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Army Impersonators Scam Women; Arizona Immigration Showdown; Remembering the Oil Rig Victims; Paid to Smoke Pot; Awaiting Ruling on Arizona Law; How Much Oil Equals How Much Money; Cats with an Infamous Mustache
Aired July 28, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories. A sickening con job. A CNN investigation uncovers someone using pictures of dead soldiers to scam unsuspecting women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some scum bag is using my son's good name and honor to pillage women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The controversial Arizona immigration law. A judge could strike it down before it becomes law in just a couple of hours. We are live from Phoenix. And you're online right now. We are, too. We are following the top stories trending on the internet. And one of those top stories is that tragic plane crash in Pakistan.
Let's get started with our lead story this hour. They use photos of soldiers stolen off the web to create fake profiles of eligible bachelors on a host of different dating Web sites. The scammers' goal, to lure women into falling in love only to dupe them out of money in the end. CNN has confirmed (ph), it is happening to everyone from foot soldiers all the way up to generals at the Pentagon. Special investigations unit correspondent, Abbi Boudreau, is with us here. Now, Abbie, this is horrible. Do these soldiers, in some of these cases, even realize this is happening to them?
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Most of them have no idea it's happening to them. Some of them are stationed overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan, and they have no clue their images are being used by imposters. The U.S. military does know about the scam, but so far, nothing has been done to stop it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the faces of soldiers whose military photos have been stolen and posted on Internet dating sites. This is Specialist Brian Browning. His picture was also stolen and his profile completely made up. (on camera): We came to a story in Oregon to talk to his family because they had no idea that Brian's photograph was being used by some imposter.
PERRY BROWNING, FATHER OF BRIAN BROWNING: Some scumbag is using my son's good name and honor to pillage women.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): What's worse, the Browning's son is not even around to defend himself. Brian Browning was killed in Iraq three years ago.
BROWNING: He was up in -- he took a round. And they killed him instantly. And -- can we stop for a minute?
BOUDREAU (on camera): Sure. Yes.
STACEY CHAPMAN, SCAM VICTIM: Just seeing a photo of a man in uniform -- I really think that was the only thing that grabbed me.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): In a small town in Indiana, Stacy Chapman lives as a single mom. She says she was lonely and looking for love when she was approached online by a man who called himself Christian Browning. He used Brian Browning's military photo as his profile picture.
CHAPMAN: Soldiers have that ethic about them. They are all- American. They have passion. And I thought -- wow. I have everything wrapped up in one package.
BOUDREAU: Instantly she fell for him. They talked on the phone, chatted online. And e-mailed constantly.
CHAPMAN: I went to -- I want to see you walk down the aisle and take your hand the rest of my life. I found someone that wanted me and my children.
BOUDREAU (on camera): She sent him more than $1,000 to try to get him enough money to come home to the States for Christmas. Of course, she had no idea at the time that that's not how the military works. (voice-over): He never came home. It was all a fraud. In fact, in the past year, the army criminal investigation command has received hundreds of complaints of such scams. But since U.S. soldiers are not the perpetrators, there's not much the Army can do.
(on camera): We had to come to this tiny town in central Texas to find somebody who is trying do something to stop this scam. The military hasn't been able to do much to try to stop it and neither has the FBI. So we are about to meet C.J. Grisham these are the soldiers whose pictures have essentially been stolen.
C.J. GRISHAM, U.S. ARMY: Right. Yes. And there's hundreds of them all over the place.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Grisham is a military blogger, a master sergeant in the army who tracks these illusive impossible terse.
GRISHAM: They will send these beautiful missives to the women and --
BOUDREAU (on camera): Make them feel special.
GRISHAM: Make them feel special. There are even instances where the -- scammers will send flowers and chocolates to their house. Shortly after they start bringing up the fact that they need money for, you know, to be able to call them or to use the internet or, you know, I just got shot and I need this or that. There is no such person as Erwin Kelly in the military.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Grisham says there may be thousands of victims. And the imposters likely live in West Africa. Based on some of the e-mails he has tracked. Stacy Chapman was never able to find her online imposter. And likely never will.
CHAPMAN: I really sunk a lot into this man. I let my kids get sucked in by him. I put everything I had into him.
BOUDREAU (on camera): What do you think about the woman who fell in love with your son's picture and profile? She wanted to marry him.
BROWNING: She fell in love with a nice picture of a young man. He was worth falling in love with.
BOUDREAU: Who is the real Brian?
BROWNING: A loving son, caring, funny character, this is a room for Brian.
BOUDREAU: This is the photo. See how it -- last name there, Browning.
BROWNING: Yes.
BOUDREAU: And then that's how they stole his identity.
BROWNING: That's the name tag. That is the name tag right there. Just know scumbag out there, the Brownings are looking for you, hard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And Abbie is, too.
So, Abbie, whatever happened to Brian Browning's photo? Was it taken down from those Web sites?
BOUDREAU: We believe it was taken down from the dating Web sites. But we found out just a little bit ago that his photo has now popped up on Facebook using a completely fake profile. And, I mean, his parents have just had enough. They've already been through so much, and they just want whoever's doing this just to let their son rest in peace.
HARRIS: And how do you know if the person you believe you're meeting online is a real soldier or not? How do you even know? BOUDREAU: Well, there's a lot of things that you can do to figure this out.
You have -- first of all, if they're not writing to you using a military Web site or using their military e-mail address, you can ask them. You know, just "Send me an e-mail and use your military address." And if they say no, that's, number one, a huge red flag.
Number two, they often have misspellings and have grammatical errors and problems like that. We have a ton more information on CNN.com that I hope people check out. And hopefully that helps some people, because it's really just word of mouth, because it's really hard to track these people down.
HARRIS: OK. Terrific story. Thank you, Abbie.
BOUDREAU: Thanks.
HARRIS: Arizona, as you know, is the epicenter today in this divisive debate over illegal immigration. We are waiting to see if a judge will block the state's new law or allow it to take effect tomorrow.
It requires officers to question people about their immigration status if they have been detained and if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says the states acted because the feds were not carrying out their responsibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: We are just helping the feds do their job because they won't do it. The bottom line is that the people of Arizona are frustrated. We shouldn't have to do it.
The federal government should be doing it. And if they won't, well, the legislature and the people of Arizona overwhelmingly believe that we need to enforce it and help them do their job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. Let's get to Phoenix right now, and our correspondent there from KPHO is standing by.
Juan Carlos is with us.
And Juan Carlos, has the judge -- well, good to see you, sir. Has Judge Bolton tipped her hand at all on this? Do we know for sure even that she will issue a ruling today?
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, we don't know if she will issue a ruling. We're hearing that she well. And she hasn't tipped her hand, but what we're hearing from sources is that based on the questions she asked at the hearing, is that it might be a misruling where she agrees with some of the objections the government has with SB 1070 and disagree with others. The question is, what does she agree with, and does it go to the heart of the matter, the government's argument that immigration is federal business, it's not state business, federal -- state law overriding -- sorry, federal law overriding state law? So if those are the objections, then we'll see how that's interpreted and if SB 1070 goes or not into effect at midnight tonight.
HARRIS: OK. And Juan Carlos Lopez is our Washington correspondent for CNN en Espanol.
And Juan Carlos, any clue as to how the judge is leaning?
LOPEZ: Yes. As I was saying, what we're hearing from sources is it might be a mixed ruling where she agrees on some of the objections the government has, she disagrees on others.
HARRIS: And all eyes are obviously on the state, especially law enforcement.
Are we getting indication as to the kind of guidance law enforcement supervisors are giving their officers as they plan to move forward in response to this law?
LOPEZ: They've been under training for several weeks. They're trying to finish up that process. And from speaking to law enforcement officers in Tucson, in Nogales, they've been told to follow the law, to be very careful, to respect civil rights, and to just carry on their business.
HARRIS: All right. CNN en Espanol's Juan Carlos Lopez for us.
Good to see you, sir.
The fate of Arizona's immigration law is in the hands of U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix. And we should learn something inside the next few hours. At least we think we might.
The father of a worker killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion shares his feelings on the disaster in the Gulf.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Ever wonder what it looks like to be surrounded by about 300 hungry alligators? Wonder no more. We have a "Random Moment of the Day" that gets to that question.
A fisherman caught this on camera earlier this month -- whoa -- a virtual wall of reptiles hunting together in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia. All these gators are jammed in a canal about 30 feet wide.
What were they looking for? Well, they're like lie eating mudfish or bowfin. Right? A wildlife biologist tells CNN this rarely happens, maybe once every three or four years. I would call that pretty random.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Is the worst of the oil disaster behind us? BP sure hopes so.
On day 100 of the disaster, the company's incoming chief executive, Bob Dudley, tells CNN the static kill operation will likely get under way on Monday. That is the procedure to permanently seal the well.
Dudley tells us he does not think any oil has leaked from the well since it was capped almost two weeks ago. Once the well is sealed, it will still be a long road ahead for the Gulf Coast.
On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," Dudley talked about his company's commitment to the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB DUDLEY, INCOMING CEO, BP: Well, John, one thing I want to make very, very clear is although I'll be heading off to London in October, the attention on this is this is the single highest priority for BP going forward. It is -- you can build -- the only way you can build a reputation is not just by words, it's by action.
And there's -- I've picked up that people think that once we cap this well, we're going to somehow pack up and disappear. That is certainly not the case.
We've got a lot of cleanup to do. We have got claims facilities. We have got 35 of those around the Gulf Coast.
As of this morning, we wrote $250 million of checks for claims. There's still more to go. We know that. We haven't been perfect at this, but it's a deep, deep personal commitment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A family torn apart and changed forever by the disaster in the Gulf. Gordon Jones was killed in the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The 28-year-old left behind a wife and two young sons. His father, Keith Jones, is with us from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
And Keith, good to have you back on the program.
KEITH JONES, SON KILLED IN GULF OIL EXPLOSION: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: Let me start with this one -- yes, it's great to see you again.
What's your reaction to the news that BP's CEO Tony Hayward is out, moving on?
JONES: Well, like everybody else, I think it's just as well. Tony Hayward was sort of a public relations nightmare for BP.
Today, his last comment was "Life isn't fair," to which my response is, no, Tony. Death isn't fair. That's what's not fair.
He's never been able to see it from anybody's point of view but his own. And that's why I think it's just as well that he's gone.
HARRIS: You think he ever grasped the magnitude of the loss of a son in your case and, you know, a provider for a family? Did he ever grasp that? Or what do you think?
JONES: No, but I don't necessarily think that was his job. Grieving for Gordon's loss is not BP's job, not Transocean's job, not anybody's job but ours, his family, people that loved him. That's our job.
Their job, we expect, is going to be to answer in court for what they did. And it will be their job -- they're supposed to try to figure out what his death means. But no, he never grasped it, but I don't think it really was his job to grasp it.
HARRIS: Got you.
In all the talk of capping the gusher and cleaning up, important topics to be sure, have we lost sight of the fact that 11 workers lost their lives, including your son?
JONES: I don't think so, Tony. My response to that question in one form or another for a long time has been this: Number one, I don't mind that people pay attention to capping the well and so forth, because as I said before, grieving for Gordon is not the nation's job. It's our job. And we're trying our best to do that.
Second of all, I think that the fact that the nation has been riveted by this ongoing gusher and the attempts to cap it has assisted us somewhat in keeping Congress' attention on our goals there in changing the Draconian Death on the High Seas Act to try to make it more fair for all 11 families to recover from the death of these men.
HARRIS: And do you have any better idea of what happened on that rig, why the blowout preventer failed?
JONES: No. I don't think anybody knows why the blowout preventer failed. They won't know that until the blowout preventer is on the surface.
I know that the blowout preventer was largely ignored for a long time, maintenance-wise and so forth. I understand that one of the control pods didn't work and they knew that. But I would remind you that blowout preventers do not cause blowouts.
Many other things led to the blowout. The blowout preventer just happened to be the last defense that they had against the catastrophe that ensued. That it didn't work -- that was the first thing, for example, as I recall, that Tony Hayward blamed, was that the blowout preventer was what made this happen. No. Blowout preventers are only there if many, many mistakes had been made up to that and a blowout situation occurs. There are many levels of protection against blowouts. That's why they just don't happen anymore. One by one, from what I understand, BP peeled back each protection that is there to protect the men on that rig -- men and women on the rig from blowouts and protect the rig itself until finally a blowout was inevitable.
HARRIS: One final question, Keith. We are obviously marking day 100 in this disaster. Does it carry any special significance to you? Does it mean anything more than, say, day 90, day 80?
JONES: No.
HARRIS: Yes.
JONES: I have good days and bad days. And everybody in our family, just as everybody in all 11 families, I'm certain, puts one foot in front of the other, lives a day at a time, deals with it as everyone individually does, as best we can. A hundred is no different from 50, is no different from 47 was.
HARRIS: You have been so classy throughout this. Keith, it's great to see you again. And the best to you.
JONES: Very kind. Thank you very much.
HARRIS: And to your family. Good to talk to you again.
Budget troubles in Oakland, California. People there consider paying more, a lot more, to keep police on the streets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get to Chad Myers now.
And Chad, we're focusing on the beaches and what's happening with the beaches in the aftermath of this oil disaster in the Gulf.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what? I'm afraid this story is going to last for decades, literally, on some of these beaches. And what you need to do to protect your children as they're walking on this decaying crude oil -- this isn't going to go away right away.
And, in fact, we know that if you go up to where all the oil from the Exxon Valdez spilled, into that bay, you can just dig down 18 inches and there's just still oil there. It just sometimes doesn't go away if you don't get the sunshine and the oxygen to break it down.
So what they've done -- this is the National Research Defense Council. What they've done is they've gone ahead and looked at the beaches, the best beaches for the past couple of years. And they've been doing this now for, like, 20 different years. And they looked at the water quality in '09. They looked at, what are last water qualities in the last three years? Has it gone up or down? Has there been a bunch of testing or very little testing? What's the frequency that people go out there and test your water?
And then, obviously, how many closings have been around. And there are some fantastic beaches out there. Well, there were, because Gulf Shores was one of the five-star fantastic beaches in 2009.
In 2010, it's not even going to get a rating. Because you know why? Because it's been closed too many days in a row. They won't even have a water quality test.
But Hampton Beach State Park up in New Hampshire, Huntington Beach, Huntington City Beach and Laguna Beach, you expect all of these West Coast beaches to have great water. Don't you?
HARRIS: Right. Right.
MYERS: And where would you think the worst quality would be, the one-star beaches? Or, for that matter, why even give it one?
Edgewater Beach, Long Sand beach, Coney Island. Is that because the hot dogs are floating up? What? What? Come on, people!
And Myrtle Beach. I didn't expect Myrtle Beach.
HARRIS: No.
MYERS: That's one of the ones that I just didn't think was going to happen.
And the bests -- the worst beaches here down across the -- and there are many criteria. Go into the National Research Defense Council Web site and look at the beaches, because there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands of beaches, all rated, how many times it was closed, what the E. coli content -- this is water quality, not how pretty the beach is.
I know Dr. Beach. There's all of this great stuff. He's got the best stand, he's got the best concessions.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
MYERS: This has nothing to do with concessions. This has to do with, do you want your kids to get in the water?
And some spots, no. Some of the worst beaches here -- Treasure Island Beach. I wouldn't have gotten that either because I've been down there. St. John's Pass? I've been in that water all the time.
I may have to think about it now. I don't know, Tony. Maybe the pool is the place to be after all.
HARRIS: Yes, exactly. And you know, there are pool people and there are beach people. MYERS: Yes.
HARRIS: But I was surprised with Myrtle Beach. But we go there for the golf. Oh, I'm sorry. The kids have to play, too.
MYERS: Correct. They're not talking about the water in the lake that your golf ball is sitting in. That's completely different.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: Thank you, Chad. Reminding me of how badly I play.
We are waiting to see whether a judge allows Arizona's new immigration law to take effect. But some families aren't waiting for the judge's decision. The story of Latinos leaving Arizona.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: The City Council in Fremont, Nebraska, votes to delay enforcement of that city's new law immigration law. Civil rights groups are challenging the law. It prohibits businesses from hiring illegal immigrants and landlords from renting to them.
The city manager says Fremont situation are different from Arizona's. He says voters approved the law in June to preserve the quality of life. The City Council voted to delay the ordinance to avoid a temporary restraining order and speed up the legal process.
We are waiting to see whether or not a judge will block Arizona's tough new immigration law set to take effect tomorrow. So, what if you lived in Arizona? Say you're in this country legally, but your spouse is not, and the new law is about to be enforced. What do you do?
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports 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, LEAVING ARIZONA: This is the living room. This is my boy's room.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Yes, 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.
(on camera): You love the state?
CARLOS: Arizona, yes.
GUTIERREZ: And now?
CARLOS: Little by little, they're pushing us out.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): They would say you're leaving because you want to go. You don't have to go.
CARLOS: I don't have to go? I do, for my family's sake.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): Your wife is undocumented?
CARLOS: Yes.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Carlos is a legal resident. Their children are American. But he says they can't run the risk that his wife could be arrested and deported.
(on camera): You're one family who's leaving. Do you think there are others?
CARLOS: There's many, there are a lot of people who have left since this started.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Todd Landfried agrees.
TODD LANDFRIED, ARIZONA EMPLOYERS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM: This was just another strip mall in the 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 in the state's immigration laws and a bad economy.
LANDFRIED: Anytime 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, ARIZONA STATE SENATE: If it comes with that invasion of illegal aliens, it's an obstruction to the rule of law and a damage to the taxpayer. There's a cost to that.
GUTIERREZ: Russell Pearce is a state senator and the author of SB-1070. He also lives in Mesa, Arizona.
(on camera): Do you believe there's any correlation between those empty businesses and Russell Pearce's law?
PEARCE: I think there's a correlation, probably. I think there's a correlation to the war. I think there's a correlation to the tough economy. I don't think I'd take credit for all of that.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Credit, he says, for forcing people like Carlos and Samantha to self-deport.
(on camera): What do those boxes represent to you?
SAMANTHA: A lot of memories.
GUTIERREZ: You don't want to go?
SAMANTHA: After 18 years of being here, we have to start all over again in another state.
(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)
HARRIS: Testing the quality of medical marijuana. Really? Meet the man who gets paid to get high.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get you to the best financial Web site on the web at CNNmoney.com, your source for financial news. I'm just trying to figure out what -- all right, we've been talking about -- well, Chad just talked about this a moment ago, searching for tourists on oily beaches and the impact of the oil on beaches may be a decade -- decades from now we'll still be talking about the impact of that.
Let's get to the big board, New York Stock Exchange. Better than three hours into the trading day. And we've been trading in negative territory for most of the morning, most of the day so far. We're down 16 points. But that is at least off session lows. And the NASDAQ is down as well, 13.
You know, some 26 million people smoke marijuana in the United States legally and illegally. It is now legal for patients to smoke medical marijuana in 14 states and, as of yesterday, Washington, D.C. It has been legal in Colorado for a decade now, but you'll never believe what one man in Denver is paid to do. Here's CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Not only is this legal, it pays the bills.
HARLOW (on camera): So you get paid to smoke pot and write about it?
WILLIAM BREATHES, MARIJUANA CRITIC: I get paid to smoke pot and write about it, yes. HARLOW (voice-over): His pen name is William Breathes and he's one of the first medical marijuana critic in the country. We can't show you his face, because his job depends on staying anonymous, just like a restaurant critic.
HARLOW (on camera): You can be high doing your job?
BREATHES: And my boss knows it.
HARLOW (voice-over): A decade after medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado, it's estimated about 2 percent of the state's population, or more than 100,000 people, have applied for medical marijuana licenses. According to one Harvard economists, roughly $18 billion is spent on pot every year in the U.S. And Denver's "Westword" paper has capitalized as just that, hiring Breathes as a pot critic who reviews the dispensaries and the quality of the marijuana they sell.
JONATHAN SHIKES, MANAGING EDITOR, DENVER WESTWORD: He has a journalism degree. He was a good writer. And he could also punctuate and he could spell, which was very different than a lot of people who applied for the job.
HARLOW: As for Breathes, he's been smoking for 15 years to ease chronic stomach pains, but now his medicine pays his mortgage. We tagged along to see for ourselves, and we didn't take our cameras inside, but take a listen.
BREATHES: Oh, that's great.
CLERK: Wanna do the cough?
BREATHES: I'm going to have to go with that.
CLERK: Cool. An eighth or --
BREATHES: Yes, I'll go with an eighth. Do you guys have any (INAUDIBLE).
HARLOW (on camera): Can you -- can you show us what you got?
BREATHES: Yes, I got a joint -- a pre-rolled joint of some sour diesel and some really chunky, real -- real good looking pot.
HARLOW: I can smell it.
BREATHES: Yes, you can smell the musk.
HARLOW: It's like permeating the whole car.
BREATHES: Yes, exactly. That muskiness is something you really look for in --
HARLOW: Does that means it's good?
BREATHES: Yes. HARLOW (voice-over): Back at his home office, it's time to get to work.
BREATHES: Load up a little bit and taste it. Try to taste the smoke as it comes out. And like I was saying, it has a real like woody finish. And then, you know, after a few hits of that you try and feel what type of buzz it is and what it's doing to my body medically.
HARLOW (on camera): So you know the critics would say that you just want to get high.
BREATHES: Oh, yes, definitely. And I'm not going to lie. There is -- there's a fun aspect to this medicine. But if you can see me on a morning when I'm really sick, when pot really helps me the most, it's truly medical.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Truly medical and a pretty unbelievable job, Tony. I couldn't even believe it myself until I saw this guy. And just to give you an idea of what a budding business this is, Denver has more than 200 dispensaries in the city alone, Tony. That is more than the Starbucks they have in Denver. Literally lining the street there. One of the streets they nicknamed Fraudsterdam for obvious reasons.
Tony.
HARRIS: A real woody taste is what we heard him say in this.
HARLOW: I know. Isn't that amazing. He takes it very seriously, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, he does. No, he does.
Poppy, all right, so you're talking about 200 shops there.
HARLOW: Right.
HARRIS: What's the real economic impact of this business in Colorado?
HARLOW: Yes, I mean, so we have 14 states that have already approved this. Colorado, it's been on the books for 10 years. They're used to medical marijuana. The impact is, there's a 2.9 percent sales tax right now on medical marijuana. So talk about good revenue coming in.
But a city councilman in Denver has proposed a 6 percent additional sales tax, which obviously the people that smoke medical marijuana don't like. But what he says is, you use that for youth programs. So he's pushing for that right now. We're going to see a lot more reforms coming to Colorado in terms of medical marijuana starting on August 1st. Much more -- much tighter regulation of that industry. We'll see what that does. But a lot of jobs certainly created more than, I suppose, at Starbucks, at least in Denver.
Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, it sounds like it. And more at CNNmoney.com?
HARLOW: Yes, we've got the full story here.
HARRIS: All right. Perfect. Good to see you, Poppy. Thank you.
HARLOW: You, too.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, cruelty to animals or a cherished tradition? We will explain what's happening to this pretty bloody sport. We're back in a moment.
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HARRIS: A CNN oil alert on day 100 of the disaster in the Gulf. BP says it has spent more than $4 billion so far on costs associated with its damaged well. Now the company projects it will spend another $60 million in advanced payments to claimants beginning next month.
In Michigan, Governor Jennifer Granholm is hoping to avoid what she calls a smaller version of what's happened in the Gulf. She is pushing the federal government and a Canada energy company to increase efforts to clean up an oil spill in the Kalamazoo River.
And the contentious tradition of bull fighting banned in a part of Spain. It is being outlawed on animal cruelty grounds in the Catalonia region. It is dividing animal rights activists and those who argue bull fighting is a central part of Spanish culture.
Arizona, as you know, is the epicenter of the day in the divisive battle over illegal immigration. We are waiting to see if a judge will block the state's new law or allow it to take effect tomorrow. It requires officers to question people about their immigration status if they have been detained and if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. CNN's Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joining us now from Washington with more.
Jeanne, good to see you.
Of course there are several possible options for the judge here. Maybe you could take a moment and lay some of those out for us.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sure, Tony.
First, let me emphasize that nobody really knows what's going to happen. They don't know precisely when it's going to happen, though there's a widespread expectation that something's going to be said today. A couple of possibilities that have been laid out by those who are very familiar with this procedure.
One is that the judge could say, I'm not ready to rule, but here's a time line on when I do expect to take some formal action. Another possibility is that she would grant the junction, stopping the law from going into effect while she does further considerations of its various components. And the third possibility is that she would grant the injunction or not grant the injunction and also rule on some of the specifics of the law. The expectation by many people who heard her arguments is that there will be some sort of split decision here.
Tony, back to you.
HARRIS: OK. And, Jeanne, appreciate it. And I know you'll be following and helping us on this story throughout the day. Jeanne Meserve in Washington for us.
Figuring out how much oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. Why is that so important? It could actually determine how much BP pays.
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HARRIS: Texas is beginning new proceedings to extradite polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to face rape charges. This comes after Utah's supreme court tossed out his felony convictions on charges he forced a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin. The courts ruled state attorneys had overreached in their argument that performing the marriage amounted to Jeffs being an accomplice to rape. Justices ordered a new trial for the self-proclaimed Mormon profit. Legal analysts Jeffrey Toobin looks at what might happen next.
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JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There are other possibilities in this case, because Jeffs is under indictment in Texas for an actual rape. This is a case about aiding and abetting someone else's rape. He's charged in an actual rape. What's going to happen now is that Texas and Utah will have a have a conversation about which is the next case to go forward. And given the difficulty of asking Elissa to testify again, and given the fact that the Texas charges are actually more serious and potentially carry a longer prison term, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the whole Jeffs case moved to Texas at this point.
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HARRIS: The Gulf oil disaster reaches the 100 day mark. And the question of how much oil flowed into the water is a critical one. It could determine how much BP pays in fines. CNN's Lisa Sylvester looks at the latest estimates compared with what the company initially said.
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LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After the April 20th explosion, BP initially pegged the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at 1,000 barrels a day. That number was revised upward to 5,000 barrels a day.
BOB DUDLEY, BP CEO-DESIGNATE: Five thousand is the estimate. And, again, it's not a BP estimate, it's a unified command center estimate with the Coast Guard.
SYLVESTER: The government then brought in an independent team of scientists. The flow rate technical group on May 27th upped the daily flow rate between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day. Then June 15th, the team more than doubled the estimate to 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day.
Now, new BP records, released by Representative Edward Markey, showed the company figured as recently as July 6th it was 53,000 barrels a day, on the high side of the latest range and well above BP's initial exclaims.
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: BP was either lying or they were grossly incompetent in the first week, in the second week, in the third week. And by being so wrong, it also delayed the massive response, which would have been put in place earlier.
SYLVESTER: The amount of oil matters. First, there's the impact on the environment. And, second, the more oil, the more BP has to pay in fines.
FADEL GHEIT, OPPENHEIMER SENIOR OIL ANALYST: There are EPA fines that, in case of accident, companies would pay fines of $1,100 per barrel of oil spilled. If it proves to be gross negligence, then they would pay $4,300. That's a big difference.
SYLVESTER: $1,100 for each barrel on the low end, $4,300 on the high end. Do the math, even subtracting out the amount of oil that BP says either evaporated or was captured, and it is a staggering figure ranging from more than $3.5 billion to nearly $15 billion in potential fines.
SYLVESTER (on camera): We reached out to BP to get its response. BP officials say all flow rates have been joint government and BP estimates. And they say this new figure of 53,000 barrels a day is a figure that federal officials asked them to used based on their projected collection capacity in order to figure out how much dispersant to use. BP clearly downplaying this figure with a lot of money at stake here.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
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HARRIS: Well, here's a question for you, do you have a cat with a toothbrush mustache? Well, most people know it as the one Adolf Hitler wore. If so, you'll want to stick around for what's hot on the Internet. Jeanne Moos tells us all about Kitlers.
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HARRIS: So you know in considering this next story, I'm wondering how could a cat resemble Adolf Hitler. Well, apparently, so many cats do that a Web site is devoted to them. CNN's Jeannie Moos explains it's not a new Web site but it's what's hot on the Internet these days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When somebody puts a Hitler mustache on President Obama or President Bush, it's downright disturbing. But when the mustache is natural growth on a cat, then what you have is catsthatlooklikehitler.com.
STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Aww.
MOOS: And every time Stephen Colbert in the U.S., or Graham Norton in England mention it --
GRAHAM NORTON, "THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW": Catsthatlooklikehitler.com.
MOOS: The four-year-old Web site spikes.
NORTON: This is an accident, right? Their cat happens to look like Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they're bred.
MOOS: Cats that look like Hitler are referred to as Kitlers. The latest Kitlers. The bestest Kitlers. With names like Adolf.
MOOS (on camera): Have you ever seen cats that look like Hitler?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. That's cool, though.
MOOS (voice-over): Yes, well some gave it the cold shoulder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
MOOS (on camera): No, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're leaving.
MOOS: OK.
MOOS (voice-over): The Web site was created by a Dutchman and is now run by an Englishman. It even includes a section called, we hate kitlers, where those who are offended can sound off.
"I myself think this site is a disgrace. Hitler killed every living thing there was and he would kill these cute cats if he was still here."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tasteless is what I would say.
MOOS: But when the Web site's operator posed the frequently asked question, "aren't you glorifying Hitler?," he responds, "Hitler was a disgusting, pus-ridden lump of excrement. I think it's entirely appropriate to reduce him to an object of ridicule."
MOOS (on camera): Do you see the resemblance?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Except for the mustache, no.
MOOS (voice-over): Hitler cats now prowl YouTube, hosted by their owners. Some seen as aggressive as their name sake. And while Hitler himself rants in perpetuity, the Hitler cats speak their own less gutteral (ph) language.
After this latest mention by Stephen Colbert.
COLBERT: Adorable uberalus (ph).
MOOS: Cats That Look Like Hitler got the Colbert bump, trending as the hottest animal Web site being searched on Google. One of the Web site favorites got the supreme complement, heil kitler, though some quibbled with Adolf's resemblance to Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looks more like Charlie Chaplin with a comb-over.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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HARRIS: This may be my favorite story of the day. How about this? Top diplomat Condoleezza Rice, the queen of soul, right, Aretha Franklin. Music for your ears and to your ears.
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HARRIS: I just love this. A political powerhouse and a musical -- well, she is, she's musical royalty. This is an amazing collaboration. Check it out for yourself.
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HARRIS: How about this? The queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice making music together at the Mann Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Rice is a classically trained pianist. There she is. Move the camera in on Lady Condoleezza. Aretha Franklin belting out, of course, some of her biggest hits. The concert benefitting inner city youth programs and education initiatives. That was terrific stuff.
It is time to go. You see the man over my left shoulder. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, in for Ali Velshi.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: I know you were loving that, Aretha.
HARRIS: I love it. It was terrific.
HOLMES: And Condoleezza Rice bouncing a little behind that piano.
HARRIS: There was a little bounce and flow.
HOLMES: All right. Tony, good to see you. I will see you later, buddy.
