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Chefs Discuss Oil's Impact on Seafood; Tropical Disturbance in Carribbean; Gulf Boat Captain's Suicide; Remembering Michael Jackson
Aired June 25, 2010 - 09:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Restaurant owners and managers definitely feeling the pain from the oil spill. Limited fishing grounds in the Gulf means less product and, of course, higher prices. But some eateries are holding the line against passing on the price hikes to you the customer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER DOBBS, RESTAURANT OWNER: To me, it's more than about the dollar that you turn. It's about making the consumer happy. And I'm going to hold out as long as I can so that everybody can still enjoy the food that they like.
VIC ALLRED, RESTAURANT OWNER: I think most of it is speculative. You have a lot of buyers out there who have bought product and now because the demand has risen, they are just charging more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, Gulf Coast chefs, they're not just concerned about the oil impact on the seafood itself. They're also, they say, worried about the people who provide that product for them each and every day. CNN.com top received blog got a little reaction from chefs at the food and wine classic in lovely Aspen, Colorado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BESH, NEW ORLEANS CHEF: What's happening with seafood? That's a broad question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I watch with horror every day what's happening there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're ruining American culture --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tragically brilliant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Catastrophe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Powerless.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sad, sad thing. BESH: It's really difficult to see this happen in slow motion. I'm Chef John Bash from New Orleans. I have six restaurants down there and up here in Aspen cooking up a storm.
We in New Orleans are facing some seemingly insurmountable odds with this oil spill out in the Gulf. It's been incredibly frustrating to see that so much of our fisheries and so many of our coastal communities in the extreme south, especially southeast Louisiana are closed off for fishing because of the inundation of so much oil coming in to the salt marsh estuaries there where all the shrimping takes place.
Each day, oil gets closer. It encroaches closer into the coastline and we have more precautionary closings issued on a daily basis. I don't think there's ever been a point in history where a chef was so familiar with what exact area each oyster, each shrimp, each crab and each fin fish comes from.
MARCUS SAMUELSON, "TOP CHEF" MASTERS WINNER: I've said to all of the chefs in my restaurant, we have to still keep buying fish and seafood from the Gulf. The whole Gulf is not affected, and I think it's important for us to go back in there and buy shrimp and crab, red fish and snapper (INAUDIBLE) in the places they're available.
SAM TALBOT, "TOP CHEF" SEASON 2 SEMIFINALIST: It's affected the way that I -- definitely I think of where I get my fish from and how accountable (ph) it is from the fisherman and we trace the (INAUDIBLE) back to the exact boat and that's something that I always take into consideration.
ANTHONY GIGLIO, FOOD JOURNALIST AND SOMMELIER: I don't look at seafood the same right now. I think, oh, my God, this could be the last time in how many years we might be able to taste fresh shellfish from our own coast. And I feel like the future might be importing, which is just awful.
MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO, "TOP CHEF" WINNER: I think as chefs, I mean we can pretty much get whatever it is we're looking for. It doesn't necessarily all come out of the Gulf of Mexico. I think our hearts go out to the people that are actually suffering, with regards to the like the people that are actually out there fishing.
MICHEL NISCHAN, CHEF AND OWNER, DRESSING ROOM: I think it had to happen. I am so sorry for the families that are down there. I feel their pain. I have relatives down there. I know the deal, but you know what, I'm kind of glad it happened because we have to change the way we do things as a whole. And I hope that's what this leads to.
VOLTAGGIO: You know, there needs to be messages out there saying, it's OK to come down here. It's OK to take part in tourism. I talked to John Besh a little bit, you know, about it, and I think it's truly, truly important there's - the more messages from chefs and restauranteurs who know firsthand what the product is like.
JOHN BESH, NEW ORLEANS CHEF: I've been really proud of our chef community in particular, the hospitality community throughout the country and especially down in the gulf region. It's coastal communities that really have given us so much of our culture through all these great ingredients that we have in our fingertips. I'm worried what will come five, 10, 20 years from now. How long will it take us to really put these communities back into fishing? That we just don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: That seafood looked pretty delicious, didn't it? Hey, listen, if you're a food lover, pretty good at eating food, maybe not so much cooking, you still want to know about our website. We're calling eatocracy.cnn.com.
You can go there for smart, passionate conversation and great information about news, food, politics and culture. I will be talking with the site's managing editor who flew all the way from New York to Atlanta to be with me this hour.
In the meantime, let's get you caught up on some of the day's top stories here. President Obama, we heard from him just within the past hour from the White House. He says this new financial reform bill is offering the toughest consumer protection in history and will prevent Wall Street from taking the economy over the cliff. Lawmakers from both Chambers of Commerce hammered out a deal overnight. They finished that thing somewhere around 5:30 this morning. They hope to have final versions ready to go by the fourth of July.
The president is now headed to Canada to talk global finances. We're talking about the G-8 and G-20. That happens today and through the weekend that is the summits of the world's wealthiest countries. The security tab, reportedly $1 billion to keep these world leaders safe.
And the cities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, under a state of emergency now after these severe storms swept through the area yesterday. You can see the damage. Winds in excess of 75 miles per hour, toppled trees, knocked down power lines. The "Connecticut Post" is reporting at least 25 people were injured, and by the way, the mayor of Stratford urging people, stay inside and avoid the power lines.
Let's talk about the situation still there in the gulf. We are now into this thing, day 67 of that oil disaster, and there are now some new unprecedented potentially concerns on the horizon. A tropical disturbance in the Caribbean could move into the gulf, possibly shutting down that ongoing oil collection process. The government's point man in the disaster, he appeared a short time ago on CNN's American Morning, and that being Admiral Thad Allen, and he said that boats would start moving out five days before a storm could hit the area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: This could be the first time and there is no playbook, but I will tell you. There's been an extraordinary amount of planning being done between the folks of the National Incident Command, the Unified Area Command and our Incident Commanders on the ground. We have been working very closely with Craig (Fewgate) from FEMA, and of course, Secretary Napolitano and also our DOD counterparts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now stay with me here because there is another worst case possible scenario here. If that tropical disturbance does move into the gulf and take a certain track, it could drive more of that oil into the shore. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider watching that system very closely for us in the Weather Center and of course, nobody wants to see that happen.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely not, Brooke, but with the active hurricane season under way, we can't rule out the possibility of a storm going into the Gulf of Mexico. Right now, we have a broad area of low pressure that is getting more organized, so the National Hurricane Center says there's a 70 percent chance this will become a tropical cyclone likely a depression within the next 48 hours.
It's heading in the direction of the Yucatan, but then what's next? Let's take a look at the computer models. We'll put it into motion and you can see that most of them take the storm towards the Yucatan, but then some of them curve it a little bit further north, and some to the west straight to Mexico.
There is a wide divergence of what could happen. The main thing to note, Brooke, is that the storm has not formed yet. Once it forms, we'll have a better idea and a more general consensus of which way it will go. I'll have more as we get that information.
BALDWIN: All right, Bonnie. Thank you. In the meantime, that disaster down there, we know this. It's taken a toll in a lot of different ways. We talked about the lost jobs, the spoiled marsh lands and the wildlife just devastated. But for one charter boat captain, that spill might have led him to take his own life. CNN's David Mattingly reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): People who knew him say Allen Kruse lived to fish and those closest to him say that life unraveled when the oil spill hit the gulf waters where he worked.
(on camera): He thought it was dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: He said that to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: And that there was no hope that the fishing was ever going to come back. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not in a lifetime.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Among charter boat captains in Orange Beach, Alabama, Kruse was a leader. Drumming up business in good times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fishing is going to be good all summer.
MATTINGLY: And voicing the frustrations of a community in the bad times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The day that the oil entered the gulf, my phone quit ringing.
MATTINGLY: Just a month after that interview, Kruse was found on his boat dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. For 14 days, he had worked for BP hauling boom and looking for oil.
His brother say he felt like his role in the cleanup as a BP vessel of opportunity was worthless.
(on camera): That's what he told you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MATTINGLY: That he felt like he was being put out there for show?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's what he told his wife. He didn't tell me that. That's what he told his wife. That's what she told me just a while ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me it was madness.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Kruse's friends tell me he felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the disaster and that they're all feeling the stress.
CAPTAIN BEN FAIREY, FRIEND: This has been a long-term situation. This started in 2004 with a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan and then the next year was Katrina, then skyrocketing fuel prices, fishing regulations and then an oil spill. This has been six years that this area has really suffered a lot of stress.
MATTINGLY: Stress that his friends believe finally became too much for Kruse and now they're worried about others.
(on camera): Are you afraid that maybe one of your other friends out there might be thinking about something extreme?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. We worry about that every day.
MATTINGLY: What are going to do about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we're trying to get the word out. MATTINGLY: As a gesture to the community that's now grieving for him, Kruse's family thought it would be best for his boat to be brought back here to home port in Orange Beach.
And here it is right now, "The Rookie." His friends say that there's really no better way that they could think of to pay tribute to a man who loved what he did for a living and loved the waters where he worked.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): It's "The Rookie's" final voyage, carrying a cargo of uncertainty and sorrow. David Mattingly, CNN, Orange Beach, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Awful. The last check in the mail about a million people will get their final unemployment checks this week after the Senate failed to extend those benefits. Patricia Wu is joining me now from New York.
Patricia, we know that this was the third time they tried doing this. It didn't happen. What did happen?
PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, what did happen? Worries over the deficit. They punched a big hole in the safety net that millions of Americans are relying on. Well, why? Back to the money, of course. Lots of concern over too much government spending in an election year.
The bill would have added more than $33 billion to the deficit, and in the end, Democrats just did not have enough votes to overcome the GOP filibuster. Since last year, people who lost their jobs were eligible for up to 99 weeks of benefits, but now extensions are going away, meaning workers will only get the basic 26 weeks from their state.
Many people were counting on the extended benefits, and they're going to start finding out this week that there is just no more money coming. According to the Labor Department, 1.2 million people will run out the of the benefits by the end of the month and 2 million Americans will run out by July 10th -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Frightening stuff for these millions Americans. Patricia, thank you.
In the meantime, I'm sure you know about this story, really a history being made on Capitol Hill. President Obama says a new financial reform bill offers the toughest consumer protections in history and will prevent Wall Street from taking the economy over the cliff.
The group now from both the House led by Barney Frank and a group from the Senate led by Chris Dodd reconciled their bills, made this deal and agreed to send that final version to their chambers by, they're hoping the fourth of July.
Get this though, they worked on this thing until 5:39 this morning. President Obama spoke about this and really what the bill means to you and me. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Credit card companies will no longer be able to mislead you with pages and pages of fine print. You will no longer be subject to all kinds of hidden fees and penalties or the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That bill will also let you get one free credit report a year from the credit rating agencies along with your credit score and also creates this ten-member oversight council of regulators to look out for major problems of financial firms and throughout the financial system.
And it will address those that are just too big to fail. That whole issue, right? So, in addition here, President Obama, we've been watching in. He spoke with the White House. There he is right around Air Force One landing this hour in Canada.
That was where President Obama will be spending this weekend meeting with leaders of the world's richest nations. In fact, he spoke last hour just before taking off for the G-8 and G-20 summits. We heard a snippet of that a second ago.
The president says the economy is still fragile. It's getting stronger. He says that the recession proves global economies are inextricably linked and that nations must work together to stay strong.
The International Monetary Fund is really issuing a stern warning at the G-20 summit saying that the world could lose out of tens of millions of jobs over the next two years and some $4 trillion in economic output if these nations fail to get on the same page. What's the goal?
Here it is, looking to balance the stimulus spending with ballooning deficits. That's the balancing act that (INAUDIBLE) was talking about the time when economic recovery is still on rocky ground. But, before the G-20 this weekend comes the G-8 that is today.
President Obama will be in Huntsville, Ontario about two hours outside of Toronto, and it's there that he will be sitting down with leaders from the really big world economies, the big eight if you will, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and, of course, the U.K.
In the meantime tomorrow, these talks will move to Toronto and broaden to the G-20 group. That includes 19 nations plus the European Union and a couple of visiting countries and although one president is reportedly bowing out, we are hearing that Brazil's president will not attend because, we've seen the pictures, those awful, awful floods down in his home country.
Most of us remember where we were when we got word one year ago today that Michael Jackson died. We are continuing to look at these live pictures. There's that mausoleum where the king of pop is buried that is Los Angeles where you know thousands upon thousands of people will descend upon there, pay their respect and remember Michael Jackson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Hard to believe it has been one year to the day now since Michael Jackson died. The lawyer for Jackson's father says he will file this wrongful death lawsuit against that doctor, against that cardiologist who was there when the pop star died.
Remember, Jackson died of that overdose of the powerful anesthesia called Propofol, and it was Dr. Conrad Murray who is charged with those involuntary manslaughter.
And in Glendale today, thousands are expected to gather to pay tribute to the man known as the king of pop and that is where we have CNN's Ted Rowlands live for us in Glendale. They're outside that mausoleum where Jackson is buried and Ted, I keep saying this over and over, but I just cannot believe a year has already gone by.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it seems like yesterday that we were here and watching all of the people come in and watching that very dramatic service when Michael Jackson was laid to rest in the building behind me in the grand mausoleum here at the Forest Lawn Cemetery.
The sun was coming down and it was quite a scene. It will be quite a scene today as well here, Brooke. There are thousands of people outside the gates here waiting to come in and what they're going to be able to do is basically come down here. You could see these partitions have been set up going all the way up this road.
They're expecting that these will be filled with people in a matter of minutes when they open up the gates. People will be able to come down here and pay respects. They can leave some flowers. All morning we have seen flowers being dropped off by maintenance crews.
They're setting up - they we're setting all of these up over the last few hours. We expect these flowers to grow exponentially over the next few hours. They will not be able to go into the actual mausoleum, though, the fans. They will just be able to walk up to this area here by it and then they will leave.
The family is expected here about 11:00 Pacific time and will go into the mausoleum to pay their respects to Michael Jackson on this one year anniversary of his death. But we do expect a lot of people when the gates open in a few minutes to start filing in here to pay their respects as well. BALDWIN: And Ted, well, I have this on the news side, the investigation side of the story, what more do you know about this wrongful death lawsuit that will be filed today?
ROWLANDS: Well, it has to be filed today because they are filing a lawsuit against a doctor, in this case, Dr. Conrad Murray. So Joe Jackson is filing this wrongful death lawsuit against Murray. They gave notice it is coming and it will be filed today because today is the deadline.
It has to be done one year after the alleged incident. They are alleging malpractice, et cetera, that Dr. Murray killed Michael Jackson, and so they are going after him in court. That's the reason it's being filed today. Today was the deadline.
BALDWIN: Got it today is the day. Ted Rowlands for us in a very empty but soon to be, I'm sure very crowded mausoleum there in Glendale, California. Ted, appreciate you.
Also, we want to remind all of you, tonight on this anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, CNN is revealing more details of the events leading up to the tragic demise. We will be talking to the brothers about their unanswered questions about how their brother died and who they think is responsible.
Plus, we'll hear from some of the closest associates about his health and state of mind. Watch Michael Jackson, the final days, that's tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.
In the meantime, have you been following this story, I know I have. Critical clues, DNA found under this victim's fingernails may help police solve the Joran Van Der Sloot case. He is charged as you know with killing that woman, Stephany Flores in Peru. That story after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, checking your top stories now. This major development along the Gulf Coast with potentially tens of thousands of jobs in limbo, the White House has lost its appeal to keep the ban on offshore drilling in place. Note that moratorium is supposed to be in effect for six months. The judge says the economy along the Gulf Coast just can't take it. They can't take the shutdown. This comes as a tropical storm here churning in the Caribbean threatening to potentially disrupt that cleanup containment effort under way.
In the meantime, police say they have found skin under the fingernails of this woman, Stephany Flores in Peru from Joran Van Der Sloot here. A DNA tests are not totally completed. The 21-year-old woman was found dead in her hotel room earlier this month. Van Der Sloot was suspected. Remember five years to the day in that 2005 disappearance of Natalie Holloway in Aruba but he was never charged with that.
Alleged Jamaican drug king pin, Christopher Dudis Coke, there he is in New York extradited out to the U.S. just last night. He is facing drugs and weapons charges. He was taken into custody in Jamaica earlier this week after a failed arrest attempt in May led to this four day gun battle that left 76 people dead.
Well, are you ready for some football and when I say football, I mean soccer. Not sure how you can beat that win? Did you watch the win, U.S. versus Algeria? The Team USA is going to give it their very best shot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: I think if you've been watching it all over the course of our World Cup coverage, we may now officially have to rename Richard Roth our World Cup correspondent just for kicks, of course.
There he is, Richard Roth in New York and, Richard, I know you have a former soccer pro, I think he was three-time World Cup goalkeeper, current soccer dad with you. Good morning to you. This is a huge day before a big day, right, for the U.S.?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: That's right. If you're a soccer fan, and there are many newcomers to the sport because of the U.S. team's success, the tension is mounting. The game will be Saturday afternoon East Coast time. Joining me is someone who knows those tensions quite well, Tony Meola, three-time member of the U.S. Men's National Soccer team. Assess U.S. team's performance so far.
TONY MEOLA, FORMER USA GOALKEEPER: Well, obviously, they are giving us a heart attack here because they're waiting until the last minute. I thought this team could get through the second round. I thought it would be a little bit easier. They've made it exciting, but at the end of the day, they are in the place they want to be and that's in the final 16 in the knockout round.
ROTH: Four years ago, Ghana eliminated the U.S. what could be different this time?
MEOLA: Well, certainly, I think the attitude of the team is different. They've had two years now together as a group. They've won some pretty important games. They have the experience of the Confederations Cup last summer. They feel good about themselves.
They are coming off what could be the most historic win in U.S. soccer, and certainly if you are in that locker room right now, you got to feel good that you don't have to win the game in the first five minutes of the game. You can take it through 90 minutes and then some.
ROTH: You said they are giving you a heart attack. What is it like when you watch this match at home, knowing what it's like on the field? It's got to be different perspective than me and thousands of others.
MEOLA: Well, I sat and watched the last game with my wife at home while the kids were at school and I thought, OK, I'm just going to sit down and watch it as the fan until the U.S. had another good goal disallowed, and I was a fan like everybody else. I was jumping and screaming. I said to myself, the goal is going to come, it's going come. After the 90th minute, I don't know if I was believing myself and the goal came and I jumped through the roof as excited as anybody.
ROTH: It's hard to believe, Tony, but 20 years ago, I interviewed you in New Jersey as the United States team headed off to Italy for the 1990 cup, the first time the U.S. was in the World Cup in decades. What do you remember about those days looking back to the World Cup you were in and what lessons can this team take away from it?
MEOLA: Well, I remember we were 20 years younger that's for sure and the lessons that we learned back then, we've tried to as U.S. soccer organization learn from 90 to 94 and just get better and better.
Certainly, the player pool has gotten bigger. The talent that we've grown here in major league soccer in the United States has helped that national team progress and now guys are going all over the world and finding successes, which we didn't have the opportunity to do in 1990.
ROTH: Tony Meola, thank you very much, three-time member of the U.S. Men's National team. I assume you'll be watching tomorrow afternoon when the U.S. plays Ghana, easy side to the draw maybe. Who knows? We'll see what happens. Brooke, back to you.
BALDWIN: Richard, Tony, thank you both.
All right, risking life and limb just to chase the American dream. Thousands of migrants packing into this so-called train of death in hopes of reaching the U.S. We are taking on board.
In the meantime, let's take you live to Huntsville, Ontario. There it is, Air Force One, just touched down. The president on board heading to the G-8 meeting with the top world leaders and then, of course, this weekend being the G-20 over in Toronto. Live pictures again from the lovely Canada.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Thousands of migrants dirt poor looking for a better life. They catch a ride on this so-called train of death that takes them all of the way through Mexico, bound for the U.S. border and really the American dream. That is, if they survive that trip. Karl Penhaul boarded that train for just part of that journey. He spoke with some of the passengers about the risks and the rewards.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some call it the beast. To others, it's the train of death. But to all these illegal migrants, it's a free ride bound for their American dream of washing dishes, picking lettuce or carrying bricks.
ELVIN CHINCHILLA, ILLEGAL MIGRANT: If we work under the sun and other things over there now, if you -- if you -- if you're born over there, your life is going to be different. You're going to work in Arby's, go to a nice high school, go to a nice college, you know?
But I didn't think we're spending the money or the job, you know.
PENHAUL: Like Elvin, most aboard are from Central American countries like Guatemala and Honduras. They'll spend days clinging to cargo trains as they grind through Southern Mexico up toward the U.S. border. Human rights groups estimate thousands have died falling from trains like this, some of them mutilated under its wheels.
En route to the U.S. border, many more have been robbed, raped and kidnapped. The Mexican authorities do little to prevent them riding or to deter gangs from preying on them. And when I caught up with this group of migrants at a free hostel in Southern Mexico, I wondered why they were ready to sacrifice so much.
CHINCHILLA: The (INAUDIBLE) it's real -- it's a really American thing, because you can make money and live better, help your people over here.
PENHAUL: Elvin once worked in the U.S. before being jailed on a drug and drunk driving charge and later deported.
CHINCHILLA: I now want to do the things right this time. And I don't want to get in trouble again. Yes, we're funny. I'm not -- I don't think I'm a bad person. I just like to drink sometimes. I make mistakes like every single person in the world, you know?
PENHAUL: A card game to kill the hours before the train pulls out.
Antonio has also lived in the States. In the U.S., he can earn more in a day than in a whole week back home. He proudly tells me he was employee of the year at an Appleby's restaurant in Michigan.
ANTONIO GUZMAN, ILLEGAL MIGRANT (through translator): They put up a plaque in the lobby. There was only one Hispanic name up there and it was mine.
PENHAUL: Greville from Honduras is a first-timer. He's traveling alone but makes new friends when he raps about his tough upbringing.
GREVILLE BUESO, ILLEGAL MIGRANT (through translator): I've heard people saying nice things about America, like it's another world. So I want to see for myself and try my luck.
PENHAUL: By next morning, hope has become apprehension. They wait by the tracks. Some smoke a marijuana joint to calm their nerves. Elvin, stony-faced, and Greville has just seen the beast (ph) to the first train. He says he's fighting to jump onto the train. I scramble onto the train. I tie myself on for safety. I got off at an unscheduled stop a few hours later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye-bye.
PENHAUL: I heard the train arrived without incident in the (INAUDIBLE).
(on camera): It's been a tough 12 hour ride to get here, but the migrant still faces many more days of travel to get to the U.S. border.
(voice-over): A few nights later, another group of migrants who boarded the train of death were not so lucky. The train pulled out around midnight. When I caught up with it at first light, there was clearly something wrong. Only a handful of people were still aboard. As they straggled into this migrant hostel in Ictipec (ph), they claimed about 60 federal police and a heavily armed civilian gang had held up the train.
JORGE REGALADO, ILLEGAL MIGRANT (through translator): They began pulling people off the train and they fired two shots. We ran to escape, but they grabbed a lot of people.
PENHAUL: The migrants believe as many as 100 of their fellow travelers were kidnapped, including this man's sister.
RUBEL MORENO, ILLEGAL MIGRANT (through translator): I thought this is as far as I go. I thought that this was the end. I was thinking about how to escape, because I didn't know whether they were police or kidnappers.
PENHAUL: As they rest after their scare, we check what might have happened. The immigration department of federal police said there had been no official operation or arrests. A week later hostel workers told me the detained migrants had been robbed, but were freed after human rights workers had lodged formal complaints.
Fernando Batista, a senior government human rights official, is visiting the hostel. He says corrupt Mexican authorities frequently conspire with kidnap gangs.
FERNANDO BATISTA, GOVERNMENT HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL (through translator): The migrants are extremely vulnerable and there are cases where federal and local authorities, far from doing their job of preventing crime, are colluding with those people committing these crimes.
PENHAUL: Father Alejandro Saolalinde has been giving migrants a free meal and a bed at this hostel for the last five years. Bitter experience tells him they will press on despite the risks, rather than go home to poverty.
REV. ALEJANDRO SOLALINDE, MIGRANT HOSTEL FOUNDER (through translator): This is an interminable exodus. It never ends. But I'm sure they're going to make history. They're going to rebuild America.
PENHAUL: But before they make that history or achieve their own, more modest dreams, these poor migrants must first survive the train of death.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, in Southern Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Checking your top stories now.
There is a huge storm threat that is really now ratcheting up in the Gulf. It's something that could certainly disrupt the cleanup effort underway there. This being, what, Day 67 now? Forecasters are tracking the system as it treks through. It's swirling in the Caribbean right now. But it's still too early to tell where it's headed, what direction it may be going. But it could possibly strengthen into a tropical depression in the next two days.
Meantime, you've seen the pictures by now. President Obama, there he is, landing, big wave. Landing in Canada for the weekend of G-8 and then G-20. Today is the G-8. That's in Huntsville, Ontario. G- 20 is in Toronto. That's this weekend. And you know, world economies, he says, are inextricably linked and that nations must work together to stay strong.
And in Massachusetts, the governor there is asking school officials in Provincetown to rethink this controversial new policy. Yesterday, we told you about how this district is planning on letting school nurses give condoms to children they think are sexually active -- and not tell their parents. Kids as young as first grade would be able to get them. Officials say they will take another look at the plan.
It has been more than 20 years since Leslea Newman wrote her watershed book. The book was called "Heather Has Two Mommies," and no one wanted at that point in time really wanted to talk about same-sex couples with children. It's just not the same as it is today in 2010. But Newman, she saw this need to address it, at least for children. And we were just wondering here at CNN how things have changed and how some things have simply stayed the same.
Leslea Newman is good enough to join me now from Springfield, Massachusetts. Leslea, good morning to you. I would like to start with your book and if we can, just kind of look back at the timeline. It was published way back in 1989, and it tells the story of a lesbian couple who has a daughter, Heather. And a lot of people may think Heather must be your daughter, but that's not the story. Instead, what? A friend approached you to write this book. Talk to me about the decision for writing the book for you.
LESLEA NEWMAN, AUTHOR, "HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES": What happened was I was walking down it the street in North Hampton, Massachusetts, and a woman who was part of a two-mom family stopped me and she said, "We don't have a book that we can read to our daughter that shows a family like ours. Somebody should write one," and by somebody, she meant me.
So, I took that request very seriously. I know how important it is for children to see families like their own reflected back to them by the media, and so I decided to write the book.
BALDWIN: So, let's fast forward here, I guess. Staying back in 1989, when you wrote the book it was sort of this seminal book, if you will, back in December of '89. Did you actually think that gay marriage would be legal here in 2010 in just a handful of states?
NEWMAN: Gay marriage was not even on the radar in terms of it being legal. I had absolutely no idea that I would ever see this in my lifetime.
BALDWIN: What about how was the book received back in '89? Back then, this was not something that was as much talked about. How was it received, not just outside of the LGBT community, but also among that community?
NEWMAN: Well, the book was applauded and lauded by many. I knew a little boy who got three copies of it for the holidays one year. I had a little girl writing me a letter saying, "Thank you for writing 'Heather Has Two Mommies.' I know you wrote it just for me." I knew a little boy who had a mom and dad who said, "How come I only have one mom, why can't I have two?"
But my favorite response is the little girl who said, "Can we get a dog and cat like Heather?" So, kids really think one mom, two moms, whatever, as long as there are people who love me, that's what's important.
BALDWIN: Lelea -- absolutely. I have 30 more seconds, and I JUST want to mention the fact that this book is in its 20th edition, and I'm just curious as to what changes, if any, you gave the book to make it contextually more relevant?
NEWMAN: Well, the illustrations are in full color, so that beautiful, and there is a long afterward that talks about the history of the book.
BALDWIN: All right. Leslea Newman, author of "Heather Has Two Mommies." Thank you so much for coming on.
NEWMAN: Thanks for having me on.
BALDWIN: Thank you!
Meantime, we should remind you that this weekend, Soledad O'Brien follows a same-sex couple and their struggle against the legal and personal obstacles to become parents. Can these men achieve a life as mainstream as their parents? You can watch "GARY AND TONY HAVE A BABY," Saturday and Sunday nights, 8 p.m. Eastern
A Cuban dissident is sentenced to 15 months for buying from the black market. He gets punished while others get off scot-free or with just a tiny fine. But this man's story does have a happy ending.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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BALDWIN: In today's making his mark, we are lifting up Cuban dissident Garci Ferre. Ferre is a free man after being detained in a Cuban prison for 11 months. He was finally charged with -- get this -- illegally buying black market cement. He will serve the last four months of his sentence under house arrest.
But there's another story here about the double standard of justice. While Ferre got 15 months, Cuban authorities actually usually look the other way or levy a small fine for buying on the black market. But government critics say the dissident's punishment was purely political. Ferre - that's such a tongue twister - Ferre's release may have been helped by a Vatican's emissary's visit to Havana.
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BALDWIN: All right. If you love food, and really who doesn't, we want to show you this new Web site that will turn you on. It is call -- voila! CNN -- what is this? Eatocracy.CNN.com. Did I get that right?
KAT KINSMAN, MANAGING EDITOR, EATOCRACY: You can just go to Eatocracy.com.
BALDWIN: Eatocracy.com. It's a great place to go for passionate chat about information and food. And joining me to talk about this site, Eatocracy managing editor Cat Kinsman, who was good enough to fly down to New York to Atlanta to be here today.
KINSMAN: You've got great food here, I've got to say.
BALDWIN: Fabulous Southern cuisine. Let's first talk about this site. I mean, CNN is news, but why are we talking food?
KINSMAN: Everybody eats! Everybody eats everyday a couple times ideally, and everybody has a food story to share.
BALDWIN: OK.
KINSMAN: So, we built this Web site to share their food stories. I don't care if you are a foodie, if you don't think that you're a foodie. You are. You're the story.
BALDWIN: When you say food story, Kat, what does that mean?
KINSMAN: I can show you! So, we have Eatocracy.com, which launched just over a week ago, so when we say food story, we mean things like The Heirloom Recipe Index, where we are asking people via iReports to scan in their mother's and their grandmother's and whoever's family recipes, so we have a national archive of how people actually eat and then share the story of the person who brought it into their life.
BALDWIN: Oh, that's amazing.
KINSMAN: We -- I am so passionate about this.
BALDWIN: I can tell! I feel the passion.
KINSMAN: Yes! And hopefully a little bit of the hunger, too, because have wonderful things like Chef Eric Ripert coming to talk to us. During 5 at 5, a little segment we do every day where we get somebody who might be a chef, who might be a food expert, who might be an athlete or CNN correspondent to give us a list of five food related things. Now, Eric Ripert talked about his five biggest mistakes when he was a chef coming up.
BALDWIN: Really?
KINSMAN: He managed to electrocute a chef.
BALDWIN: Nice! That's a no-no.
KINSMAN: A little bit. It might one day be the editors of "Food and Wine," it might one be you, telling us five things you care about with food.
BALDWIN: Let me jump in real quickly, because I want to get to this sound. I think we sent a cameraperson out, talking to some - servers, I think, asking what would be the worst possible thing your customer could say to you. Let's roll that.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really hate to hear them say, I didn't order this, when they clearly ordered it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're no good. The service is no good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the cheapest thing on the menu?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two last things I want to hear from a customer is, one, I forgot my wallet at home. The second would be, do you accept euros.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the one thing you never want to hear your waiter tell you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll be right back. They never come back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's happened many times, right/ They don't come back for a good five or ten minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the last thing you want to hear from your waiter or waitress?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wouldn't eat that. Is that the common answer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That the board of health was just here, and they shut me down?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The one thing I hate hearing is that the item I came to get is no longer on the menu for the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I mean, when they're saying, oh, we're out of that, that always sucks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's terrible, because you have to read the menu again and make another choice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, we're out of that right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something you ordered and they don't have it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking for simple meal. It's on the menu. "Oh, we're out of it, sir, sorry."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean you're out of it? Then why it is on your menu? I hate that. That's the worst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That is the worst. And that's the point, right, Kat? You are starting the conversation. You want the nation talking food.
KINSMAN: We do! Everybody talks about it all the time. You can talk to anybody in the world about food. Everybody's got a story to tell. There's a place for everybody at our table. And that's what's going to make this site great.
We want to hear from you. We want your stories and pictures. We want to hear what you want to talk about.
BALDWIN: Kat Kinsman, thank you for coming down.
KINSMAN: And thanks for having us.
BALDWIN: Thank you. You're making me hungry. Let's eat lunch!
Coming up -- thank you! -- a new robot actually allows you to spy on your own home. Just think of the possibilities here. We will have a demonstration ahead in the 11:00 a.m. Eastern hour.
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BALDWIN: Now, Americans don't usually get all worked up over soccer, but that could be changing. A lot of us have caught World Cup fever, and Team USA's game-winning goal - did you see it? What was it, like, the 91st minute against Algeria may have been a defining moment. Here's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): May be more refreshing than even a moment of zen -- the moment of goal. The kick that beat Algeria was like a kick in the pants. Making Americans jump up in bars from Seattle to Nebraska.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like I needed to take a Xanax. OK?
MOOS (on-camera): True. Some Americans are probably more familiar with disco balls than soccer balls.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST: Soccer, the sport for fourth-graders that foreign people take seriously.
MOOS (voice-over): Now, even Stephen Colbert is a soccer convert and flurry videos of the moment of goal -- being uploaded like mad. To YouTube. Who's watching all these moment of goal videos online? How about the guy who kicked the goal? Landon Donovan told CNN he'd been surfing the web.
LANDON DONOVAN, TEAM USA: I spent all morning watching all the reactions in the bars around the country.
MOOS: Even far from TVs, the moment of goal could be heard ever so distantly on the Senate floor and at the White House. President Obama told the U.S. team he heard cheers are up while he was meeting with General Petreaus discussing General McChrystal's fate. Most folks watching were thrilled.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the exception of one terrified patron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toward the winning goal and even secure (INAUDIBLE) at the same time.
MOOS: Some put the moment of goal to music. And some singletons enjoyed the moment of goal alone.
MOOS (on-camera): Sometimes, you can tell a lot by focusing on one great face -- no, not that face.
MOOS (voice-over): Faces like the lady in pink's. She went from being prayerful to patting her chest and pumping her arms. Mouth open so wide a soccer ball could almost fit holding her face, practically worshipping, heaving a sigh, and finally smothered under the jersey of Donovan, the guy who made the kick. One announcer stretched the moment of goal. A full 11 seconds. Then, when he finally, finally ran out of breath, he did it again. For a moment of goal this rare, it's worth getting down on your knees.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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BALDWIN: And it's been kind of fun, T.J. Holmes, to work in a place with a lot of TVs during the World Cup. I mean, not that we're not watching news all the time -- it's like the newsroom is punctuated by screams.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. It's a nice break, quite frankly, from some of the death and destruction you see. But it has been fun.
BALDWIN: It has. Have a good day.
