Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Israel Easing Gaza Blockade; Spill Fund Chief Pledges Action; Spill Victim Battles BP; Brazil Goes for 6th World Cup Title
Aired June 20, 2010 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This time it's Kansas with a bull's eye for tornadic activity. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi Fredricka. That's right. Earlier law enforcement in Scott County, Kansas reported that they saw a tornado. Just ten minutes later, the next bulletin came in that a tornado is on the ground in Scott County, Kansas. Let's zoom into this area; here we actually have two tornado warnings that will be in effect for the next 30 minutes. It's not just Scott County, we're tracking Grove County, Logan County and parts of Wichita County, and this is all in west-central Kansas.
This is a serious situation, if you're in this vicinity, you'll want to take cover and head into an interior room immediately. This is an imminent threat when a tornado has actually been spotted by law enforcement and spotted on the ground. This is just the beginning of a busy evening ahead of severe weather for many states out west. Tornado watches are in effect from Wyoming down through Colorado, including the cities of Cheyenne and Denver. Then head further off to the east and Kansas, Nebraska, you are under the gun for an active Fathers Day, unfortunately with strong thunderstorms.
We've also been tracking some reports of Doppler radar-indicated tornadic activity in parts of Southern Florida. I'm talking about the Fort Myers area. Now these storms were producing some very strong hail just moments ago. Luckily, right now, that part of it has subsided a bit. But we're still looking at heavy downpours, frequent lightning strikes and it's not going to stop.
Moisture is coming in straight from the Atlantic, you can see these storms sweeping across the state of Florida. So it's stormy right now in parts of Broward County, all the way out to Charlotte and Lee County on the West Coast. So this is a good afternoon maybe to spend Father's Day inside, if you can because there's some very serious storms popping up over south Florida right now with frequent lightning as well.
We're watching some storms as well into parts of Nebraska. This cell that's sitting (ph) right here, you can see this is a hail-producing storm indicated right here by the hail popping up in this real-time radar for you. So we're looking at Beatrice, other parts of areas, south of Omaha, picking up hail and picking up severe weather.
Another spot for severe weather, it's pretty much all over the country, but look what's happening in the northeast, New England, a tornado watch. The thunderstorms are just firing up now across Coastal Maine into Bangor and then further to the south into Portland.
And look at this, a very strong storm just to the north of Boston. So areas into Swampscott, for example, you're going to see those storms firing up and then southward towards Plymouth, into the Cape and the islands there as well. These storms will all be working their way through the beach and coastal areas later this evening.
The thunderstorm watch box indicates that we have the potential to see severe weather straight through the evening hours. And I think that these storms will even fire up in New York City later on today because of a high temperature of 90, (INAUDIBLE). We'll see those storms kind of break the heat.
So here's the big picture we're watching. Severe storms across parts of the Plain States, areas to the west. We're also tracking another huge story, the heat is now 98 degrees, 98 degrees in Memphis, Tennessee. Fredricka, it feels like it's 105 and it feels like 110 in New Orleans. The heat advisories will continue straight through Tuesday.
WHITFIELD: All right. Just three weeks after a deadly raid on an aid flotilla, Israel agrees to ease the blockade of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said steps to allow civilian goods into Gaza will be taken as early as tomorrow. Military equipment and weapons will still be banned.
I spoke with Special Middle East Envoy Tony Blair earlier today and he's in Jerusalem to help ease the blockade and he welcomed today's breakthrough.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY BLAIR, SPECIAL MIDDLE EAST ENVOY: The outcome of the agreement today with the government of Israel is that from now on, we can draw clear distinction between the security needs of Israel, which are perfectly legitimate and the need to keep weapons out of Gaza, and then on the other hand, the needs of ordinary people in Gaza and allowing civilian goods to come in.
So we've now got that principle very clearly set out. Instead of there being a list of items that are permitted to go into Gaza, which is actually pretty restrictive, we're going to shift to what is called a prohibited list, in other words, weapons and other material which will not be allowed in. Otherwise, things come through.
And that should mean, I hope even over the next couple of weeks, probably a doubling of the stuff coming into Gaza and over time an even greater and more significant easing of the situation for people there.
WHITFIELD: And on the prohibited list, I'd like you to share with us what those items are. And you did that because is there an inference here that these prohibited items were being smuggled in with the goods that are allowable? BLAIR: Yes. The key thing is to keep out weapons, combat material. And there's a certain category of things that could be used for legitimate purposes but might not be. And we've got special procedures to deal with that. But what it means in - in essence, in plain terms, is that your food stuffs, your household items and crucially the materials for construction, for these United Nations projects to do with schools and hospitals and proper drinking water and sanitation and electricity, these materials can come in.
And we also have by agreement today, allowed for an expansion of the crossings, capacity and the expansion of commercial activity as well, because I want to see legitimate business in Gaza being able to function. Because at the moment, things get smuggled in through the tunnels and that only helps the - those people that aren't doing legitimate business in Gaza.
WHITFIELD: And how will these goods that are permissible be allowed in? We know that the flotilla, that deadly siege of the flotilla took place on May 31st. That came about of bringing in aid via boat, via this flotilla. But in this case, this agreement that has been hammered out, what is the hope as to how these items will be brought in?
BLAIR: What this means is there's never been a problem as it were in getting goods checked coming into Gaza. And goods should be checked. And Israel's got a perfect right to defend its security. There are people in Gaza who - who would attack Israelis, who would fire rocks at innocent Israeli civilians or even try to kill people and have tried to kill people at the crossings.
So Israel has got - got a complete right to check the stuff coming into Gaza to make sure it doesn't contain weapons and combat material. The key thing is, until now, unless something has been on the permitted list and that permitted list has been pretty restrictive, things don't get in. So we've been unable, for example, to get in glass until very recently at least to construct buildings. Some basic foodstuffs aren't allowed in. Daily household items often don't come in. All of that now will obviously be checked. But if once checked, it will come in as a matter of course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, tells me that the easing of this blockade will kick in as early as tomorrow.
All right. In Louisiana now, they're praying for an end to the oil disaster. It's an official day of prayer designed by a state Senate resolution. And it comes as oil continues to gush into the gulf.
After meeting with President Obama last week, BP agreed to set up a $20 billion fund to compensate spill victims. Kenneth Feinberg, who will be the independent administrator of the fund, went on television today and CNN's Kate Bolduan is standing by in Washington now.
So, what did Kenneth Feinberg say? KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, he had quite a bit to say and he - he's very animated, Fredricka. Kenneth Feinberg, he's best known for heading up the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund. That's how many people know him. Now tapped to oversee the $20 billion fund for victims of the gulf oil spill, he is an independent administrator and he stresses that.
Today, he was also quite careful to avoid the heated political rhetoric now surrounding Congressman Joe Barton's remarks. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH FEINBERG, COMPENSATION FUND ADMINISTRATOR: I don't think it's a shakedown. I think that BP, to BP's credit, in these other programs that I've set up, David, there was nothing in place. We had to start from scratch.
Here, there is a program in place. Now it's not efficient, as it should be. It's not working as well as it should be. But BP's paid $100 million worth of claims so far. We can do better and we can do quicker. But I don't think it helps to politicize this program.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And Feinberg went on to say that he's received input and advice from both sides of the aisle, from the left and the right and he said he wants to keep it that way. He faces really a huge task ahead, making the job that much more complicated is the fact that the damage is still unfolding as the oil continues gushing below the surface.
There's no way of knowing just how much damage the residents and the businesses in the gulf will suffer, Fredricka. And Feinberg acknowledged today, he said that many of the initial payments that he's going to be approving will be the first of multiple payments for the same victims, because it continues to unfold.
WHITFIELD: All this at a time when there's been a discovery of documentation that BP apparently anticipated the amount of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico would be far higher than the estimates that we've received from BP, if there were an accident of the proportion that just happened. How did these documents come about?
BOLDUAN: Yes. This is quite interesting. This is an internal BP document, as you mentioned, that was made public today by Democratic Congressman Ed Markey. And in it, it notes that in a worst-case scenario, as much as 100,000 barrels of oil per day, that's more than four million gallons could leak into the ocean. This figure, as you can guess, is the highest yet to surface from BP and much higher than the company's original claims.
We reached out to BP and BP spokesman tells CNN however that this estimate in their words is irrelevant because it includes a worst-case scenario that isn't going to happen. Here's a little bit of the detail. It would require BP to remove the blow-out preventer that we've all learned so much about which the company says that isn't going to happen until the well is completely killed.
WHITFIELD: Kate Bolduan in Washington, thanks so much.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. So before the Independent Compensation Fund was actually set up, there were complaints about the way BP was handling payments. CNN's Chris Lawrence has been looking into those complaints and he's in New Orleans right now with more on what people are saying should have happened or what they're not happy with what has happened.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, I think there are two main complaints among people who - who haven't had their claims processed. One is the wait time. Some say they simply have not had their claim processed yet even though they turned in their paperwork. The second is what they've been offered.
So we spoke with one fisherman who said, you know, he showed us his books. He showed us all the charters that had been booked. All the ones that had now been canceled. He did all of his accounting. He came up with a figure. And then he said he was offered about, you know, 30 percent of that. So I think there's some frustration there.
Now, to BP's credit, they have paid out, you know, more than 30,000 claims so far. They have given out over $100 million. And when I asked this one fisherman, I said, well, you know, now they've got this $20 billion in escrow, now you've got Howard (sic) Feinberg coming in to run it with his credentials, you know, do you feel more optimistic?
You know, he said, well, I am optimistic that the guy seems to know what he's doing. But he said, I'm a little suspicious. He said last time I had to deal with the government, it was for a small business loan. And I was, you know, trying to get over hurricane Katrina. He said, I was in court in dealing with paperwork for two and a half years before I got my money. He said, I'm just sure hoping it's not going to be another situation like that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STU SCHEER, CHARTER BOAT CAPTAIN: All we want is BP to cover us for our losses. Get the well capped like everybody wants and let's move on and let us fish. I got saltwater running through these veins, and, really, all I want to do is fish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: He only wants to do is fish. But he's going to have to get some money and then, of course, the gulf is going to have to get cleaned up before he can get that business going again, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Lawrence in New Orleans, thank you.
Well, of course, you've seen the devastation and you've heard of the complaints just like we just heard there. Well, now it's your chance to actually help. Join us tomorrow night for an all-star relief effort to help the people on the Gulf Coast. The special two-hour "Larry King Live" event begins at 8:00 Eastern Monday night right here on CNN.
Pushing forward, in Afghanistan, why the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the report card is not a good one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Despite setbacks and sluggish progress in Afghanistan, two leading senators say we have no choice but to keep pushing forward. One hundred twelve coalition forces and 72 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan since April 20th of this year. With the military doing everything it is ordered to do, many wonder when Afghanistan troops will be ready to take over. That's the question our Candy Crowley posed to Senators Richard Lugar and Dianne Feinstein.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: We've got a military that does everything we ask of them, and yet the Afghans, at least many of them, don't seem to want to step up. When do we say, you know what, goodbye?
SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R), INDIANA: Well, we don't say goodbye, we say right now to the Afghans that we want to train you so that you're able to police your own territory, you know, to govern.
Now, as Dianne Feinstein has said, this is tough to do. You have almost everybody who is an illiterate to begin with. The allies that we had hoped for to send trainers haven't sent very many. Our own trainers are - are too few. So as a result, this is going more slowly.
I sympathize with General McChrystal and General Petraeus, as people press them for dates. They're saying one thing at a time. We're really got to get the training done, it's going more slowly. But nevertheless, when it does happen, there's confidence in the villages that in fact something of a better life may occur.
CROWLEY: Hamid Karzai, do you think he has the ability? And do you trust him to do his part in this?
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: I think he remains a cipher. I think it's very hard to tell. Up close and personal, when you meet him, he is rather charming. Reports are that he is not a strong presence. That he does not have a kind of command control that his administration is fraught with corruption and problems. So the report card is not a good one so far. That's a problem for us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Their comments echo those of America's top military commander in Afghanistan, who admits progress against the Taliban is going slower than anticipated.
Suicide bombers hit a crowded Baghdad street today. Officials say 29 people were killed when the bombers driving in two separate cars detonated their explosives in quick succession. Dozens more were injured. Authorities believe the bombers were targeting a bank that is encouraging foreign investment in Iraq.
And remembering dad with grace, compassion and even moments of exasperation, one son's achingly honest portrait of his father's last days.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now, Israel agree does ease its blockade of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will allow more civilian goods into Gaza as early as tomorrow. Israel will also expedite humanitarian and medical supplies. Military equipment and weapons are still prohibited.
And new questions about what BP knew about the potential for disaster at the leak site. Today, Congressman Edward Markey cited a BP document written before the oil rig explosion. It estimates that a blowout could end up dumping as much as 100,000 barrels of oil a day into the gulf. BP says it gave the document to Congress a month ago. It represents a worst-case scenario if the blowout preventer were removed, which it had no intention of actually doing.
And Defense Secretary Robert Gates said President Obama could end up vetoing legislation that would end the ban on gays serving openly in the military. That's because a defense bill that contain as repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" actually also funds military programs that president considers wasteful.
And an English football fan who was a little overzealous is now under arrest in South Africa. He faces a trespassing charge for walking into England's locker room after their tie game with Algeria. Security inside the World Cup Stadium, of course, is being beefed up because of that very incident.
And Brazil is gunning for its sixth World Cup title. If today's match is any indication, they are well on their way. CNN's Pedro Pinto is live in Johannesburg, South Africa right now.
So Pedro, what happened against the Ivory Coast besides Brazil scoring yet one more game?
PEDRO PINTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right, and they're on their way to the knockout stages. Only the second team to guarantee a place so far, along with the Netherlands.
The match at Soccer City Stadium behind me, was true to form. We had Brazil playing so well on the field. Off the field, there was the party. The samba drums were going, the girls were dancing, just what you expect every time Brazil plays. And fans are still streaming out of the stadium. You can see the train going by me. Over 85,000 people were in there, they - they're now heading home.
Let's show you the highlights from this game because they're really worth it. A lot of good goals scored. It was Brazil who took the lead in the first half. In the 25th minute, Luis Fabiano, he's their star striker, and he managed to put them ahead early on.
Brazil would score again in the 50th minute and it's that same man, Fabiano. This time you'll notice he actually handballs couple of times. The referee must not have seen it. He allowed the goal, two- nothing to the samba kings. It was three-nothing in the 62nd minute. Elano, the goal scorer, he used to play in England at Manchester City, now he's over in Turkey with Galatasaray.
Last but not least, one last goal to show you, it belonged to the Africans finally getting on the board, DJ Drogba there, star forward from the Chelsea Football Club in the Premier League. Three-one it ended. Bad news for yet another African team, Fredricka, because they've only got one win so far combined between all six African nations.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.
PINTO: The South Americans are rocking this World Cup. They've got seven wins and two draws or two ties in nine games.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That's - that's pretty incredible stats.
OK. So what's going on with the French team? The French team is willing to put almost everything on the line because of one player being booted?
PINTO: You're absolutely right. This is unprecedented. France normally makes the headlines for winning the tournament. Like in 1998 or for reaching the final, like in 2006.
But this time around, I remember we were talking yesterday about their forward Nicholas Anelka, who was sent home after insulting the manager. Well, the players were upset that they weren't consulted by the federation, who decided to send the player home so they decided to strike. They didn't even practice on Sunday.
They took the bus, went over to the practice facility. They got there, signed some autographs for fans and went all the way back. They handed a letter to the coach, who then read it to the media explaining why they were striking. This is unbelievable.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
PINTO: I've never seen anything like this before. But it happened. And they're in complete disarray.
WHITFIELD: So since when does the team manager need to consult the - the other team players when having to make, I guess, disciplinary action or something like that? Boy, oh, boy. Who's coaching who?
Pedro Pinto, thanks so much from Johannesburg. Appreciate that.
All right. Trying to make the best out of a horrific situation, a gulf oysterman is doing just that. By selling - no kidding, selling vials of oil from the spill. He'll be joining us live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. We think it's time for an update on that tornado warning in Kansas. Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center.
SCHNEIDER: Well, Fredricka, we've been monitoring reports of a tornado first reported by law enforcement in Scott County. And then 10 minutes later at about 3:51 Central Time, we had a report that tornado was on the ground and on the move. Let's take a look at what's happening right now.
And you'll see that we have a tornado warning right here, that's highlighted in the pink area here. We're going to zoom in on that area. And it is for parts of Scott County, as well as Gove County, Logan and Wichita County. Now, this will continue for about the next 30 minutes.
And you can see in advance of it, a line of severe thunderstorm warnings and hail associated with this system. The bigger picture now shows that we have two tornado watch boxes and they are a good portion of the west. We're talking about Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, all part of this tornado watch area that will go straight through tonight, including the cities of Cheyenne and Denver. And Kansas, of course, getting hard-hit with the warnings.
I want to take you to the other part of the country now - the south, southeast. Florida, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, you're getting some heavy rains right now. That's for sure. But earlier this evening, we had a tornado warning for parts of Charlotte and Lee Counties in South Florida. It was brief but it definitely caused to for (ph) commotion when you see all of this rain coming in and severe weather popping up across the state of Florida.
We're actually watching the potential for even some tropical moisture to come in Wednesday and Thursday, so it's going to be a soggy week ahead for most of South Florida.
Now, looking at the country for tomorrow, it's the first day of summer and certainly it's going to be hot out there. But we're also watching the threat for severe storms, widespread across the northern tier of the country, as well as rain throughout the South. And you probably have already been feeling this, even though it's the first day of summer tomorrow, hot, hot, hot.
Temperatures 98 in Memphis, zoom in to right here in New Orleans, we'll be seeing temperatures feeling like they're 110 degrees in this part of the country, Fredricka, for the next two days. These heat advisories will continue through Tuesday.
WHITFIELD: Oh boy. OK. Thanks so much.
SCHNEIDER: Welcome to summer, right?
WHITFIELD: Good warning. That's right. That's one way to bring it in. Appreciate it, Bonnie.
OK. So, when you're handed lemons, you make lemonade, right? So what would you say if I told you an out-of-work fisherman is selling that oily sludge that is inundating the U.S. Gulf Coast? Kevin Voisin is live from Houston to tell us why, how in the world you're doing this, where did this idea come from anyway.
KEVIN VOISIN, 8TH GENERATION OYSTERMAN: Well, I'm an eighth generation oysterman who sat in an empty (INAUDIBLE) plant for the first time in my life and realized that there were 200 families that ate on that plant and needed something to do.
There are thousands of foundation seafood workers, deck hands, dock workers, and plant workers who suddenly are out of work. And what has fed their families for eight and nine generations is no longer an option. Looking at that scenario, I said, boy, we've got to do something to build awareness, we've got to do something.
We thought about, well, what can we sell, we don't have oysters, what can we sell. And in jest, someone said, well, we've got a lot of oil. And we thought, you know what, we need to fund, horizonrelief.org is a fund that gets hands into the foundation seafood workers right away.
We opened that less than two weeks ago. Within 10 days we were helping our first foundation seafood workers. And as a token of our appreciation, we give back a little vial of the actual recovered oil from the spill. So it's something, you know, this spill is affecting lives in south Louisiana in a way that we've never imagined.
And in ways -- you know, with a hurricane, you have something to look at, you see the satellite map and you know the enemy. With an oil spill, it's just very different. And then having that little piece that sits on my desk and to know that this is what we're fighting, it's still happening today, we're so proud that within 10 days of receiving our first funds, we were able to help a woman who was put out of work.
She was out of work last Wednesday, she has a young child with sickle cell anemia, has no idea what she's going to do. She'll get to the BP program. She'll get to a federal program, I'm sure. But these people cannot go two weeks, three weeks. They can't handle three feet of paperwork.
WHITFIELD: Right. So this help is tremendous, but, you know, I'm just -- I'm still stuck on, you know, the collection of this oil in getting it in these little vials and finding a real market for that. So, A, how do you do that safely? Because remember, toxic material.
VOISIN: Well, sure thing. It's a pretty simple process. I think that people need to realize what volume is out there. We're very careful with it. It's behind glass. And it's hermetically sealed before it ever gets to you.
But, you know, the real key here, is that we need people to help people right now. And this -- this story has been reported so mechanically, we see bent metal under water, we see animals struggling on the beach. But the real impact is in the lives of people who work in the seafood industry every day.
WHITFIELD: And people are actually purchasing, buying these little vials of oil that you've collected or sludge?
VOISIN: Sure. The way that it works is people are giving donations to our horizonrelief.org and they're giving money to help these families.
WHITFIELD: And they're coming up with whatever figure they want to.
VOISIN: Sure. Coming up with whatever figure they want to. And then they...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: So they're not really buying the oil. They're really buying into this effort to help...
VOISIN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Help people. And along the way, you're saying and here's this lovely little souvenir, so to speak and the money that you're giving.
VOISIN: If they want it, and people can opt out. And it's something beautiful. Within 10 days we helped someone, we said, listen, we can't make your life better from the spill, we can nail down your rent and we can nail down your groceries for the next three months. That's going to allow them to get...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: And you feel like successfully you're doing that. You're able to help people who are just simply, you know, paralyzed because they're unable to work because of this oil in the Gulf.
VOISIN: Exactly. We encourage all people to go to horizonrelief.org, find out about it, look at us, you can e-mail us. We're on the ground. We're fishermen. We are oystermen. We are shrimpers. We are crabbers. We make this happen right now.
WHITFIELD: And you're helping one another.
VOISIN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Kevin Voisin, horizonrelief.org is the organization that people can donate because they're inspired by what you've just said.
VOISIN: Yes, ma'am. And we hope that you will. There's someone to blame for this spill and I'm as angry as anybody. But right now I've got to make sure that my people can bridge the gap until help comes. And we know that corporate programs and government programs take a lot of time and come with a tremendous amount of overhead that foundation seafood workers aren't ready to handle.
So it means they go through these processes much slower. We can help them right now until they take advantage of that. And it's not about blame.
WHITFIELD: Kevin, thanks so much. Kevin was on joining us from Houston, appreciate your time and all of the best.
VOISIN: Thank you, thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. The BP oil spill has seeped into the consciousness of so many people along the Gulf Coast and beyond. Well, now a Florida bar is actually offering a way to drown the sorrows. I-Reporter David Gosse sent us this image right here. What does that look like to you? Patrons of the Riptides Bar (ph) in St. Pete Beach can purchase what they're calling the "Tony Hayward shot." For $5, $2 goes to a nearby bird sanctuary.
So here are the ingredients, because you're looking at this and wondering, what is that really? It's a shot of blueberry vodka, and a splash of 7-Up, which represents the water, just take a look at that image one more time. And dark liqueur floating on top. That's representing the oil right there. As we gave you the recipe as well. Called the "Tony Hayward shot."
All right. More political primaries are on tap, two days from now. one of the more fascinating races is actually in South Carolina, the battle for Republican governor's nomination. That one right there, that young lady, she is kind of the front-runner. We're going to talk more about the political road ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Voters in several states head back to the polls this Tuesday coming up. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is joining us now from Washington.
Good to see you. Happy Father's Day.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: OK. So what are the key races?
STEINHAUSER: Well, let's start in South Carolina. You just teased it before the commercial break. Nikki Haley, this is a great story. She's a state lawmaker down there and she could become South Carolina's first-ever female governor. She's in a runoff this Tuesday with Congressman Gresham Barrett. She's a state lawmaker. She was kind of in the middle of the pack and then all of a sudden, endorsements by Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney really helped boost her, as did some allegations against her.
Scurrilous as this was, allegations that she affairs with two fellow Republicans, totally unsubstantiated. And a racial slur against her, because she is Indian-American, of Sikh heritage, but now a practicing Methodist. So she is the favorite on Tuesday.
Fred, also a runoff in North Carolina, right next door, for the Democratic Senate nomination. And Utah holding primaries as well.
WHITFIELD: OK. And now what about Senator Mitch McConnell, letting bygones be bygones, so to speak? STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is really fascinating. Because Mitch McConnell on Thursday, right here in Washington, D.C., is going to have a fundraiser for Rand Paul. Rand Paul is the nominee now, in Kentucky, which -- where Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is from, on the Republican side.
Rand Paul beat Mitch McConnell's hand-picked candidate last month in the primary. But that was then, this is now. They're all coming together, trying to raise money for him. What is interesting, though, is Rand Paul also, he ran as an outsider, now he's coming to Washington and meeting as many insiders as possible. We'll see if that hurts his campaign at all -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much, enjoy the rest of your Father's Day.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks so much.
WHITFIELD: There in beautiful Washington, beautiful sky behind you there. It's a nice day.
STEINHAUSER: It's hot, though.
WHITFIELD: Hot, yes. I would say, hot! But, you know, hey, it's Washington, summertime, what you going to do? Thanks so much.
All right. These could be the coolest, however, teachers in America. Take a look. They're putting on a show for their middle school students, dancing to Lady Gaga. That's just one of the videos that Josh Levs has for us in the "Viral Video Rewind."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Now a little fun stuff, that little music always gets us all kind of like wiggled (INAUDIBLE).
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're all set.
WHITFIELD: OK. Josh Levs is here now with some viral videos, I can't wait to see the teachers. But what else?
LEVS: Talking of the dancing, we're going to start off with these teachers, because they're so ultra-cool, we're going to go straight to the -- check out these middle school teachers and the show that they put on at the end of the year for these students. Let's listen.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: You can hear the students freaking out check out. These teachers are dancing to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." These are teachers at Holmes Middle School in Alexandria, Virginia. I want you to see how choreographed they get. Skip to the second section, I'll put in there for you. And watch the moves they put in. Look at this. Here it comes. See, you've got a couple of male teachers in there too. So many young people have camera phones, this is all over YouTube in all of these different places. When you add it all up, (INAUDIBLE). It was on washingtonpost.com...
(CROSSTALK)
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: You've got many cool points here.
LEVS: You've got to see how they end it. They jump into the audience. Watch this.
Listen to the screams. I'm so happy for those kids. Apparently some kids produced this. Worked with them, helped choreography it and produce it.
WHITFIELD: They're rocking now.
LEVS: Speaking of some impressive moves, I couldn't do "Viral Video Rewind" this week without going to the "Samba Baby" that everyone is so excited about.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, that is cute.
LEVS: "Samba Baby." We've got to take a quick look at this kid. In case you may not have seen this one, this is the hottest one of the week. This little toddler in Brazil, who had these -- look at that. We didn't believe it was real.
(VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, I was a non-believer, too (INAUDIBLE)...
LEVS: We've been studying this and we can't see anywhere it could be animated. And then at one point you can even see one of the relatives walking around with a camera.
WHITFIELD: My gosh. This is...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: The kid has got moves.
WHITFIELD: He has got some moves.
LEVS: Better than most adults.
WHITFIELD: How did they teach this child? Or what was this child -- you know, who or what this child?
LEVS: You know, talk about born to dance, right?
All right. So now we get to the funky unusual videos. You know how the problem with treadmills is that they just stay still?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Look at this video.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Here's the treadmill that you can take down the street. This is hot this week because this is viral video-sharing sites like...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: And one of them pulled this out. And now everyone is clicking on it. It's from a company that made a treadmill that you can actually ride down the street.
WHITFIELD: Well, why would you do that? 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: To get some attention. So that everyone can see that you're working out.
LEVS: OK. 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. (INAUDIBLE) has got this campaign going on, encouraging people to make these kind of like cool videos about, in some ways, things that are good for the environment. This is about getting people to take the subway. So look at that, they built a Subway and then they planted a camera to see if people would take it.
WHITFIELD: I love it.
LEVS: And see what happened?
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fun. Would you do it? You see us glide along the staircase...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Definitely. I would even do it in this suit right now.
WHITFIELD: I would be doing that over and over again.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: I would miss the train.
LEVS: I know.
WHITFIELD: I'd be having too much fun. LEVS: We would do that. We would take the stairs back up and go back down.
WHITFIELD: Right.
LEVS: OK. Now it's time for our adorable video of the week. Every week, you've got to have an adorable video. So let's show Fred this one. It's always animals doing nothing like shocking, but it's always the most popular video.
WHITFIELD: Just being cute. Aww, and you're showing...
LEVS: this is a bunny and a puppy eating a carrot.
WHITFIELD: Aww.
LEVS: You know, again, they don't have to do anything...
WHITFIELD: A puppy with a...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: They're just cute. And everyone loves it. People are clicking on this one like crazy. It was at pettube.com. And...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: That's almost a Zen moment, you know? That's almost the soothing stuff right there. Watching the little puppy and bunny rabbits.
LEVS: Well, I'm going to end with something that's a combination of cool music and a little bit Zen for you. Because I always give a relaxation moment. But this one is different. I told you before the break, a guy who plays the tree as a musical instrument.
WHITFIELD: Oh yes.
LEVS: This is Diego Stocco, who is like this musician, finds funky ways to do music. Listen to what he does, playing just the bonsai tree, let's listen.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: He just makes sounds with the bonsai tree and records it and mixes. Funky, huh? Or not?
WHITFIELD: Yes -- no, it is funky.
LEVS: Bum 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 at that.
WHITFIELD: How you look at a bonsai and say, you know, I'm going to make some music here.
LEVS: Well, I see this as modern art. You know, people getting to share their -- and he wouldn't fill Carnegie Hall, probably, but he could put this out and more people click on it than would fill Carnegie Hall. So that's pretty cool.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEVS: Usually, you can see all of the viral videos, just like every week, at my Facebook page, facebook.com/joshlevscnn. We put them all up at the Facebook, because that's the easiest way to cull them and you can send us your favorites that way.
WHITFIELD: This is good stuff. I love it. It just opens your world to see all of these possibilities, all of the things that people are doing, how inventive people can be, and everybody else clearly is fascinated too, because they watch this viral video over and over and over again.
LEVS: Oh, yes, and they love -- and you know what, while we've been talking here, I've been going through my mind, all of my teachers I ever had, I'm like, how many were cool enough to pull that off? I think I can think of two.
WHITFIELD: A handful...
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Although all of those teachers I had were cool, but when they get on...
LEVS: We love them all. We love all teachers.
WHITFIELD: ... stage and dance? I don't know. All right.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Much more of the CNN NEWSROOM, just about 10 minutes from now with Don Lemon. He'll tell you how some scam artists are adding insult to injury by taking advantage of the Gulf oil spill. And I'll be back in a minute to show you a very special Father's Day tribute.
But first, a look back at this week in history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): Five years ago, in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president of Iran.
Ten years ago, in 2000, scientists released the first rough map of the human genome, the genetic blueprint for human beings.
Twenty years ago, in 1990, President George H.W. Bush backed a tax increase, breaking his "no new taxes" pledge.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1985, 329 people died when an explosion blamed on Sikh separatists destroyed an Air India jet off the coast of Ireland.
Forty years ago, in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to 18.
Sixty years ago, in 1950, the Korean War began.
One hundred forty years ago, in 1870, the first section of Atlantic City's Boardwalk was open to the public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. A special ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall today. Take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Sons and daughters of fallen Vietnam vets gathered at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay tribute to their fathers. Some rolled up their sleeves to help clean and polish the granite memorial. Family members also laid roses at the base of the monument. There are more than 58,000 names on that wall.
And many of you are showing your dads how much you love them this Father's Day. Well, Phil Toledano's tribute started with a blog chronicling the final years of this dad's life. Well, now, the haunting photos and memories have been turned into a book and we leave you this hour with his touching look at the last days of his father.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL TOLEDANO, PHOTOGRAPHER: I know this is going to sound cliche, but it's a story about love and that's all it is.
My mother died about three-and-a-half years ago, and it was all a very sudden thing and I found myself in charge of my father and taking care of my father's life. She had been sort of shielding me from my father's condition and he had some form of dementia, so he basically had no short-term memory.
For the first year, I didn't really take any photographs, but then after a while, I began to realize that it was really important for me to remember the stuff I was saying, remember the things I was saying, remember the things he was saying to me.
He had this incredible sense of humor and he had this way of playing with words that was just extraordinary for someone who, you know, had no kind of short-term memory.
After my mom's death, my dad would say to me, where's your mom? And I'd say, look, she's dead, we took you to the funeral. and then he'd look at me with such shock and horror. And he'd say, what do you mean? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me? And it was incredibly excruciating and painful for me to tell him that. And it was incredibly painful for me to see his horror every time.
You can't drag people with dementia into your world, into reality. You have to go with whatever they happen to be believing at the time, because otherwise, it's just much too painful for everyone. And you have to do it with a sense of humor, if you can. I mean, I have to say that the one thing that kept me going was my sense of humor and my dad's sense of humor. We have to laugh at stuff, otherwise, it's just too hard.
Look, to spend, you know, three-and-a-half years with someone, yes, it was really hard, but, I mean, I'm his son and I had to take care of him, so, you know, there was no -- there was no choice for me. I mean, it was a thing I had to do.
And it was really hard, but it was an incredible joy at times and it was a gift as well at times. I think actually overall, it was a real gift because I got to say good-bye to my father in a way that most people don't get to say good-bye to their parents.
I mean, I was with him all night the night he died. Sorry. About a year-and-a-half ago, I put all this stuff up on a Web site. I didn't really think anyone would be interested in my story because it was so intensely personal. I kind of just -- I didn't really know why I put it up on a Web site, but I just sort of did it for me. And then, it just became this kind of amazing, beautiful thing in the sense that I think to date, over a million people have been to the site and I've gotten so many incredible personal, really beautiful e-mails. It has been an extraordinary experience for me.
I didn't want days with my father to be about -- it's not a story about living with dementia and it's not a story about old age, and it's not a story about waiting for my father to die. I mean, all those parts are in that story, but it's really a story of me spending time with my father. I mean, it's just about my love for him and his love for me and, and that's it. I mean, all of the other stuff is in there and it's part of it. But that's really all it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
