have this robot that comes along and it's supposed to make a slice right there.
For this one, instead of hydraulic shears, they're actually using that diamond wire saw. It is made of diamond, one of the sharpest, strongest materials to make a cut. And the goal is to create the exact perfect size stub.
If they can create what BP is calling a smooth horizontal line right here, then they can lower this cap -- the lower marine riser cap -- place it right on top of it. Now there's a lot of ifs along the way. And you have to get all those cuts right and in the process, while they make that cut, you're going to have a gush of oil come up. So let's do this. Let's go to some of these live pictures again and we'll take a look -- as this is what everyone's watching right now -- to see how far is this diamond wire cutter managing to go. And every time you see smoke that doesn't automatically mean oil.
When you're slicing off a piece of pipe under water that creates smoke as well. Some of this is going to disintegrate. Yes. Please. Yes.
BALDWIN: Let me interrupt you and ask because we're all kind of looking at this together for the first time. Do we even know what part of the riser this is where ROVs are cutting?
LEVS: I can tell you one thing. We do know that in the video that we've been seeing so far, when you look at the diamond wire cutter, it does appear to us to be working on what you and I were referring to as the money cut, as closer to where the stub should ultimately be.
BP hasn't yet detailed exactly where it is, but based on the video -- I know it's hard for you all to tell right there. Based on the video we're seeing, it does seem that BP is -- it's definitely the diamond wire cutter, yes, I'm being told in my ear. And that much we know.
But how close they are to that actual stub and creating a smooth horizontal wall, that's what we're working on. So we do know that's the diamond wire cutter at work and we do know that this is where they want to make that really critical cut in order to get the cap on top.
We also have some video that came in last night where you can see one of the earlier steps that's also really interesting. This is when they're cutting off that pipe as I was showing. Watch what happens. So there's a slice pretty much. This is, we believe, the hydraulic shears that we're going through and boom. You know you can see some oil that comes out from there.
BALDWIN: And explain again briefly because we were chatting before the show. They had to cut that part of the --
LEVS: Right. BALDWIN: -- riser to lessen some of the pressure for that money cut where they place the cap, correct?
LEVS: Exactly. Yes. The pipe has a kink in it. And this all happened at the beginning of all of it. This all happened at the beginning of this explosion, basically, when all these problems occurred. And before they could go make that initial cut, it's our understanding they needed to make a cut farther down to release the pressure on that pipe in order to give themselves a better shot at using the diamond wire cutter to make that really smooth cut.
So if in the end they can get everything that they need -- cut exactly the way it should be -- then what you'll end up seeing is this right here, and you will see the smooth cut right here. You'll see a cap that they can put on top of it. Then the cap does a couple of things.
First of all, this whole thing is designed to guide oil up to the surface, so it's all going to be up to the enterprise drill ship way up here. Oil keeps coming up. The goal is to contain it, but it's also not 100 percent seal. All right? So it's not going to close off absolutely everything.
They have said it won't do that. Also, they're going to pump in some methanol to try to get rid of these ice-like methane crystals that can cause problems underneath. All of that happening. But they are expecting to get the cap on this week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Yes. They're expecting to this week. Still hope to. But like we said, that saw is stuck right now that was cutting through the pipe. So, until they get that out of the way, the cap cannot go down and try to cap this thing.
We'll keep you posted, of course, but there it is, a live picture of what's happening underneath. A lot of equipment, a lot of stuff going on down there. Sometimes hard to make out exactly what's happening in the pictures, but it's always easy to make out oil coming out of that well, continuously now, for the past 44 days.
Well, other images we can tell you about. A video war is emerging right now following Israel's deadly raid on aid ships heading to Gaza. Both sides fighting now to prove their version of what happened.
But first, our "Random Moment" coming up in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, your "Random Moment" today, a big green lizard in the blue skies over Texas.
A 40-foot-long, 1,600-pound lizard. This is Iggy the Iguana. It's a statue that was put in place yesterday and now greets visitors to the Fort Worth Zoo. The lizard has actually been in a barn. It was in a barn for 10 years until the zoo salvaged him. And it was once on top of a restaurant and was part of an art park.
Would you eat at that restaurant?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, news just in on a deadly shooting rampage in northwestern England. Police think they have found the body of the suspect.
Authorities say at least five people were killed and 25 wounded before the shooter took his own life. Witnesses describe him driving around firing out of his car window.
This is Britain's deadliest mass shooting since 1996. Police identify the suspect as 52-year-old Derrick Bird. A body has now been found in the woods which is believed to be his. A man who calls himself a friend of Bird's says he spoke with him last night and Bird told him, "You won't see me again."
Well, activists may be on another collision course with Israel following Monday's commando raid on Gaza-bound ships that left nine dead. Here's what we know.
Another ship loaded with aid is heading to Gaza right now, determined to break the Israeli blockade. Organizers say the vessel should arrive in the Palestinian territory this weekend.
About 600 detainees from Monday's flotilla raid are being expelled from Israel. They were bused out of a prison this morning. Israeli officials want all the foreign activists out of the country by the end of today, but four Israeli-Arabs from the flotilla remain behind bars.
Both the activists and the Israelis are armed with video now and bound to prove who was the aggressor on the Mediterranean Sea.
Our Senior Correspondent Ben Wedeman is in Jerusalem with a look at both sides here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was chaos on the high seas. Israel commandos caught on night scope video released by the Israel military land on the deck of the Turkish cruise ship the Mavi Marmara and are met by pro-Palestinian activists.
A full-scale melee ensued on the upper decks. One soldier appears to be pushed overboard. Others appear to be beaten with bars. In slow motion, it appears this soldier may have been stabbed.
One of the Israeli commandos, only identified as "Captain R," is in hospital. "At the moment, I saw people holding knives were approaching me and attempting to stab me. I took out my weapon and shot one bullet. A large amount of people threw me down to the main deck, to the lower deck. As I was thrown down, a group of another 10 people jumped money, stabbed me with a knife in my stomach."
According to the Israel military's own account, Israeli troops killed at least nine of the activists. Seven Israeli soldiers were wounded.
But Hanin Zoabi, an Arab member of the Knesset Israel parliament, has a completely different version of events. She was on board the ship and that says the Israelis opened fire before boarding.
This is video broadcast by the Turkish news network DHA. On the boat, you can see the chaos and violence of the moment. The activists, Zoabi says, were acting in self defense.
HANIN ZOABI, MEMBER OF KNESSET: When they find themselves inside a dangerous situation, very natural, very human reaction. They resist themselves. There was not a plan of resistance.
WEDEMAN: The entire incident has now become a whole new battleground, pitting Israeli and its supporters against the Palestinians and their backers, each wielding their own narratives, their own videos. And it's a battle both sides are determined to carry on.
(on camera) And would you do it again?
ZOABI: Yes, of course I'd do it again. And I think hundreds now will do it again.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): In fact, more ships are being prepared for another flotilla and, no doubt, more trouble.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people calling right now for BP and its partners to be held accountable for what's happening in the Gulf right now. We're going to explore the potential legal and political fallout of corporate conduct.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder says a criminal investigation is under way now into the Gulf oil disaster. And that carries political, as well as practical, implications.
So let's bring in our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. He's in New York for us. And our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley, in Washington.
Hello to you both. Good to see you both.
Let me ask you, first of all, Jeffrey, what are the chances we're going to see Tony Hayward or some other BP executive in handcuffs?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think there's a very good chance you will see BP or any of the other companies involved here criminally charged. That's actually pretty easy under the law. The law says if you release this kind of level of pollution, you are guilty of a crime as a company. It is a very different thing to prove that an individual committed a crime, and that's going to be a lot harder.
HOLMES: And Candy, let me bring you in on the political side of it.
And I will certainly get back to some of these charges with you, Jeffrey.
But, Candy, how difficult is it now, how important is it, quite frankly? You're trying to work with this company to solve a problem, but at the same time you're coming after them criminally. How much of a strain could this be between the company and the government if the government announces we're trying to come after you criminally?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Seriously, I actually don't think they're trying to work (ph) them any more. They've stopped giving joint press conferences with them. And the Obama administration, sort of from the jump, understood it didn't want to be real close to BP while this played out.
Well, the problem that the Obama administration has is that BP has the expertise. Certainly, it has more expertise than the U.S. government in dealing with something like this, even though it's unprecedented. At least BP has the experts. It has the equipment, or it can summon the equipment.
So, the Obama administration has, from the beginning, sort of stepped a little away from BP, even though they had a slip at one point and one of the military people called BP a partner. But the Obama administration, politically and intrinsically, understood it didn't want to be with them.
So, I don't think it could get any worse. I think BP's lawyers saw this coming. I think that's why we see such careful statements. I think everybody expected this would happen.
HOLMES: And Jeff, when we talk about this investigation and criminal charges, is this all going to go back to whatever led up to that explosion on the rig April 20th?
TOOBIN: Well, I think that will certainly be the core of the investigation. But think about how complicated and difficult this investigation is going to go. Most of the evidence is gone. It's at the bottom of the ocean. So, just to reconstruct what happened is going to be enormously difficult.
In the Exxon Valdez, which was comparatively a very simple crash of an oil tanker, that case, 21 years after the accident, is still, at least in part, before the court. So, 21 years for the Exxon Valdez. You can be sure that this disaster will be in court for at least that much time.
HOLMES: And back on that political front, Candy, is there a downside to the timing of saying you're investigating this company criminally right now?
CROWLEY: Well, no, politically it's all upside, because what we saw from the beginning was people criticizing the administration, saying they weren't there, they haven't been strong enough, they're taking BP's word for everything, they're letting BP take the lead. And so, for the president to come out and for the attorney general to come out and say we're going to criminally prosecute these people, or at least on the part of Holder, he's going to look into it, the president saying -- I mean, think about what the president said, which essentially was, if there have been crimes here, we're going to prosecute, which is kind of a gimme in a lot of ways. I mean, we would expect that.
But why say it? Well, it proves that you're on the case. And this administration knows that it has to prove to be tough up against the oil company, which is the big villain right now. And the administration wants to be on the other side of that.
HOLMES: And I'll let you wrap it up here with that, actually, on that point, Candy. BP, of course, is the big villain and, quite frankly, an easy target given that they, yes, are responsible for the spill. But are we going to at some point -- are we starting to see any indications that the American people are going to start looking at the president, the administration, the federal government for lacking in the cleanup effort at least?
CROWLEY: Well, I think not just lacking in the cleanup effort. And we have seen some polling indicating that -- at least last week, and we'll see, because polling comes out every day because people change their minds. But we did see some polling last week that the president did not get great marks for his handling of this. The federal government got even lower marks. BP got the lowest marks.
So, yes. And we've already heard a congressman from Louisiana saying who waived the laws for making sure that there were certain safety things put in place? Who waived the law that said they had to have some sort of contingency plan?
And so the federal government is not clean on this. And so, yes, we're starting to see it, but I have to tell you, ,insofar as the presidency is concerned, it takes more than one thing. It's the compilation of things. When President Bush, when his ratings just dived after Katrina, they were on their way down anyway because people were souring on the Iraq War. So it's something on top of something else.
So, I don't think the president is there yet. You hear a lot about this, oh, it's his Katrina. I think, you know, let's wait and see how this plays out over time, because people certainly will hold the president responsible for part of this cleanup.
HOLMES: All right. The politics of it.
And again, Jeffrey Toobin, waiting to see, in fact, what will come of this investigation, a complicated one, as you say.
Jeffrey, Candy, good to see you both. Always a pleasure to talk to you.
CROWLEY: Good to see you.
TOOBIN: All right.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
HOLMES: We'll see you guys later.
Well, fishermen in the Gulf, as we've been reporting, are starting to get stick. And they were told, actually, don't talk about it. But the wife of one fishermen, she's talking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, fishermen in the Gulf getting sick and keeping it quiet. They were told, don't talk about it. But our Elizabeth Cohen caught up with one fed-up wife.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Late one night, at the end of April, Kindra Arnesen's husband David was out shrimping on his boat. Seven other shrimping boats around him.
KINDRA ARNESEN, SICK FISHERMAN'S WIFE: I received several phone calls from him, this one's hanging over the boat throwing up. This one says he's dizzy and he's feeling faints. That's abnormal for our guys. This is a bunch of tough, hard core fishermen.
COHEN (on camera): How did he say he was feeling?
ARNESEN: Nauseous and a really bad headache.
COHEN (voice-over): Men sick on eight boats. She says, not a coincidence.
(on camera): He told you he could smell the oil.
ARNESEN: It was really strong. He said that it was so strong that they could almost taste it.
COHEN: But BP and EPA have been monitoring the air and they say it's safe. Don't worry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the air is just fine and all of a sudden everybody is sick. Come on.
COHEN: You don't believe it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't believe them.
COHEN (voice-over): She says until this day her husband was completely healthy but he's been sick ever since.
ARNESEN: It's a nasty cough. I literally woke him up over and over again.
COHEN (on camera): And had you ever seen him like that?
ARNESEN: Never.
COHEN: Short of breath?
ARNESEN: Never.
COHEN: He doesn't have asthma or anything like that?
ARNESEN: Nothing. No breathing problems ever. Nothing.
COHEN (voice-over): BP's top executive has suggested spoiled food could have made the fishermen ill. But a public health official contacted by CNN considered that highly unlikely in light of their symptoms.
(on camera): Now, Kendra, I've got to tell you, you're talking about this. You're the only one I found who is. People are mighty quiet around here.
ARNESEN: They're terrified.
COHEN: Why are they terrified?
ARNESEN: It's BP. You're messing with the king. That's what I've been told. Kendra, you're not scared? You're messing with the king.
COHEN: So why aren't you scared?
ARNESEN: I am.
COHEN (voice-over): The shrimping waters have since been closed down because of the oil, and Kendra's husband has signed a contract to work with BP. It includes a provision that prohibits him from talking publicly about his work.
(on camera): So your husband signed a gag order back in April and then -- ARNESEN: May 24th.
COHEN: May 24th.
ARNESEN: (INAUDIBLE).
COHEN: Right, they revoked the gag - the gag order.
ARNESEN: Uh-huh.
COHEN: So why won't he talk?
ARNESEN: He's still scared.
COHEN: But what's he scared of?
ARNESEN: Losing his job.
COHEN: Are you scared of BP?
ARNESEN: Am I scared of BP? Our financial situation lays in the palm of their hands.
COHEN (voice-over): So why is she talking when so many others have been silent?
ARNESEN: It starts with one. Anything - anything that ever starts, starts with one. And if I have to be the one, then I have to be the one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES,: All right. Elizabeth Cohen joining us here now.
This has been going on for a little while now, this whole oil leak. Why are we just now hearing of people getting sick or hearing from them, somebody directly - from someone who was sick, at least?
COHEN: Right, we heard last week about nine fishermen who ended up in the hospital and then more, like this woman's husband, have gotten sick and not gone to the hospital. And when I was out t here, I was on the phone trying to, you know, ask these people to -- if they wanted to talk and they don't. She's the first one I found who was willing to talk because most of these people are now working for BP and they do not want to bite the hand that feeds them.
HOLMES: That is un - but she's just, you know, fed up. She felt the need to come up.
COHEN: Right, she got fed up. She said, you know what, it's time just to talk about what's going on here.
HOLMES: You know, and most of them, are they, when they get sick, are they recovering? Are they getting worse? Are they getting better? What's going on? COHEN: You know, it's interesting. When her husband was out shrimping, there were seven other boats around him. And she said that she's talked to those wives and that those fishermen are feeling better, but that her husband was out there much longer. They were out there for a few hours and he was out there overnight and then some. And she said he has not yet recovered. He's still having to take medication. He's still has a terrible cough.
HOLMES: How long has this been going on for him? How long has he been sick, essentially?
COHEN: It's been a little over a month for him right now.
HOLMES: Oh, wow.
COHEN: Yes. And she says he's better than he was and the medication's helping, but she says he is still not back to where he was before he spent that night near the oil.
HOLMES: So many effects and so many people being affected in so many different ways. I'm sure we're going to continue to hear about other people getting sick as well.
Elizabeth Cohen, we appreciate it. You've been on top of this story for us. Thank you so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
HOLMES: One of the chemicals BP is using in the Gulf is actually banned in other countries. So why in the world are chemicals prohibited in other countries being allowed in everyday products here in the U.S.? Watch "Toxic America." It's a two-night special investigation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. It starts tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time.
Well, you heard this news probably by now, the announcement we just got yesterday that Al and Tipper Gore are, in fact, separating after 40 years of marriage. For a lot of people, they say this seemed to come out of nowhere. This, of course, was almost the first couple of the U.S. And their PDAs, you remember some of that during the 2000 campaign season, they were legendary. Our Gloria Borger put it in perspective for us yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For those of us who have watched political couples over the years, it's kind of sad because the Gores were this fabulous couple to watch. When he was run for president, remember at the Democratic Convention, when he gave her that big kiss.
TONY HARRIS, CNN: Oh, yes. Yes.
BORGER: And we talked about it for years and years after that as sort of the one -- there it is -
HARRIS: There it is.
BORGER: The one emotional moment we recall from Al Gore. A couple that's always been quite supportive of each other and of their -- and of their families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And, as always, we want to hear from you. A lot of people have a lot of reaction to this. A lot of people, quite frankly, not being necessarily nosy and (INAUDIBLE) so on and so forth. A lot of people just were shocked by it and saddened to hear that after 40 years they were separating at least. You can go to our blog, post your comments, CNN.com/tony. We will be airing some of them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the work is backbreaking and heartbreaking. So much oil, not enough people to deal with it. CNN's Gary Tuchman takes a look at this overwhelming task.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We travel via air boat, through the swampy, gassy waters just off the coast of Louisiana, to see some of the 20,000 plus people BP has hired to protect and cheap up the oily coastlines. And we run into these three men doing what appears to be an incredibly thankless task. This Coast Guard petty officer describes it well.
PETTY OFC. NYXOLYNO CANGEMI, U.S. COAST GUARD: We have cleanup crews that are actually wiping down the grass with absorbent pads.
TUCHMAN: That's right. People being hired by BP are wiping down blades of grass. They're also replacing oil soaked and, therefore, ineffective booms. But given the number of worker we see and a handful of boats, versus the overwhelming amount of oil coming ashore, it all looks like an impossible task.
TUCHMAN (on camera): I mean is it really making a difference with these guys? They're working hard but it's such a small area and that's not that many of these guys doing this.
CANGEMI: Well, we try and bring out as many people as we can. And we -- working as hard as they can to do as much as they can.
TUCHMAN: Yes, I don't doubt their industriousness but it seems like you need hundreds of people here, not 40 people in this area or whatever we're seeing.
CANGEMI: Right. It's a bit of a challenge to get as many people as you can. You have to balance it out with the needs of other areas.
TUCHMAN: This work is backbreaking. It's also heartbreaking. Because most of the men and women hired by BP to do this work have spent their lives in this water. They rely on it for their recreation. They rely on it to make a living. TUCHMAN (voice-over): We wanted to ask them about their work, but we're told to get these jobs from BP, they have to agree not to talk to reporters.
Terry Lapeyrouse isn't working for BP. He talked to us at his general store in town.
TERRY LAPEYROUSE, LIFELONG LOUISIANA RESIDENT: And I'll be 76 in September.
TUCHMAN (on camera): And how many years have you lived here?
LAPEYROUSE: All my life.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): He knows many of the workers and he knows the water.
TUCHMAN (on camera): They lay down on their stomachs, they pick up the dirty boom, they put it in bags, then they bring out the clean boom, they scrub the grasses with the booms to get the oil off. Do you think that's accomplishing anything?
LAPEYROUSE: A little bit, but there's so much of it out there, that it just come - the next night it will be back, you know, on the grass like it is right now.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The workers' intentions are noble, but as long as the leak continues, the teams we saw will be outmanned by the oil that relentlessly washes ashore.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Cocodrie, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, there are a couple of fronts going on, of course, in the Gulf Coast -- trying to stop the oil from coming out in the first place, but also many others are trying to clean it up. Now those clean-up efforts got a lot of us around here thinking, and maybe you as well, what in the world happens to all that dirty, you know, dirty rags, dirty booms, everything that's tainted now with oil that's been used to clean it up. Ines Ferre looking into this and she has found where this oil is going to be going.
Hello to you again, Ines.
FERRE: Hi, T.J.
Yes, I spoke to BP and experts in hazmat clean-up, since all of this stuff is really considered hazardous material. And they told me the following. There's a couple of things going on. First you've got what's called the skimming of the oil. And that's done with boat skimmers. And that basically takes the oil off the surface of the water.
The oil and the water are then separated and then the oil is transferred to a shore facility. And that's then refined and processed. And BP says that whatever they pick up, whatever they can refine and process, they will.
Then you've got the emulsified oil. And that's really the tar balls, all that gooey stuff that you see collecting on the shore. And BP says they'll try to recycle that for things like power plants and asphalt.
And then you've what are called the booms, right? You've seen them all in those pictures. The orange boom. The containment booms. They're using more than 3.7 million feet of booms, or 700 miles of it. And there's two kinds of booms. You've got the containment booms, and those can be washed off and reused. And then you've got the absorbent booms, the ones that absorb all the oil. And those, BP is saying, they're putting into landfills -- T.J.
HOLMES: Very good information. A lot of people have a lot of questions about this clean-up. And that's one we had.
Ines Ferre, we appreciate you. Thanks so much.
FERRE: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Also, give me a picture here. A live look in Pittsburgh. The president, as you can tell there by the seal, the president just making his way to Pittsburgh. Going to be stepping down any moment. We might catch it here live. We might not. But you've seen it once, you've seen it 100 times, the president getting off of Air Force One.
But he's in Pittsburgh to talk at Carnegie Melon University. He's there, an invited group, he's going to be speaking in front of, talking about the economy. And in that speech, we're told, we've gotten some parts of it. He's going to be taking some shots at Republicans talking about how they have been in the way, quite frankly, have been obstructionists, essentially sitting on the sidelines, and that's a direct quote, and shouting from the bleachers. He's talking about the economy and recovery efforts. And again, talking about how all -- at least one part of that speech talking about Republicans.
But when the president speaks, I believe 1:30 Eastern Time is when we expect that to take place, we will bring you those remarks live.
A quick break. We're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Have you heard about the Lebron sweepstakes, if you will? Lebron James could be switching teams next year from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Now this is more than just a sports story about the biggest star really in the game switching teams. He's switching cities. And with Lebron James comes a whole lot of money.
Now, according to one publication, "The Daily News," Lebron James would bring $58 million to New York if he switched to play for the Knicks. And that is a big reason why, money, cities are campaigning to land him. Cleveland, having some sleepless nights right now. People pay big to see him play. So will he stay? Will he go? He talked about it with our Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE" HOST: Do you lean at all toward the place you know the best? I mean do they have an edge going in, you're home team?
LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely, because, you know, this city, these fans, I mean, has given me a lot in these seven years. And, you know, for me it's comfortable. So I've got a lot of memories here and so it does have an edge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Lebron James. You can catch the whole interview Friday night, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Now take a look at this picture. It takes you a second. It almost looks fake because it's such a perfectly round hole, but you don't want to get too close to this thing. That's a giant sinkhole that opened up a couple of days ago. We're taking a closer look, of course, from a safe distance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, CNN, of course, CNNmoney.com in particular, they do some good work on that website. Any question you have about your money, go there. But you see what's happening on the Dow right now, 127 points up. See if we can hold that for the next several hours until the close.
Got a picture I want to show you as well.
Chad, this was unbelievable. It didn't look possible.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, in fact, we thought it was PhotoShopable when we first saw it.
HOLMES: Yes.
MYERS: We said, this is just to perfect.
HOLMES: So we confirmed this is the real deal?
MYERS: This is the real deal. Guatemala right there.
HOLMES: How does something like that happen?
MYERS: Well, what they had, they had that Tropical Storm Agatha down here and parts of Guatemala had 18 inches of rainfall.
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: All of a sudden, all of the dirt in this area is saturated and then here's what happened. And here's -- the picture's so amazing. HOLMES: Yes.
MYERS: You can literally understand why we didn't approve it right away. Wait, wait, wait, wait, let's just see if somebody just kind of dug a hole in their backyard and kind of PhotoShopped this. There was a couple of building right where that hole is. It's about 100 feet deep.
And then our photographers got closer and said, yep, that's real. It's there. It fell down - and down below it they can actually hear water running. So this is an underground river that they didn't know really was there.
HOLMES: Oh, OK.
MYERS: When originally this fell in, they thought, oh, it's a broken sewer pipe. The broken sewer pipe eroded the dirt below it and then the house fell in. But, literally, there's no house left. It's down - all the way down a couple hundred feet.
HOLMES: Any danger of that getting worse around that area?
MYERS: Absolutely.
HOLMES: OK, yes.
MYERS: Sure. Yes, all that land is seriously saturated and it's going to start sliding one piece at a time.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness.
MYERS: Dangerous. Falling rock zone. We see that in Pennsylvania all the time as you're driving down I-80.
HOLMES: Right. Chad Myers, for us. As always, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.
Well, we're going to be telling you about a mission to Mars. A mission to the red planet, without even taking off in a rocket. How is that possible? That's just one of the trending topics we're going to be looking at coming up here in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: That's some good music on this show, Ines.
FERRE: Yes, that's great.
HOLMES: Well, Ines Ferre here joining us with what's trending on the Internet.
And the World Cup, everybody is excited about that. It's coming up.
FERRE: That's right.
HOLMES: But the soccer ball itself, we've got a problem with the soccer ball?
FERRE: Yes. Yes. And we've got -
HOLMES: OK.
FERRE: And let me first tell you about this.
HOLMES: OK.
FERRE: We've got just a great video that we want to show you from Russia. And there's going to be six crew members that are going to go into a capsule and stay there for 520 days. They're simulating a mission to Mars. But that capsule is going to be right here on earth, T.J. So they're going to be in that capsule. They're going to be able to communicate via e-mail and they're going to be eating canned foods, like the kind that they eat at the International Space Station. I know, 520 days. Imagine -
HOLMES: That's a year and a half.
FERRE: Yes. Because they want to see how they deal with isolation, with stress, with fatigue.
HOLMES: Oh, that's terrible.
FERRE: But, you know, they had an experiment like this in '99, and that did not go that well.
HOLMES: It didn't go well?
FERRE: No, two people got into a fistfight. I mean -
HOLMES: OK.
FERRE: But we're hoping that this time this is going to go really well. It's 520 days in there. Unbelievable.
Then we want to show you this, OK, so the World Cup. So people are so psyched about this Word Cup if you're a fan, right?
HOLMES: Of course.
FERRE: And you've got this soccer ball that's creating a lot of controversy. You've got goalie from Italy, from Brazil, from England, they're saying, hold on, this is a terrible soccer ball. Why? Because they're saying that it will actually - it can spin it into directions that they can't anticipate. It's a very, very round ball. It's an Adidas ball. And it's called Jabulani. And Adidas is saying, this is a great ball. We've been using it since December. It's perfect. It's billed as the roundest soccer ball that you can possibly have. You know they have a little - the other ones had checkers. The old ones have checkers, whereas this -
HOLMES: The old ones did, OK.
FERRE: Right. And this one has just six panels on it. HOLMES: I think we had the same controversy or something like this because the big companies, they want to show off their soccer balls and new equipment during the World Cup. And last time some of the players didn't appreciate it either. So that - it comes around.
FERRE: Yes. Yes.
HOLMES: Everybody likes new. Nobody likes change. Everybody wants to be at their best. All right.
FERRE: Yes, it's eight panels. But, anyway, yes, I know. Well, we'll see.
HOLMES: All right.
FERRE: Hopefully you'll watch the soccer - the World Cup.
HOLMES: Of course we will. Ines, thank you, as always.
A quick break. We are right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. That does it for me in the CNN NEWSROOM. Time for me to hand it off to my good friend, Ali V.
You take it away.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: T.J., good to see you, my friend. Thank you very much. You have a great afternoon.
