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Florida Fights to Save Tourism; Van Der Sloot in Custody; U.S. Terrorism Suspects Arrested at JFK; Intelligence Groups Worried Terrorists Travel to Somalia for Training for Jihad; Severe Weather Threatens Mid-Atlantic States; Coast Guards Say B.P. Making Some Progress on Oil Spill; Opinions Differ on What Israel Allows into Gaza Strip as Aide

Aired June 06, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

RICHARD LIU, CNN ANCHOR: After weeks of promising oil-free beaches, Florida's tourist industry faces a new reality. We'll talk to one of Florida's top tourism officials. Then at 4:00 p.m. eastern, we'll look at what it's like to be a gulf coast fisherman today. And at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, the latest viral videos for you as well.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Richard Liu, sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield.

This latest country terror suspects are two men from New Jersey. Authorities raided homes in New Jersey last night and police arrested the two men at New York's JFK Airport. Federal officials saying both were on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia.

Let's go now to Homeland Correspondent Jeanne Meserve, who has been covering this story since it broke.

Jeanne, what were these terror suspects actually planning to do from what we hear?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, these men potentially face life sentences for conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap outside the United States. Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, 20, of New Jersey and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24 of Elmwood Park, New Jersey, were arrested, as you said, last night at JFK as they were about to board separate flights to Egypt. They allegedly planned to make their way to Somalia to wage violent jihad for al Shabaab, a designated terrorist group. Search warrants were executed at their homes in New Jersey.

Alessa's landlord describes him as an only child in a religious household.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: When you heard what happened, were you surprise?

HEMANT SHAH, LANDLORD OF ALEESA: No. I was surprised. That nothing -- just yesterday, when he was leaving, I had talked to him. I said, hi, I heard you are going away. He said, yes, I'm going out. I said, for how long? He said, probably about six months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE (voice-over): Court documents say the FBI got a tip about the men in 2006 and that they traveled to Jordan in 2007, but were rebuffed when they tried to enlist as mujahedeen.

The criminal complaint quotes extensively from recordings made by an undercover New York police officer. In one excerpt, Alessa allegedly talks about shooting and beheading, saying, "We'll start doing killing here if I can't do it over there."

Alessa is also quoted as talking about the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Major Nadal Hassan, allegedly saying, "Freaking Major Nadal shaved-face Palestinian crazy guy," this is his quote, "He's not better than me, I'll do twice what he did."

The pair also allegedly stated that any Muslim who thought the Times Square bombing was wrong, was non-Muslim.

Alessa and Almonte allegedly watched a lot of jihadi videos, including some of the radical U.S.-born cleric, Anwar Al Awlaki, who is believed now to be in Yemen. The criminal complaint says they trained for jihad, working at the gym and simulating combat with paint ball guns. But there is no indication in these court documents that these men bought real weapons or posed any imminent be threat here in the U.S.

But an ongoing concern of law enforcement has been that individuals with American passports will go to Somalia, receive training, and then return to the U.S. to do harm. New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says that was exactly the worry here.

Richard, back to you.

LIU: Jeanne, we can't help but listen to the details that you have listed for us. It is shocking for many that sit at home. How many, and according to what you're seeing, of Americans are we seeing being charged with terror offenses? Is that going up?

MESERVE: Yes, it definitely is going up. A law enforcement official provided me with a list this morning of Americans who have been charged with terror offenses since the beginning of the year. Remember, we're only in June here. And with these two, the total comes to 14. Those are the people who are facing unsealed charges. There is a possibility that there are others facing charges that are currently not known to us -- Richard?

LIU: Yes, Jeanne, no matter how many, very surprising, no doubt.

Our homeland security correspondent, thank you so much, Jeanne Meserve. A lot of you may want to know why these two men would be heading to Somalia.

Let's bring in CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, who is watching that angle.

Barbara, what's going on in Somalia that is drawing U.S. citizens to the terror movement there?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Richard, Somalia, not a surprise to the U.S. intelligence community or the U.S. military. They estimate now there may be, may be as many as 200 foreign fighters in Somalia, not just from the United States, but perhaps the majority of them from Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, making their way to join this group called al Shabaab, the al Qaeda group in Somalia, affiliated with Osama bin Laden, pledging support to him and promising to wage jihad, holy war.

And the concern that has consistently been felt in the U.S. intelligence community is these fighters in this very remote region of east Africa, will train and then carry out attacks against Western interests, either in Africa, Europe or here back in the United States. It's these lone individual fighters that has the U.S. so concerned -- Richard?

LIU: Barbara, with that link, al Shabaab, with al Qaeda, is the military or the CIA planning any sort of counter action here?

STARR: You know, it's very interesting. Senior administration officials are quietly letting it be known that new directives have been signed, new authorities for the U.S. military for commandos essentially to conduct secret operations inside Somalia against al Qaeda targets, if they can find them. And you'll recall, last September, in fact, U.S. commandos staged a helicopter raid in southern Somalia and successfully attacked and killed a major al Qaeda operative in Somalia wanted for his role in attacks against the U.S. Expect to see more of that. That's what's really on tap here. Very covert, very secret, highly-specialized attack operations, to go after these people and try and get other countries in the region to stop them from moving into that lawless region of east Africa -- Richard?

LIU: Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent, making that link into why it's so important to watch what's happening with al Shabaab and al Qaeda with those two suspects with U.S. passports that were arrested yesterday.

Thank you so much, Barbara, for that.

Thad Allen talking about the progress in the gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THAD ALLEN, ADMIRAL, U.S. COAST GUARD: They're making progress. I think they need to understand that their -- they've set out goals in their medium, and that's good. But we need to know it's the relief wells, capping this well, killing this well is what's important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIU: And he also referred to an insidious enemy. That, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIU: Hey, if you live in the Mid-Atlantic States, head's up here. Some wicked weather is headed your way.

Let's get right to Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center.

We're taking a look at some severe weather, especially if you're in the northeast.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Going to be a pretty significant afternoon between now and about the time that you go to bed. We expect things to be popping. And the threat of tornadoes is out there and it's relatively high.

I want to start out by showing you some video out of Michigan from this very same storm system that's impacting you in the northeast today. This is from Dundee, Michigan, where likely a tornado touched down and caused damage to many, many homes here. There you can see all the debris just spewed throughout the area. There were about 48 reports of tornadoes yesterday and early this morning in this severe weather outbreak. That is quite a few.

Now the threat today has shifted eastward as that cold front continues to be on the move at this hour. You can see watches stacked up from Richmond, Virginia, stretching north of Boston, even up towards Portland, Maine. Right now, there are no tornado warnings which are in effect. Watches means those conditions are favorable.

But we do have some severe thunderstorms near Springfield, Massachusetts, spreading down towards Allentown. And these storms have a history of producing damaging winds. Expect winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. And Washington, D.C. -- look at this -- just outside of the beltway, we have a severe thunderstorm here. The warning does include D.C. proper, as this storm heads into your neighborhood within the next 15 minutes. You want to stay inside in a sturdy building until these thunderstorms move out of the area. Today is what we call a moderate risk day. That's pretty significant. And the greatest threat area you can see here in this dark red area, so this includes you in New York City, Long Island, up towards Hartford, and just outside of the Boston area and stretching towards the Manchester area. And this will be ongoing, like I said, until bedtime tonight, we think.

Our other big weather story today is the heat. It really is dangerous heat, even by your standards, across parts of the southwest. We've got excessive heat warnings in effect for you, Las Vegas down towards Phoenix and towards El Paso, where it's going to be feeling like 105 to 110. This heat is going to be lingering into tomorrow. And you can see that's going to start to spread towards the nation's mid-section. Check you out here in Denver, Colorado, 96 degrees in that area for tomorrow.

One last weather headline I want to hit before I head it back to you, Richard. We're watching conditions, of course, in the Gulf of Mexico because of the oil spill there. High pressure building into the eastern gulf. A little area of disturbed weather that's going to be heading towards the oil spill, so scattered showers and thunderstorms and stronger westerly winds will keep that oil spill on the move towards the east over the next several days.

LIU: All right, thanks a lot, Jacqui.

Talking about that oil spill and looking at the currents, and acidulous enemy holding the gulf coast hostage. That's how President Obama's point man is describing the disaster today. Today, on "CNN"S State of the Union," Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said crews are making some progress trying to cap that leak. But he took issue with B.P.'s comment that the company was, quote, "pleased with this operation." Allen said no one should be pleased until all of the oil is out of the water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Everybody is anguished over this. I've been working on the water for 39 years. This is just completely distressing. And it's very frustrating because this spill has dissipated across southern Louisiana, clear to Port Saint Joe, Florida, and it's like an insidious enemy that just keeps attacking different places. And it's going to be there for a while. We have to redouble our efforts, be right on the game and support the local folks there. I've been dealing with the governors, the mayors, parish presidents. We all understand how frustrating this has been. We just have to stay on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIU: Well, B.P. says the containment cap placed over the leak funneled out about 440,000 gallons of oil yesterday. You do your math, that's almost about double the amount that it trapped the day before. But it's still just around 55 percent of the oil that continues to gush out daily.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us live from New Orleans.

Ed, we take a look at this number, which you were telling about -- telling us a little earlier today, 441,000, around 55 percent, is that progress?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's really hard to say because, as we look at those live video images that are coming from the bottom of the ocean floor, clearly you still see a great deal of what appears to us oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. And we're already talking about an inexact number of how much is actually spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. So we can only really go by what many of the experts have kind of come to a consensus on. And going by that, they say they're going to slowly start marching toward perhaps 90 percent containment of this oil spill. But we're still several days away from that. We're still in a very critical portion of this containment cap effort. That cap is sitting on top of that blowout preventer. If they try to capture too much at once, they're worried that the pressure coming up from the oil would essentially dislodge the containment cap. And obviously, we would be back to square one. Actually, worse than square one because, to get to this point, they would have to cut off that riser off the top of the blowout preventer, so technically they allowed more oil to become released throughout this process.

But so far, in the first 48 hours of this containment cap process, they say they are moving in the right direction, which is why that B.P. official said yesterday that they were extremely pleased. But as you heard Admiral Allen say today, this is still way too early. And as far as this much oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, clearly everywhere along the gulf coast, there aren't people who are extremely pleased so far.

LIU: Hey, Ed, when you were talking to residents in that area in Louisiana, do they care about these numbers or are they just looking outside their front door here?

LAVANDERA: You know, quite honestly, when you talk to people -- I don't think people really know what to make of these numbers. They're so inexact with based on what we know so far, that people really just want to know the bottom line. They want to know when zero is coming out. And they know we're not there yet.

LIU: Ed Lavandera, thank you so much, there live, covering for us the oil spill and the progress or lack thereof along the way. Thank you so much.

Israel blocks shipments along Gaza. We'll look at what Israel will allow and what it won't. Joran Van der Sloot paraded before the media in a murder investigation in Peru. You'll hear the evidence against him after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIU: Checking our top stories, two New Jersey men will be in court Monday to face terror-related charges. They were arrested at New York's JFK International Airport yesterday. Prosecutors say they were planning to travel to Somalia to, quote, "wage violent jihad." Authorities say they were also willing to carry out attacks in the United States.

North Korea is issuing threats of war now after being reported to the U.N. by South Korea. The South is asking the Security Council to act on allegations that North Korea sunk a South Korean warship back in March. 46 sailors died in the torpedo attack. North Korea denies any involvement in that.

Today marks the 66th anniversary of D-Day, the World War II allied assault on the beaches of Normandy that marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. Veterans of the invasion, now in their 80s and 90s, participated in memorial services in France. More than 200,000 allied soldiers were killed or wounded during D-Day and the three months that followed that.

One day after Israeli forces seized the Rachel Corrie, passengers and crewmembers are being allowed to go home. That ship was carrying aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Israel seized another ship headed for Gaza a few days earlier as well. Israeli leaders denied trying to block humanitarian aid in this. They are saying right now they're trying to block prohibited material that could be used for attacks against Israel.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is in Jerusalem on this story.

Matthew, what is Israel allowing into Gaza at this moment?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question, Richard. In fact, Israel does not publish a list of the banned items, the banned materials it will not allow in. What it said is that it will take this humanitarian aid it seized from the ships it's intersected off the coast of Gaza and will process those materials. It will screen them to make sure there's nothing that they consider could jeopardize the security of Israeli citizens, as is their right. And they'll send the rest through the land borders between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The trouble is, there's a difference of opinion between the human rights activists, the aid workers, and the Israeli government as to what constitutes dangerous material. For instance, the Israelis don't let cement in. Cement, they say, can be used to build bunkers, used as a material in the rockets that are fired by Palestinian militant groups towards Israeli civilians. But, of course, what human rights activists say, trying to deliver this cement directly to the people in the Gaza Strip, is that it's absolutely crucial as a building material to reconstruct the hospitals, the schools, the houses that have been so destroyed in the Gaza Strip over the past course of the several years of the military action there. So there's a bit of a disagreement between the human rights activists and the Israeli government -- Richard?

LIU: It certainly can be very difficult based on the fact that list is not published, as you were mentioning there.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is the special envoy to the Middle East conflict, also did speak out recently about this. What was he saying about this?

CHANCE: Well, Tony Blair is in a very difficult position in the sense that he is the representative of the quartet, which is the United States, the European Union, the U.N. and Russia, and their efforts to prepare both the Israelis and the Palestinians for a two- state solution in this. He's been calling, reflecting much of the international concern for, first of all, to support Israel and its right to defend its people. In his words, they have a right and a duty to do that.

But he's also been reflecting the international concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, 1.5 million people living in dire conditions of poverty as a direct result, according to the United Nations, of this blockade. He's trying to put pressure on the Israelis along with the U.S. and lots of others in the international community to look again at the list of things that can go in, look again at the kind of sanctions against Gaza, and perhaps to adjust the kind of things that are allowed to go in to alleviate the poverty and the humanitarian situation there.

But Israel, I have to say, has made it quite clear that, even though it's considering those things, what it's not considering to do is to lift the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Unfettered access to Gaza, it says, would simply be a -- you know, a green light for Palestinian militant groups to import weapons that would be used against Israeli civilians -- Richard?

LIU: Matthew Chance, thank you so much, with the very latest in Jerusalem. We'll touch base a little bit later with more on that.

Florida is used to natural disasters. Now, the oil spill poses a new threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORA CANTERBURY, FLORIDA RESIDENT: I've been through hurricanes. Hurricane Camille in '69, the last category-five hurricane, nothing like this is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIU: Big bucks from summer tourists could be at risk. We'll talk with the man behind an aggressive Florida tourism campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIU: The oil spill in the gulf is now hitting beaches as far east as the Florida panhandle.

CNN's Pat St. Clair has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAT ST. CLAIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Helping hands to help a beautiful beach. While many folks relaxed on the white sands of Pensacola Beach, crews came out to pick up tar balls that washed up on the shoreline.

Not far away, Nora Canterbury expressed an unsettled feeling.

CANTERBURY: I've been through hurricanes. Hurricane Camille in '69, the last category five hurricane, nothing like this is going to be.

ST. CLAIR: Sadly, it wasn't just oil that had to be removed from the sand. This pelican was found dead on the beach.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard says B.P.'s efforts to use a custom- fitted cap to suck out oil continue.

ALLEN: In their first full 24-hour cycle yesterday, as they were bringing the production level up, they were able to bring up and produce 6,000 barrels of oil from the well.

ST. CLAIR: That still would be a relatively small amount in comparison to the amount the federal government says is gushing into the gulf daily.

President Obama said Saturday, the resources dedicated to the oil spill are the largest response to an American environmental disaster.

While some have criticized the president's response, not everyone has lost faith in him.

CANTERBURY: We really are dependent on him. He's got swag. I like him. I think he might help us.

ST. CLAIR: I'm Pat St. Clair, reporting from Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIU: Florida officials are going on the offensive, meanwhile, to convince tourists their state is still a great place to vacation, despite the oil spill. They've spent thousands of dollars on some new ads to try to get that done.

So joining us live from Tallahassee, Chris Thompson, the head of Visit Florida, a group that's behind some of the new ads.

Chris, thanks for joining us. Let me start by asking you this. How are things?

CHRIS THOMPSON, PRESIDENT & CEO, VISIT FLORIDA: Well, Richard, you know, we all heard President Obama and Admiral Allen and Governor Crist this morning talking about the physical nature of the spill. And we're all real concerned and doing everything we can for the neighbors in the panhandle. But our concern is the 80 million people -- one of our other concerns is the 80 million people a year that visit Florida and the anxieties and the concerns they're having about whether their Florida vacation is here waiting on them. So, he said --

(CROSSTALK)

LIU: Well, Chris, the question here is, how are the beaches? How do those look?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, we are having some concerns with some of the direct impact on the beaches in the western end of the panhandle. But we have 825 miles of beaches here, and 221 of those miles are up there in the northwest part of the state. And that's a lot of beach. There are a lot of beaches that have not been affected. And our concern is trying to separate the perception from reality for those 80 million visitors that come here a year. And we've done that by putting a section on our web site called floridalive. It's on visitflorida.com and on a regular basis there's photographs, there's web cams, there's video uploads, and there's twitter feeds about what is the reality of what's happening in every one of the destinations all around Florida.

LUI: Your challenge Chris is to really make sure that people understand that most of the beaches are okay, based on what you've just said. And you've put up those web cams so people can take a look. Help me out with this. How else are you getting that word out?

THOMPSON: Well, we have a major campaign out that's been launched in the last couple weeks that's newspaper, television, radio, and some in-state advertising talking about the fact that we have the 825 miles of beach, 221 miles in the panhandle and there's tons of amazing other things to do in the state of Florida and to get information about real people, real time, real Florida, we were driving them to that section, floridalive, on our web site, visitflorida.com so they can get real-time information from residents and visitors that are actually enjoying everything there is to see and do in the state real time.

LUI: And just for our viewers, some very amazing statistics in terms of how important this is, tourism to Florida. $60 billion for your industry for the sunshine state. You've got tourism that contributes about 20 percent of your sales tax in the state. So this is very important. Who is this hurting the most? What types of businesses?

THOMPSON: Well, the largest majority of the businesses in the state of Florida and the tourism industry are small businesses. Certainly those in the panhandle. Their season started this past weekend, Memorial Day, goes through Labor Day. So all the lodging and restaurants and the fishing boat charter captains and those folks, those are the ones that are feeling the impact from the negative economic impact associated with this oil spill.

So, our concern and our job is to -- with that trusted relationship that we have with all those visitors, many of them are your viewers that come to the state every year, nine out of ten are return visitors, several of them, many of them come back twice a year. Our job is to make sure that we can assure them that vacation they've already booked, that vacation that they want to book, is here waiting on them and is amazing as ever.

LUI: Chris, my friend, it's not just our viewers, I go down there a bit myself, so I'll come on down and see you in a little bit. Chris Thompson from Visit Florida, thank you so much.

THOMPSON: Please do.

LUI: Have a good one.

Joran Van Der Sloot under arrest in Peru, paraded past the media. That's ahead after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: All right. Here are top stories. Two New Jersey men will be in court Monday to face terror-related charges. They were arrested at New York's JFK International Airport yesterday. Prosecutors say they were planning to travel to Somalia to, quote, wage violent jihad, end quote. Authorities also say they were willing to carry out attacks in the United States.

Scary moment for Indy car driver Simona De Silvestro at last night's race in Texas. Her car bursting into flames as you see here when she hit the wall. Rescue crews then had trouble getting her out of the inferno. Amazingly here she suffered only minor burns on her right hand and is out of the hospital already.

Joran Van Der Sloot is in custody in Peru, the man accused in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba is now facing charges in a Peruvian woman's death. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on this case against Van Der Sloot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joran Van Der Sloot appeared unemotional as he was paraded in front of the cameras in Lima, the capital of Peru. After being expelled from Chile he was returned to Peru as the only suspect in the death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores who was beaten to death.

OCTAVIO SALAZAR, PERUVIAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): The most important thing was how the Chilean government and its president rapidly responded in the coordination that happened between police agencies.

ROMO: Peruvian police released the hotel surveillance video that shows Joran Van Der Sloot and Stephany Flores entering on Sunday, May 30th, at 5:20 in the morning. A second camera shows both of them entering the room moments later. Three hours and 20 minutes later, he leaves the hotel by himself, carrying a backpack. He tells hotel staff he's coming back and asks them not to bother Flores, whom he calls, my girl, according to police.

Authorities say this is one of several pieces of incriminating evidence they have against Van Der Sloot as well as bloody clothes he was carrying with him when he was caught in Chile. Police say they have the testimonies of staff at both the hotel and the casino where the victim and the suspect met positively identifying Joran Van Der Sloot. They also say they're analyzing forensic evidence that may link the suspect to the murder. Enrique Flores, the victim's brother, says his family is very grateful for authorities in both Chile and Peru for catching Van Der Sloot so quickly.

ENRIQUE FLORES, VICTIM'S BROTHER: I cannot say that I was happy or -- I feel a little relieved in this big pain that I have and my family have. This pain won't go away.

ROMO: The trip by land in Peruvian territory took more than 12 hours. A 16 vehicle police convoy traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to transport Joran Van Der Sloot from the border to Lima, the capital, followed at all times by more than 20 media vehicles. Interior minister Octavio Salazar explained the decision to transport the suspect by land.

SALAZAR (through translator): National police aircraft were being used in events relating to the OAS summit and we decided not to use commercial aviation because passengers would probably have had objections under the circumstances. ROMO: Police say Van Der Sloot has asked to see his mother, while he was being shown to the press inside the criminal investigations building, a spectacle unveiled outside. Peruvian shamus performed a ritual calling for super natural punishment for the 23-year-old Dutchman.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Lima, Peru.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Some big money being spent in California but not on high- end fashion here but on Tuesday's run for the governor's mansion. That's up next for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LUI: Voters in ten states head to the polls Tuesday for important primaries, sort of a big Tuesday, if you will, but none is getting as much attention as the high-profile Republican races in California. Senior deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us live now from Los Angeles. Paul, I was looking at some of the headlines on the local paper, "Los Angeles Times" that said anger and money dominating the race. I mean who's in the front running place to replace the governor right now, Arnold Schwarzenegger?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah. Arnold Schwarzenegger is term limited Richard so he can't run again, and probably a good thing. His poll numbers are not so good. On the Republican side there is a battle we'll find out on Tuesday who the winner is. Let's start with Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay. She's a billionaire and pumped in about $70 million so far of her own money for her campaign. She says if she wins the primary she could put in up to $150 million all together. Polls suggest, the most recent polls suggest she's up by a 2 to 1 margin over Steve Poizner. He's the state commissioner out here. He's also a multimillionaire in his own right and pumped in about $25 million in his campaign. Richard, the winner of this primary battle on the Republican side will face off in November against Jerry Brown. People remember him, the former two-term governor back in the '70s and '80s, California's attorney general. Richard?

LUI: Jerry Brown is the busiest man in politics in that state, he's done just about everything. We'll see how that does fare out. Who are voters likely to choose as the Republican challenger to Senator Barbara Boxer?

STEINHAUSER: This race is getting overshadowed by the gubernatorial contest. It is a fascinating one on the Republican side as well. Carly Fiorina, you may remember her as well as Meg Whitman, as somebody a high profile surrogate for John McCain during the last presidential campaign. Well Fiorina who is the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, polls indicate she is up over two other challengers right now in the Republican Senate nomination.

Whoever wins that battle on Tuesday will face off as you mentioned against Barbara Boxer. The three-term senator is facing a pretty tough re-election. Republicans would love to win this one in November. They think if they could win in California they may have a prayer at winning back the Senate.

LUI: All right. California certainly a state with an interesting twist when it comes to politics and South Carolina certainly not too shabby itself as of late.

STEINHAUSER: You know, a lot of attention back on the other coast right now in South Carolina in the battle on the Republican side, to succeed Governor Mark Sanford. Everybody remembers all the saga over Mark Sanford and his affair and how he went missing a year ago. Now there's a lot of attention on the battle to succeed him because unfortunately of more interesting and tabloid kind of stuff, Nicky Hailey, a Republican, is the leader right now, if you believe the polls in that race, but Nicky Hailey has been accused by two other Republicans of having an affair and just the other day a state senator backing one of Hailey's rivals, landed a pretty nasty racial slur against her and against President Obama. South Carolina once again, Richard, in the spotlight, but for the wrong reasons, I guess you could say.

LUI: Great wrap-up on two states on the opposite side of the country that have a lot to watch and a lot to make a decision on in the coming Tuesday. All right. Thank you so much, Paul Steinhauser. Appreciate that.

Dangerous weather is hitting parts of the northeast today. If you're there you've seen it. Let's get to Jacqui Jeras in the CNN weather center for that. Hey Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Richard. The entire megalopolis is under that threat, so that includes you in Boston, into New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Those red boxes meaning conditions are favorable for tornado developments. While we don't have any warnings right now take a look at what this storm system did yesterday. This is in Illinois, the town of Streeter. This was in the evening hours.

This is new video just coming in. Heavy damage throughout the city as you can see there. At least 30 homes have been damaged or destroyed and 17 people have been injured as this tornado ripped through the area. The National Weather Service out today assessing the damage, but boy, really widespread especially on the south part of town. This was one of at least 48 tornado reports across the Midwest and Great Lakes yesterday.

Now today, we do think that threat will continue, at least for the evening hours, by the time you go to bed, we think conditions will be less favorable. There are a lot of severe thunderstorm warnings out there right now and nose you need to take seriously. A tornado can pop up in these thunderstorms and they have been producing quite a bit of wind damage. Those winds could be well in excess of 60 miles per hour. You need to stay inside during these thunderstorms. The greatest threat right here, northern New Jersey on up towards New York City, Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts. That's what we call a moderate risk and you know, the threat of tornadoes probably greater than anything else out there today in addition to those winds. About a 90 percent in some of those watches that a tornado is going to hit within 25 miles of your home.

LUI: High percentage there. For business travelers, they better watch out for this stuff.

JERAS: This could mess things up if you're trying to get out tonight for sure.

LUI: Thank you Jacqui.

People are feeling the effects of the oil spill far from the gulf in the form of rising seafood prices. CNN's Sandra Endo has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those look good.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A summer staple along the Chesapeake Bay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got your fresh hot crabs within ten minutes.

ENDO: Buddy's seafood restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland, is more than 1,000 miles from the gulf coast but at the height of crab season the oil spill is taking a toll on their bottom line.

SCOTT COOK, BUDDY'S CRABS & RIBS: The price has gone up measurably. I would say 30, 40, $50 a bushel.

ENDO: Buddy normally gets daily shipments of fresh crabs from Louisiana. Now they've had to cut back to one a week.

COOK: They're a good crab but the price has gotten out of reach. We can't turn it over to the customer. We have to make a stand.

ENDO: Dan Donnelly co-owns Cantler's waterfront restaurant in Annapolis. He says he can't scale back on his daily shipments from Louisiana. The shrimp are a favorite on the menu.

What makes it so special?

DAN DONNELLY, CANTLER'S RIVERSIDE INN: The flavor, the taste, yeah, definitely. There's nothing like it.

ENDO: But with shrimping and fishing restrictions in the gulf due to the oil spill, shrimp costs are up 30 percent and there's also a hefty price tag for Louisiana crab.

DONNELLY: We're paying an average of about 200 -- between 210 to $240 a bushel for Louisiana crabs. That's pretty expensive, you know. Usually by this time of the year, that's -- it's coming down.

ENDO: Maryland is known for its crabs but at this time of year, here's the difference. A Maryland crab is small and sweet. While Louisiana one is big and full. Those crabs may come from New Orleans, but in the crescent city, craw fish is the big seller. Henry Poynot of Big Fisherman store in New Orleans, says crawfish season is winding down, which means a bigger headache on the horizon.

HENRY POYNOT, BIG FISHERMAN SEAFOOD: Crawfish season is only about four months out of the year. I need shrimp, crabs and oyster to survive the offseason of crawfish.

ENDO: What are we talking about in terms of prices?

POYNOT: I would say the prices have gone up probably 25 percent across the board.

ENDO: Despite the prices, seafood lovers seem to stay loyal to their own town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think New Orleans, we're a city that normally pulls together and we know how to take care of our folks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I called and asked what they were, if they were Maryland crabs. Bay shore.

ENDO: What's unsure is how long the rising price of seafood from the gulf will last.

Sandra Endo, CNN, Annapolis, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: Some people in Indonesia are doing a double-take because of this guy. Meet this Obama lookalike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 431,000 jobs created in May, the most in ten years, but there's an asterisk with that number. On most weeks jobs would be our top story but not this week with thousands of gallons of oil pouring in the gulf.

LUI: In anticipation of the president's trip, Suzanne Malveaux traveled there. She wanted to see a country where the U.S. president is extremely popular. He spent four years there as a child and oddly enough, she found a man who was the spitting image of Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I understand, I've heard when you're in Indonesia, you make it a point only to speak the Indonesian language, is that true?

IL HAM ASAS, OBAMA IMPERSONATOR: Yeah. [ speaking foreign language ]

MALVEAUX: The president, your accent, your language skills, it's amazing. Did you practice on air force one? ASAS: Yeah. [ speaking foreign language ]

MALVEAUX: Do you have a message for the Indonesian people?

ASAS: [ speaking foreign language ]

MALVEAUX: So you're on to us. This is not the real Barack Obama but he does look like him. He's 36-year-old Il Ham Asas. An Indonesian photographer thrust in front of the camera in 2008 after his friends convinced him he looked a lot like this guy. You have the mannerisms down, walk like the president.

ASAS: Okay.

MALVEAUX: You speak like the president.

ASAS: Like president. Quite baritone.

MALVEAUX: At first Il Ham was shy, but his friends put him in a suit, took pictures and posted them on Facebook and twitter. He became a student of Obama 101.

ASAS: Yes, we can. [ speaking foreign language ]

MALVEAUX: Soon, he got offers to travel to other countries to play the U.S. president.

ASAS: Like this. I walk into the crowd and then people say, it's Obama. There's people, they call it that I'm Mr. President, you are a good people.

MALVEAUX: You get this all the time.

ASAS: Yeah.

MALVEAUX: But in Indonesia, most are in on the joke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. Sure.

MALVEAUX: After all, he has done seven commercials and two movies as Obama and even wrote a book.

Look. We even caught him smoking.

Even our CNN Jakarta producers are big fans.

You guys have taken pictures with this guy. You know he's not the real president. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. I mean if you look at him, he looks exactly like him, you know. I took the picture, hang it up on my wall.

MALVEAUX: Wait a minute. Is this like when we take pictures with the cardboard cutout, your equivalent. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much, yeah. Well, I know this is not the real Obama, but while I know that we probably never have any chance to take a picture with the real one, so this is it, yeah.

MALVEAUX: And if Il Ham gets his way, he says he'll be running again in 2012.

Thank you, Mr. President.

ASAS: Thank you, Suzanne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LUI: What do you think? Spitten image. The Obama look alike says it would be the highest honor to meet President Obama. He says he has not been contacted by the white house as of yet but the U.S. embassy in Jakarta has reached out to him in the past.

Want to speak out on a public issue? You could find yourself hit by a big lawsuit. We'll tell you about that when CNN NEWSROOM returns at 4:00 p.m. eastern and also talk with a gulf coast fisherman about how the oil disaster is affecting him today after 40 days. "YOUR MONEY" will start in a minute. But first, we have a celebration in New Orleans to share with you. CNN photo journalist Kevin Meyers takes us to the oyster festival, enjoy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. Shuck.

KEVIN MEYERS, CNN PHOTO JOURNALISTS: Oysters in June here are unbelievable. This is the inaugural, the first New Orleans oyster festival.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People ask, it's like wait, you don't have one yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great you can still get seafood and still get oysters in New Orleans.

MEYERS: How does it taste?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awesome, amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Half a dozen of the raw oysters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $7.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shuck them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shucking and jiving. Louisiana oysters do have pearls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look good on the half shell. Clean and cold. MEYERS: The gulf provides over 65 percent of all oysters in America. Not everybody realizes that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Louisiana oysters. That's what I'm here for. Thank you so much for being here.

SAL SUNSERI, NEW ORLEANS OYSTER FESTIVAL: So many people depend on this as a livelihood. I mean, they grow up in it. It's passed on. It's a family tradition. If we lose this for lengths of time, which I pray we don't, but if there is a loss, I mean, you could lose the tradition. We can't afford that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're good. Oyster festival in New Orleans, one of a kind, baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shall overcome, you know. We will. New Orleans is -- we're New Orleans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, finish. Give him a hand, ladies and gentlemen. Give him a hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all tested and we just keep on coming back you know, we're not going to leave New Orleans. Maybe because it is what it is. I mean, it's -- look at it. It's New Orleans. It's beautiful.