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G-20 Summit Protests; Banning Bottled Water

Aired June 26, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And a quick look at the headlines right now. Protesters are in full force in Toronto today as world leaders gather there for the G-20 summit.

And tropical storm Alex is turning closer to the Gulf of Mexico. If it hits oil disaster areas in the region it could shut down the cleanup efforts for weeks.

And the U.S. is facing elimination at the World Cup. Fans in New York are on the edge of their seats watching the do-or-die game because, as far as we know now it's 1-1 between Ghana and the U.S..

All right. Let's begin in Canada where police and protesters are facing off at the G-20 meeting of world leaders.

CNN's Dan Lothian is covering the meeting. Let's first get straight to Jeanne Meserve who is covering the protest on-going.

JEANNE MESERVE, HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, hi. We are on Queen Street in Toronto and you can see behind me a broken window. This is a Starbucks on Queen (ph) Street. In addition to the glass here, if you look on the sidewalk you also see some bloody rags. Clearly somebody was hurt at this location.

We do know that some other windows have been broken along the street. We also know that there is a police car that has been set on fire further down Queen's Street in addition we saw a police car with a broken windshield down in this direction.

At this point in time, the police cordons are trying to keep demonstrators on the street are still in place. The crowd largely appears to be dispersing. In some places the crowd is actually quite merry. We were down at an intersection a few blocks from here last hour where things were getting pretty tense. The police put on their gas masks and it looked as though they were ready to take action, but the demonstrators started singing, and dancing and chanting.

Several of them were holding up their hands with the peace sign in front of them. The tension seemed to dissipate although police were still clearly ready for anything. What the police and forces are trying to do is protect the leaders at the G-20, they're trying to get the demonstrators under control.

The people who are demonstrating however, say, this is our city, we should be able to express our opinion. We want our streets back. Fredricka, (INAUDIBLE), back to you. WHITFIELD: All right. Jeanne Meserve, thank you so much.

And the centerpiece of the G-20 summit to try to strengthen the global economy. Let's go to our Dan Lothian, who is traveling with the president of the United States, who is there in Toronto. Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big question is what will these world leaders do. You know what the United States wants and that is for stimulus spending to continue because if some of these world leaders decide to pull back there is a concern that it could stall the global economic recovery.

What's clear though, according to experts is that some of these world leaders will decide to continue spending. Others will decide to cut back. Secretary of the treasury Timothy Geithner earlier in a briefing pointed out that there is unity among the world leaders and what needs to happen. He said now is not the time to relax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY When you look at how governments have acted in the past, in past crises, you know, history is riddled with mistakes. The two most important types of mistakes you see are governments waiting too long to escalate, hoping it won't be as severe as people fear, waiting, too tentative, too early, not doing enough soon enough. Those mistakes are extremely costly and devastating. But this group of people recognized that mistake beginning last year. They did act with a lot of financial force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: But what he also pointed out is that now some of these world leaders might be thinking about relaxing, pulling back a bit because they believe that this recovery is well under way. But he cautioned what that could lead to. And that is some of the growth that we're seeing so far could be reversed.

Now, President Obama will be sitting down for about a half dozen or so bilateral meetings. Yes, these bigger meetings are important. But when the president sits down with these other world leaders eye to eye, one on one, that is when a lot of the meat of these discussion can really take place, a chance for the president to point out that, listen, we believe that the stimulus spending will help these economies. It has been leading to progress in the United States and job creation.

If we can lift the global economy that will only continue to provide more jobs not only in the United States but around the world, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so Dan, that stimulus spending might be a tough sell for some nations. Is there kind of like a common denominator approach to global economic recovery?

LOTHIAN: Well, I think everyone does understand as Secretary Geithner pointed out that everyone was on board when they saw the depth of the crisis. Everyone acted aggressively. And I think everyone understands that the worst of this is not - while the worst of this is over, there are still problems that exist. And I think everyone is on the same page. They realize that we are not out "out of the woods" yet. That's the unity. The big question is how will everybody deal with it?

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Lothian, thanks so much. Our White House correspondent joining us from Toronto, Canada, home of the G-20 summit. And now also home to a lot of protests. You're looking at some live pictures right now of more unrest taking place in downtown Toronto.

I was told that there might be another fire that's taking place. But maybe it's been put out. Because I don't see it in that image, but we know that there was a police vehicle that was set ablaze. Our Jeanne Meserve was reporting on that earlier as well as a broken window of at least one coffee shop business there in Toronto, all while the G-20 summit is under way. We'll update you as we get more information.

All right. We're also keeping track of the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season. Tropical storm Alex is on the path for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It is not expected to hit the BP oil cleanup area in the Gulf of Mexico, but if it does, officials warn that it could shut down oil recovery operations for at least two weeks. Bonnie Schneider in the weather center. Any idea of new tracks that this Alex might be taking?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the track has been consistent. But one thing that's interesting, Fredricka, is we are getting some new information that the storm has been strengthening a bit. Now, I want to show you why. First off, you can see on our satellite perspective here is Alex. And notice the flare-up of thunderstorms as the satellite loop plays those brighter purples and oranges indicate the highest cloud tops where we have the most developed and strongest thunderstorms.

So right now, this tropical storm has winds of 45 miles per hour. It's a pretty strong tropical storm that is working its way into the Yucatan right now and certainly into the evening. The forecast track shows that it will likely develop to hurricane strength once it emerges again earlier this week in the Bay of Campeche and then possibly make its second landfall somewhere in Mexico or maybe the Texas coast. All of that is under that cone of uncertainty.

We'll have to see how much it gets broken up once it's on the rugged terrain of the Yucatan in the days and nights to come. But I want to show you something even more interesting. This is just in where we are tracking hurricane reconnaissance aircraft as it circles through and goes through all the quadrants of the storm. So what you are looking at right here, I'm going to circle it so you can see it.

This icon - can you zoom in right here. That is a plane. So this is Google earth. And what that plane is doing is flying through tropical storm Alex and the little tail things you see on the end, those are wind bars. They show the direction of the winds that they are being able to calculate right now as we speak. This plane is in the air in the Gulf region. And passing through the gulf region, I should say, south of the Yucatan.

One thing to note, Fredricka, the latest findings show that some of the winds are a little more intense at the surface than they were in the last reports. The advisory coming at 5:00 will likely show a strengthening tropical storm Alex. I will have it at the top of the hour.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll look forward to that. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Empty plastic bottles, millions end up in landfills and waterways. Well, an 82-year-old activist says enough is enough. She's leading an effort to ban bottled water in her town. We'll talk to her live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Millions of plastic bottles end up in landfills every year, right? An 82-year-old Massachusetts woman is on a crusade to try and stop that. Jean Hill is orchestrating a bottled water ban in her town of Concord, Massachusetts. She actually has approval from voters and outrage from bottled water industry has taken place as well. Jean Hill is joining us now. Ms. Hill, good to see you.

JEAN HILL, ACTIVIST AGAINST BOTTLED WATER: It's nice to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

WHITFIELD: Well, thanks for saying yes to the invitation. So what's interesting here is you actually convinced your entire town or the majority of your town to ban bottled water to try and make a dent on the environment.

But then there were some pressure that the city got there and they actually decided they are not going to go forward to what would have been a January 1 start date on banning bottled water. Do I have that right? That chronology right?

HILL: That's correct.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HILL: And may I explain that.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HILL: Well, apparently they sent a letter to the assistant attorney general. Her name is Margaret Hurley and she's in charge of the municipal law unit. They're at Springfield, Illinois. I'm not sure of the exact address. But the board of selectmen sent a letter to her which incidentally they didn't even have a copy to me. I had to write to them myself to ask them to send me copy of their reply. I thought it rather odd that the town clerk did not have a copy sent to me. But that's typical - WHITFIELD: Because you helped create the movement. And so what happened after those letters were passed on?

HILL: Well, they are still waiting for a reply from Margaret Hurley -

WHITFIELD: OK.

HILL: As to the legality of the law.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right.

HILL: However -

WHITFIELD: And so people were on board because you were advocating that to ban bottled water would mean it would cut down on pollution of the landfill, of waterways, et cetera, where we often see bottles from bottled water. Now, why is it that you didn't pursue other beverages that were bottled - you know, soft drinks, et cetera? What is it about bottled water?

HILL: Well, I only - I thought that if I focus on one issue such as the plastic water bottles, the drinking water that's sold in plastic water bottles, I could be more effective. I can't take on everything else. You know, there is a lot of plastic bags are another one.

WHITFIELD: Yes, this is maybe a starting point.

HILL: Yes, that's right. That's exactly right.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HILL: This was a starting point.

WHITFIELD: It certainly kind of raised the ire of the International Bottled Water Association. They -

HILL: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: They came out with a statement as well. This is their statement saying, "Any efforts to reduce the environmental impact of consumer packaging must focus comprehensively on all product containers and not single out any one product. IBWA is reviewing all possible remedies including a legal challenge." And so do you suppose it was their strong arm that now has influenced Concord, Massachusetts to do away with the ban that you helped encourage that everyone in town seemed to be on board with?

HILL: That may be possible. However, I think the real problem is this.

WHITFIELD: What?

HILL: At the town meeting when the ban was voted for favorably, town counsel was present and he raised no objection as to the legality of the ban as he should have since he was representing the town and when I asked the town clerk, Anita Tekley (ph), why he didn't say something she said, "oh, you have to ask him." Now, who on earth would what to think of that? I mean, was he a cigar store Indian just sitting there or was he working as town counsel? He should have spoken up.

WHITFIELD: So are you just appointed now? What are you going to do at this point since you put your energy into getting this going?

HILL: Well, I'm waiting - the next step is to hear from the attorney general. And I called the town clerk and she said that she expects an answer within a week or so. But until that happens my hands are tied. I don't do anything else.

WHITFIELD: Hmm.

HILL: So we'll find out.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead. I'm sorry.

HILL: I said, we'll find out about that probably within a week.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Jean Hill, something tells me that you are not going to kind of relinquish this passion of trying to do something about these bottles of water and other beverages. We're going to try to keep in touch with you and we're going to try and get some of the other folks that you mentioned to join us, too, to give us an idea where we are going with this and if January 1 is going to be a day of banning bottled water or not. Ms. Hill, thanks so much.

HILL: You're welcome. It was a pleasure being here. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's not just bottles. Could the ubiquitous plastic bags you get everywhere soon be endangered species? Austin, Texas, is the latest city considering a ban. The city council wants to determine how much taxpayers pay for processing the bags. That report is expected in September.

And earlier this month the California assembly passed a measure prohibiting grocery, liquor and convenience stores from offering plastic bags. That bill still needs state Senate approval. According to the EPA, nearly four million tons of plastic bags, sacks and the wraps were generated in the year 2008 alone.

A look at our top stories right now. Demonstrators are clogging the streets of Toronto where world leaders are gathered for the G-20 summit, and a police car has actually been set on fire, as far as we know. That's the image right there. Riot police are out in force trying to keep things calm. President Obama is in Canada for this summit. We'll have a live report from Toronto coming up next hour.

And former vice president Dick Cheney is spending the weekend under observation and undergoing tests at a Washington-area hospital. He was admitted yesterday after complaining that he wasn't feeling well. Cheney has a history of heart attacks, but it is uncertain if that has been connected to his current health concern. Cheney is expected to remain in the hospital throughout the weekend.

And protests against offshore drilling today. These demonstrators were standing on a beach in Santa Rosa, Florida, holding hands to show their disapproval of the oil industry. The group "Hands Across the Sand" say that there are hundreds of similar events planned around the world. The aim is to raise awareness about the hazards of offshore drilling and push people toward using clean energy.

All right. Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler, big names. They both have new comedies in theaters this weekend. But our film critic says only one he believes is worth your time and money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, that World Cup soccer is getting exciting. The U.S. and Ghana, it is now down to a shootout. And our Richard Roth is with a bunch of people in Brooklyn, they are watching this game. And they are so excited. Seeing just a few what, an hour ago people were like, oh, man, Ghana got a point. But now it's tied and now it's getting really exciting. What's happening?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Well, there are hundreds of people here underneath the Manhattan bridge in a public viewing area watching one big screen that I'm going to take a peek at because the game, the match is about to resume. Let me ask two people who have been here watching.

Joyce, what's your reaction so far to this tie? Now they play 30 extra minutes. Could go to penalty kicks to decide it. What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we're going to win.

ROTH: That's it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is way too technical.

ROTH: All right. What do you think? What's your analysis of the match?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought we got off to a pretty slow start, especially with Ghana scoring in, like, five minutes. But the second half definitely better. And I really think we could win after that performance.

ROTH: What made you wear the flag today? Something you normally don't do, I assume, in the city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Just trying to - you know, after the last game when Landon Donovan scored, it really like brought back a lot of national pride and everything. Just want to come out and support the guys.

ROTH: Are you worried about penalty kicks which could follow if no team scores in the next 30 minutes of play?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I trust Tim Howard too much.

ROTH: You like the goalkeeper. We're going to let you go back to your seats if you can still find them. Hundreds of people under an archway underneath the Manhattan Bridge special public setup here to watch the match. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: This is very exciting. So when it became a tie game, did you start to notice, Richard, that more people started descending on that tunnel area or under the bridge there in Manhattan, in Brooklyn?

ROTH: Yes, More people certainly have become fans of the United States, if that's what you're asking because it's always difficult to hear. Certainly momentum has built as the match has begun.

WHITFIELD: Oh, very exciting stuff. All right. Thanks so much, Richard Roth. That's the view from New York. And when we get a chance we'll take you to South Africa too to see how people are responding to this tie-breaker now between Ghana and the U.S. at the World Cup.

OK. Let's talk movies now, shall we?. Two new comedies have hit the big screen this weekend. One is just downright funny with all these comedians that you're used to seeing. And the other is action-packed. Ben Mankiewicz is host of "Turner Classic Movies" and film critic for What A Flick on the youngturks.com. He's joining us now from Los Angeles. Good to see you.

BEN MANKIEWICZ, HOST "TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES": You, too, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I've missed you. We had one weekend without you and it feels like it's been many weeks. So we're going to try to squeeze in just two movies. Whatever we can get with Ben, we'll take. So let's talk about "Grown ups" first. This is kind of like an "SNL" reunion, so to speak.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Folks are excited about this, are you? Well, that would be no.

MANKIEWICZ: Well, the problem that I have is that I have seen it.

WHITFIELD: Oh.

MANKIEWICZ: So I'm going to disagree with your assessment that it's downright funny. Look, I like Adam Sandler. You know, he's made some movies that people clearly like to go see. And Chris Rock is, I think, in my - let's call them -- roughly 40 years on this earth I think it's safe to say he's the funniest guy I've ever heard. But he is consistently underutilized in films and he is really under utilized here.

I'm a "King of Queens" fan, a big one. I really like Kevin James. But this movie is awkward from the beginning. It's all set up so these guys can laugh together. The story is they all play basketball together as kids, when they were 12 in 1978 and won a championship. Now they get back together for the coach's funeral. It is awkward, it isn't funny. It seems staged and set up. None of it feels authentic at all. WHITFIELD: No, no, no!

MANKIEWICZ: It's a family story.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Let's check it out.

MANKIEWICZ: Salma Hayek's in it. She looks great.

WHITFIELD: OK. But that's it. Well, let's check it out!

MANKIEWICZ: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy, what's that machine doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting rid of the moths, honey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is it taking them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's giving them electricity so the moths fall asleep electrically.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's electrocuting them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But Daddy they're dying

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it killing them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy! No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, it's not. OK.

They're all all right. I promise you. See? Look at this guy. Whee - he's still sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, a porch swing. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he's dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So you're saying "Waterboy" this is not.

MANKIEWICZ: Well, that would depend on what you thought about "Waterboy."

WHITFIELD: Oh, come on. I thought that was funny.

MANKIEWICZ: It's not "Waterboy."

WHITFIELD: OK.

MANKIEWICZ: Like I said, it's awkward, it's inauthentic. There was one really funny line at the end with Chris Rock and Tim Meadows and one funny moment. I m always a sucker for Kevin James falling out of an aboveground pool and causing it to break open and causing the water to rush out.

Maria Bello plays his wife. I like her. But nothing funny happens in this movie or a couple of funny things happen in it. It's a disappointment. I'm not the only critic who feels that way.

WHITFIELD: Oh, darn.

MANKIEWICZ: An overwhelming majority of critics - but Adam Sandler has been largely critic-proof. So we'll see whether it's true here. I give it a D-

WHITFIELD: A D?

MANKIEWICZ: And I may have gone too high.

WHITFIELD: Ouch, Ben. That hurts.

OK. Well, let's talk about "Knight and Day." Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz. And it's kind of funny even though it's action-packed.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes, it's an action comedy. And you know, Tom Cruise, the sort of his off camera persona sometimes, it seems like it's taken over his on-camera persona. But I got to tell you, you're reminded in this movie that Tom Cruise is a bona fide movie star. He's got a twinkle in his eye. He keeps an incredibly even keel while there's chaos around him. He is charming. He is funny. He is really terrific in this movie. He plays a CIA agent who the CIA accuses of going rogue because he got this battery that is like a really great Duracell, it has a lot of power. They are all looking for it. They accuse him of going rogue. He thinks they are up to no good. Cameron Diaz is an unwitting civilian, or unknowingly becomes part of the story.

They have good chemistry. I really liked it.

WHITFIELD: She's funny. Cameron Diaz is cute and funny.

(CROSS TALK)

MANKIEWICZ: She is cute and funny. She's good in this, but the star of the movie is Tom Cruise. He's going to remind everybody in this movie, if you sort of get the joke, that he's a real movie star. And throughout the movie, he sort of winks at his on-camera persona. The idea is he's an agent gone rogue and the CAI says, you know, this guy is crazy. This guy is not to be trusted. He's weird, different. All the things people have come to expect from Tom Cruise. He acknowledges that.

WHITFIELD: Neat!

MANKIEWICZ: It's a little bit of winking at the camera. I liked it a lot.

WHITFIELD: Good, good, good, OK.

There are new DVDs that will be out this week. Coming this week or we just had some DVDs this week? OK, they're out. There we go.

(CROSS TALK)

MANKIEWICZ: These are going to be-by the way I gave-

WHITFIELD: That's my inner voice talking to me now.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: "Green Zone," "The Last Station".

MANKIEWICZ: I gave "Knight and Day" a B, by the way.

Yes, these are movies coming out on Tuesday. "Green Zone", "The Last Station", "Remember Me", "She's Out Of My League". Of those four I'm going to recommend "She's Out Of My League." Jay Baruchel (ph), I thought it was authentic, genuine, surprisingly funny. People should rent it. I think they will like it.

WHITFIELD: Oh, good, good, good. Ben Mankiewicz, thank you so much.

MANKIEWICZ: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I will check out some funny movies because of your recommendations. D- and a B.

MANKIEWICZ: Good.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ben. Thank you so much. Good to see you.

MANKIEWICZ: All right.

WHITFIELD: OK. Their hands are skilled at building boats and now they are putting that talent to work to save wildlife in the Gulf.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico just cost 48 Louisiana oyster workers their jobs. But as CNN's T.J. Holmes tells us, don't blame the oysters. They are not contaminated.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we have been talking for weeks about how the oil disaster is impacting the livelihood down here, the fishing, the shrimping industry. We went to one company -- can you imagine last year they go from making millions to just in 60 days now they're out of businesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PARTICK FEAY, CO-OWNER, AMERIPURE OYSTERS: On a typical Monday morning here, before the spill, I'd open that door and find 800 to 1,000 sacks of oysters to be reduced to this in a matter of 60 days because of something we have no control over. It's very sad. Very sad. What can you say?

HOLMES (voice over): This was one of the largest post-harvest processing plants in the Gulf. The co-owner, Patrick Feay, says last year the company did $8 million in sales, but the oil spill in the Gulf has forced the company to cease operations, a move that cost 48 employees their jobs.

FEAY: They're part of your family. And you have to tell them to go away.

ANDREW STEWARD, FORMER OYSTER SHUCKER: When they come back around I'll probably be too old to do it. So it hurt me. It hurt. I can tell you that. It really hurt me.

HOLMES: Andrew Steward has been shucking oysters since 1958. The last seven years spent behind this table.

STEWARD: Nobody going to hire a man of my age. A youngster has a chance. My chance is over with. If they don't come back soon, it's all over for me.

HOLMES: Ashley Gibson is a single mom with three children. She worked here for seven years and is angry with BP.

ASHLEY GIBSON, FOMER OYSTER WORKER: I wonder from day to day how I'm going to take care of them. And how I'm going to make it off the money that I'm getting, Because, I mean, it is right around school time. I have school stuff to buy and everything. I'm trying to figure out all that.

HOLMES: But it wasn't oil that directly impacted the oyster harvest and shut this facility down.

FEAY: We haven't seen oil on any oysters since the spill began. Not a drop. Not a scent, nothing. What caused it is because of the effects of the spill. Because of the multiple harvest area closures, and because so many boats have now been retained by BP to help fight the spill, which we understand, our ability to procure oysters and satisfy our business footprint was taken away from us.

HOLMES: Many of the workers filed claims with BP and quickly got compensation checks. A skeleton crew will continue to clean the plant and maintains the Pasteurization tanks, a process patented here. Now the 75,000-gallon tanks are bone dry. Feay hopes one day soon he'll be able to get the family of workers together again and back to work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Fredricka, we are hearing so many stories like that. Literally, people having to go out of business. But there is another segment here of folks who keep soldiering on. I spoke to one fisherman. He said, People call us crazy for doing this year after year. And continue still, during this oil disaster. He said, it is like this, once you're born into the fishing industry it gets in your DNA. He laughed and called it a genetic defect, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. T.J. Holmes, thanks so much from New Orleans.

All right. Saving wildlife from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico while building up America, CNN's Tom Foreman has the story of two boat builders doing just that in Pensacola Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Mark Castlow and Jimbo Meador are launching an idea.

JIMBO MEADOR, CO-OWNER, DRAGONFLY BOATWORKS, L.L.C.: The main purpose is to recover oiled wildlife. That is what it is designed for.

FOREMAN: As co-owners of Dragonfly Boatworks, they have spent their lives on the water and were sickened by pictures of animals dying in the catastrophe. So they set out to dramatically modify a line of their boats to come to the rescue.

Completely funded by donations, and on their own time, the men consulted wildlife biologists to produce what they believe is the first boat ever made specifically for this work.

(On camera): The basic problem with many boats is they can't go into shallow marshes-

MARK CASTLOW, CO-OWNER, DRAGONFLY BOATWORKS, LLC: Right.

FOREMAN: -where the wildlife might be.

CASTLOW: It draws too much water.

FOREMAN: These boats operate in less than a foot of water, slipping up silently on injured animals. A big work table allows instant care instead of a long ride to a cleaning station first, while an adjustable shade canopy and mist nozzles lower the crushing temperatures. The boats are even wired for Internet access. It's a labor of love.

CASTLOW: Really it's challenging on our business, but this is what we should be doing now.

FOREMAN: The biggest trouble? They have been unable to get approval from BP and the government to put their boats to work. After we made a half dozen calls the Unified Command Center admitted that juggling all the offers of help has been a problem.

(On camera): Do you think you can over come it and get the boats working?

CASTLOW: Yes, we will.

MEADOR: Yes. We will do it.

FOREMAN: So the Dragonfly team says they will keep turning out the innovative boats confident, in time, they will prove to be life savers. Tom Foreman, CNN, Pensacola Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Advice from a master of reinvention. A marketing expert who shed 250 pounds shares his secrets to success.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a look at our top stories right now. Tropical Storm Alex is churning toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Right now it is expected to skirt the BP oil disaster, but storms are unpredictable and can turn on a dime. Officials warn if the storm stops oil recovery efforts it will take two weeks to start up again.

A union that represents U.S. Border Patrol agents disputes Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer, her comments about illegal immigrants. She caused controversy when she said most illegal immigrants are smuggling drugs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAN BREWER, (R) ARIZONA: We all know that the majority of the people that are coming to Arizona and trespassing now become drug mules. They are coming across our borders in huge numbers. The drug cartels have taken control of the immigration, illegal trespassing, that we are seeing in the state of Arizona and that it is coming through and going to all of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The National Border Patrol Council represents nearly 20,000 Border Patrol agents. A union leader tells CNN that governor Brewer's comments don't, quote, "comport with reality".

Kellogg's issued a massive cereal recall. It is recalling 28 million boxes of some of its most popular brands, including Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. The company says the potential for serious health risk is low, but an unusual flavor and smell in the lining of the box could cause nausea and diarrhea.

All right. Reinventing your personal brand. Marketing Guru Peter Arnell has been the creative force behind companies like Pepsi, Samsung and even Reebok. He used his unique skills to lose more than 250 pounds. He is sharing his techniques in a new book called "Shift, How To Reinvent Your Business, Career and Your Personal Brand."

In 2001, Peter weighed 407 pounds. Take a look. This is him then. And this is Peter Arnell now.

Thank you very much for joining us. Good to see you.

PETER ARNELL, AUTHOR, "SHIFT": Good to see you, Fredricka. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing good. You're giving away all your secrets of reinventing yourself, your business in this book "Shift." Was this tough to do? A tough decision to make?

ARNELL: No. Actually after living my whole life big, most of my adult life big, it seemed like it would be an enjoyable adventure to finally try something new. It was complicated at first just to figure out how to do it in a healthy fashion. But once I got organized with my doctors, and figured out what the diet is, it worked really well. It was 30 months. I went from 407 to 152 pounds.

WHITFIELD: Wow. In 30 months. Just barely over two years. I'm sure people asking all the time, how did you do it? And you said, you know what, I'm just going to write a book about it.

So for one, one of your principles said, you have to be a tiger when it comes down to reinventing yourself, and even your business. What do you mean by that?

ARNELL: Well, you know, uh, um, my--I remember the story Chris Rock, one of his jokes about the tiger that went on stage that day, and did that horrible thing when he went loose, but that day he decided to get on the stage and be a tiger instead of the day before when he was on a tricycle with a clown's hat. Everybody was applauding. But the day he decided to be a tiger, true to himself, people had a reaction to that.

I think that it is so important to be true to yourself and believe in yourself. I think a core asset we have is our health. I think our health gives us a lot of happiness and a lot of great feedback from a lot of people. So I think it is a great thing to stare in the mirror, see who you are and be accountable for that. And really stay focused on probably one of the greatest things we have been given, which is an ability to have a long life, and really enjoy our life by being healthy.

WHITFIELD: Oh. Then you say, "Go helium." Rise up and float freely, rising above your problems and concerns, because so often we are all weighted down with just stuff, problems. You say, Go helium.

ARNELL: Well, I just think that there is an opportunity to always to not only challenge yourself, but to actually go higher, go faster. We see it every day when we watch athletes. We see it everyday when we watch brilliant people accomplish incredible inventions. We see it with Steve Jobs when he continues to introduce amazing products.

People just constantly challenge themselves and they want to go higher and they want to be better. I think the moment you turn that back on yourself, it works. I mean, it's really simple.

WHITFIELD: You say, create a fan club. What do you mean by that? Especially if, you know, you're not a big name like you? How do you get people to take notice, to say, rah, rah, we want you to succeed?

ARNELL: I'll tell you something. The best thing in the world is for people to compliment you, to say nice things, to be positive. With electronic media today you can speak to thousands of people within minutes. So, what I did was I started every day putting pressure on myself by letting everybody know how I was doing on the scale, and how I was doing with my diet. And I didn't realize at a certain point I had thousands-

WHITFIELD: That is something people can do that with their blogging and all that. Like that?

ARNELL: Yeah. Yeah. And Tweeter and everything else. All my friends and all of a sudden every one was coming back with words like "proud" and "happy" and "congratulations" and on and on and on.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's nice. Shock and awe. What do you mean? Be a showman.

ARNELL: Well, it was really funny. A friend of mine said don't change your cloths until you lose all the weight. So I kept on tailoring my clothes slowly. It is funny because I ended up with a uni-pocket in the back of my pants.

WHITFIELD: Oh.

ARNELL: The fact is the day that I took it off it was such a shock to everybody it was quite amazing. People really saw the difference of the weight. So I held onto my clothes for over 200 pounds.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is extraordinary. And so every now and then do kind of, do you look at those articles and say, man, I can't believe I'm a whole new person or I can't believe my journey?

ARNELL: You know. I keep my suit in my closet in my office, when I was that big. I do take it out quite a lot.

(CROSS TALK)

WHITFIELD: Why do you take it out quite a lot? How come?

ARNELL: You know, and I tell people I'm still on a diet.

WHITFIELD: Why do you take it out? How come?

ARNELL: I think it's just really good to reflect on the situation that was, in order to make sure you maintain carefully your steady track of what's that important, to keep your priorities straight.

WHITFIELD: Nice. Kind of keeping you grounded, huh?

ARNELL: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: I like it. Peter Arnell, thank you so much. The book is "Shift." Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. You are a true inspiration in so many ways.

ARNELL: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. It's a question that everyone has thoughts on these days. What exactly makes a family? We're going to challenge your concept right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. People are riveted around the world. You know why. World Cup soccer and the U.S. and Ghana are right now in the middle of play. In fact, they are in overtime. Sadly for you U.S. fans however, though, the U.S. is down 1. It's Ghana, 2-1.

You're looking at a huge watch party right now taking place in New York. This is actually under the Brooklyn Bridge. I understand the tunnel where we have seen Richard Roth throughout the day. And people are there in big numbers watching. They are pulling for the U.S., but you know, Ghana is leading. That was the last African nation still in play at World Cup. So you know in South Africa a lot of folks are very excited about Ghana still being a serious contender to win that match, 2-1, again. It's in overtime now. Anything could happen. Four minutes of play left.

The Boy Scouts in Philadelphia have won a legal battle over their policy banning gays from membership. A federal jury says the Scouts can stay in their rent-free, city-owned building. The City of Philadelphia had given the Scouts an ultimatum. Reject the national organization's band on gay membership, or face eviction. But the jury ruled that the ultimatum violated the Boy Scouts' First Amendment rights. The ruling comes after two years of legal wrangling.

Soledad O'Brien follows a same-sex couple in their struggle against the and personal obstacles to become parents. Can these men achieve a life as mainstream as their parents? Watch "Gary & Tony Have A Baby", that is tonight and tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for joining us. Drew Griffin is coming up next. He'll have the latest on the protests going on right now in Toronto during the G20 summit. Stay with us.

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