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Day 67: Nasty Weather Eyes Gulf, Gulf Vessel-Owners Wait for BP's Call, Defining the G8 and G20 Summits, Many Cut off From Jobless Benefits, Michael Jackson's Death: One Year Later

Aired June 25, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: T.J., good to see you, thank you, sir. I'm here all afternoon for you. I'm in Ali Velshi. As he said, I'm in Toronto, my hometown. Security in this city is super tight. Leaders from around the world have arranged for a couple of major huddles. The G8 and the G20 summits are kicking off.

They could be among the most crucial meetings of their kind, considering what the global economy has already gone through. Already dividing lines are being drawn. I'm also going to take you to Los Angeles, where people around the world are marking the first anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. Can you believe it? It's already been a year since the king of pop passed away and today, we're seeing remembrances and a lawsuit.

Plus, we'll go to London to meet a guy that might sound like a mad scientist. He's working on a refrigerator that uses goop to keep your food cold, and a washing machine that you hold in your hand. You've got to stick around for this.

But first I want to tell you about what is going on with this leak in the Gulf of Mexico. There are some new developments. That oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. But now we've got another issue I want to show you. Every day we have been showing you that camera you see on the left of your screen.

But this is something more important on the right side of your screen, it's a disturbance. Let's call it a disturbance. Our folks in the weather department say that there's a distinction. We shouldn't call it a storm yet, because that's not what it is.

But there is a disturbance taking shape near Jamaica, and conditions seem favorable for this disturbance to push northwest, and if it does, goes into the Gulf, could become something more serious, maybe even a tropical storm. That's a concern normally.

It's a really big concern, with all this oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Let's go straight to Karen McGinnis in our weather center for an update on what's going on -- Karen.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METOROLOGIST: Yes, and Ali, you said it. It's a big concern. But we don't know exactly what's going to happen. What clues us in are those computer-generated models. They incorporate all kinds of things. But what we can tell you now is that this disturbance that is in the Caribbean is looking a little more impressive on the satellite imagery. And I want to show you this.

This is also very impressive, and gives us a lot of information as to what's happening in the Gulf, as well as with this system. It is not a tropical depression yet, but they are sending a flight down, and they're going to investigate it.

Now, right now, the water temperatures here are very warm, exceedingly warm for this time of year. Just to get your bearings, here is the Yucatan Peninsula, and then we're looking at the Gulf coast region. This is where that oil spill is. This is real-time information that we're giving you.

The computer models, as I mentioned, they tell us all kinds of things. One brings this system as a tropical storm up towards the Gulf, in towards the panhandle, across the southeast. That is one computer model. But I will point out a couple things to you.

Here is our oil spill. If these systems go to the west of that oil spill, what we're going to see probably is kind of a generation of that spill a little bit further towards the eastern areas that have really not been affected just yet.

However, if it does go to the east of this -- if this system goes to the east of that oil spill, then we're looking at this being pushed further away from the coast. That would be the ideal situation. Can we guarantee any of that? Absolutely not. It is way, way too early.

As this system moves over the you can Yucatan, chances are it loses intensity, but it moves to the Gulf of Mexico, Ali, and we are expecting it to perhaps gain intensity, and as I mentioned, they're sending reconnaissance aircraft down there, they're looking at it, and Ali, we probably have a good 24 to 48 hours before we kind of can tweak this enough to say what's going to happen. Back to you.

VELSHI: All right. Karen, we'll stay on top of this, but this has been everybody's concern that if that oil is still leaking, and those vessels are still out there, we have to deal with this. Karen, you'll stay on top of it.

MAGINNIS: Absolutely.

VELSHI: Thad Allen, the Coast Guard Admiral is the national incident commander. He says, and this is important. We're learning a lot about what has to happen at sea. He needs five days ahead of when that storm might hit the area to start taking action.

And that means in some cases, evacuating vessels from the area. In some cases, in fact, keeping them at sea. And there are some vessels that do better at sea in a storm like that than they would in port. He was on "American Morning" this morning. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: They can move to a quadrant of the storm that's less dangerous. There are four quadrants of a storm. Some are more dangerous than another. Sometimes they can take evasive action and actually deploy as a group to the backside of a hurricane and come in behind it.

Those are the normal tactics for vessels at sea. It's not a good idea to stay tied up at the dock when hurricanes come ashore if you have the ability to be at sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. If you have the ability to be at sea. There are actually a lot of people who make their lives out of the sea and the Gulf of Mexico who would like to be at sea, but they can't. These are the so-called -- these are the fishermen who would like to be part of the so-called Vessels of Opportunity, which are paid by BP to skim or to boom or to help with those fires burning the oil. Gary Tuchman is following that story for us. He's in New Orleans. He joins us now. Gary, what's the latest on fishermen who are not able to be part of these -- this Vessel of Opportunity program?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Ali, this program is really kind of like a lottery. It's like winning a lottery, because for the tens of thousands of fishermen who are not able to make money right now, this is a lot of money they can make.

BP pays an average of $1,500 a day for captains, their boats and their crews. But here is the problem. There are so many people here in the Gulf who want to know more about the program, and they deal with BP employees on the telephone who say they have no idea what they're talking about. So we went to investigate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: We met Carl le Blanc Tuesday, working at his crabbing boat. But it's on the front lawn, not on the water. That's his fishing boat, that's his shrimping boat.

TUCHMAN: Are you making any money?

CARL LE BLANC, NEW ORLEANS FISHERMAN: None at all. I mean not a dollar.

TUCHMAN: So Carl applied for BP's so-called Vessel of Opportunity program. BP pays for boats and crews to help in the clean-up. The program is intended for people like Carl, fishermen who have lost their incomes. But after Carl applied, he heard nothing.

TUCHMAN: So you called them up and said what's going on, and what did they tell you?

LE BLANC: They told us we needed to bring --

MS. LE BLANC: They don't know where our paperwork was.

LE BLANC: That we wasn't in the system.

MS. LE BLANC: They didn't know where -- TUCHMAN: You weren't even in the system?

LE BLANC: No.

TUCHMAN: Same thing happened to fisherman Thomas Barrios.

THOMAS BARRIOS, NEW ORLEANS FISHERMAN: We called and were checking to see where we were in the system and it seemed like no one knew who we were.

TUCHMAN: So Tuesday night of this both men went to this open house designed for people with these types of problems. And there were many others with similar complaints. But they say they didn't get meaningful answers from a BP contractor who was there.

So because BP lifted its controversial rule preventing contractors from talking to journalists, we went looking for answers.

TUCHMAN (on-camera): Sir, I wanted to see if we could talk to about the Vessels for Opportunity program and why so many people who wanted to be part of it are not hearing from anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED BP CONTRACTOR: I am sorry, I can't comment.

TUCHMAN: This man wanted us to talk to a supervisor who was not at the open house.

TUCHMAN: BP's been very specific that contractors are allowed to talk.

UNIDENTIFIED BP CONTRACTOR: They have not given me that information. I suggest that you talk to Judy Paul.

TUCHMAN: So BP has told you you can't talk?

UNIDENTIFIED BP CONTRACTOR: They have told me to refer media requests to Judy Paul.

TUCHMAN: But I'm asking you, sir, did BP -- said you can't talk to the media?

UNIDENTIFIED BP CONTRACTOR: They have told me refer to media requests to Judy Paul.

TUCHMAN: I'll ask you one more time. Have they said you can't talk to the media?

UNIDENTIFIED BP CONTRACTOR: Yes, they've told me to refer media requests to Judy Paul.

TUCHMAN: So we decided it was time to find Judy Paul, but we had no luck reaching her. A BP spokesman did give us a written statement saying the two men's cases will be investigated. But we still wanted to talk to Judy Paul. So we showed up at a heavily secured BP office in Houma, Louisiana.

TUCHMAN: You are the Judy Paul you were looking for?

JUDY PAUL, MEDIA PERSONELL: I am the Judy Paul you were looking for yes.

TUCHMAN: She says she is sorry she missed the town hall meeting, but low and behold, tells us she just called the men we interviewed.

PAUL: I can tell you I spoke with both Mr. Le Blanc and Mr. Barrios this morning. Um, their contracts have been confirmed as being in system.

TUCHMAN: That's the good news. The bad news is hundreds of other people are also in the system on the waiting list.

TUCHMAN: Is there a chance these two gentlemen will get work with your program?

PAUL: There is a chance. But we can't displace someone else who perhaps entered the program earlier, just to move people forward because they happened to talk to CNN.

TUCHMAN: You can't offer anybody any guidance about whether they're going to get called or not.

PAUL: That's correct.

TUCHMAN: That's a tough position to put all these guys in who are not making livings anymore.

PAUL: It is. It is.

TUCHMAN: So you acknowledge that?

PAUL: Absolutely.

TUCHMAN: In Louisiana alone, about 1,900 vessels are on the waiting list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN (via telephone): This program has certainly made people happy. In the state of Louisiana, about 600 captains, their boats, and their crew members, which totals another 1,200 or so, have been hired for the program.

But that waiting list, Ali, has about 1,600 people on it. The two guys we interviewed are way low on the waiting list. What's important to point out though, it doesn't go in chronological order. It depends on the kind of boats they have, the kind of tasks they need and the area where the help is needed, so they could move up in the list. But either way, there is no guarantee the two guys we interviewed are ever going to get jobs with this program -- Ali.

VELSHI: And you know, when I was down there last week, we were talking to some of the guys who are in the program, and they wouldn't talk to us on camera, because they're all worried that if they do talk, even though BP has been very clear, or they have told us they're not putting gag orders on anyone, there are people there who feel if they're critical or talk, they may not get their gig renewed.

TUCHMAN: You know, Ali, it's easier probably to talk to Queen Elizabeth than it is to meaning people in this program. They're very paranoid, and you're right, they're afraid they're going to lose the great positions they've got.

VELSHI: Gary, good reporting as always. Thanks very much for being down there. We'll keep in touch with you. Gary Tuchman in New Orleans.

All right, I'm in Toronto right now. Just north of here is where the G8 meeting is taking place. And tomorrow and Sunday here in Toronto, the G20 meeting will be taking place. There is a picture of the beautiful Toronto skyline. It is my hometown. But there are important reasons I'm here, and this could matter to you. When we come back, I'm going to break down the G8 and the G20, what it is and why it matters, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Good afternoon, I'm Ali Velshi. I'm joining you from beautiful Toronto, Ontario, my hometown. You're looking at it right now. That's the skyline behind me of downtown -- right downtown is where the -- where the meetings are going to be taking place. Two back-to-back summits. You don't usually see these two together. They're the G8, the Group of Eight and the G20, also known as the Group of 20.

Security is very tight in the province of Ontario. World leaders are gathering right now. They're a couple hours north of here. They're discussing financial and political issues. The Canadian Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the security for these two summits will cost the Canadians nearly $1 billion, and as I often say, it's not like the world cup where you tourists come for the G20 and buy t-shirts. This is security.

There are protests. A lot of businesses downtown are shut down. About 1,000 protesters marched through downtown Toronto shouting and beating drums. What are these high profile summits about? What gets done here? The G8 gathers heads of states from some of the most powerful countries. It used to be the G7. You'll know it as that.

It started in 1975. It was started to address the global recession and the oil crisis of the early '70s. The world's most powerful countries would get together and they discussed things every year or so. G8 members can agree on policies, they set goals. Implementing those goals are entirely voluntary.

The new British prime minister, David Cameron, said in an op-ed piece today the weekend summit should be more than just big talk. But as I said, the reality is that G8 agreements are nonbinding. Beginning tomorrow, they all come in to Toronto. The G20 is a bigger operation. 20 countries finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 industrialized nations, but there are actually more countries involved, a lot more countries show up to try and be part of the discussion.

It was established -- the G20 in 1999 in response to the financial crisis in the 1990s and the idea was to give emerging markets, smaller countries, a voice in the discussion. So the same people in the G8, the powerful countries, as well as a lot of others. You got Vietnam, you got Nigeria, you got South Africa, Brazil, China, India, they're all here. There are some problems, though, all at odds as to how to address the current economic crisis. When the world was going into crisis, we had a lot more in common.

Now as we come out of it, there are different issues. So President Obama is urging other countries not to abandon their economic stimulus packages, arguing the government still needs to contribute more to try and keep us out of a worsening financial situation. But some countries like Great Britain, and others in Europe, their debt to GDP ratios are so great that they're making budget cuts, imposing austerity measures so not everyone shares a view as to what to do.

Also, there is a situation here in the United States where the president has arrived at this summit, having bagged a deal, basically, an agreement between Congress and the Senate and various committees, to come to terms on a financial reform bill that could pass as early as next week.

So he's got that in his back pocket. Financial reform regulation around the world is going to be a big topic here. Again, something that the various countries do not agree upon. We'll be talking a little more about this, including with the head of one of Canada's biggest banks, a name you will all be familiar with in the United States, because it's got a large presence there.

All right, when I come back, I want to talk to Christine Romans. Here is something you've all been concerned about, those benefits for jobless Americans. Many people cut off from their benefits, because lawmakers cannot see eye to eye. This has been going on for months, it's happened again. How many times are we going to go through this? We'll do some venting and talking about it, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Okay. Big doings in the financial world. Nothing to do with the G8 or G20. Congress working through the night, working until about 6:00 this morning, various committees coming together on the various versions of financial regulation and reform, agreeing to the final wording of a bill that could pass as early as next week.

Christine, one of our good friends this morning, we were talking to said some people say nothing good comes if it happens after midnight, but in this case, they worked all night. Tell me what we've got.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did. They worked all night and this is what you've got. Some very sleepless lawmakers who hammered out in conference something that will likely, as you said, be voted on in the next week or so and head to the president's desk. And what it looks like on here is that there will be consumer protection, that consumer protection agency housed within the Fed.

That had been a point of contention, that had been resolved. For people who out there who wonder what a consumer protection agency is and how is it going to help them? Well, it's going to mean that they're going to have a pretty clear language for all of the financial contracts that they're going to use in their life.

They're probably going to be able to get a free credit score if it you have been denied a job because of your credit history or you've been denied a loan because of your credit history, you're going to be able to see a lot more clearly a lot of the things that -- or the financial arrangements you have in your life, except for auto loans, Ali. Autos exempt from this. Dealers and the dealer finance deals, all that stuff stays out of financial reform.

VELSHI: Christine, the other thing that you and I were are talking about is these jobless extensions. We speak about this, it appears every 30 days. Congress extends unemployment benefits, because so many people are unemployed. And then there is a debate about whether this is a good long-term solution. And finally, they have not extended these jobless benefits. Where do we stand now?

ROMANS: Where we stand right now is for the third time, the Senate has sort of shelved this -- this extension of jobless benefits was part of a bigger spending package that didn't make it last night. And will have to be reexamined, I guess, going forward.

So you've got 1 million people who are on track to lose their benefits in the near-term and then hundreds of thousands more after that. So this will mean the end of a jobless check for some people. Now you can get jobless benefits up to 99 weeks, and Ali, there is this big debate now about what point do you stop all this emergency funding for the jobless?

I mean, we have an issue here where jobs are just slowly starting to be created. How are you going to pay for it? A big debate going on. But Ken Rogoff, former IMS chief economist and a Harvard professor now, you know, I asked him about dropping jobless benefits for 1 million people and not spending money on the safety net now, and in this was the right time, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN ROGOFF, HARVARD PROFESSOR: I think this is nuts. This is a once and every half century event. People are going to have to have a tough time finding jobs for a long time, and it has a lot of psychological effects, effects on people's health. And unemployment insurance is really one of the most important parts of the whole stimulus, trying to help the people who really need it. I just don't understand this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So he says that the Senate is wrong to not be extending this as part of that targeted spending from the government, targeted deficit spending from the government that economists like Rogoff say might be good to keep the economy going and keep the recovery going, even as you have a deficit reduction down the line, Ali.

VELSHI: All right, Christine, we'll stay on this story. You and I have a special G20 edition of "Your $$$$" this weekend. We're going to have some great conversations about what the world can do to prevent another financial meltdown. And by the way, more talk about BP, and your protests, your boycotts of BP and whether they could work. Saturday, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Christine have a great afternoon. I'll see you tomorrow.

All right. One year after his death, Michael Jackson fans are gathering near his final resting place and a lawsuit is heading to court. Our Don Lemon will join us from L.A. right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I remember it well. Who doesn't remember? Where were you when you heard Michael Jackson had been hospitalized and then he had died. It was one year ago. Michael Jackson's father plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court today against Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray.

He is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death. The pop star died of acute propofol intoxication. Fans of Michael Jackson are gathering at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California to remember him. That's where Don Lemon is right now. He joins us live -- Don.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Ali, and I'm keeping my Blackberry, because that suit is expected to be filed at any moment now. And as you said, it alleges that Dr. Conrad Murray and other agencies are possibly responsible for Michael Jackson's death.

Let's talk about why we're standing here. Look at these people. They have been coming in really more and more since this opened at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. You can see this young lady right here crying. Where did you come from? From New Zealand? Come over and talk to me. You came to New Zealand for this?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yes.

LEMON: Why so far? Why so emotional?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Well, he was just --

LEMON: It's okay.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I was coming to London to see him in had concert. Because ever since I was little, I was like, wow, Michael Jackson, you know, the dancing and music and it's just a part of my childhood, and when he died, I thought now I'm never going to see him.

LEMON: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: And then I heard a few ago, I thought I have to go to Forest Lawn because I knew that some people were going to be coming here, and my friend Janice is here, too, she came from Washington.

LEMON: Her friend Janice is from Washington, she is from New Zealand. And basically what she said is you were going to see him in London and then when you found out about this you said you have to be at Forest Lawn.

Ali, I'm seeing people all over -- thank you so much. I hate to interrupt you, but I wanted to know why you were so emotional. I see people from Asia, from Australia, you saw she's from New Zealand, she from Japan, right? She came, she's got her Michael Jackson doll.

All of this going on, and a lot of people still, they feel like they were cheated out of the last days and the last moments of Michael Jackson's life, Ali. Especially his family. In an exclusive interview that I did with Jermaine Jackson, he talks about that, and he talks about announcing to the world his brother's death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERMAINE JACKSON: This is hard. My brother, the legendary king of pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 2:26 p.m.

I couldn't believe that I was announcing my brother's death to the world. I was numb. Very numb. Because it was like a nightmare.

LEMON: Can you take the people who love you and Michael Jackson through that? That evening?

JACKSON: CNN called my wife and said, do you know anything about Michael being rushed to the hospital? And so I said no. And I called my mother immediately, and she said she is on her way to the hospital. And so then I spoke to Janet, and she didn't know what the details were.

So I called my mother back. And I heard her say "He's dead." and I couldn't believe to hear my mother say her child is dead. My brother. And I got weak, very, very weak. My wife, she was driving, and as we got closer to Westwood, I mean, I'm crying, and the phone is ringing off the hook.

And I see all these helicopters in the sky, and it was all taped off and roped off, and as soon I got there, they let me through and I rushed in and I saw my mother sitting there, like, in a daze. And I just consoled her. I wanted to see him. And so I walked a few doors down into this room, and he was lying there. And to see Michael lifeless just tore me apart.

I never experienced that. So close. And a brother who -- we grew up doing everything -- everything. The memories. That's what hurt, to know that there will never be another Jackson 5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Yes. There will never be another Jackson 5. Of course, the family would say they're missing one very special loved one. If you look up behind my shoulder here, you can see people coming up. They have to go, Ali, about a quarter of a mile up a hill, and then they go down the hill to go to the mausoleum here, and hand whatever notes or gifts they have for Michael Jackson and they put them here. And the security guard will put them on this little stand here, and then they walk by.

In a couple minutes, Ali, at any time, the family members expected to show up here, including Janet Jackson. And they will come, Sean P. Diddy Combs on the list. Reverend Al Sharpton on the list. The people -- Chris Brown also on the VIP list.

So, a lot of folks expected to come here today to pay their respects for the late Michael Jackson. And these fans, as you see, are doing it. So far, you said about 740 people have shown up. Yesterday, a thousand people showed up. And it wasn't even open. So, we'll see by the end of the day.

VELSHI: Don, you know, a year ago, prior to that, many people had speculated on, you know, Jackson's death and his potential to make money, and his fame around the world, what his next act was going to be, getting ready for this new concert and what his future was going to be. No one was speculating that he would die.

What a time it's been in the last year, and it just -- it does not seem to be waning, his popularity. It's quite remarkable. And you have been on the story the whole year.

I want our viewers to know, Don, they can watch more of your interview with members of the Jackson family in "Michael Jackson: The Final Days." We'll be airing that on CNN tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN. You'll also hear from the King of Pop's closest friends about his health and state of mind leading up to his death. He was 50 years old, died a year ago. Don has done some great work on this. You don't want to miss it.

All right, one Canadian mayor is sticking to her long-term plan, building a better city the right way. She could teach presidents and politicians and maybe your mayor back home some lessons. You'll meet her after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The big news from the oil leak comes from far beneath the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, and in the atmosphere, hundreds of miles away. BP now says the first of two relief wells is honing in on well that's been spewing, we think, as much as 60,000 barrels of oil per day. Twenty-some thousand of those barrels are currently being siphoned on to two ships on the surface. A third ship could be on scene next week, meaning more oil could be caught.

But we're also watching a potentially nasty weather system that's taking shape in the western Caribbean. Forecasters see a 70 percent chance that this disturbance might turn into a tropical disturbance that could move into the Gulf, and very least, force a temporary halt to that containment, which means the oil is going to flow into the ocean again.

All right. Time for a short "Globe Trek." I'm here in Toronto for the G-8 and the G-20 summits.

There is someone right next door who could probably teach these world leaders and many of our civic leaders a thing or two about building up a business and a successful economy. Her name is Hazel McCallion. She's the mayor of Mississauga. It's the city right next to Toronto. She's been the mayor since I was a little kid. It was just once -- Mississauga was a rural detour, a place you went for strawberries and apples. Now, it's a destination for prosperity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All in favor?

VELSHI (voice-over): From early morning council meetings and photo ops --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On her shoulders rests a great responsibility.

VELSHI: -- to an eighth grade graduation ceremony, where she's mobbed by her constituents, young and old. It's not easy keeping up with Hazel McCallion, the tireless 89-year-odl mayor of Mississauga. Leading Canada's sixth-largest city, she is not too big to pick up garbage or run with the Olympic torch. She has been the mayor since 1978. The city she governs has grown from a sleepily bedroom community next to Toronto into a thriving metropolis, home to 61 Fortune 500 companies.

HAZEL MCCALLION, MAYOR OF MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO: People from Toronto came out to pick strawberries and apples.

VELSHI: McCallion still drives herself around. She has won re- election ten times by huge margins, except when she ran uncontested. Regardless, she says she never campaigns, just works under some simple rules.

MCCALLION: Working hard and being out with your people. And not making promises that you can't keep.

VELSHI: McCallion is a widow. She plays hockey, fishes and loves to get out on her bike. But she is no small-town mayor anymore. The recession didn't hit Canada as hard as it hit the U.S., but famously debt-free Mississauga may soon run out of its surplus. It has made McCallion focus on keeping business in Mississauga even sharper.

MCCALLION: We're not allowed to give tax breaks to industry or commerce in the province of Ontario. It's illegal. We are conscious of the needs of the community. Taxes is not the only thing a company looks at. They want to make sure -- they want to attract the type of personnel that they need to operate.

VELSHI: McCallion has also nurtured relationships with developers.

GERRY TIMBERS, "THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS": You want to build a subdivision, you're going to build a community center. You're going to build a hockey arena, you're going to fix up the park. So, she made the developers pay the way, and that was how she kept taxes down.

VELSHI: McCallions points to Mississauga's diversity as one of its greatest strengths.

MCCALLION: A lot of them settled in Toronto when they first came over here. And then some of their nest egg, and then they wanted to move out of Toronto to buy a house of their own.

VELSHI: And she proudly points out that nine of her twelve city counselors are women. She plans on holding on to her office, running without campaigning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Now, I should tell you, Hazel McCallion, who is an institution around here, she does plan to run again. That would be her twelfth time.

MCCALLION: She is not very pleased with the billion dollars or so that Canada is said to have spent on security for the G-20. She thinks in 2010, you could do a lot of this by teleconference and spend that money a whole lot better. We'll continue to follow her and how she makes her city run on a budget with relatively low taxes.

All right. Back to the Gulf for a moment. The loss of livelihood could be to blame for the loss of his life. Story of a charter boat captain whose friends blame his suicide on the Gulf oil disaster. I'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: You know, there is a real human toll to this Gulf oil disaster. We want to put a face on it for you. CNN's David Mattingly has the story of a charter boat captain who lost his hope and then lost his life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN 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 hoping that the fishing was ever going to come back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not in his lifetime.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Among charter boat captains in Orange Beach, Alabama, Kruse was a leader, drumming up business in good times -- and voicing the frustrations after community in the bad times.

ALLEN KRUSE, GULF FISHERMAN: 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 brothers say he felt like his role in the clean-up 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 just 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.

CAPT. BEN FAIREY, FRIEND OF ALLEN KRUSE: This has been a long- term situation. This started in 2004 with a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan, 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.

FAIREY: We worry about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We worry about that every day.

MATTINGLY: What are you going to do about it?

FAIREY: 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 did he for a living and loved the waters where he worked.

(voice-over): It's The Rookie's final voyage, carrying a cargo of uncertainty and sorrow.

David Mattingly, CNN, Orange Beach, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right. Staying in the Gulf, they're getting ready for severe weather which could be on its way there this weekend. Our top stories are just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Let me give you a check of some stories we're following right now on CNN. They're bracing for severe weather down in the oily Gulf of Mexico. Right now, there is a strong chance that a tropical depression could form there over the weekend. Coast guard admiral Thad Allen says there is an extraordinary amount of planning being done on severe weather scenarios. We'll tell you more in just a few moments.

In Washington, a stalemate in the Senate could leave about 1 million more Americans without unemployment benefits. A bill to extend emergency benefits failed to pass yet again. Opponents say it will add too much to the deficit. The White House says the president will continue to push Congress to pass that bill.

Meanwhile, Congress is moving closer to final votes on a landmark Wall Street reform law. House and Senate negotiators approved I -- well, you could call it a late-night or early-morning compromise bill that will establish new consumer protections and new rules for big banks.

President Obama hailed Congress for moving closer on what he calls the toughest reforms since the Great Depression. He arrived in had Canada today with that in his back pocket. Financial reform is going to be a big topic of discussion at the G8 today, and the G20 this weekend, which is why I'm here in Toronto.

Okay, listen to this. A fridge with no doors, no shelves and no motor. A waterless washing machine. A robot to replace your dishwasher. The concepts and designers of tomorrow are today's "Big I". I'll bring that to you in just a moment.

VELSHI: Every day we do the "Big I", it's big ideas for the future. We love this segment. Today's, concept for the second space age. That's the theme of Electrolux Design Labs. They're design students but they come up with ideas and solutions for things in your home for the year 2050. This is what I love. People thinking not about next year or the year after but thinking about the future. Henrik Otto joins me, he's the Senior Vice President of Design for Electrolux. He joins me now from London Henrik, what is this about, this contest? What's it supposed to do?

HENRIK OTTO, SVP OF DESIGN, ELECTROLUX: Well, it's a contest where we get a lot of input from students, and get a lot of creative ideas on new kind of ways of creating appliances for the future.

VELSHI: And what's their, what's the impetuous. They get a prize?

OTTO: Yes, of course. I mean first prize is a six-month internship and a 5,000 euro check. And the internship is at any of our design centers around the world.

VELSHI: Let's talk about what you ask them to do. You ask them to envision how people will cook and store their food, wash their clothes or dishes, do things at home in 2050. We've talked about this before on the show. This idea is by 2050, three-quarters of the world is going urban, the world is urbanized.

More people are moving to cities. Which means, places will be smaller to live there'll be more competition for space. You got 1, 300 submissions, 25 semifinalists were announced.

Let's run through some of the neat things that came out of this. One of them is called a Biorobot refrigerator.

OTTO: The Biorobot refrigerator, that's the -- I think that's the entry from Russia. With the--it's a green gel where you just push your groceries into it instead of having a compressor and just cooling it with air. So it contains it without any shelves inside that gel.

VELSHI: And it just it it it's---and the gel keeps it cold and fresh?

OTTO: Yes, apparently so. What we've down know is we've gone through the 25 semifinalists, which is then the early concept. And then on from that, we will then pick the eight finalists for the finals here in London in September.

VELSHI: All right. Another one that caught my attention was a handheld washing machine which I'm told takes its inspiration from an everyday steam iron. Do you know about this?

OTTO: Gee, there are 25 semifinalists. I'm not sure which one it is because I don't have any pictures in front of me.

VELSHI: All right. What I know about this is, all I know is that it clean, dries, and irons all at once I'm going to love that. And the other thing that caught my eye was a robotic fish washer. It's a fish -- a robotic fish get this that eats the stuff off your dishes and then turns it into a biofuel. That sounds incredible. OTTO: Yes. And then at the same time also cleans the water. That's the one of the entries from Japan. It's called the Fish Washer.

VELSHI: Fish washer, I love it. What's the idea here? So Electrolux you you-what a great idea, we like this idea of sponsored competitions or incentivized competition. The idea is you are getting some of the brightest design minds out there.

They want to get a chance to work with you. Electrolux gets ideas that it then develops into appliances and things for the future?

OTTO: Yes, what it does - I mean one of the wonderful things with working with students is that they have got absolutely no preconceived ideas of what you can or what you can't do. And that's-I mean, that's one of the beautiful things with the refrigerator that you mentioned and also the Fish Washer.

They have no preconceived ideas about the industrial set-up. So we get a lot of lateral thinking into our own innovation process which I think is extremely refreshing.

VELSHI: What's the driving force when you think of 2050 and you think of greater urbanization? Is it using less energy? Is it using less space? Is it environmentally cleaner? What tends to be the driving force for these students?

OTTO: Well I think to be quite honest, I think it's all of the above that you mentioned. And I think you it's it's-you just have to accept the simple fact that we're going to be a lot more of us. We're not going to accept a lower quality of life.

So we have to create what I would refer to as some kind of a morphed living space where you have a different type of appliances for the future that caters for everything in your daily needs.

VELSHI: I'm excited. I hope I'm around to enjoy it. Henrik, thanks very much for joining us thanks for the good work you're doing. Henrik Otto is the Senior VP of Design and Electrolux.

All right.. Let's talk about World Cup. You know we love to talk about that. The U.S. team, wow!

Going strong at the World Cup. The team, the fans, they're getting ready for Ghana in the knockout stage. We're going to show you just how ready they are when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I want to talk a little World Cup now as we always do. The U.S. team is playing tomorrow facing Ghana in the knockout stage. They advanced with a late goal by Captain Landon Donovan in their last match, first appearance in the second round of the World Cup since 2002.

Now you know I --the way I do my show is my staff prepares notes for me like this which tells me who the guest is, what time, where they're located and usually some details about this.

But all I have here is that Richard Roth is at a bar in New York. Richard?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N CORRESPONDENT: : Well, I'm not at a bar, at least, I don't see any bottles.

(CROSSTALK)

I'm sure I'm close to a bar. I'm sure on the streets of New York, someone could easily hit me in the head with a bar, But barring that, I want to bring in a very important guest who you interviewed a couple of weeks ago, before the World Cup began, Tony Meola, former goaltender, goalie, U.S. men's national team three times. Tony, what do you think? Can the U.S. get by Ghana?

TONY MEOLA FMR U.S. NATIONAL SOCCER PLAYER: Well no question. I think this team coming off the excitement of the last game the talent that they have on this team is better than any U.S. team has ever had.

And I think Given the result in the last game against Ghana four years ago in the World Cup, they're going to be looking to change that result.

ROTH: Of course, for those who may not be awake in the last two weeks, the U.S has advanced out of the round robin stage and will play Ghana in the elimination knockout phase of the World Cup. Is the U.S. team possibly tired out?

MEOLA: Certainly emotionally, they have to be spent a little bit.