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Hurricane Alex Nears Land; Storm Slows Oil Cleanup; Kagan Confirmation Hearings; Veterans Possibly Exposed to HIV; Bodies Mishandled at Arlington; Gulf Families Suffering
Aired June 30, 2010 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kyra, have a great day.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You too, Tony.
HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. Live from Studio 7, at CNN headquarters, it is Wednesday, June 30.
A pair of developing stories on the NEWSROOM radar for you this morning. Storms roil the Gulf and Wall Street. Hurricane Alex plots landfall. Investors fret over the choppy recovery and a possible return to recession.
All along the Gulf coast today, American workers sidelined by the oil disaster, turn to food banks to feed their families.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Boarding up and hunkering down in south Texas. Hurricane Alex now closing in on the region along the U.S.-Mexico border. The storm is expected to make landfall as early as tonight. Right now, it is a Category 1 hurricane and gaining strength.
Folks in the danger zone are taking no chances. Ahead of Alex's landfall, President Obama has issued a federal emergency declaration for Texas.
Jacqui Jeras is tracking the Atlantic season for hurricane for us.
Jacqui, if you would, tell us Alex is looking like right now.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we've just got the new 11:00 advisory, 10:00 Central Time. And Alex has been holding steady, basically, all day long. Maximum sustained winds 80 miles per hour, but earlier today we did see a drop in pressure and so there are some indications that Alex could be strengthening still before landfall.
It's a very slow-moving storm system. So this is going to be a long, drawn-out day for a lot of you folks. And the impact already being felt certainly on to the coastline into parts of Texas.
Take a look at the radar picture here. And this really tells you how much of the Gulf that this encompasses. And you can also see right there, you see the eye, that's the center of rotation. There's about 100, and maybe 35 or 40 miles. Let's go ahead and put a little distance through on there, shall we? About 130 to -- maybe to 140 miles from the coast. Looks like I missed the center off a little bit. But with that estimate, we would expect to see landfall maybe over night tonight even or early tomorrow morning but those tropical storm force winds already beginning to push in. Just in gusts, not sustained just yet.
Check this out. Just in South Padre Island, 52-mile-per-hour gusts before in the last hour, 33 miles per hour here in Corpus Christi and Galveston, Texas looking at 29-mile-per-hour gusts.
And so as these draw lines move through, we'll watch that increase also as that storm continues to get closer.
And now rainfall totals are going to be incredible with this thing especially close and just to the right of the center of this storm. We could see as much as a foot of rain in northern parts of Mexico and in extreme southern Texas. Potentially, that's going to be pretty isolated but 3 to 6 inches widespread, 2 to 4 all the way up here in the San Antonio and Austin.
And so that flood threat pretty widespread here. Now coastal flooding will be a bigger concern over here in Louisiana and Mississippi. We could see waves and tides about one to four feet above the average and unfortunately that could move some of that oil really farther inland than it normally would but it's also going to be pushing that farther and off to the west.
All right, let's talk a little bit about the forecast track here. There you can see the projected path and we talk about that cone of uncertainty. And look how small this thing is. Now all of this is in Mexico, no longer in Texas. But keep in mind, this is a huge storm, Tony.
This thing has tropical storm force winds that extend out about 200 miles from the center of the storm and we're less than that from the center away from Brownsville. So we do expect to feel the impact in Texas.
Certainly a good chunk of that storm even if direct landfall doesn't happen there. So we'll continue to monitor -- monitor this situation, conditions just going downhill as we speak.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Looks like it. OK, Jacqui, appreciate it. Thank you.
Got to tell you the strong winds and high waves from Hurricane Alex are certainly complicating efforts to clean up the massive oil leak in the Gulf. This is day 72 of the disaster and boats that would be skimming oil are back in port today.
Josh Levs has that part of the story for us -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony, now this is one of the big problems because of the storm that we are seeing a lot of. The skimmers have had to be idled. Missed a lot of work for them to be doing. In fact, before I get to some numbers, let's just go to this video because sadly, every day we are getting more and more video that's showing the devastation in the Gulf.
This is the live pictures right under water there. You can see it continues to pour out. Not all this capped. And what we keep getting here as over the weeks and months, some of what we look back here is from earlier in June, some of it from May, some of it from the last couple of days.
And we keep seeing similar pictures all the time. This is what continues to happen in the Gulf as the oil is there. And when you look at the surface pictures, it reminds you of what the skimmers are there to be doing and can't be doing right now because they've had to be idle during the storm.
It's a lot of work for the skimmers to be doing.
I have some new numbers for you that we've gotten from BP just this morning. About 25,000 barrels of oil collected yesterday. That includes what they managed to hold on to and what they're having to flare. But those numbers have stayed about the same for a couple of weeks now. It's been about 25,000 barrels every day.
Now one of the things that I want you to know is that there is a third ship due to arrive next week. And I have a picture here that can help explain that. What's been going on in general as I think you know is there's been major ship here called the Enterprise Drill ship. There's been the Q-4000 collecting and it's flaring over here and there is another ship that's due to come along next week that should help hold to some more.
There's also some of which you talked about here which is the relief wells now are making some headway on those relief wells. But keep in mind, the goal -- that you have the main problem right here, the original well. You have the two relief wells they're building on either side.
They still say that they're on track to do this in August, maybe even a little bit ahead. You got one of them, that's about 17,000 feet, now another one at 12,000 feet. But there's still thousands more feet to go and once they get in there, there's still a lot of stuff they have to do to make it come over.
And before I go back to you, Tony, let's just take a look at this. I'll play on this. This is pretty cool imagery we have here at CNN.com. And it starts off in April with where this spill began. And you can see it move and grow and change every day as it continues to inflict this region.
Even with all these efforts going on, Tony, what we are still seeing unfortunately is that continuing to reach a large mass. And I'll tell you, those skimmers really need to be out there doing work as soon as they can.
HARRIS: I'm going to tell you, Josh, if you've been away, maybe you've enjoyed the weekend, and yesterday was dominated by the Kagan hearings. That's a good reset on where we are. Day 72 in this disaster.
Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: You got it.
HARRIS: He has promised to speed up the way BP pays claims to compensate for the oil disaster. Right now, Kenneth Feinberg is testifying before a House panel about the process.
President Obama appointed Feinberg as claims administrator. Feinberg explained his role to members of the House Small Business Committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH FEINBERG, GULF COAST CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR: This is an entirely independent facility. It is not beholden to the administration. It is not beholden to BP.
By agreement they decided, let's establish and fund a truly credible, independent facility that will process eligible claims and pay them promptly.
Second, understand, please, that I am not the administrator of the $20 billion escrow fund. I am the administrator of the Gulf Coast claims facility which will draw on part of that $20 billion fund.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Duh. OK. Good clarification there. And that's exactly what the folks affected by this want to hear.
A Senate vote confirming General Petraeus as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is expected next hour. The Armed Services Committee has given his nomination its recommendation.
Petraeus says that if confirmed he will immediately look into whether rules limiting U.S. fire power in Afghanistan are placing troops at greater risk.
Taliban militants today attacked an airfield used by Afghan and international forces in the eastern city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan. They hit the entrance with a car bomb, rocket propelled grenades and a small arms fire.
NATO says the airfield's perimeter was not breached and several insurgents died in the attack. The Taliban claimed to have killed 32 people.
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan facing another round of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee right now. Yesterday she managed to fend off attacks and scored some points with her sense of humor. She is about two hours into today's sessions.
Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash, she's at the Capitol. Dana, good to see you. And how is it going today?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, so far what she has had are questions from the most junior members of the committee, those who didn't get a chance to ask their 30-minute round of questioning yesterday, and a lot of questions about some dense legal issues, but also one interesting moment when the Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota asked the -- asked the potential justice, the solicitor general, about what justice -- Chief Justice John Roberts said in his hearing, and specifically what is now famous in legal circles about him saying that the role of the justice is like an umpire, to call balls and strikes as he or she sees them.
And so Amy Klobuchar asked her whether or not she agrees with that metaphor, and what Solicitor General Kagan said is yes, but with an amendment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELENA KAGAN, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: The metaphor might suggest to some people that law is a kind of robotic enterprise, that there's a kind of automatic quality to it, that it's easy. That we just sort of stand there and, you know, we go ball and strike and everything is clear cut and that there is -- that there is no judgment in the process.
And I do think that that's not right and it's especially not right at the Supreme Court level where the hardest cases go, and the cases that have been the subject of most dispute.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So, you see there an example of how senators, even Democrats, are trying to get to the heart of what kind of justice she would be on the Supreme Court -- Tony.
HARRIS: So, Dana, how effective has Elena Kagan's charm offense have been in -- with this committee?
BASH: It has been fascinating to watch. She really -- particularly all day yesterday --really did -- I think she took some senators by surprise with the way she really interjected in places where normally a nominee would not do, when senators were having conversations among themselves.
And it -- what was noteworthy is that as the day went on, senators, especially those who were perhaps her most ardent interrogators on the Republican side kind of followed her lead and one moment late last night was when Tom Coburn, Republican from Oklahoma, was kind of frustrated that she wasn't answering questions, and instead of really going at her, he said well, you know, you're dancing. You might as well be on "Dancing with the Starts."
And that's the kind of tone and tenor that she actually set for herself. Not an accident that she did that.
One other piece to tell, I just have to show you this, Tony.
HARRIS: Sure.
BASH: It is so cold in this room. They've turned the air conditioning down so (INAUDIBLE) the witness, the nominees nor the senator sweat. I have to show you I have my winter coat here that I brought over from my office because everybody is absolutely freezing here. Just to kind of give you a sense of the --
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: The theatrics and also the actual feel of this room here.
HARRIS: Maybe we'll get some hot questions during the hearing today. All right, Dana, good to see you. Thank you. Stay warm.
BASH: OK.
HARRIS: Still to come, more than 1800 veterans possibly -- and underline this here -- possibly exposed to HIV or hepatitis at a VA hospital. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me shortly to explain how this happened and how it can happen to you.
And let's take a look at the numbers. Let's see those numbers. The big board, New York Stock Exchange right now. Well, we're flat. We will take flat after yesterday's ride. Wow. We'll follow these numbers throughout the day for you.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So think about this for a moment. You got a letter saying you may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis during your dental visit. That's exactly what happened to more than 1800 veterans in Missouri.
Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining me now.
Do we know what happened here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're told happened is that in dental offices obviously you clean the equipment that gets used on people's mouths.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: And what they did is that they hand washed it and then put it in the sterilizer which is apparently a no-no. I was told by one expert, if your hands are dirty and you're touching the equipment even if it goes in the sterilizer afterwards, it's still not a good practice because hands --
HARRIS: We think the sterilizer is killing everything, though.
COHEN: Yes. But what we're told is that people often have dirty (INAUDIBLE) their hands. And you don't want hands sort of, you know, all over those pieces of equipment. That that's not the start operating procedure.
HARRIS: You're starting to --
COHEN: Not the best way.
HARRIS: You're starting to suggest something really nasty here.
COHEN: Yes, I am, and I won't go into detail, but I think you get it.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: All right. Yes, I do get it.
COHEN: Yes.
HARRIS: So let's underscore this. This is possibly -- these people possibly have been exposed?
COHEN: Right.
HARRIS: Right?
COHEN: Possibly. These people may all be fine.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: These people may all be fine. And often in these situations, people are fine but what's worrisome was -- about this is that this is not the first time something like this has happened at a VA hospital.
In fact, unfortunately, the list kind of goes on and on. Today we have in Missouri, 1800 veterans being warned about possible contamination. Earlier this month in California, 3400 veterans got letters again about contamination in a different way, but still -- possible contamination. And then March of last year, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida more than 10,000 veterans got letters like this. And you're thinking, what's going on here?
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: Why can't they get this right?
HARRIS: Can I ask you another question here? You see those numbers, and what's important to point out is that we know about this because this is a VA facility, it's a federal facility, and it has to report this information.
COHEN: Yes. You are so right.
HARRIS: Make the connection here. Yes.
COHEN: Right. Because the connection here is that this could be happening and is happening in hospitals around the country. They just don't necessarily write a press release about it. HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: So we have to say, I mean, if hospital infections that people get in the hospital kill tens of thousands of people a year.
HARRIS: So --
COHEN: You don't have to be a veteran.
HARRIS: That's an important piece of context in all of this. Now next hour, you are going to tackle what question for us?
COHEN: We're going to tackle the question, what do you do about this?
HARRIS: OK.
COHEN: I mean when you hear the tens of thousands of people die from infections in the hospital, and also of course you can infections in a doctor's offices. What do you do?
HARRIS: What do you do?
COHEN: It's not an easy problem to solve.
HARRIS: All right, Elizabeth, good to see you. Thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
HARRIS: You know, Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan is calling for a full investigation into what went wrong at the VA hospital. He expressed outrage last hour right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RUSS CARNAHAN (D), MISSOURI: It absolutely makes your blood boil. The VA has a solemn responsibility to take care of our veterans. This is not the battle they need to be fighting now, and we have to get to the bottom of this so this cannot happen again and to be sure that the people that were put at risk are evaluated quickly.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The military is having to answer for another deeply troubling revelation, this one involving mismanagement at Arlington National Cemetery. An army report earlier this month confirms that remains of hundreds of the nation's fallen heroes have been mismanaged.
Burial markers are missing, graves unmarked and urns put in a spillage file. Our pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has reported on the army's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN MCHUGH, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: I deeply apologize to the families of the honored fallen resting in that hallowed ground who may now question the care for -- to their loved ones. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: But no one is getting fired. The Army placed the number two man, Thurman Higginbotham, on administrative leave.
Superintendent John Metzler was allowed to stay on in a lesser role. He got reduced benefits and a letter of reprimand. Quote, "Given your decision to retire, I have elected not to initiate more severe disciplinary action," And, "This derogatory information will likely overshadow your 19 years of dedicated, faithful and selfless service as superintendent."
GINA GRAY, FORMER ARLINGTON CEMETERY PRESS OFFICER: I don't know what it's going to take to get them fired over there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. The House Armed Services Committee is demanding answers right now on a hearing on Capitol Hill. And moments ago, Army Secretary John McHugh told lawmakers the army has resolved 26 of the 211 graves identified.
And a sure bet in Washington. Forget about it. Never happens. A deal done on the financial reform bill threatens now to unravel.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Late details now on the Gulf oil disaster, day 72. Big waves whipped up by Hurricane Alex are interrupting cleanup along the Gulf Coast. Skimming boats have been called back to shore because of 12- foot surf. Oil booms may need to be relocated or replaced.
Other top stories we're following for you. President Obama is heading for Wisconsin this hour. He will hold a town hall in Racine. The president will field questions about the recovery and the lack of jobs.
And here's proof soccer is serious stuff in France. The parliament is holding formal hearings into the team's World Cup meltdown. France's dismal performance made worse by player boycotts and crude insults among coaches.
The French Football Federation president quit Monday. The team's head coach is blaming the debacle on the media?
Another less-than-hope for jobs report is blunting stock momentum today. Right now the Dow is at least positive, right? After yesterday's 268 point plunge. We're up 22 points right now.
Payroll processor ADP reported today the economy created 13,000 private sector jobs in June. Economists predicted five times that amount. Where do those predictions come from? The government's June's unemployment rate is due on Friday.
The historic financial reform bill looked on track for final approval before Congress breaks for the Fourth. Now Democrats suddenly find themselves two votes short in the Senate. The death of Senator Robert Byrd has cost Democrats one vote and Massachusetts Republicans Scott Brown withdrew his support because a bank fee was tacked on at the last minute.
Negotiators scrapped the fee last night and replaced it with money from the federal bailout but Brown hasn't said if it's enough to get him back on board. Bottom line, Democrats need at least Republicans votes to pass the legislation.
The House is set to vote tomorrow. Are you following me on this? But the bill will probably wait until after the Fourth recess in the Senate.
Job openings in China. The only requirement? You got to be white. Are you kidding? Chinese companies are renting white people as window dressing. It is all about perception.
Chinese firms want to lead people to believe the company can hire westerners. So surely that means the company has lots of money, connections and prestige. This American played the role of a jewelry company executive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN ZATKIN, U.S. ACTOR: For me, since I thought I was -- you know, was (INAUDIBLE) I thought it was standing in for somebody who because of time commitments wasn't able to participate.
It was not -- it didn't bother me that as I found out and became more suspicious of the company, I decided not to do it again and I haven't done it since.
VALERA KOVTUN, STUDENT: I had no idea what we were doing. We were sent there and after we found out that it was them trying to con themselves, well, I don't mind what they do to themselves. Basically the government people trying to con the government people.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: White women are also in demand, usually though they play the role of the girlfriend.
The devastating BP oil disaster is forcing a proud fishing community to rely on handouts. And they're not happy about it. We will hear from them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Two women whose husbands died in the Gulf oil rig explosion are calling for accountability and fairness. The women are testifying before a Senate committee. They want changes in legislation that limits liability for wrongful deaths, more than three miles off shore.
Shelley Anderson told the panel about last conversation with her husband Jason before the rig explosion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELLEY ANDERSON, HUSBAND DIED ON OIL RIG: We talked about our future together, what he wanted for the kids. We talked about how to plan. We made plans together and now I have to plan for a future without my soul mate, without my husband.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Many Gulf families were living paycheck to paycheck before the oil disaster, now for those who make their living in the seafood industry, those checks have stopped coming all together.
Lisa Sylvester now reporting that they are struggling to meet basic needs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Bay Area food bank, some 12,000 pounds of food are loaded up. The mobile food pantry is heading out to Bayou La Batre. An Alabama Gulf community where crabbing, shrimping and fishing, it's in the blood.
Charlie Goodrum's family has been at it for more than three generations. For a man used to catching his own fish, it's hard to accept a food handout.
CHARLIE GOODRUM, BAYOU LA BATRE RESIDENT: Times here in the Bayou ain't what they used to be, you know, and just -- all my friends have been put out of business and stuff. Just their livelihoods -- fish, and shrimp, oyster, you know, do what we can to supplement our incomes or whatever. You know. A lot of us, that's the only livelihood.
SYLVESTER: The boats sit idle. It was a decent season last year, but not this year. This area was battered by Hurricane Katrina but this is a different kind of leaking because as of now it's hard to see an end.
TANYA GOODRUM, BAYOU LA BATRE RESIDENT: If you have a hurricane, you can clean it up, you know, but this is just like a -- you can clean it up, but it still can -- keeps coming and coming. A hurricane, you can go every day and do something, but the oil, it just keeps coming.
SYLVESTER: The Goodrums are joined by some 300 others looking for some food to put on the table, cereals, eggs, clam chowder. The food is provided by companies, grocery stories and government grant.
One-third of Bayou La Batre's residence are Asian immigrants. Norasy Sisavanh picks crab for a living. She was making as much as $500 a week. Now it's down to about $150 a week.
NORASY SISAVANH, BAYOU LA BATRE RESIDENT: The truck is not coming. We don't have no work. Like two days I believe we work, but we don't have no luck today.
DAVE REANEY, EXEC. DIR., BAY AREA FOOD BANK: When you look at our service area, Alabama and Mississippi, in particular, they're -- I think number one and number three in the highest poverty levels in America.
So you have already communities that have a lot of people in need, and the support structure, because of the recession, it didn't grow.
SYLVESTER: Despite the uncertainty, not knowing when the oil leak will stop and having to go without, folks like Charlie Goodrum have no desire to pack up and leave.
C. GOODRUM: I've been around the world but this is home. We'll always come back to it. Come back to it.
SYLVESTER: Lisa Sylvester, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: President Obama has a lot on his plate already. Now he is pushing for immigration reform. Why the issue is emerging as a priority for the president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: President Obama now pushing for immigration reform. He is set to give a speech tomorrow and it is emerging as a priority for the president.
Details now from White House correspondent Dan Lothian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Juggling the global economic crisis, a Supreme Court nomination, and the disastrous Gulf oil spill, President Obama is now pushing hard on immigration reform, meeting face to face with immigration advocates. The message he got, get comprehensive reform done this year.
ALI NOORANI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION REFORM: This far into the Obama administration, we were not expecting 1,000 people a day to be deported. We are seeing a continuation of the Bush administration enforcement policies. As a candidate, he promised to move immigration reform. As a president, he's run into a Republican wall of obstruction.
LOTHIAN: In his Monday meeting with grassroots groups, the president reiterated him commitment to fixing the broken immigration system and said his administration will continue to work with Congress to act at the earliest possible opportunity. But earliest depends on political hurdles, which the president acknowledged in a Cinco de Mayo speech.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of course it's going to be tough. That's the truth. Anyone who tells you it's going to be easier, that I can wave a magic wand and make it happen hasn't been paying attention to how this town works.
LOTHIAN: Adding to this divisive debate, the Arizona law, that gives police powers to check someone's immigration status. The Obama administration is considering a legal challenge to that law which could be filed as early as next week. Meeting with the president, Noorani and others urged quick action.
NOORANI: Is immigration getting traction? I don't think we can avoid this problem anymore. I think that's really clear to the president. And that's what we see in Arizona.
LOTHIAN (on camera): President Obama also met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Now, there's obviously a political aspect to this, as well. One official pointing out that a lot of Hispanics voted for then candidate Obama on this very issue, getting comprehensive immigration reform. And if it doesn't happen soon, they may not be there for him in the future.
Dan Lothian, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Cold war style intrigue. We will take a look at some of the people accused in the Russian spy ring make that is making headlines. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's see here. 11 accused Russian spies fueling intrigue in leafy cul-de-sacs today. From Boston to Washington, the FBI says deep cover agents Americanized themselves over the years to blend in and then feed info to Moscow.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has been looking into the backgrounds of the suspects and they are quite a group.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): Talking on YouTube, accused spy Anna Chapman says she's inspired by the quantity and quality of people she's met in New York -- many of them successful in business.
"I'm working on a project that will connect two capitals, New York and Moscow -- from my point of view, the two major cities for me to look for most talented people."
The striking 28-year-old entrepreneur seen here on her Facebook page appears to have started domdot.ru, a search engine for Russian real estate. But Chapman, says an acquaintance, is not so much James Bond as she is James Bond's girlfriend. Many of her Facebook friends seemingly of Russian origin. The FBI says she is a highly trained intelligence operative. A spy, the headlines read, sophisticated enough to elude detection until now.
FEYERICK (on camera): An FBI agent says Anna Chapman was inside this coffee shop on her computer when a van known to be driven by a Russian government official passed by. It is at that point that FBI agents detected a wireless network signal and they say Anna Chapman was passing encrypted data from her computer to a computer inside that vehicle. FEYERICK (voice-over): Whether real estate was Chapman's real career, another woman in Boston accused of being a spy is also in real estate. On her website, Anne Foley is described as a native of Montreal who, quote, "lived and was educated in Switzerland, Canada, and France". According to court papers, her alibi on a trip to Russia was she was working as an international business consultant.
Her husband, Donald Howard Heathfield, an international sales consultant for an energy company, is also under arrest. Prosecutors say a birth certificate with his name was found in a safety deposit box. And though it appears genuine, prosecutors say the real Donald Heathfield passed away five years ago.
Of the 11 alleged spies one worked as a journalist for the New York based Spanish language newspaper, El Diario. Vickie Palez is accused of traveling to South America where she received $76,000. Allegedly for recruiting sources. On a wiretap her husband, Juan Lozaro (ph) who claimed to be born in Uruguay, is allegedly heard telling his wife he and his parents moved to Siberia when the war started. Palez' son spoke about the charges.
WALDOMAR MARISCAL, SON OF VICKY PELAEZ: There were like most like reporters are like you guys. Innocent. Very scary. It's horrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?
FEYERICK (on camera): And the reason FBI agents stepped in when they did, according to the Justice Department, one of the suspects was getting ready to leave the United States, and so agents had to arrest everyone allegedly connected to this decade long investigation.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. A CNN oil alert on day 72 of the disaster. Hurricane Alex is complicating efforts to contain the cleanup of the leak. A 12-foot wave stirred up by the storm sends skimming ships back to port from Louisiana to Florida.
In Afghanistan, an attack on a key base. NATO says Taliban insurgents attacked an Jalabad Air Field hitting the entrance with a car bomb, rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire. The terror group says it killed at least 32 people. NATO says several Taliban fighters died.
More questions today for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. It is the third day of her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At the start of today's hearing, Kagan expressed respect for judicial restraint and precedent.
A king ending his reign. Larry King announces a major career change after 25 years on television.
We're back in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So during his broadcast last night, the great one, Larry King, announced he was hanging up his suspenders after 25 years on television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": 25 years ago I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of "LARRY KING LIVE." And now decades later I talked to the guys here at CNN and told them I'd like to end "LARRY KING LIVE," the nightly show this fall, and CNN has graciously accepted to agreed to, giving me and my wife and I to get to the kids' little league games. I'll still be a part of the CNN family hosting several Larry King specials on major national and international subjects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: 25 years and more than 50,000 interviews. That adds up to a lot of memorable moments for "LARRY KING LIVE."
Here's a look at some of them, along with reflections from the man himself.
(VIDEO CLIP OF PAST LARRY KING LIVE SHOWS)
HARRIS: And I am young enough to remember Larry's great radio show, back in the day.
Larry is not done yet. Tonight je has a primetime exclusive with Elizabeth Edwards and here's a preview.
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KING: She said your relationship was dysfunctional, toxic, way before she came along.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: If that were true, why would John and I have worked so hard, under such difficult and public circumstances to make the relationship work? I really think we both worked hard in the end to make it work. I suppose there are a lot of women in her position who like to justify their behavior by thinking -
KING: Rationalize.
EDWARDS: Right - rationalize it, by thinking this relationship, in which they're trusting themselves, wasn't valuable to begin with. It was clearly valuable to both of us and something that we tried very hard to save.
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HARRIS: OK. Tonight, a "LARRY KING LIVE" primetime exclusive. Elizabeth Edwards on her dramatic split with John Edwards, her battle with terminal cancer, and how she's learned to deal with heartache and suffering head on. "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
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(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
HARRIS: Remember the $180 billion of your taxpayer dollars that went to bail out insurance giant AIG? Well, a House Oversight Committee is actually holding a hearing right now on the role of derivatives in the nation's credit crunch. We will bring you a live report. Maybe we need to explain derivatives, as well.
Plus, we will take you live to Afghanistan for an update on the Taliban attack on an air field used by international troops. Those stories and much more next hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: Day 72 of the massive oil spill in the Gulf and is some are acting on their outrage by boycotting BP gas stations. As you know we've been following this developing story.
Mary Snow reporting now. BP is helping independent owners and operators who are taking a blow aimed at the company.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Owning this Chicago BP station, Bob Junkiness is spending a lot of his time explaining to customers BP doesn't own the station, that he's an independent owner.
BOB JUNKNIESS, BP STATION OWNER: Every time something happens, where they try to stop the leak, and it fails, they're coming in the next day, saying, well now what are you going to do?
SNOW: As a result, Junkiness says business at his 10 stations has dropped 20 percent. The backlash has been building.
CROWD: Boycott BP!
SNOW: Along with protests across the country, more than 700,000 people have signed up to the boycott BP fan page on Facebook. And Public Citizen is calling on consumers to boycott BP products for three months. But what about independent BP gas station owners? We asked the president of the advocacy group.
ROBERT WEISSMAN, PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN: There's no question that a boycott is going to hurt some innocent victims. That's true for any boycott. Whether or not BP owns the stations people will be hurt. And that's something that has to be taken into account for anyone who calls a boycott at any time. But we do need a way to hold BP accountable and this is one way to do it.
SNOW: Of the 10,000-plus BP stations, the vast majority are independently owned. And owners have been turning up pressure on BP for help. The company is now offering help to the tune of an estimated $60 million. Cash is being offered to some owners, many wanted to be able to cut the price of gasoline to bring back customers. Owners are also being offered a reduction in credit card fees and marketing and advertising.
And in a statement the company left the door open, saying BP will continue to evaluate the programs and offers as the situation and environment evolves.
Also reaching out to gas station owners, Public Citizen. It wants gas station owners to speak out publicly against BP. Bob Junkiness, for one, says he's not signing up.
JUNKINESS: Am I frustrated with some of the things that have occurred in the Gulf? Yes. Am I disappointed in the clean-up efforts to date? Yes. But at the end of the day, I'm still associated with the BP brand, and I have to do what I can to salvage my business.
SNOW: Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
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