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Oil Likely to Keep Flowing into Gulf All Summer; Conspiring to Kill, Maim and Kidnap?; Iconic Journalist Under Fire; Agent Drops Veteran Journalist for Anti-Semitic Remarks; Impact of Oil Disaster Felt Far From Gulf; A Preview of "Atlanta Child Murders"

Aired June 06, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, reality check. The people in charge of the Gulf cleanup say the temporary fix may have made things worse. It will be days before they know for sure, months before the oil gush is stopped.

American citizens accused of plotting an attack that would dwarf the Fort Hood massacre. And like the Times Square suspect, they're arrested trying to board a plane. The terrorists next door. How would you even know?

And Helen Thomas' comment about Jewish people has cost her agent, and if President Bush's former front man gets his way, her job as well. Ari Fleischer tells me why he wants the legendary reporter fired.

Good evening, everyone.

BP's oil disaster will likely be with us all summer, maybe even longer. New estimates are expected in coming days about how much oil is now flowing out of the broken well. The flow rate is higher than ever as BP cut the riser pipe.

Now the company says the containment cap placed over the gushing pipe has collected about 700,000 gallons of oil so far, but the method won't capture all of it, and it will be at least two months before two relief wells are finished, which are supposed to finally end this crisis. Unless engineers can come up with another solution, that massive oil spill will get larger and larger, poisoning the Gulf of Mexico.

National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen was visibly frustrated as he spoke to our Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": The president says he is furious about this. What is Admiral Allen about this?

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Well, I think 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.

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 re-double 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 has been. We just have to stay on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We're going to go right now to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He is joining us from New Orleans.

So, Ed, this disaster now seems to be worse and not better. And I want to talk to you about this. We talked a little bit about this last night.

So less oil was coming out of the 22-inch pipe, which is the size of this smaller circle. More oil, up to 20 percent more, is coming out of that riser pipe that they cut, the larger circle, 22 inches here.

So, is it fair to say that more oil is spilling into the Gulf right now? How is this progress?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what's interesting, and what we'll have to see here in the coming days as BP says it gets a better handle on that containment cap and starts capturing more and more, which they say they will start doing here in the coming days. They're still adjusting that, going through tests and that sort of thing and slowly starting to siphon off more.

But they said that yesterday they captured some 10,500 barrels, which translates to about 440,000 gallons. And remember, those experts that come out with some ballpark figures on how much they thought that cap was -- that spew -- that oil spill was actually dumping into the Gulf of Mexico was somewhere between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels. But then, as you mentioned, they cut off that riser, which allowed, according to BP, about 20 percent more.

So it's rather confusing at this point, because more was let out, they're capturing some, they say they can increase how much they're capturing. But overall, if this containment cap doesn't really work fully, they have taken a big risk here in allowing more oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

LEMON: Yes. You mentioned numbers here. You said about a fraction of what is gushing out of that. When they say a vast majority, what do they mean by a vast majority that they're able to capture?

LAVANDERA: Well, they have been talking, BP officials saying that if this containment cap works exactly the way they expect it to work, it could reach up to -- containing -- capturing about 90 percent of the oil spill at this point. So, we're still several days away from seeing if that is actually possible. That would be amazing news considering all of the setbacks that they've experienced so far. But we'll have to see if they can reach that 90 percent mark.

LEMON: All right. In the coming days, what can we expect, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Well, this week will be interesting. I think from a political standpoint, you will see a lot more movement from the Obama administration to, you know, make sure that they can communicate to the American people that they've got a handle on what's going on here and that they're pushing BP to do everything that it can.

And also, from a poignant standpoint, you will see the families of the victims that died in this explosion, back on April 20th, you will see the families of the Deepwater Horizon victims visiting the White House on Thursday and meeting with the president then. So that will be an emotional end to this week as well.

LEMON: Thank you very much for that, Ed Lavandera. And Ed talked about the families of the victims. I want to sort of turn now and talk about this because 126 people were on the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20th when it erupted into a fireball. Eleven men died. Everyone else got out alive.

In a CNN exclusive, our Anderson Cooper spoke to several of them. Listen as three of them describe the terrifying experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG BROWN, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: I looked up at the fire on the rig floor, and it was getting larger. And that was scaring me. It was starting to spread down on to the main deck. And it was actually so bright you couldn't even look at it anymore. And it -- it actually started sounding like a living thing, because it was hissing so loudly, it was almost sounding like the beginnings of a roar of a creature.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fire actually sounded almost alive?

BROWN: Yes. And it just continued to grow. And finally the order was given for us to board the lifeboats.

COOPER: And you don't remember any of this at this point?

BRENT MANSFIELD, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: No, sir. I just -- Doug was probably the first person that I had gotten in contact with after I got to the hospital. You know, I didn't know where I was working at the time, you know, when I started really -- after I saw my family and --

COOPER: It's hard for all of you. It's tough to talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very hard.

COOPER: How about for you, man? Where were you when the first explosion hit?

MATTHEW JACOBS, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: Out in the hallway. I mean, there's people screaming, hollering. I mean, it's -- it's like the movie "Titanic," right before the ship sinks. Everybody is just -- I mean, I could feel the heat from the flames as soon as I came out on to the smoke deck.

But when I got up on the lifeboat deck, I just stopped and I looked up. And I was like, this ain't -- I said this can't be happening. I said, there's no way we can put that fire out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Hear more from five survivors as they tell Anderson Cooper how they got off the burning oil rig alive. It's an "AC 360" exclusive. It's tomorrow night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Deadly thunderstorms and tornadoes have been raking the Midwest. We've got some dramatic pictures to show you now out of Ohio. A twister touched down in Lake Township, northeast of Columbus, leaving a seven-mile path of destruction. Seven people were killed, including a 5-year-old boy. Lake Township's police chief says it looks like a war zone there.

Powerful storms also battered Michigan and Illinois, injuring dozens of people. Gusting winds ripped the siding off a Michigan nuclear plant, causing it to shut down automatically. Crews are inspecting it to make sure that it is safe to go back into operation.

Two American men arrested at New York's JFK Airport, allegedly headed overseas to train at a terror camp in Somalia. We're learning more about them tonight.

Plus this -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she's crossed all lines, all boundaries, and has said something that is just horrific.

LEMON: Yes.

ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Could you imagine the uproar there would be if somebody said that all blacks need to leave America and go home to Africa? They would have already lost their jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer telling CNN tonight that legendary reporter Helen Thomas should be fired over an anti-Semitic comment. She said Jews should, quote, "get the hell out of Palestine." Her comment, her apology, and Fleischer's reaction to all of it straight ahead here. And don't just sit there. Make sure you become part of the conversation if you send us a comment. Send me an e-mail or a tweet on Twitter or on Facebook and check out my blog at cnn.com/don. I want to hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Two New Jersey men are expected in federal court tomorrow morning in New Jersey. They were arrested last night at New York's JFK Airport, allegedly headed to Somalia to train for violent jihad. It is the newest example of American citizens accused of joining forces with America's enemies. Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is tracking the story for us in Washington tonight.

Jeanne?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (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-Shabab, 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.

COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: It's 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 suspect's New Jersey homes. Alessa's landlord says he was the only child in a religious family.

HEMANI SHAH, ALMONTE'S LANDLORD: I was surprised that nothing -- even just yesterday when he was leaving, I had talked to him, and I said, hi, I heard that you're going away. He said, yes, I'm going out. And I said, for how long? And he said, 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." 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.

(on camera): 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Tom Fuentes joins me now in San Francisco to talk about these arrests. He's a former assistant director of the FBI's Office of International Operations.

Thank you, sir, for joining us tonight. So we're seeing more and more American citizens arrested for alleged involvement with terror groups. Is this a trend that is here to stay? Is it growing, or are we just reporting more about it?

TOM FUENTES, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: No, it's a trend and it's growing and there are dozens of cases just like this one, that we have individuals who are talking about wanting to become jihadists. The authorities have to look at them. They have to conduct the investigation to determine how serious they are and at what point will they go from just wannabes to actual terrorists.

LEMON: Do we know how many Americans are caught up in this? How many are here right now inside of the U.S.? Can you tell?

FUENTES: No. The FBI is not going to disclose the exact number of individuals or cases that they're looking at right now, but it's many. It's dozens of people around the country that are being looked at, who are making the same kind of statements that these guys made, checking video of Awlaki and other people trying to inspire them to be jihadist.

As Jeanne noted in this case, you know, they had gone to Jordan and apparently flunked the entrance exam there to become jihadists, came back to the U.S., lowered their expectations, and decided they'd go to Somalia and hope to be accepted there.

So, the investigation will be focused now on were there any others with them, but I don't think they'll have a problem understanding it because of having the New York City undercover police officer, the investigators, the FBI, New York City police, the New Jersey investigators will all be pretty well aware of what these guys knew, who their contacts were, and what they were trying to do.

LEMON: So we are already involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the question is, is Somalia the next Afghanistan? Are we going to have to send American troops over there?

FUENTES: Well, I don't know the answer to that question, whether or not we're going to engage on the ground there. But certainly, we're going to have to engage on the ground here with individuals who express a desire to become jihadist.

And as Commissioner Kelly mentioned, even though the indications are that they're going to fight overseas, they still wanted to kill Americans, and as a matter of convenience, there's a lot more Americans to kill here than there are in the Horn of Africa.

LEMON: Tom Fuentes, thank you. Always appreciate your information.

FUENTES: Yes, Don, thanks.

LEMON: President Clinton stumping for an incumbent senator in danger of being defeated. We're talking about that race and the sex scandal-plagued race for governor in South Carolina. CNN's senior political editor, Mark Preston, is standing by for us.

And seafood, that's an obvious one, but the oil disaster can and may already be affecting you in ways you may not have even thought of, no matter where you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Boy, it is a big week in politics ahead. Another incumbent could go down to defeat, and there are key party primaries Tuesday in several other states, including California. Our senior political editor, Mark Preston, is in Washington tonight.

Congratulations, by the way, senior. That's a big deal, man. It's a big deal.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Thank you.

LEMON: So let's talk about Arkansas, that Senate race there -- the runoff for incumbent Blanche Lincoln, right? She's in the fight for her life. How did she get into this position with Bill Halter? How did she get into this position?

PRESTON: Well, Don, this is a classic internal fight in the Democratic Party. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate, some would say a centrist Democrat here in Washington, D.C., has really angered the unions and have angered the likes of moveon.org, these liberal advocacy groups. They have gone into Arkansas. They are backing the lieutenant governor, Bill Halter, who is running this challenge from her left into her.

In fact on Tuesday, it's not even a primary day necessarily, it's the second contest between these two of them. It's a runoff. So Blanche Lincoln is really facing the buzz saw of liberal politics right now and we'll see what happens on Tuesday night. If she loses, Don, she would be the fifth incumbent this year to lose, the third senator and the fifth incumbent to lose in a primary.

LEMON: And not even -- not even president -- former President Clinton's presence could help her?

PRESTON: Well, you know, he's down there. He's on the air right now in a TV ad that she has put up. She has gone down there -- he has gone down there and campaigned on her behalf, Don. And in fact, Bill Halter appeared or was in his administration, and guess what, Bill Clinton is still backing Blanche Lincoln. But again, really, she is in the fight for her political life.

LEMON: So, I want to go here now. We're going to talk about California, the GOP battle there. Meg Whitman has spent like $70 million of her own money? I mean, why so much money? Carly Fiorina has spent a lot of money. Why so much money in this race in California?

PRESTON: Well, Don, we have two races right now. We have Meg Whitman who's running for governor against Steve Poizner for the Republican nomination. Look, they're trying to succeed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

California is in a world of hurt right now. But what you have in Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, these two folks who are running for the Republican nomination, folks who have made a lot of money in the dot- com industry, as you said, close to $95 million just on the primary.

On the Democratic side, Jerry Brown -- a lot of people remember him as Moon Beam Brown is going to walk in and win the Democratic nomination. But I will tell you, that will be quite a race we'll see coming in November. Right now, Meg Whitman seems to be leading in the polls.

LEMON: Every time I get the political ticker in my e-mail or I get an e-mail from you as the senior political editor, and I see what's going on in South Carolina, what is going on? Racial slurs, allegations of, you know, liaisons, all kinds of things. What's up in South Carolina?

PRESTON: Yes, crazy. I mean, how do I even explain this? In fact, our colleague, Peter Hamby, really has his thumb on the pulse of it and he's down in South Carolina right now, digging in and doing some reporting.

But the fact is, we have down there is this four-way race for the Republican nomination for governor to replace Mark Sanford. Our viewers all remember Mark Sanford.

Well, one of the candidates is a woman by the name of Nikki Haley. She's been endorsed by Sarah Palin. But Nikki Haley in the past couple of weeks, two men have come out and said that they've had extramarital affairs with Nikki Haley, which Nikki Haley says that is not the case. In the last couple of days, Don, we've had one of the allies for one of the candidates who's challenging Nikki Haley come out and call her a raghead, because she is the daughter of Indian immigrants.

So, I don't really know how to explain what's going on in South Carolina. What I can tell you, though, on Tuesday night, there probably won't be a clear winner. We will see a runoff. Nikki Haley will be in the runoff. LEMON: Yes. I found it interesting you mentioned Mark Sanford. Jenny Sanford came out and released a statement and said, "come on, we're better than this, can we stop this," which I found interesting.

Thank you, senior. Thank you, sir. Always good to see you.

You know, the Atlanta child murders left a city in fear for two years. Now 30 years later, questions still linger about the Atlanta child murder case. Questions of guilt or innocence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to check your top stories right now. Eleven people caught in an avalanche while climbing to the summit of Washington's Mt. Rainier are safe tonight. Park rangers say one man climbing by himself is still missing and feared dead. Helicopters searched the slopes after the avalanche struck yesterday before being grounded by bad weather.

And some incredible video to show you. Look at this. It's a fiery car crash last night in Fort Worth, Texas. Indy Car driver Simona de Silvestro's car burst into flames when she slammed into a wall. Look at the rescue crews trying to struggle to get her out of that burning car, really just yanking her and yanking her to pull her out. Thankfully, she suffered only minor burns on her right hand, and tonight she is out of the hospital.

It is a symbolic event for soccer fans around the globe. Today, the president of South Africa handed back the World Cup trophy to the president of FIFA, the group behind the international soccer tournament. Well, the ceremony shows South Africa is ready for the kickoff, which is this Friday. South Africa is first African country to host the World Cup.

Outrage over an anti-Semitic comment. What veteran reporter Helen Thomas said that has former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer calling for her to be fired tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: For the last half century, she's put many politicians' feet to the fire. Now Helen Thomas, the longest-serving member of the White House press corps, is under fire herself. Tonight, her agent has dropped her, several colleagues have denounced her, all for comments she made to a rabbi last month on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments on Israel? We're asking everyone today.

HELEN THOMAS, HEARST NEWSPAPERS COLUMNIST: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. Any better comments?

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 should go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the home?

THOMAS: Poland, Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they should go back to Poland and Germany?

THOMAS: And America and everywhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, critics say Thomas, whose parents were Lebanese, should lose her job as columnist for the Hearst News Service. That's what Ari Fleischer wants. Fleischer was White House press secretary under President George W. Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Could you imagine the uproar there would be if somebody said that all blacks need to leave America and go home to Africa? They would have already lost their jobs. And I had nothing but respect for Helen. We always ideologically disagreed, but I liked her.

LEMON: Yes. That was my next point. I know that people disagree ideologically, but you can still be friends or still be co-workers. Have you reached out to her at all? Have you tried to talk to her about why she said this?

FLEISCHER: No, I haven't directly tried to get in touch with Helen. And I always admired the fact that she was in her 80s when I was the press secretary and came to work every day.

But this is so different. This is in a unique category. And if people can say this and just get a basic pass at it, and put out a statement later as she did calling for tolerance, when she herself engaged in one of the most intolerant statements anybody could ever made, people should not sit by silently. Hearst should not continue to employ her.

Even a signal that would be sent if they gave her a two-week suspension would be very powerful about telling people what is right and what is wrong and how far people should go to express their political views. It's abhorrent to say that any ethnic group, racial group or religious group should have to leave and go home from where they came from. It's a terrible thing to say.

LEMON: You guys really used to go at it, and you brought that up. Let's take a look at 2001 and then you and I will talk about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President to meet Yasser Arafat. FLEISCHER: As soon as we have anything to announce, if we do, we will let you know.

THOMAS: That's not an answer. This has been very one-sided dialogue. You have not talked to any president, not talked to any Palestinian leader face to face and we want to know why.

FLEISCHER: Helen, the president has met with many...

THOMAS: Two sides to this conflict, you know.

FLEISCHER: The president has met with many Arab leaders who have come here and met with him in the Oval office.

THOMAS: They're not Palestinians.

FLEISCHER: And Secretary Powell, as you know, will be meeting with Palestinian Authority tonight, tomorrow, and the next several days.

LEMON: You have to appreciate her tenacity as a journalist to do something like that. But did you sense any bias when you worked together with her?

FLEISCHER: Oh, of course, and that bias is fine. She's a columnist. She's entitled to her bias. That's what columnists do. And Helen is very pro-Palestinian, pro-Yasser Arafat. That was her point of view, and I never minded the ideological clashes that Helen and I would get into. I wrote about her actually very fondly in my book.

But this is a category unto itself. This is the type of discrimination -- it's a call for religious cleansing, that all Jews need to get out of Israel? To go home where they came from? Nobody would accept this if it were said about other racial groups or religious groups. We should not accept this from Helen Thomas.

LEMON: I want to say that she did apologize, and here's what she said. She said, "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon."

Apparently, you're not satisfied with that and apparently her agent and the co-author of her book are not satisfied as well with that.

FLEISCHER: No. And I think it tells you something that when a group that's in the business of making money, a speaking agency, says that from a moral point of view, they no longer want to represent her. That's a powerful statement about right and wrong, and I salute them for doing that and saying that.

But I think that apology is too little, too late. How can somebody who expresses such hatred in their heart then right away call for tolerance and acceptance? That's hypocritical. That's what you do after you're caught and you want to get out of being caught?

LEMON: Are you concerned about any -- I don't know, alienation from people who may not agree with you on this issue?

FLEISCHER: Well, listen, I've already gotten hate mails sent to me that's anti-Jewish. I'm Jewish, and that's one of the reasons I take offense to what she said. I have relatives who live in Israel. She's telling my relatives to get out.

But it goes beyond that. I'm an American. And as Americans, we all need to stand together and say to people who practice hate that Helen's words were hateful. That this is not going to be accepted. That's why it's so important that we hear from Hearst. What will Hearst do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We did reach out to Helen Thomas. She did not respond to us.

And straight ahead, a look at big stories that will be making news this week in the U.S. and around the world.

And pausing to mark a day that changed world history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, we're checking the stories that you'll be hearing a lot about in the week ahead from the Pentagon to Wall Street to Hollywood. Tonight, we start, of course, on the Gulf coast.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where the president made his third trip to the Gulf region, a region devastated by that oil spill. It's really dominating the president's time, though of course, he's trying to take on many other projects as well.

Monday, if fact, he's going to Kalamazoo, Michigan, a rare chance for the president to deliver a high school commencement address. Presidents don't usually do that, but in this case, the president is rewarding a school that has been working on his Race to the Top program. A big chance for the president to lay out his education goals.

I'm also told by senior aides, the president will be working behind the scenes this week on trying to push through tough new sanctions against Iran's nuclear program before the U.N. Security Council. So a lot on the president's plate.

At this point, top aides say he has no plans this week to make a fourth trip to the Gulf region. But obviously given the unfolding nature of this, that could change at any moment.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr in Washington. President Obama's nomination of Pentagon official James Clapper as his director of National Intelligence has already led to brewing controversy on Capitol Hill, where some Democrats and Republicans have a frosty relationship with the retired Air Force general. Look for a chilly confirmation hearing in the heat of the summer.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM ANCHOR: Well, a lot ahead this week in the world of business. Apple will take the spotlight on Monday as CEO Steve Jobs speaks at a developers' conference in San Francisco. And then attention will turn to Washington, where Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak.

But the real focus this week will be on Wall Street reform, as Senate and House leaders meet to reconcile financial regulatory legislation. It is the most sweeping overhaul of our banking system since the 1930s and the market will be watching it all very closely. We'll track it for you on "CNNMoney."

A.J.HAMMER, ANCHOR, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer, and here's what we are watching this week. Now, Charlie Sheen is expected in court on Monday. "People" magazine says he's going to plead to a misdemeanor in his domestic violence case and then he'll immediately begin serving a 30-day jail sentence.

And the MTV Movie Awards are tonight. Sandra Bullock is getting an award. Big news breaking on "Showbiz Tonight" live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and we are still TV's most provocative entertainment news show, every night at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.

LEMON: All right. Thanks to everyone. And Azadeh Ansari is here to tell us what's going on internationally. Want to start in India?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK: Let's start in India.

LEMON: All right. Tell us what's happening in India.

ANSARI: Well, at Bhopal, India, we have a verdict that's expected to come in on the trial of Union Carbide Indian officials who -- you know, this is considered one of the worst -- world's worst industrial disasters. In 1984, there was a gas leak that killed 20,000 people, injured 60,000 other people. So we'll watch to see what happens out of India.

LEMON: OK. And we'll be marking an anniversary here as we go now to Iran.

ANSARI: Can you believe it's been a year? A year since the post-election fallouts that happened after the disputed elections. Millions of people hit the streets and violent protests ensued. And actually, opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have called for demonstrations on Saturday. So we'll see what happens.

LEMON: And it's interesting, the green band for democracy in Iran has become just democracy around the world. I see people wearing it.

And you want to go all the way down here. There we go.

ANSARI: And the games kick off on Friday. That's right. So we can expect, what, half a million people to be in Johannesburg. So, you know, all eyes will be on there and millions of others will be watching on TV and online.

LEMON: You want to go?

ANSARI: I'd love to go. Do you have tickets?

LEMON: Bosses, if you're watching, Azadeh and I would love to go and cover this. It would be great, right? Don't you think? It's history.

Azadeh, always good to see you. Thank you.

ANSARI: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: The catastrophe in the Gulf could have far more reaching effects than first thought. And if you think you won't be affected, if you don't live there, well, we've got a reality check for you tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, oil spilling from BP's broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico will probably keep flowing well into the fall. The cap over the gushing pipe is capturing only part of the oil coming out from the blowout preventer. At maximum efficiency, the temporary fix might only suck up about 75 percent of the oil. And so far, BP says it has siphoned about 700,000 gallons since Friday. Two relief wells designed to stop the disaster are not expected to be finished until at least, at least, August.

Well, the disaster in the Gulf is being felt all across the country from seafood to shipping. People everywhere are dealing with the fallout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER (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, $40, $50 a bushel.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 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 crabs, but the price has gotten out of reach. So, we can't just turn it over to the customer. We have to make a stand. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Shrimping off the Louisiana coast is virtually shut down because of the oil. And the shrimp at Bob's are pricier because of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The price has definitely gone up. It's already increased probably twice in the last few weeks. So you will probably still continue to see a few more increases.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Until?

TONY RIVITUSO, BOB'S SEAFOOD: They don't know. They're telling us -- I mean, from what you see on the other, you know, 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 off a valve underwater.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The mess in the Gulf could soon make a mess of Iowa's economy, too.

CHAD HART, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: It wouldn't take much to have a major impact here.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Iowa S.U. 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, we'll see higher prices because we won't be able to bring as much as those products into Iowa.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 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: And the BP brand is also taking a beating. Las Vegas affiliate KLAS has video of a gas station where the BP 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 BP stations about how this disaster is affecting his business.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

VOICE OF JEFF MILLER, PRESIDENT, MILLER OIL COMPANY: We're really caught in the cross fire 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 BP products are probably about another 300 employees.

So, people are frustrated and they're upset and rightfully so. And you know, 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 BP products anymore. Well, the problem is 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 works out fine.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: So we've been trying as much as we can to get you to visualize at home just what the spill is like. We showed you how big the pipe was earlier, and it's hard to visualize just how big that spill area is, how much it covers.

So there's a Web site called ifitwasmyhome.com, and it makes it a little bit easier to show you. All you have to do is put in your zip code.

So this is how big it is. I think Admiral Thad Allen said about 140 miles of coastline, but much bigger, maybe 300 to 400 miles, considering when you spread out the width here.

I'll show just you. Go to the East Coast. I'll just show you. If it was on the East Coast, up here, all the way to New York, from Levittown and we go down to Delaware and Washington, D.C., and the Frederick, Maryland, area.

And just quickly, let's see, I think this one is out in Los Angeles -- it shows you -- no, that's Atlanta. It shows you how big it would be in Atlanta. And this one would show you if you were out on the West Coast just how big that would be. All you have to do here is just punch in your zip code and you can find out how it would affect your area if it was in your area.

You know, it's been 30 years since the child murders in Atlanta terrorized the city and left a country in fear. Now the man convicted of the Atlanta child murders tells our Soledad O'Brien, it is not a question of if he will get out of prison, just when.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This Thursday, CNN will run a landmark documentary, the "Atlanta Child Murders." It was a case that not only terrorized the city during the early '80s, but the entire country until police finally caught the killer two years later. But that is something some people still question. The story now from CNN's Soledad O'Brien, and a warning to you, what you are about to see contains some very disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): By May, 1981, the police and FBI were hiding in the brush beside and below the river bridges. This was to be the last night, almost the last hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard -- I heard the splash. O'BRIEN: Bob Campbell (ph), a police recruit, jumped to his feet, down beside the Chattahoochee River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was really startled. It sounded like a body entering the water.

O'BRIEN: He looked up at the bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then I saw brake lights of a car come on. I saw red lights. The car started slowly moving away from me across the bridge.

O'BRIEN: Then a policeman in a chase car, hidden on the other side, came on the radio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just said, the car is coming in the parking lot here, turning around in front of me and started coming back across the bridge, coming back in my direction.

O'BRIEN: This is that white station wagon. Police followed it and stopped it nearby. FBI agent Mike McComas rushed to the scene. The driver was standing by the highway.

MIKE MCCOMAS, FBI AGENT: He was talking with the officers. I saw a black male. He had on a baseball hat, had on glasses.

O'BRIEN: The young man was Wayne Williams, about to turn 23. A self-anointed music talent scout, who slept days and roamed the city at night. McComas invited Williams over to his car.

MCCOMAS: He got in the car, and I said, do you know why we're here? And he immediately said, yes, it's about the missing children. And that kind of stunned me and I said, what do you know about that? He goes, well, I don't think that the various news agencies are covering it adequately, do you?

O'BRIEN (on camera): You said, I know this is about those boys, isn't it?

WAYNE WILLIAMS, CONVICTED MURDERER: Correct. That's what I said.

O'BRIEN: Pretty damning statement, don't you think?

WILLIAMS: No, I mean, the perception in Atlanta was at the time kids were missing, and I think, if I'm not mistaken, the perception was a lot of young males were missing, and that's what I asked them. I said, this is about those kids, or those boys, or something like that, isn't it?

O'BRIEN (voice over): Williams agreed to let Macomas search his station wagon. On the floor, in the front of the backseat, he saw --

MCCOMAS: There was a nylon cord. The best that I could describe the nylon cord was a ski rope type, the woven type, and it was my guess about 24 inches long. WILLIAMS: No.

O'BRIEN: Williams denies there was any such cord.

WILLIAMS: Because if that rope had been in the station wagon that night, I'm sure they would have taken it.

MCCOMAS: The fact that I didn't confiscate it doesn't make it go away. It was there.

O'BRIEN: The nylon cord would never be seen again.

MCCOMAS: Could have been the murder weapon, as far as I know.

O'BRIEN: Two days later, only a mile downstream from that bridge, another body. After two years, one suspect now, Wayne Williams.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I remember that, and it was terrifying. That was CNN's Soledad O'Brien, who explained to me tonight why doubts about Wayne Williams' guilt still linger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Many people don't realize that even though he was convicted as the Atlanta child murderer, he was actually convicted of the murder of two adults. And there are some parents of the children who never -- he was never held to trial for those murders, but they were able to clear 23 of the 29 other cases involving children.

So, there are some parents of those children, the victims, who say, well, actually, my child's case was never brought to trial, I don't necessarily believe that Wayne Williams was the killer. It was never tried.

LEMON: Sitting there in the room with him, what was that like?

O'BRIEN: Yes, interesting. You know, he -- one thing that was very interesting for me to see was his size. Because, of course, that was relevant in the trial, and it was relevant to, could a guy his size be able to do a couple things.

One, you know, push a body, throw a body over into the river. Could someone that size be able to grab somebody across the chest or across the neck and kill them with a choke hold? These were all things that were being alleged.

So I wanted to kind of see, well, you know, what does he look like? What's his size like? He is small. He's probably about 5'7". And, you know, he's wiry, he's lost some weight that he had during his trial. Very interesting. And I won't give away, but we had a long conversation about whether or not he was trained in the choke hold.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: "THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS" airs Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Afterwards, you can voice your verdict online. You can select guilty, innocent, or not proven by going to cnn.com/atlantachildmurders.

A hometown honor for a legendary musician and actor.

And paying tribute to one of our soldiers, our soldiers, I should say, from World War II, 66 years after D-Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: On Sunday, we always want to try to catch you up on some of the news you may have missed in the past week.

And the first story up involves a legend. Interstate 40 near Memphis will soon be known as the Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway. The Tennessee legislature this week approved a bill to honor the late soul legend. He died in August of 2008, by the way. Hayes was born in Tennessee and had a home in Memphis. The new name goes into effect as soon as the governor signs the bill.

Lots of you hopefully are wrapping up an enjoyable, lazy Sunday. Good for you. But you might want to give special thanks on this day to tens of thousands of Allied troops who fought for your freedom. Today is the 66th anniversary of D-Day.

Starting early in the morning on June 6th, 1944, 160,000 Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to battle the Germans. Offshore and in the skies, more than 5,000 ships and 13,000 war planes supported the invasion. By day's end, Allied forces had gained the (INAUDIBLE).

The cost? Well, it was high, more than 9,000 Allied forces dead or injured and many more casualties in the months to come. But the invasion helped turn the tide of World War II and sparked the liberation of Europe from Hitler's stronghold. 66th anniversary.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Remember, we're going to be following that story down in the Gulf of Mexico to try to get to the bottom of it. How much oil is actually gushing into the Gulf? When will it be stopped? And what's being done in the meantime, as Admiral Thad Allen has been saying, a lot of people are dealing with that there.

I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here next week. Have a great week, everyone.

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