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Farrow Contradicts Campbell's Testimony; Manhunt for Escaped Prisoners

Aired August 09, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Phil Black has been following the trial and joins us now from London.

So Phil, Mia Farrow really disputed Naomi's testimony that we heard last week?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she did, Kyra. That's right. Prosecutors flew Mia Farrow to the Hague to get evidence about one specific moment in time, and that was the moment that Naomi Campbell came down for breakfast following that dinner at Nelson Mandela's home, that you mentioned, and to describe what Mia Farrow remembered as Naomi Campbell saying at that moment, and she says and she remembers it clearly that Naomi Campbell was very excited and she told the story about receiving a knock on the door in the middle of the night when she was presented way gift from Charles Taylor and she said that Naomi Campbell claimed it was one large diamond.

Now that is very different from what Campbell told the court last week. She said she received a gift, didn't know what it was, didn't know it was diamonds, didn't know who it was from and certainly, not from Charles Taylor. And there was more than one stone.

Now, Charles Taylor's defense team picked up on some of these differences and under cross examination gave Mia Farrow a little bit of a hard time. Here's a sample of how she handled it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIA FARROW, ACTRESS: I don't know how many diamonds there were or what state they were in because I didn't see them. I can only tell you, and I swear on the Bible, as I have, to this court and beyond, that is what Naomi Campbell said that morning at breakfast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is your recollection of what Naomi Campbell said?

FARROW: That is my best recollection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Now, Farrow admits that she's a little hazy memory wise on some of the other details about what happened that night but she says she remembers clearly and without any doubt the words of Campbell following that dinner because in her words she says they were unforgettable. Kyra. PHILLIPS: Now, Phil, didn't Mia Farrow and Naomi have breakfast the next morning and was Naomi bragging about these diamonds or diamond?

BLACK: Yes, that's the tone that Mia Farrow describes when Naomi Campbell came down for breakfast the next morning. She said it wasn't a discussion. It was really straight off the bat, straight after saying good morning, that she says Campbell released a torrent of words telling this story about the man who knocked on her door and presented her with one large diamond.

And today this court is also hearing evidence from Naomi Campbell's former modeling agent, Carol White, who is going to give evidence or who has already given evidence that contradicts Campbell even more strongly. She talks about Naomi Campbell flirting with the accused war criminal Charles Taylor over dinner the night before.

She says that was one the promise of the delivered diamond was made and that Campbell was very excited about receiving such a gift and together they stayed up to receive them and ultimately were a little disappointed when the men came, knocked on the door and presented what she described was a shabby piece of paper, these stones, because they did not look like the sorts of diamonds she's used to seeing. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Phil Black, live from London. Phil, thanks.

And back here in the United States, a desperate man hunt for two escaped prisoners takes an awful turn. John McCluskey and Tracy Province were in prison for murder and attempted murder. Now police believe they maybe hiding in Yellowstone Park. The vast wilderness creates a chilling scenario both in finding the fugitives and protecting the campers and hikers who are oblivious to the potential threat. So just how dangerous are these men considered?

Police believe they may have killed a New Mexico couple since they have been on the run. Let's get the latest now on that search and the latest disturbing developments. Joining us right now on the phone, Fidencio Rivera, with the U.S. Marshals Office. Fidencio, what's the latest on tracking these two guys?

VOICE OF FIDENCIO RIVERA, CHIEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL, ARIZONA: Good morning. The latest information is that Province has moved eastbound towards the Castro Wyoming area of the Yellowstone National Park. We have been receiving numerous tips on him and we're hopeful, hopefully, any time soon he'll be apprehended but we believe he left the Yellowstone National Park area at this point in time. We still are working with tips very aggressively, in addition we are aggressively trying to pursue John McCluskey and Welch.

PHILLIPS: Now, McCluskey, you believe McCluskey could still be at Yellowstone National Park, hiding out in the park?

RIVERA: At this point in time, you know, the last information we have on McCluskey was 48 hours ago. It was information indicating that he was in the Yellowstone National Park in the northern part of the park, near the portion of the park within Montana.

PHILLIPS: All right. You mentioned a third guy, Welch, or is that a female? Who is that?

RIVERA: Welch is the accomplice to this whole escape conspiracy.

PHILLIPS: All right. What's the first name on Welch?

RIVERA: Welch's first name is Kathleen (ph) Welch. Kathleen (ph) Welch is the girlfriend of John McCluskey.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. So is she believed to be traveling with them? With John McCluskey at least?

RIVERA: All information we have indicates that they are traveling together and as of Saturday, we believe that John McCluskey and Kathleen (ph) Welch split up from Tracy Province. We believe that Tracy Province has left the Yellowstone National Park area and headed eastbound (INAUDIBLE) towards Indiana. We have our counterparts in Indiana, U.S. marshals working at it and our staff on the ground there in Wyoming as well.

PHILLIPS: So, Fidencio, have you asked folks there camping at Yellowstone, tourists to evacuate the park? If not, how are you warning them about the fact that this potential killer is loose in the park?

RIVERA: We're working with the National Park Service. They have been briefed with the forensics on that. We did put out media releases both in Montana and Wyoming to get the information out to the public. But the public is aware of it, the park rangers are aware of it.

There's a lot of concern at Yellowstone National Park. We're talking to the authorities at Yellowstone National Park. They feel confident that they have a grip on it and they have enough law enforcement personnel. You know, I think the best thing we can tell the public is if you have any sightings of these individuals, avoid any contact with them and contact local enforcement, your nearest law enforcement agency as soon as possible.

PHILLIPS: Now, Fidencio, why do you think that these two are responsible for the death of this New Mexico couple? You all have been reporting that you believe possibly that Tracy Province and John McCluskey could have killed them after they escaped from prison.

RIVERA: Really, that investigation is being handled by the New Mexico State Police, but the New Mexico State Police has reported there is forensic evidence linking John McCluskey to the crime scene.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Fidencio Rivera, chief deputy there at the U.S. Marshals office, we will definitely follow this man hunt for these two men. Right now, as you heard, Fidencio mentioned, Tracy Province believed possibly to be in Casper, Wyoming, and possibly heading toward Indiana because of family and friend connections, and John McCluskey and his girlfriend Kathleen (ph) Welch, an accomplice here, believed to still hiding out in Yellowstone National Park.

We will definitely follow this manhunt.

Well, a bad situation could soon get even worse. A state of emergency is declared in Russia where raging wildfires are inching closer to a major nuclear plant. We're live in Moscow.

Mother nature's fury. Tornadoes ripped through parts of the upper midwest and campers rowing right in the middle of several massive twisters. Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, rough weekend across the upper midwest. Good morning again, Kyra. We will have the threat for that severe weather again this afternoon and the heat is coming back, not just for the mid section but it's spreading east as well. The CNN NEWSROOM is coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Wildfires continue to rage out of control today in Russia. Over the weekend, 270 new wildfires popped up. Citizens are being recruited to help fight the monster fires. And the death toll is rising, not the from fires themselves but rather from the toxic air.

You can see the blanket of choking smog that hangs over Moscow. Health officials say the toxic levels are so high it's like smoking two packs of cigarettes every two hours. The number of deaths have now doubled due to the extreme heat and horrible air quality.

A state of emergency has been declared in one town where wildfires are threatening a major nuclear plant. CNN's Matthew Chance is live in Moscow with the latest developments. Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, thanks very much. That's right. These wildfires continuing to rage around the Russian capital and elsewhere in the European part of Russia as well. You can see the scene behind me. It's started to clear a little bit but just a few hours ago, you could not see out of this window where we are doing this live shot because of the thick, dense smoke that has descended all around this region with limited visibility down to a few hundred yards.

And so it's cleared a bit now. The winds have picked up. But still the health implications very severe indeed. In fact, latest statistics coming to us from the Moscow government saying that the death toll, the mortality rate for July is twice as much, 100 percent higher than it was this time last year. It may not be specifically related to the smog and the searing heat that we're experiencing here but it is likely to be a factor, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let us know how much of a threat it truly becomes, Matthew. We'll update it. Appreciate it.

Now let's take you through our morning passport. First stop, Jerusalem. Remember this chaotic scene from May? Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish aid ship headed for Gaza, come under attack and wind up killing nine people. An Israeli inquiry has also started and a U.N. investigation begins tomorrow. Israel calls its actions justified under international law. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the soldiers showed great courage and acted in self-defense.

In northwest China, devastation. Torrential rains triggered landslides. They have killed at least 127 people with more than 1,300 missing. Earth moving equipment will try to clear that debris and help the floodwaters recede.

Take a look at this. In the middle of all that destruction and debris, a small victory. A survivor pulled from the rubble of a building.

Now, those floods in Pakistan, they've already killed 1,200 people and that number keeps rising. Millions of people have been affected by some of Pakistan's worst flooding there. The U.N. commissioner for refugees called it catastrophic. Pakistan's president only returned today from a trip to England greeted by criticism that he should have returned immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't hit that! Oh, no, no, no, no!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, yes, yes. Astonishing video of a tornado in Minnesota as it splinters a farm house. It looks like a bomb exploded, pieces flying everywhere but believe it or not, nobody was hurt. The man behind the camera can't believe what he's seeing through the viewfinder though. And take another look at this. Another storm chaser who caught what he was chasing, this time in North Dakota. A string of twister. The Weather Service says one was an EF-3, meaning its winds were clocked at 165 miles an hour. Rob, you've chased those storms before.

MARCIANO: Yes, never caught one.

PHILLIPS: Never one 165 miles an hour?

MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE) EF-3, Kyra, is very large for this time of the year, large any time of the year. That's for sure. This probably the same storm that rolled over the border into Wilken County, Minnesota. So the same cell, eastern Dakota getting into western parts of Minnesota and as Kyra mentioned, the EF-3 meaning probably the top end of that is 165 miles an hour, but the survey guys that went out there yesterday said it might have been even stronger than EF-3.

We saw what was going on with that. Very turbulent stuff. All right. Some of the leftover storms across parts of the lower mid or parts of the western Great Lakes, these are just run of the mill thunderstorms at the moment but they may fire up into something into a little bit more severe as we go through the afternoon. A little bit farther to the south, you have thunderstorms and showers across parts of Florida. This is also associated with a low that's right above there. You see everything rotating around it. This may become something a little bit more than a nuisance. And that's pretty much what it has been, a nuisance, with heavy rain the past couple of days.

Here's what happened, on long boat key, you see this (INAUDIBLE). There you go. How about that for a water spout. It's not an EF-3 but an EF-4 but if that (INAUDIBLE) got on land, it might do some damage, pretty well defined there on the west coast of Florida there, from our i-reporter out in that area. And again, that's from this area of low pressure which, you know, the National Hurricane Center is watching it, it's right into here. And it's very close to land. It's got some problems with the upper level winds but if it drifts into the Gulf of Mexico, that's possible over the next few days. We'll certainly have to watch that very, very carefully.

The other big weather story is the heat. Check out some of these numbers for daytime highs today. We'll get up in the century mark in Dallas, 100 degrees expected in Kansas City and 93 degrees as far north as Minneapolis, also 92 degrees in New York City, 93 degrees in D.C. and Raleigh. So the heat spreading off to the east and it's going to be hot for the next several days. I think the northeast will cool off somewhat, it's beginning cooling off, coldest winter you ever saw (INAUDIBLE). Summer in San Francisco, 58 degrees, for the high temperature there and 77 degrees in Los Angeles.

Even those numbers are a little below average. So stay cool out there in California. They want more of the summer, but take it from someone who has been sweating, including Kyra, it should be nice to see a temperature of 75 degrees.

PHILLIPS: We're sweating every day in this job. It's not just going outside. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. I'll see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, girls are hitting puberty earlier, experts say that one reason may be childhood obesity. We will tell you the concerns that doctors have about this. Elizabeth Cohen joining us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PHILLIPS: All right. If you're a woman, you probably remember this woman becoming a little more busty, maybe your hips a bit more round, acne, not so much fun. Well guess what? Girls are actually hitting puberty earlier now. It's a combination of factors behind that trend.

Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now. I'm thinking about the book Judy Blume, "Are you there, God? It's me Margaret." ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well someone is (INAUDIBLE) although it's not so funny now. "Are you there, Elmo? It's me Margaret." That girls are hitting puberty so young. And Kyra, what's so amazing about this is that this is the increase, you can see it just over like the past 10 years or so. It didn't even take a whole generation. I mean, this is happening pretty quickly.

PHILLIPS: And it's being tied to obesity?

COHEN: Well, they're not quite sure what it is. So I'm going to go through the specific.

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: Then let's talk a little bit about what it is. What these researchers did is they tried to take a look at when girls start getting breast development, which is one of the first signs of puberty and what they found is that when you look at white girls in the mid 2000s or actually let's start in the early 1990s, five percent of seven-year-old girls were starting puberty at age seven.

Age seen being early. So just five percent were starting at age seven. By the mid-2000s, it was 10 percent. That's a huge increase in a relatively short time period. Now when we look at African- American girls hitting puberty at age seven, about 23 percent of African-American girls have started puberty by age seven, and when you look at Hispanic girls, about 15 percent of Hispanic girls have started puberty at age seven.

I mean, Kyra, when we were growing up, that was really pretty unheard of, to be starting puberty at age seven. It was much more like nine, 10, 11.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COHEN: I was even trying to think, how old are you in the seventh grade? That's sort of -

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: 11, 12.

PHILLIPS: OK. I think I was about 12. Oh, my god.

COHEN: Huge difference.

PHILLIPS: Why is it happening then?

COHEN: Well, you mentioned obesity and that's one of the theories is that maybe it's obesity because the more fat you have, the theory is that that fat sort of exudes estrogen, and so the more fat you have, that will lead to earlier puberty. There are also plenty of skinny girls who are hitting puberty early. So that can't explain it all.

There are also theories out there that hormones in food are causing our girls to hit puberty earlier, also that chemicals that are in food packaging, perhaps (INAUDIBLE) and in some ways you might say, well so, what does it matter? So they hit puberty earlier.

One of the issues with that is that girls who hit puberty earlier are shown to have higher rates of breast cancer later in life. So it's not a good thing to be hitting puberty at age seven.

PHILLIPS: OK. So what can parents do? I'm sure that's what they're all asking right now.

COHEN: Right. Exactly. You know what there's unfortunately a limited amount that you can do. You can make sure your daughter and your sons, too, although that's a different story, make sure that your daughters are the right size. You don't want them to be obese. Another thing is if you choose to, you can buy hormone free foods. There's no guarantee that's going to do anything.

A lot of people think that theory of connecting the hormones in food, to the hormones in a girl's body that it's not a good connection but who knows. But if you want to, knock yourself out and buy food without hormones. Some people think that will make a difference.

PHILLIPS: All right. And of course, we're going to be talking about your new book, all week right? "Being an Empowered Patient." Congratulations.

COHEN: Thank you. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's fabulous. Everybody's got to get your book.

PHILLIPS: Thank you. Because this is an issue you really do have to be an empowered patient because the science is kind of mushy. No one is sure what is happening with these girls. You need to ask your doctor the right questions. We've got a book and we've got a documentary that will be coming out next month.

PHILLIPS: Great.

COHEN: So perfect time to be an empowered patient.

PHILLIPS: The new Bible for anybody worried about health care, you know, for them and for their family, their kids. Great job. We'll talk about it all week.

COHEN: OK.

PHILLIPS: Let's check our top stories now.

Beginning with House lawmakers are putting their summer vacation on hold to return to Washington today. They're taking up a $26 billion measure to help avoid teacher layoffs. The Senate approved the bill last week and the House is expected to vote on it tomorrow. If it passes, the bill goes to President Obama to sign.

Remember the name Omar Kadar? Well, he is the first to face trial in charges of terrorism and murder before a military commission at Gitmo. The first and the youngest, by the way. He was 15 when he threw a grenade that killed a soldier in Afghanistan. He is 23 now. His lawyer is asking the Supreme Court to set aside the trial.

And the international aid group that had several of its members murdered in a violent attack in Afghanistan says it will not abandon the country now. A total of six Americans were among of 10 aid workers gunned down, one by one, last week.

And those victims are being fondly remembered in their respective hometowns today. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it's 40-year-old Glen Lapp. Lapp worked for the International Assistance Mission, (INAUDIBLE) central committee's partner organization, which provides eye care and medical help in Afghanistan.

And in Knoxville, Tennessee, it's 28-year-old Cheryl Beckett who spent the last six years of her life in Afghanistan. She was the daughter of a respected minister in Knoxville. His congregation mourned during yesterday's church services.

Woodlawn Christian Church in Knoxville is rallying around the family, too. The associate pastor says Beckett was honored to be included in this most recent three-week medical journey in Afghanistan but her parents always had a foreboding sense of what might happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DWAYNE CURRY, ASSOCIATE PASTOR: Cheryl is like her parents, you know, just have servant's hearts. And so she wanted to help people. Charles and Mary, I think had a little bit of fear that this kind of a thing could happen. And, you know, we still, though, we were all shocked that this might be Cheryl and something that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The U.S. State Department has condemned those attacks. The Taliban claims that the aid workers were killed for spying and trying to convert Afghans to Christianity, a charge that has been emphatically denied by the charity.

Snakes, terrorists and parasites. What lengths would you go to for a good cause?

How about 4,200 miles? We're going to hear from a man who just walked the Amazon. And he's going to tell us why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

it's (MUSIC PLAYING)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. It's a jungle, all right. 50,000 bug bites, poison snakes, big, hungry anacondas, no Starbuck's anywhere. No one said hiking along the Amazon River is a trip to the beach. Ed Stafford hiked alongside the whole river, the whole thing. 4,000 miles and change through the wild.

The trip began more than two years ago with the Peruvian Andes on the pacific Coast. That was point A. Stafford followed the river's path through Peru, Colombia and Brazil and early this morning, he reached point B, in Brazil where the river runs out and the Atlantic Ocean begins.

CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney showed us some of the many dangers and how hard it was to get from point A to point B.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ed Stafford's idea was bold. Some called it crazy to walk the entire length of the Amazon River to raise awareness and create a connection between people and the Amazon, its wonders and its problems. He's also on a mission to raise money for five charities.

ED STAFFORD, BRITISH EXPLORER: There's a number of things the expedition's hoping to achieve. It's a charity expedition, first and foremost. It's been used as an educational tool as such for classes of school kids all around the world to follow to try and make the Amazon and deforestation as a subject interesting for school kids. To follow some dark, British explorer down the length of the Amazon is actually quite a fun way. We've had such a positive response.

SWEENEY: The 34-year-old Briton is a former army captain. He's been involved in leading expeditions in Belize, (INAUDIBLE) and Guyana since leaving the military in 2002. Stafford says he did little preparation for the journey other than fundraising.

STAFFORD: It became a challenge that I set myself and that was in the beginning of 2007. And we started it in March 2008, and been going now for about 27 months.

I have to say, I feel quite emotional. After planning this trip since January 2007, it is now March the 30th, 2008, and I'm standing at the Pacific Ocean. The starting point of where we're going to do our trip. Unbelievable.

SWEENEY: Stafford and his friend, Lucolia (ph) from England, began the trip together with high hopes on April 2nd, 2008 in Camana, Peru, the true source of the Amazon River. Luke dropped out three months later, and while hundreds of people have walked with Ed along the way, Gualdia (INAUDIBLE) Sanchez Rivera (ph) has become his expedition partner. He is a Peruvian forestry worker who was only supposed to walk with Ed a few days.

STAFFORD: Cho agreed to walk for five days because no one would walk with me through the terrorist area, the red zone in Peru. He wasn't scared of going in it at all. He said he would come with me for five days, and he hasn't been home since.

SWEENEY: The rules were simple. Ed must walk the entire way unaided by machinery. They followed the general course of the rivers that make up the Amazon. Where water crossings were necessary due to flooding or geography, Ed and Cho (ph) waded across or used inflatable pack rafts. The team always returned to the perpendicular point back on land to avoid any forward progress by boat. They challenges were many, the dangers real. Ed and Cho faced hunger, insect bites, venomous stakes and gigantic anacondas. Along the journey, Ed contracted a (INAUIDBLE). It's a skin disfiguring disease and has had to remove a bot fly embedded in his skull. Cho suffered from migraines, piranha bites, and a machete slice, but nothing worse.

The trip has been physically grueling and mentally challenging.

STAFFORD: There are only so many times that you can fall over and not lose your sense of humor.

SWEENEY: Despite the many difficulties, Stafford insists there was never any thought of giving up. Stafford said that encounters with people in Brazil is among the highlights they will take with them.

STAFFORD: Girl there (LAUGHTER). Just giving us a plate of corn on the cob. How nice is that?

SWEENEY: Finnoula Sweeney, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's have a look at Ed's journey by the numbers, shall we? He walked nearly 4,039 miles. He's been bitten by 50,000 mosquitoes, and he's worn out only three pairs of boots, He lost 15 pounds and told more than 100 timesthat he would die carrying his 88-pound pack.

Food? He and Cho actually averaged four pounds of rice a week and a little over two pounds of beans. They also ate piranha and other foods along the way.

We talked to Ed this morning when he reached the finish and said he almost didn't make the final push.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFFORD: I'm a bit embarrassed about it, really. I think I just pushed myself too far. I had two days of sleep and on too many nights in succession. Just had a bit of a crouch (ph) really. I had to crouch down beside the road. All my skin came up in big bumps, and it was just this mounting itch.

And, yes, I passed out on the side of the road for about 20 minutes. But I went and had enforced rest at a nearby hotel. Three hours later came back, and we've just completed the final leg of the walk. We've been walking from yesterday at 12 noon and we walked all afternoon, all evening and all night, and finally arrived here at 9:00 in the morning. It feels very nice to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Check out Ed's Web site. There's information on the expedition, all of his blogs, photos, videos. Just like WalkingtheAmazon.com. And don't forget, you can link from our site, CNN.com/worldone.

Gulf seafood has been a hard sell since the oil spill, but now food experts and chefs are going a step further to show their seafood is safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. A manhunt for two Arizona prison escapees underway around Yellowstone National Park. The feds believe the two may be hiding out there with a woman accomplice. The escapees are suspected in the killing of a couple in New Mexico.

Actress Patricia Neal has died. She was 84. Neal won an Academy Award for her performance in the movie "Hud."

And in Jacksonville, Florida, a trio of fisherman glad to be back on dry land after spending three days adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. The three were eventually rescued by a U.S. Navy brigade and the Coast Guard.

Day 112 of the Gulf oil disaster. And this morning, BP released a statement, saying the cost of the spill topped has now topped $6 billion. Admiral Thad Allen has given the oil giant a mixed grade on its response to the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": A grade from A to F, how did BP do handling this?

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Well, I think I'd have to break it into parts. I think at the wellhead, I'm not sure there is any oil company that could have done more than they did. The technology that was needed to be brought in from other parts of the world was, and it took a long time to engineer it. It took a long time to install it, but ultimately, it helped us put the cap on and it controlled the well. So, I give them fairly good marks there.

What BP is not good at -- they're a large, global production company. They don't do retail sales or deal with individuals on a transactional basis. That's been a real struggle with them. I had these conversations with Tony Hayward and Bob Dudley and the other folks. It's something they don't naturally have as a capacity or a competency in their company, and it's been very, very hard for them to understand. And that's the lens by which the American people view them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, a relief well to permanently seal the well from below the sea floor is expected to be finished by the week's end. And a caravan of concerned St. Louis residents leaves today on a weeklong tour of the Gulf. They'll be spending money to support small businesses in the region.

From the hollers, the suppliers, to the chefs. People in the Gulf coast seafood business are fighting the perception their product has been tainted by the oil spill. It's a perception some say is fuled by the media. Reporter Latanya Norton (ph) from our affiliate WDSU has the story.

(BEGIN VIDDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think these ladies could have given them a run for their money.

LATANYA NORTON (ph), WDSU-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Using fresh Louisiana seafood straight from the Gulf, culinary teams square off at a the Great American Seafood cookoff inside the Moriel Convention Center. But just a few yards away, the impact of the Gulf oil spill on the seafood industry is the catch of the day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know of anything that I wouldn't try to serve myself, my family or my customers.

NORTON: Chefs from along the country, along with food safety experts from state and federal agencies, led panel discussions addressing the safety and perception of Louisiana seafood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Louisiana seafood is the most tested seafood for safety of human consumption in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're seeing is that the seafood going to market has been really safe. The bad image is from daily messaging from the media of the oiled bird who's covered in oil. That is not the image of the seafood, and that's not what's showing up in our testing.

NORTON: Panelists spoke on robust seafood safety protocols, and things never heated up with the so-called elephant in the room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not seeing any residual impacts from the use of dispersants. That's very important.

NORTON: Yule Smith of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board hopes the panel of experts will spread the word nationally that Louisiana seafood is safe to eat.

YULE SMITH, LOUISIANA SEAFOOD PROMOTION AND MARKETING BOARD: This is critical because from Louisiana alone, it's a $2.4 billion industry. And it's seven and eight generations of families doing this business, so we have to keep that engine and culture going forward.

NORTON: On your side, Latonya Norton, WDSU News.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Well, we know how much the president enjoys basketball, right? Who else could invite a bunch of NBA stars for a little pickup game and actually have them show up?

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PHILLIPS: How is this for a pickup game? President Obama and some big-name basketball stars? Let's face it. The man loves basketball, plays it all of the time, but this time it was a little different. The pros played ball with the president at Fort McNair in Washington for an audience of wounded warriors. And you can bet they let the president take any shots he wanted, no fouls or shoves, no cussing at the prez.

From hoops to football at the White House. The president welcomes the Super Bowl champs. New Orleans Saints. Like millions of others, he admitted he and the first lady watched the game, though she was struck by more than just the action, apparently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of us were very excited after the game. All my wife wanted to talk about was that Baylen (ph), that little boy sitting with Drew, and everyone going, "Aw." You know - which, I'm just saying, you made a lot of fans that night.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. This story is just a total outrage. We're going to try to make it right. Make something positive from it. Here's the story: 20-year-old Phil Sporer is a college student in St. Paul, Minnesota. He's legally blind, but he can see just well enough in daylight to ride his bicycle for short distances. Well, get this. Some jerks picked the lock on his bike last week and just rode off with it, a bike he worked very hard to buy with his own money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL SPORER, LEGALLY BLIND STUDENT: I came over to where I locked my bike up, and the bike was gone. Sucker punched me in the side of the head. I had a part-time job in the spring and had enough money to just buy it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to have the persons that did it return the bike -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, that was his mom, by the way, and she is also legally blind. Now, what kills me here is that isn't the first time Phil has been attacked. Six months ago, two men, if you could call them men -- how manly could you be to do actually something like this -- approached Phil downtown, punched him and stole his specially-made laptop, That laptop cost $2,000.

This takes bullying to a whole new level, doesn't it? Punks with no conscience picking on someone who has limited sight who's actually trying to make something of his life and be a productive citizen. We want the St. Paul police to find these people responsible, and we want to get Phil all his stuff back.

Well, we decided we needed to hear from him, as well. He's on the phone with us now from St. Paul. And Phil, just a little shoutout to the KARE reporter in your hometown, Kyle Porter. We were able to track him down, and he got us in touch with you. So, first of all, how are you feeling since this happened? I mean, this is the second time you've been attacked in six months.

SPORER (via Skype): Well, I'm feeling a little -- how should I say it? I'm overwhelmed. I feel like I'm targeted by somebody. I don't know. It's just hard to deal with.

PHILLIPS: It's not fair. I mean, put into perspective, Phil, you're going to college there in St. Paul. You're also working, trying to do everything you can to get through school, help support your family. On a daily basis, you've got to spend more time with regard to getting to classes, right, because it takes a little longer considering your limited sight, and you also had a specialized laptop.

Just tell our viewers what you have to do differently on a daily basis that's not like every other college student with whom you go to class.

SPORER: Well, I take maybe 20 minutes to get from -- I go to school in (INAUDIBLE) Heights, which is about 50 minutes -- actually an hour away, because I have to take the bus. So, it's an hour-long bus ride as compared to other college students that it takes them maybe 20 minutes.

PHILLIPS: And this computer that you had. What was special about this computer? Was it all in Braille?

SPORER: No, but it had an enlarged screen. It had zoom text where I could have it read things to me and enlarge everything.

PHILLIPS: So, let me ask you this. What do you need the most right now? Do you need another laptop. Do you need a bike? What would really help you out right now?

SPORER: Right now, probably a bike, because I had some really generous people buy me a bike -- not the bike -- had bought me a laptop just a week after this happened because what happened was the lady had her brown notes stolen on a Metro transit bus by some people. And one of our senators bought her a new brown note, so they passed on the good deed and bought me a new computer. PHILLIPS: Oh, well, that's that's great. That's good because that's so important for school.

All right. So, I tell you what. We're going to push hard for someone to get a bike donated to you, Phil. So, if you're watching this segment, we'll tell you right now where you can send your donations. And Phil, I want you to follow up on this. Will you call in and let us know if anybody does donate a bike and let us know how you're faring? And if, indeed, the police have caught these guys. We want to stay on top of the story, okay?

SPORER: Yep! Sure, no problem.

PHILLIPS: You keep an amazing attitude, Phil. So here you go. If you want to help him out, Phil is very active in his church. It's Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. And you can send a bike or donations, anything you think can help Phil out, in care of Claudia Brumm. And that's 674 Johnson Parkway, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55106.

Don't forget. If you want to help out, you send the donations straight to that address. We thank you very much.

Car veers off the road, plunges into a waterway, and behind the wheel of the sinking car, an 86-year-old woman. We'll tell you what happened next.

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PHILLIPS: Well, it's time now to lift up our men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's called "Home and Away." We'll tell you how to get involved in just a second.

But first, we want to tell you about sergeant Anton Ramish (ph) Phillips from Englewood, California. He died in an incident at forward operating based (INAUIDBLE) in Afghanistan last December. A comrade who preferred to remain anonymous says this about Anton: "I was blessed with the opportunity to serve with Staff Sergeant Phillips. He was a good man, well liked by his fellow soldiers. I was also there when he passed. He went with dignity, and he went with honor. He was a credit to his unit and the entire Army."

Whether you're a fellow soldier or family member, we want to hear your memories, as well. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right hand search field, and pull up the profile and send us your thoughts, your pictures. And we will keep that flame lit.

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PHILLIPS: We want to give you one more chance to write down this information, if you don't mind. It's the address where you can send donations for 20-year-old Phil Sporer, a legally blind college student in St. Paul who was robbed of his bike and his computer. You can send donations straight to Phil's church, Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, in care of Claudia Brumm, 674 Johnson Parkway, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55106. Thanks for helping out.

If your mom were ever in trouble, you'd want these guys around. He rushed into action when an elderly woman lost control of her car, and it plunged into a waterway. We'll get the story now from reporter Kimberly Bookman of CNN's Boston affiliate, WCVB.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY BOOKMAN, WCVB-TV CORRESPONDENT: See that object sticking out of the water? That's a tip of a car trunk. Yes. An entire Buick century submerged, and inside, its 86-year-old driver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dove down, I couldn't get her out. I went down again, I still couldn't get her out. I went down a third time, and she came out through the window.

BOOKMAN: That sigh of relief is shared both by the man who rescued her and the elderly woman's daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she got in the hospital, she argued with the doctors. Which is a good sign. She's your basic Yankee. Stubborn.

BOOKMAN: Well, that Yankee was driving around 10:00 Saturday morning down here into Pope's Island Marina. Why she was here and how she ended up 50 feet from the road in the water is still unclear.

JILL SIMMONS, DAUGHTER OF DRIVER: My mother has been driving two-footed forever, so she wouldn't make the mistake of hitting the wrong pedal.

BOOKMAN: Fortunately, John Conley and Chris Paul were nearby.

JOHN CONLEY, RESCUER: I had a mask. I had fins on the boat, so I ran up the dock over to the boat and grabbed the mask and got into the water.

BOOKMAN: To get to the driver, John knocked out the rearview window while Chris cut up his hand trying to remove the glass.

CHRIS PAUL, RESCUER: You know, I thought I saw her last breath as she went down. We were face to face. It was just horrifying.

BOOKMAN: The victim's daughter says the mom hates air conditioning and always cracks the window, which turned out to be lucky on this day. The heroic duo focused on yanking her out of there.

CONLEY: Thank God she's alive. I could see her face right there. And I'm picturing I'm going to be dreaming about this for the next 30 years if she dies.

BOOKMAN: The driver's daughter, ironically a dive team sergeant herself, said these men are true pros.

SIMMONS: I can't thank them enough. I'll never be able to thank them enough.

BOOKMAN: The driver was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, and her daughter tell us she's doing just fine. The big question, however, is how she managed to go about 50 feet along this grass, past those rocks and into the water.

As for the hero Mr. Conley, he credits a TV show, "Myth Busters," for giving him the tools for the rescue.

In New Bedford, Kimberly Bookman, News Center 5.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. That's it for us. We'll be back here tomorrow. Meanwhile, Kate Boulduan in town from D.C. filling in for Tony Harris. Looking good there, lady!

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, lady, thanks so much!

PHILLIPS: OK.

BOULDUAN: Have a good one.