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BP Cap Working but not Perfectly; Supporting Arizona's Crackdown; Thad Allen: Taking Charge of the Oil Crisis; Mental Health of Coast Families
Aired June 05, 2010 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, BP claims a minor victory in the Gulf. The question is, why can so much oil still be seen spewing a mile under water? CNN gets some answers in an exclusive behind-the- scenes report.
The controversy is heating up over a law many claim is racist and discriminatory. Now a new twist. Supporters of the Arizona immigration law speak out loudly.
And from immigration to race relations of a different kind. The title - "The Black Jew Dialogues." Eye-opening and honest talk to make you laugh and learn.
And we start tonight with the oil spill disaster that just won't quit. BP says a funnel over that gushing pipe has captured 250,000 gallons of oil in 24 hours, but it is missing a lot more than it could catch. After nearly seven weeks, the extent of the damage really is enormous. Thick, oily sludge is fouling beaches, driving away tourists and really it's killing wildlife. We have seen those horrible pictures. Nearly 1/3 of the Gulf is closed to fishing right now.
So far, the company estimates it owes $84 million to people who have lost income because of the oil. It just got another bill from the federal government for $69 million. And by September when it's hoped relief will (ph) finally end the crisis, BP's oily footprint could reach all the way up the East Coast into North Carolina. Imagine that.
For the families of the 11 rig workers who lost their lives in the initial explosion, President Barack Obama has invited them to the White House next week so he can offer his personal condolences.
CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us tonight from New Orleans.
And Ed, it's like - I want to show our viewers this. This is really the size of what we're talking about here. The wider part, the 22-inch thing you see here, that is the riser pipe that they cut into, 21 inches. That's the one the oil initially started spewing out of.
I want to show that to our viewers, Ed, so give them a perspective. We are talking about something that's really this small that has caused so much trouble but it's so far beneath the ocean, and that's why they are having so many problems. I should say beneath the water.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well -- and really what you have to keep in mind there, Don, is that through that amount of space, it is coming out at an intense pressure, essentially shooting up out of -- out of the ocean floor there.
That is why that containment cap that is being put down there, they say they have to take their time to make sure that the seal that it makes with the blowout preventer, which is on the ocean floor there, is properly done, because if not, water can get inside of that containment cap. It essentially freezes up at the temperatures down there, that depth of 5,000 feet below the water, and essentially clogs up the system, making it unable for them to capture any of the oil that is spewing out. So that's why they have to take this process very slowly.
LEMON: Very slowly. And I understand that the people there obviously are still upset. A lot of people are saying that, you know, maybe this might have made it worse because it had to -- when they cut that pipe, 20 percent more of the oil, at least they think, as much as 20 percent more oil was spewing out and they still haven't sealed around that pipe yet.
LAVANDERA: That's been the interesting thing about this particular decision to go with this containment cap, because to get that on there, they had to cut off that riser which, at least for a while with that acting as little bit of a choke. You can kind of picture it as a garden hose that is essentially bent over like that. It cuts off the flow of water coming out of a garden hose.
Essentially, that was kind of what was going on at that depth of 5,000 feet below the water. That has been taken away. By BP's estimates, they say that about 20 percent more oil has been flowing out. But that was the risk they were willing to take.
If this doesn't work, essentially they've created a situation where more oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. But they say that over the next 24 to 48 hours, they will be able to start ratcheting up how much of this oil is collected and brought to the surface in their hopes and their estimation looking ahead might make it as much as 90 percent of that oil flow. But as President Obama said yesterday, it is way too early to feel optimistic about this at this point.
LEMON: In so many ways. This is just uncharted territory. And we'll see what happens from here. I guess the good news, if there is good news, we can all learn from this and how to improve so that this doesn't happen again.
Ed Lavandera, we appreciate your reporting as well as all our producers and folks who are in the ground down there in the Gulf.
And speaking of people who are outraged -- you heard Ed talking about the people who are outraged about this, a senior BP official met with civic leaders today in Gulf Shores, Alabama. They made it crystal clear that they were not at all impressed with BP's response to this crisis. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF EDWARD CARROLL, ORANGE BEACH, ALA. CITY COUNCILMAN: I've got a simple solution. If I can get one of the judges to give me a warrant (ph), we'll lock you up in jail and you all can sit in there until you figure it out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: He says lock him up, keep him in jail until he figures it out. We're going to figure it out here on CNN. We'll continue to follow this developing story for you.
In the meantime, there's been a major development today that will have a big impact on U.S efforts to fight terrorism. President Obama has nominated former Air Force Lt. General James Clapper to be the next director of National Intelligence. It is a tough job, one of the most difficult in Washington, overseeing the nation's 16 different intelligence agencies and handling the blizzard of information they produced. President Obama says Clapper is the right man for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our intelligence community needs to work as one integrated team that produces quality, timely and accurate intelligence. And let's be honest, this is a tough test. But this will be Jim's core mission. He is eminently qualified and he has my complete confidence and support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And if confirmed, James Clapper will be the fourth person to hold the job in the past five years.
For the second time in less than a week, Israeli commandos had seized a relief ship that was bound for Gaza. But unlike Monday's deadly raid, this time there was no bloodshed. Israel's navy escorted the Irish vessel, the Rachel Corrie, to an Israeli port. The activists aboard likely will be deported home within hours. Nine people were killed when Israeli commandos stormed another ship earlier this week. Israel is enforcing a three-year long blockade of Hamas- ruled Gaza.
There is chilling new surveillance video out tonight of Joran Van der Sloot and the young woman he is accused of killing in Peru. It shows the Dutch suspect and the woman, Stephany Flores Ramirez, entering a Lima hotel room last Sunday. Hours later, he leaves alone. He allegedly told the hotel clerk, don't bother my girl. Flores' body was found in the hotel room badly beaten. And police believe the murder weapon was a tennis racket. Van der Sloot was arrested twice but never charged in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
Turning the tables on those calling for boycotts against Arizona following passage of a new immigration law. A rally today in support of the law that cracks down on illegal immigrants. And a CNN exclusive. We're with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen up close as he manages the Gulf oil disaster.
And don't just sit there. We want you to be part of the conversation. I want you to send me a message either on Facebook or on Twitter or follow us on Twitter and check out my blog, cnn.com/don. I really want to hear from you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Protesters in Phoenix have just wrapped up a rally in support of the state's new law designed to crack down on illegal immigrants. Hundreds of people turned out in triple-digit temperatures to voice their support for the law which critics say encourages racial profiling.
Arizona's governor discussed the law with President Obama this week and they basically agreed to disagree. Tonight, CNN's Casey Wian has the story for us.
Casey?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, people from all over the United States have traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration law SB 1070. They say they want to counter the message that opponents of the bill have been presenting for weeks now, that this bill is racist and the people who support it are racist.
Many of the speakers here today, in fact about half of them, are actually of Latino or Hispanic backgrounds. They say that they support legal immigration, but what they don't like is illegal immigration. What they are also trying to accomplish is to counter the boycotts that we've seen from cities like Los Angeles and Latino advocacy groups trying to convince people not to spend their money in Arizona because of this law.
They say they want to come here to Arizona from all over the country to spend money in hotels and restaurants to counter the economic effects of this boycott. And they say they want Arizona's law spread to other states. They say that the federal government has refused to secure the border, has refused to enforce the nation's immigration law. So they say it's up to states to follow Arizona's lead and pass similar laws like this.
And we can look at some of the signs that are here. "You swore an oath to protect our border." One of the speakers at the event today, the SB1070 event, was Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Why are you here?
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: I average one or two speeches a day. I have been doing it for years. They invited me.
WIAN: Do you think that the other side, opponents of the bill, have really sort of captured the message so far? ARPAIO: Yes. You know, they have been protesting against me for three years. But I'm still doing my job. I took an oath of office. And I want to tell you something. This new law, OK, it was passed. Let's hope this is enforced, because I'm going to enforce it. I'm going to arrest anybody who violates the state law and put them in my jail, not turn them over to the federal government.
WIAN: And that is something that these supporters of that law are probably going to be happy to hear. Sheriff Joe, thanks for your time.
ARPAIO: I think they -- I think they will.
WIAN: Don, this new law goes into effect July 29th. We don't know what the courts are going to do, but right now, the folks who are at this rally are very happy that it is going to be enforced -- Don.
LEMON: Casey, thank you very much.
The backlash against the Arizona law could affect the state's bottom line. Boycotts of Arizona companies have been endorsed by Mexico, the city of Los Angeles, multiple unions and several other groups.
So for people who support the law, today begins "Buy Arizona Now" week. The organizer of the effort told me the threats of boycotts have resulted in real damage to businesses.
TONY KATZ, "BUY ARIZONA NOW" ORGANIZER: Yes, it has been realized by those in the tourism industry when a group of high school girls basketball players can't come to Arizona to enjoy the Grand Canyon, that hotel is hurt immediately on the spot.
And I also know other business owners who know that it is coming. They are waiting for it. But we have to always keep in mind that these boycotts by the city of Los Angeles, by Gavin Newsom in San Francisco, by the city of Austin, the city of San Diego, these are violent attacks against employers and employees of Arizona. And employers and employees don't make the laws. They don't write the laws. They don't pass the laws. This is disgusting what we are seeing from a political hot class (ph). So I'm here with buyarizonanow.com...
LEMON: Hey, Tony.
KATZ: Yes, go ahead.
LEMON: Yes. There's bit of a delay. So let me jump in here for a moment because there may be some concern from business owners there. They become part of this, that they may receive some backlash even within their own community from people who don't necessarily support the law. Have you seen any of that and what is your response?
KATZ: Well, you've got to forgive me. I think the issue is going both ways. The people here in Arizona, not only are they infuriated by the boycotts, but they're making sure that they respond in kind.
The city of San Diego relies on Arizona tourism in the summer. It is one of their largest cash producers in the summer. But I know people -- the waitress where I had breakfast Thursday morning not taking her family to San Diego and wrote letters to the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, letting them know because you have decided to boycott Arizona, we will do a "staycation." We will stay in Arizona and we will spend our money here.
That's what I'm doing. I came to Arizona. But the people of Arizona are staying home this summer and enjoying great weather.
LEMON: He, Tony, what has been the response so far from people there?
KATZ: Let me tell you something. The people of Arizona are enthralled that people from all over the country have come to support Arizona business owners. They know that the attack on business is nonsense. This is about political people trying to raise money for their campaign in the future. And it is not about the people of Arizona. It is not about the law. They are exploiting the employers and employees of Arizona for their own financial gain.
LEMON: And another story. It could be the break police have been waiting for. They searched a wooded area today after receiving a tip they hope will lead them to the body of wife number four of ex- police officer Drew Peterson in Illinois.
And billing BP. The government sends the oil company the first of many bills for the disaster damage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check your top stories right now.
Police near Peoria, Illinois, searched a new wooded location today for the remains of Stacy Peterson, but they had no success. Peterson vanished in October of 2007, and her husband, former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson, is a suspect in her disappearance. He is now in jail awaiting trial next month on charges he killed his previous wife Kathleen Savio back in 2004.
A sheriff in South Carolina says the murder and subsequent dragging of a black man is being investigated as a possible hate crime. Police say Gregory Collins shot Anthony Hill, then tied him behind a pickup truck and dragged him 10 miles down the country road. The two worked together at a poultry plant and had gone shooting together Tuesday. Police say they were later seen drinking together and Hill's body was found early on Wednesday.>
A porn actor facing murder charges has been rushed to a hospital following a hilltop standoff with police. Steven Clancy Hill fell from a hillside near Los Angeles while surrounded by police who had spent hours trying to talk him down. Earlier, he had barricaded himself inside a house. His condition isn't known. Police had been searching for Hill since a fatal sword attack Tuesday inside a DVD production center in Los Angeles.
Unprecedented access down in the Gulf of Mexico. CNN's Kyra Phillips takes you where no journalist on the only story has gone with the man who is calling the shots down there.
And if you think the pitcher of the nearly perfect game feels sorry for himself, you would be wrong. He talks to CNN about his near miss and the umpire who made the wrong call.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The BP catastrophe is the most disastrous oil spill in U.S. history. And CNN's global resources are deployed across the region and beyond to bring you the up-to-the-minute coverage that is really second to none. You should keep it right here. Great coverage, including this one that we're about to show you.
You are about to watch CNN's Kyra Phillips. Her unprecedented access to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, appointed by President Obama as the National Incident Commander. This is just one day in the biggest, most difficult assignment of his career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN 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.
ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: How are you?
PHILLIPS: Good to see you.
(voice-over): The 61-year-old commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard officially had his change of command last month, but he's now 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.
PHILLIPS (on camera): All right. I've got the next one.
ALLEN: Admiral Allen.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): And then the first calls of a very long time.
ALLEN: If 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. Number one was the feasibility of constructing the barrier islands and the berms. And 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'll try to move to the management.
PHILLIPS: For this job, Thad Allen needs a thick skin. He's come in for plenty of criticism.
ALLEN: I'm careful about who rents space in my head. Try to keep it pretty even keel. It'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 involved 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 cabinet secretaries about building barrier islands to protect the marshlands.
(voice-over): Admiral Allen is also the public face 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 and home of Louisiana.
PHILLIPS: Back on the road again, headed for Houma-Terrebonne Airport. The White House calls 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: It depends on the issue.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): Then it's up and away in a Coast Guard plane for a firsthand look at the spreading slick.
ALLEN: I've asked them to fly over so you can get a really good look at the Mississippi River and the marshlands and some of the stuff we're talking about. It gives you a very good idea, the vastness of this marshland. We're talking hundreds of hundreds of miles. That's breeding ground for, I don't know, he said 25, 30 percent of the seafood that is 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, every day around 1,300. This particular area, we get about 50 miles, I would say about a couple hundred.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The back hatch is open, sir.
ALLEN: OK.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lisa.
ALLEN: How are you?
LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: How you doing?
ALLEN: Good to see you.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): 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: I'm from this area. These wetlands are something that all of us have been fighting to make sure we not only maintain, but rebuild.
PHILLIPS (on camera): The admiral is going to meet with all the workers here that are deploying all this equipment out into the water, booms, et cetera.
ALLEN: The president wants to triple the resources in oil- impacted area, and they're always a problem with space, berthing. Nothing you can't handle.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): 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 you treat anybody that's been impacted by this event in the local community here, anybody you're dealing with, if you treat them as if 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 be 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 berm project that the Corps 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 in a Cajun restaurant.
ALLEN: We're in the opposite of a Cajun restaurant, yes.
Hi, folks. What I'd like to do is kind of go over what's happened today operationally.
PHILLIPS: What did you achieve today?
ALLEN: Well, a major step forward in dealing with the state of Louisiana on the barrier island and berm 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)
LEMON: And for ways to help out the oil disaster cleanup, from volunteering to supporting the organizations working to make a difference there, visit our Impact the World page at cnn.com/impact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't know when it is going to come back. We don't know how long. I don't know if my children are going to be able to be fishermen. My husband is a fourth generation fisherman. That is all we know. What do we do? Where do we go from here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Gulf Coast fishermen and their families coping with an uncertain future following the oil disaster.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta visits a mental health clinic that is trying to help those suffering from depression and even PTSD.
And tackling the issue of race in the form of a stage play? The men behind the Black Jew Dialogues talks about the performance that features some pretty frank words.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, BP just got a big bill from the government for the cleanup there, and this is really just an estimate. This is 75 percent, they believe, of what the estimated cost will be. By July 1st, BP has to pay the government, get this, $69 million.
And here's where it goes. I want to show where at least this goes. Again, this is 75 percent, just an estimate. $29 million will have to go to the cost of federal monitoring and assessment of the oil spill. And another $29 million will go to the deployment of the National Guards of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, of course the states that are along the Gulf coast. Again, just an estimate. This could get much higher.
And then, this is where -- this money is going to go to the states. This is for cleanup assessments and monitoring by the states. $7 million is part of that total so far. And then BP will have to pay $4 million to salvage and cleanup by the defense department. Again, they have to pay this money by July 1st.
In the meantime, let's talk about the human toll down in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf oil disaster threatens to wipe out entire livelihoods for maybe decades to come. And it is taking a huge mental toll on the region, fishermen and their families, the people who really make their money down on the Gulf Coast and live there.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta heard from two fishermen's wives about what they are going through.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): That's Rachel and that's Yvonne. They are both wives of fishermen who are now cleanup workers.
YVONNE LANDRY, FISHERMAN'S WIFE: Our last trip was May 15th, crabbing. And my husband tells me he's coming back because I love to ride. And he tells me take a good look around, he said, because this is going to be all gone. No more boat rides like this. I'm not going to lie. I went to crying like a baby.
RACHEL MORRIS, FISHERMAN'S WIFE: We don't know when it's going to come back. We don't know how long. I don't know if my children are going to be able to be fishermen.
LANDRY: I know mine won't.
MORRIS: My husband is a fourth generation fisherman. That's all we know. What will we do? Where do we go from here?
GUPTA (on camera): How do you best describe the emotion? Are you frustrated? Are you angry? Are you depressed? How do you feel?
MORRIS: I'm very depressed because of the way my husband comes home, the way he feels every day. I am very angry because they're not doing what they can. I'm very upset with the environmental aspect of it because this dispersant that they're putting out -- Britain banned it because they know how bad it is for their wildlife and their communities. Why are we using it? Why are you able to use it on us?
LANDRY: Before the spill, we were running traps side by side, everybody talking, eating lunch. It was one big family.
MORRIS: I know that for me it's going to be OK, but for him, it's killing him inside. It's to the point now where he won't even come to me anymore to talk about it. It's to the point where the fishermen are wanting to fight with each other because they're all stressing so bad.
GUPTA: This place didn't exist, where would you go? Who would you talk to?
MORRIS: There's nowhere to go to even talk to anybody. There's nowhere to go where you feel comfortable enough to open up and let people know how you're feeling.
JOCELYN HEINTZ-GRAY, ST. BERNARD PROJECT: You can get the psychologists here to train some people and be able to start the peer- to-peer counseling out into St. Bernard. When they come back home, they're not dealing -- they're venting to you and you're able to handle it because you're being trained on how to do the stress relief practices.
GUPTA: We have learned some things from Valdez. We know that mental health issues do tend to affect women more. Is that what you're seeing here?
LANDRY: They're taking their children, their husband and then their own problems. And then they're taking it all on by themselves.
MORRIS: And I have to hold my head high and I have to keep a smile on my face to keep to my neighbors and my children and their children from being upset. To show them that there is a silver lining. There is another way out.
GUPTA: Again, that is the St. Bernard's Project. It's a free mental health clinic and it was set up after Katrina. They see about 90 patients a week. I can tell you, around here, there are many more patients than that that need help.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Dr. Gupta.
You know, it's no accident that when you do an online search about the Gulf oil disaster, the first thing that you'll see is BP. What the company is doing to get its message out before someone else does.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: In 20 years, according to the Census Bureau, one in five Americans will be over 65. This week's CNN hero is tackling the growing need for elder care head on, helping seniors in her New York City neighborhood stay alive, engaged and most importantly independent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IRENE ZOLA, CNN HERO: 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?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. OK.
ZOLA: So, we help to connect seniors with people in the community, and the volunteers provide any kind of informal care that is 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. She 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)
LEMON: Irene Zola and her team of 50 volunteers are helping nearly 30 seniors remain independent.
To nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to cnn.com/heroes.
The search for answers online about the Gulf oil disaster uncovers a questionable marketing ploy by BP. Some say the company is manipulating public opinion in a way you might never realize.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: As BP tries to control the oil, it is trying to control its image. On the air, TV ads and online, the oil giant is buying space on search engines. If you put the words oil spill into Google, what you'll find at the top is a link to bp.com with a line learn more about how BP is helping. Type in gulf oil and once again BP's link is the first one you'll see. Even wildlife and oil spill will bring you first to bp.com. It's very interesting.
You know, TheFiscalTimes.com reported this story. Its managing editor explained that BP is bumping other sources of news from the top of the spot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAUREEN MACKEY, THEFISCALTIMES.COM: There are many companies who do it legitimately. In most cases, they are trying to get their message out about a product or a service. This is a national catastrophe. So what, in effect, is happening is that BP is controlling the perception about the news. They are bumping down other stories about the oil spill and they are at the top. And that goes for Google and that goes for Yahoo!, and that goes for Bing. They are paying money every day to have their company there.
And by the way, we asked them directly how much they are paying. They wouldn't disclose those terms. That is between them and Google. The fact of the matter is they are putting up the money to have their company appear there.
LEMON: Yes, but if you look up, you know, oil disaster or catastrophe, BP didn't pay for that. So, that's going to come up.
Hey, listen, I have a quote. You interviewed a BP official who admitted their company is doing this. And this is what the official said. He says, "We have tried to pick terms which will help the people who are most directly affected in the Gulf coast states with information about how to get in touch with us and make claims for loss of earnings. We want people to be able to find us so we can work out how to minimize the impact on their lives and businesses."
And it sounds pretty reasonable, you know. So, we were saying it is common to do that. But you are calling it censorship in it. You thought it's censorship in it.
MACKEY: Well, what we're saying is that they are calling a marketing tool. Too often, tough, people across the country who are not in the business don't understand that a company like BP is paying big money to have their company appear at the top of the search.
And what most people do is they click on the first item that appears. It's very -- it's shaded. It's very subtle that's it's an ad but, in fact, it is an ad. And we just thought it was very, very interesting that, in fact, that company is paying to do that. It is something people ought to know.
LEMON: And you said it's not telling you a cost. You did say -- didn't you say that? They're not telling you how much they're paying for this one.
MACKEY: Yes. Correct. We asked them directly how much they are paying. They wouldn't disclose that. But a search engine marketing expert who we have dealt with can -- by his estimation, we're talking at least $10,000 a day for several search engines. But again, you know, we don't know exactly. That is an estimate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And TheFiscalTimes also reported that BP did not buy certain search words. Put in oil catastrophe or oil disaster and BP's link not the first one.
A unique dialogue, speaking to race in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jew-dar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jew-dar. We can pick out another Jew just as easily as you can pick out a black guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are so bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Deciphering the message in the play? And the play is called "The Black Jew Dialogues." Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, in tonight's "What Matters" -- stick around, this is going to be a great conversation. I promise you, you will learn from it. Just take a few minutes and listen to this. It sounds controversial but it is supposed to be comical. The theatrical play, it's called "The Black Jew Dialogues," it's all about its name and involves two performers who explore what they call the absurdity of prejudice.
Photojournalist Ken Chudi (ph) was in the audience tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITE MALE PERFORMER: There we go. All right. Nice. A Jew- fro. I have one. Yes, yes.
BLACK MALE PERFORMER: No, no, an Afro. WHITE MALE PERFORMER: Afro. Jew-fro.
BLACK MALE PERFORMER: In your case, a Na-fro.
WHITE MALE PERFORMER: Well, whatever.
LARRY JAY TISH, CO-CREATOR, "THE BLACK JEW DIALOGUES": We've been doing this since March 2006. I had this title "The Black Jew Dialogues." And I knew Ron as an improv artist and an PERFORMER and he was black and I need a black guy. And I know it was a two men kind of dialogue show.
BLACK MALE PERFORMER: You are so bad.
RON JONES, CO-CREATOR, "THE BLACK JEW DIALOGUES": Larry just came to me one day and said, let's write a show. I went, OK. Had nothing better to do.
TISH: And we started to write.
JONES: We drove 100 miles west of Boston and we got a hotel room and we wrote for three days.
TISH: That is where we wrote the show. We locked ourselves into this hotel.
WHITE MALE PERFORMER: Jews have Jew-dar.
BLACK MALE PERFORMER: What?
WHITE MALE PERFORMER: Jew-dar. We can pick out another Jew just as easily as you pick out a black guy.
JONES: It is important to push the issues. I think one of the great things about doing comedy is that it gives you the opportunity to find parody and find satire in things that might be too difficult, too complex to try and go at head on.
BLACK MALE PERFORMER: You get to have your birthday party in your church and they pay you?
JONES: These are not easy topics. They're not comfortable topics. If they were, we wouldn't have to deal with them the way we do.
WHITE MALE PERFORMER: Hey, hey, this is not a joke. It's not -- this is the Torah. It's the word of God.
TISH: As an artist, we just lay out what we see, you know, and what we feel, and if it's crossing somebody else's line, we really can't control that too much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. So one of the stars of "The Black Jew Dialogues" joins me right now. His name is Ron Jones. Ron, thank you so much for taking the time out after that performance tonight.
And here's what's interesting to me. I don't get the whole conflict with blacks and Jews. I think that we have more in common. I feel a sort of kinship to Jewish people because of the struggles. I feel we have more in common than we, you know, than we do that's different. So I don't get it.
JONES: Yes. You know what? I'm the same way, Don. I really feel the same way. And here's the thing. I think for a lot of folks the commonality blacks and Jews share is lost on them. And so, one of the great things about doing a show like this is that we get to sort of give people the history and the connectedness that these two cultures share in America and through that we give everybody an opportunity to look at how race and bigotry affect everybody in the country.
LEMON: Yes. And you know -- because I lived in New York. I went to Brooklyn College, so I have lots of black friends. But I have lots of Jewish friends. You know, we only talk about -- oy (ph), you know, that was meshuga (ph), whatever. You do the whole thing. You know, I've heard of the Jew-fro, the he-fro, but I've never heard about -- I've never really talked about Jew-dar.
JONES: Oh, yes?
LEMON: Yes.
JONES: Oh, yes. Well, you know what, it's funny. We have a part in the show that I get to test Larry's Jew-dar with the audience. And it is actually shocking sometimes how well he does. He actually got as pinpointed as narrowing down one woman's father being Jewish and not her mother. And she screamed. Her scream was hilarious. It was a great moment.
LEMON: And you have to be careful because, you know, I always say when people who are not of a certain culture get too familiar with it.
JONES: Right.
LEMON: You got to be careful because I know that, you know, there are some people who think they are so familiar with black culture, after a while becomes insulting. And I don't want to do the same thing, you know, with Jewish culture as well. But it is good, I think, that you can laugh because you can learn through laughter and you can explore all these terms and explore all these things.
JONES: Exactly.
LEMON: Do you think this is the best way to be able to explore these things even for other cultures as well?
JONES: Exactly. And that is exactly the crux of why we wrote this show. When we wrote it a few years back, we really felt like there was this big rift that was, you know, getting bigger in America. And a lot of it had to do with the dialogue that wasn't happening, not just between blacks and Jews, but about race, culture, religion.
You know, our political discourse isn't necessarily the greatest model for giving us the common people, you know, the language for having healthy, honest, productive and respectful discourse.
And so we put this show together to give people at least some insight into the things that drive us, the things that get in the way of us really being good to one another. And ultimately, if you are willing to be honest with someone and give them a little bit of rope to maybe make a mistake in the name of understanding, you are really going to get to something significant.
LEMON: You know, it is funny because, you know, and I applaud people like Jon Stewart and Chelsea and all those people who say that is really Jewy, right? Because it's the same thing, people go, oh, it's a black thing, right?
JONES: Right. Exactly.
LEMON: And I think we have reached a point in our culture where we can do this. What's the biggest thing that you learn from this? Did you have an epiphany or an "aha" moment when you were doing this?
JONES: It's so funny. I have "aha" moments, you know, during almost every show, some on stage with my partner Larry, but most in the discussion that we do after the show with our audience. We insist upon that.
And it is usually people just sharing ideas, sharing their insights and feelings about, you know, what they learned and the experiences that they have had that maybe made it harder for them to make connections or the challenges and brave moments that they had where they really reached out and found a connection.
LEMON: So listen, what is your partner's name who -- he couldn't be here? He's traveling; he's on a plane, right? What's his name?
JONES: He is actually in a suitcase right behind me. His name is Larry Jay Tish, and I refuse to let him speak.
LEMON: Yes. Well, to you and Larry, I say laheim (ph).
JONES: Thank you. Thank you. You are a dear boy. We love you. You're a dear boy.
LEMON: We are going to get in trouble for this. Two black guys doing this stuff. But anyway, it's all in good fun. Thank you. Good to see you.
JONES: Yes. Thanks, Don. Thank you.
LEMON: Best of luck.
JONES: Thank you. LEMON: You know what? It is the end of the road for a classic car brand. A victim of poor sales and vehicles that look too much like others. And you could be in for some big money if you get bumped from an airline flight. I'll tell you about that. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A long-time fixture among American automobiles is heading for the car museum. Ford is giving up on Mercury. The 72-year-old brand will be phased out because of decades of declining sales.
Armando Galarraga tells CNN it's time to move on. The Detroit Tigers' pitcher was one out away from a perfect game Wednesday night when first base umpire James Joyce by his own admission blew the call on an infield grounder. Galarraga, of course, was disappointed, but Joyce was devastated, publicly acknowledging his mistake after watching replays and apologizing for costing Galarraga a chance at baseball history. Well today, Galarraga told CNN he feels bad but he feels even worse for Joyce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARMANDO GALARRAGA, DETROIT TIGERS PITCHER: He apologized to me. And I give you a hug. And I mean, the guy -- I feel bad. But I'm sure, I'm 100 percent the guy feels worse than me 20 times, because he was like crying and telling me I am so sorry, I mean, you are perfect, I can't be perfect in that situation and I'm so sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The good thing in all of this, Galarraga would be even more famous because of this. By the way, the incident has earned him and Joyce a lot of compliments. Even President Barack Obama's spokesman praised them for their sportsmanship.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you so much for joining us. I'll see you back here tomorrow night. Make sure you join us. Good night.
