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Oil-Rig Fire Survivors: BP Only Concerned about Money; Woman Win Big in Tuesday Races; BP to Pay Dividends Despite Spill; Up Close With Animals Affected by Oil Spill; Iris Scanners Used in NY Health Clinics; Pakistan Supply Convoy Attacked; Johan van der Sloot's Return to Crime Scene

Aired June 09, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Do not miss a moment of this man's show. Surprises galore, I'm telling you. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: There are, in fact, surprises galore. You have yourself a great afternoon, Tony. Great to see you.

I'm Ali. As Tony said, I'm going to be with you for the next two hours. Today and every weekday taking every important topic that we cover a step further. I'm going to try and give you a level of detail that will you help put your world in context, and hopefully, you'll come away with something you didn't have before. Let's get started.

Here's what I've got on the rundown. It's day 51. You know that. Day 51 of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. That oil rig blew up 51 days ago. But the memory, the pain, the anger are still fresh in the minds of the survivors. We want to remind you: people died in this thing. And we're going to go talk to some of the survivors.

Plus disaster taking a toll on animals, too. You know that. But we're going to show you firsthand,. That's what Tony was talking about. I've got an alligator. I've got a pelican. I've got a spoonbill in the studio. We're going to get to know them.

Also Joran Van Der Sloot returning to the scene of the crime that he allegedly confessed to. We're going live to Lima, Peru. There is a new development in this case.

First, let me tell you about the new developments in the -- in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As I said, Day 51. That hat -- the top hat that is trying to contain the oil, it's still holding. It's still collecting a lot of oil. It's not collecting all of it yet because there are vents there. If they close those vents, they're worried the pressure will blow it off. But it's collecting a lot of oil.

We have new high-definition -- high-definition footage of the under-sea wells. It may be hard for you to tell here, but this is much clearer than how it used to be. In a little while I'm going to actually talk to Josh Levs about why this is important and how it's helping people. It look a long time to get this high-definition footage.

Thad Allen, the incident commander with the Coast Guard, actually has come out defending BP a little bit, saying you can't stream this live. This is so high-definition that we don't have the ability to just stream it online. So they actually had to take these tapes out and take them to shore, and that's why it's been delayed in getting to us.

Let me tell you how much oil is being collected right now by that top hat. This thing started on June 4. Right? That was the day that we got this into place. And you can see every day they have been collecting more and more oil through a vessel on the surface. Yesterday they collected 15,000 barrels, almost three times what they collected on the first day, June 4. Total right now, 57,000 barrels have been collected on the -- on the surface.

Now, here's something that's important to people in the Gulf Coast, the claims that they are making against BP. There have been so far 37,000 claims. Eighteen thousand checks have been paid, a total of about $49 million. Ninety percent of that has gone to individuals. About 10 percent have gone to businesses.

BP says it plans a second round of payments this month, bringing to it a total of about $84 million that will be paid out this month.

Thad Allen, again from the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, the incident commander, says he wants more detail and openness in the claims process, and BP has also -- pardon me -- said that they're going to use the proceeds of the captured oil for wildlife rescue.

OK. Now Anderson Cooper had a remarkable, remarkable discussion with some of the survivors from the Deepwater Horizon. In all of this mess, we don't want to forget that lives were lost and people were victimized on the Deepwater Horizon. What actually happened to lead up to the disaster?

Listen to Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Two of the men who survived the BP oil-rig fire and collapse are trying to explain an argument they say they witnessed on the platform about 12 hours before the first explosion. It was an argument, they say, between Transocean and BP managers.

DOUG BROWN, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: The meeting was a pre-tower meeting. Basically, they go over the day's events, what's going to be taking place on the drill floor. And while he was giving it, the company man basically jumped up and says, "No, we've got some changes."

COOPER: The company man is from BP?

BROWN: Yes.

COOPER: The driller was from Transocean?

BROWN: Driller is Transocean, yes. And the company man basically said, "We have some changes to that. We're going to be doing something different." I recall it was something about displacing the riser with sea water for that tower.

COOPER: Taking drilling mud out --

BROWN: Yes.

COOPER: And replacing it with sea water?

BROWN: Yes.

COOPER (voice-over): Brown and others say the argument raised concerns, because replacing dense mud with sea water meant less pressure to hold the oil down.

(on camera) Why would they want to displace it with saltwater?

DANIEL BARRON III, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: To make it quicker for the production well to get in, once we cap the well.

COOPER: That was the idea: they wanted to close off the well?

BARRON: They were getting ready to go to the next well, and they were -- they were trying to, you know, make it easier for the production crew to get in, because it took so much time for us to drill this well and get it done.

COOPER (voice-over): Drilling on the Deepwater Horizon was already five weeks behind schedule, according to the rig workers. And at a rough cost of $750,000 a day, that delay meant the project was more than $26 million over budget. The survivors say there was pressure to finish the drilling and begin actually pumping out the oil.

(on camera) You're saying this was an argument between some Transocean people and the guy from BP?

BROWN: Correct. And basically, he ended up saying, "Well, this is how it's going to be." And they started reluctantly agreeing, and --

COOPER: You're saying the guy from BP won the argument, basically? He basically said, "This is how we're going to do it"?

BROWN: Yes. That's what I remember, yes. He basically said, "Well, this is how it's going to be."

COOPER: Dan, do you think that, too, that this was about saving time and saving money for BP from Transocean?

BARRON: Yes. And it just bothers me that Transocean would let them. You know, as much as Transocean preaches safety, you know, it doesn't make sense that Transocean would just fold like that if it wasn't over money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: We'll be bringing you more of that a little later on. Anderson remains in the Gulf of Mexico. Make sure to tune in to "AC 360" later on today.

I want to bring you the responses that we got, by the way, from BP and Transocean to what was alleged here. BP's spokesman, Robert Wine, says the company plans to, quote, "wait for the investigations to be completed. We can't pre-judge them," end quote.

And from Transocean, the quote, response here is that "there's no scenario or circumstance under which safety will be compromised. So critical is safety at Transocean that every crew member has stop-work authority by which all work is halted, should any employee suspect an unsafe situation or operation."

Again, stay tuned to us and Anderson Cooper at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight for more on this.

OK. When we come back, we're going to talk not just about the people affected by this; the animals affected by this. We've got an up-close look at some of the other victims in the -- in the BP oil spill. I have an alligator, a spoonbill, and a pelican right here in studio. That makes for some crazy TV.

By the way, talking about other crazy TV, we had -- we had some -- some primaries yesterday. I want to talk to some of my good friends about what the results of those are and how it's going to affect your choices as mid-November mid-terms come up on us. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Primaries and runoffs yesterday, incumbents, Tea Party candidates, newcomers on the ballot. Joining me now to talk about the big story lines, my two good friends: Paul Steinhauser, CNN deputy political director, and Mark Preston, CNN political editor. Good to see you both.

All right. Two guys -- three guys having this conversation in what really amounts to ladies' night last night in the primaries.

Mark, start with you. Tell me what happened.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Let's go right across the country. Of course, a lot of contests held yesterday but specifically, five big contests for women.

Let's start in Arkansas. Blanche Lincoln, who a lot of people thought was going to lose this runoff. She was under an incredible amount of pressure from unions and from liberal activists. They didn't like Blanche Lincoln. She pulled out a huge victory in Arkansas. She'd be the Democratic nominee, has a chance of a third term in Arkansas. Let's go to South Carolina, Ali. Nikki Haley, who in the past couple of weeks has had to endure allegations of infidelity. She said that, in fact, those are false allegations. Well, the voters rallied around her, Ali. In fact, she just came short, one percentage point short, of avoiding a runoff. However, she heads into a runoff in two weeks. She has to be considered the front-runner, Nikki Haley in South Carolina.

Moving out west, the Tea Party, Ali, got their candidate in Sharron Angle. She came out of nowhere in the past couple of weeks to defeat two establishment candidates. Sharron Angle, Ali, will be the nominee who will take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. She'll face a $25 million bank account that Reid is expecting to spend.

And let's close it out in California. Two very, very successful businesswomen, Ali, in former eBay executive Meg Whitman and Hewlett- Packard executive Carly Fiorina, Ali. These two women won two huge races out in California. They were expected to, but they still did. Meg Whitman will be the Republican nominee for governor when it comes in November. Carly Fiorina will be the GOP nominee for Senate. Huge night for women.

VELSHI: Paul Steinhauser, last time we talked about primaries, a big night. It was about insiders versus outsiders. Tell me who came out on top last night. Was it insiders? Was it outsiders? Was it liberals? Was it conservatives? Who won?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Kind of a split decision, you know. Blanche Lincoln, we're talking about this year being the year of the anti-incumbent. Right? Well, there's the incumbent, Blanche Lincoln Mark was just talking about hanging on for victory. She still faces a very, very tough re-election, though, in November.

And Ali, the other question -- I know you were talking about this earlier -- was the Tea Party. Did they have good success last night? Mark just mentioned that. In Nevada, a very high-profile race. Sharron Angle was the woman the Tea Party Express, the national Tea Party organization was backing . They spent about a half a million dollars on her campaign. She won. She came out of virtually nowhere and won that campaign.

But they did have some defeats last night in some less high- profile cases. The big question now on these candidates the Tea Party is backing, like Rand Paul, like Sharron Angle, will they be too conservative, Ali, in the general election in November for those moderates, those independents in the middle who sway elections? And that's the question.

VELSHI: Some of the Democrats, Paul, were saying that. That they're OK with somebody like Sharron Angle against Harry Reid, because independents and moderates may not go that direction.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Harry Reid said he wanted to face Sharron Angle. Well, I guess his wish comes true. We'll see who wins in November.

VELSHI: Mark, what about the scandal with -- with Nikki Haley? Why has that not affected her at all? Such an unusual situation. Usually, it's men who are -- who face these allegations of infidelity. She faced them, and it didn't seem to -- didn't seem to affect the vote.

PRESTON: No. It seemed that voters, in fact, rallied around Nikki Haley. No question about that, Ali.

And in fact, one of the supporters for one of her rivals came out and called her a raghead. She's the daughter of immigrants, you know, which also helped fuel, probably, voters' sympathy for her. And in fact, voters rallied around Nikki Haley. She came out. She's denied these two rumors.

And look, in my estimation, voters probably said that the good old boy network down in South Carolina was trying to take out Nikki Haley. You know, these allegations were unfounded. We'll find out next couple of weeks what happens, Ali.

VELSHI: You two guys are fantastic. Stay with us. Stay close to us.

And by the way, for everybody who wants to know about what's going on in this election, these two guys, follow their writing. Mark Preston, CNN's political editor, and Paul Steinhauser, CNN deputy political editor.

All right. BP is supposed to be dealing with the offshore oil disaster. You know the worst one in U.S. history? And a lot of people are saying they should focus all their resources on the fix. But they're about to give billions, possibly, to investors. What's that about? We'll tell you when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. I want to talk about BP for a second. But I was just holding onto an alligator. Christine -- Christine Romans, as you know, joins me every day for this segment. She's my co-host on "YOUR $$$$$." I love this show, because I can -- I can -- I've got an alligator, a spoonbill and a pelican sitting right here in the studio that we're going to talk to. We're not going to talk to them; we're going to talk about the oil spill.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That sounds like a joke. An alligator, a spoonbill and a pelican walked into a bar and --

VELSHI: And -- see, you have to stay for the punch line. Sadly, the thing you're talking about isn't a joke. Here's something interesting, and we need to put this into context, because I've heard a lot of people complaining BP is going to take money that it should be using to stop this oil spill and clean up the wetlands and pay it as dividends.

Now, a lot of our viewers, a lot of people invest in stocks that are income stocks because they pay a dividend.

ROMANS: Right.

VELSHI: So dividends is a very important thing for a company.

ROMANS: Right.

VELSHI: Now BP has got itself into a bit of a pickle, because it pays out a fairly significant dividend. That's an amount, when you invest in it, that it pays to you on a regular basis as an investor.

ROMANS: And -- and some people are investors in BP simply because they know they're going to have the consistency of getting some -- some money back for owning these shares.

BP is going to pay out a dividend, Ali, on June 21 for shareholders who owned the stock in January, February and March of this year, the first quarter dividend. It will be 14 cents per ordinary share. If you have an ADS -- that's what trades in the U.S. -- a U.S. share of this company will be 84 cents. The total is $2.63 billion.

Not unusual for a company like BP. BP pays out a big, hefty dividend. Many, many mutual funds, you said, income investors, mutual funds that are focused on income, they are likely, many of them are investors in BP. UK pension funds and pension funds also here in the U.S. are investors in BP. So many pension funds, people who indirectly are getting a retirement -- a retirement benefit may be getting some of that.

VELSHI: Right. So when people say that they're paying out their investors, it sounds like big, rich, powerful company paying out big, rich, powerful investors. But we do have to remember that, in many cases, those investors are the very people who are incensed about it. We may not know. You have a mutual fund that invests in BP. You have an income fund, it might be you.

ROMANS: Right.

VELSHI: All right.

ROMANS: And Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, a lot of the big names, they do have that.

Now, here's what Congress says. Congress says -- many people in Congress, I should say, a number of Congress members, are outraged. They say this company should not be paying out a dime to investors or shareholders until they have paid everything that they could possibly pay, that they have dropped their -- their advertising campaigns.

This is a letter in particular that lawmakers sent to the BP CEO. They say, "Halt your planned dividend payment. Cancel your advertising campaign until you have done the hard work of capping the well, cleaning up the Gulf Coast, and making whole those whose very livelihoods are threatened by this catastrophe. Not a moment before then should you return to business as usual." The -- the allegations from many of these outraged Congress members is that BP is somehow diverting funding that it should be using in the Gulf instead to pay its shareholders.

BP has been saying for several days now, Ali, it has enough money to do it all.

VELSHI: Right, and you've studied this very closely, Christine. And at the moment, based on the biggest estimates of damage at the moment, it does appear that BP is right. They've got enough money to pay dividends and pay damages.

ROMANS: Sure.

VELSHI: But I guess that's the concern. And I talked to Robert Reich, the former labor secretary, yesterday who says a growing chorus of people who say maybe the U.S. should take control of BP's assets in the United States, just to make sure that they actually pay.

But as far as your research indicates, they're still -- they've still got enough money for all of these things?

ROMANS: They, at this point they have an awful lot of very deep pockets, $7 billion in cash. Their cash flow, $28 billion. They made 14 or 17, depending on how you measure it, billion dollars last year. This is a company that's a cash machine. But, we don't know what the future holds and what the eventual costs will be. This could go on for years.

So that uncertainty is a real problem here.

Ali, what most people and analysts tell us is if BP cuts its dividends or halts its dividend or whatever, it won't be because it doesn't have the money to pay for it. It will be to pay for political reasons to satisfy these angered congressmen in Washington.

VELSHI: Right. All right. Christine, I know you get in here really early in the morning. We want -- you're definitely going to have to stick around to watch the alligator, the spoonbill and the pelican.

ROMANS: I'm going to.

VELSHI: Christine Romans. You can catch us every day here on this show. You can also watch us Saturdays at 1 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern on your money.

All right. As I said, alligator, pelican and spoonbill walk into a studio. We're going to talk about how the animals in the Gulf are being affected by this disaster, how they're being treated, and what you can do to help. There's the pelican, Ginger. We'll bring more of this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We've been talking a lot about -- about the Gulf oil disaster and the effect on animals. There's really nothing as effective as showing you exactly how these -- these animals are affected. We've all been devastated, Chad, by these pictures that you see of the animals that have been waterlogged, oil-logged. Some of them have -- many of them have died. And for those that haven't, the efforts to clean them are so intricate. This is Ginger. This is a pelican.

This is Dr. Chris Dold. He's the veterinarian for SeaWorld and a couple of gentlemen here from SeaWorld who are helping us out with this. We've got a pelican here, a spoonbill, an alligator.

But Chris, tell us about this, because pelicans are affected, obviously. We've seen terrible photographs of pelicans logged with oil.

DR. CHRIS DOLD, SEAWORLD: Right. If I had to characterize it so far and say that the brown pelican here is probably the poster child for the oil spill thus far, because they are the animal that we have seen most primarily affected thus far with the oil and most dramatically.

Ginger here is a great example of the brown pelican found in this area. Breeding right now. Nesting and breeding in Louisiana and so very highly affected.

And -- and the thing about being exposed to oil and what happens when one of these animals is exposed to oil is that there are the direct effects and then the indirect effects.

VELSHI: OK.

DOLD: The direct effects are the obvious one: covered and coated in oil. And a lot of people wonder, well, how does that oil affect the animal once they're coated in the oil? Well, pretty clearly, birds are covered with feathers, right?

VELSHI: Yes.

DOLD: And that feather coating does a lot of things for them. It allows them to stay warm. There's air trapped underneath the outside feathers and in the downy layer, and that is heated by their bodies. So that air stays warm. The bird stays warm. And that's how they thermoregulate.

VELSHI: Yes.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So they will -- they will get hypothermia, even at 75 degrees?

DOLD: Even at 75 degrees.

MYERS: Because they're covered in oil.

DOLD: And because they're in the water, and water conducts temperature four times faster than air.

MYERS: OK.

DOLD: So -- so they will also lose their waterproofing. They can't float as well, so they'll sink. They'll get bogged down. And then you have the inability to fly, the inability to forage or catch your fish and eat them. And so you get these additional secondary effects.

MYERS: So if that animal gets covered in oil --

DOLD: Yes.

MYERS: -- is it doomed?

DOLD: It's not doomed if people intervene on time.

VELSHI: Well, let's talk about what happens. You've got -- you've got --

DOLD: We've got --

VELSHI: These are r eal feathers.

DOLD: We've got a demonstration here. And -- and I think we've got one more demo here right down by your foot. I'm going to grab.

This shows what happens to that downy layer --

VELSHI: Right.

DOLD: -- that layer of feathers that will trap air and keep the animal heated. Now, we got motor oil here and, of course, when you're handling oil, one of the main things that the folks out there working with oil are considering is their own personal safety.

VELSHI: Right, sure.

DOLD: So you want to wear a protective layer.

MYERS: The people out there, they wish it was a motor oil.

DOLD: They wish it was like motor oil, right.

MYERS: This stuff is not.

VELSHI: This is not crude oil we're using. This is actually more refined. Not as toxic.

DOLD: You're exactly right. Not as heavy. You see that dark, syrupy, chocolaty stuff that's coating the animals.

OK. So we'll just sort of wash what happens here. So nice layer of feathers there, and as we pour the oil over --

VELSHI: Wow. DOLD: -- you can see, it just collapses it right down. Right? So if you imagine that's a bird coated in oil that's just going to cover them up, and that layer gets compacted.

VELSHI: Yes.

DOLD: They can't keep themselves warm any more.

MYERS: That doesn't happen when you pour water in there?

DOLD: That's exactly what would happen when you pour water in there. The problem is, the bird is made to be in the water. They can dry out. The water can go away. This is oil. That doesn't go away. Right?

You know, another demonstration here is what happens to this feather if I just dunk it in the oil. You see how it's coated like that? And of course, like you said, you could just wash it off, but oil and water don't mix.

MYERS: Right.

DOLD: So you need something to get in there and really get rid of that layer.

VELSHI: Which means somebody has got to wash it out.

DOLD: Somebody has got to wash it out.

VELSHI: -- cleaning themselves. As effective as birds are at cleaning themselves, they can't clean crude oil off themselves.

DOLD: You're exactly right. And so the effort out there right now for the birds being responded to is to bring them into a center. The folks who are working with them will first assess the bird's overall health. Birds can stress out very easily. And so, if the bird is quasi-stable or not, they'll let them rest or recover for maybe even a day or two before they begin the process of washing all of that oil off the bird.

MYERS: Is it dangerous to pick up a pelican?

DOLD: It's absolutely dangerous.

MYERS: Yes.

DOLD: That's a really great point. And -- and when they're working with these animals, it's at least a two-person job if not a three-person job. People have to watch out for their own personal safety as well as the animal's safety. That's why the folks who are working with the wildlife right now are all trained paraprofessionals. Either veterinarians or zoological personnel.

VELSHI: Let's take a look at the spoonbill. The spoonbill's bill is such that it forages; it grabs fish.

DOLD: Right.

VELSHI: This is one thing we haven't talked about yet. For all the damage that is done to their coat and their feathers and their -- their down, then there's the food that they eat.

DOLD: There you go. So you move from the primary sort of coated in oil to a lot of the secondary effects or indirect effects that can happen to these animals.

This is Panini. Panini is a roseate spoonbill also found in this whole area that we're talking about. And the way these guys forage is to walk through shallow water and they will put their bills in there and kind of swat -- move their bills back and forth. Panini may give us a little demo there as Alex moves him onto the table.

MYERS: And how toxic -- oil is toxic, obviously.

DOLD: Oil is toxic if he swallows it. So there's an ingestion risk, there is an inhalational risk if there's oil there where he is foraging. And then ultimately the fish that he eats could be exposed to oil, could have eaten oil itself and now you've got an internal exposure risk. So there's a lot of ways that these animals can be affected.

VELSHI: OK, we've looked at some birds. We're looking at an alligator coming up next. This is -- tell me what this alligator's name is.

DOLD: This alligator is Ali (ph).

MYERS: Ali Velshi.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Ali the alligator.

We're going to take a quick break and then we're going to tell you about how this alligator is dealing or his cousins are dealing with the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico when we come back. We're getting a clear picture of how this affects not just people but the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Those are the number of animals that have been treated so far. There a lot more, unfortunately, never made it as far as getting treated. We want to give you some sense of all that's going on.

You know, yesterday, I made Ed Henry take a flight for me and the plane in front of him flipped over, and now I'm making you hold the alligator.

MYERS: Right.

VELSHI: But this is a real life alligator. It's very still, but a real life alligator. Dr. Chris Dold is here, veterinarian from SeaWorld, telling us how these animals are affected by the oil.

Tell me about alligators.

DOLD: Right, absolutely.

So alligators predominantly live in fresh water. Again, they're found all throughout this region. Alligators are not endangered. They are cousins of the American crocodile that is highly endangered, also found in this area particularly in Florida.

These guys will move into brackish waters, but their exposure is probably not going to be direct. Exposure to oil is probably going to be indirect in the bird who is exposed who makes its way into his habitat that he eats, we'll be again be talking about internal ingestion and things like that.

MYERS: Now if there's a sheen on the water and his little nose nodes comes into the sheen -- ?

DOLD: Absolutely. The same sorts of things, either an external skin contact or possibly inhaling the oil.

So, the important thing here is that you got a lot of great people out there responding to this wildlife response, they're taking care of the animals, a lot of animal experts are doing this. SeaWorld does on a daily basis. We take care of usually non-oiled wildlife besides incidental oil exposure, but we treat hundreds of animals each year and already this year we've treated, I think, several hundred and we're not even fully through the first half the year.

VELSHI: You didn't get yourself bit, so we're going to keep the animals around and we're going to do more about this. We're going to talk more in the next hour about animals, how they are affected by the oil spill, what you can do about it when we come back.

Dr. Chris Dold and his team are here from SeaWorld. Thanks for being with us.

MYERS: Thanks, guys.

VELSHI: But thank you for doing the heavy work.

MYERS: Just call me Dundee.

VELSHI: I appreciate that.

When we come back we'll go "Globe Trekking," but first take a look at this first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This health clinic in New York City is serving a community in need.

DR. SAMUEL DE LEON, URBAN HEALTH PLAN: The South Bronx is one of the poorest Congressional districts in the country. TUCHMAN: Urban Health Plan is trying to meet those needs with the help of some cutting-edge technology. When patients first visit the clinic, technicians take a picture of their iris and get other information like name and birth date.

ALISON CONNELLY, URBAN HEALTH PLAN: No two irises have the same pattern, that's why it makes it such an accurate method of identification.

TUCHMAN: When patients return they get another quick scan and all their records pop up immediately.

The clinic sees over 37,000 patients a year, some of them speak limited English and they can have more than 50 patients at a time with the same first and last names.

DE LEON: Humans tend to make mistakes, it's only natural. This technology prevents confusion.

TUCHMAN: Dr. De Leon partnered with a company called EyeControl (ph) to develop the system over three years. When the cameras got smaller and the system more affordable, Urban Health Plan bought it with grants including one from the New York Department of Health.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we're all done, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's it? Pretty cool.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK, time now to go "Globe Trekking." The war in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, two hot spots we want to talk about right now. In Pakistan near the capital, Islamabad, a truck supply convoy bound for NATO forces in Afghanistan was attacked by militants.

Now we'll have more on that in just a minute but first, in southern Afghanistan, in Helmand Province, a NATO helicopter carrying U.S. troops was shot down today. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Kabul with more on this -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ali, four soldiers aboard that helicopter confirmed killed by NATO commanders. They say the helicopter was shot down. Now we don't have this confirmed from NATO, but the Taliban spokesman said that the helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Also today, another soldier killed by an IED, a roadside bomb. This has been a very bloody week. Ten soldiers killed on Monday, the bloodiest day in the year so far for troops here in Afghanistan. Commanders say that's what they have to expect right now, casualties to be very, very high. But this helicopter coming down, very bad news, Ali.

VELSHI: Nic, tell me about the planned offensive in Kandahar. Are the two related? Is it because there's a planned NATO offensive that perhaps the insurgents are increasing their attacks?

ROBERTSON: You know, everything is connected to everything else here in Afghanistan, but I think is there a direct connection between these two in this particular case, not a direct, direct connection.

This operation in Kandahar, really what we're being told now, don't call it an operation, it's a really slow build up, a slow phase build up, a few more troops, one base here, one base there. What they're going to do is clear the whole area around Kandahar so they can secure the main highways leading in, then secure and hold the center so there are controls, police army controls on all the main roads.

So that's a very, very slow ongoing operation. That's going to be going on for months and months before it's fully in place. So this seems to be something separate, although not so far away, Ali.

VELSHI: Although, you couldn't be more correct when you say everything is connected to everything. So let's go over to Pakistan now and talk about the militant whose attacked that supply truck that was bound for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Obviously different country, still connected.

Tell us about that.

ROBERTSON: Totally connected. These supply convoys that come through Pakistan supply a massive amount of the resupply -- the fuel, the replacement vehicles, the spare parts, all the heavy things that are so difficult to fly into Afghanistan to support the more than 100,000 troops here they come in by road and a large percentage comes from Pakistan.

This attack in Pakistan happened right outside the capital. That's what makes this particular attack different. It was brazen. The trucks were refueling at a refueling depot, transferring some loads when gunmen drove up on motorcycles and pickup trucks, 10 to 12 gunmen Pakistani police say. They destroyed nine fuel tankers and 12 trailer trucks that were carrying heavy equipment and fuel to Afghanistan.

This stuff is vital for troops here. This isn't the first attack, it's happened many times before. But it's the first attack to come right outside of the capital Islamabad and that's a pretty secure city, Ali.

VELSHI: Yes.

All right, looks like we just lost Nic's audio, but Nic Robertson, senior international correspondent, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

All right, making headway in the battle to capture oil from the Gulf of Mexico, that's the word from Admiral Thad Allen, he's the incident commander. An update on that and other top stories coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let me get you caught up on the headlines we're following here at CNN.

It's day 51 of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A word of cautious optimism from Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen. He says they are now capturing 630,000 gallons of oil a day and that amount could double by next week.

At the United Nations, the Security Council today voted to impose new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. The vote was 12 to 2 with two no votes from Brazil and Turkey, and one abstention from Lebanon.

And more surprising news from the Gore family. Sources close to former Vice President Al Gore tells us his eldest daughter, Karrena Gore Schiff, has separated from her husband, Dr. Andrew Schiff, after 13 years of marriage. The news comes just a week after Al Gore and Tipper Gore announced their own separation after 40 years together.

All right, on the heels of an alleged confession, Joran van der Sloot relives his night of violence showing police how Stephany Flores was killed. "Crime and Consequences" the latest from Lima, Peru up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Today's "Crime and Consequence," the latest on Joran van der Sloot, the murder investigation in Peru, and his return to the scene of the alleged crime. CNN's Rafael Romo is live in Lima, Peru.

Rafael, what have you got?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Ali, there's significant development in this case. The reenactment we had been waiting for here at the hotel where the murder happened that police have been telling us about, now they tell us that it may not happen. What's the reason? Well they say they may have enough evidence, enough of everything they need to just go ahead and charge him with the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. Significant development in this case.

Also, Ali, another significant development is that a federal law enforcement official is confirming that there was -- even before all of this happening in Peru -- there was an investigation for extortion in the United States for allegedly Joran van der Sloot was trying to get money from the family of Natalee Holloway, remember the case of the teenager who disappeared in Aruba. He was trying to get money from her family in exchange for information on where the remains of Natalee Holloway would be.

There was an undercover investigation. The FBI and the -- the attorney's office in Alabama, the federal attorney's office in Alabama, participating. Money was exchanged -- $25,000 total -- and in the end, they were still working on this operation when the murder of Stephany Flores here in Peru happened, Ali.

VELSHI: What a remarkable development. So, there's some sense that the FBI believed that Joran van der Sloot, who has not -- who has been not charged in that crime of Natalee Holloway, knows where Natalee Holloway's remains are.

ROMO: I was reading a document relating to that investigation that was provided to CNN here in Peru. And what it says, Ali, is that he told an undercover agent where the body would be, a house that supposedly was being built at the time that Natalee Holloway disappeared. They went to that house and realized that it was all a lie, that the house had been built way before Natalee disappeared.

And so in the end, it apparently was just an attempt to get money. According to federal documents, as much as a quarter of a million dollars, Ali.

VELSHI: Wow. All right, Rafael, interesting story that we'll continuing to be following with you. Rafael Romo in Lima, Peru.

As a second-time suspect, because he was a suspect in Natalee Holloway's killing, van der Sloot is making headlines. We never want to forget the victim, though. Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez was only 21-years-old. She was the only daughter of a well-known Peruvian businessman and a former presidential candidate. Some of her favorite pastimes included playing soccer and playing poker. She was in her third year of business administration studies at the University of Lima and she ran the merchandising arm of the family entertainment and event promotion business, that was what the family did. Families and friends say that she was all smiles, someone who would have given you the sky if she could.

All right, survivor stories from the Deepwater Horizon, the rig that kicked off this Gulf coast oil spill. Rig workers talking to our own Anderson Cooper with about explosion and the disaster it caused when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Day 51 of the oil disaster. Remember it started with the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig. There were 11 people who died in that explosion. Now Anderson Cooper sat down with five of the survivors, five of the workers who say there were shortcuts taken on that rig that may have led to the disaster.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL BARRON III, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: Every time you close your eye, every time you go to bed, it's like a never-ending movie that just keeps replaying in your head. And you can't sleep; you can't focus. You know, you just have a hard time dealing with it.

And then just the little things like, you know, hearing that hiss, you know, being in a hotel room, and the guy next door to you turns on the water and makes that hissing sound, just brings you out of bed like -- like you're on fire. I mean, it just -- it's really hard.

BRENT MANSFIELD, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: I actually don't remember the event because I got hit in the head in one of the explosions.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you have injuries now?

MANSFIELD: I have a skull fracture. I have a skull fracture here. I had 11 staples. And --

COOPER: That's the scar there?

MANSFIELD: Yes, sir. And fractured the sinuses in my nose and cheekbones.

COOPER (voice-over): Brent Mansfield was in the engine control room when the rig exploded. He was found unconscious with multiple head wounds. He says his memory of events that day is totally erased until he was on a rescue chopper.

(on camera): Is it hard not remembering, or is it better not to remember anything?

MANSFIELD: I struggle with that. You know? I'm supposed to be one of the guys on the fire team, you know, helping isolate wherever the fire is at, you know, isolate valves, electricity, whatever, so, you know, what could I have done to help? You know, I was a burden.

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

MANSFIELD: No, sir. I just -- in fact, Doug was probably the first person I had gotten in contact with after I got to the hospital, when 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.

BROWN: Very hard.

It's like being in a never-ending nightmare. You dream about it, you see it in your sleep. Then we wake up in the morning and we realize it's not a dream, it's real. This really happened to us. And we just keep seeing it through the day. The nightmare continues.

COOPER: For you, what is the hardest part of this? I mean the thing that you struggle with now when you think about it?

MANSFIELD: The hardest part is, you know, the fact that, you know, somebody -- people saved my life, you know? That's one of the biggest ones. And then, you know, coming home to my family and just -- all the people that prayed for you.

COOPER: It's good to have people praying for you.

MANSFIELD: sure.

COOPER: Do you guys -- I mean do you plan to work on rigs again?

MATTHEW JACOBS, BP EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: I don't think I could ever go back out there. That was my biggest fear of working offshore, and it happened. And I was given a second chance to get off and I'm not going back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right, as far as safety breaches on the rig, BP has responded by saying that they want to wait for the investigations to be completed. We can't prejudge them, BP says.

And from TransOcean, "there's no scenario or circumstance under which safety will be compromised. So critical is safety at TransOcean that every crew member has stop-work authority --by which all work is halted should any employee suspect an unsafe situation or operation."

Stay with CNN and Anderson Cooper. Anderson remains in the Gulf of Mexico tonight 10:00 Eastern. He is still there, he's still talking to people.