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Fed Say Two New Jersey Men Planning "Violent Jihad"; Crews Hope to Boost Oil Siphoning; Can't Fish and Getting Sick Because of the Oil; Hectic Primary Tuesday Coming Up; Helen Thomas Apologizes; Florida Fights to Save Tourism; Seafood Prices Rising; Oyster Festival in New Orleans
Aired June 06, 2010 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Richard Lui, sitting in for Fredericka Whitfield. This is NEWSROOM, Sunday, June 6th.
All right. Investigators, first off for you, say that two New Jersey men were on their way to Somalia to learn how to wage violent jihad. CNN's Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve explains how authorities learned about the duo's activities.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Richard, the two men were arrested Saturday night at New York's JFK Airport, just before boarding separate flights to Egypt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Strife-torn Somalia was the intended destination for the two men from New Jersey, according to U.S. officials, who claim their mission was to wage violent jihad on behalf of al-Shabaab, an Islamist group affiliated with al Qaeda. Their hope, officials say, was to kill U.S. troops who might eventually be deployed there.
Mohamed Alessa, 20, of North Bergen, and Carlos Almonte, 24, of Elmwood Park, are charged with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap people overseas, but there is worry they could have eventually hit here.
RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Not unlike other cases that we've seen recently where individuals who express an interest to do, quote, "jihad" go overseas and then are turned around, come back to attempt acts of violence here in the United States.
MESERVE: Search warrants were executed at the suspects' New Jersey homes. Alessa's landlord says he was the only child in a religious family.
HEMANT SHAH, LANDLORD: I was surprised that nothing - he was (INAUDIBLE) and he was leaving, and I talked to him. I said, hi, I heard that you are going away. He said, Yes, I'm going out. I said, for how long? He says probably about six months.
MESERVE: According to court documents, in 2006 authorities were tipped off about the men. In 2007, the pair allegedly traveled to Jordan but were rebuffed when they tried to enlist as Mujahideen. Their jihadi aspirations eventually focused on Somalia.
In recordings made by an undercover New York police officer, Alessa allegedly discusses shootings and beheadings, saying we'll start doing killing here if I can't do it over there. On another occasion, Alessa purportedly says he'd stay overseas unless a leader ordered me to come back here and do something here. Ah, I'd love that.
The government claims the men watched jihadi videos, including lectures by U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who's been linked to the Ft. Hood shooter, Nidal Hasan. Hasan killed 13, but Alessa allegedly says, he's not better than me. I'll do twice what he did.
The court documents say that the men practiced combat skills with paintball guns and computer software, but there are no allegations that they bought real guns or posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: Neither of the men are of Somali origin. A law enforcement official says Alessa's parents are Palestinian and Jordanian. Almonte is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the Dominican Republic.
They're scheduled to appear in a Newark courtroom on Monday. They could face life in prison.
Richard, back to you.
LUI: Thank you, Jeanne.
This past January, the Senate received a report calling Somalia a ticking time bomb. Let's now go to CNN's Barbara Starr who connects the dots between al Qaeda training camps in the African nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned the U.S. now estimates as many as 200 foreign fighters may be in Somalia, fighters posing a possible threat to the U.S. after joining the Somali-based al Qaeda group known as al-Shabaab.
President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser says Somalia is part of the overall U.S. threat calculation.
JOHN BRENNAN, WHITE HOUSE COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER: We will take the fight to al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates wherever they plot and train - in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond.
STARR: Concern has risen steadily as Osama bin Laden called for fighters to go to Somalia.
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: When you've got anybody going to a jihadi war zone, hooking up with an al Qaeda affiliate and getting raining, that's a problem because these guys are going to go get training and attack American or other western targets overseas.
STARR: Iraqis, Pakistanis, Afghans and Saudis are among those at training camps across Southern Somalia, a core group training others in bomb making and small arms. Any U.S. military action to stop this al Qaeda movement brings bitter memories of October 1993, when 18 U.S. troops were killed in Mogadishu after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down.
But the U.S. has approved plans to send commandos into Somalia, part of a stepped up campaign already underway. Last September, in Southern Somalia, U.S. troops swept in by helicopter and killed senior al Qaeda operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, wanted for his role in attacks against U.S. embassies. In 2007, AC-130 gunships fired against al Qaeda targets in Southern Somalia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And although it's not clear how much of a direct threat the two men arrested in New York really posed, U.S. officials remain convinced fighters now in Somalia have plans far beyond the borders of that country - Richard.
LUI: And when we talk about the foreign fighters and this particular situation, al-Shabaab has brought up that you have mentioned, and al Qaeda. Can you put those together for us?
STARR: Well, the al-Shabaab basically is the al Qaeda affiliate, if you will, the al Qaeda chapter in Somalia. They have sworn allegiance to al Qaeda. As we see now, foreign fighters going to Somalia, helping train those al-Shabaab fighters, and the al-Shabaab very supportive of Osama bin Laden.
All of this now, Richard, kind of a stew, a mix of this jihadi movement in East Africa that has the U.S. so concerned because when these jihadi fighters go to Somalia, really, they fall off the scope. It's such a remote and rugged country. And then they reemerge somewhere in the world, possibly ready to launch attacks - Richard.
LUI: And Barbara, really, the case of these two New Jersey men really highlighting that complex problem that you have just given us a background on. Thank you so much, Barbara Starr.
STARR: Sure.
LUI: Well, the Midwest is reeling from a night of strong thunderstorms and tornadoes, too. Now severe weather is moving in to the mid-Atlantic states. Let go straight to Jacqui Jeras has more on that for us. Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Richard.
What an credibly strong storm system. You know, the last 36 hours have been really intense from the Great Lakes all the way into the northeastern corridor, and this storm system has spawned at least 48 tornado reports.
All right, let's show you some of the video. The first that we have here, this is out of Dundee, Michigan. It's the southern part of the state where an EF-2 tornado ripped through the area, causing quite a bit of widespread damage here, winds estimated between 130 to 135 miles per hour and the damage path about 13.5 miles long.
All right, let's take you to Illinois now. This is the town of Streator, and this is in North Central parts of the state. This is also was an EF-2 tornado that destroyed or damaged 30 homes, injuring 17 people. These tornadoes came after dark, so it's very amazing that more people were not injured or killed in these thunderstorms.
Let's show you where the system is now as it continues to move very aggressively off to the east, and you can see the line of thunderstorms as that cold front approaches and watches from Boston all the way down towards Richmond, Virginia. Now, Boston, you had some incredible thunderstorms roll through about, oh, 30, 40 minutes ago or so. You're in a little bit of lull, but you're not done just yet. Look at these thunderstorms developing off to the west, so more strong to severe thunderstorms are possible in the next two or three hours.
We'll take you down towards New York City. You're getting a break here, but Long Island, up towards Norwich and into New Haven, we have strong thunderstorms, producing some very heavy downpours. There's going to be a lot of water on the roadways, if you're going out and have plans for tonight.
Washington, D.C., the watch starting to get cut off for you, so look for improving conditions there. We'll continue to watch these storms.
One last quick note, though, I want to mention we've got extreme heat to talk about as well, Richard, triple digits and we've had some records in the southwest and Texas the last couple of days.
LUI: Death Valley earning its name, I guess. Is that what you're saying?
JERAS: Pretty much.
LUI: Yes. OK.
Jacqui Jeras, thank you.
As oil washes ashore on more Gulf Coast beaches, frustration, it grows continuously. Hear what outraged lawmakers are saying about the crisis and the latest information on efforts to contain that spill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: BP says the amount of oil captured from that gushing wellhead in the gulf has now doubled, almost, since the containment cap was first placed on that leak. More than 440,000 gallons were funneled out yesterday, but that's still just about half of what the government's latest estimates are of that leak coming out of - into the water each and every day that you see in these live pictures here.
Well, today, President Obama's point man on the spill called the disaster an insidious enemy holding the Gulf Coast hostage. On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION", Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen took issue with BP's comment that the company was, quote, "pleased" with the efforts to contain the leak. Allen says no one should be pleased until all of the oil is out of the water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Everybody's anguished over this. You know, I've been working on the water for 39 years. This is - this is just completely distressing, and it's very frustrating because this spill has dissipated across Southern Louisiana clear to Port St. Joe, Florida and it's like an insidious enemy that just keeps attacking in different places and it's going to be there for a while and -
But we have to redouble our efforts. We have to be right on the game and we have to support the local folks there. I've been dealing with the governors, the mayors, the parish presidents. You know, we all understand how frustrating this is. We just have to stay on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Well, CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in New Orleans following the story. And Ed, earlier you sent out an e-mail to us to say you had heard 440,000 gallons are now being gathered by that containment cap. The question is, Ed - we were just hearing from Admiral Thad Allen as well as others. Is this progress?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is. But, you know, one of the things we need to remember is that that was the amount of oil that was captured yesterday. It was up from what they'd captured on the first day, on Friday.
But if you remember back to that - the insertion tube that was one of the first things that was used to siphon off oil, remember, that fluctuated quite a bit from day-to-day. That's possible that we could see that in this process here as well, especially since BP officials say that they're taking this very slowly, a cautious approach to making this containment cap work.
They - what they're worried about is that they need to push that cap down on top of that blowout preventer with enough pressure to keep it from getting blown back up by the oil that is spewing out of there. But the concern is that if water were to get inside that containment cap, that at those temperatures down there, they would freeze up, could create hydrates and essentially clog up the system and that would send them back to square one.
So they say that they will continue to try to optimize, in their words, the amount of oil that is being captured. Some BP officials said that they had hoped that they could get that capturing up to 90 percent, but based on the pictures, the live pictures that we're still seeing, streaming to us from the bottom of the ocean floor, we still see a great deal of oil spewing. And as every day passes, we kind of see more oil, more tar balls, oil droplet, that gooey substance showing up on some of the beaches not only in Mississippi and Alabama but were starting to creep into Florida and those heavy tourist destinations, places like Destin where Florida officials are investigating if the oil is getting there.
And what - you mentioned it off the top, Richard, that that word frustration is something we're hearing over and over again. You listen to what Senator Bill Nelson from Florida told us earlier this morning. That frustration is being felt all along the Gulf Coast now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Everybody is stressed to the limit, and you're hearing the frustration coming out of my voice. I'm expressing the frustration of those people who live there, whose livelihoods are going away. I'm expressing the frustration of those fishermen who can't go out and fish now because if they're a charter boat, nobody's coming, or if they are fishing for a living, the fish houses are not buying their fish because the houses elsewhere around the country are not ordering it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And that frustration, Richard, because, you know, so many - so many of these beach areas, especially in Florida, are such popular tourist destinations that you're really seeing people canceling their vacations, they're not going to the restaurants and that sort of thing and that's really starting to kind of unfold along these areas that have been such popular tourist destinations and that - that builds up in that frustration, as well.
So Admiral Allen even says, to add to all of this, that even if this containment process were to work as well as BP hopes it will, that this cleanup process will last well into the fall - Richard.
LUI: All right. Ed, watching some of the progress, and, as you warned, it could change in terms of those numbers we're watching as they adjust there on the ground to make sure that the oil we see in those live pictures can be gathered long term.
Thank you so much, Ed Lavandera in New Orleans, covering that story for us.
They can no longer fish because the oil is covering their fishing grounds, and now they're trying to clean it up and some are getting sick along the way. Until now, these fishermen were just too scared to come forward with their stories, fearing that they might lose their jobs. But one fisherman has broken the silence.
Our chief medal correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Acy Cooper is a third generation shrimper, but for more than a month now he's been on the water, cleaning up oil.
GUNPTA (on camera): Tell me again, like if someone breathes in some of this stuff, even at the time they're breathing it in, just at that time, what - what does it feel like and what do they experience?
ACY COOPER, FISHERMAN: Right off, you get a headache, a severe headache. And then you'd probably have rapid heart rate because everything you breathe -
GUPTA (voice-over): Acy didn't want to have this interview, but he felt compelled to break his silence.
GUPTA (on camera): You may be the first actually speaking on this. Why - why are you talking to us?
COOPER: We need a voice. Somebody has to speak out, and if it has to be me, well, it has to be me.
GUPTA (voice-over): BP required all these cleanup workers, fishermen and others who mainly make a living from the gulf, sign a nondisclosure form. Acy could lose this cleanup job, his only source of income, but he doesn't care anymore. He is worried.
COOPER: I don't want to lose anybody. This is our friends and families out here.
GUPTA (on camera): What he's talking about is breathing in crude oil or petroleum. It's a hydrocarbon. Carbon is the energy source, surrounded by a bunch of hydrogen molecules. It gets refined into things that you may know better, like gasoline, for example, diesel fuel down here, propane.
Now, when you breathe it in, all sorts of things can happen. Someone may feel nauseated, they may have vomiting, they may have headache. Now, what this does is suppresses the nervous system for a period of time. Someone can feel drunk, sort of anesthetized.
But here's the thing. Take a deep breath in of fresh air, simply get off the boat, a lot of those symptoms should go away.
Does the oil, the dispersant combination, everything that we've been talking about for the last month, does it pose a problem to human health?
RIKI OTT, OIL POLLUTION EXPERT: Absolutely, yes. Unconditionally, yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): Riki Ott is a PhD, oil pollution expert who's worked with families affected by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
GUPTA: So you literally, you breathe the stuff in and it can cause, you know, even suppress your central nervous system for a period of time. But what they tell me then is you literally turn your head, you take a breath of fresh air, you get off the boat, it goes away. It should be fine. The short term is all there is. Is that true?
OTT: What happened was, people went home. They thought they'd get better at the end of the cleanup in September. They didn't. And I am still dealing with workers now, 21 years later, who have this persistent immune system suppression, so they're kind of sick all the time, respiratory problem, brain fog, dizziness.
GUPTA (voice-over): I checked myself, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health did report an increase in respiratory problems among Valdez cleanup workers. And a 2003 survey done by a Yale grad student found Valdez cleanup workers who had the most exposure to oil and chemicals reported conditions, such as chronic airway disease and neurological impairment over a decade later.
GUPTA (on camera): How bad does this get? I mean, how - what's the worse-case scenario? I mean, you have all these - all these - again, friends of yours, colleagues, people you've known, breathing the stuff in.
You're reading the papers right here with me. Let me read you this. It says we're talking about just the oil now. The volatile organic compounds are among the most toxic components. Many of them are associated with long-term health affects. Some of them are carcinogens, meaning they cause cancer.
COOPER: Correct. Why - why we don't have the right, adequate protection? That's what I want to know.
GUPTA: I can see in this (ph), you're really personally affected by this. I can tell just (INAUDIBLE) -
COOPER: Sure.
GUPTA: -- that I'm talking to. And what - what is - are you sleeping well? How's your life (INAUDIBLE)?
COOPER: I have (INAUDIBLE). I want to see him grow up. It's really personal. It's very personal. It hurts you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LUI: All right. That was CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
BP has responded, by the way, to the workers' claims saying, quote, "there has been a great deal of attention in the press about whether BP was providing respiratory protection, with particular emphasis on boat crews. Well, the data shows that airborne contaminants are well within safe limits."
And additionally, BP has said publicly it will not hold cleanup workers like Acy Cooper to the non-disclosure gag clause, but Cooper and others say they signed a contract and have not seen anything in writing from BP allowing them to talk.
Big money politics in California. Just ahead, we'll take a look at the wealthy challengers for Governor Schwarzenegger's job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: It's going to be a busy Tuesday. Voters in 10 states will head to the polls then for important primaries in their respective states, but none is getting as much attention as the high-profile Republican races out west in California.
CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joins us live now from Los Angeles (ph). Paul, who's the front-runner right now in the race to replace Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Her name right now on the Republican side is Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO. And, Richard, you know, in California it's a big state and there's a lot of pricey media markets, so it takes a lot of money. It is expensive to run out here.
That's not a problem for Whitman. She is putting around $70 million of her own money - she's a billionaire - so far in this campaign, and she said she would spend up to $150 million is she wins the primary and goes all the way.
Her opponent, Steve Poizner, who's the insurance commissioner out here, he's a self-made millionaire, as well. He's dropped in about $24 million, so we're talking big bucks.
Whoever wins the Republican primary on Tuesday, Richard, will go up against the former governor out here, Jerry Brown, governor back in the '70s and '80s. He's the Attorney General now and he's running again for the top spot, Richard.
LUI: Yes. And Jerry Brown, as we were talking about earlier there, Paul, he's had just about every job, political job you can have in that State of California, so a very well-known name there.
Let's go to another well-known name, and we're talking about Barbara Boxer.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. Barbara Boxer, up for re-election out here, three-term senator. And she faces a tough reelection battle. That's what a lot of polls here suggests. On the Republican side, there's a contested primary this Tuesday. Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard seems to be the front-runner, if you believe the polls. She's up by double digits against two other contenders.
Listen, Republicans would love to knock off Boxer and they think they have a chance. And they think if they can beat Boxer here in California, they may - may have a chance maybe to win back the Senate, Richard.
LUI: Yes. Barbara Boxer, long-time success there for her in San Francisco and in California.
Let's go to South Carolina right now. California's certainly known for its interesting political races, but in South Carolina, as of late, we've been having a lot of, shall we say, tabloidy stories coming out in politics.
STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes. Tuesday's primary day in South Carolina. The governor there, Mark Sanford, is term limited. He cannot run for re-election. We all know the controversy over the last year with him. He went missing and then he admitted to an affair with a woman from Argentina.
So there's a battle going on right now on the republican side for the nomination and it has become very tabloidy. There had been two Republicans who have claimed that the front-runner in the race, state lawmaker Nikki Haley, has had affairs with him. She has denied that, but that has really rattled things up, as has a racial slur used by a state senator against Haley and against President Obama. Just in the last few days, South Carolina's had a lot of attention, but I guess you could say for the wrong reasons.
Richard, we are going to be everywhere on Tuesday. We are going to have out here in California our senior national political correspondent, Jessica Yellin; our senior Congressional correspondent Dana Bash will be in Arkansas, following that great race out there, Senator Lincoln fighting for her political life.
I'm going to have two of our political producers, Peter Hamby will be in South Carolina and Shannon Travis in Nevada, where another good race is going. And Gloria Borger, our senior political analyst, myself and our senior political editor Mark Preston will be in - back in D.C., following everything as well. So team coverage come Tuesday, Richard.
LUI: And since we're lucky enough to have you right here right now, Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director, how important is this Tuesday in terms of telling us how the political tenor is across the country? What are you seeing?
STEINHAUSER: A couple of themes out there. We're going to learn more about the Tea Party Movement and how powerful it is. They had a big win in Kentucky with Rand Paul. Will they have another big win in Nevada in the Republican primary?
Also, we keep talking about the anti-incumbent, anti-Washington mood out there. We've seen two senators already ousted this year in primaries. Will Blanche Lincoln become the third on Tuesday?
So a lot of major themes out there. We'll find out more on Tuesday.
LUI: All right. It's a key Tuesday, and we'll be all over it right here on CNN. Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much.
Veteran Washington journalist Helen Thomas is apologizing for some controversial remarks about Israel. She made them just a little over a week ago during an interview that got posted on the internet. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments on Israel? (INAUDIBLE) -
HELEN THOMAS, HEARST NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. Any better comments?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
THOMAS: Remember, these people are occupied, and it's their land. It's not German, it's not Poland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So where should they go? What should they do?
THOMAS: They'd go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is home?
THOMAS: Poland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they'd -
THOMAS: Germany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- just go back to Poland and Germany?
THOMAS: And America and everywhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LUI: Well, Thomas is a Washington institution, a long-time White House correspondent for UPI, as many of you know, and now columnist for Hearst Newspapers. She now says she deeply regrets those comments you heard, but some critics say the apology is not enough. They say she should be fired.
Howard Kurtz discussed this controversy with his guest this morning on CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CORN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, MOTHER JONES: I've known Helen for years and I think - I think well of her, but it was a dumb remark.
Pat Buchanan recently had a column saying there were too many Jews on the Supreme Court, and people got in an uproar about that. You know, he didn't apologize. He actually believes that, and I think, Helen, you know, is a columnist, and it's not as if, you know, someone with a perverted sense of - of analysis, in your view, Matt, here is bringing objective news to the public and is duping the public.
People know where Helen is coming from. Anyone's spent any - five seconds watching her knows. MATT LEWIS, BLOGGER AND POLITICAL ANALYST, POLITICSDAILY.COM: This is also someone who's frequently called on at White House press briefings. I think that does elevate her to a certain stature that I don't have at politics daily.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the press gives her a break because she is 89 years old?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: Howard Kurtz again, "RELIABLE SOURCES." Thomas by the way is the daughter of Lebanese immigrants.
Florida's governor is urging BP to do the right thing in helping Florida business owners hurt by the oil spill. People like watching it rain, as long as they're not outside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: The oil spill is moving towards Florida right now. Florida Governor Charlie Crist responding saying the state is as ready as we can be. Florida has spread 250,000 feet of boom around the panhandle area, specifically. And has another 250,000 feet in reserve if it needs it. Now on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning Crist is saying that they're also pushing BP to respond to claims by Florida business owners in crisis.
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: I mean I think they're trying to do the best they can and they can always do better. We're urging them to do better. We're more than urging them, we are demanding that they do better. The short term, if you will, we want the claims to be responded to much more quickly. Bp is setting up claims offices throughout the state but we want them to answer those claims more rapidly because these people need help. And we have to be there to try to make them as whole as we can during this very difficult process. There's a lot of businesses impacted by it. It's not just the restaurateurs but fishermen and people along the coast that really depend on the Gulf of Mexico for the very livelihood.
LUI: Also, going on offense in Florida, it is the tourism industry there. They've spent thousands of dollars on some new ads to try to convince tourists that Florida is a great place to vacation despite the oil spill and we had an opportunity to speak with Chris Thompson, head behind some of the new ads.
CHRIS THOMPSON, PRES./CEO, VISIT FLORIDA: We are having concern with 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 so there are a whole 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 in a year and we have done that by putting a section on the website called floridalive at 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: All right. We are hearing that currents in the Gulf of Mexico are pushing the oil still eastward. We have got Jacqui Jeras. You are looking at models for us since the beginning of this. What are you seeing right now today?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We are seeing the wind and ocean currents favorable to spread that oil further to the east, unfortunately. We'll start out with showing you the official forecast here in NOAA of expecting the oil to be for tomorrow. Keep in mind that, you know, we are looking at tar balls. Right? And the little puddles that are making the way on shore. So the light to moderate and even heavy oil is still far away from the coast, miles and miles away. Not like one big gush of oil washing up to the shore and going in there and cleaning it up. Should you go to the beach, for the most part, the places are fine. They just go in there and they clean it up and then you can go back to your business about what you are doing.
Now, let me show you, whoops, let's get rid of that one. Let me show you the winds at this time. This is a computer model forecast and all the little arrows depict which direction the wind is going to be going. This is the forecast for tomorrow and the longer the arrows are here, the stronger the winds are. And so this is what concerns me is seeing the really strong, long, arrows pushing towards the east and we think there's another indication that we'll watch that move into places like maybe Panama City beach, down the line.
Now, something else we're dealing with is an area of disturbed weather in the Gulf of Mexico. Look at the showers and thundershowers. This is moving up to the north and east and we have unstable conditions as a cold front comes down here, too. So any time you get thunderstorms which develop in the gulf here, they have erratic and gusty winds and chops up the water a bit. It can be good with that churning to help disperse it a little bit more. But it can also be a bad thing because when they start moving closer toward the coast, we have vessels out there, we have the skimmers and could change their game plan in terms of maybe having to take them out of the water or take the people out of that area. And last but not least, we have been talking a lot in the last few weeks about the loop current and how the eddy as spun off. We'll have to watch it as it progresses we think further north in the upcoming weeks.
LUI: That's a key point to watch for everybody.
JERAS: Absolutely. In the loop current, see where it goes ,down toward south Florida and then the Atlantic with the Gulf Stream.
LUI: Jacqui, thank you so much for that. Where that oil might be going.
Oysters are a Louisiana stable, fresh from the gulf to the table normally but even with an uncertain future for the shellfish, people in New Orleans are still celebrating. CNN photo journalist, Kevin Myers takes us to the oyster festival.
(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.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LUI: Great to see that resilience there, certainly. I got hungry there, Josh Levs, fried oysters, steamed oysters, nude oysters, oyster eating contest. Good time it looked like.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You don't get to eat a lot up there the past hour and a half.
LUI: I probably would have gained 20 pounds. I'm just drinking the normal water.
LEVS: I get to go eat.
LUI: You have viral videos for us. What do you have for us?
LEVS: Okay. I have more information for you on this which we were taking a look at yesterday. This is video out of Beijing which seems to show a woman creating her own parking spot by lying something down every time she needs one. I have employed the global resources of CNN to find out whether this is real or not. I'll tell you everything we have found out right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: All right. Viral video rewind. We have Josh Levs here for now, more on this. You are back.
LEVS: Rewinding to yesterday.
LUI: Because yesterday you showed us a video about a woman in Asia who was creating a parking space.
LEVS: Let's go to it. Yeah in Beijing. Right? What is you see is the viral video, it's so huge right now. It starts inside a car and then these guys seem to be waiting for a parking spot and this woman pulls away and as you are watching what happens, the guys think I'll take this spot. But then she gets out of her car and it turns out that spot she created is fake. Skip to the second section and see what happens now. Basically, gets down on the ground and she starts unrolling that parking spot she made.
LUI: So basically, her car used to be in the white square. She moved it out of there. She's rolling it up new.
LEVS: Look at that. So we wanted to know, is this real or not? I got an international desk here in Atlanta involved. Eileen Shay that does our news in London and I got our folks in Beijing. Take a look at this. Here's what we know. I cannot tell you definitively because the people who made this video aren't coming forward. It is viral in China, too. People are saying it's a brilliant commentary on the fact you can't find parking, especially in downtown Beijing and skip to the third section and then we'll be done with it. There is a story that quotes a police officer saying he thinks that this is probably a commentary. Whoops. Not yet. Come back to us. He think it's probably a commentary and joke and he thinks that if anyone did that they would be arrested.
LUI: When I'm looking at this Josh, if I were a meter maid and I saw that plastic on the floor, come on.
LEVS: Well, the thing is, when the car is parked there, it doesn't look plastic. You have to go over to every single parking spot and be like, is this plastic?
LUI: We'll dig deeper.
LEVS: We'll dig -- I want to say, if you created that --
LUI: Taking down the sign.
LEVS: That's what she does last. I love it. Last video is about to see. Get back to the Eiffel Tower.
LUI: A sign.
LEVS: Unbelievable. See what happens. Dude jumps off the Eiffel Tower. He's a roller blader, a daredevil. He leaps from the 131-foot high --
LUI: I'm scared from that perspective.
LEVS: Then he kind of falls toward the end. It is amazing. I love this video. He is inline skating champion, Tag Chris, 34 year old guy who has pretty much nerves of steel. Look at that. Can you imagine your stomach at that moment?
LUI: Straight into a big lump of marshmallows.
LEVS: Once you're on it, you could handle it.
LUI: No thank you.
LEVS: OK. Next viral video for you. Who thinks that a bunch of firefighters would be rap stars? But they just might. Take a look at the new rap song. Making the rounds online.
This is the Mid Land City Fire Department in Michigan and catching on. You know, July fourth is coming up. Rapping about fireworks. You have to see what happens at the very end. Skip toward the next section of the video. Look at the guy's teeth. He will have a little close-up of his teeth and you will see. Got some bling in there.
LUI: MFD on teeth there.
LEVS: I love it. So, you know, we'll see.
LUI: I'm not making a comment but maybe I am. Maybe they could do a little better. Maybe a little.
LEVS: It's a reminder of how important the day job is, right? Don't give it up. Thank you so much for the good work that you do.
LUI: What he is saying is keep your day jobs, I guess.
LEVS: Yeah.
LUI: What you're saying in so many words.
LEVS: You said it more bluntly. Next video is my personal favorite.
LUI: Another one?
LEVS: Yeah. So many. Engine block crusher. Chuck Norris of the shredding world. Look at this thing.
LUI: I love viral videos.
LEVS: You have seen this.
LUI: I haven't. You know what that is, right? These are engine blocks. These things are made -- they're cast iron in most cases. These things are what are inside of your car in the front. These things are solid normally and being torn apart you have some four- cylinder blocks, six-cylinder blocks.
LEVS: When Fred's here she doesn't get as excited. I think this is so Chuck Norris. I want to smash one of those things. Final machine is a paper -- we can end on this one. I love when people create things that don't make a sense and then they pick this up. We watch it. Live leaf.com.
LUI: What is that?
LEVS: It's more information on it. It's a machine made entirely of paper. There's nothing else in there but paper.
LUI: It looks like it's a 12-legged paper spider of some sort.
LEVS: I like that. I'm still impressed by your engine knowledge, that was amazing.
LUI: That will be my alarm clock now, just that sound of engine blocks being destroyed. This will obviously not be something that will wake me up.
LEVS: Doesn't sound like a pleasant way to say in the morning. Each his own, people.
LUI: Josh, you're way over time.
LEVS: Who, me?
LUI: Way over time.
Coming up, the effects of the oil disaster not confined to the gulf coast. Seafood lovers feeling is pinch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LUI: People are feeling the effects of the oil spill far from the gulf right now 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: Mm, makes you hungry. Thanks for spending part of your Sunday afternoon with us. Don Lemon is up next. We'll take you to a theater for a look at an edgy comedy about prejudice called "The Black Jew Dialogues."
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