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Day 54 of BP Oil Spill; Group Utilizes Facebook to Organize BP Protestors; Teen Sailor Found Alive, Safe; World Cup Kicks Off; Search Continues for Arkansas Campers; Oil Spill Already Hitting Florida's Economy; Iranians Protest on Election Anniversary

Aired June 12, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITEFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And of course, we'll have more on the Gulf oil disaster in just a moment.

But first here is another headline, the death toll rises as rescuers search for survivors in that deadly flooding at Arkansas campground. The governor is expected to speak any moment and we will bring that to you live.

It is day 54 of the gulf oil disaster. We have several new developments to tell you about. First, the U.S. Government sent a letter to BP giving the oil giant until tomorrow to explain how it is going to contain more of the oil gushing into the Gulf. Earlier in the week, the government gave BP a 72-hour deadline. But says the plans BP delivered actually fall short of what is needed.

Also today, demonstrators gathering worldwide to protest BP in what is being billed as Worldwide BP Protest Day? The call went out on the Internet and rallies are expected in more than 50 cities across five continents now. A flier posted on the group's Facebook page translates BP's initial to stand for "British Predator" and shows an oily tear falling from an eye that reflects BP's yellow and green sun logo.

Louisiana's marshlands are now ground zero in this spill. Millions of birds migrate each summer and fall. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Grand Isle, Louisiana where it's more like a hospital emergency room these days than a wild life preserve.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, great description, Fredericka. What is new today is that for the first time we were allowed into these triage areas. So basically what happens is these rescue crews get out there on the water. They try to corral as many of the oil birds as they can. That's not an easy job. These are wild animals. They don't always want to be caught. But the ones that they are able to capture they bring into these triage areas. There some of the workers are able to start to wipe some of the oil off. It's a stressful process, injecting fluids into the bird to help them start to recover.

When they are coated in that oil it can be very hard for them to regulate their body temperature. Even the ones that are saved still face a bit of danger even after they are cleaned up. Because not only can they have reproductive problems, but there is the danger of them slowly poisoning from a contaminated food supply in the water. What we are also told is that even though they brought in about 300 birds to the area where we were today, that is still just a fraction of the oil birds that are out there because they are just so hard to get a hold of.

I want to take you real quick. You can see out here now. This is a live picture, a the lot of the workers out here on the beach here trying to shore up the beach, laying that berm, they are trying to collect some of the oil. One of our crews was out here maybe about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago. At that time this beach was totally cleaned out. So you can see some of the work is being done, not only out at sea but also here on shore to try to keep as much oil as possible from coming too far up the shore.

Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And under ordinary circumstances, Chris, is this a beach that is strictly for wild life preservation or is it a beach where usually at this time of year it would be covered in people enjoying the coastline?

LAWRENCE: Covered in people, sport fishermen, huge industry here. As we were driving into this area, you could see all the little stores, the homes, where normally there's a lot of people here. The fishermen come here. They can make pretty much all of their money for the year, 80 percent of it, in just four months, May, June, July, August. Those are the prime months. That's what they are missing. As you can see the only crowds here are the people trying to save what's left of the beach.

WHITFIELD: Got it. Chris Lawrence thanks so much, from Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Well, she is now in safe hands. The American teen hoping to become the youngest person to sail around the world solo. She got into trouble and was stranded in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Australia and Africa. This morning, a French fishing vessel reached Abby Sunderland. She is said to be in good health. The 16-year-old was stranded in the Indian Ocean after losing satellite contact just two days ago. Earlier, Sunderland's parents talked about their daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENCE SUNDERLAND, TEEN SAILOR'S FATHER: As of 3:00 this morning, just after 3:00 this morning, we had a phone call from Abigail aboard the La Reunion French Flag Fishing Vessel. She was successfully rescued and was aboard their fishing vessel. As of now, we understand that Abigail is being taken down to the island.

MARIANNE SUNDERLAND, TEEN SAILOR'S MOTHER: A little bit smaller voice, but she was able to make jokes. I think she was looking forward to getting some sleep. It's a mixed bag. She was relieved to be off the boat because of the compromised condition she was in, but in a sense, when you're on a boat like that, like Abby has been and so closely united to that boat for your everyday existence, you become very close to it. So it's -- she's had to leave "Valdise" in the middle of the ocean. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And it is believed that the parents say they will be seeing her in a few days. The mother is pregnant and could go into labor any day now. They are hoping their daughter will make it back to U.S. soil soon.

All right. The U.S. taking on England right now at the World Cup. We'll take you line to South Africa for the latest at that stadium there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. The quest for the World Cup is well under way in South Africa. But it's the first day for the U.S. team; they are taking on rival England right now. CNN's Alex Thomas is at the stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa. How is it going?

ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are at the fever fans fest just a couple of miles away from the stadium here in Rustenburg, where England is leading the United States by one goal. England's captain Stephen Gerald (ph) in the fourth minute, he wears the number 4 on his back and that's exactly when he delivered a goal for England. A perfect start to their World Cup campaign, misery so for the American fans here. They are probably outnumbered by the English fans, 38,000 in the stadium. Far less than the 20,000 that were here 20 hours ago to watch the host nation South Africa.

You can understand that it's very cold here in the middle of a South African winter. I am wearing gloves and a scarf. But the action on the picture is warm enough. America certainly have plenty of chances. As I speak, another goal, as you can tell from the reaction of the fans there, I can see American fans waving. I can only guess it's an equalizing goal. Game on.

WHITFIELD: 1-1, you know folks are fired up. Just a while ago we saw some live shots coming out of London, as well as Washington, D.C. and something tells me those places are on fire as well there in the Rustenburg Stadium. So any idea whether mostly Americans are in the stands? I understand for the entire World Cup series, there are more Americans who have traveled from far and wide than from any other country to South Africa.

THOMAS: That's correct. After the host nation, America bought more tickets than any other country. I'm being distracted by more crowd reaction. You never know if there is going to be another goal there. So America bought more tickets than any other nation above South Africa, then the English. So both very well supported here. Not that many in the crowd here. There are South Africans in the turnout braving the cold because it's such a compelling match between two exciting teams delivering some goal action as we speak. There's still another 45 minutes to come.

WHITFIELD: I wonder if South Africans are conflicted there, you know making up most of the folks in the stadium, do you root for the Brits or do you root for the U.S.? I wonder how difficult that is. THOMAS: I didn't quite catch that question. Traditionally, England can get the upper hand over America. But historically the U.S. can claim one very famous victory over the English, back in 1950 they beat them 1-0 at a time when the Americans were really football minnows in world terms in England were the superpower. The English papers misprinted them. A very different story now, much more head-to-head. Plenty of the American players play their club football in England alongside some of their English rivals tonight here. You can tell that with the score line, 1-1.

WHITFIELD: History just might be made here. All right. Alex thanks so much from Rustenburg, South Africa. Appreciate that.

All right. Josh Levs is here, too. He has been watching not only viral videos but soccer as well. So you know there is a real conflict for a lot of South Africans rooting because of course lots of British interest in South Africa. But at the same time, the good old USA has been particularly popular in terms of influencing culture in a very big way in South Africa. So I really am wondering who we want to root for in this one.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was amazing, that that just happened during that live shot.

WHITFIELD: I know.

LEVS: I am wondering -

WHITFIELD: Hearing the roar.

LEVS: We have so much reporting going on the inside. And while you are watching us you can follow CNN.com/sports which are literally giving you a play by play. But I am going to look into that Fred, who is getting more cheers from South Africans there. We have a great viral video coming up today. It is a group of comedians posing the question. If a group of BP oil executives spilled coffee during a high-level meeting, how would they clean it up?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Protestors angry over the BP oil spill have organized their numbers on Facebook. They are planning to stage a worldwide protest today in more than 50 cities on five continents. The demonstrators mostly made up of environmentalists says BP needs to know they are not happy of what's being put out in the ocean.

And a 16-month-old baby is safe after being held hostage for more than two days a robbery suspect had used the infant as a shield during a 55-hour standoff with police in Sacramento, California. The suspect was shot and killed by a S.W.A.T. team. The incident started Tuesday when police cornered the suspect in connection to a series of crimes.

A French fishing vessel rescued a California teenager from her crippled sailboat in the Indian Ocean. 16-year-old Abby Sunderland spoke to her parents by phone today. The Sunderland's say their daughter sounded tired, but relieved to be rescued after all that time.

That's kind of our drum roll to Josh Levs with "Viral Videos." We love this part.

LEVS: Usually we are looking at videos interested in funky and different. Everyone has been posting this on my Facebook page all week. It's skewing the story of BP. Let's go right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our plan of action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry about it. It's a small spill and a very large table.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I think we are underestimating just how much coffee was spilled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a lot of coffee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well we better hurry up, because it's almost reached my laptop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: I will tell you about it in a little bit. This is a comedy troupe out of New York and L.A. a coffee spill. They theorize about what to do to make it not spread everywhere. It keeps going. People have been watching the full video here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait, and wait. I've got a brilliant idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Instead of using the paper towel he starts drawing some wild contraption on the paper towel.

WHITFIELD: A containment boom maybe?

LEVS: Something like that. They are constantly shocked that it's not absorbing the coffee spill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Garbage will fall into the coffee cup and fill it with garbage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now there's coffee and garbage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait. I've got an idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Cutting off his hair. All the various things BP has tried again. Skip ahead to the next section. This is the part where Halliburton comes in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are partly responsible for this. You provided the Styrofoam cups knowing they were unstable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. Don't put this on us. Halliburton doesn't have to listen to this. We are out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Then the last section we have here. They get on the phone with Kevin Costner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got Kevin Costner on the phone. He'll know what to do for sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How big is the spill?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty major, Mr. Costner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a golf ball?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a ping pong ball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Throw it at the spill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Basically they throw it at the spill and they are shocked it doesn't do anything to absorb all the coffee. I'm going to remind everyone, BP tells us all the time they are trying everything they can. That video Fred has gone wild and it's gone so wild, that actually the people behind it will join CNN today in our 5:00 hour.

WHITFIELD: Right, explaining where they came up with that idea. I mean they had a lot of material to work from. They ran away with it.

LEVS: I never had so many people post one video. They are going crazy over it. Humor helps. Speaking of that we have our relaxation video we'll work up to.

WHITFIELD: We get to laugh more.

LEVS: Well you'll see. Let's get to the next video here. This is hot. This guy out of Germany is using hammers. Watch what happens with the nail. Look at that. Is there a debate, is it real or fake? Some people are saying if it's soft wood it could be real.

WHITFIELD: But the aim. LEVS: Some people are saying --

WHITFIELD: That's what makes it phenomenon. It is impressive if it's real.

LEVS: She is the skeptic. I'll have more on that one tomorrow. Each week we have "is it real?" I'll have that tomorrow. Adorable video of the week. The begging kitty. Listen to this kitty. Watch what he does with his paws.

WHITFIELD: I love all things animal anyway.

LEVS: Everyone loves them. Here come the paws. This is why we are watching this.

WHITFIELD: Please. Now they are teasing it. Give it to the kitty.

LEVS: The fact he learned how to do this.

WHITFIELD: Like my son teasing our dog. Give him the treat. Gosh. Making her beg.

LEVS: It's a creature wanting food.

WHITFIELD: I know.

LEVS: Ready for your weekly relaxation video?

WHITFIELD: I'm ready.

LEVS: Every week we deliver Fred her relaxation video. This has come from a couple of viewers.

WHITFIELD: Josh starts to whisper. That's what happens. We all slow down.

LEVS: This is from Tangerine Dream the song is called "Mothers of Rain."

WHITFIELD: I love Tangerine Dream.

LEVS: Feel good?

WHITFIELD: The worst part is when I hear Josh start to whisper.

LEVS: My NPR voice. And as always, we link all the videos online. Every video is up on our Facebook page. We post it to facebook.com/joshlevsCNN. Check out all the videos there. Send your favorites.

WHITFIELD: It has been a bad day. Now it was just made better.

LEVS: First we had that goal, right?

WHITFIELD: That was 1-0 then just moments ago we heard the roar again. We'll have to go back to South Africa in a moment. Josh Levs, thank you so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. In southwestern Arkansas, the search continues for dozens of people after that flash flood. We'll take you right now to a press conference under way that is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: For those who lost loved ones. We met with members of the families. It was obviously a very emotional experience for us and for them. This is a difficult time. I will tell you there is no question that Arkansas is a caring community today. To a person we talked to, they were so impressed with the outpouring of love and concern and compassion that the folks from Arkansas have shown during a very difficult time. I came down here today with the forest chief to make sure that all the resources were being made available to the community to make sure that we continue do the best job we possibly can in the search and rescue process.

We have approximately somewhere between 30 and 34 service personnel working for us today. We provided equipment and will continue to work until we are sure that we've done everything we possibly can to find every single person who is missing and do a count for those who are currently unaccounted for.

I want to thank the chairwoman for her compassion and her direction to us to do everything we possibly can. She was on the phone to me almost immediately after the devastation, encouraging us to do everything we possibly can.

I know Senator Pryor and Congressman Ross are also very supportive of what's taken place here. It's a tragedy in such a beautiful part of the country that something so devastating can happen so quickly. But we're going to continue to work hard. We're going to continue to have hope, and we will do everything we possibly can. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this is one of the most devastating, hardest tragedies our state has been through in a long, long time. It's -- one encouraging thing is to see how neighbors helping neighbor, to see how people from all across the state have converged on this area to do the search and rescue, to bring comfort to the families. Have to make a special note about the churches that have rolled out and have just gone above and beyond the call of duty, and as they would probably recognize, that they're going that extra mile for these folks. And you know, that makes you feel good about our state.

We just went to the church there in Lodi and they had items from lots of businesses around the state. The food's coming in. The support's coming in. And we know that there's still a lot of hard work ahead of the rescue teams.

Anyway, I do want to thank all the folks in the local community to pitch in on this tragedy. As hard as it's been, it's been a time for everybody to come together. And with Senator Lincoln's leadership and the secretary and the director of the Park Service -- or the Forest Service here, everybody's working as hard as they can and doing everything they can, state, local, federal. Everybody's just doing everything they can to make a very, very tragic situation more bearable and try to get closure for as many people as quickly as they possibly can. So here's Congressman Ross.

REP. MIKE ROSS (D), ARKANSAS: Mike Ross, Arkansas 4th congressional district. And I want to thank the secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and I want to thank the chief of the National Forest Service, Tom Tidwell (ph), for making the trip to Arkansas to be with us today. I want to thank both of the United States senators for being here.

We've seen the damage. It's devastating. In my district, we're used to tornadoes. We're not used to seeing anything like this. Back at the church, we visited with families of missing loved ones. Many of those families have loved ones that they know are dead, and others are still missing and they're hoping for the best. And I assured them that not only Arkansas but America is praying for them at this time. I visited with a man in his 80s, who's lived here all his life, who's never seen the type of flash flood that we witnessed here in this area, Camp Albert Pike, on Thursday night, early Friday morning.

I can assure you that the local, the state and the federal officials, all the various agencies, they're coordinating. They're working together. They've got the resources they need. It's just there was so much devastation from this flash flood, it's going to take time. And I want to thank everybody from all over this country that's offered up prayers for the people of this area, as well as the support. There are volunteer fire departments and other first responders from numerous counties, including other states, that are here assisting. And I want to thank them, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As Secretary Vilsack's already shared with you, we're here today to make sure that we're providing all the resources, personnel that's needed to continue the search-and-rescue efforts, to support the state, the counties, the communities and especially the families. So we're here today just to make sure we're providing all the resources that we can to continue this effort to complete the search and rescue and to continue to support the families. Thank you.

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: Thanks. Well, again, we want to thank all of our federal folks, certainly, the Forest Service, the Game and Fish here on the state level, our local law enforcement emergency services and everybody. And please, we just ask all of America to lift up their thoughts and prayers for the families of those that have victims and those that have missed loved ones.

So any questions? We'll have to be brief, but...

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

LINCOLN: Well, I've grown up on the river and I've grown up in tornado areas. So we know natural disasters. One of the things we know is, is to have good neighbors, you've got to be a good neighbor. And if there's anything we know about Arkansans is that they rally when these kind of disasters happen. In 2008, we had some terrific tornadoes that hit. We had a lot of devastation from that. Floods and tornadoes are pretty common to us, but we've had other things, as well. So all we know is, is that we've got good services both from the federal and the state level, and more importantly, local folks who come into play. They do a great job.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) warning signals (INAUDIBLE) around the area (INAUDIBLE)

LINCOLN: Well, it's really tough. These storms came in from Texas. They got into those valleys. And unfortunately, they stalled, which meant a lot of that water came down immediately at one time, and it just kept coming down in the same place. There was a lot of problems there.

There are warning systems that are out there. Much of them come through TV and radio and other things. This is not a place where you get good cell service, unfortunately. And I know that the rangers that were here and the Forest Service folks that were here began to put out as much information as they could. It came at a part of the day. Obviously, at almost 2:00, 3:00 o'clock in the morning, it's tough to get that word out. The terrain here is very, very difficult, as you all have noticed. There are steep ravines along the riverbeds. And it's just a tough area. It's...

WHITFIELD: All right, you're listening to Senator Blanche Lincoln there out of Langley, Arkansas. They're talking about the complications that come with this now 20-mile or so search in rough terrain, looking for anyone who may have been swept away during that flash flooding that took place early yesterday morning, a confirmation of 17 people who died. But what's making it difficult to know if there were any other people who were victimized by this is that the manifest or the list of guests there at that campground was swept away along with the waters. And so they're not quite sure who they're looking for or how many they're looking for, but they continue in this ongoing and very difficult, treacherous search.

All right, meantime, back now to an environmental tragedy of another sort. It is now day 54, and BP is facing a deadline now to explain how it's going to contain more of that gushing oil. The government says so far, the company's plans have fallen short.

And when you see all of this oil spilling into the gulf, schools are about the last thing that you might be thinking of. But think again, particularly as it pertains to the state of Florida.

Pierre Tristam is a journalist in Daytona Beach, Florida, and he says school budgets in his state could take a big hit because of the oil that is threatening the Florida beaches because so much of the revenue from sales taxes that come with tourism, et cetera -- well, that helps to finance the education system there in the state of Florida.

So good to see you, Pierre. You've got to explain this one because a lot of folks are thinking, Wait a minute, public school system usually financed by state and local taxes. Why is it that tourism would so severely impact the education budget there? PIERRE TRISTAM, EDITOR, FLAGERLIVE.COM: Well, they are financed by state and local taxes, but in Florida, all of those taxes go up to the state capital in Tallahassee and then are redistributed evenly along the poorer and richer counties and -- to even things out. State sales tax revenues are also used.

So the way things have been unfolding in the last several weeks has been such that there's a very slowly unfolding disaster here, and local school districts are becoming aware of this. The people at large are not. And what this is sort of adding up to is a confluence of terrible events that is the culmination of two years of very, very bad economic news. The impact of the oil slick is going to be just the latest, and it might just end up being the one that really buries everybody under a very serious -- you know, in a very serious state that -- - out of which we don't know how they're going to come out.

WHITFIELD: So a couple of things there, then, real quick, if I could just stop you, because that was a lot of good information. But you said, you know, for one, you know, talking about a bad economic situation there for a couple of years, and already local school districts are talking about it. What are they saying about what is at hand right now?

TRISTAM: Well, they're very stressed. First, they've had to sustain an incredible hit from a loss in property -- in property valuations, which essentially lost half their valuations in the last four years. They're also sustaining losses and increased costs because of what we have here in Florida, a class size amendment that passed several years ago, forcing every school district to increase the number of teachers that are in our classrooms, so that is there isn't -- there's a very strict limit to the number of students who can be in any given classroom. And this year, the strictest limits are going to apply. That has forced school districts to invest yet more money, just this year, $3.6 billion to comply with that amendment. So you add...

WHITFIELD: OK...

TRISTAM: You add that to the loss in tax revenue, you add that to the loss already in economic activity, which hurt the state quite a bit. And now we've got this sales tax hit that's going to occur, and it's going to be pretty devastating.

WHITFIELD: And so in your view, too -- you've written as the editor of Flagerlive.com -- you've also written that in some way, there's going to be a greater economic impact from this gulf oil spill than, say, 9/11, when people either chose not to fly as much anymore or there was a period when no one could fly at all. So people were not traveling to places like Florida to get away, to pour in some of their tourism dollars. How do you see this oil spill is going to have an even greater impact?

TRISTAM: You've got 80 million people who come to Florida every year to enjoy the beaches, the theme parks and so on. Overwhelmingly, they come to the beaches mostly because the theme parks are expensive, the beaches are not, and they're all there ready for them to use. Now, that translates into billions of dollars in tax revenue, $5 billion or so just in tourism. Now, if people in Florida know that there's a west coast and an east coast, people in the rest of the country don't necessarily know that, or maybe in the rest of the world. If they're making their plans right now, they're not going to take a chance. They're not going to say, OK, well, let's just go down to Florida, and if it hits, we'll go somewhere else. They're going to actually plan ahead and not come here.

If the state just takes a 10 percent hit in tourism, that will translate to a $2 billion loss in state revenue, which is going to have a very, very severe impact on the budget...

WHITFIELD: Which is already...

(CROSSTALK)

TRISTAM: Yes, that's right. It's already heading into next year with a $3 billion deficit once this budget year is over. And they don't -- they have no idea on what to do. I compare this to -- you know, you've heard about these plumes in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, this is like the economic equivalent of plumes lurking beneath the Florida budget. And nobody yet knows to what extent it's going to be toxic and to what extent it's going to demolish...

WHITFIELD: Well, Pierre Tristam...

TRISTAM: ... a lot of the accomplishments (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: ... editor of Flagerlive.com, thanks for giving a preview of this. Something tells me then there's going to be great depth in which to explore as it pertains to this story and this occurrence as it affects Florida economically, as it has the other three states so far. Thanks so much, Pierre. Appreciate it.

TRISTAM: Thank you.

All right, one year after Iran's disputed election, Iranians are back in the streets protesting. What now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Iranians were back in the streets demonstrating today. And so were the country's security forces. Clashes erupted between the two sides as demonstrators marked the anniversary of that country's contested presidential election.

Reza Sayah covers Iran for CNN, and he's in Islamabad today. So Reza, opposition leaders had asked Iranians to lay low today because they feared bloodshed.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think we have to put things in perspective, Fredricka. There were no widespread demonstrations in the streets of Tehran today, certainly not close to what we saw one year ago. There were small pockets of protests, small pockets of clashes, about 14 people arrested. This was another day when a huge number of security forces simply overwhelmed the protesters and outmuscled them and simply didn't allow them to gather anywhere. Amateur video posted on YouTube shows perhaps the biggest protest took place inside a Tehran university, Sharif (ph) University. We spoke to a student, who told us around 4:00 PM local time, there was a gathering of protesters and they chanted anti-government slogans. But about an hour later, it was broken up.

The first set of clashes took place at a major square about 6:00 PM local time. Security forces, according to witnesses, chased away a growing number of people along a sidewalk. Several people were beaten, about four people blindfolded and arrested, witnesses telling us on several occasions, they saw people blindfolded with black hoods, Fredricka, which is something we hadn't seen before.

So no widespread protests, but people showed up and they made their presence felt. They were defiant, but certainly nothing close to what we saw a year ago.

WHITFIELD: Well, that is good. All right, Reza Sayah, thanks so much, from Islamabad. Appreciate that update.

All right, going straight and getting clean, a life-or-death challenge for one woman determined to break through the revolving door. We'll meet a "CNN Hero."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In California, almost 60 percent of folks who get out of prison end up back behind bars within three years. Well, some call it the revolving door. This week's "CNN Hero" broke that cycle. Once addicted to crack, six-time inmate Susan Burton got out and got clean and transformed her life. Now she's helping female offenders do the same thing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN BURTON, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: "I'm writing in regards to my parole plan."

"I'm 21 years old with two strikes."

"I'm scared to relapse again."

"I want to be a success story."

"Please hold a bed for me."

We all leave prison saying, I'm going to get my life on track, and you end up getting off a bus, downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row. People know who you are when you come off that bus, and you're targeted. Many times, you don't even make it out of the Skid Row area before you're caught up into that cycle again.

My name is Susan Burton. After my son died, I used drugs. I just spiraled into a pit of darkness. I went to prison six times. Finally, I found rehab, and I thought, I can help women come home from prison.

I pick them up, bring them back to the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miss Burton is like a mother for all of us. She offer you a warm bed, food, like a real family.

BURTON: I want to see you try.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She made me want to change my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You proud of me, Miss Burton?

BURTON: Sure. You came a long way.

I want the women to realize that they have something to contribute. This is giving life. That's what it's all about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Since 1998, Susan Burton has helped more than 400 women get their lives back on track. So to see a story of one of her more challenging cases and to nominate someone you perhaps think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes.

Tearful tales of survival from the Arkansas floods of watching their neighbors get swept away by the water. We'll hear some of their stories.

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WHITFIELD: Swept away by deadly floods. That's the story in Arkansas, where at least 17 people are dead. Maybe even twice that many are missing, actually. Rescuers are looking for survivors or victims. Meanwhile, those who made it through the tragedy are sharing their heartbreaking stories already.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You couldn't hear anything. All you could hear was the water. The water sounded really close. Sounded like high, high winds. And you could hear things cracking and snapping. And stuff would rush by you, and you didn't know what it was!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was so many people passing us by. Lord, help me! Help me! We just couldn't reach them!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Absolutely horrible. The Red Cross estimates that up to 300 people were actually in the area when those floods swept through.

Bonnie Schneider is in the weather center now. Give us an idea the way this flash flooding works. Sometimes there's enough warning, a couple hours, for forecasters like yourself to actually tell people what's going on. Other times, really no warning at all.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. And Fredricka, there were so many factors, unfortunately, that all came together in a negative way for this situation. One of them has to do with the topography of where this occurred. And we're looking at Google Earth to Albert Pike campground, which is in a remote area where a lot of people do like to camp, whether it's an RV or just with a backpack.

The problem is, when you look at this, you can see we have a lot of rugged terrain, a lot of mountains, and hills and steep areas, as well, with rivers. So the water, when it comes in, really has nowhere to go when it hits the mountain but down and then can pool in the rivers. And that's exactly what we saw with this situation.

The other factor, of course, is the amount of rain and the speed at which it hit the ground, which is really a force that's unusual. Absolutely. We saw tropical rain work its way through Texas and then come into Arkansas. And what you're looking at is a Nexrad composite of all the rain that fell. And I want to draw your attention right here, southern sections of Montgomery County, and this is where the campground is located in Arkansas. This is where we had eight inches of rain come into play in 24 hours. However, when this was all occurring, the heaviest rain was between 12:30 AM to 5:00 AM. So that's when most people are sleeping. Plus, the amounts of rain were coming in at such a fast rate, two to three inches per hour. That's just incredible, and that's why we saw those little areas of the Little Missouri River and the rivers coming together and rising so rapidly. So up to 20 feet in just a matter of hours. It's incredible when you normally have a river that's at three feet to go to 20 feet.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SCHNEIDER: And you have nowhere to seek shelter because you're surrounded by rugged terrain and more into the woods and into the wilderness, as well. So really, those are the factors that came together, unfortunately, to bring about this tremendous flooding.

And just to let you know what's happening now with this same weather system that's not going away, it is causing severe weather away from the area that we're talking about. But we are getting strong storms right now across the Midwest with frequent lightning strikes. So Fredricka, it's that time of year.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

SCHNEIDER: We have severe weather. But this one had a tropical influence, and it really just hit the wrong area at the wrong time.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it really did.

SCHNEIDER: Devastating.

WHITFIELD: Terrible. All right, thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.