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Tourism in Gulf Coast Areas; Violence in Kyrgyzstan; Viral Videos of the Week; BP Profit Over Safety; Little Bit Married

Aired June 19, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We'll have more on the Gulf oil disaster in just a moment. First, here are some other headlines right now.

Powerful storms in the Midwest are now being blamed for one death in Michigan. Thousands are still without power today.

Also a bloodthirsty grizzly bear has been killed near Yellowstone National Park. Earlier, it mauled to death a researcher after being shot with a tranquilizer dart.

And it is day 61 of the oil spill disaster and tar balls are still washing ashore on Florida's panhandle beaches now. It's the furthest east the oil has spread there. And BP stopped recovering oil gushing into the Gulf for 10 hours last night because of a problem on board a drilling ship. BP says it has since resumed this morning.

All right, throughout this oil disaster we've been keeping an eye on tourism. It is summer after all, and a lot of people clearly go to the beach. Well, a month ago, we checked in with tourism officials in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, and at the time, the Gulf Coast was still relatively free of oil.

At least we're talking about the beaches. But these days, more of the oily gunky stuff is washing ashore. And just about every day it seems someone has documentation of yet another beach that is being littered with tar balls, et cetera. So we wanted to check in again with those states that we checked into a month ago.

And again Will Seccombe of Visit Florida is back with us. Brian Jones with the Alabama Tourism Department is with us. And Jim Hutchison from the Louisiana Department of Culture Recreation and Tourism is also with us.

Good to see you, Gentlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good afternoon.

WHITFIELD: OK. So about a month ago, all three of these states here that you all are representing were very optimistic and felt like, you know what, we're going to be OK this summer season of tourism. Our beaches are going to be fairly left unscathed by this oil spill, and all of your beaches now have been touched. So, Will, let's begin with you. Your state is already seeing a -- a major drop-off in tourism. People are canceling their reservations to certain beach communities. What do you do now to try to get the word out about what is exactly happening, how are your beaches are being impacted when Panama Beach and even North Walton Beach have just, within a matter of days, reported seeing tar balls? What do you say to tourists?

WILL SECCOMBE, VISIT FLORIDA: Well, that's an absolutely great question. And I appreciate it. I think the biggest challenge is the misperceptions that are out there in the marketplace. Even the intro of, you know, all of our beaches are covered.

There's over 825 miles of beaches in the state of Florida. So it's such a vast tourism product. And yet, you know, for the first six weeks of this oil spill there wasn't a drop of any oil coming gushing from this spill hitting the state of Florida. And over the course of the last couple of weeks we have had some tar balls.

Although that said -- and we probably are going to continue doing so -- certainly until we cap the spill in the Gulf. But, that said, it's a small proportion of the total beaches in the state of Florida.

And I think even more importantly, none of the beaches are actually closed. Our State Department of Environmental Protection and Emergency Operations Center are really doing a fantastic job of cleaning up what tar does land on our beaches.

So first thing that's most important to say is that the beaches are still open and how we do that, you know, everybody is going to look at the marketing guide for Florida and say, of course, he's going to say that.

But we've developed a platform on our Web site called Florida Lives on visitflorida.com and it's a compilation of Web cams from around the state, live video updates on a daily basis.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SECCOMBE: Twitter feeds from all the different destinations around the state. So the consumers can see for themselves that, you know, boy, the beaches are open.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SECCOMBE: There are people enjoying Panama beaches today.

WHITFIELD: So, Will -- Will, I'm going to get back with you --

SECCOMBE: And that's the only way it's going to really work.

WHITFIELD: OK. Will, I'm going to get back with you in a moment on -- you know, beaches being open and what happens once you actually get to those beaches. But first let me go to Brian in Alabama.

The Gulf shores, another main attraction for a lot of folks who want to come there and enjoy the pristine beaches, the, you know, white sands, et cetera. But that's going to be a really tough sell, is it not, right now, to tell people to come to the shoreline, even though you may not necessarily want to get in the water?

What -- you know, what in the world, how -- what kind of message do you send to people, and at the same time try to support your communities, which are clearly going to be devastated?

BRIAN JONES, ALABAMA TOURISM DEPARTMENT: Yes, Fredricka. And it's sort of -- we're in the same way of Florida, certainly the oil has affected and it does affect. But we have cleanup crews that go through every night and every morning.

And it -- it really does depend on the way the wind blows or the currents go because we go days and days without any kind of an impact, and then it can come ashore. A lot of times the tide itself takes it back out.

Another thing that we're doing is (INAUDIBLE). We're doing video updates every day on gulfshores.com. They're live at the beach to let you know. The partners down there -- the condos, the hotels -- have been very good in terms of their policies.

If you get down there and it happens to be one of the days that are affected, they're stepping up in terms of refunds and allowing you to get the money back.

What we're stressing is that there's so much to the beach. There's music, there's restaurants, there's live entertainment. All of those places are family-run businesses. Most of them, the parents have run them, the grandparents have run them. And they need your help right now. The best way to help is to visit.

WHITFIELD: OK.

JONES: Don't send your money, send yourself.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, Jim, Louisiana, you know, your statement was ground zero first. You got hit hard and you're still being hit hard and it's not just beach going but there are other things that people come to Louisiana coast for, particularly game fishing.

Give me an idea of, you know, how -- how there are some industries that are still able to do a bit of game fishing to appeal to some of your tourists but in large part you have been hit hard, tourists are not necessarily interested in coming to the Louisiana shoreline.

JIM HUTCHISON, LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE RECREATION AND TOURISM: No. In fact, our problem is very different than what you've just been told by Florida and Alabama.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HUTCHISON: We have less than 10 miles of recreational beach. And for the most part, that recreational beach is probably used primarily by Louisianans. The industry that's probably been most affected in Louisiana has been the sport fishing industry, and there are still places you can fish in the -- out in the Gulf, but those locations change.

We can constantly monitor that so that we can keep on our Web site -- Louisianatravel.com -- current information about what's closed and where it's closed. But in the scheme of things, from a tourism perspective, while it's obviously very important to those people who are in the sport fishing industry, and the supporting industries that go with that, the bulk of our tourism problem isn't coast related.

So our problem is far more a perception problem that oil is creating problems for Louisiana tourism when it really isn't. In fact, right now I would say that every bit as much a concern to most Louisianans as the oil spill is the fact that this moratorium on drilling offshore is -- it's like a double blow.

Because -- we've had our lieutenant governor started a petition in mid last week concerning the drilling moratorium and already has over -- as of mid last week, had over 100,000 signatures of Louisianans who want the moratorium lifted.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) it. OK.

HUTCHISON: You know, we suspect -- we suspect that that moratorium was probably well-intentioned, but having an effect on Louisiana, that's like a double blow.

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

HUTCHISON: And hopefully there will be a change of heart on that.

WHITFIELD: Well, Jim -- Jim, Brian and Will, I'm wondering, you know, in a yes or no, while I spoke with all of you a month ago and everyone was very optimistic about the immediate future as it pertained to the Gulf oil spill, I have to ask you now, do you remain optimistic this summer as the oil continues to gush?

Will, you first, yes or no?

SECCOMBE: Well, you know, we've got 80 million visitors a year to the state of Florida, and up to this point in time, I think, while we have seen cancellations and a lot of concern from travelers around the country, I do remain very optimistic. People are going to come and enjoy the great state of Florida.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes.

SECCOMBE: And I think that we'll --

WHITFIELD: Brian --

SECCOMBE: -- get to (INAUDIBLE) over time.

WHITFIELD: Brian, yes or no, optimistic?

JONES: Yes. This is family beaches in Alabama. People treat these as their own.

WHITFIELD: All right.

JONES: Whether they're from (INAUDIBLE), they want to come back.

WHITFIELD: And Jim -- yes or no. You guys -- yes or no, my gosh. OK. Yes or no, you remain optimistic, Jim? I'm just astounded --

HUTCHISON: Yes, I do.

WHITFIELD: -- that you all remain optimistic when you have problems here.

HUTCHISON: We just have to counter these misperceptions.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right.

HUTCHISON: Yes. Yes, I do remain optimistic. We just have to counter the misperceptions about travel to Louisiana.

WHITFIELD: OK. Will Seccombe, Brian Jones, Jim Hutchison, all the best. We wish all the best for these three states, and of course, Mississippi, as well. The fourth state that's also been impacted by the Gulf oil spill.

Thanks so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

All right. You've seen the devastation from the oil disaster. Now CNN is giving you a chance to help. Join us Monday night for an all-star relief effort to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.

The special two-hour LARRY KING LIVE event begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Monday night right here on CNN.

And on the run from ethnic violence, now getting the thanks to return home. But many are too afraid to cross back over the border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, turning now to ethnic violence now in Kyrgyzstan. The number of people killed in the fighting range anywhere from 200 to 2,000. Meanwhile, 100,000 have fled the area, fearing for their lives.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has your story from the Kyrgyzstan border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Through this tiny hole in the border (INAUDIBLE), refugees are coming home. The only guards are Uzbeks on the other side. It is an unofficial crossing. They stand and watch as their ethnic kinsmen scramble back into Kyrgyzstan from where they fled barely a week ago.

(on camera): The U.N. says some 100,000 people fled across the border into Uzbekistan. These are some of the first people to be returning. But they're coming back to a very uncertain future.

(voice-over): This lady, who has just crossed back with her daughters, tells me she saw on Kyrgyz TV that it's safe to come home.

(on camera): Did you cross some two weeks ago?

(voice-over): But sheltering under a nearby tree, a group of displaced people who've been stuck on this side of the border tells me an entirely different story.

(on camera): Have you had any assistance, any food given to you, any tents, any shelter?

(voice-over): "We've had no help at all," she cries. "Nothing."

As we sat there, a few miles away in Osh, their president was visiting. They tell me they have no faith in their government. They want Russian help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Medvedev and Putin, please help us. We hope that you will help us. We are here on the border. We can't go to Uzbekistan. We can't go back. We're helpless and we don't know what to do.

ROBERTSON: They are in a tiny rural enclave, swollen by about 10,000 displaced people, they say.

The Kyrgyz army controls all the roads in and out. Technically, they are free to cross the checkpoints.

(on camera): Why don't you go back to your homes inside the city?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we are afraid. Because even soldiers are killed. It's dangerous there in Osh.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But the soldiers maintain they're here to bring calm. Still, problems are compounding. Without aid and fearful of driving into the city, they rely on the tiny amounts of food that Uzbeks are letting across the border.

It doesn't appear to be enough. Tensions over the scarce resources are rising. Squabbles are breaking out. No one is happy. And right now there is no end in sight.

Nic Robertson, CNN, on the Kyrgyz/Uzbek border.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, well, you heard one refugee talking about it in Nic's piece. Allegations that the Kyrgyzstan military and police are carrying out some of the killings. Well, refugees are saying the same thing to our Matthew Chance. They also showed him the cell phone video of an Uzbek gathering supposedly broken up by gunfire from soldiers.

We attempted to talk to the Kyrgyz government about the allegations. An aid to the interim president told CNN that he wasn't speaking for the government but believed the reports of military involvement are just rumors and provocation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Are these the coolest teachers in America? They put on a show for their middle school students, dancing to none other than Lady Gaga. There they are. With Josh, right there on the screen.

This is viral videos. You know something like this is going viral if it's got Lady Gaga.

LEVS: The teacher -- I never had teachers this cool. These teachers are unbelievable. They -- you can see a little bit here. They put on a show at the end of the year. Not the kids performing for the teachers, but vice versa.

I'm going to have this entire story behind this and the entire dance, plus we've got a musician who make music just playing the three and a slide you can take down to your subway.

WHITFIELD: Playing a tree?

LEVS: Mm-hmm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right now a little fun stuff. That little music always gets you -- like wiggling.

LEVS: OK.

WHITFIELD: OK, Josh Levs is here now with some viral videos. I can't wait to see the teachers. But what else?

LEVS: Talking about the dancing.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: We're going to start off with these teachers.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: Because I just -- they're so ultra cool. We're going to go straight to them. Check out the middle school teachers and the show that they put on at the end of the year for the students. Let's listen.

(MUSIC)

LEVS: You can hear the students freaking out. These teachers are dancing to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." These are teachers from Holmes Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia.

And I want you to see how choreograph they get. Get to the second section I put in there for you. And watch the moves they put in. Look at that. Here it comes.

See, you got a couple of male teaches in there, too.

(LAUGHTER)

LEVS: Students flipping out. So many young people have camera phones. This is all over YouTube in all these different places.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.

LEVS: So you add it all up, it's hundreds of thousands. (INAUDIBLE) Washingtonpost.com. Everyone is talking about this.

WHITFIELD: They are now going to be the most popular teachers in school. Period.

LEVS: They're -- yes. And skip to the third section --

WHITFIELD: I got many --

LEVS: You've got to see how they end it. They jump in to the audience. Watch this. Listen to those screams.

WHITFIELD: Oh my god.

LEVS: I'm so happy for those kids. Apparently some kids produced it. Helped choreograph that and produce it.

WHITFIELD: Whoo. They're rocking now.

LEVS: I'm seeing some impressive moves. I couldn't do viral video rewind without just going to the samba baby that everyone's so excited about.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that is cute.

LEVS: Samba baby. We got to take a quick look at this kid. In case you missed it, this is the hottest one of the week. This little toddler in Brazil, who had this -- look at that. We didn't believe it was real.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well, I was going to say, you know I was a nonbeliever, too.

LEVS: Yes. But we've been studying this and we can't see anywhere it could be animated.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: And then at one point you can see one of the relatives walking around with a camera. Watch this.

WHITFIELD: My gosh.

LEVS: The kid has got moves.

WHITFIELD: He's got the moves.

LEVS: Better than most adults.

WHITFIELD: How did they teach this child? What was -- you know, who?

LEVS: You know? Talk about born to dance, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: So now we get to the funky, unusual videos.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: You know how the problem with treadmills is that they just stay still?

(LAUGHTER)

LEVS: She's looking at that face. Look at this video.

WHITFIELD: Yes, besides the --

LEVS: Here's a treadmill.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: That you can take down the street. This is hot this week because this is viral video sharing site.

WHITFIELD: I'm not getting this. Why did you -- OK.

LEVS: Like wins.com -- and one of them pulled this out and now everyone's clicking on it.

WHITFIELD: Why?

LEVS: It's from a company that made a treadmill that you can actually ride down the street.

WHITFIELD: Well, why would you do this?

LEVS: It's a best company called --

WHITFIELD: I mean, you might as well just be off the treadmill and walk down the street.

LEVS: That's what I thought. But apparently this looks unusual and funky so everyone wants to watch people doing it.

WHITFIELD: Just to get some attention. So that everyone can see that you're working out.

LEVS: But you want utilitarian? This next one is utilitarian. Go to the next one. Watch how these people are getting down to their subway in Germany. It's a slide.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fun.

LEVS: How awesome is that? This is part of a Volkswagen ad. Volkswagen set this campaign going on encouraging people to make these kind of like cool videos about -- in some ways, I think they're good for the environment. This is about getting people to take the subway.

So look at that. They build a subway and then they planted these camera to see if people would take it.

WHITFIELD: I love it.

LEVS: And see what happens.

WHITFIELD: That's fun. Would you do it? You see a slide along the staircase?

LEVS: Definitely. I would even do it in this suit right now.

WHITFIELD: I'd be doing that over and over again.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I'd miss the train.

LEVS: That's right. I know.

WHITFIELD: Having too much fun.

LEVS: We would do that. Take the stairs back up and go back down.

WHITFIELD: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

LEVS: OK. Now it's time for our adorable video of the week.

WHITFIELD: Yes. OK.

LEVS: Every week got to have the adorable video. So let's show Fred this one.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: It's always animals doing nothing shocking. But it's always the most popular videos.

WHITFIELD: Just being cute.

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: This is a bunny and a puppy eating a carrot. Did you know -- again, they don't have to do anything.

WHITFIELD: The puppy with the long ears.

LEVS: They're just cool. Everyone loves it. People are clicking on this one like crazy. It was at pettube.com and --

WHITFIELD: That's almost a Zen moment, you know? It's almost a soothing stuff right there. We're watching the little puppy and the bunny rabbit.

LEVS: Well, I'm going to end with something that's a combination of cool music and a little bit Zen for you.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: Because I always keep a relaxation moment. But this one's different. I told you before the break. A guy who plays the tree as a musical instrument?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: This is Diego Stocco who's like this musician. Finds funky ways to do music. Look at what he does? Playing just the bonsai tree. Listen.

Just makes sounds with the bonsai tree and records it. Funky, huh? Or not?

WHITFIELD: No, it is funky.

LEVS: Some sound.

WHITFIELD: No, I'm studying.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I'm trying to figure this one out. Once again, it all comes back to some people have a whole lot of time.

LEVS: We always marvel that.

WHITFIELD: How you looked at a bonsai and said you know I'm going to make some music here.

LEVS: Well, I -- I think this is modern art. You know people get to share it -- like he wouldn't fill Carnegie Hall probably.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating.

LEVS: But he can put this out and more people click on it than would fill Carnegie Hall.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: Because that's so cool. Here's where you can see all the viral videos.

WHITFIELD: I am fascinated.

LEVS: Just like every week at my Facebook page. Facebook.com/joshlevscnn. We put them all up on Facebook because that's the easiest way to (INAUDIBLE) them. And you can send your favorite.

WHITFIELD: This is good stuff.

LEVS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: I love it.

LEVS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: It just opens your world to see all the possibilities, all the things that people are doing. How inventive people can be. And everybody else clearly is fascinated, too, because they watch the viral video over and over and over.

LEVS: Yes. And you know what? While we've been talking here, I've going through my all my teachers I ever had.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: I'm like, how many were cool enough to pull that off? I think I can think of two.

WHITFIELD: A handful. Me, too.

LEVS: Yes. Right.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Although all those teachers I had were cool.

LEVS: Well, they're cool.

WHITFIELD: But will they get on stage and dance, I don't know.

LEVS: We love all teachers.

WHITFIELD: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Josh.

LEVS: Thank you. WHITFIELD: OK. Appreciate it. All right this afternoon, CNN exclusive investigation. Into another BP disaster. This one, too, deadly. Claims that BP helped this refinery or hoped this refinery blast would actually be ignored by America because of a holiday weekend, and another big rig story, we've got a stunning look at the documents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Day 61 of the Gulf oil disaster and BP is still trying to contain and clean up all of that oil.

Meanwhile, a Texas refinery explosion back in 2005 is the focus of a CNN exclusive investigation. And we're finding a paper trail that speaks to what some claim is the real culture at BP, putting profit above all else, including safety. Abbie Boudreau has this special investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing one, two, three flames, and they're being fueled by whatever is running through those lines.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT (voice-over): These are images from a different BP explosion from five years ago at a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas -- 15 workers were killed, 180 injured.

(on camera): This is something you are never going to get over.

MIGUEL ARENAZAS, TEXAS CITY EXPLOSION SURVIVOR: Never, as long as I am alive, as long as I have this back pain, as long as I have my neck pain, every time that I try to get out of bed or every time that I try to bend over. Thank you, BP, this is what you done to me.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Miguel Arenazas survived the Texas City explosion in 2005. He says he knows what Deepwater Horizon rig workers and their families are going through.

ARENAZAS: It is going to be something that you are going to live with for the rest of your life.

BOUDREAU: Brent Coon was the lead plaintive attorney who represented many of the victims in negligence lawsuits after the Texas City explosion. All but one of his cases reached a settlement with BP.

Coon uncovered more than seven million internal BP documents during his investigation.

(on camera): Sometimes, people find one smoking gun document, but we have seen a lot of these documents, there's one after another after another.

BRENT COON, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: You look for that one smoking gun where somebody internally says, if we don't fix this, we are going to have a problem. And in this case, what was shocking was that we didn't just find that smoking gun, we found an entire arsenal.

BOUDREAU: BP would never have wanted these documents out?

COON: Oh, no. I don't think anybody that would have had documents like that would ever want them to see the light of day.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): He says these documents now have a whole new meaning and give a rare insight into the culture of BP.

(on camera): Do you remember this e-mail?

COON: I remember that. It made me sick to my stomach.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): This e-mail was written only hours after the Texas City explosion, BP's public relations machine hard at work. The subject line says, "Media coverage and loss of life." It goes on to say: "Expect a lot of follow-up coverage tomorrow. Then I believe it will essentially go away, due to the holiday weekend."

COON: This is a public relations director that is telling the president and the other people at that plant that we got good news. We just killed a bunch of people, but it is coming up on a weekend. That's the best time in the world to kill a bunch of people is just before a weekend, an Easter weekend, or long weekend, or a holiday, because everybody gets distracted and forgets about it.

BOUDREAU: And also distracted by another big story.

(voice-over): At that time, all eyes were on a 41-year-old brain-damaged Florida woman named Terri Schiavo. The debate whether her feeding tube would be removed had captivated the country. But, apparently, the timing of that story was a good thing for BP.

The last line of the e-mail says: "This is a very big story in the U.S. right now, but the Terri Schiavo story is huge as well."

(on camera): CNN has learned that many of the people on that e- mail are still working at BP. Coon says that makes sense, since the company seems to be handling today's crisis much like the one from years ago. This time, it's been accused of controlling the images of the spill and downplaying just how much oil is being leaked.

(voice-over): Coon also showed us a document he obtained from the 2005 case that he likes to call "the dirty words document," a slide from a presentation created by lawyers hired by BP that spelled out language workers should avoid using in incident reports, like "criminal," "reckless," and "dangerous."

(on camera): What did you think when you read this?

COON: I says, I can't (EXPLETIVE DELETED) believe it. This is as good of a smoking gun as you can get. I could not believe that I would get a document that was generated by BP's attorneys that told BP employees how to sanitize their records.

BOUDREAU: And why would they want them to do that? COON: Because they don't want to have anything in any of the reports or anything in writing that indicates that they did anything wrong.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Coon says this internal BP internal document gives a cost/benefit analysis of the safety risks for the company employees by using the story the three little pigs. The pigs represented BP employees.

Court documents show BP says the chart was only a simple way of explaining a concept and that business decisions weren't made by following the chart.

COON: They actually looked at the numbers, what is it going to cost to fix the problem that we know is there, versus how many people are going to die if we don't fix the problem, and which one is cheaper.

BOUDREAU: Arenazas has settled with BP. Five years later, he is still in pain and is still angry.

ARENAZAS: What really matters for BP? Their money is what really matters for them. Their money. We can be replaced.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, stay tuned. You're going to learn more about why those BP workers genuinely feared for their lives before the deadly explosion. You'll also see how the government responded, and what BP is telling us now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, well before the current crisis in the gulf, some BP employees were charging the oil giant fostered a culture of profit over safety. Well, a culture that left many BP fieldworkers in fear for their lives, they say. The situation came into sharp focus during BP's handling of another deadly disaster five years ago, a refinery explosion in Texas that killed 15 people and injured 180 more. Here's part two of Abbie Boudreau's exclusive investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Brent Coon represented many of the victims from the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion. He says BP has a history of covering up its problems. He showed CNN employee surveys from the Texas City site from 2004 and 2005, complaints to management about corners being cut and dangerous conditions being ignored.

(on camera): What stood out to you?

COON: The rank-and-file, the people that worked these plants had been begging for safety at so many different levels for so long. And it was all on deaf ears.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): In one survey, a worker said, "Quit waiting for a known possible unit disaster to happen before correcting the problem."

Another stated, "This company deliberately put my life in danger to try and save a buck."

A different employee said, "Pipe thinning worries me the most. Its failure could be catastrophic, with little warning."

And this worker said, "If this facility was an aircraft carrier, we would be at the bottom of the ocean."

COON: So many people were afraid of dying, not afraid of their jobs, not afraid of something that they didn't like, not afraid of not getting a pay raise or losing their medicals -- afraid of dying.

BOUDREAU: In fact, an independent survey of BP workers in Texas City backed his claim. It stated, "We have never seen a site where the notion 'I could die today' was so real for so many hourly people."

COON: I don't think there is a shred of evidence in BP's favor that shows they have done anything to change their corporate safety culture.

BOUDREAU (on camera): BP says it has changed, that the culture has changed.

COON: BP is a pathological liar.

BOUDREAU: After Texas City, OSHA, the federal agency in charge of enforcing safety regulations, fined BP $21 million and told the company it needed to fix the problems that led to the explosion. But that didn't happen. So, Just last October, OSHA fined BP yet again, this time, a proposed $87 million penalty, the largest penalty the agency's history. BP is contesting the citations and penalties.

(voice-over): In response to this story, BP turned down our request for an on-camera interview and provided a statement to CNN.

This is part of that response: "BP has worked diligently since the accident in March 2005 to address safety concerns at the Texas City site. BP has spent more than $1 billion at Texas City to address safety concerns since 2005. We continue to work cooperatively with OSHA to resolve these matters. We are determined to learn from this event and get better as a company."

Brent Coons says that's just not enough. He feels that the deepwater tragedy could have been prevented.

COON: We forewarned this. The Department of Justice was involved. We did everything that we could to draw the attention to our legislators, both at a state and a federal level, and to the media and everyone else that BP has a lot of systemic problems that they are never going to change unless somebody makes them change. And if they have don't make them change, something worse is going to happen and it won't be that long. And it did happen.

BOUDREAU (on camera): You think someone should go to jail? COON: I think a lot of people should go to jail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOUDREAU: The Justice Department investigated the Texas City explosion. No one from BP was held criminally accountability, but the company did pay a $50 million criminal fine. Abby Boudreaux, CNN, Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Thousands of people are still without power today after strong storms swept through the Midwest. The weather is blamed for one death in Michigan. And high winds downed trees and power lines in several states, and even broke windows in the Chicago skyscraper formerly known as the Sears Tower.

And South African authorities are investigating a security breach at a world cup game in Cape Town. An England fan made his way into the team's locker room after their tie with Algeria. It was right after Prince Harry and Prince William had left and no one, however, was hurt.

And a grand ceremony today in Stockholm, Sweden, it's a royal wedding. Crown princess Victoria married her personal trainer. He is now Prince Daniel. He is the first Swedish commoner to get the princely title since medieval times.

And, by the way, this is the biggest month of the year for weddings, but some couples won't be marching down the aisle. They're in long-term relationships that don't involve a marriage license at all. Author Hannah Selingson has written a book about them and it's called "A Little Bit Married." She's joining us now from Washington.

Thanks so much for joining us, Hannah.

HANNA SELLINGTON, AUTHOR: Thank you for having me, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, so I can make all kinds of presumptions but I'd rather you explain, what does it mean to be just a little bit married.

SELINGSON: Sure, well, there was a great headline in the "New York Times" a few woks ago called "The Long Road to Adulthood has Gotten even Longer" and this generation is in no hurry to reach the milestones that once marked adulthood like marriage, kids, and mortgage, and so they've come up with new romantic structures like a little bit married, which is now a stopgap between dating and marriage.

WHITFIELD: OK. So some folks may not even know that they're a little bit married, they're not quite sure what the definition is, so you actually have a little quiz.

SELINGSON: Right.

WHITFIELD: And we're going to actually show some of these questions to give people an idea. These are some of the things you need to be asking yourself, or someone you know. Perhaps you spent the last three holidays together. You live together, you talk on the phone with each other's parents, you've been on each other's family vacations, and so that right there constitutes just a little bit married? That's a big commitment.

SELINGSON: Right. It's a big commitment. And these are things, people are doing things that probably 50 or 60 years ago would have meant that the relationship would have culminated in marriage. But today most people see marriage as a time they want to have kids, as opposed to just wanting to get married. You know, the median age for the first marriage is the highest it's over been, 30 or 40 years ago it was 23, you went to college and then you got married to your college sweetheart. And today there's a much different dynamic.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and so you mention that there are even cohabitation commandments.

SELINGSON: Right.

WHITFIELD: Go through them for me.

SELINGSON: Well, I think the first thing to really be aware of is you want to be on the same page. Why are you moving in together? Is it because you want to test drive the relationship? Do you both see it as moving toward marriage? Do you want to make sure that you can be compatible for the long-term? What are the actual reasons that you're moving in together? Sociologists call this the "tumble effect." A lot of couples move in together because they see, well, you know, my lease is up, your lease is up, let's move in together. So, make sure you're on the same page. Talk about finances. How are you going to split the bills, how are you going to split the groceries? What happens if you have a child together while you live together, what happen then? What happens if one of you wants to move out? So, a lot of couples are actually drafting dating prenups. I don't necessarily think you have to go that far, but do talk about worst case scenarios.

WHITFIELD: And thaw shalt not sweep things under the rug. I'm just reading from the (INAUDIBLE) as we scroll through some of them. It is different for men versus for women?

SELINGSON: Cohabitation or a little bit married?

WHITFIELD: A little bit of married.

SELINGSON: Well, there are -- there are some gender politics to be aware of. And one thing I found in my research is there is a marital readiness gap meaning that women usually are ready to get married before men, but that doesn't mean that men don't want to get married. And what we're finding more and more is couples are negotiating a proposal process. Women are taking a more active role in it which is another sign of a little bit married.

In terms of cohabitation, you know, there is the old adage, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free. I think that generation is sweeping that adage under the rug and out the door. Men want to get married, they're just, man and women are sometimes on a different timetables about it. so, it's up to couples to figure out how to negotiate that timetable.

WHITFIELD: And in a lot of ways is this kind of a replacement? You know, maybe a couple stays together for a long time, they feel a little bit marry and really they get to a point where they say you know what? Who needs a piece of paper, we're kind of married.

SELINGSON: You know, Fredricka, this is not a counterculture movement. This is a stopgap between dating and marriage. If you look at all the polling, most members of the generation want to get married. They just see this as I want to wait until I'm financially secure. You know, there's also some fear and hesitation. You have to remember, this is a generation that was raised by baby boomers, half of whose marriages ended in divorce. So there's a lot of fear. A lot of people want to get it right. And so they're waiting until they feel that they're ready to get married.

WHITFIELD: So you brought up the "D" word then, so if you can be a little bit married, can you be a little bit divorced, too?

SELINGSON: Oh, yes, definitely. Then that's what happens. Couples have to split up friends, restaurants, pets. I mean, it goes to -- cuts a lot of the same issues people deal with when they get divorced.

WHITFIELD: Wow, it's a whole new world out there, isn't it?

SELINGSON: It's a whole new world and you got to be prepared. Know how to navigate it.

WHITFIELD: OK, Hannah Selingson, thanks so much. It's called "A Little Bit Married" and that's a great title.

SELINGSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. A tour guide turns tip money into help for children in need. She's our "CNN Hero" of the week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This week's "CNN Hero" is a tour guide from Cambodia who started using her tip money to transform the lives of rural children. A survivor of the oppressive and ruthless Khmer Rouge regime has made it her mission to educate Cambodia's poor by giving them what they need to go to school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PONHEARY LY, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: In the countryside in Cambodia, some children may come to school but not very regular because the family needs to have them in the farm.

The school is free, but they don't have any money. How can they have the money for uniforms and supplies? My name is Ponheary Ly. I help the children to go to school. The education is important to me because my father was a teacher. During the Khmer Rouge time, my father was killed. If we tried to study, we could be killed. My soul always go to school.

(BEGIN GRAPHIC)

Ponheary Ly is a tour guide who started using her tops to help children in rural Cambodia get an education.

It only costs $20 per child to help for a whole year.

(END GRAPHIC)

At the beginning, I got only one girl, after that, 40 children, and now 2,000. After several years, I see the change because they know how to read and write, and they borrow the books from our library to read for their parents.

I need them to have a good education to build their own family as well as to build their own family as well to build their own country.

My father, he has to be proud of me here in heaven and in my heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Ponheary Ly and her organization had helped more than 2,000 children get an education. To see how Ly's work unexpectedly changed one woman's life forever or to nominate someone you think has literally changing the world, just go to cnnheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Pictures, information, insight, you won't find anywhere else. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. Anything can happen.

A convicted killer, Ronnie Lee Gardner, has been executed by firing a squad in Utah. The 49-year-old was strapped to a chair and had a paper target pinned to his chest. He was shot by a team of five anonymous marks men. Gardner killed a lawyer 25 years ago during a bash (ph) to escape attempt from a courthouse. He is the third person in 33 years to die by firing squad in the United States. One witness described it as violent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIELDS MOSLEY, GARDNER EXECUTION WITNESS: The loudness of the guns shocked me even though I grew up with Winchester 30-30 in my house and shot it many times. But I think when you see it actually hit a human being and you watch them move to some extent, it was violent, and I didn't find it to be clinical at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, to see how her work unexpectedly changed one woman's life forever or to nominate someone you think is changing the world go to CNNheroes.com. All right, much of the southeast in this country sizzling in heat and humidity, it's making life tougher along the oil-plagued Gulf Coast, as well, and for people trying to clean up the mess.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, two months into the disaster in the gulf and tar balls from the BP oil spill have washed up on the beach in Panama City, Florida, that's the furthest east they have been spotted so far. Crews are cleaning up tar balls ranging from the size of nickels to the size of half dollars. Searing heat and humidity for much of the South today, especially true along the Gulf Coast where folks are really having a tough time there. If it's not the heat and humidity then it's the oil. Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center right now with more on that terrible combination.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Fredricka, you're right. And looking at the forecast, though we do have some favorable things to talk about. There's been a lot of concern about the oil getting into the loop current which kind of wraps way around Florida and then heads up to the eastern Atlantic. Well, this is the way it's shaping up now and the way it is likely to stay at least for the next week.

Here's the area of oil with heavy oil indicated in blue. What you see, the circle right here, this is the loop, an eddy coming off the loop current. And eddy is almost its own whirlpool, but some of the sheen of oil has been wrapping around in here and that's been a good thing because as you can see on this map, which is a real time model of the loop current, this eddy is completely pinched off from the main loop current and that will allow the oil to not penetrate into the loop current. So, it's good thing as long as it lasts and it should last for a little while, anyway, as we kind of look towards what we're expecting in the forecast.

The main thing to note In terms of the weather we're expecting scattered showers and thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast for today. We're also tracking the heat. Heat advisories are posted not just for Louisiana, but for coastal Mississippi, Alabama and even Florida. That means temperatures today will climb into the mid 90s on the thermometer, but it will feel like the triple digits.

So, unfortunately the heat is building and we are tracking those scattered showers and thunderstorms. But on the positive side, this eddy remains which kind of really sustains the oil from coming into the loop current. Also, just to note, the forecast is pretty typical for this time of year where the winds are light, coming from the south or southeast, so we're not looking at large gusty winds coming through. The only exception, Fredricka, is if we have isolated thunderstorms, which we've been seeing all week long.

WHITFIELD: And we've been seeing a lot of that. All right, thanks so much, Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center. Appreciate that.