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BP Oil Spill; Arizona's New Immigration Law; Pakistan Floodwaters; Dating Site Scam; 9/11 Compensation Bill; Deepwater Explosion Victims

Aired July 31, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You have heard the question, where is all the oil in the Gulf? Those in charge of cleaning it up say a lot of it has dispersed. Then again, listen to what some people who live there told me earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: As for those claims from the federal government that the oil is vanishing fast in the Gulf of Mexico, Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser a skeptic.

BILLY NUNGESSER, PLAQUEMINES PARISH PRESIDENT: I still can't tell you who is in charge.

ACOSTA: At a closed door meeting Nungesser and a group of local leaders locked arms with the National Incident commander for the oil spill Thad Allen. Some aren't buying Allen's repeated statements that the oil is dissipating.

ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET) NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: It's more dispersed and harder to find. We are going to try and be as aggressive as we can with skimmer offshore to try and deal with this oil off shore. But again, we are finding less and less oil as we move forward.

ACOSTA: Why would Thad Allen say, we just don't see the oil like we used to anymore?

NUNGESSER: Because he has said this from day one. I'm sorry, Thad Allen. He doesn't have a clue.

ACOSTA: Nungesser showed us these pictures of photos he says were taken a staff just yesterday, photos capturing bans of oil in his Parish. When he tried to share the photos with Allen, he says, things got heated.

NUNGESSER: There are real problems when you say there is no oil and we are out there busting our butts trying to save our marshland.

ACOSTA: Louisiana boater Brian Scorsone the talk of the incredibly shrinking oil spill sounds like a fish tail. Are things getting better out here?

BRIAN SCORSONE, LOUISIANA RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN: The feds are wrong. That's all I got to say. ACOSTA: But he had more to say when we pulled up to these oil-covered marshes.

SCORSONE: This is the nursery right here.

ACOSTA: For all the life out here?

SCORSONE: That is it. This is your nursery and your filter. I'm not a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

ACOSTA: At this marina, we found more signs of trouble these oil- covered marsh hens rescued by wildlife officials. As for Allen he denies his comments while optimistic give the wrong impression.

ALLEN: We have never said all the oil is gone and this is a catastrophic event, they are all in the marshes we need to keep working on this.

ACOSTA: But Billy Nungesser fears Allen and Bp are simply setting the stage to pull out their resources.

NUNGESSER: It seems like they want this thing put to rest. It looks like they are the spokesperson for Bp. They are the spokesperson for Bp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Billy Nungesser there, more on the oil spill later this hour. First, here are some of the other headlines that we are reporting on this afternoon. Heavy flooding has killed as many as 800 people in northwest Pakistan. The raging waters washed away homes, schools and government buildings.

The federal judge's injunction on parts of Arizona's immigration law will have to wait until at least November. That is when a court will hear an appeal on the injunction from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

And today is the day for Chelsea Clinton; the former first daughter is marrying Marc Mezvinsky. A not so secret wedding, perhaps you have heard about it, is taking place in upstate New York.

A court injunction blocking parts of Arizona's controversial new immigration law will remain in place until a hearing in November. A federal appeals court has designed Arizona's appeal for an earlier hearing. Meanwhile the governor maybe working on another plan. Dan Simons joins us live in Phoenix for us on that. And Dan I guess this was not unexpected?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well I think what Jan Brewer is looking to do is maybe figure out a way to expedite things with the courts and maybe make some language that tweets to this bill, something that would make the law more palatable to the appeals court as things go forward. The Arizona Republic reporting that she has talked with Republican lawmakers about possibly having a special session where they would consider some language tweets to this bill, things a bit preliminary, Jim. ACOSTA: But in the meantime, you know what we've seen over the past few days here in Arizona is that this state is more divided than ever. We have seen thousands of protesters take to the streets. Something like 64 people arrested in recent days. Particularly with the Hispanic population here. Obviously, they are far against this bill, very much against this bill. Somewhere about 80 percent or so Hispanics against it.

But what is interesting, what we've discovered is that even within the Hispanic community, there can be wide disagreement. We spent last night with a family that lives in Phoenix and have for more than three decades. The Kingery family, they have a large family. Every Friday night, they do this taco night and even within the family a huge disagreement. When you talk to people on the anti-side, they say, what they are most concerned about is racial profiling. I want you to listen to some of that sound right now. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON (voice over): You are worried it is going to lead to racial profiling?

EDDIE KINGERY, OPPTIMIST SB 1070: I do. I mean honestly I do. think it happens. I mean, it is so easy to see the color of skin, the color of skin is such an easy way to say, hey, they are probably here illegally. I just think that the law inspires racial profiling. It does inspire racism. I just do. I have grown up with racism; I grew up with people calling me names and saying things because I'm Mexican and because of the color of my skin and all that. I don't like that. I just feel that the new immigration law inspires more of that. I feel that it is going to eventually divide the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: So that's the main position on the anti-side that the law will lead to racial profiling. The family about evenly split, maybe a few more on the anti side. When you talk to people on the pro-side of things, they talk about the economy and the way the system is built where illegal immigrants in their view are overburdening the health care system and the education system. They also talked about crime. I want you to listen to that now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON (voice over): How do you think it will help?

IDA KINGERY, SUPPORTS SB 1070: I think that once the law is passed, it will give a little bit of ease, you know, for the people that are non Hispanic. It will make them feel more comfortable. Because right now, they think that all the immigrants that are coming in are coming in as criminals. They are not all criminals. I think this will help eventually for them to not think that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: So you are going to be hearing more from that family through out the day, a very frank discussion. We will keep tabs on the governor's office. Back to you.

ACOSTA: Some strong feelings down there in Arizona, even in some families. Dan Simon thanks for being there for us.

Another delay in efforts to cap Bp's wounded oil well. Federal officials now say it will be Tuesday before they can begin sealing the well with what's going called a static kill. The latest delay is caused by debris from tropical storm Bonnie. Crews have to clean that away before the static kill procedure can be performed. Oil spill Chief Thad Allen, says the delay is not a huge problem.

In the course of media this week asked the question, where is the oil? The takeaway from that question is, if you can't see it, it must be gone. Mike Frenette might have some words about that. He is a charter boat captain in southern Louisiana. Mike you said this week, if people want to know where the oil is, you will be happy to show them where it is at. I guess what is your take on this question that was raised this past week? You have heard it from federal officials and you heard members of the media picking up on it. Obviously after the federal officials said that the oil is vanishing quickly and that we just don't see as much of it anymore, what's your take on it?

MIKE FRENETTE, LOUISIANA CHARTER CAPTAIN: Well Jim vanishing quickly is certainly a different terminology. We have approximately 175 million gallons of oil that is unaccountable in the Gulf of Mexico south of Venice. And what we have is oil that's been contaminated with the dispersant, sub-surface oil now. What we are seeing depending on the currents, depending on the conditions, wave action, title wings everything, this oil is now moving inshore from underneath. You don't see it as it is approaching it just inundates the coastlines along the beaches of south paths, southwest paths, paths to the richest area of the Delta region south of Venice.

We have to be concerned about our wetlands. This sub surface oil is sitting on the bottom. There is a lot of grasses you can't see, vegetation below the surface. If we lose that vegetation, we will lose an accelerated amount of our wetlands that we can not afford to lose. This is the area where all of our shell fish are raised and they are born here. We have to be concerned about all of this. Not only that, the juveniles, the embryos, the eggs, and larva of all these species are coming in contact with the sub-surface oil. There is no question they have done a tremendous job on cleaning up the surface. We have to clean up the bottoms.

ACOSTA: That's the part you cannot see. You brought with your presence here today some pictures, some photographs of what we are up against out there. Let's look at some of those pictures and talk about that. Obviously, this is proof that the oil is still there. I guess, Mike, do you get frustrated when you hear that story line emerge this past week? Where is the oil? We are out of the woods. That must have been pretty frustrating for you.

FRENETTE: Unfortunately, perception is a strong point here. The rest of the nation may seem like just because the oil on the surface is gone. It kind of seems like Bp wants to make the image that everything is back to normal. We are not even close to being back to normal. Like I said before, we have 175 million gallons of oil that is unaccounted for that's sub surface, below the surface, that has the potential of contaminating a lot of vegetation, a lot of the wetlands, a lot of the marine life and a lot of the animals.

We have to be very, very concerned about this, that the Coast Guard and the federal government has got to keep pressure on Bp to maintain 100 percent of the cleanup efforts. Just because we can't see the oil on the surface doesn't mean we have the potential for serious problems below the surface.

ACOSTA: Do you think part of the reason why we heard so many optimistic assessments, rosy scenarios this past week, is because this has been such an agonizing, traumatic experience that's gone on for months and months, people just want this to be over with, and that includes the federal government and obviously Bp?

FRENETTE: No question. Myself included and all the members of our charter boat association. We want this to be over but it is not over and it is not going to be over. It will not be over and done with overnight. We have some tremendous issues that we have to deal with. There is no question that people want this to go away. I want it to go away. We have to be realists about this that there is a tremendous amount of, if you want to call it, pollution, below the surface as a result of this. It wasn't me. It wasn't us. It wasn't the rest of the people in the nation that decided to use the dispersant on the oil in the surface.

That created the out of sight, out of mind type of venue that we are looking at right now. So now we are faced with a tremendous amount of oil below the surface that has the potential to cause serious damage. This is the oil that really has to be addressed. Certainly, the oil on the surface to me is the easier one to address and clean up. Now, we have tremendous amount oil again below the surface that has to be addressed. Because it is going to cause serious problems in the future, it may not be causing problems today but two, three, four years down the road, we are going to see serious problems if this oil is not cleaned up below the surface.

ACOSTA: Mike, you bring up some excellent points. You can say it better than just about anybody out there, that this is an ebbing and flowing disaster and just because one week the oil doesn't appear to be out there, doesn't mean that we are going to be home free in the next week or the month after that. As you said, there is a lot of that sub-surface oil that we have to contend with. Charter boat captain, Mike Frenette joining us live from New Orleans this afternoon. Mike we could go on all day about this. They won't let us so appreciate your time.

FRENETTE: I understand.

ACOSTA: Good luck to you sir.

FRENETTE: Thank you very much for your time.

ACOSTA: All right. Well over seas deadly flooding in Pakistan. Hundreds of homes are washed away; schools and government buildings are falling like dominos. You will not believe this video when you see it that is coming up in just a few moments. .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Southern Arizona residents could go forced from their homes by flash floods. Heavy rains have flooded around the area of Nogales. Officials are afraid the floods could block off roads in and out of several neighborhoods. We will be keeping an eye on that.

In California, the problem is heat and flames. Wildfires have charred more than 30,000 acres in Los Angeles County, the tanker planes are being used to fight the biggest challenge, the so-called crown fire, and it is about 62 percent contained. A mandatory evacuation has been lifted but a voluntary one remains and high temperatures are not helping fire crews. Let's bring in our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui you know we are not getting a break from this heat almost coast to coast. It is unbelievable out there.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is out there. Yes millions of people literally suffering. The higher the temperatures and the lower the humidity the worst the fire conditions will continue to be out west. Unfortunately, no big breaks are expected with that. We are going to continue to see showers and thundershowers with the threat of flooding all across the four corners region right at least through the rest of the weekend.

Now we are also tracking thunderstorms across the southeast, these could be severe today. We are most concerned about wind damage with these thunderstorms; we could also see maybe some urban flooding with some of the isolated storms. You can see the two watch boxes that include down towards Atlanta and into the Charleston area for that ongoing threat right through the evening hours. Keep that in mind if you have dinner plans or you are heading outside for tonight.

In addition to those storms, Jim mentioned the heat. It is brutal out there. Look at the heat advisories and the warnings that are widespread across the southeast. This heat is going to continue to build. It is not going to get better. It is going to bet worse if anything. This is going to last until Tuesday potentially into Wednesday as well.

It is the end of the month of July. As we head into August, we kind of turn the corner with activity when it comes to hurricanes. It is the time of the year that we see these waves that come off the coast of Africa and develop and can make their way all the way over to the U.S. coast. They are responsible for the vast majority of major hurricanes. We have two areas that we are watching, one of which could potentially be a Cape Verd storm. The chances are potentially even greater so we want to let you know that is out there. There is another wave north of South America that we will be watching. That doesn't look like conditions are nearly as favorable. It looks like things are going to get pretty active in the week ahead. We will keep you updated.

ACOSTA: Well we don't want to hear anything that might interfere with the operation going on in the Gulf right now to take care of that well.

JERAS: Way too early to say.

ACOSTA: Keeping an eye on it. Thank you Jacqui, appreciate it.

Coming up Josh Levs has the hottest videos on line this week. Josh what are we seeing today?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the future, our cars are going to park themselves.

ACOSTA: Really?

LEVS: This is actually happening right now. Coming up, I will show you this.

Plus, a 4-year-old drummer and the greatest compilation ever of dads catching foul balls while they hold their babies. It is all next in "Viral Video Rewind."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: All right. Checking top stories, the prime suspect in leaking thousands of military documents to a website is now being held in solitary confinement. Army private Bradley Manning is accused of sending 91,000 pages of documents on the war in Afghanistan to Wikileaks which posted most of the pages on the internet. The FBI and the Defense Department are working together on the investigation. They are also looking for possible accomplices.

And a cleanup is underway in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, an oil pipeline you may have heard ruptured there spilling as many as one million gallons of oil. The river flows into Lake Michigan. Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow says the Canadian company that runs the pipeline will pay for the cleanup.

You are going to love this. It is time for Josh Levs to take his weekly look at viral videos. I saw in the tease there something about cars that park themselves. I thought we were supposed to be flying cars right now.

LEVS: You know what; those are some of my favorite viral videos of like the retro futurism. We are supposed to be flying it ourselves. We are starting off with; you know how once in a while a talented child catches the internet by storm. Take a look at the drum action on this kid. Four years old, Howard Long, look at what he does.

ACOSTA: Check out that little guy.

LEVS: He really is good. He is rocking out to "I Hate Myself for Loving You." Skip to the next section and watch what he does. He has got so many fans on line right now. I don't know how he keeps a beat the whole time. I love this little kid. He is catching the internet by storm. This video alone that I'm showing you posted earlier this year, 8 million views already for this one kid.

ACOSTA: At least he has a talent. Charlie bit my finger, that's just a kid biting another kid's finger. LEVS: Thank you for saying that. I always say that. People are like, no, it is so good. We are talking about kids. We have kids. We are dads.

ACOSTA: We do, yes.

LEVS: This is a brilliant video compilation of dads catching foul balls while holding their kids. Take a look at this from Deadspin.

ACOSTA: I know we are going here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): A one, a two, a three.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Baby, I'm --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: You have to look real closely. Look at the dad.

You will see what happens. This is typically dads that bring their small children to baseball games that manage catch foul balls in one hand while holding the kid in the other hand.

ACOSTA: That's talent.

LEVS: It's pretty amazing. They set this to the song, "Baby I'm Bored." An episode of the Simpson's by a barbershop quartet called the Dapper Dads.

ACOSTA: What about the dads that still lung for the baseball while holding their children.

LEVS: Is it crazy or smart? The kids don't seem to appreciate it. They will someday.

ACOSTA: Once you show them this videotape which will live on in infamy on line.

LEVS: This is pretty cool. People love to watch stuff getting destroyed. It reminds me of when I was little and Star Wars came out. Things being destroyed slow-mo.

ACOSTA: You can almost medicate to that music.

LEVS: This was produced by Phil and James Adair, a high speed camera.

ACOSTA: That's proof that not all youtube videos have to look terrible. This is impressive.

LEVS: Makes me want to go destroy things.

ACISTA: Good production values right there.

LEVS: Now time for what we were talking about with parking. I didn't know this exists already. I have always thought it should, you know. Here is what it is. We can start in Budapest in Hungary. They show this area, this popular square, used to be covered with cars. They thought, what can we do about this? They created this automatic garage. Watch what happens here. You pull your car into a platform and you get out. It lowers the car on its own to an empty spot. You don't need a valet or people involved. It finds the place for it automatically. You get a token and come and pick your car up later. It elevates your car back to you and you can get in and drive away.

ACOSTA: This could change everything.

LEVS: We should have things like this.

ACOSTA: I probably won't miss as many flights heading to the airport if I could park this way.

LEVS: We would lose the excuse to call the boss and say we missed the flight.

ACOSTA: This raises the question, how much is that parking lot going to cost to pay for that system? You know what I'm saying.

LEVS: It is worth it to save the time of not having to look around for a parking spot. As always, all the links are up for you. My facebook page. I always put it on facebook, because that's the best system for lots and lots of links. Facebook.com/joshlevs.com.

ACOSTA: We won't have you tomorrow.

LEVS: Back on the road.

ACOSTA: I have to go back to New Orleans. We thought we were going to get flying cars. Instead, we got parking garages that park cars. We will take what we can get.

LEVS: It's something.

ACOSTA: All right. More coming up in just a minute. Stick with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: It's a breaking story that we have been following all afternoon, deadly floods have ripped through northwest Pakistan knocking down homes left and right. At least 800 people are dead. Our Reza Sayah has this report.

REZA SAYAH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We are getting our first look at the damage caused by three days of floods and record-breaking monsoon here is Pakistan. And what we're seeing a disaster in communities that are going to take perhaps years to rebuild. The hardest hit area is the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, here in the city of Charasadda, which is two hours west of Islamabad, floodwaters have swept away hundreds of homes. Officials you telling CNN, scores of businesses, schools and government building also destroyed.

So, what's left of your home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing is left. Four walls, two or three bedrooms, they are all of everything left (INAUDIBLE), TV, everything are just swimming in the water and we are nothing to save.

SAYAH: You are looking at the Swat River, one of the reasons rescue and relief crews haven't been able to get to all the victims is because many of the bridges in the area are impassable. This is one of them connecting Charsadda to villages west. Look at the mud and muck that's covering this bridge. You have a tree blocking this bridge. Who knows where this tree came from.

And look at what the floodwaters did to this part of the bridge, just simply sucked it right under. This is how powerful these floodwaters were.

With many of the bridges impassable, sometimes the only way to cross area rivers is by boat.

(voice-over): What you are looking at is boats where the owner is charging the equivalent of 80 cents for taking people across the river and sometimes with the heat and the circumstances, frustrations set in. This is a fight that took place inside one of the boats that was packed with about 20 people, local residents fighting for a spot to get across the river.

(on camera): This is the road that connects Charsadda to Peshawar, much is damaged, and it's a chaotic scene, tens of kilometers down that way and tens of kilometers down that way. These are people who have lost their homes, many of them lost all their belongings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I think so, government should have to take (INAUDIBLE), they should have to help you, especially in the rebuilding.

SAYAH: Government officials are calling this the worst natural disaster this area has ever seen with a million people impacted. They say they're trying to get helicopters, boats and relief crews here as soon as possible, but as you heard, many of the people we have spoken to, help isn't arriving soon enough and patients is running thin.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Charasadda, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: A special investigation coming up, an online scam. Imposters steal photos of soldiers, fraudulently posted them on dating Web sites and then scam women out of money. You're not going to want to miss this, it's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: 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, luring women into falling in love only to dupe them out of money in the end. CNN has confirmed it's happening to everyone from foot soldiers all the way up to generals at the Pentagon, most of whom have no idea their images are being used by imposters. But, as Special Investigations Unit correspondent, Abbie Boudreau reports, the U.S. military knows about the scam, but so far has done nothing to stop it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN 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 Astoria, Oregon to talk to his family because they had no idea that Brian's photograph was being used by some impostor.

PERRY BROWNING, BRIAN BROWNING'S FATHER: Some scumbag is using my son's good name and honor to pillage women.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): What's worst, the Brownings' son is not even around to defend himself. Brian Browning was killed in Iraq three years ago.

BROWNING: He was up in a guard tower. He just took a round and it killed him instantly, and -- can we stop for a minute?

BOUDREAU: Sure, yeah.

STACEY CHAPMAN, SCAM VICTIM: Just seeing a photo of a man in uniform. I really think that was the only thing that kind of grabbed me.

BOUDREAU: In what small town in Indiana, Stacey Chapman lived 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're all American. They have passion. And I thought, wow, I've got everything wrapped up in one package.

BOUDREAU: Instantly she fell for him. They talked on the phone, chatted on line and e-mailed constantly.

CHAPMAN: "I want to see you walk down that aisle and I want take your hand for 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 give 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 actually find somebody who is trying to 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're about to meet C.J. Grisham.

These are the soldiers whose pictures have essentially have been stolen.

C.J. GRISHAM, MILITARY BLOGGER: Right, yes and there's hundreds of them all over the place.

BOUDREAU: Grisham is a military blogger, a Master Sergeant in the Army who tracks these elusive impostors.

GRISHAM: They'll send these beautiful missives to the women and...

BOUDREAU: Make them feel special...

GRISHAM: ...make them feel special and there are even instances where the scammers will send flowers and chocolates to their house; shortly after, they start bring up the fact that they need money 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 Irwin Kelley 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's tracked.

Stacey Chapman was never able to find her online impostor 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: Well, 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 has your last name right there, Browning. And then that's how they stole his identity.

BROWNING: That's the name tag. That is the name tag, right there. So just know, scum bag out there, the Brownings are looking for you, hard.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ACOSTA: Wow. Well, it won't be easy for the Browning family to stop these scam artists. Brain Browning's photo has since surfaced on FaceBook under a fake profile and C.J. Grisham, the one policing all this has learned his photo has been used on a dating Web site. He assures us he is happily married and warns women to be more careful when searching for love online.

He did words in Congress over a bill to provide medical help for 9/11 first responders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes. It is a shame! A shame!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: We will tell you why this New York Democrat lashed out and why Republicans are opposing the bill. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: A man who ran a notorious torture prison in Cambodia was found guilty of war crimes this week. More than 14,000 people died at the prison during the Khmer Rouge era. This week's "CNN Hero" has a direct tie to that terrible era. He was a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge, but now spends every day trying to atone for his violent past. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKI RA, CNN HERO (through translator): My name is Aki Ra. When I was 10 years old, the Khmer Rouge chose me to be a soldier. Then I was trained in how to lay land mines.

Sometimes in a week we were ordered to plant 4,000 to 5,000 mines.

We did not think about anything, but I got a sense that it was wrong, because I saw a lot of people dying. I put people in danger and damaged the country.

After the war was over, I decided to clear mines by myself. My equipment was tools that I made myself.

That method of demining was simple, but it wasn't legal. Now, we are working legally and people have joined me. Now it's safe. The villagers are requesting us to demine because the people are afraid of mines. They step on it and die.

What makes me happy is that I have done a lot of good things different from during the war. I have cleared thousands of mines. I want Cambodia to be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Well, since 1993, Aki Ra has cleared about 50,000 landmines and war weapons, you can see him in action on our Web site at CNNHeros.com. and while you are there, don't forget to nominate someone you think is changing the world. Nominations will clothes tomorrow, August 1.

And medical help for first responders who answered the call of 9/11 and got sick. Our Josh Levs takes a look at what's inside the bill that's causing such a stir in Congress. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Well, this week, the House debated a bill this week to compensate 9/11 first responders sickened by debris from the World Trade Center attacks. The bill was ultimately defeated due to a procedural move that required a two-thirds majority. Republicans said it was Democrats fault and of course, Democrats said the opposite. But, New York Democrat, Anthony Wiener said some things that stood out from all the rest, mostly because of the way he said them. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentlemen from New York is recognized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the distinguished gentlemen from New York, Mr. Wiener.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman is recognized.

SEN ANTONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Great courage (INAUDIBLE) to all members that have spoken than stand up and wrap your arms around procedure. We see it in the United States Senate where members say, "we want amendments, we want debate, we want amendments, but we're still a no." And then we stand up and say, "oh, if only we had a different process, we'd vote yes." You vote yes if you believe yes. You vote in favor of something if you believe it is the right thing. If you believe it is the wrong thing, you vote no. We are following a procedure.

(CROSSTALK)

I will not yield to the gentlemen and the gentlemen will observe regular order. The gentlemen will observe regular order.

The gentlemen gets up and yells thinking he is going to intimidate people into believing he is right. He is wrong. The gentlemen is wrong. The gentlemen is providing cover for his colleagues rather than doing the right thing. It's Republicans wrapping their arms around Republicans rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes. It is a shame! A shame! If you believe this is a bad idea to provide health care, then vote no. But don't give me the cowardly view that, that oh, if it was a different procedure -- the gentleman will observe regular order and sit down.

I will not. The gentleman will sit. The gentleman is correct in sitting.

I will not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman, suspend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman is recognized.

WEINER: I will not stand here and listen to my colleagues say, "oh, if only I had a different procedure that allows us to stall, stall, stall and then vote no." Instead of standing up and defending your colleagues in voting no on this humane bill, you should urge them to vote yes, something the gentleman has not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Well, at least he called him "gentleman," right? For their part Republican lawmakers say the bill felt victim to procedural maneuvering but the other side. They hold that Democrats could have reached across the aisle if they had really wanted to pass the measure. Congressman Peter King, also from New York, said this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: They say they want Republican support, yet they never consulted even one Republican before they made the corporate tax increase as they pay for. They say they wanted Republican support before they passed the bill, but they never applied that standard when they ran through the stimulus, health care, cap and trade or financial regulatory reform. No. You only apply it to cops and firefighters and construction workers. What a sad and pathetic double standard. These heroes deserve better than they are receiving here tonight. No matter what happens on this vote, I will continue to do all I can to pass this bill as soon as possible in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So what is this all about? The total cost of the bill is $7.4 billion. It provides compensation and medical care for thousands of first responders including firefighters and police officers who say they got sick working at ground zero, a problem that's been going on for years and years since those days and our Josh Levs is here with specifics.

And this is an important topic. And obviously they feel it still viscerally in New York -- Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Yeah, and I'm going to tell you about specifics in the bill. Let's first touch on what, you know, a lot of the questions and argument was actually not about what's in the bill, so much, but it was that Democrats used the procedure to prevent Republicans from adding something onto the bill which happens all the time in Congress to get a popular bill, people want to add something to it that may not be popular so that thing will pass. Democrats used a procedure to prevent that from happening. Some Republicans were upset about that which initially sparked what a lot of this complaints were there and that's how you got to that dispute.

But, let's dig into the bill itself because, meanwhile, while that kind of bitter argument is going on in Congress, there is this sitting around. It's the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The basic idea behind what it does is it would establish something called the World Trade Center Health Program. And when you read the bill there is a lot in there about the continuing scientific and the health needs of people who are affected by it.

Now, what we hear most about are the first responders who went rushing into the buildings and dealt with the days afterwards. It is also for survivors. And if you were someone who was in New York at the time of 9/11 it might apply to you. The specific language in here that talks about geography, where you were at the time of 9/11. You might have been affected by air, that kind of thing.

Here's something it would do, it would establish long-term funding for monitoring, treatment and research for various medical problems that could come from having been affected by 9/11.

Two more things I should tell you about. One of them, it calls for re-opening the Victim Compensation Fund. This is something that was closed in 2004, operated on a federal level to provide money to people out there who were victims. It calls for opening that, making the money available. And one thing that I find very interesting. It says New York City will contribute 10 percent matching up to $500 million out of New York's pie. You are hearing some fights about the money, some concerns about how it would be paid for and the corporate tax increases is what the Republican lawmaker was saying there.

So, that battle, Jim, is going to keep going on, but at the crux of this is something that most, in fact, virtually all lawmakers agree should happen, that there do need to be steps taken to make sure there is adequate medical attention given now, all these years later, to people affected by 9/11.

ACOSTA: Well, let's hope they can work it out, because, you know, you can't think of a more worthy cause than taking care of people who responded on n9/11. Josh Levs, thanks for braking that down for us.

LEVS: You got it. No problem. You bet.

ACOSTA: Well, moving on, the human face of the gulf oil tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have not all been accounted for. So then, I gave up then. I said, well, that was it. If they're not accounted for then I know that my first good instinct was the real one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The families who lost loved ones in the "Deepwater Horizon" explosion reflect on the emotional toll that catastrophe has taken. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Even as BP moves closer to finally sealing off the broken well in the gulf, relatives of the men who died in the rig explosion are still dealing with their own grief. They have watched the progress in the gulf knowing that even when all the oil is cleared away, their lives will never be the same. They are sharing their stories with CNN's Wayne Drash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN GRAPHIC)

State Line, Mississippi, 175 miles northeast of New Orleans.

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SHERRI REVETTE, WIFE OF DEWEY REVETTE: I'm the wife of Dewey Revette. We have two daughters. It was his choice to go the drilling route but we all stood by him. He was definitely my life. Everything revolved around him and the girls.

It was never dull. We were always doing something. He's not an indoor person. He's never watched a movie in his entire life. For my anniversary I wanted to go get the new diamond ring, but we kind of side tracked and went to Bass Pro Shop.

ARLEEN WEISE, MOTHER OF ADAM WEISE: When that phone rang, it's the middle of the night or early morning, you know it's not good.

SHELLEY ANDERSON, JASON ANDERSON'S WIFE: My friend Terry (ph) called me and told me that it was Jason's rig and when I got off the phone with her, I was making some phone calls. I tried to call the rig, and, of course, just got a busy signal.

REVETTE: I knew right from the get-go. If the explosion happened where they said it was, then there was no chance that he would make it.

WEISE: I got the call from Transocean that he was one of the 11 missing. So, we already knew that, figured it out.

ANDERSON: All of the other wives were going to pick up their husbands but I wasn't allowed to go pick up my husband, so I knew there was something very, very wrong with that, and I just waited.

REVETTE: He said, they've not all been accounted for, and so then I gave up. I said, well, that was it. If they're not accounted for now, then I know that my first good instinct was the real one.

I cussed, I hollered, I screamed, threw a fit. The sand bar was pretty clean by the time I left. I threw everything in the water, but I tell you what, I felt 98 percent better by the time I got back home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's too young. He does go around looking for his daddy, and if we have been in a place before, he'll sometimes go from room to room, hollering, Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da.

(END VIDEO CLIP)