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Americans Planned to Train for Jihad Arrested; BP Spill Likely Will Last Months; Somalia's Terror Role; Ripple Effect of Oil Spill Affects Iowa Farmers; Anger at B.P. Effects Gas Station Owners; Oil Spill Could Hurt Generations of Fishermen; Play Opens Race Discussion
Aired June 06, 2010 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: They are accused of plotting an attack that would dwarf the Fort Hood massacre. And like the Times Square suspect, they are American citizens arrested trying to board a plane. The terrorists next door -- how do you even know?
The Gulf of Mexico besieged by oil, despair and anger. The cries for answers are getting louder as doubts grow that an immediate fix is even possible.
Let's talk about black people and let's talk about Jewish people, and laugh while we're doing it. You'll understand after hearing our conversation this hour.
(MUSIC)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
It as new and disturbing example of American citizens accused of joining forces with America's enemies. Two New Jersey men are expected in federal court tomorrow. They were picked up last night at New York's JFK Airport. Prosecutors say the two were headed to Somalia to train for violent jihad.
Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is tracking the story for us in Washington -- Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, the two men from New Jersey were arrested Saturday night, just before boarding separate flights to Egypt. Strife-torn Somalia was their intended destination, 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.
Mohammad Alessa, 20, of North Bergen, and Carlos Almonte, 24, of Elmwood Park, are charged with conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap people overseas.
But New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is among those expressing concern that they could have eventually re-entered the U.S. on their American passports. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: It's not unlike other cases that we've seen recently where individuals who expressed 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: Search warrants were executed at the suspects' New Jersey homes. Alessa's landlord says he was the only child in a religious family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEMANT SHAH, ALMONTE'S LANDLORD: I was surprised that nothing, even yesterday when he was leaving, I have talked to him. And I said, hi, I heard that 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: 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 mujahedeen.
Their jihadi aspirations eventually focused on Somalia. In recordings made by an undercover New York police officer, Alessa allegedly discussed shootings and beheadings saying, "We'll start doing killing here if I can't do it over here."
On another occasion, Alessa purportedly says stay overseas unless a "leader ordered me to come back here and do something here. Ah, I 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 Fort 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 paint ball guns and computer software but there are no allegations that they bought real guns or posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
Neither of the men are of Somali origin. A law enforcement says Alessa is a U.S. citizen. His 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.
Don, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Jeanne Meserve, thank you very much for that, Jeanne.
Coming up in less than 10 minutes, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, will have more on the terror arrests and the increasing U.S. concern over Somalia's role as a training ground for extremists.
We want to turn to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. There's little doubt the broken well will spill crude all summer and probably into the fall. That's disturbing to hear. That's because the funnel that BP has placed over the gushing pipe cannot capture all of the oil.
So far, BP says it has siphoned off about 440,000 gallons since Friday when all the valves are closed and the cap is at maximum efficiency, it will only catch about 75 percent of the oil. That means about 200,000 gallons a day will continue to flow directly into the Gulf of Mexico. About the same amount -- keep in mind -- that BP said was originally coming out of that gushing hole.
National incident commander, Admiral Thad Allen, was visibly frustrated as he spoke today on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with our very own Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": The president says he is furious about this. What is Admiral Allen about this?
ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: I think everybody's anguished over this. You know, I've been working on the water for 39 years. This is -- 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.
But we have to redouble our efforts, 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 has been. We just have to stay on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now live from New Orleans.
Ed, you're becoming a permanent fixture there with the Mississippi River Bridge behind you and everything that's going on there. We heard Admiral Thad Allen this morning saying, at first, 6,000 gallons were being siphoned off, then 10,000. They will never get 100 percent from this. And they said it's going to probably be until August until all of the oil is stopped in the Gulf of Mexico. That is disturbing to hear.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. Everything that they're talking about as those relief wells that we've been talking about are drilled, and right now, the last count we had is that they were about 7,000 feet. They need to go about 16,000 to 18,000 feet. That's why it's going to take until August or so before those relief wells are completed.
So, the focus in the meantime is trying to create these systems and these ideas that will at least capture and pull the oil out of the ground. That's one of the reasons why you're seeing this containment cap which is that cap that was placed a few days ago on top of the blowout preventer. And they have started collecting some of that oil. But the last count yesterday, they were able to collect 10,500 barrels, which is roughly about 440,000 gallons.
But if you see those live pictures still coming from the bottom of the ocean, Don, you can still see a great deal of oil still spewing with a great deal of power into the Gulf right now.
LEMON: Yes. And you -- BP and the officials on the ground, these are only estimates. So, they don't know how much is really coming out, how much has really been stopped when they put the cap on. So, it's very frustrating.
Let's move on and talk about the people, because this process is going to go on, quite honestly, until it ends. But the people who are being affected, what about filing claims against BP and getting money? Is there any progress with that?
LAVANDERA: Well, in the meantime, as Admiral Allen had described this morning in making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows, that, essentially, the Gulf of Mexico is being held hostage because of this oil disaster. And quite frankly, it's a rather excellent analogy for what's going on, because with a great deal of the Gulf shut down for fishing and oystering and all that type of thing, many of these fishermen essentially on the sidelines, unable to work if they can't get jobs with BP to help clean up this mess.
So, BP has said they will pay a second month round of monies to people who had been -- the fishermen, for example, that had been put out of work because of this oil disaster. But, you know, we've talked to many of them and the initial checks that have gone out, BP is quick to say that these are just partial payments.
But the first round of money that they had received, we're hearing over and over from people, that it doesn't go far enough in making up what they've lost here in these recent weeks, which is really the most critical time of their fishing. A lot of these fishermen make their money now that they stuck away for later in the year when the fishing takes a downturn. But BP officials insist they will make things right.
LEMON: Yes -- and as you said, in the meantime. And being from there, I know that the people will go on. They go on after hurricanes and all sorts of disasters. And I look behind you, I see the people there on the river. I see the tugboats and the riverboats behind you. So, they will go on.
But we'll keep following this sorry to make sure that we get to the bottom of this disaster.
Ed Lavandera, appreciate it -- down in New Orleans. Thank you very much.
And as we told you at the top of the hour here on CNN, we're following a developing story. Two Americans arrested at JFK Airport in New York as they were leaving for Somalia for terror training. Next, we're taking a closer look at the African nation and its role in anti-American extremism.
Also, you may not live along the Gulf Coast but you may be affected by the oil disaster. Whether it's the food you eat or even the products you buy. Well, we'll take a look at what's already happening far away from the Gulf Coast.
And a really interesting segment for you that you really want to pay close attention to. It's a unique dialogue speaking to race in America. Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jewdar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jewdar. We could pick out another Jew just as easily as you could pick out as black guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are so bad!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Deciphering the message in the play, "The Black Jew Dialogues."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Today's word that two Americans have been arrested as they prepare to travel to Somalia, allegedly for terror training, has refocused attention on the country and its role as a base for extremists. And you might remember, American troops have been there before and there's growing concerns they will have to return now.
Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has more -- Barbara.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 TERRORISM ANALYST: When you've got anybody going to a jihadi war zone, hooking up with an al Qaeda affiliate and getting training, that's a problem because these guys are going to 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 Blackhawk 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)
LEMON: CNN's Barbara Starr, I should say, joins me now live.
Barbara, so the big question: American troops, really, can they be headed back to Somalia?
STARR: Well, you know, Don, I don't think in the numbers that we saw them there 15 years ago by any stretch. The memories of "Blackhawk Down" are very long and very bitter in the U.S. military.
What you should look for is more of these commando-style operations. Very covert, small teams, assassinations, trying to go after specific al Qaeda operatives in Somalia if they can find them. Those plans have actually been updated by the White House and the Pentagon. They are ready to go, doing more of these kinds of very targeted operations.
But you're not going to hear much about that until they're all over, until they have some success to report. This is some of the most secretive stuff the military's up to these days, Don.
LEMON: And some of what I've been reading and some of the reporting is saying Somalia may be the next Afghanistan. Dare we say that, Barbara?
STARR: Well, look, in terms of being a safe haven like Afghanistan was for al Qaeda, like the border region of Pakistan, like other regions across Africa, like next door, Yemen, which is also a safe haven for al Qaeda terrorists -- anywhere you have a government that is not strong, that is not really administering and controlling its own territory, this becomes a safe haven for al Qaeda. And Somalia is safe haven number one. You know, there has been this fighting there for 20 years. No government -- no functioning government at all.
And the al-Shabaab, this al Qaeda movement in Somalia, has really moved in. It is engaging in very heavy fighting. It's really very sad because, of course, it's the people of Somalia, right now, who are suffering the most, starving, lack of food, no jobs, homelessness. Many of them are just living out of tents at the side of the road -- Don.
LEMON: Yes, it's sad. Barbara Starr, thank you. Appreciate your reporting, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
LEMON: You know, it's not every day we hear about severe weather and tornados in the upper Midwest, but last night, it was dangerous and deadly for parts of Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. And right now, the threat has moved east and some of the most populated areas of the U.S. are in the bull's-eye.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has the outlook -- straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check your top stories here on CNN.
A deadly car bomb attack in Iraq today killed at least four people, including two police officers. A suicide attacker drove a bomb-laden car up to a gate of a Baghdad police station during a shift change. Thirteen other people were injured including eight officers.
Take a look now at this video.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All that chaos is for a murder suspect, Joran van der Sloot, being marched out before reporters and photographers in Peru. He is accused of killing a young Peruvian woman at a Lima hotel last week. He'll remain behind bars for at least another week while investigators gather evidence and gather more information. Van der Sloot was arrested twice but never charged in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
All 19 passengers and crew members of the Irish aid ship, the Rachel Corrie, were deported from Israel today. The ship was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Well, it was seized by Israeli naval commandos yesterday. It is the second shipment to be blocked in recent days. Nine Turkish citizens were killed in the first incident on Monday.
People in the Midwest are still picking up the pieces after a night of severe weather. Tornados and severe thunderstorms have killed at least seven people. Crews are still adding up the damage in Dundee, Michigan. Eleven people were taken to the hospital. Up to 500 people staying at a water park resort were evacuated safely to a middle school.
The mayor of Streator, Illinois, says his town looks like a war zone after a tornado touched down overnight. About 30 homes were damaged and three destroyed.
You know, if you live in the Mid-Atlantic States, this is a heads-up for you: some wicked storms are headed your way. We're going to go right to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in the CNN severe weather center.
Seven people are -- this system -- dead. And then, now, it's moving east, correct?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. A very aggressive storm system. It's certainly been on the move throughout the day today and overnight.
And as we continue to get more information on this story, unfortunately, the news just gets worse. As Don just said, seven people are now dead in this tornado. And this is in Wood County, Ohio. This is just outside of Toledo. These are brand new images just coming in from our will accurate WOIO.
And look at this -- these were actually homes. You can see just pieces of wood and pieces of the home just strewn about. You can see in the grass, just, you know, it's been scoured. You can actually see the marks from some of these tornados. More than 100 homes have been damaged or destroyed.
The high school in Lake Township here sustained quite a bit of damage. They were supposed to have graduation ceremonies there today. The class valedictorian lost his father in this tornado and they've been out searching, officials still today, to see if they're going to find anybody who might be trapped or possibly injured or, unfortunately, maybe didn't make it through these storms.
So, more than 50 reports of tornados from last night and early this morning.
Here's where that storm system is now. You can see just a couple of slivers left of the tornado watches as this cold front is advancing very quickly. Here you can see in the Boston area, you're still under a tornado watch, though no warning right now.
Take a look at a live picture out of Boston where the rain is coming down, very heavy, it's obscuring the visibility quite a bit. You need to stay indoors while these thunderstorms pass. I will give it maybe another half an hour or so, and I think you're going to be OK for the rest of the evening then.
We'll take you down towards Washington, D.C., into southern Virginia, towards the Delmarva, where strong to severe thunderstorms remain in effect as well as that watch. And the main threat area where it's most likely to see tornados with these storms is right around New York City on up into western parts of Massachusetts. So, another couple of hours, Don, and I think we'll be seeing improving conditions to the northeast and we'll be done with this cold front.
LEMON: Did you say tornados in New York City, in that area?
JERAS: Well, they were under the watch, but we think that's where the greatest threat area was today.
LEMON: That would not be good.
JERAS: Nothing on the ground.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much.
Coming up here on CNN:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.
My husband's a fourth generation fisherman. That's 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. Dr. Sanjay Gupta visits a mental health clinic that's trying to help those suffering from depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder.
Plus, seafood. That is an obvious one -- but the oil disaster can and may already be affecting you in ways you may not have thought of. No matter where you live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, oil spilling from the broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico will probably keep flowing into the fall. BP's cap over the gushing pipe is capturing only a fraction of the oil coming out of the blowout preventer. At maximum efficiency, the temporary fix will only suck up about 75 percent of the oil. And so far, BP says it has siphoned about 440,000 gallons since Friday. Two relief wells designed to stop the disaster are not expected to be finished until at least August.
The disaster in the Gulf is being felt all across the country. I want you to listen to this, from Annapolis all the way to -- I should say, from Annapolis, Maryland. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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, $50 a bushel.
ENDO: Buddy's normally gets daily shipments of fresh crabs from Louisiana. But now, they've had to cut back to one a week.
COOK: They're good crab. But the price has gotten out of reach. So, we just can't turn it over to the customer, we have to make a stand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was Annapolis, Maryland. Gulf shrimp are world famous. Now, they're almost impossible to get, as a seafood seller in St. Louis tells us. Check out KSDK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE OWENS, KSDK: Shrimping off the Louisiana coast is virtually shut down because of the oil. And the shrimp at Bob's are pricier because of that.
TONY RIVITUSO, BOB'S SEAFOOD: Price has definitely gone up. It's already increased probably twice in the last few weeks. So, you'll probably still continue to see a few more increases.
OWENS: Until?
RIVITUSO: They don't know. They're telling us -- I mean, from what you see on the other -- on TV, you're still hearing they might not shut it down until August. So, I mean, I don't understand how we can put people on the moon, we can't shut down a valve under water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was St. Louis. Let's go to Iowa not because not just seafood, the oil itself is affecting shipping on the Mississippi River. KCCI explains how that has a ripple effect with farmers in Iowa. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT, KCCI: The mess in the gulf could soon make a mess of Iowa's economy too.
CHAD HART, ISU ECONOMIST: It wouldn't take much to have a major impact here.
LEWIS: ISU economist, Chad Hart says that's because a large number of the things we use, from bananas to consumer electronics to the gas we put in our cars, come to us by ship through the gulf. And the sludge is beginning to coat those ships. And each ship then needs to be cleaned at each stop, slowing shipping down.
HART: The products we tend to import into Iowa will see higher prices because we won't be able to bring as much of those products into Iowa.
LEWIS: We won't be able to ship as much out to foreign markets either which, worst case scenario, could cost Iowa's grain farmers about one-sixth of their income.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Let's move on from Iowa. The B.P. brand is also taking a beating. Las Vegas affiliate, KLAS, has video of a gas station where the B.P. logo was covered with tape. Anger over the ongoing crisis is sometimes directed at station owners.
I spoke with a man who owns a number of B.P. stations about how this disaster is affecting his business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF MILLER, PRESIDENT, MILLER OIL COMPANY: We're really caught in the crossfire here, because we've been in this market for well over 30 years as a family business. We have over 300 employees. The businesses that we supply with the B.P. products are probably about another 300 employees.
So people are frustrated and they're upset, and rightfully so. And they want to take out -- they want to vent their anger and their frustration, and so they think, well, I'm not going to buy B.P. products anymore. The problem is that the people who are really getting hurt are your neighbors and other members in the community because these are the people who are working at these stores and these stations.
So it is a difficult situation because you certainly understand. And when we're able to talk to our customers and explain it, it usually it works out fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Take a look at this. This is a web site that you can get. It can tell you how the oil is affecting close to home. All you have to do is go here and you can put in your location. It will tell you how it's affecting seafood prices, all of that. Just go to the web site, on the bottom of your screen. It's "if it was my home." Ifitwasmyhone.com. Just go to this web site. It will tell you, anywhere in the country, where you are. Even if you think you're not being effected, go in and put your location and it will tell you how you are effected. It's a good resource. Go there and check it out.
In the meantime, we're going to talk again about the human toll of this. Entire generations of fishermen have made their living and fed their families from working the waters of the gulf coast.
But in the wake of the worst environmental disaster the U.S. has ever seen, two fishermen's wives tell our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, their children may not have that chance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL MORRIS, WIFE OF GULF COAST FISHERMAN: The oil is five inches thick --
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's Rachel. And that's Yvonne. They're both wives of fishermen who are now cleanup workers.
YVONNE LANDRY, WIFE OF GULF COAST FISHERMAN: Our last trip was May 15th, crabbing. My husband tells me, as he was coming back, because I love to ride, to look -- he tells me, take a good look around, 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.
MORRIS: 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's fourth generation fisherman. That's all we know. What do we do? Where do we go from here?
GUPTA (voice-over): How do you best describe the emotion? Are you frustrated, are you angry, and 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 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 this spells, we were running traps side by side. Everybody in the bay, being launched (ph). It was one big family.
MORRIS: I know, 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: If this place didn't exist, where would you go? Who would you talk to about it?
MORRIS: There's no where to go to even talk to anybody.
LANDRY: There's nobody.
MORRIS: There's nowhere to go where you feel comfortable enough to open up and let people know how you're feeling.
JOYCELYN 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 --
(CROSSTALK)
HEINTZ-GRAY: 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 mental health issues do tend to affect women more. Is that what you're seeing here?
LANDRY: They're taking their children, their husbands, then their own problems. They're taking it all on by themselves.
MORRIS: I have to hold my head high and I have to keep a smile on my face to keep 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 (on camera): That's the St. Bernard project, a free mental health clinic set up after Katrina. They see about 90 patients a week. And I can tell you, around here, there are many more patients than that that need help.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, Sanjay.
You could be in for big money if you get bumped from an airline flight. And check this out.
(MUSIC)
LEMON: A true one-man band that you won't believe. We'll show you how that one guy can get the sound of an orchestra.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time now for top stories. Two New Jersey men are expected to appear in court tomorrow to face charges that they conspired to kill, maim and kidnap people outside the U.S. They were arrested at New York's JFK Airport last night, allegedly heading for Somalia to begin training at extremist camps.
Smoke and flames shooting into the air in eastern Afghanistan today. A suicide bomber rammed a NATO convoy. It was just one of a string of attacks across the country that killed five NATO soldiers and three Afghans. President Hamid Karzai today removed the interior minister and intelligence chief over their failure to stop attacks last week on a peace conference in Kabul.
Check out this frightening race car crash last night in Ft. Worth, Texas. Unbelievable. Indy car driver Simona De Silvestro's car burst into flames when she slammed into the wall. Watch as rescue crews struggle to get her out of the burning car. Thankfully, she suffered only minor burns on her right hand. Tonight, she is out of the hospital. Wow.
Video games such as "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" use instrument- shaped controllers to make you feel like you're part of the band.
Grammy-award winning jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny, is taking the concept a step further, using a guitar to control the entire ensemble.
(EDGE OF DISCOVERY)
LEMON: That was really cool.
OK, "The Black Jew Dialogues." You may have just gotten offended when I said that. But hang on. It's supposed to be a comedic look at prejudice in America. So I want you to stick around for this segment. It's very interesting and it's up next
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Get ready for this, because it sounds controversial, but it's supposed to be comical. The theatrical play, "The Black Jew Dialogues," is all about its name, and it involves two actors who explore what they call the absurdity of prejudice.
Photo journalist, Ken Tuohy, was in the audience last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON JONES, ACTOR: There we go, all right.
LARRY TISCH, ACTOR: Nice. A Jew-fro, I have one.
JONES: No, no, an afro.
TISCH: Afro, Jew-fro?
JONES: In your case, a nap-fro.
TISCH: Well, whatever.
TISCH: We've been doing this since March 2006. I had this title, "The Black Jew Dialogues." I knew Ron as an Improv artist and an actor. and he is black and I need a black guy. I knew it was a two-mankind of dialogue show.
JONES: You are so bad!
TISCH: Am I supposed to (INAUDIBLE).
JONES: Larry came to me one day and said, let's write a show. I went, OK. Had nothing better to do.
TISCH: And we started to write.
JONES: We drove 100 miles west to Boston and we got a hotel room and we wrote for three days.
TISCH: That's where we wrote the show. We locked ourselves into a hotel.
Jews have Jew-dar.
JONES: What?
TISCH: Jew-dar. We can pick out another Jew just as easily as you can pick out a black guy.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: It's 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.
You get to have your birthday party in your church? And they pay you?
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.
TISCH: Hey, hey, this isn't a joke, Ronnie. It's not -- this is the Torah, the word of God.
As artists, we lay out what we see and what we feel. If it's crossing somebody's lines we really can't control that too much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: After their performance yesterday, we invited the actors to speak with us. Larry J. Tisch couldn't make it, but Ron Jones was able to. He explains why the country needs honest talk like "The Black Jew Dialogues."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON JONES, "THE BLACK JEW DIALOGUES": I think for a lot of folks, the commonality that 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: And you know, I live in New York. I went to Brooklyn College.
JONES: Yes.
LEMON: I hear people say, I have lots of black friends. But I have a lot of Jewish friends.
(LAUGHTER) We always talk, oy, and all that, whatever you do, the whole thing. I've heard of the Jew-fro. I've never really talked about Jew-dar that much.
JONES: Oh, yes, yes. Oh, yes. Well, you know what's funny. We have a part in the show that I get to test Larry's Jew-dar with the audience.
(LAUGHTER)
And it's 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. She screamed. It was hilarious. It was a great moment.
LEMON: And you have to be careful. I always say when people who are not of a certain culture get too familiar with it, you've got to be careful because I know that --
JONES: Right. Right.
LEMON: -- there are some people who think they're so familiar with black culture, after a while, it becomes insulting. I don't want to do the same thing with Jewish culture as well. But it's 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's really 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. 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. Our political discourses isn't necessarily the greatest model for giving us, the common people, 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're willing to be honest with someone and give them a little bit of rope, to maybe make of rope to maybe make a mistake in the name of understanding, you really are going to get to something significant.
LEMON: You know it is funny, because -- and I applaud people like Jon Stewart and Chelsea Handler (ph) and all these people --
JONES: Right.
LEMON: -- who say, oh, that is really Jewy. Because it's the same thing, people go, oh, it is a black thing, right?
JONES: Exactly.
LEMON: And I think we have reached a point in our culture we can do that. what is the biggest thing you learned from this? Did you have an epiphany or a-ha moment when you were doing this had?
JONES: Is so funny, I have a-ha moments during almost every show. Some on the stage with my partner, Larry, mostly in the discussion we do after the show with our audience. We insist upon that. And it's usually people just sharing their ideas, sharing their insights and feelings about 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's your partner's name? He couldn't be here. He's traveling. He's on a plane, right? What is his name?
JONES: He is actually in the suitcase right behind me.
(LAUGHTER)
He is name is Larry J. Tisch. And I refuse to let him speak.
LEMON: Well, to you and Larry, I say l'chaim (ph).
JONES: Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you.
JONES: You're a dear boy. We love you. You are a dear boy. You're fantastic.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: We are going to get in trouble for this, two black men --
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: Yes, we are.
LEMON: -- doing this stuff. But anyway, it is all in good fun.
Thank you, my friend. Good to see you.
JONES: Yes. Thanks, Don.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wouldn't it be interesting if we could talk about racial issues like that, all of us? Might get a lot accomplished.
The next performance of "The Black Jew Dialogues," Friday, August 20th, at Illinois State University. LeBron James is the best free agent available once the NBA season ends. Our sports business analyst, Mr. Rick Horrow, breaks down exactly what it would mean to have LeBron on your team. It goes way beyond wins and losses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The courtship of NBA star LeBron James. Sounds a little like a soap opera, but it's big money for several major U.S. cities.
Our sports business analyst, Mr. Richard Horrow, joins me from West Palm Beach.
Remember, what was it, "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," You are too young to remember that.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: But this one has more at stake.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Let's talk about listening first to LeBron James. He talks to CNN's Larry King, Rick, about the current ties to Cleveland and possibly getting together with some other NBA free agents to discuss where they might go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: Do you lean at all toward the place you know the best? I mean, do they have an edge going in? Your home team?
LEBRON JAMES, NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because, you know, this city, these fans, I mean, has given me a lot in these seven years. You know, for me, it's comfortable. So I got a lot of memories here and so it does have an edge. But it's -- it's going to be a very interesting summer. I'm looking forward to it.
KING: You can't wait to hear? Do you wish it were July 1st?
JAMES: I wish it was July 1st.
KING: All right. Now there is a story circulating today. I don't know if it is true. I wrote it down just to make sure.
(LAUGHTER)
You can tell me. That you are going to get together, you, with Bosch and Wade (ph) and Stottlemyre (ph) and Lee and Johnson and Allen and Knewitski (ph) and all of these sort of --
(LAUGHTER)
Is this funny? You're --
JAMES: Like a little committee. KING: Yes.
JAMES: A little free-agent committee?
KING: A free-agent committee, no one can stop you. You are all free agents. The league can't tell you not to do this.
JAMES: Right.
KING: What if I go here, you go here and you go here? Is that possible?
JAMES: I don't know to that extent, but it will be fun. It will be fun to get all free agents together and, you know, figure out a way how we can make the league better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Rick, that was a great interview by Larry King there. But, you know, let's talk about these package deals. Is it possible for star players to get together and choose their teams?
HORROW: They certainly have leverage to do it, because all the free agent contracts that matter end at the same time this year. So they may have leverage over the team there is a salary cap. These players will get the maximum. that is $15, $16 million a year. The teams with the players -- on their current teams, they've premium. They can sign you for longer and there's a little bit of a kicker. If LeBron stays in Cleveland, he can make about $30 million more, don. And there is a secret. He has "330" tattooed on his arm. That's the area code of Akron. It's going to cost him a lot of money to change it.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: There is laser now. With that much money a year, I think he can afford to get it removed. But, you know --
HORROW: I thought I was breaking the scoop here. I apologize.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I want to ask you -- how much is this -- you said he'd get more money if he stayed in Cleveland. Not even if he goes to a city like New York? Because there's video -- commercials of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that feature him. So how much economically does this mean to cities? And why couldn't he make more money if went to a rich city like New York?
HORROW: For LeBron himself, he makes about $30 million in endorsements with Nike, McDonald's and Sprite. There is no kicker about where you go to play basketball. Nike is a global company. They say it -- they may say it doesn't matter where you're headquartered as a player because we are a world where Internet can get you every where. As for the cities, I'm at the national league of cities -- National Conference of Mayors, excuse me, in Oklahoma City on Thursday. The LeBron sweepstakes is bigger than anything. The mayor of Akron says don't go to New York. And Mayor Bloomberg has a "Come on New York" campaign and even threatening to name it -- LeBron, one of the boroughs, by the way.
And you may remember I was helping with bringing the Miami Heat to Miami. This is an original Miami Heat T-shirt.
LeBron, if you come, this is yours. I literally give you the shirt off my back. How's that?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I think it is a done deal. I think for that shirt, you just sealed the deal.
(LAUGHTER)
He is going to go there. One more question for you. Boston and Los Angeles in the NBA. Could you have asked for a better match-up?
HORROW: Well, no, you know, it completely minimizes the whole LeBron factor. They are four of the power-100 players for Boston/L.A. It's number-seven market against number-two market. And they have over 30 NBA titles between them. This is the legacy that Commissioner Stern is talking about when he says the NBA goes to 215 countries. It is the excitement people are thinking about before the World Cup starts, which we will talk about, I know, next week.
LEMON: Mr. Richard Horrow, thank you, sir. Have a great rest of your weekend.
HORROW: All right, my friend.
