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Two ISAF Soldiers Missing; Are We In a Post-Racial Society?; Storm-Battered Town Focuses on Youth
Aired July 24, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier we brought you a story of selfless bravery, it's an amazing story. A visually impaired woman walked off a platform -- you see it right there -- and fell on a track at an Atlanta train station earlier this month. Well, one man rushed to save her as the train was fast approaching.
Others then hurried to help and get the train stopped. And it stopped four feet from where the woman lay on the tracks.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And now her name Adie Norfleet, she's 57 years old. Her nieces talked about this frightening experience.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADIE NORFLEET, FELL OFF TRAIN PLATFORM: I think I wasn't really concentrating on where I was walking.
PAMELA, NORFLEET'S NIECE: If it had not been for God's grace and mercy and that young man, we would be doing a whole different story.
AFRIKA, NORFLEET'S NIECE: I just want to meet him and show appreciation. Because that -- for him to get down on the tracks like that ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, you heard her say, I just want to meet him and show appreciation, because the man who first rushed her help remains anonymous. He helped out and took off. We don't know his name and where he is. We're trying to track him now though but nonetheless, he might want to remain an anonymous hero.
So good job. I'm glad she's all right.
BOLDUAN: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. We're going to start the next hour here of CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Hello to you all. Top of the hour here coming to you live from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on this July 24th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOLDUAN: And I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
Bonnie loses steam. But cleanup operations are still on hold in the Gulf of Mexico.
HOLMES: Also, are we really headed toward a post-racial society? The Shirley Sherrod controversy raising some new questions; we're going to get opinions from the next generation that maybe you haven't been hearing from the past couple of weeks.
BOLDUAN: And packing up and getting out, why Arizona's new immigration law has some legal residents leaving town?
The second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season looked like it might bring a real wallop to the Gulf Coast.
HOLMES: But, Bonnie has weakened down to a tropical depression. I wonder if we can call it a whimper just yet. But after coming ashore just south of Miami yesterday as a tropical storm it's now down like we said to a depression. It did take out some trees and power lines; you can see some of the damage it did. It has not regained the expected strength over the warm Gulf waters. However ...
BOLDUAN: In fact, the weather service is -- oh, now canceling the warnings.
HOLMES: All right, our Jacqui Jeras has been keeping an eye on this thing and, quite frankly, keeping this in perspective for us ...
BOLDUAN: Right.
HOLMES: ... Jacqui this morning because we knew the potential and then you throw in the fact that we're dealing with the oil disaster.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right.
HOLMES: ... a lot of people were worried about it and maybe we're going to dodge a bit of a bullet.
JERAS: We will to a degree. Yes it is certainly impacting the oil spill area and that's why you know, Bonnie continues to be a big story, because the wave action is going to be enough. All those vessels had to move away. And so that is certainly a concern.
And as winds change direction with Bonnie, we think later on tonight it could start to push any of that existing oil out there back on to shore. So that's certainly some bad news. As you mentioned, all the warnings now have been dropped. That's as of the 11:00 advisory. So this is brand new information.
The winds hold steady though, in the last number of hours, about 30 miles per hour; so, Bonnie just barely hanging in there. It's even possible that more weakening could happen in the upcoming hours. And this could be just what we would call a remnant low.
But either way, we will still see that wave action and these is going to shower some thunderstorms, it could be a little bit on the strong side at times and put down a good one to two inches of rainfall.
The storm is moving pretty quickly. And it's going to be making landfall we think late tonight or early tomorrow morning and it looks like somewhere right along the Louisiana and Mississippi state line. And so that's why as those winds rotate counterclockwise around that area of low pressure, that would start to move that closer to the shore.
Now, we've got us a couple of other big weather headlines going on at this hour. I want to show you some pictures of the Chicago land area where torrential downpours have caused quite a flooding situation. Our Doppler Radar estimating anywhere between five and eight inches of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours, bringing rivers and creeks out of the banks this morning.
It was chaos on the roadways as some of the expressways and freeways in town were closed down and many cars were getting stuck. We also have many reports of flooded basements and about 50,000 people without power there this morning.
This is what the radar looks like at this hour. And you can see the clusters of showers and thunderstorms continuing to move through Chicago. So flash flood watches and warnings remain in effect. And these clusters of thunderstorms are going to continue to progress eastward and break a couple of inches of rain.
So, much of the Midwest already very saturated. And any of this rain that does come down is just going to aggravate the situation. And there you can see the watches and warnings which extend all the way into parts of Michigan.
Ok weather story number three. We've got so many big ones today. Its south of our frontal system, we've got high pressure in place. And that thing is just sitting there and heating up the air.
So it's very uncomfortable, extremely warm. And we've got heat advisories and warnings in effect for a good chunk of the eastern third of the United States. This includes the megalopolis; we're talking New York City down to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., Raleigh, Durham and over here to Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Ohio. It's going to be feeling like 100 to 110 degrees this afternoon. That is some dangerous heat.
And we'll loop Bonnie back into the picture. As when you throw this moisture in here, underneath the high pressure system, it's just going to bring that humidity higher and higher and make it very uncomfortable this weekend.
HOLMES: That's exactly what we need here ...
JERAS: Yes I know.
HOLMES: ... in the south, don't we? Jacqui -- a lot going on, Jacqui, we do appreciate you and we'll talk to you again shortly. BOLDUAN: Thank so much Jacqui.
So people along the Gulf -- they are still reeling from something a survivor of the rig explosion is saying. He told lawmakers meeting in Louisiana yesterday, no alarms were sounded the night of the fire because they had been disabled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE WILLIAMS, TRANSOCEAN, CHIEF ENGINEER TECH: I discovered it was inhibited about a year ago. I inquired as to why it was inhibited. And the explanation I got was that -- from the OIM (ph) down, they did not want people woke up at 3:00 in the morning due to false alarms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Well, later today, you'll hear from the father of one of the 11 workers killed in the rig explosion; Keith Jones talks with CNN's Fredricka Whitfield at 3:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Right now, cleanup efforts are at a standstill in the Gulf. The Coast Guard has left the area as well. How long are they going to have to be gone? They had to get out of the way of course because of the storms and choppy seas and winds and whatnot.
Let's bring in our Reynolds Wolf who was in New Orleans live for us once again. Reynolds, how long are we talking about before we can wrap up all of those clean-up efforts once again?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I would say at least several days. You've got to think about when they first got the word to start coming back into safe harbor, it took at least 36 hours to get most of flotilla away from the Gulf or deep in the Gulf inland to safe harbor.
Now, it's going to take at least that time to get a lot of people back out and get things cranking once again. I will tell you though, that they haven't left the Gulf empty. You still have a small flotilla of ships that are still out there keeping a very sharp eye on the cap itself, but again, just a few.
And what they are doing is they are monitoring that cap and its soundness with seismic capability. They are also using sonar. And they are also controlling a couple of robots -- undersea robots that are also observing the cap. So they are going to stay busy.
But I can also tell you that along the coastline in some places like Grand Isle, they actually put out more of that absorbent boom just yesterday preparing for the possibility of that storm surge coming on shore.
But now that -- as Jacqui has been telling us, Bonnie has been falling apart bit by bit. It looks like that's going to be a less of an issue.
Guys, I have to tell you though, with -- with this storm coming closer and not really much of a storm, but now a cluster of thunderstorms, we are going to see some strong wind out there. At times, we're going to have some thunderstorms. And the enhanced wave action actually does provide some positive things.
For one, it's going to help break up some of that emulsified oil out there. So that is certainly a bonus. At the same time, there is a bad side to it again. Because of course it's kind of slowed down the progress they were making getting closer to that static kill that they were planning on doing.
But at the same time and one last thing that is positive, is that they've -- this really was a dress rehearsal. This was a very weak storm, again, falling apart. But we've got a long season to go. I mean, the season goes all the way to November 30th.
So there is a possibility, a very distinct one that we might see something similar to this play out. Next time, we might not be so lucky.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds for us again this morning. Reynolds, we appreciate you as always buddy. Thanks so much.
BOLDUAN: I want to get back to a story, this breaking developments in Afghanistan. Reports of missing soldiers, possibility captured soldiers. Let's get straight to Atia Abawi in Kabul, Afghanistan. Atia, what are you hearing?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ok, we have very little information coming from ISAF, that's International Security Assistance Force. And what they are saying is that two ISAF service members left Kabul City, their compound in Kabul city where they and their vehicle went missing.
They said that they have sent out search vehicles to look for them but still have not been found. This coming on the same day that we're hearing that five U.S. service members were killed in southern Afghanistan after two separate IED attacks, four were killed during one IED attack in the south and one in the other.
Again, this information is just coming in. So we have very little information at the moment -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: And one additional thing and I know it is hard to get this kind of information, especially in the middle of the night and especially when you are just learning about a situation.
But we are also hearing reports from Reuters about radio stations broadcasting reward money offering $20,000 for information about these two soldiers. Have you heard anything about that?
ABAWI: We've also been hearing those reports. We haven't been able to confirm that independently for CNN. But we have heard reports that they could possibly be announcing this on a radio station in province actually, south of Kabul in Lobar province.
But again, we haven't independently confirmed it. It is surprising. But as the same time -- as this new strategy, President Obama's strategy and one that was also prescribed by General Stanley McChrystal, the former top NATO commander here in Afghanistan. He -- he and President Obama have called for more of the U.S. service members, the ISAF service members, to get off of their bases, to actually interact with the Afghan people.
So even though a few years ago, it may be unheard of that two soldiers, two service members would leave in a nonmilitary vehicle, possibly an armored vehicle. In the last couple of years, it's not unheard of as they try to go into that population center and meet with the Afghan people -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: We know that it's still early hours and still much more information to gather. We'll check back with you. Thank you so much, Atia Abawi for us in Afghanistan. Thanks so much.
So an emotional reunion for Shirley Sherrod and the family that she referenced in her now-famous speech. We'll have that for you coming up.
HOLMES: Also we're going to get some perspectives about what we've been seeing in the past couple of weeks in this country. The hot debate about race -- well, you're going to hear from four young people, maybe some voices that have been missing in this debate. That's coming up.
It's ten minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: There is no word yet on whether Shirley Sherrod will return to the Agriculture Department.
HOLMES: Of course, she was forced to resign because of charges she discriminated against a white farming couple. Those charges were discredited after the couple came to her defense saying she helped save their farm.
Sherrod was reunited with that couple. You see them there, Roger and Eloise Spooner at a restaurant here in Georgia. There were hugs and smiles all around -- you see how this thing went.
The Spooners say back when Sherrod rescued them they never expected they would one day be able to return the favor. CNN is going to be taking a closer look at Shirley Sherrod tonight. Her early years growing up in rural Georgia to what happened this week. "Who is Shirley Sherrod? The woman behind the controversy" tonight, 7:00 and 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
BOLDUAN: A year and a half ago, when President Obama was elected, some people predicted we were headed toward a post-racial society. Remember, there was a lot of talk about that, a society where racial differences would no longer be a big deal.
HOLMES: The Shirley Sherrod controversy, also the Tea Party- NAACP controversy; just a number of things over the past week that have raised questions about that.
Earlier today, we spoke to some younger members, the next generation. Some voices maybe you haven't been hearing in this back and forth racial debate. Take a listen to them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE COOPER, SENIOR, CLAYTON STATE UNIVERSITY: As far as the Shirley Sherrod case, I think it was a case that made me feel that we still have a struggle that we need to overcome. I know that -- I am not saying that racism is the only thing that was involved in the case but I feel that some people that were in a place that could make a big decision acted a little too quickly.
HOLMES: Jonathan, let me ask you what did you think about what you saw in the Sherrod case this week?
JONATHAN AROGETI, STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: Well, I thought that she was wrongly fired. I think there was mainly a problem with the administration, not necessarily with the President himself but with people in the administration.
They really should have asked questions. They really shouldn't have jumped the gun. I understand the need to get answers out quickly but the administration should have been at the point to say, stop.
HOLMES: Laura, Garrett, on the issue of race though, we've been talking about the Shirley Sherrod story but a lot of people say when you speak of race, anybody being accused of racism, people run from it as quickly as they can. It is almost the worst thing out there.
When you all see, quite frankly, grown folks on TV arguing back and forth, what are we missing in some of this conversation that the younger generation is seeing when it comes to race either one of you. Go ahead.
GARRETT: Well, my opinion is that it isn't really about race. It is more about -- as Shirley Sherrod said -- the monetary situation and how it is about the have and have-notes, those who get certain perks and those who don't.
HOLMES: Laura.
LAURA SOLTIS, GRADUATE STUDENT, EMORY UNIVERSITY: When I heard about this case, I was most surprised. I actually think that this is just as much about the media as it is about race, asking questions about people responded too quickly or not, if the USDA responded too quickly or not. It is all predicated upon a media system that responds to controversy and charades rather than contents.
HOLMES: What has been about race then, the Tea Party-NAACP flak (ph) that you all watched over the past two weeks or so? Are young people as focused on it? You are from a generation that to the black students, you don't have to sit in the back of the bus. You have opportunity. You have things -- not to say everything is where it needs to be. But you don't have that. So what is your -- I can ask all of you -- what is your civil rights struggle of today that you need to take up?
COOPER: I know the civil rights struggle is accessibility to resources to get further in life. Where I am from, there aren't as many people that have access to certain standards of education, access to experience in their field; experience to get their word out and let people know how they feel.
They don't know how to find that resource to give their voice.
HOLMES: Jonathan, do you feel a split -- do you -- young, I mean because all the incidents we saw it seemed like it had to be black versus white. We saw, even the Jesse Jackson comments about Dan Gilbert, head of the Cavaliers. He said he had a slave-master mentality and treating Lebron like a runaway slave.
Does that kind of language even compute for a young person these days? You study about it in the book. You all don't necessarily have to see it on a day-to-day basis like another generation did.
AROGETI: I tend to agree with what Miss Sherrod said in three minutes that weren't part of the first clip and what Garrett touched upon, which was the haves versus the have-nots. There is a race problem that had existed and still exists in this country, but the haves versus the have-nots was really what she was trying to talk about and also what I tend to think is a bigger issue in this country right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: So hurricane Katrina, the recession and now the Gulf oil disaster.
HOLMES: Some kids in Mississippi, though, they are helping rebuild their communities. The catastrophe has hit time and time again. We will show you what they are doing to build up America. That's next. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-two minutes past the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. We are just getting information in that, in fact, two ISAF service members are missing in Afghanistan. This is the coalition of troops. We don't know where these two in particular, what country these service members are from.
But both were last spotted yesterday leaving Kabul, haven't been seen since. Again these are ISAF soldiers according to the International Security Assistance Force; the search for both of these missing men is going on right now.
We are all on top of that story. We will keep an eye on it for you.
Also a suspected U.S. Drone attack in Pakistan has killed 16 alleged militants. This, according to Pakistani officials, they say the drone fired several missiles at a suspected militant compound today in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.
Also, Washington, D.C., 241 teachers are waking up without a job this morning. The school's chancellor says almost all of these teachers have been fired for poor performance. Few are being let go for licensing issues. The teachers union says the teachers were judged under a flawed evaluation system and is planning to challenge about 80 of the firings -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Parts of the Gulf Coast are still recovering from hurricane Katrina five years after the storm hit. One Mississippi town is building it back up and in the process making children the priority.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The children are riding the waves again around the battered shores of Waveland. No community was hit harder by Katrina and none has been more mindful of the fact children suffered just as much as adults.
Caroline Collins can attest to that. She remembers her father staying through the storm and returning to find him amid the wreckage.
CAROLINE COLLINS, YOUTH LEADER: Coming home and like seeing him when I walked through the door. I remember him kissing all of us on the head.
FOREMAN: So from the start this town has focused on the recovery of children as much as the return of adults because as Mayor Tommy Longo puts it, more than business, more than government --
MAYOR TOMMY LONGO, WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI: The families are the heart and soul of the community.
FOREMAN: As a result, some of the earliest recovery projects here were family-oriented: baseball fields and parks, a community center, a new library, new schools, and safe places for children and their parents to retreat from the devastation and debris.
It is an ongoing process. At St. Clair's church, still in a temporary building, a new youth group has just been started. Beth Gruzinskas is an organizer and she's never had any doubts about staying.
BETH GRUZINSKAS, PARENT LEADER: I lived here my whole life. This is where I belong. This is where my children belong and my family. And there was no question that we were going to rebuild.
FOREMAN: And plenty of young people are fully committed to helping.
COLLINS: We want the best for the community because we love it just as much as all the adults do.
FOREMAN (on camera): Still it is an ongoing process. Convincing adults to deal with terrible things like a great storm or catastrophic oil spill is one thing. Persuading them to expose their children to it is something else.
(voice-over): But this town made that a priority and it still is.
(on camera): As a parent, what do you want other parents to know about your town?
LONGO: That it is -- it is safe. It is a safe environment. I want them to know they need to come home.
FOREMAN: He should know. He has seven children all still growing up right here in their hometown.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Waveland, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: As you know, the world's biggest cleanup operation is going on right now. It is a painstaking process.
BOLDUAN: It sure is. We go aboard a coast guard cutter to take a look at it for ourselves. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, all eyes were on Bonnie, it was a tropical storm and now a tropical depression and now it might not be much of anything.
BOLDUAN: Maybe not. The second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season lost intensity over the Florida peninsula. We talked about it a lot. And it was becoming something and it became less and never regained strength as many expected it would today over the warm, Gulf waters. In fact, all Bonnie-related warnings are now canceled. That's good news.
Still, the storm is packing a bit of a punch. It's hindering the oil recovery efforts.
HOLMES: All right. CNN's meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has been telling us about this all morning. Yes, there were reasons and there are always reasons to be concerned with a named storm. And now you throw in the oil disaster ...
JERAS: Right.
HOLMES: ... so everybody had concerns. But maybe we're going to dodge one here.
JERAS: Well, yes. This wouldn't be a major storm, by any means, and it -- it probably wouldn't be even a tropical depression, barely, right, as it makes landfall. We've had a lot worst storms, there's regular old mid-latitude storms that move on through.
But the oil has been the big concern. You know, we learned with Alex, which was hundreds of miles away, that it -- you know, it doesn't take that powerful of a storm or even one very close to the oil spill to have impact and cause problems.
So that's why we're going to continue to track this thing very closely. And the winds, with what's left with Bonnie, for the most part, have been pulling things offshore.
But now we're going to start to see more of that onshore here, push into the area, and showers and thunderstorms are going to pick up a little bit this afternoon and we could see some good, heavy downpours. Wave action could be two to four feet, at most, with some of those seas, and that is going to certainly churn things up a little bit into the gulf.
The storm has been weakening, and that's largely due to wind shear. We have what we call an upper level area of low pressure over here in the gulf, and it's just kind of shearing off or breaking apart Bonnie, so you need to have very light winds to allow a system to develop and a tropical system to breath, let's say. And so, because of those strong winds, it's knocking it down, and really, no intensification is expected any more than where we're at.
Landfall would happen, we think, late tonight, maybe early tomorrow morning, and that will be bringing in really just some of that storm surge. Not too much, one to three feet, maybe, and those showers and thunderstorms. So we'll continue to track Bonnie and let you know if there are any more changes with this.
Now, we've got two other huge weather stories making news today. This out at of the Chicago land area where torrential downpours yesterday and today both has brought floodwaters very high across not just the suburbs here but also into the city. Downtown had major problems this morning.
Many of the area freeways were shut down in spots and that caused (INAUDIBLE) on some of the roadways. We've had some reports of flooded basements and about 50,000 people without power. Flood watches and warnings remain in effect across the area.
Now, those clusters of thunderstorms continue to push through the area at this hour, ever seeing the rain, but it's starting to taper up a little bit. We expect it to be better later this afternoon. More rain across parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes, eventually making its way into the northeast later on today.
And here you can see the flash flood watches and warnings, which remain in effect through the afternoon hours for today. A few of the thunderstorms could become severe and damaging winds will be the greatest concern. It's this highlighted red area.
The other big concern on the south side of the system, that high pressure bringing on the heat, guys. Oh, my God, there's millions of people today seeing what's probably going to be the hottest day of the summer, triple digits possible, not just on the thermometer but the heat index could be approaching about 110. This includes all the big cities in the northeast, everybody in the Deep South and parts of the Midwest.
It is going to be a scorcher today. I want everybody to take it easy. This has been a long, long hot summer for many of these areas.
BOLDUAN: And I just got an e-mail from someone who just said, do not hurry back to D.C because it is so hot.
HOLMES: No.
JERAS: Yes.
BOLDUAN: But, anyway, thanks, Jacqui.
HOLMES: Jacqui, thank you.
BOLDUAN: So cleaning up the gulf, one slick, one tar ball at a time.
HOLMES: CNN's Rob Marciano, who has done some extensive reporting throughout the gulf during this whole disaster, he's now taking us aboard a USS Coast Guard cutter.
Now, he shows us the grueling job oil recovery workers face in what is now the world's biggest cleanup operation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wow. So this is the first taste I've got of -- of a skimming vessel. All the equipment that they're pulling out right now is completely caked in thick, heavy crude.
This is just a mess. Smell the oil. Hot, 30 (ph) and the sun's not even up. I can't imagine these guys doing this for 10, 12-hour shifts in the heat of the day. These guys are -- are busting it to try to clean up the gulf.
What is that thing up there?
SEVILLE RASMUSSEN, USCG YEOMAN: We're bringing down the skimmer right now. We're bringing on the hose. We're making out (ph) the hose, and it's going to drop the skimmer right there, so we can wrap it up in plastic to contain the oil, because tomorrow morning it'll -- it'll heat up and it will be all liquid, make a big mess.
MARCIANO: So that's the main -- the vacuum that's been sucking up the oil all day?
RASMUSSEN: Yes. That's the skimmer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
MARCIANO: Look at the size of that boom they're pulling out of the water right now. The crane, it's just all much, much bigger than I ever imagined. It's amazing.
This is where I'm going to be working tomorrow, and it's an intimidating, messy thought.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And CNN's Rob Marciano, joining us now, live in Gulfport, Mississippi. Rob, good to have you here with us on a CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good to see you.
I -- we heard your piece there. You're actually going to be working on this thing? We will actually see you doing and trying some of this hard work these guys are doing?
MARCIANO: Yes. As much as they'll let me. There's a lot of heavy equipment on that vessel, but I -- I get the Tyvec suit on and get the rubber gloves and boots on and -- and go at it.
It is a messy, messy job, and we -- we wanted to do a program that really highlighted the heroic effort that the thousands of people are -- are doing here, along the beaches, out in the water, and saving wildlife, and skimming is -- is certainly one of them. And it is extraordinary hot, messy, smelly, and these guys do it day in and day out, T.J., for 12, 14-hour days and they do it without complaint. And -- and it's important work to highlight and I was happy to get in there.
Well, I don't know about happy, but I definitely thought I needed to experience some of it in order to report back to you exactly what's it -- what it's like, at least a couple of days at a time, and it's -- it's tough, tough work and these people doing it, I definitely take my hat off to them and I think Americans should watch the show and say thanks as well.
BOLDUAN: Rob, you saw this from a perspective that really no one gets so see. Everyone watches these stories and you see the booms and you see -- you may see all of this stuff. From your perspective, what was -- I don't know, the most shocking, the most startling? What was it like to be there firsthand and see all of this stuff?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, you can -- you report on it and -- and certainly you -- you do a story that can highlight some of the -- some of the stuff that's happening. But when you -- when you go on board and you sleep in the same quarters as these people, you -- you eat with them, you get to know them and then you -- and you wear the equipment that they're wearing and you do the tasks that they're doing, you gain an appreciation for -- for the enormity of the job at hand.
And it is just -- the Gulf of Mexico is so big, the wetlands so vast, there's so much to do on so many fronts, it's just mind- boggling. And I guess the -- the one thing I took from this is that it's -- it's even a much more -- it's a much bigger problem than I even anticipated and -- and the job it takes to -- to clean up the gulf and -- and save the gorgeous wetlands and -- and water that's down here, it's going to take a lot more effort in the weeks and months and even years ahead.
HOLMES: Well, Rob, like we've been saying, we got some success in getting the cap on. It looks like we're getting somewhere, at least stopping the leak itself. But as you're going to be reporting and as we know, it's going to take a long time to still clean up the mess that's already there.
Rob, it's good to see you this morning. We look forward to seeing the special this evening. Talk to you soon, buddy.
BOLDUAN: We've been talking about ...
MARCIANO: All right. See you. Thanks.
BOLDUAN: Rob Marciano -- sorry. Rob Marciano is seeing first- hand some amazing stories he was talking about there, stories of survival and resilience. You do not want to miss his new special, "RESCUE: SAVING THE GULF" tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. It's something you'll only see here on CNN.
HOLMES: Well, something you have been seeing just about everywhere is the Old Spice guy, the Old Spice commercials. This ad has been huge. It has been viral. But is it paying off for the company?
Josh Levs with that for us. Good morning to you once again, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good morning again to you guys.
Yes. There were all these articles online this week saying that sales of the product that's in these ads are actually down, which is -- would be very interesting, given how huge and viral these ads are.
So what happened is I checked the facts. I have the answers for you. I got those numbers, coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Taking a look at top stories right now, a bloody summer for American troops in Afghanistan takes an even deadlier turn. Five U.S. troops were killed today in two bombings in Southern Afghanistan. The U.S. death toll for the month is now more than 50.
A search is also underway for two troops -- two service members with the NATO-led security mission. They've been missing since yesterday after they left their compound in Kabul and did not return.
And an angry threat from North Korea as the United States and South Korea prepare for joint military exercises. The Communist North is threatening nuclear retaliation. The military exercises start tomorrow. They will involve about 8,000 American and South Korean troops.
A troubling new revelation from a technician who was on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig when it exploded and caught fire in April. He told a hearing in New Orleans the alarm system on the rig had been disabled for about a year before the incident. The reason? Repeated false alarms.
HOLMES: Well, it is the marketing campaign that everybody has been talking about, the Old Spice ads with that Old Spice guy. There he is. All we know him as now, just the Old Spice guy.
BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. And if you can all look at the ad; look at T.J.; look at the ad; look at T.J. and look back at the ad. But is this the ad working financially, people? A bunch of reports say the sales of the product are actually down.
Control room put me up to it. T.J. now does not want to take me to lunch even though we were planning on having lunch together.
Josh Levs, check the facts ...
LEVS: You two can work it out.
BOLDUAN: And you need to say that (ph).
LEVS: She's doing an imitation -- I mean, for the -- for the 0.03 percent of the population that doesn't know what the imitation was, here's the ad, originally premiered after the Super Bowl. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAIAH MUSTAFA, ACTOR/OLD SPICE COMMERCIAL MODEL: Hello, ladies. Look at your man, now, back to me. Now, back at your man. Now, back to me.
Sadly, he isn't me. But he stopped using lady-scented body wash and switched to Old Spice, he could smell like he's me.
Look down ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. So what happened is this ad took off after the Super Bowl. There was a lot of talk about how they physically pulled off a lot of these visual tricks, and now there have been more.
Since he's tweeting celebrities and doing these videos and becoming his own little phenom, so what was -- is very interesting, when you look at business in America, at the role the internet plays and the role viral videos play, the big question right now is can a viral video like this move product? Can it actually lead to a lot of sales?
And there were a bunch of reports this week that said this -- they said the sales of the featured brand that he's holding actually have gone down by seven percent, which would be really surprising and really striking if it were true. It's not really true, because it's not the right way to look at it. Well, here -- here's the real figure. Look at this. The line that he's talking about is this Old Spice body wash thing. It's actually gone up 55 percent in three months. In the past month alone, sales have jumped 107 percent, according to the Nielsen sales figures. So that's actually pretty good.
Now, we can't know for sure how much of it is because of the video, but we do know that they are seeing this hype. What happened here -- we can go back just -- to some of the video -- what happened here is that one person that one -- that follows ads had looked at the exact thing he's holding, looked at one sales date last year and one sales date this year and they found out on that particular date in that particular (INAUDIBLE), it was a little bit down. But, overall, when you look at a bunch of months, we are seeing this product is selling more.
But, long-term, we still have a lot of questions. I don't want to be too rosy about it, either. We don't know if, you know, a phenom like this lasts, if it ultimately makes the company enough to make up for all the marketing, for the Super Bowl ad, for everything else that goes into it. And we also don't know long-term what the public's appetite is for a video like this to -- to keep going.
I will tell you, on my Facebook and Twitter pages, when people are talking about this huge phenom -- this is first. I mean, really, for something to be this big as an ad is unusual. Everyone's weighing in, but they're still enjoying it. They're looking at his pages. They're watching the videos. They're liking the guy.
So maybe there is a real life to this in the future. People who watch viral videos are very interested in this, and, I'll tell you, businesses all over the world, guys, are watching this, because they want to see if this is the new way to sell product in this economy.
We see those numbers keep going up. We see lots of sales, Kate and T.J., including everyone out there who wants to do an imitation. There are lots of those online too. It just might be the new answer to sell products in the -- in the new world.
BOLDUAN: I'm not saying it's the best impression. It is just my ...
HOLMES: You know, we give you credit for the attempt.
LEVS: You want to try it again? I liked it. Do it again.
HOLMES: We'll give you credit for the attempt.
BOLDUAN: Thank you.
LEVS: You want to try it again, Kate?
BOLDUAN: No, I will get (INAUDIBLE).
LEVS: No? She's all done?
HOLMES: You gave your shot (ph).
BOLDUAN: OK. Thank you.
LEVS: All right.
HOLMES: Thank you, guys. Thanks, Josh (ph).
BOLDUAN: So, out of fear, some Latino families are now leaving Arizona, actually, ahead of the state's new immigration law. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"CARLOS", LEAVING ARIZONA: Little by little, they're pushing us out.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They would say you're leaving because you want to go. You don't have to go.
"CARLOS": I don't -- I don't have to go, but, you know, for my -- for my family's sake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Thelma Gutierrez follows one family as they prepare to leave and looks at the economic impact it could have on the state. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: So, our favorite time of the day.
HOLMES: Oh, goodness gracious, yes.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What? And not it's not because they're happy to see me.
HOLMES: It is.
BOLDUAN: It is.
WHITFIELD: It means you guys are going to be walking out (ph) --
HOLMES: No.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: I know it's been a very long morning, so you all have done a fabulous job.
Good to see you.
HOLMES: Always good to see you. Always good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Happy Saturday.
BOLDUAN: Happy Saturday.
WHITFIELD: And I know you'll be back tomorrow. We'll say Happy Sunday.
BOLDUAN: It's like a plan.
WHITFIELD: Right.
Well, for now, coming up in the noon Eastern hour, we've got a whole lot. Of course, our legal guys, who we love, love, love. They will be with us and they'll be talking about an interesting case in Israel and we're talking about a couple who consensually got together, but now one person is facing a criminal record.
Could this happen here in the U.S., rape by deception? A big old question mark. People are hearing it for the first time. Our legal guys will be delving into that.
And Shirley Sherrod -- clearly, she's gotten a lot of air time and a lot of talk time all week long, but now the discussion moves into the legal realm. Our legal guys are going to explore whether she's got a case of defamation that she can impose against perhaps the blogger without released the tape and perhaps released it intentionally is the allegation, taking it out of context.
And then we're going to talk to -- oh, no. there's one more legal case, and this one will catch your attention, too. Actor Wesley Snipes. You know that he's been going back and forth over the tax evasion. Yes, he was found guilty, but then he was appealing the sentence, calling it very harsh, three years.
Well, the appellate court responded and they don't think it's so harsh. So it looks like Wesley Snipes will be going to jail. When? Not sure. Our legal guys may have some answers for you.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: He's been doing this for years, right? This ...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: He's out on probation and now the judges, the panel of judges says time's up. Time to go to jail.
HOLMES: Wow.
WHITFIELD: Ouch.
OK, now ...
BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: ... we're going to move on to the 2:00 Eastern hour. And if you've got parents or grandparents, you're worried about their finances -- it's a tough discussion to have, right, with your elders ... BOLDUAN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: ... because they feel like they've got it all taken care of. But sometimes you need to step in and help them out to make some good planning decisions as it pertains to money.
And then of course we're still talking about the BP oil spill, and now we've got family members of victims who are -- who've been listening closely to the hearings that have been ongoing. They're a little concerned about what they're hearing.
One report -- one testimony alleging that perhaps the fire alarm was intentionally disabled on that Deepwater Horizon rig, and so one of the family members, Keith Jones -- you've seen him on Capitol Hill, testifying. He's going to be joining us. His son, Gordon Jones, was among the 11 who died in that explosion.
So we've got a full plate.
HOLMES: My goodness.
BOLDUAN: There's a lot going on.
HOLMES: There's always a lot going on.
WHITFIELD: Yes. This is kind of like the second helping, because I know you've already had the main course with these two.
BOLDUAN: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: Now on a second helping, you've got more before we have dessert, and, you know, that usually is Josh Levs.
HOLMES: Big appetizer.
BOLDUAN: Yes, Josh ...
WHITFIELD: No, no. You're not (ph) an appetizer. Now, for how many hours? (INAUDIBLE)?
BOLDUAN: I don't know.
WHITFIELD: I know. You lose count.
Second helping.
BOLDUAN: So much fun we just lose count.
WHITFIELD: Beginning at noon Eastern.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you guys.
HOLMES: Fredricka Whitfield. We appreciate you. We'll see you shortly. Quick break, folks. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. So you're in the country legally, but your spouse is not, and Arizona's tough new immigration law is fast approaching.
BOLDUAN: So what do you do?
Well, CNN's Thelma Gutierrez report on some Latino families who are leaving Arizona and the economic impact of their decision.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a middle- class suburb near Mesa, Arizona, a family is packing it up, preparing to flee the state. They asked us to call them "Carlos" and "Samantha".
"CARLOS": This is the living room. This is my boy's room.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): And they're all empty.
"CARLOS": Yes. I mean, everything we worked for.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): They say they were living the American dream -- a house, two kids, a small jewelry business that catered to Latinos.
But when his customers, many of whom were immigrants, started losing their jobs and leaving the state, his business collapsed. Now, he says, he too, wants to get out before SB 1070 goes into effect.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): You loved the state?
"CARLOS": Arizona. Yes.
GUTIERREZ: And now?
"CARLOS": Little by little, they're pushing us out.
GUTIERREZ: They would say you're leaving because you want to go. You don't have to go.
"CARLOS": I don't -- I don't have to go, but for my -- for my family's sake.
GUTIERREZ: Your wife is undocumented?
"CARLOS": Yes.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): "Carlos" is a legal resident, their children are American. But he says he can't run the risk that his wife could be arrested and deported.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): You're one family who's leaving. Do you think that there are others?
"CARLOS": Oh, there -- there's many. There is a lot of people that left from here as soon as it started.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Todd Landfried agrees.
TODD LANDFRIED, ARIZONA EMPLOYERS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM: There's an empty car dealership. This is a -- just another strip mall in a Latino neighborhood of Mesa.
GUTIERREZ: Landfried represents a group called Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform. He drove us through Mesa, Arizona and pointed out what he says is the fallout from the state's top immigration laws and a bad economy.
LANDFRIED: Any time you start running people out of a state, you make it harder for the businesses that provide services to those people, whether they're here legally or not. They're not going to be able to fill their strip malls. They're not going to be able to fill their apartment complexes.
RUSSELL PEARCE (R), ARIZONA STATE SENATE: What (ph) comes with that invasion of the illegal aliens is a destruction of the rule of law and a damage to the taxpayer. There's a cost of that.
GUTIERREZ: Russell Pearce is a state senator and the author of SB 1070. He also lives in Mesa, Arizona.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Do you believe that there's any correlation between those empty businesses and Russell Pearce's law?
PEARCE: Well, I think there's a correlation of moment (ph). I think there's a correlation being shared (INAUDIBLE). I think there's a correlation to the tough economy. I don't think I can take credit for all of that. I would be willing to take credit for all of that.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Credit, he says, for forcing people like "Carlos" and "Samantha" to self-deport.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)? What -- what do those boxes represent to you?
"SAMANTHA", LEAVING ARIZONA (through translator): A lot of memories.
GUTIERREZ: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH)? You don't want to go?
"SAMANTHA" (through translator): After 18 years of being here, we have to start all over again in another state.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): "Carlos" says he will remember Arizona as the state that allowed him to achieve his American dream and as the state that took it away.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Mesa, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Of course, the new law goes into effect next week, on Thursday, I believe, the 29th, so we shall see what happens.
Meanwhile, it's time for us to hand this thing over, Kate.
BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE). Yes.
NEWSROOM continues with our favorite, Fredericka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much, Kate, as well as T.J.
