Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Hotel Owner Hurt by Oil; Terror Suspects in Court; Helen Thomas' Israel Comments; BP Financing Tourism Campaigns; What's Hot; Fisherman Fears Loss of Livelihood
Aired June 07, 2010 - 11:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories along the Gulf Coast. The fear grows along with the doubts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: BP keeps saying they're going to, you know, pay every legitimate claim. How do you -- when you take away all of this and you can't get it back overnight? I mean, it could be years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you pay that back?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. How do you put a price tag on that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: In Arizona, prominent Latinos disagree strongly over the state's new immigration law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. I've worked the process, dummy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow. OK. You're online right now and we are, too. That surprised me a bit.
Ines Ferre is following the top stories trending on the internet -- Ines.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.
Well, this is top on CNN.com. And I'm not talking about a Russell Crowe movie. This is a gladiator cemetery found in England. And also, if you're a techie, everyone's talking about the unveiling of the new iPhone.
HARRIS: Oh, yes. Let's get started with our lead story. Day 49 and we're getting some indications of progress in containing the Gulf oil rupture. Seven weeks into the disaster now, the government's point man says BP funneled about 11,000 barrels from the leaking well over the past 24 hours. Admiral Thad Allen says BP is working to raise that to as much as 20,000 barrels a day.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Admiral Thad Allen says BP is working to raise that to as much as 20,000 barrels a day. Admiral Allen is at the White House right now briefing President Obama on the government's response to the oil disaster.
Earlier, at the White House briefing, he was asked about his comment that the oil cleanup could last into the fall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: I think there needs to be an expectation that we're going to be working at least four to six weeks after that well is capped on the oil that's just presently overhead. And that doesn't account for what oil might come ashore, elude us, and we'll have to deal with as far as the impact of the marshes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So, a House panel is holding a hearing on the oil disaster right now and impact zone. The subcommittee is examining the local effects of the Gulf oil gusher.
The meeting is taking place right now in Chalmette, Louisiana, near ground zero of the disaster. The oil disaster has been devastating for tourism along much of the Louisiana coast.
Dudley Gaspard owns the Sand Dollar Marina and Hotel. He also met with President Obama during his most recent visit to the Gulf Coast. And he is with me on the phone from Grand Isle, Louisiana.
Dudley, good to talk to you.
I've got to ask you, when this oil rig exploded 49 days ago, what, in your mind, represented a worst-case scenario for where you would be at this point?
DUDLEY GASPARD, OWNER, SAND DOLLAR MARINA AND HOTEL: Well, I wasn't anticipating that we would be where we are at today, for sure, because, I mean, we have no business at all. They have closed the offshore fishing and they closed the onshore (ph) fishing two weeks later.
So, you know, our businesses are dead in the water. So, we don't have any opportunity to operate like we know best to operate, as a recreational fishing facility.
HARRIS: So, just to be clear, is your tourism business dead right now?
GASPARD: Yes. Tourism is dead.
We cater to the sport fishermen, and all the inside waters and the Gulf waters is closed. And, you know, we have -- our marina is pretty much empty right now for that type of business.
You know, right now we're catering pretty much to BP in the motels, housing them. And we're having some guys renting some slips. But on the marina side, it's not enough. We are definitely suffering over here on that end of the business.
HARRIS: OK. So, Dudley, we're taking a look at your facility now. So, you're able to make some money off the BP workers in the area who need accommodations?
GASPARD: Yes. They've rented 100 percent of the rooms over here that we had available. And, you know, my concern is, after everything is cleaned up, if they can clean it all up, and they leave, what is our business going to be like after the effect?
HARRIS: Well, Dudley, that's the question, then. Do you see your business coming back?
GASPARD: I'm not sure. The water's coming in -- the oil's coming in pretty heavy into the marsh area now. And we're not sure. We're kind of in the dark.
You know, they tell us it isn't as bad. I would hope it's not bad, because we have a large commitment to the bank.
You know, after Katrina, we had to rebuild everything. So, we're hoping that everything would come back. You know, to convince the tourists to come back, if that would be the case, and if they have any reason for them to come back, if the oil hasn't killed all the fish and the shrimp, and, you know, it's going to take years to come back if it did.
HARRIS: If you jumped in one of your vehicles right now, if you jumped into a boat right now, how far would you have to go, would you have to travel before you saw oil?
GASPARD: Ten feet.
HARRIS: Ten feet?
GASPARD: Ten feet. It's all in the marina right now.
HARRIS: You've got oil in your marina right now?
GASPARD: We've got a sheen in the marina right now, the second time it's come in here. And it has little blotches of light oil all over the place in the marina.
HARRIS: What are your feelings toward BP? GASPARD: I'm kind of bitter at BP, and also bitter at the federal government. BP, for not following the rules, and the federal government for not enforcing the rules on that particular rig.
Now, as far as the rest of the rigs in the Gulf, we're friendly to them, because we're enjoying good business over here. Every time you all go in a recession, we do our best over here.
The oil field keeps us going. And the moratorium he has put on the oil for the deep water is going to be hurting us. Maybe not in the immediate, because we're already hurting, but in the long run. You know, if these people move out and find other places to drill, and they don't come back.
HARRIS: Maybe you just gave us an indication of what you said to the president, but let me ask the question. You met with him last week. What did you say to him?
GASPARD: Well, he met with four of us, the businesspeople on Grand Isle, shrimper, oystermen, small business owners, convenience stores, and myself as a marina owner. And we told him our concern was, you know, if BP was going to fulfill their promise and make us whole again because of the lost revenues, because we have, like I said, big commitments at the bank after Katrina that we owe, and so far it's been three weeks that we have filed for our claim with BP. And we still haven't received anything back from it.
He promised us that that was a main priority of his, to make sure that the business owners on Grand Isle were compensated for lost revenues. So we're going to see how it transpires from here, you know, because we're hoping that they come through, because we're operating right now at a break-even. Myself, personally, ,and my family, we quit drawing salaries from the business so we could keep the workers on. And it's getting pretty tough.
HARRIS: Dudley, we appreciate your time.
Let's take a look at your -- can we pull up that picture of Dudley's business once again?
The best to you and your family, as you try to get through this situation. It's good to know that you've got a little bit of revenue coming in from the BP workers who you are housing there. But I think you're right, it's no way -- there's really no way to know what the long-term impact of this spill, this gusher is going to have on your business.
GASPARD: Right. You can see on the picture, you know, that's all sports fishing boats. And right now we have none of that. None of that.
People with the bigger boats didn't come down. And the smaller boats, nobody's launching, nobody's doing nothing because they can't fish. All the waters are closed.
HARRIS: Dudley, I'm sorry I don't have anything more profound to say, but hang in there, all right?
GASPARD: We're going to try.
HARRIS: OK, Dudley. Appreciate it. Thank you.
GASPARD: All right. Bye-bye.
HARRIS: Many of you are sending in pictures of the tar balls found on Florida's beautiful beaches.
CNN iReporter Kelly Reynolds found some west of Destin on what is known as Okaloosa Island in the Fort Walton Beach area. He says the tar balls smell of petroleum and are sticky and gooey, with a consistency similar to marshmallow cream. Man. Kelly goes on to say while they are rather small, the significance is they indicate what's coming in the near future.
A ruling today in one of the world's worst industrial disasters. An Indian court found seven top executives guilty and the company they worked for guilty for their role in the 1984 poisonous gas leak in Bhopal, India, that killed an estimated 14,000 people. Survivors say the two-year prison sentences are too little, too late, given the scale of the damage caused by Union Carbide India Limited, the now defunct local subsidiary of the American chemical company.
Accused terrorists in court. Two New Jersey men facing federal charges for allegedly planning to fly to Somalia to join al Qaeda in holy war.
CNN Senior Corespondent Allan Chernoff is just out of that courtroom in Newark.
Allan, if you would, tell us what happened.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Tony, Mohamed Alessa entered the courtroom wearing chains around his waist and his arms. He was bruised on the forehead and on the cheek, and his father confirmed to me those are new bruises.
Now, we do understand he did resist arrest at JFK airport in New York Saturday night. So, it's possible, very likely, that those bruises are a consequence of him resisting arrest.
Also in the courtroom, Carlos Almonte, the other defendant, 24 years old. Both of these young men are residents of New Jersey. They are charged with trying to engage in a violent jihad in Somalia.
The specific count, one count, is that they were engaged in a conspiracy to kill, murder and maim persons outside of the United States. The maximum penalty for that is life in prison.
Now, we also do know, according to the criminal complaint, that they had expressed a desire also to attack Americans in the United States. An undercover police officer recorded Alessa as saying, "We'll start doing killing here if I can't do it overseas." So that expression as well. Now, a bail hearing was set for Thursday. They're being held right now. And a pretrial hearing also scheduled for June 21st.
But, Tony, it's certainly possible this case could go to a grand jury, in which case they would bring an indictment and then we would have an arraignment -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK.
Allan Chernoff for us in Newark, New Jersey.
Allan, appreciate it. Thank you.
They speak the same language, but not when it comes to Arizona's new immigration law. Two prominent Latinos on different sides of the issue.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. And now our "Random Moment of the Day." Make it, actually, two moments, both from the MTV Music Awards show.
How about this? I love this.
That is Jennifer Lopez, right? And that balding guy in the tux getting jiggy? Sure enough jiggy with it, the one and only Tom Cruise.
A far cry, right, from the dance Cruise performed on the couch, in his underwear in "Risky Business"? This time, he is in costume, reprising his movie character from "Tropic Thunder," the foul-mouthed movie producer.
That is crazy.
And then this crazy lip lock between Sandra Bullock and Scarlett Johansson, a flashback to the stunt between Madonna and Britney Spears. This was Bullock's -- hey, now -- first appearance since details of her husband's infidelity hit the headlines. Bullock received MTV's Generation Award.
Wow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Israel's military says it thwarted a terror attack today. Its forces shot and killed four men in diving gear at sea off Gaza. The anti-Hamas and anti-Israel group Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade confirms the men belong to their organization and were on a suicide mission.
The Obama administration now weighing in on controversial remarks about Israel by veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today calling her comments offensive and reprehensible.
Thomas has apologized for the remarks. They prompted a Bethesda, Maryland, high school to drop her as commencement speaker. She's also been dropped by her booking agent.
Let's listen to what she said that started all this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments on Israel? We're asking everybody today, any comments on Israel?
HELEN THOMAS, HEARST NEWSPAPERS COLUMNIST: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh. Isn't that a comment?
(LAUGHTER)
THOMAS: Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So where should they go? What should they do?
THOMAS: Go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's home?
THOMAS: Poland, Germany --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think Jews should go back to Poland and Germany?
THOMAS: And America, and everywhere else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, FMR. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And she's crossed all lines, all boundaries, and has said something that is just horrific. 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)
HARRIS: You have seen the rallies, protests and the debates. Arizona's immigration law gets people talking, but it's especially divisive among Americans of Hispanic ancestry.
Our Thelma Gutierrez played moderator during a fiery debate between two decorated veterans on opposite sides of the argument.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Tea Party descends on Phoenix this weekend to support Arizona's tough new immigration law, the gloves are coming off among some of the state's most prominent Latinos.
COL. ALBERTO RODRIGUEZ (RET.), FOUNDER, YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME: Illegals don't belong here. Period.
ROBERTO REVELES, PRESIDENT, ACLU OF ARIZONA: I'm sorry, but he is totally uninformed about the process, because the visas --
RODRIGUEZ: No, come on. I've worked the process, dummy.
GUTIERREZ: On one side, Retired Colonel Alberto Rodriguez.
RODRIGUEZ: My dad, of course, in the Army. I served in the U.S. Army for 35 years and six months.
GUTIERREZ: On the other side, Roberto Reveles, who served in the United States Air Force.
REVELES: We were at war at the time and so I joined the Air Force to help my country.
GUTIERREZ: Both worked in Washington, D.C., Reveles in the Congress, Rodriguez at the Pentagon. Both met U.S. presidents.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): But when it comes to their politics, especially SB 1070, they couldn't be more opposite, so we brought them here to this restaurant to let them hash it out.
What was your gut reaction when Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law?
RODRIGUEZ: I feel very strongly that that bill is not only needed here but is needed in -- in all the other 20 states that are now looking at the bill.
REVELES: It's the most extreme legislation that's been introduced in the entire country. It creates divisiveness.
RODRIGUEZ: Not illegal.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Colonel Rodriguez is the founder of You Don't Speak for Me, a group made up of many Latinos against illegal immigration.
RODRIGUEZ: And I'll be saying the same thing, not only to him, but to all other stupid Hispanics that believe that this country belongs to somebody else.
REVELES: He's just full of braggadocio, making out ludicrous statements.
GUTIERREZ: Reveles is the president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. REVELES: How do they know to approach somebody? They do it on the basis of their appearance, on their accent, on their ability or inability to speak English.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): But as a decorated veteran, if you were stopped, would you be offended if you were asked if you were a citizen?
RODRIGUEZ: Of course not. Of course not. And they should ask me, are you an American or not?
REVELES: People who come here, come here seeking a better life. There is no way --
RODRIGUEZ: Illegally?
REVELES: Again -- again, I'm asking you not to interrupt me.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I'm not -- I'm asking you a question.
GUTIERREZ: Both of you were sworn to protect the Constitution of the United States. Do you believe this law is constitutional?
RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I do. Even if it wouldn't have passed if it was not constitutional.
REVELES: To say that it wouldn't have passed if it weren't constitutional reflects less than a sophisticated knowledge of how government works.
GUTIERREZ: Isn't there any common ground?
RODRIGUEZ: No, because he's wrong, and he knows he's wrong.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): And so, an impasse on a state law that has reignited a national debate.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Scottsdale, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: My goodness, that is the story of the day right there from Thelma Gutierrez.
A deadly and devastating weekend for hundreds of people in the Midwest. Tornadoes -- have you seen some of the video here? -- ripped across three states. We will take a look at the damage done and who is under the gun today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Checking top stories right now.
We are 49 days into the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, and BP is still scrambling to fix its ruptured undersea well. The president's point man on this disaster, Admiral Thad Allen, says about 120 linear miles of coastline have been affected.
Two New Jersey men in federal court today on terrorism charges. They are accused of conspiring to kill, maim and kidnap persons outside the United States. They were arrested Saturday trying to travel to Somalia.
And killer tornadoes on a real tear across the Midwest this weekend. Seven deaths have been confirmed, all in Ohio, south of Toledo. One of the victims was 5 years old.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: We've got a new development in a story we told you about just moments ago. We were telling you about the controversial comments about Israel from longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas, and the reaction to it, the very strong reaction to those comments.
We're just learning, just across the wire here, that Helen Thomas has announced that she is retiring, effective immediately. And I'll just read it to you here.
Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians, comments that were captured on videotape. And we just played those for you just moments ago.
Guys, as I read this, how quickly can we turn around those comments? Just give me a -- we're working on it now? All right. Let me know when you have those comments ready and we can play those for you, controversial comments, to say the least.
I can read you a bit of her statement. "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and Palestinians. They do not reflect my heartfelt belief that peace will come to the Middle East, only" -- we've got it now?
All right. Let me stop reading the statement. Let me play for you the comments that brought about this immediate retirement by Helen Thomas.
Here are the comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any comments on Israel? We're asking everybody today, any comments on Israel?
THOMAS: Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh. Isn't that a comment?
(LAUGHTER)
THOMAS: Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not Germany, it's not Poland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Tremendous fallout from those comments.
And quickly now, let's get to President Obama. He is talking to -- tape turned from just moments ago, his conversation with his cabinet, focused primarily on BP.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: From the beginning, we activated 15 agencies for what is now the largest national response ever to an environmental disaster. And what we want to do is make sure that every agency is coordinating, and that there was clarity about how we're going to proceed in the coming months.
Now, we have gotten reports that have been confirmed by our independent scientists that the top hat mechanism that was put in place is beginning to capture some of the oil. We are still trying to get a better determination as to how much it's capturing, and we are pushing BP very hard to make sure that all the facilities are available so that as the oil is being captured, it's also being separated properly, that there are receptacles for that oil to go, that we have thought through contingencies in case there is an emergency or hurricane so that these mechanisms are not disrupted, and that there's a lot of redundancy built in.
But here's what we know.
Even if we are successful in containing some or much of this oil, we are not going to get this problem completely solved until we actually have the relief well completed. And that is going to take a couple more months.
We also know that there's already a lot of oil that's been released, and that there's going to be more oil released no matter how successful this containment effort is. And that's why it's so important for us to continue to put every asset that we have -- boom, skimmers, vessels, hiring local folks and local fishermen, with their facilities, equipping them with skimmers -- getting every asset that we have out there to make sure that we are minimizing the amount of oil that is actually coming to shore.
Now, there are a number of other issues that were raised during this meeting that I just want to touch on.
Number one, when I was down in the Gulf on Friday, meeting with fishermen and small business owners, what is clear is that the economic impact of this disaster is going to be substantial, and it is going to be ongoing. And as I said on Friday, and I want to repeat, I do not want to see BP nickel-and-diming these businesses that are having a very tough time.
Now, we've got the SBA in there helping to provide bridge loans. And we've got the Department of Commerce helping businesses to prepare and document the damages that they're experiencing. But what we also need is BP being quick and responsive to the needs of these local communities.
We have individuals who have been assigned specifically to ride herd on BP, to make sure that that's happening. We want the people who are in charge of BP's claims process to be meeting with us on a regular basis. But we are going to insist that that money flows quickly, in a timely basis, so that you don't have a shrimp processor or a fisherman who's going out of business before BP finally makes up its mind as to whether or not it's going to pay out. And that's going to be one of our top priorities, because we know that no matter how successful we are over the next few weeks in some of the containment efforts, the damages are still going to be there.
The second thing we talked about quite a bit is the issue of the health of workers who are out there dealing with this spill. So far, we have seen that on shore, we are not seeing huge elevations in toxins in the air or in the water, but that may not be the case out where people are actually doing the work. And we've got to make sure that we are providing all the protections that are necessary.
We've put processes in place to make sure that workers out there are getting the equipment and the training they need to protect themselves and their health, but this is something that we're going to have to continue to monitor because there are a lot of workers out there, and, increasingly, we're starting to get individuals who may not be experienced in oil cleanup, because we're trying to get an all hands-on-deck process. We've got to make sure that they are protected.
Obviously, we're also monitoring very carefully the impact of people who are not working out there, and that's where the Environmental Protection Agency is doing constant monitoring of the air and the water quality. And we are also doing testing on the seafood to make sure that toxins aren't being introduced into the overall population.
A couple of other points I just want to make.
Dr. Luchenko (ph) of NOAA reported on convening a scientific conference to make sure that on issues like the plume that's been reported in the news and other questions about how large is this, what kind of damage do we anticipate, et cetera, that we have full transparency, that the information is out there, that it's subject to scientific review, so that nobody has any surprises. And what we're going to continue to strive for is complete transparency in real time so that as we get information, the public as a whole gets information, academics, scientists, researchers get this information in what is going to be a fluid and evolving process.
Let me just make one final point. And I think this was something that was emphasized by everybody here and it's something that I want to say to the American people. This will be contained. It may take some time and it's going to take a whole lot of effort. There's going to be damage done to the Gulf Coast and there's going to be economic damages that we've got to make sure BP is responsible for and compensates people for. But the one thing I'm absolutely confident about is that, as we have before, we will get through this crisis. And it -- one of the things that I wanted to make sure we understand is that not only are we going to control the damages to the Gulf Coast, but we want to actually use this as an opportunity to reexamine and work with states and local communities to restore the coast in ways that actually enhance the livelihoods and the quality of life for people in that area.
It's going to take some time. It's not going to be easy. But, you know, this is a resilient ecosystem. These are resilient people down on the Gulf Coast. I had a chance to talk to them, and they've gone through all kinds of stuff over the last 50, 100 years. And they bounce back. And they're going to bounce back this time.
They're going to need help from the entire country. They're going to need constant and vigilant attention from this administration. That's what they're going to get. But we are going to be -- we are confident that not only are we going to be able to get past this immediate crisis, but we're going to be focusing our attention on making sure that the coast fully recovers and that eventually it comes back even stronger than it was before this crisis, all right?
Thank you very much, everybody.
HARRIS: So there you have it, the president talking to us, as well as his cabinet, updating all of us on the government's response and its attempts to try to manage this massive, catastrophic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The president at the end there trying to sound a positive note, saying this will be contained, it will take time and it won't be easy, but that this will be contained.
Let's take a break here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Day 49 of the oil gusher in the Gulf. The government's point man on the disaster briefed President Obama on the response effort. Now earlier, Admiral Thad Allen updated reporters at the White House briefing. He explained that the oil is not just one giant pool.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: We're dealing with basically four areas of operations. One is the sub sea area, where we're trying to do containment on the oil. The second is trying to deal with the oil that's on the surface above the well where it comes up in large quantities it can be dealt with effectively through mechanical skimming and in situ burning.
We all know about the recovery onshore. But the emphasis over the last couple of weeks has shifted to the period -- the area between the shoreline and out about 50 miles. Because what's happened over the last several weeks, this spill has aggregated itself. We're no longer dealing with a large monolithic spill, we're dealing with an aggregation of hundreds of thousands of patches of oil that are going a lot of different directions and we've had to adapt and we need to adapt to be able to meet that threat.
When this operation started, we were controlling all skimming and in situ burning operations out of the Incident Command post in Houma, Louisiana, which has the responsibility for the area where the well is at. In the last week, we have shifted control of skimming assets to the commander in the Incident Command post in Alabama, who is responsible for Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. And actually detached (ph) a task force to work for him to push out 50 miles offshore and find these smaller patches and try and deal with them before they get to shore. This is an adaptation to the changing characteristics of the spill, which is no longer a single spill, but a massive collection of smaller spills moving forward.
And in regards to that, what is becoming critical in the near future, we'll be able to get skimming capability offshore and be able to work those small patches. We've made some significant process in bringing more folks into the fight in terms of vessels of opportunity. These are local fishing vessels and work boats that we certify to help us and then also certify the individuals and train them there on. Between Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida right now, we have about 1,500 vessel of opportunities where we've certified the crews and put them out there.
What we now have is an opportunity to match vessels of opportunity with skimmers. So the next critical component, or resource we're going to be looking for is to increase the amount of skimmers now that we have these vessels that can deploy them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. BP doling out millions to keep tourism going. We will tell you who gets what and where it went.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: I've got to tell you, BP gave millions to Gulf states to help them keep their tourism business afloat. Ines Ferre joining me here to look at how the money's being spent. And, more than that, if it's being used effectively.
Can you help us with that?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, and in the next couple of weeks, people will probably be seeing more commercial, more ads for tourism in these states. And Louisiana received $15 million, as did Mississippi and also Alabama from BP to boost up tourism. And Florida received $25 million. Now, Florida has been showing commercials, right, that say we're open for business.
HARRIS: Yes.
FERRE: Last week they dropped a commercial that said "the coast is clear" and they've got new commercials now.
HARRIS: And they can't say that anymore, right.
FERRE: Right, they can't say that any more. But they've got new commercials now that are saying, look, we've got miles and miles of beaches and they're directing people to their website to get an update on them.
And Alabama has also been doing some commercials. And they've also -- they're going to have new commercials out this week.
HARRIS: OK.
FERRE: And there -- I mean these states are trying to promote their beaches as fast as they can because people are making the decisions about where they're going right now.
HARRIS: Right now. Right now.
FERRE: Yes, right.
HARRIS: But I've got to ask you, it sounds like, just from -- and I know it's more complicated than this, but that a lot of the money is going to ad agencies and creative people to come up with these ads. I'm wonder if any of this money is going to individual businesses? I've got a t-shirt shop, say, on a boardwalk somewhere. Am I able to get some of this money?
FERRE: Yes, well I spoke to all -- the tourism offices in all these states and they said that they're just promoting tourism as a whole.
HARRIS: OK.
FERRE: They are getting input from different associations, like the Seafood Association, the Restaurant Association in their states to figure out what the best strategy is.
HARRIS: Right, right, right.
FERRE: But they're really trying to drive people to the Gulf and also to showcase other things besides beaches. Other areas that they can go to.
HARRIS: Right. No, that makes sense. I mean there is another apparatus in place if I've got this shop and I'm impacted by this and I can go file a claim against BP and get some help from the Small Business Association, at least initially.
OK, Ines, appreciate it. Thank you. See you a little later with "What's Hot," right?
FERRE: That's right.
HARRIS: We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: All right, let's get you the very latest on the oil disaster in the Gulf. And then we'll swing into a couple of other top stories here. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's not what it's supposed to do. Right to the Gulf. Really? OK. All right. Let me pull it up. There we go.
We are 49 days in now. And Admiral Thad Allen says the cleanup could literally take years. BP is still trying to fix its ruptured undersea well. And Allen, the president's point man, says about 120 miles of coastline have been effected by the oil so far.
And checking other top stories now. Let's take you to the Midwest. All right, that worked a lot better. At least seven people are dead, more than 60 hurt after tornadoes tear across the Midwest. Dozens of homes and businesses were flattened in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio over the weekend.
Let me see if I can get my itchy finger here to work. Let's get to Lima, Peru, right now. There we go. Joran van der Sloot will be in jail in Peru for at least another week. He is suspected, as you know, of killing a young woman last week in Lima. Van der Sloot was a prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway five years ago in Aruba.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, we asked you earlier what you thought about the decision to build a mosque just two blocks away from 9/11's Ground Zero. Your comments, man, literally pouring in.
This one from Michael Armstrong Jr. "Why is it that our government officials search for ways to make the American people angry? It is clear by the protest that this mosque would be in danger of attack if allowed to open. The wise thing to do would be to find a new place."
Preston writes, "I can see both sides of the argument, but personally I find it inappropriate. Of all the places to build a mosque in New York, why near Ground Zero?"
Danielle says, "I am Muslim and I don't think it is OK. Yes, most Muslims are peace-loving, but most Americans will see this as rubbing salt in the wounds and just shouldn't be done. Build it somewhere else."
And Bob says, "let's see a 9/11 memorial in Mecca first."
We want to keep the conversation going. Send us your comments and suggestions to my blog, that's cnn.com/tony.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So the White House is listening to you on this oil disaster. We've got a World Cup warm-up that really got a little overheated.
FERRE: Yes.
HARRIS: And what's the third story here?
FERRE: And the iPhone.
HARRIS: Oh, yes, yes, the iPhone.
Ines Ferre following "What's Hot" online. What you're following.
FERRE: That's right.
That's right. OK. Well, let's start out with the Facebook page with the White House. They're saying that they're actually postponing this chat. They had a chat --
HARRIS: Well, wait a minute. A chat was scheduled.
FERRE: Yes, for 12:30 today.
HARRIS: Right.
FERRE: With the assistant to the president of energy and climate change, Carol Browner. And so now she's meeting with the president, so the chat has been postponed.
HARRIS: And I think everybody's meeting with Thad Allen, right?
FERRE: Yes, exactly. And that chat was going to be about the oil spill. You could ask all the questions you wanted on it.
HARRIS: Has it been rescheduled?
FERRE: It has not yet been rescheduled.
HARRIS: They're going to update it?
FERRE: Right.
HARRIS: OK.
FERRE: It's been postponed. It's been postponed.
HARRIS: OK.
FERRE: But you can check out the Facebook page as well.
HARRIS: Terrific.
FERRE: And then we've got this, the iPhone conference, right, that's going on that --
HARRIS: Is it minutes away? Will we get the announcement?
FERRE: It's minutes away. Steve Jobs is about to speak in several minutes. And everybody is talking about the new iPhone. They're expecting it to be unveiled in this conference.
HARRIS: Great.
FERRE: And we'll see if those protypes that we saw weeks ago were, you know, similar to the ones that are going to --
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, that's right. That's right. I think it's, you know, the cat's out of the bag on this thing, right?
FERRE: Yes, I think so.
HARRIS: OK. All right.
FERRE: They stole his thunder.
OK. And the next one is these fans who stamped a warm-up match in South Africa. It was Nigeria against North Korea and they -- there were thousands of tickets that were free for the match, but people wanted to get -- more people wanted to get in.
HARRIS: Wow, look at them.
FERRE: Yes, 15 injured, including one police officer. I'm telling you, this is going to be one big World Cup.
HARRIS: Well, it just raises, you know, all kinds of concerns that I'm sure the South Africans didn't want raised about security ahead of this big global event. And that's just a warm-up match.
FERRE: That's just a warm-up.
HARRIS: Hello.
FERRE: I think they wanted to see how Nigeria was going to play.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes.
FERRE: They're playing against Argentina on Saturday. I'm just saying.
HARRIS: You don't have a rooting interest in that, do you?
FERRE: I'm just saying, you know, I was born in BA (ph). I don't know. Let's just see.
HARRIS: Oh, really? Oh, I guess we didn't know that.
FERRE: Yes.
HARRIS: All right, Ines, appreciate it. Trending stories online.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a fourth generation fisherman now fearing for his livelihood as oil keeps gushing into the Gulf. I spoke with him about his predicament and it was a pretty eye-opening interview that you don't want to miss. We'll run a bit of that next in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Day 49 of the Gulf oil disaster. BP's latest fix is capturing some of the oil flow. But for men like Floyd Lasseigne, a fourth generation fisherman, the damage is done. I spoke to him by phone last hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: What did you say to the president when you met him?
FLOYD LASSEIGNE, OYSTERMAN (via telephone): When I met the president, I told him I was a four-generation oyster fisherman, commercial fisherman. And that my livelihood looked like it was in shambles. And he said -- and I told him, you know, I showed him how maybe we could stop some of this oil from coming into our sanctuaries through these passes. That these booms are not working and we need to try something else. And the mayor came up with a -- with a -- something to put barges across these paths -- these five paths (INAUDIBLE) to try to stop some of this oil from going into our inland water where our offshore (ph) leases (ph) are and our sanctuaries are and burrows (ph).
HARRIS: What did you think of -- what did he say to you and what did you think of his response?
LASSEIGNE: I was very, very impressed with him. Very, very impressed with him. He sat down at that table with us like he was heavy (ph) with our heads (ph) and we sat down and talked and he didn't -- you know it wasn't like just sit back and relax and listen. He sat in there, put his heads hands (ph) together and we sat there and talked. And told him what was our needs and what needed to be done. And he told us, just like this. He said, look, I can't give you some answers today, but in a couple of days, three or four days from now, I'm going to have some answers for you all.
HARRIS: Floyd, are you going to be all right? Your family? You guys going to be OK?
LASSEIGNE: I don't know if you say OK if you can't work for three to four, five, six years from now what we're going to do, you know. I quit school in the eighth grade to be a commercial fishermen and so I can't read or write. So what am I going to go do? You tell me. This is what I want to do. This is what I'm going to -- this is what I want to die doing is a commercial fisherman. And what am I going to do, you tell me. You know, I can't read or write, so --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, that was tough. All right, I took a look at his "Rundown." His show is loaded. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with the man, Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, what a story. He can't read or write. He wanted to die being an oysterman. This is the story, this is how this is affecting things. You have a good afternoon. We'll pick it up where you left off.
HARRIS: Yes, thank you, sir.
