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Iowa in Clean-Up Mode After Flash Floods; Northern Coast of Indonesia Reeling After Six Earthquakes Shook Region; Defiance from Tehran as Iran Starts Designing Nuclear Reactor; Reaction to Obama's Oval Office Address

Aired June 16, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Checking our top stories right now. Iowa is in cleanup mode today following dangerous flash floods. Fast-moving water filled the streets of a mobile home park yesterday leaving behind a big mess. There were also several rescues but no one was hurt.

And the northern coast of Papua, Indonesia now is reeling today after six earthquakes shook their region. At least two people were killed and more than 400 homes damaged. Four of the tremors hit the area within an hour's time, and two more followed a few hours later. The strongest quake was a 7.0 magnitude.

And defiance from Tehran now. Iran has started design work on a new nuclear reactor. Iranian media report the design should be complete in two to three years, and the reactor should be operational within five. Just last week the U.N. slapped Iran with new sanctions as punishment for its controversial nuclear program.

All right. The gulf oil disaster, CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us now with a preview. So Suzanne, the executives have just made it into the White House. How tough is the president likely to be with them?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it's going to be an interesting meeting because the way some White House officials have described, they say that the president is going to come in in the beginning of this meeting and be there for about 20 minutes or so, but then afterwards he and the vice president are going to leave and then they are going to get involved in what some call nitty-gritty negotiations, some tough negotiations, between the lawyers of this group.

So we're talking about White House lawyers and also any kind of legal representation that BP executives have brought with them to talk about the main point here, and that is this escrow account. The idea that BP would be required to set aside some funds, set aside some money to help pay for those claims, for those who say, look, our business is under water, damages have been exorbitant. We need for you to pay for lost wages and compensation.

The administration is trying to force BP's hand in this and say, you have to put aside a certain amount of money in order to compensate those individuals. Here's how President Obama put it in his Oval Office address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of this company's recklessness and this fund will not be controlled by BP.

In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The White House officials have told me this morning, Fred, that the president is not going to act as a mediator here. That he is simply going to move forward and set the agenda, say this is what we're looking for, this is what we want, and that it will be those lawyers who are going to be behind the scenes trying to negotiate this.

But we should set the scene here, Fred. That they have already been in talks here. We heard from one of the top White House advisers, David Axelrod, early this morning, who told us that they have been negotiating for a while, and they've been talking about this and what we get from him is that BP executives and officials seem to be cooperating in all of this, that they want to go forward.

There are still some questions about how much money we're talking in this escrow account. The White House is saying somewhere in the tune of $20 billion. We'll see if BP executives agree with that. The White House also trying to talk tough and saying they will use whatever legal means they have. Fred, they may not have to do that because it sounds like from what we're getting and reading the tea leaves that they may be much closer than farther apart.

WHITFIELD: All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. It almost sounds like with the lawyers then meeting and perhaps brokering a deal, we are talking about maybe - even like a contract that both sides will agree on so that there will be no surprises in the end.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thanks so much.

All right. In last night's primetime speech, the president spoke to the nation, and among those closely listening, the people living in the disaster zone. For two months their frustrations have been building and so have their demands for more action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LAFONT, GRAND ISLE COUNCILMAN: It all sounds good, you know, and got to have confidence in my president that he'll follow through with some of the plans that we have been going over with, but I just don't know. You know, I just got a lot of fears and unknowns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said nothing. It was photo ops. All it is is photo ops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really upsets me. It's not the money. It's the idea of stopping the leak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, for the fifth time since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, government scientists are raising their estimate for how much oil is actually flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. Patricia Wu joins us now from New York.

Patricia, they are now saying as many as 60,000 barrels a day leaking?

PATRICIA WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Fred. They're boosting the previous flow estimates by as much as 50 percent. Pretty mind boggling. So we're going to put those numbers into every day terms. Let's take the high end estimate of 60,000 barrels a day. How much is that? Well, it takes 42 of these gallon jugs of milk to fill just one barrel. So 42 times 60,000, we are talking about 2.5 million gallons a day. That's enough to fill four Olympic size swimming pools.

Another way to look at it. A tanker truck you might see on the highway holds about 200 barrels. So it would take 300 of those tankers to equal 60,000 barrels, and as for the total estimated amount that has been spilled since the rig exploded on April 20th. Well, imagine yourself at Niagara Falls, it flows at a rate of 3,500 barrels every second. If that were oil, you would have to watch for 16 minutes to see the amount that spilled into the gulf over the last 58 days.

And one more example. Assuming 60,000 barrels a day for 58 straight days, that would fill half of the Empire State building. So we're talking about a building that has 102 floors, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So how much stock do we put in these numbers? Because we know these numbers have moved a lot in the course of the past two months.

WU: They certainly have. And the government says this 35,000 to 60,000 number is the most comprehensive estimate today. But it probably won't be the final word. Scientists will continue to refine that number as they get more data. One big reason why this matters, well BP may have to pay fines of up to $4,300 for every barrel spilled.

So getting the right number is critical. With BP's original estimate of just 1,000 a day, they could have owed $249 million over 58 days. But if its' 60,000 barrels a day, we're talking about potential fines of $15 billion, Fred. So, a big difference.

WHITFIELD: Patricia Wu, thanks so much, from New York.

We have a new development on the efforts to capture more of that escaping oil. Just minutes ago, BP announced that a second containment system is now in place. The new system began funneling more of the leaking oil and gas to a vessel on the ocean surface. BP says it ahs not yet been able to measure just how much oil and gas is being captured. And we will, of course, let you know as we know.

You've seen the devastation and you heard the complaints. Now it's your chance to help. Join us Monday night for an all-star relief effort to help rebuild the coast. The special two-hour "Larry King Live," this begins 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday night, right here on CNN.

Fishermen and shrimpers are some of the people hardest hit by the oil disaster. Next, find out what they actually thought about President Obama's speech and his handling of the whole situation thus far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: For generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. I talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don't know how they're going to support their families this year.

I have seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers, even in areas where the beaches are not yet effected. I talked to owners of shops and restaurants who wonder when the tourists might come back. The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they've lost. It's about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That was the president last night talking to the nation. The president has also been to the gulf region a number of times now and one of the men who actually talked directly with President Obama during a recent visit to the gulf region is Richard Gallott.

Richard comes from six generations of shrimpers that dates back 80 years. He was watching last night's speech very closely. Richard Gollott joins me now by phone from Biloxi, Mississippi.

All right. Good morning to you, Richard. Was there anything that you heard last night that you felt was particularly encouraging from the president?

RICHARD GOLLOTT, SHRIMPER: Good morning. You know, quite a few things that the president said, gives us some encouragement, and one of the things was he was going to appoint secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, to head up the -

WHITFIELD: The restoration plan?

GOLLOTT: The restoration.

WHITFIELD: You like hearing that there is going to be a short- term and maybe even long-term effort to try to restore the region. But now, what about for the immediacy, the cleaning up of the beaches, of the coast line, of getting rid of this oil, making sure that BP is held accountable and is paying out these claims? Do you think that this is a realistic plan that the president articulated last night?

GOLLOTT: Well, I think BP and the president is doing everything possible to take care of this problem. You know, this is new ground we're treading here. Nobody has ever been this way before. You know, I think of the president had a magic wand or BP for sure, had a magic wand to pass over this problem and get rid of it in 15 minutes, they would be glad to do it and happy to do it as the people of the gulf coast would be.

WHITFIELD: Richard, when you met with the president face to face, what did you talk about and what did you sense from him? What did you feel you gained from that meeting?

GOLLOTT: Well, I think he's really genuinely concerned. I'm grateful that I was one of the ones that got to meet with him and sit down and talk with him. It was a very good meeting, a very charismatic individual. It surprised me how on top of things he really was in trying to help the people of the gulf coast. I think it was a good meeting.

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea of how this oil spill has impacted your life, your business, your family business directly. What are you able to do on a day-to-day basis now?

GOLLOTT: Not much. Our business depends heavily on the shrimp boats, how they work out of Biloxi, and they work the Chandeleur Sound, which is part of Louisiana and Mississippi, very close together if you look at it on a map. And our fishermen fish Louisiana waters. Just north of where the oil is spilling so the (INAUDIBLE) fisheries and rightfully so has got the whole area closed.

So we are down about 95 percent. We're closed down. We're just, you know, trying to keep up, our key people, our supervisors on, and keep them doing something. And we're bringing in a few shrimp out of the Texas area to bring them in to work, just to keep our people busy.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel those are safe, and you are encouraging people that they should be able to eat those shrimp from the Texas gulf coast? No problem?

GOLLOTT: Well, even the Mississippi gulf coast shrimp are safe because any time they detect any oil - you know, I had two FDA, Food and Drug Administration, officers in my plant this week, and we are able to get a handful of shrimp out of Mississippi, and when I'm talking about a handful, I'm talking about you know, maybe 5,000, 10,000 pounds at a time, which is, since we unload as many as 150,000 pounds a day, that's not a lot of shrimp but the shrimp we're seeing is excellent.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GOLLOTT: And the president ate shrimp. When we were meeting with him he was eating -

WHITFIELD: Very good.

GOLLOTT: And commented on how good they were.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Gollott, thanks so much. I'm glad you are able to keep some of your employees working there and keep part of your business intact. All the best as everyone kind of waits and wonders what's next here. We're on day 58. Thanks so much. Richard Gollott.

GOLLOTT: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thousands and thousands of refugees overseas now fleeing from deadly ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan. But one route to safety looks like a war zone. Coming up, we're traveling down the road to Osh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. More help is on the way to some 100,000 refugees fleeing from bloody ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan. The first United Nations plane has arrived in neighboring Uzbekistan, bringing tents and other supplies to packed refugee camps.

Russia and the U.S. are also sending in help to the border and assistant secretary of state Robert Blake is scheduled to visit a refugee camp later today. 179 people have reportedly been killed and hundreds more have been injured in six days of fighting in Kyrgyzstan.

So while so many people are getting out of Kyrgyzstan, our Nic Robertson actually travels in and he documented his journey to Osh, the country's second largest city and a hotbed for ethnic violence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the road to Osh. It is deserted and dangerous. We hide behind an Army truck for safety. I describe what we see.

(on camera): This area is probably one of the most dangerous areas we're going in right now. I see overturned trucks and soldiers look very weary right now. These are the guys that are trying to bring security to this area. The government is pleading with the Russian and the international community to do more to help them.

We're coming up to a checkpoint here, and I can smell dead bodies just as we drove through there.

(voice-over): It's an Army checkpoint. The soldiers are tense. We arrived at the airport an hour earlier. A Chinese plane was evacuating its citizens. Hundreds more were waiting to leave.

(on camera): Anyone who doesn't have a good reason to be in Osh is getting out of the city. These Chinese workers and students have been waiting all day to get a flight back home and over there, there are Turkman workers also waiting for a ride out of the conflict.

(voice-over): Journalists are the only people looking for rides into the city. No one wants to take them. This bullet riddled car, one of the only options, a stark reminder of the violence that has unfolded here over the past few days and what may lie ahead on the road.

(on camera): We're going to go in convoy with the Army truck. A lot of other journalists are riding in the back there. There's one, two, three, four cars. I'm going to get in. This is the way to ride into Osh. It's just too dangerous to go without the Army.

(voice-over): Ten minutes later at the Army checkpoint, it's still tense. Suddenly they let us go. We are alone.

(on camera): We lost our military escort now.

(voice-over): We are approaching a barricade.

(on camera): Some people by the side of the road. Do they have weapons? I can't see. They don't seem to have weapons. You can smell the burnt tires here.

(voice-over): Store after store is being burnt out, mile upon mile of destruction.

(on camera): This was done by Uzbeks? So this is a Kyrgyz neighborhood.

(voice-over): A vehicle full of soldiers drives by. They're enforcing the uneasy calm. No one knows how long it will hold.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Right back in this country today, 58 of the oil spill in the gulf, and many are still wondering if the seafood from the gulf of Mexico is safe. We'll have experts weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": While I was in Mississippi yesterday, President Obama ate mini-crab cakes, fried shrimp, and shrimp salad sandwiches to show Americans that seafood from the gulf coast is safe to eat. If you don't believe Obama ate all that staff, just ask our new president, Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. All kidding aside, the oil spill has raised a lot of concerns about eating gulf seafood and people living along the gulf coast who have been exposed to the oil or dispersants may also be worried about those effect. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with us now to address all of that.

So these are very legitimate concerns that many people have.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely and senators are concerned about that and they had hearings yesterday and they're having more today and one of the first questions they're asking is "what kind of health threat is there to people who are cleaning up this oil?" They're the ones who are getting closest to it.

And the answer they got was a little bit used. A technical phrase, a smooshie (ph) and the reason why is that really, no one knows. This is an unprecedented event to have this much oil over this long a period of time plus the use of dispersants, which are chemicals that are used, obviously, to disperse the oil.

This hasn't been done before. Now, already some fishermen have complained of - fishermen who have been out there who have been cleaning up have complained of respiratory problems and skin problems. But it's unknown whether there's going to be any long-term effects.

Now, Fred, you talked earlier about the safety of the seafood and that question arose in yesterday's Senate hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE TAYLOR, FDA DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: Because of the aggressive act by NOAA to close waters, we're confident that if it's on the market today, that shrimp and other seafood taken from the gulf is safe. Those are very aggressive, preventive measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: All right. So, there you have it. Again, the sentiment, the message being put out there is that the seafood is safe. If it's on the market, it's safe because they were so aggressive about closing down certain waters.

WHITFIELD: Yes. We just heard that from one of the shrimpers that I just interviewed as well who is trying to encourage people that depending on where it comes in the gulf, it is safe. (INAUDIBLE) is not the same.

Yes, and what about hurricane season is upon us, and there is a great fear about how a hurricane or tropical storm in that region would kind of turn things up. What would that do?

COHEN: That's a real concern. I mean, it's a real concern at this moment. They don't know quite what to expect but they are worried. Senator Tom Harken asked an official from the Department of Health and Human Services about the effect of hurricanes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I be confident that we have plans for worst case scenario? Dr. Kaplowitz -

DR. LISA KAPLOWITZ, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT: We still have to worry about all of the things we worry about with hurricanes. That's what's going to have the biggest immediate impact on people. And quite frankly, once again, we don't know what the impact is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Like so many other things in the gulf right now, lots of unanswered questions.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks so much. Elizabeth Cohen, good to see you.

All right. Of course, a retired general says it is time for action in the gulf oil disaster in his view as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We need to act like it's World War III. You know, when we did the world wars, everything was mobilized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lieutenant General Russell Honore, he spearheaded the last disaster in the gulf region. He shares some lessons that he learned from Hurricane Katrina with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Right now, at the White House, President Obama is holding his first face-to-face meeting with BP executives. He's calling on them to pour billions of dollars into an escrow account to pay for future cleanup and damages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Make no mistake. We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long as it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever's necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: (AUDIO GAP) says BP will not run the escrow account. He says an independent third party will oversee the claims process.

Lieutenant General Russell Honore -- you may remember his no- nonsense, take-charge leadership after Hurricane Katrina. Well, he says the Gulf oil crisis needs to be fought like a war. CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman spoke to him in New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: General, we came to the national World War II museum here in New Orleans today because you said we need to declare World War III when it comes to this oil disaster.

LT. GEN. RUSSELL HONORE (RET.): Absolutely. We need to act like it's World War III. You know, when we did the World Wars, everything was immobilized. Nothing was left on the table. All branches of the military should be there working for Admiral Allen, apply man power and advanced command and control to find this oil and kill it.

TUCHMAN: I mean, you're treating this like it is a battle?

HONORE: Absolutely. For the people of the Gulf, this is their life. And it would be just like an enemy force invading the Gulf and taking over our shoreline. We need to treat this like a war if we're going to get the effects we want as opposed to an environmental spill.

TUCHMAN: One of the things you're saying is that inherent problem with having BP responsible for the cleanup is a problem?

HONORE: Absolutely! It's like getting mugged and have the burglar determine what your compensation is. The government needs to be determining that.

TUCHMAN: What is the first thing would you do immediately, within an hour, to change the way this cleanup has occured in line --

HONORE: I would go on the offense. I would go on the attack. We've been playing defense for too long, waiting for the oil to come to the shoreline. I would mobilize Northern Command -- that's U.S. Northern Command out of Colorado. I would tell them to send men and equipment from the Army, Navy and Air Force to get command and control in the Gulf so Admiral Allen has command and control to find the oil.

We leave nothing on the table. Whatever it takes. You know, the effect of losing this battle and have that amount of oil come ashore could be equivalent beyond what the ramifications of levering the war in Afghanistan or Iraq.

TUCHMAN: And that brings up an interesting point. You said that you would consider taking troops who are currently in Iraq or Afghanistan and bringing them here.

HONORE: Whatever it takes.

TUCHMAN: Should Americans be as worried about what is going on in the Gulf with the oil as they are about Iraq and Afghanistan?

HONORE: I think we should, as well as equal to what we're concerned about terrorism. You know, we keep worrying about this one guy slipping through and having a significant event and blowing up a building up or airplane. But this is at that level in harm because we see this as a man-induced event from an accident. We understand that, but we have to fight that oil. TUCHMAN: What kind of pressures need to be put on BP?

HONORE: I think one of the things we need to look at is a date certain out there, whether that's 1 July or 15 July. They say, if you haven't made progress, this is what's going to happen. We are going to put that well hole in receivership.

TUCHMAN: You want to declare World War III, basically, on this. Can you actually draw out a battle plan?

HONORE: Absolutely. This is Mississippi River, Louisiana coastline, state of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. We need to divide this into zones, get military, Army, Navy and Air Force assets, put them in the water. Combine them by zone.

This is the Florida coast here. You'd have a two-star general here, whether a National Guard division commander or an active duty commander or naval commander that would be responsible for defending the coastline along Florida, as well as running reconnaissance vessels and aircraft throughout this part of Florida. Find the oil and kill it.

TUCHMAN: So, for each state, though?

HONORE: Each state. We need to start now, we need to go from the defense to the attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, we're looking at ways to fix it all week long. Five a day, every day. Ways to scoop up the oil, thoughts on plugging the leak, even ways to lend a helping hand. We're looking at all of them, so stay tuned to CNN all week long for these fix-it ideas.

So, we'll have more on the Gulf Coast reaction to President Obama's speech last night. Don't miss a roundtable discussion with a fisherman from Louisiana, a hotel owner from Florida and an environmentalist from Alabama. That's all in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Breaking news from the campaign trail and the Tea Party Express. CNN has learned exclusively that the group, Tea Party will back an underdog in the Republican Senate battle in Alaska. Their pick, Joe Miller, a lawyer from Fairbanks, who is mounting a long-shot bid to oust incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski. The Tea Party wants to help Miller overcome the odds, and the group has been helping the underdog try to do it. They have done it before in other races. Tea Partiers sucessfully derailed the Utah re-election bid of the Senator Bob Bennett.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are names we got to know very well during the mortgage crisis in particular. And now, they are making headlines again. The companies will have their shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison Kostik is there on the trading floor with more details on this. Alison, what's behind this?

ALISON KOSTIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredericka. It's really a sign that Fannie and Freddie are still in trouble. These are companies that are still in trouble even after the government bailed them out. Yes, regulators are asking them to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. It officially means they're being kicked out of what is really known as an exclusive club right here at the New York Stock Exchange.

And it's because they were unable to meet minimum standards. For one, their stock price is low and has been for a long time. I mean, think about it. Before the whole housing bubble burst, Fannie shares were near 70 bucks. Since September 2008, when the government bailed them out, those shares have been around a buck. It's really a sign of lack of investor confidence.

And this is all because Fannie and Freddie are directly tied to the housing market. When the housing market collapsed, so did Fannie and Freddie. Today, they still together own half of all mortgages. You're talking about $5.5 trillion worth of mortgages, so that's a lot of collateral. But these companies are lacking that investor confidence, and that's why we are seeing the stock price dip so low, and they are essentially being kicked out of the New York Stock Exchange. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alison Kostic, thanks so much. Appreciate that. On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

All right. Checking our top stories right now.

It is day 58 of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf. And this hour, President Obama is meeting for the first time with top BP executives. The president is expected to tell them to set aside enough cash to compensate those who lost wages due to the spill. You are looking at CEO and COO of BP and other executives heading to the White House earlier. The president is also insisting that an independent agency handle the claims.

This morning, BP says it has actually started collecting the gushing oil through a second containment system attached to the ruptured well.

And overseas, the first U.N. aid plane has arrived to help refugees pleaing ethnic violence in Krgyzstan. 100,000 people have fled the fighting in the central Asian nation. At least 180 people have been killed.

Back in this country now. A police officer hits a teen in the face, and that punch has sparked a debate now. Was it too much or did the girl leave the officer no choice? We're getting your thoughts on this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Let's take a look at other stories making headlines now.

Starting in San Diego, this news across America now. A woman called the military mistress allegedly committed some of her crimes. Police say Bobbi Finley cleaned out the bank accounts of 40 military men and married actually nine of them. Findlay was arrested Monday in New Orleans after she allegedly skipped out on her restaurant bill. She denies scamming any troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBI FINLEY, "MILITARY MISTRESS": They're using me at the same time I was using them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you were using them?

FINLEY: Not for what everybody's saying, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Authorities said Finley would wait until her victims were sent overseas and THEN drain their accounts.

A Georgia teenager has been hit with felony charges after being accused of throwing a water balloon at a moving car. The impact was so hard, it actually cracked the car's windshield. The 19-year-old says it was innocent, harmless fun. Charges against him include terrorist acts and criminal damage.

In Seattle, police are defending an officer's action after a jaywalking case snowballed. He was trying to arrest a teen, but she kept resisting. Then a friend stepped in, and a cop punched her in the face. The Urban League says the officer went too far. Seattle's police union says the cop did nothing wrong, and the girls should not have resisted or touched him.

So, that brings us to today's blog question. We want to know what do you think about this altercation, what took place? Did, indeed, the police do what he was supposed to do? Did the jaywalkers? Were they out of hand? We want to hear from you. We are getting comments at my blog page, CNN.com/fredricka. We will get some comments on the air.

All right. Build it, and they will recover it. We'll show you one man's plan to rebuild New Orleans on a state of the art "field of dreams." Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.

It's been nearly five years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. And for a city on the road to recovery, at least one man says the answer lies in a high school football field. CNN's Tom Foreman explains in our "Building Up America." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Carver High Rams are training for their third year of football since the big storm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Set, hut.

FOREMAN: The team looks good. The coaches are hopeful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we're just in the process of building. We're just trying to get better year by year.

FOREMAN: But the rams are getting a big boost thanks to a wild idea from the school's 24-year-old athletic director, Brian Bordainick, brought in from New York by the "Teach for America" program.

(on camera): What is your vision for what you're going to put here?

BRIAN BORDAINICK, GW CARVER HIGH SCHOOL: We want to put a state- of-the-art community space, a synthetic turf football field, eight- lane Olympic track, with stadium seating and lighting.

FOREMAN: That's a reasonable dream.

BORDAINICK: More or less.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Always a troubled institution in the toughest part of the Ninth Ward, Carver was destroyed by Katrina. Students scattered. Even now they hold all their classes in trailers, waiting for their wrecked building to be replaced.

And yet since he launched his field of dreams project to serve not just Carver but every public school in the area, Bordainick has raised -- no kidding -- $1.3 million on a simple message.

(on camera): What you're talking about building here really isn't a facility as much as part of a community.

BORDAINICK: Exactly. We want some place where everybody can use, come down and feel safe. The end product is that our kids will be coming to school more often, they'll be getting better grades, they'll be getting suspended less and our community as a whole will be a lot more healthy.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Selling individuals, government leaders and companies like the architectural firm that has now designed the new field for free has not been easy.

(on camera): Did you instantly see this when he showed up or did you think he was crazy?

MARK RIPPLE, ESKEW, DUMEZ AND RIPPLE ARCHITECTS: It was half and half.

FOREMAN: It was?

(voice-over): But gradually, Bordainick's relentless enthusiasm and conviction that a sport center can rally a whole town have won supporters.

RIPPLES: It's something that gives kids self-esteem and in areas of the city where they desperately need it.

PAUL VALLAS, SUPERINTENDENT: And I think in many respects his efforts helped tip support in the favor of building a new school there, because of the resources he was able to bring in, the contributions, the attention.

FOREMAN: This means a lot more to you than just football.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to shape young men into being successful men and be productive members of society.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Bordainick and the Rams still need more than half a million dollars to break ground. But they have faith it will come because just like football, they are working on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go and walk on my field. Let's go and walk on my field. Let's go.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, in all of the action there, but the emotion? Not so much. This is what a big World Cup Match looks like in Lego Land. More on this before the hour is up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Every day at this time, we honor service members who gave her lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. We call it "Home and Away." Today, we want to tell you about Specialist Lucas Starsovich. His brothers in arms called him Star. He died in Iraq April 2007 after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

Luke's mom, Ava Rives-Thompson, joins us now on the phone from Tolono, Illinois. So, Ava, this has to have been a very difficult past few years, two-and-a-half years, almost three years now. How have you been coping?

AVA RIVES-THOMPSON, SPC. LUCAS STARSOVICH'S MOTHER (via phone): As best as we can. It's becoming a normal part of our lives. You don't ever get over losing your child, but you learn how to live with it. And -- just one day at a time. Some days, it's one hour at a time.

WHITFIELD: What kind of advice do you end up trying to give other military family members when they receive notice, just like you did, when you apparently got notified while you were at work -- correct?

RIVES-THOMPSON: I was at work, and I noticed that I had some voice mails. My husband had tried to reach me three times, which was unusual. And I called him back, and he said you need to go home. The Army's been at the house. My youngest son was here when they came. But they wouldn't tell him anything, and, of course, you pray that they're just injured. But in my heart, I knew.

So, I came home, and a few minutes after I arrived home, they came back, and changed my life, basically. But what I tell other parents that have lost their loved ones or spouses is let people help you get through it. Bond together with other people that have been through it because we understand each other. And we can help each other and talk to each other in a way that only someone else who has been through it can talk to you.

WHITFIELD: One coping mechanism that a lot of family members try to use is trying to celebrate, continue to celebrate, the life of a lost loved one. How much of that is something that do you? How much do you think about the things that he loved to do?

We're looking at some still photographs of him playing, maybe horseplaying with a sibling at home, being at the piano, there on a tricycle. How often do you try to think of those gleaming kind of moments?

RIVES-THOMPSON: I try to focus on them a lot. The first year or so, those pictures bring tears. But after the pain wears down, they bring memories that you can laugh and enjoy.

And the things that my son valued, we try to do things in his memory and honor to have his memory live on. We buy children's books at the library to keep the children's book section filled with lots of books that little boys would like to read. Lucas wasn't big into reading, so I had a hard time finding books at his age that he enjoyed. So we encourage that, and we support the animal shelter. He loved animals.

WHITFIELD: Ava Rives-Thompson, our heart goes out to you. We salute your son, Lucas Starcevich. Thank you so much for your time

RIVES-THOMPSON: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Before we go, this caught our eye. Have you seen the World Cup match, the kind of pseudo one, England versus the U.S. Just in case you missed it, here's the Lego version of it all. A pretty funny brick-by-brick replay of the match there. A German Web site called Lego Foosball actually has a slew of World Cup classics posted, all recreated with their favorite picks there in the building. You see England making that goal, and then of course later on, the U.S. luckily making their goal with that 1-1 matchup between England and the U.S.

All right. Brooke Baldwin is in for Tony Harris. She's going to take it away with much more of the NEWSROOM, straight ahead.