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BP Oil Crisis Continues, Admiral Thad Allen, Joran van der Sloot Arrested

Aired June 05, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

RICHARD LUI, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Richard Lui in for Fredricka Whitfield. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll have the latest, of course, on the gulf oil spill in just a moment and all afternoon. But first, the president wants to give the Pentagon's top intelligence team a promotion.

A little more than an hour ago, President Obama announced he is nominating this man you see, here. That is retired Air Force, Lieutenant General James Clapper to be the next director of National Intelligence. Now, Clapper currently serves as the undersecretary of Intelligence for the Department of Defense. Now, if confirmed he is confirmed, Clapper will oversee and coordinate 16 intelligence agencies. He'd also be the fourth person to have the job since 2005.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: The Intelligence Committee needs to work as one integrated team that produces quality, timely and accurate intelligence. And let's be honest, this is a tough task. But, this will be Jim's core mission. He is imminently qualified and he has my complete confidence and support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Now, Clapper would replace former National Intelligence director, Dennis Blair, who resigned last month from that job.

OK, you know, we are now on day 47 into the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. BP is topping off oil from the ruptured undersea well. These are live pictures you see right now, they say they have had some progress, but just look at the force of oil coming out of the ground, through what is called the BOP. Thousands of barrels of oil coming out, but as you can see, they have not necessarily stopped it, as of yet. And it's now washing ashore.

We take you to Alabama and parts of the Florida Panhandle where that is happening. Our Rob Marciano has been following the gooey mess all the way from Louisiana, he is now in Pensacola, Florida.

Now Rob, you and I were out there reporting probably about 40 days ago, you have consistently been down there, up and down the coast, watching what has happened. You didn't see much 40 days ago, but you're seeing a lot more this week?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are, Richard. You're right about that. And it's very widespread. We arrived here yesterday when there were reports of tar balls washing ashore. We saw evidence of oil and some of the barrier islands (ph) of the Mississippi and the beautiful Gulf Island National Seashore. And then yesterday, yeah, there were tar balls that were washing up here. They were quickly cleaned away. And there were tar balls again this morning, anywhere from quarter-size to pancake pancake-size globs of tar.

And then just walking the beach a few minutes ago, I came across the first casualty that I've seen here, across the Florida Panhandle and take a look at this and don't look if you don't like to see dead animals. But, it appears to be a pelican, it appears to be several days dead, it also appears to have some oil on it. it has been reported and the proper authorities, SCAT teams will come into -- to clean that up.

Certainly disturbing here, it goes beyond just the tourism it now also includes the wildlife here in Louisiana.

As far as the businesses are concerned, here. We talked to a charter boat captain, his business is all but dead -- take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH FORSYTHE, CHARTER CAPTAIN: We've had multiple, probably 35 cancellations already and we're getting three to four a day, every day. Nobody's wanting to go out. You know, my whole family has fished here for three generations as captains and it's destroyed it. We were catching fish, pulling them up covered in oil 12 miles out to pass. It's a sad situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: And he did volunteer to be a vessel of opportunity, he hasn't gotten a call from BP. As far as the cleanup efforts are concerned, here, there are skimmers working the bay side, they obviously don't want any oil to get into the bays and the sensitive estuaries. And then of course you've got these beautiful sugar-white beaches. I mean, this is some of the whitest beach you'll see around the world and they're trying to protect their tourism industry. Numbers about 80 percent down, but as you see behind me, the beach is still open. So, cleanup crews come by every day shortly after high tide, they'll be coming here again and by the time the afternoon rolls around, things are relatively clean. But, we do anticipate more in the way of tar balls to be running up onshore.

Ran into the governor yesterday, and he's in desperate need of a lot of stuff to fight this battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: We hope we don't have more but the odds are we probably will and you know, it breaks my heart. But, we want to do everything we can to try to prevent it, keep it off our shore. I met with the president today and Admiral Thad Allen, asked them for more skimmers, more booms to try to keep it off our coast as much as humanly possible.

MARCIANO: Do you have enough? Are you ready?

CRIST: Well, we have a fair amount, but we need more. You know, you always need more. We've got over 1,300 miles of coastline in Florida. More than that -- you know, any of these other states in order to try to protect and Florida's a giant, so we need all the help we can get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: Certainly have a lot of shoreline to protect against this gob and gobs of tar and oil that continue to come in, even oil-covered litter, so these are the things they're up against here in the state of Florida and also, the wildlife is a huge concern, as well.

So, Richard, this story continues to expand as that slick continues to grow. It is about four or five miles just off the shoreline here in Pensacola.

LUI: Hey, Rob, can you show us that cup of oil. You showed that earlier on air and it is really gooey, chocolaty, thick stuff that you're finding right now.

MARCIANO: Yeah, it's right there. Don, if you can zoom in just a little bit. You see how it just bubbles up. At times, the water that's mixed within it separates but it's just nasty. This at one point was a softball size -- two softball-size tar balls that have just melted in the sun and evaporated and are changing before our eyes. It's remarkable to see, but it's also pretty disgusting.

LUI: Hey it looks disgusting.

MARCIANO: The beach is just covered with more of this stuff in the coming days.

LUI: Hey Rob, last thing before you go here. So, in the 40 days you've been reporting on this, what have you got in terms of sense of the residents down there? Do they feel that they were been given a couple of extra weeks, two or three weeks, because 40 days ago, they were thinking, hey, it's happening this weekend.

MARCIANO: Well, I think they got lulled into a sense of security that this wasn't going to happen. For a couple of weeks it looked like it was going to stay offshore and now, it's here and they're certainly very, very sad about that. And as far as protecting the shoreline, they don't boom it, so they just have to clean it up when it comes here. So they're very sad to say the least. But they want the messes to get out until these beaches are closed, they want people to come and they're not going to close the beaches until the Escambia County officials deem it to be unhealthy or a health risk. And at this point, they don't think that is the case.

LUI: Yeah, so folks are thinking of going down there, it is still beautiful. Go down there if you plan on doing it, do not cancel your trip, help out that economy down there. All right, Rob Marciano, thank you so much. Great stuff. We will, of course, be stopping with Rob and a little bit later throughout the day, here on CNN.

You know, t is whole thing that we've been talking about, you may remember it started on April 20th. These images were from that time, taken right off the explosion rocked the deepwater horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, 11 crew members died in that. Now, yesterday, a few of the co-workers who survived the blast sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Where were you when the first explosion hit?

MATTHEW JACOBS, SURVIVED OIL RIG EXPLOSION: ...and out in the hallway. I mean, there was people screaming, hollering. I mean, it's like the movie "Titanic," right before the ship sinks, everybody's just -- I mean, I could feel the heat from the flames as soon as I come out on to the smoke deck, but when I got up on the life boat deck, I just stopped and I looked up. And I was like, this can't be happening. I said, this can't be happening. I said there is no way we can put that fire out.

COOPER: What did it look like?

JACOBS: It looked like you was looking at the face of death. I mean, you could hear it, see it, smell it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUI: Now, on Thursday, President Obama plans to sit down with relatives of the 11 men killed in that explosion. Their meeting will be at the White House.

All right, now, a CNN exclusive for you, following the go-to guy for President Obama and everybody else in this oil disaster. This week, CNN's Kyra Phillips was granted incredible access to Admiral Thad Allen. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's 6:00 a.m. and we're here in New Orleans, Louisiana. Admiral Thad Allen's day began hours ago. But we're getting ready to connect with him now and see what it's like for the next 48 hours as he leads the response to the worst oil disaster in U.S. history.

Good morning. Good to see you.

ADM THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Good morning.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): The 61-year-old commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, officially had his change of command last month. But he's not on the toughest assignment of his long career. First a jolt of caffeine. The admiral's security detail knows every coffee shop on the gulf coast.

(on camera): All right, I've got the next one.

ALLEN: Admiral Allen.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): And then the first calls of the very long day.

ALLEN: I can call the governor.

PHILLIPS: The White House, federal agencies, governors, the Army Corps of Engineers. They never stop. Today's top priority, hammering out an agreement on getting sand barriers built to protect the Louisiana Coast and paying for them.

ALLEN: We talked about a couple of things. No. 1 was the feasibility of constructing the barrier islands of the burns. The second one is their effectiveness.

PHILLIPS: it's an issue that's sharply divided state and federal government. The admiral has to be broker, diplomat, decision-maker.

ALLEN: You can suffer, you can adapt and you can manage. I'm trying to move to the manage.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: For this job, Thad Allen needs a thick skin. He's come in for plenty of criticism.

ALLEN: I'm careful about the rents space in my head. I try to keep a pretty even keel. That's almost impossible to insult me.

PHILLIPS: The incident command post, the nerve center of the massive operation to deal with the spill. This is where all the federal agencies involve and BP come together.

ALLEN: All of the operations in Louisiana are directed out of here.

PHILLIPS (on camera): We're only an hour into the day and the admiral has to make a number of conference calls throughout the day, that we will not be able to record. They're off the record. He's getting ready to get on the phone with senior Obama administration officials and cabinets secretaries about building barrier islands to protect the marshlands.

(voice-over): Admiral Allen is also the public faith of the administration's efforts to tackle the worst environmental disaster in modern U.S. history.

ALLEN: Good morning. The briefing this morning is coming from our incident command post in Houma, Louisiana.

PHILLIPS: Back on the road again headed for Houma Terrebonne Airport. The White House called again. What's the progress on a sand barrier deal. The president had promised local officials he would fast-track a decision.

(on camera): How many times a day does the White House call you?

ALLEN: Depends on the issue.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Then it's up and away in a Coast Guard plane for a firsthand look of the spreading slick.

ALLEN: I've asked them to fly over to get a really good look at the Mississippi River and the marshlands and all the stuff we're talking about. It gives you a very good idea of the vastness of this marshland. We're talking hundreds and hundreds of miles. That's breading ground for they said 25 or 30 percent of the seafood that's consumed in this country.

PHILLIPS (on camera): We headed east out of Houma and came through to see where the oil has spread across the Mississippi where the marshlands are. And now, we're actually headed over to where the rig exploded. How many vessels do you have out here?

ALLEN: In our entire operation (INAUDIBLE) around 1,500 (INAUDIBLE) 50 miles and I'd say a couple hundred.

PHILLIPS: So we just wrapped up the fly-over. And now apparently the attorney general wants to talk with the admiral. It is about 2:30 now in the afternoon and it could be about the criminal charges that possibly may be weighed against BP.

(voice-over): Allen assures the attorney general, he'll keep him informed of anything that could impact potential legal action. Not the sort of job he was trained for.

ALLEN: Lisa. How are you?

LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: How you doing, darlin'.

ALLEN: Good to see you.

PHILLIPS: Armed with the aerial overview, the admiral catches up with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in Cocodrie, Louisiana. Their talk is of booms, dispersants and the workforce now deployed across the gulf coast.

ALLEN: One thing about Lisa, she can talk.

JACKSON: In this area, these wetlands are something that all of us have (INAUDIBLE) to make sure we not only maintained but rebuild.

PHILLIPS (on camera): The admiral is going to meet with all of the workers here that are deploying all of this equipment out in the water, booms, et cetera.

ALLEN: The president wants to triple the resources in an oil-impacted area, and there's always a problem with space, burning, nothing you can't handle.

PHILLIPS: After 14 hours of command and control this day, still time to rally the troops. Dinner with contractors, members of the National Guard and others.

ALLEN: Tell them where you're from. If you go out and treat anybody that's been impacted by this event in the local community here, anybody you're dealing with, if you treat them as they're your brother, your mother, your sister, your father, somebody you care about you're going to be all right because if you err, you're going to err on the side of doing too much.

PHILLIPS: And then some good news.

ALLEN: The news of the day is the president approved the Louisiana burn project that the Corp of Engineers approved.

PHILLIPS (on camera): So at the end of the day, you do a call with your staff. And you have to do it from wherever you are. I mean, here we are in Cocodrie and you're doing it at a Cajun restaurant.

ALLEN: Well, I'm in the office in a Cajun restaurant, yeah. Hi folks, what I'd like to do is kind of go over the what's happened today operationally.

PHILLIPS: What did you achieve today?

ALLEN: Well, major step forward in dealing with the state of Louisiana on the barrier island, the burn question.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): But Admiral Allen knows that only sealing the spill will mark the beginning of the end of his mission here.

Kyra Phillips, CNN, New Orleans, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: And very nice since I looked through some of the decisions and some of the culture that's being developed in that cleanup spill recovery effort.

Thousands of runners hitting the pavement to save lives, the race for the cure just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: All right, tens of thousands converged on the National Mall in Washington this morning to raise awareness and money in the fight against breast cancer. They're taking part in the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure. Now CNN's Jill Dougherty was there, she joins us now live in terms of what's happened there.

Hey, how's it going there -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, hey Richard. Well, it is over, as you can see behind me. But boy, I'll tell you when it was really taking place, they turned out 40,000 runners and walkers. It's really one of the biggest races in the country. And they also raised $4.5 million for breast cancer research and helping people with breast cancer.

The other statistics, more than 3,000 breast cancer survivors took part and there were team literally from all over the world. So, it was a great event. You know, Richard, I normally run it, I have to say, but this time, I decided to walk, and here's some of what I saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

So you're a survivor?

JESSICA FRANKLIN, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Yes, I am, 23 years.

DOUGHERTY: Twenty-three?

FRANKLIN: Yes, ma'am. God is good.

DOUGHERTY: Congratulations. That's great. So, why are you here?

FRANKLIN: Because my mom died of cancer, breast cancer.

DOUGHERTY: Oh, no.

FRANKLIN: Yeah.

DOUGHERTY: That's a really important reason.

FRANKLIN: Absolutely. In her memory.

DOUGHERTY: What do you feel when you're walking with all of these people in pink?

FRANKLIN: I just feel so great that so many people have survived. I mean, there are a lot of people in pink today. And it's just phenomenal that when I got breast cancer, survival was like one in 100 or so, you know. And so to see so many people now being able to overcome it is really important.

DOUGHERTY: Well, great. Congratulations. Have a good walk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OK. So, there's one the survivors and that really is the purpose of all of this, and ultimately, we wouldn't have to have a race like this, you wouldn't have breast cancer at all or any other type of cancer. So, that's the idea, raising money and also getting people out to pull really together to make it happen -- Richard.

LUI: All right, Jill Dougherty, thank you so much for the very latest there in terms of that race. Appreciate it, thank you so much.

The prime suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance is back in custody. Peru say Joran van der Sloot is suspect No 1 in the murder of another young women. Our legal guys will discuss what, if any implications this has to the Holloway case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: You have heard this name for many years, Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, five years ago, now under arrest in South America and a suspect in the murder of a different woman in Peru. Same suspect, different country, another young woman, as I was just turning right now.

Now we turn to our legal guys, right now. We've got Avery Friedman, he is a civil rights lawyer. We're also joined by Richard Herman who is a New York criminal defense lawyer, as well.

I want to start with you here, Avery. I want to know what sort of implications this latest case may or may not have on the Natalee Holloway case.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: You know, that actually is the basic question, I actually think it has absolutely none. And let me explain why, Richard. These are very fact-specific circumstances. They have videotapes, they have the stolen money that Stephanie Flores won the night before in van der Sloot's possession. They have a broken neck in the room that he rented. So, whatever implication -- whatever facts are involved in this particular case, I have to tell you, Richard, I absolutely see no connection whatsoever.

LUI: Richard, do you agree with this, what Avery's saying? Because in our minds, at outsiders looking into this, we're trying to do one plus one here.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: Yeah, well, you know, Avery and I go at it all the time, but I agree with him on this. He's right. This has, unfortunately, Richard, no implication on the Natalee Holloway murder case which was completely bungled and botched up by the Aruban authorities. You know, to many, this guy is the face of evil, the face of a murderer. But again, these are two separate cases. That Aruba, Natalee Holloway case, that's for all intents and purposes, over. However, what is significant out of Alabama is the fact that van der Sloot has been indicted for extortion and wire fraud.

LUI: That was a wrinkle, huh?

HERMAN: Yeah, that complaint has been given to Interpol to extradite him back to the United States to the Alabama jurisdictions where this guy is facing serious prison time.

LUI: You beat me to the punch, Richard. So, I will ask you, as I'll follow with you on this one, who will get him first, Aruba? Are we talking about Chile, Peru? Are we talking about Alabama, the United States? Who gets him first?

FRIEDMAN: Peru.

HERMAN: Peru's going to do this investigation. You know, they have a baseball bat which was determined yesterday to be the murder weapon in his room. Now, he was there in Peru on some sort of a poker tournament. I don't know what he's doing with a baseball bat in his room, but one other wrinkle, that room had not been cleaned for four days and then they found a body, so there's some interesting twists to this case.

LUI: And Avery, when we take a look at the charges here, what are the charges in Peru?

FRIEDMAN: You got two of them, Richard. You got a robbery charge. That involves the five grand that Joran grabbed off of Stephanie Flores. And obviously, the more important one and that is the murder charge. So, this week, we will see Joran face -- I was going to say Joran facing a yudge and maybe a yury. A judge on these very important charges. By the way, I agree with Richard, also, that the Peruvian officials have first authority, first jurisdiction. I think that's where you're going to see the action, although it's going to be interesting what the U.S. attorney does in Alabama.

LUI: Alabama, really at the end of this pecking order is what you're saying?

FRIEDMAN: Yep.

LUI: Hey, let's move on to something that also developed this week, both Avery and Richard, and that is the concern, at least from BP's side, of criminal charges, also civil charges coming down the pike or either individuals or the company in its total as the nation's top cop was down at the gulf coast taking a look. What are the implications and the practicality of some federal criminal charges coming down? Avery, tell me what you think about that?

FRIEDMAN: Yeah, you might have gotten a tease through Kyra Phillips package in speaking with Admiral Allen when she said that Admiral Allen was speaking with Eric Holder.

LUI: Right.

FRIEDMAN: Indeed, if there are going to be indictments, look at the Federal Clean Water Act. There are other federal laws, but that is the most important statute. That's the statute where you're looking at felonies and that's where I think the focus has to be.

LUI: Richard, do these laws -- do they have teeth in them? Clean Water Act is what Avery brought up. But there are others that can be involved in this.

HERMAN: Yeah, that's a great question, Richard. And here's the thing. Avery's right, the Clean Water Act of all the bills and all grounds for criminal prosecution is the only statute that allows for a felony conviction. And felony convictions bring prison terms. But, there's a big difference between financial responsibility and criminal culpability. The reason they're going for the criminal misdemeanor conviction is to overcome the civil cap on damages which is $75 million. Once they get a misdemeanor criminal conviction then BP will be held accountable for hundreds of millions of dollars for this. And again, Avery referred to the package with Kyra Phillips and Admiral Thad Allen where the admiral said 30 percent of our country's seafood comes from those areas which are now affected.

LUI: Yeah, important area. Absolutely. Avery, the concern also, in terms on the prosecutor's side, is looking at the practicality of getting any money from the companies and in the end actually receiving that money from the companies. What sort of quantizes are we talking about in terms of dollars that are possible?

FRIEDMAN: Well, billions primarily from insurance companies because of existing federal statute, there are substantial limitations on a multitude of federal laws. The problem with that is that it will limit recovery again. However, when you're looking at Transocean, when you're looking at BP, when you're looking at Halliburton, there is substantial insurance. The insurers are fighting part of that, but when it gets to the bottom line, even though there will be billions involved, Richard, it's still not going to touch the surface of what really the total loss will be.

LUI: We've got to roll for this segment, both of you. But, really quickly, Richard, how long might this take, either criminal or civil charges? How long will such cases take?

HERMAN: Civil, immediate, criminal is going to take years, Richard, it's not going to be short term on that. and if you know you're being investigated criminally, civilly, you're going to clearly and unambiguously invoke your Fifth Amendment rights which will lead us into the later topic today.

LUI: Exactly which they're doing the tease for me. Appreciate that. Avery, Richard, our legal eagles will be back in about 20 minutes and we're going to talk about very interesting cases including one about Google. Guys, talk to you in a little bit.

All eyes are on the Gulf of Mexico, certainly, as oil keeps spewing from the leaking well. We'll check in with meteorologist Reynolds Wolf for a look at the weather in the Gulf and its possible impact on that leak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Got some weather to watch, certainly, as we look at the Gulf Coast, as well as some parts of the Northeast. Let's head over to Reynolds Wolf who's been watching all of those areas for us and you're going to start with the Gulf Coast, I think.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Start with the Gulf Coast and not just the weather in the Gulf Coast, but the oil and where it might be headed.

LUI: Yes.

WOLF: You know, Richard, the interesting thing about the oil is that it really is at the mercy of two big things. One would be the wind, the other would be the currents. Well, if you look at this computer animation, we're going to put it in motion for you and you can see that it really is at the mercy of both those entities, the wind and the currents.

And according to this computer graphic, if it were to follow the loop current, it would actually go south of Florida, actually make its way around parts of the East Coast, then move out into the Atlantic.

Keep in mind, though, when we're talking about this giant oil spill, about three percent is the thicker crude, but 97 percent of it is that rainbow sheen, it's very, very thin, as thin as a sheet of paper or even the paint that might be on say, your house, a light coating.

What we can expect if it does make its way up the Eastern Seaboard, obviously bad news. They're going to do everything they can, obviously, to try to stem that and efforts today may be kind of difficult along parts of the Gulf Coast.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LUI: Reynolds, that loop current video just seems staggering. What's the time frame of that, is that months or ...

WOLF: Couple weeks, you could possibly see it cross south of Florida, then maybe on to the open sea. But again, there's a lot of things that can change. Let's hope first and foremost, we stop the leak. Yes, that would be the key thing, of course.

LUI: Yes, absolutely. And I know you're headed right back down to report for us very soon.

WOLF: Absolutely.

LUI: Thanks a lot, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet.

LUI: The corruption trial for ousted Illinois governor, we're talking about Rod Blagojevich, of course, that is still in the news and it's under way. And his attorneys want to talk with some VIPs who work at the White House. We're going to dig into that shortly.

And don't pay any more than you have to for your summer getaway. Ayesha Tejpar has some cash-saving travel tips in this latest installment of "On the Go."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AYESHA TEJPAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Summer's almost here, but before packing your swimsuits and flip-flops for vacation, we've got some tips on finding a good deal.

CLARK HOWARD, HLN MONEY EXPERT: The more flexible you are this summer, the better you're going to do on airfare. Learn to love Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those are the only two days that remain that there are a lot of empty seats right now.

TEJPAR: And pay attention to the news. The Gulf Coast oil spill could make a trip to that region more affordable. HOWARD: Bookings are way down all along the Gulf Coast vacation spots. People aren't booking in their normal pattern. People who book at the last minute are going to find nearly empty beaches, restaurants that are happy to see you and phenomenal deals on condos and hotels.

TEJPAR: We know the volcano in Iceland has already disrupted many travelers. You might be able to find cheaper flights to Europe, but beware.

HOWARD: Airfare is going to be more affordable for the summer because of the volcano, but with that opportunity comes the hazard that you could end up stranded for a few days either trying to get to Europe or get home from Europe. You got to be a more adventurous sort to grab that savings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: President Obama talked about the Gulf Coast oil spill in his weekly media address. In it, he promised to stand with people living along the Coast until the environmental damage is reversed.

Well, we've asked CNN deputy political editor; Paul Steinhauser joins us more on that to talk about the political fallout from the oil spill. We can't say this or ask this question really enough -- how has this affected, Paul, the president's administration, his agenda and what he is doing right now, this oil spill that he's had to deal with over the last 40 days?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Richard, the president and the administration have said from day one that they've been on top of this. This has been one of their most urgent, if not the most pressing thing to deal with.

But you've seen the president much more visible in the last couple of weeks. Two Fridays in a row now he's traveled down to Louisiana to meet with leaders down there and to people affected by the oil spill.

And this administration, Richard, very cognizant of what happened to the previous administration, the Bush administration with how it handled the aftermath of that devastating hurricane, Katrina, right there in the same area. And that perceived, you know, administration response which was considered slow and inept really was devastating to President Bush and his party. This administration does not want to see that.

What does the public think? Well, recent polls, Richard -- I was going to say, recent polls, including our own from CNN, show that a minority, a minority of Americans approve of how this president is handling the situation in the oil spill.

LUI: So, I guess we'd have to wonder, you're in California right now covering the primaries. Some very important votes about to happen there in several days. How that has affected voters' perspective on the administration, No. 1, respect to political parties and No. 2, offshore drilling. California has always debated that issue quite heavily.

STEINHAUSER: It's been a big issue here, especially going back 40 years, that devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. A recent poll taken out here of California voters show that support for increased new offshore drilling has dropped about 10 to 15 points over the last year, so it is on people's minds. There is a partisan divide, but it has become an issue, Richard, a big issue. You've got a big Senate and governor's primaries here on Tuesday and people are talking about it, Richard.

LUI: Oh yes. It's going to be a tough one, a bitter one there in California, talk about those primaries. OK, thanks a lot. Paul Steinhauser, appreciate that there in Los Angeles, California, watching the president as well as the primaries right there locally. Thank you.

The baby boom is turning into an elderly explosion. In 20 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in five people will be over age of 65. Now, this week's CNN hero is tackling the growing need for elder care head on. She's helping older U.S. citizens stay active, engaged, and most importantly, independent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IRENE ZOLA, CNN HERO, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Before my mother's experience, seniors on the street were pretty much invisible to me. My mother went in the nursing home after a stroke. I didn't want to leave my mother in a place where people were ignoring her.

Here's my mom. This was a month before she passed away. I was shocked that our culture doesn't have a place for very old people, except in nursing homes. And I decided that I wanted to do something about that.

My name is Irene Zola and my organization is helping seniors age at home.

Do you want to sit on a bench for a moment?

So, we help to connect seniors with people in the community. And the volunteers provide any kind of informal care that's wanted by the seniors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought you chicken noodle soup.

ZOLA: There is a growing population of elders. Families are living great distances from one another.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

ZOLA: So, this is one way that a community really makes a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a sweetie.

It makes you feel enriched and she has a way about her, like somebody cares. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It definitely made me more aware. It's made me feel more connected to my own neighbors and my own neighborhood.

ZOLA: Some people believe that old age is a time when people stop learning, but it's not. Why not live life to the fullest? And that's what I love to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: All right, Irene Zola and her team of volunteers have helped nearly 30 seniors remain independent. To see how a community has become a family or to nominate someone that you think is changing the world in their way, go to CNN.com/heroes right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: All right, he is back. Chicago's ousted mayor Rod Blagojevich's corruption trial got under way this week and some high-profile friends of the president are being asked to show up by means of subpoena. Well, we turn our legal guys again. We've got Avery Friedman as well as Richard Herman, our big wigs when it comes to these sorts of issues.

Richard, I'm going to start with you by asking are they going to show up? We've got two key people that are President Obama's right-hand people.

HERMAN: Well, Rahm Emanuel is going to show up under subpoena and he's going to take the witness stand and he's going to get grilled, Richard, no question about it. The indictment alleges that someone affiliated with Blagojevich put pressure on Rahm Emanuel's brother who is Ari Gold from "Entourage" -- not really, but that's who the character is supposed to portray ...

LUI: Might as well be is what you're saying, yes.

HERMAN: Yes, to raise funds and there's also going to be inquiry as to the pressure of the Obama administration put on Blagojevich to assign Valerie Jarrett that Senate seat. I mean, it's going to muddy up. You've got a very formidable defense tag team, a father and son team that are going to put on quite a spectacle this summer.

Avery's getting the popcorn, you're going to get the M&Ms, I'll get the drinks.

LUI: Ah, that's right. Now Avery, along with this case, remind us the charges associated with, that he's accused of is selling the state -- U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. That's part of it, one of 20

FRIEDMAN: Yes, there's 24 counts in this thing. But, you know, Richard, look, I think the most important person in that courtroom is neither Rod Blagojevich or the aggressive Patrick Fitzgerald. The most important person in that courtroom, a name not known is James Zeggle (ph) who is the United States district judge. It's control, control, control. Blagojevich wants a circus. He wants an O.J. case. But remember, Richard, we're in a federal district courtroom. No cameras, no media feeds. It is going to be straight. This is a tough, smart judge.

LUI: And he wanted the president, too, right?

FRIEDMAN: So, a lot of the monkey business is not going to be permitted.

LUI: He wanted to subpoena the president, too, didn't he, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, it was turned down. Zeggle turned it down.

LUI: Very early in the process.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: Richard, Richard, you know Blagojevich is going to take the stand in this case. They're going to play 500 hours of tapes to this jury and nowhere on those tapes does it show Blagojevich personally received any money. This is by no means a slam dunk case. The defense has a shot here.

LUI: You know what's very interesting, he was on "Celebrity Apprentice" obviously and Avery, when I think of this case, can he get a fair jury?

FRIEDMAN: I think that's a wonderful question. I don't think anyone in the world, unless you're living in a cave, doesn't know who this guy is. But you know, again, it defaults right back to the federal district judge. James Zeggle is going to be doing a very intensive voir dire. He's going to be asking questions of individual jurors, federal practice. The judge plays a very strong role. There'll be some role of both prosecution and defense in that, a limited role.

But the answer is I think there's going to be an effort to make it happen. If anyone can do it, this federal district judge can.

LUI: OK. We've got to move on to the next case here, but before we do that, Richard, I want to find out what you think is going to happen in the end here?

HERMAN: I think he's got -- I think at least a couple of jurors, two, three jurors are going to go his way. I don't look for a conviction.

LUI: Whoa, OK. All right, there you go. Let's move to Google. This is a story that makes you kind of go huh? So, this is a story about a woman who had googled walking directions to a certain destination. She did follow them, she got hit by a car and she is now suing Google. Fill me in on this one, Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, that's Lauren Rosenberg from Los Angeles. She brought a lawsuit against Google and some others because she was on a walking path in Park City, Utah at 6:00 in the morning when it was dark, and she claims that she got hit because of Google's instructions. However, there are some warning provisions. Utah is what's called a comparative negligence state, but even with that, I don't think Google has any problem at all. You know, I -- you know, remember the case involving the judge with the pants?

LUI: Oh, yes.

FRIEDMAN: I think this falls within the top 10 most ridiculous cases of 2010, but we'll see.

LUI: You had to bring that one up, didn't you, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Had to do it.

LUI: Richard, is it OK -- she's claiming that it's OK to shut down your brain and basically follow the directions that you're getting on Google.

FRIEDMAN: That's a loaded question.

LUI: Yes, well, you know, is that -- does that work? Would that be a good defense for her?

HERMAN: Hey, Richard, we're all held to the reasonable person standard.

FRIEDMAN: There you go.

HERMAN: So, if you're walking on the street in the wee hours of the morning in Park City, Utah, and there's no path on the direction she was walking, but there was a path across the street that could have walked on. And she's on the street, I don't know what she's doing at that time of night, and some car hits her.

LUI: Right.

HERMAN: To try to tie Google in, but here's where they're going to go with this, Richard. When you download the directions on the laptop, there is a warning by Google saying be careful, look for paths and be careful as a caution.

LUI: On that note ...

HERMAN: On the BlackBerry, it doesn't show up.

LUI: On that note -- in fact, you know, we were looking for that very warning. We're also noticing that that the two of you are always in two boxes, like you're in Las Vegas, Avery, you're there in Ohio. How can we get the two of you together? And we took a look at what that might look like abd we had ...

FRIEDMAN: Oh my God.

LUI: ...to pass that to get the two of you guys together. I don't know much about that, but Josh Levs, our walking correspondent, has more on that for us right now. Tell us about this warning and how do we get these two guys together? JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gentlemen ...

FRIEDMAN: That's a mutant. Look at that.

LEVS: Wait, what's the mutant? You just said that's a mutant when they have the shot on me. I'm hoping it was ...

FRIEDMAN: No, no.

LEVS: OK, let's do this. So, we're talking about this warning, right? First of all, let's cover that. We've got this little warning. When you're at Google Maps and you want to see if you can walk somewhere, it says this. Scotty, can you zoom way in here?

"Walking directions, use caution, this route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths."

FRIEDMAN: Right.

LEVS: Now, while we were on this map, we thought OK, Richard, you're off in Vegas, as you always are pretty much anytime you get a free half a day and Avery, you're off in Cleveland, right, having fun. Oh look at this, having fun. Oh look at this, (INAUDIBLE) so take a look. So, we thought OK, you're in Vegas, right, you're over here in Cleveland. Let's say you guys wanted to walk and meet each other right now.

FRIEDMAN: Where's that going to wind up?

LEVS: It's a 28-day walk according to Google Maps for you guys to get from one to the other. But think about it, if you both left right now, you could meet up at the 14-day mark two weeks from today, and we found a midpoint for you if you guys want to get some exercise. This is it right here. The midpoint is a city called North Platte in Nebraska, and we found a nice little restaurant that you guys can get together at right here. Come and Get It BBQ.

North Platte, Nebraska. If you guys leave right now, two weeks from this moment, you could have lunch together right here live after that.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, Richard ...

HERMAN: Josh ...

FRIEDMAN: ...if I don't make it, you can start without me, pal.

HERMAN: I'll make the reservation. Josh, you're working too hard. You need a vacation, Josh.

LEVS: Tell me about it.

FRIEDMAN: That's for sure.

LUI: All right, great stuff.

LEVS: See you, guys. LUI: But we want to get the two of you guys together because you know, you're always so busy.

FRIEDMAN: Sooner or later.

LUI: All around the country. All right.

HERMAN: We're coming out to Atlanta, baby.

LUI: Great segment to both of you. Avery, Richard, thank you so much and as well as Josh, our walking correspondent for at least the last 15 minutes.

FRIEDMAN: All the best.

LUI: Murder suspect Joran Van Der Sloot faces charges and photographers in Peru. We were just talking about that. We have that and more top stories next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: A suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway is in custody in Peru where he faces another murder charge in a different case. Joran Van Der Sloot was arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru. He's accused of killing a young woman in a Peruvian hotel earlier this week. Holloway disappeared five years ago in Aruba.

Stay with CNN throughout the day for the latest, breaking news. "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.