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Controlling the Controllers; Hard Hit by Gulf Oil Disaster; Artificial Reefs for Gulf Oysters

Aired April 20, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: You are looking live at Flight Tracker and thousands of planes in the sky right now over the United States.

On the ground, hundreds of air traffic controllers responsible for keeping them all straight, keeping them apart and, yes, them safe. It almost always goes exactly the way it's supposed to, but seven times so far this year, controllers have fallen asleep when they should have been glued to their radar screens.

Most times it was accidental, but one nap supposedly was actually deliberate. All took place on the midnight shift.

Over the weekend a controller in Cleveland was suspended for watching a movie on the job, and now two federal investigations are under way into Monday's waved-off landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. You know it as the president's airport. And the flight in question was carrying the first lady, Michelle Obama.

It had to circle the runway because it was flying too close to another plane that had just landed. No one was ever in danger, we're told, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood calls it, "a serious incident."

And this is where I big in aviation analyst and long-time commercial pilot Jim Tilmon. Jim is retired from the cockpit but keeps his eye on the industry and joins me today from Phoenix for "Two at the Top."

Jim, what is going on here?

JIM TILMON, AVIATION ANALYST: Randi, I'm not sure I know exactly what's going on, and I'm not sure that anybody does, but it looks like we have developed a kind of a mindset within the air traffic controller ranks that's not very, very healthy for safety.

KAYE: And as we mentioned, the controllers who aren't focused on their work are a minuscule minority. But are things really worse now than they used to be, can you say?

TILMON: Oh, I don't know whether I can say that or not, but I suspect that they are. I don't think I can remember a time in my career that we've ever had such an incredible rush of these incidents all close together.

A lot oft attention is being given to the air traffic controller ranks right now, but, by golly, it seems like one thing after another. And it really does bother me, because these are not events that have disaster on them. They are events, however, that could lead up to that if we are not very fortunate.

KAYE: I want to talk about this aborted landing with Michelle Obama's airplane. You have been in the cockpit for years. I mean, how close is too close up there? And how common is this, where you are flying too close to another airplane?

I mean, I have been in an airplane. I travel a lot, and I have seen planes out my window. It's not very comforting.

TILMON: Well, seeing them out your window, it's probably a parallel approach. It's probably your airplane is there, and their airplane is here, and you see them out of the window, and they are landing on different runways and they're well separated, not a problem there.

Go-arounds are also fairly routine. I mean, it's not a big deal, there's nothing dangerous about it whatsoever. It's just a little bit annoying to the pilot of the go-around aircraft, because you really are prepared to land and want to get your passengers on the ground.

But in this particular case, we have a series of flaws as I see it. We have one where it's the controller that was handling the president's wife's plane knew that airplane was carrying some very high-level people. The call sign alone would let them know that.

And I would think, really, the mindset that I would like to see is that, hey, we want to make certain that this airplane gets special handling. We don't want anything to go wrong here.

So you're going to give a little extra space, if anything, not something that's just marginal or below that, between that and an airplane which is slow and large and creates all kinds of air turbulence behind it that could create some real disaster out there. So you just give yourself a little added advantage of space, make sure that there is not anything that's going to be complicated. And the last thing you want to do is to have the first lady looking out her window as you do S-turns out there on final trying to develop space when there isn't enough.

KAYE: So, just real quickly, when you see another plane out your window, we shouldn't worry? Is that what you are saying?

TILMON: No. No, not at all. I would suspect that is going to be a very common occurrence because we have more and more airports that have parallel runways, and that gives you plenty of separation.

Absolutely no reason for concern there. We just have to get our mindset squared away so we are in a better thought pattern.

KAYE: All right. Jim Tilmon, always appreciate your expertise, especially on this subject. Thank you so much.

TILMON: Thank you, Randi. KAYE: Our "Sound Effect" is about as far from life-and-death aviation issues as you can get. This goat walks into a music store -- see, I don't really have a punch line here. Just a goat in Idaho that walked into a music store and struck a chord with the manager.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORRIE BRIDGES, CHARMED BY GOAT: I walked in and I said, "Holy cow!" And there was this little goat, and he was just adorable. And we walked back there and I was trying to explain which restroom it was in, and all of the sudden, we hear this "Maah, maah." I said, "That's the one."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: That was a pretty good imitation of the goat, you've got to say.

Well, the goat is now a guest of the Idaho Falls Animal Shelter, which has named him Beethoven. How cute.

As we monitor the volatile fires in Texas, a Forest Service spokeswoman tells us the state is burning from border to border. Firefighters are still struggling to contain fires that have scorched nearly 1.5 million acres and burned more than 170 homes.

But a little rain and lower temperatures are giving some firefighters a bit of a break today, and more storms are possible this weekend. Fire crews from 34 states are now in Texas to help fight those fires.

The government is implementing a new national terror alert system today. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made the official announcement this morning in New York.

That system will replace the previous, often confusing and quite vague color-coded alert put in place after 9/11. The new system actually has only two levels of alerts, an elevated threat which warns of a credible terrorist threat to the U.S., and the more serious, imminent threat which warns of a credible, specific and impending terrorists threat. These alerts would be sent out with maps to show what areas are affected and have specific dates of when the alert should expire.

Have a burning question for the president? Well, all you need is an Internet connection and Facebook. President Obama is holding a virtual town hall meeting on Facebook later today as part of his tour to sell his deficit reduction plan. The president is swinging by Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, and will be answering previously submitted questions as well.

A man who survived the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 is the lone survivor of a ferocious fire in New Jersey that killed almost his entire family. Sixty-three-year-old Steven Banovich (ph) barely escaped the fire which was so intense, it took firefighters three hours to put it out. Neighbors say he left to get help, but couldn't get back inside because of the flames. His wife, daughter and two others all died in that fire. Investigators believe a cigarette may have started it.

One year after the Gulf oil disaster, we travel to one small fishing community that is trying to bounce back. See how the disaster has affected oyster beds in a live report from Grand Isle, Louisiana, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: This just into CNN, some sad news to report. We have confirmed that Academy Award nominee and veteran photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed today in Misrata, Libya, and that his family, we know, has been informed. We're still trying to figure out the frontlines apparently on the house where he was killed, according to our sources, but there are still conflicting reports.

The only thing we can tell you is that he was hit by an RPG with the other guys. That's coming from his employer. CNN still trying to confirm the status of the second photo journalist that was injured as well.

We'll continue to watch that, but news coming out of Misrata, Libya, today that veteran photojournalist Tim Hetherington was killed.

A year after the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, the fishing industry along the Gulf Coast is trying to bounce back. CNN Special Correspondent Philippe Cousteau reports from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Henry McAnespy has been fishing in these waters for 35 years, but when he first started, this habitat looked much different.

(on camera): And it's hard to imagine as I look out there, this is all pretty much water --

HENRY MCANESPY, FISHERMAN: Right.

COUSTEAU: -- little spits of grassy marshland here and there.

MCANESPY: Right.

COUSTEAU: But you are saying that most of this was land before.

MCANESPY: Eighty percent of this in back of us -- that was a little bitty pond right there -- it's all gone. There was nothing but land. All around here, this was solid land when I first started fishing.

COUSTEAU (voice-over): Even before the Gulf oil spill, the southeastern part of Louisiana was affected by the oil industry. Oil companies cleared marshes here to lay pipelines and form channels for boats that serviced the oil industry. The remaining marshland is being lost to erosion.

CHRIS DORSETT, OCEAN CONSERVANCY: And when you start to lose these habitat areas, you lose the ability for the young fish and shrimp to be able to hide to grow up to a size where they can survive better out in the open water.

COUSTEAU: Henry began oystering again in February, for the first time after the oil spill. He says this year, the oyster beds are behaving differently.

(on camera): So it doesn't seem like there are a lot of baby oysters. No.

MCANESPY: No. There is no baby oysters. That's what is scary. This should be full, full, full of oysters the size of your fingernail. It should be blistered all over this thing.

COUSTEAU (voice-over): Oyster larvae normally grow on the shells of mature oysters, but they are not growing on the oysters in this area.

MCANESPY: If you don't have tomorrow's oysters, you will go out of business.

COUSTEAU: For lifelong oystermen like Henry, their livelihood depends on this ecosystem recovering.

(on camera): Not only has there been a significant impact of the oyster fishery, but the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened right at the beginning of the shrimping season last year, essentially closing all waters to any fisheries. This year, at the beginning of this next season, there is a lot of uncertainty of what the future will hold.

(voice-over): At this marina, shrimpers prepare their boats for the coming season.

PHAN PLORK, SHRIMPER: I think there's going to be a little bit of shrimp out there, you know. But the problem is the market, the consumers, that's what I worry about.

COUSTEAU: For this hard-hit community last year's losses were extensive.

SANDY HA Nguyen, COASTAL COMMUNITIES CONSULTING: After the BP spill, I did a lot of some food stamp applications because we were immediately impacted. We lost our season. We didn't have any money. See, fishing is not a get-rich business, but if you do it right, you will live comfortably.

COUSTEAU: And the fishermen in this community are not giving up.

PLORK: I went through starvation as a kid in Cambodia, and got to the United States. This is the opportunity. I'm pretty sure there's plenty of things for me to do.

COUSTEAU: Many in this area hope the Gulf Coast environment is as resilient as the community it supports.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And Philippe joins me now from Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Philippe, you've been in the region during the past year monitoring the environmental disaster. We talked so much about these dispersants that were used to break up the oil. There was so much concern about them.

Do we know yet if they have harmed the ecosystem and what kind of damage they might have done?

COUSTEAU: Well, we don't know for sure. There is a lot still of controversy around the dispersants.

Almost two million gallons was put into the Gulf of Mexico, and it did its job, it broke up the oil. But there's a lot of controversy about the fact that, did it too well? And by breaking up the oil, did it maker harder to collect and more pervasive throughout the ecosystem? And the real answer to that is that we just don't know.

KAYE: And what about these strange sores that seem to be turning up on fish? How concerned should we be about that?

COUSTEAU: Well, that's very, very concerning. And it's a perfect example of what we are talking about in terms of the dispersants breaking up the oil.

Those toxins have an effect on the immune systems of animals, and this is very similar to what we saw during the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. In fact, it took three years for the herring fishery, because of a depressed immune system response, to collapse, and it still hasn't recovered 20 years later. So there's a lot of concern that we'll start seeing these kinds of impacts over the coming years in the Gulf of Mexico as well.

KAYE: All right. Philippe Cousteau there watching it.

Thank you, Philippe. Appreciate it.

COUSTEAU: Thank you.

KAYE: And head over to CNN.com/oildisaster to see the effects the spill has had on the Gulf region. Also, check out the iReport assignment where people are expressing themselves via messages in the sand.

Louisiana and oysters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Orleans food without oysters is not New Orleans food. It's impossible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: But oysters have declined 85 percent around the world. What people off of the coast of Louisiana are doing to save them, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

KAYE: As scientists struggle to understand just how bad the Gulf oil spill has hurt the environment, Louisiana and its humble oysters were among those covered in oily sludge. But on top of that, natural reefs for oysters in the Gulf are growing scarce. That's where artificial reefs come on.

Photojournalist Ken Tillis takes us back down to Louisiana for today's "Green Solutions in Focus."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight hundred to 1,000 oysters going out today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are putting together the largest oyster po' boy in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have over 20 chefs here participating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And each different restaurant is doing their little spin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A stuffed artichoke po' boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feel the notion (ph) for a po' boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're calling this an oyster BLT.

This is real New Orleans, you all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oyster, it's a staple in our food. We love the oyster.

MICHAEL STERN, ROADFOOD.COM: There's nothing like a Louisiana oyster. They are great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's impossible to imagine New Orleans without all kinds of oysters on the menu.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the Grand Isle Shoreline Protection Oyster Restoration Project.

CINDY BROWN, DIRECTOR, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: Around the world oysters have declined 85 percent. It's the most imperiled marine ecosystem type in the world.

AMY SMITH KYLE, MANAGER, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: The goal of the project is to install artificial oyster reefs along particularly vulnerable marsh shorelines.

MARK GAGLIANO, COASTAL ENVIRONMENTS INC.: The structures of a vertical oyster reef, it's a metal frame with bags filled with recycled oyster shell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby oysters will settle on adult oysters and develop shells, and grow into adult oysters. Eventually, what we're going to see is these cages completely encrusted in oysters. They're going to form a living reef.

These oyster reefs are really important for protecting shorelines. The way that it works is that we get wave energy in waves coming through this region. Eventually, those waves eat away the shoreline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reefs actually stop and absorb that wave energy, and as you can see behind the reefs, the water flattens out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wake of our own boat is -- just immediately lays down when it hits the reef back here. It's amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Mobile Bay, we're using a different technique.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that is we are laying bag shell down on the floor of the Gulf. Volunteers formed a human chain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the past, we painstakingly pass one bag of oyster shell to each other to create these reefs. We're going to see oysters come in on these reefs. We're going to see fisheries rebound. And one other thing we think we're going to see is more baby oysters put out into the water so that the natural reef system can replenish itself here, as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Well, before your plane takes off, you're asked to turn off all electronic devices. But why is that?

Ali Velshi gets to the bottom of it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's been quite a busy week in the Severe Weather Center. Chad Myers is here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAYE: Frequent flyers, they're used to hearing, "Turn off all electric devices" before each and every takeoff, but does it really matter? Really?

CNN's Ali Velshi takes a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, at this time, please turn off or put away all electronic devices.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: When you get on a plane, you know that after everybody has boarded, the doors are closed, they tell you you've got to switch out your CD players, your DVDs, your game players, laptops, things like that. And I have to say, I sometimes wonder whether it really matters.

Well, the short answer is yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For passengers on (INAUDIBLE) switch, we ask that you turn it off now.

VELSHI (voice-over): In 1991, Federal Communications Commission banned the in-flight use of 800 megahertz cell phones, citing, "potential interference with ground networks." Cell phones, the FCC says, differ from other personal electronic devices in that their signal strength is stronger and could potentially cause disruptions to the cell system towers.

(on camera): Now, before you get mad at the airlines, it's actually not their policy. It's the FAA. They have got a motto called "Safety First," and what that means is they ban all electronics at what they call critical parts of the flight. That's the takeoff, the landing, and when you're below 10,000 feet.

(voice-over): For the non-critical portion of the flight, anything above 10,000 feet, the airline has to prove to the FAA that the particular device would not interfere with the navigation and communication systems of the particular aircraft in use, which is why some airlines allow wi-fi capabilities and other forms of electronic devices, and some don't.

But there are those out there who say the need for these regulations is a myth. Experts who have read flight incident reports and perform scientific tests suggests that while there's no specific empirical evidence directly linking the use of personal electronic devices on planes with disasters, why take the chance at 30,000 feet?

DAVE CARSON, BOEING ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: The possibility of interference, where there's a potential for interference, would be similar to somebody saying, hey, I can drive through a stop sign without even slowing down and nobody's hit me yet. Obviously, it must be OK to do that. The same thing could be said of using a cell phone or a wireless device on an airplane.

VELSHI: I'm a heavy in-flight electronics user, but I think we can agree on one thing -- no matter what the future flying rules and regulations are, no one really wants to sit next to someone on an plane and listen to them talk endlessly for hours.

Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Score another point for frustrated airline passengers. A few new additions to the airline passenger bill of rights. The details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Now, a quick look at the news you may have missed.

A highly respected journalist and documentary filmmaker was killed today in Misrata, Libya. Tim Heatherington was in a group that was reportedly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was a veteran war photographer and just this year, an Academy Award nominee for his Afghanistan documentary "Restrepo." I want to share his last tweet with you. It reads, quote, "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Gadhafi forces. No sign of NATO."

A second photojournalist was badly wounded in Misrata today. We will bring you more details as we get them.

Some welcome news for airline passengers. The Transportation Department has issued an updated version of the passenger bill of rights. Among the highlights, airlines are required to fully disclose all hidden fees for things like baggage, meals and reservation changes. And if your baggage is lost, airlines are now required to refund you the baggage fee that you paid upfront. The new rules are set to take effect in 120 days.

France and Italy announce they plan to send in advisers into Libya to advise rebels fighting to remove Moammar Gadhafi. The Obama administration maintains there will be no U.S. boots on the ground. However, secretary of state Hillary Clinton has recommended that President Obama authorize sending up to $25 million in nonlethal services and commodities to support the Libyan rebels.

A little good news amid all of the wildfire in Texas. The Forestry Service's evacuation orders have been lifted for resident in Coke County. However, there are fires continuing to burn border to border, according to the Texas Forestry Service. Fires have been burning for the past two weeks, destroying more than 170 homes. Firefighters from 34 states are in Texas to help them battle the fires that have burned nearly 1.5 million acres so far.

No classes are being held today at Columbine High School where 12 students and a teacher were gunned down by two of their classmates 12 years ago. 24 others were injured and the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold eventually turned the gun on themselves. The chaos played out in front of television news cameras as student and teachers scrambled to get out of the school.

President Obama is taking his pitch to reduce the U.S. deficit to the Web. Mr. Obama will be hosting a town hall at the California headquarters of Facebook today. The event is set to be streamed on facebook.com as well as WhiteHouse.gov. Those wanting to submit questions can do so at Facebook.com/WhiteHouse or at the official White House Web site. The event is scheduled to get under way at 4:45 p.m. Eastern.

From the front lines of Libya to right here in our studio Nic Robertson joins me in just a minute on his experiences covering the Libyan conflict and of course, the latest on the photojournalist killed there today. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In "Globe Trekking" today, I want to start with Libya. We received confirmation just in the last hour that photojournalist Tim Heatherington was killed there today and another photojournalist seriously wounded.

For more on this, we are very fortunate to have CNN's Nic Robertson right here in our studio. We are used to talking via satellite from all ends of the world on your part, but tell me what you can, Nic, what you know about Tim Heatherington and the death of him?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that he was obviously working in Misrata, and the government forces have been firing artillery and heavy rockets, RPGs, mortars, into the city and it seems he was struck during one of those artillery barrages. It is very difficult in an urban environment to figure out where the artillery is coming from, where you need to take cover. And often in these situations, people are working relatively in an unprotected way, as he was in this case.

KAYE: We actually have his last tweet when he was in Misrata. He did send out a message saying that there was indiscriminate -- he says he is in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by gadhafi forces and no sign of NATO. Just help us to set the picture there for us, if you can, in Misrata.

ROBERTSON: Well, we have been to Misrata, and the government has taken us in, so we have never been to the center (ph) where Chris was working. We've never seen the situation that civilians are in. We do know what it is like. Our own Fred Pleitgen went in, obviously, journalists, along with Tim and others have been in there.

What we have seen is tanks hidden under the sides of buildings, under trees. Military equipment hidden in buildings. Artillery, heavy artillery, the sort of thing you would use in conventional warfare, not against civilians in buildings. We've seen those out in the open end fields. And it was clear from the destruction we saw that the government is employing the heavy weapons against civilians and more lightly-armed rebels in the city.

When you're operating in an urban environment like that, these missiles and shells would come from in essentially from nowhere. The government has that city under siege, surrounded from all sides, so that this gun fire, this shell fire could come in from any side at any moment at any time. And that is continuing. And what Chris is talking about is a need there by the rebels for NATO to strike Gadhafi's military forces. And because he hides them, it makes it very hard. KAYE: Right. Well, that gets us to the next question today, because Italy and France have now agreed to send in these military advisers to help the rebels figure out how to better defend themselves against the arms that the Gadhafi regime has. Will it do any good?

ROBERTSON: Well, in somewhere like Misrata, it can begin to make a difference. It depends how many of these sort of military advisers and what the training and capabilities are. But one would expect them to be forward air controllers, one would expect them to be special forces trained to know how to use laser designators and such like so you would expect to see them operating on the high buildings, at the front lines, putting targets, designating targets with laser designators or giving GPS coordinates of Gadhafi's military assets in that area so that NATO can strike them accurately without risking killing civilians.

NATO has many different munitions at its choice here and they will want to use the ones that have the least collateral damage. So what is that tank standing next to? Is it near a school or is it just near a piece of waste ground? That eyes on the information is vital for NATO when choosing these targets.

KAYE: Will this type of move make Gadhafi dig in more, do you think?

ROBERTSON: Well, I was talking to somebody who is close behind the scenes, a diplomatic processor of sorts a couple of hours ago. And he said it's going to do one of two things. It will either harden Gadhafi's position or it's going to force him towards a negotiating table further. And clearly this increase in NATO pressure is designed to make Gadhafi and his government capitulate international and rebel demands that he should step down, move aside, an interim government, a cease-fire and all of these things.

Will this and can this potentially make a difference? If NATO is finding it hard to target on the ground and bring about a change in Gadhafi's thought process, this might, might do it. But it is a tiny incremental step, and there is no silver bullet here in Libya. And of course, Misrata is only part of a much bigger picture there.

KAYE: And when you look at the window of diplomacy, closing rapidly or no?

ROBERTSON: It is very difficult to know. I mean, the source I talked to and the location he was in and what he said to me gave me to think he was involved in that kind of diplomacy at the moment. It is clear that Gadhafi is prepared to step down at some point and move away.

Can the semantics and the language be brought together such that United States, France and Britain and others in NATO like Turkey who have a different position, can those opinions be brought together to bring a sort of diplomatic solution? But by putting these military advisers on the ground, it is going to make Gadhafi believe what he has always believed all along, that the international community is out to get him. Nowhere will he find sanctuary from the international criminal court; nowhere will be safe for him.

So this quite possibly make him harden the position. If it is designed to make him back down, putting his back further against the wall, we've seen, is not a tactic that has worked so far.

KAYE: I can't tell you how nice to see you and have you here in the studio and know you are on safe ground. So, thank you. Really appreciate it. Great to see you, Nic.

ROBERTSON: Thank you.

KAYE: The cost of plane tickets is skyrocketing. Most of it is going to line the pockets of the airlines, right? Well, not so fast. I will show you where it really goes in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The Department of Transportation issued a new set of rules to airlines today regarding how they treat passengers. Call it a passenger bill of rights version 2.0, if you will. The new rules cover everything from lost bags to hidden fees and they go into effect later this year. I will have more on this in just a few minutes in my XYZ.

But here's a question for you now: what good is a passenger bill of rights if you can't afford the ticket to fly? The cost of a ticket could go up 15 percent more this summer. Southwest Airlines already said today it was raising the fares by $5 each way on all of its flights to match higher fares already announced by other airlines.

The folks at CNNmoney.com decided to break down that plane ticket price for all of us and see why we are paying so much. All right. There we go.

The typical airfare between New York and Los Angeles is now over $500. And right off of the top are the fixed labor costs. That is for pilots and flight attendants and the people who take your ticket and handle your baggage. That is going to cost you about $95.

So, now, here is the big one. Fuel, right. For this flight, that cost the airline about $100 per ticket. Let me move that over there. But that is just this week. So, that can go up or down as the market price fluctuates, just like the price of gasoline for your car jumps around at the pump from week to week. And by the way, the price of jet fuel is already 50 percent -- up 50 percent from this time last year. OK. Now we're going to go Back this way. See.

Don't forget that by the way, that about taxes. Not only do you pay tax on the ticket when you buy it, but the airline pays a handful of taxes before it even sells you that ticket to the tune of $75 in this case. All right. And then there's the long list of miscellaneous costs, including everything from payments to merchants and regional partners to paying for the lease on the plane you are in and even interest on the money the airline borrows to pay for everything upfront. So do the airlines make any money off this? Well, yes they do. A grand total of about 33 bucks. But remember, each time the cost of fuel goes up, and they don't put on a surcharge up, it come right out of the profit. And if bad weather cancels the flight and they have to reschedule, add it up again. $33 is pretty good, though, compared to the bad days when most airlines were either breaking even or losing money on most flights.

So now when you see the airfare to your summer destination go up, you know where the money is going. Not sure it that will ease your pain much, though.

Well, it's time now for a CNN Political Update. Shannon Travis, part of The Best Political Team on Television, joins us from the political desk in Washington. And Shannon, the two major parties released fundraising numbers from March. What have you got?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, that is right, Randi. We have been talking a lot about the presidential race, but we don't want to forgot about the race for the Senate. Both parties obviously going to be fighting next year for the control of the Senate, and as you just mentioned, we've got some new fundraising numbers coming out from both parties for March, for last month.

Listen to this, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised about $5.6 million last month. They have $5.5 million cash on hand, but they are $4.89 million in debt. On the other side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee they have $5 million raised last month, and $1.48 cash on hand and $2.75 million in debt. So, while the Democrats raised a little bit more and have a little bit more on hand, the Republicans have less debt. And that's important because next year the Democrats are going to be defending about 23 seats as they try to keep control, the Republicans about 10.

Moving on to another story. New Jersey's governor Chris Christie, he says he will not run for president, but some people in the state are describing him as a bully in a recent survey. Randi?

KAYE: All right, Shannon. Thank you. Your next update from the best political team in television is just an hour away.

If you were stopped for a minor traffic violation, would it be OK for a state trooper to use a device that could bypass your cell phone's password and access all of your private information? Well, they are doing just that in Michigan.

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KAYE: I want to bring you an update on the story we have been following since last fall. A student from Rutgers University was indicted today on 15 counts, including hate crimes and tampering with evidence. Dharun Ravi is accused of using a webcam to spy on fellow student Tyler Clementi having a same-sex encounter in his dorm room and streaming it live over the Internet. Clementi killed himself just days later. Prosecutors allege that Ravi filmed the encounter with the purpose of trying to intimidate Clementi. Ravi is also accused of trying to delete postings from his Twitter account and persuade others not to testify against him. Clementi's death came around the same time as several other high-profile of suicides of young people who were gay or perceived to be gay, which touched off anti-bullying outcry.

If drivers are pulled over for even minor traffic violations in Michigan, state police can use a device that bypasses their cell phone's passwords to access all of their private information. We are talking call history, text messages, contacts, images and essentially a GPS trail of wherever you have taken your cell phone. And the extraction works even if you have hidden or deleted all your data. Critics are saying that the state of Michigan is basically extracting information that they would normally need a warrant for.

Andy Hill is a retired sergeant from the Phoenix Police Department and joins me from Phoenix. Andy, I got to get your reaction to this. First, tell me why should law enforcement be using this technology?

SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX P.D. (RET.): Well, it is an very interesting report if in fact the officers in Michigan are doing that. I'm sure there's a big upcry over that. The technology that developed is always useful for law enforcement. Being able to get intelligence off of cell phone is critical to criminal investigation or in exigent circumstances. Let's say you have a kidnap victim and you stop somebody that may have information and they won't give it to you. And you have to try to make a rescue. So, you'd need to go into that phone immediately without a search warrant.

But only in an emergency. Otherwise you have to be involved in a criminal investigation and you need to get that evidence. So, just making a traffic stop and taking information off a phone is probably not going to fly anywhere.

KAYE: Yes, because I mean, these people, they don't have to actually have been involved in any type of criminal behavior for these officers to go ahead to do this?

HILL: You know, I find that really hard to believe, because there are some very clear definitions about retrieving information. You know the Fourth Amendment is one of the most adjudicated in the courts all of the way up to the Supreme Court and in many public courts. So, I'm sure that all these issues are going to come to play.

But it is very important for law enforcement not to abuse a tool when they have it, either. You have to be very careful with what you do with your access. For us in law enforcement, really, the criteria is what do you need the information for? What is it going to be used for? You should be obtaining a search warrant in order to retrieve information from an electronic device, and that order should be signed by a judge. Unless there is an exigency, unless someone's life is at risk or if some particular evidence is going to be destroyed.

KAYE: So how do you see this playing out? I mean, do you think this technology has the potential to cost the state convictions down the road?

HILL: Well, you can lose convictions if you improperly use that access to the technology. If police officers were to go ahead and get that information and use it and it was found later that they didn't have a exigency, that it wasn't to protect or secure evidence and there was no emergency and they didn't have warrant, they will lose that information.

The problem with all of it is that none of us want our personal information taken off of a cell phone and there has to be a reason for the state to take that. And even if you go ahead and get a search warrant to get information, it may have to be very specific what you take off of that phone, and then what happens to the rest of the information? Should you have to destroy it or delete it, and how do you show that?

So, those issues are very important especially as we continue to evolve with technology, there are a lot more questions that need to be answered, and law enforcement will follow with procedures and guidelines they have to follow.

KAYE: So, tell me this. What if a driver simply said, no way. I'm not turning over my phone to you, the trooper. Would they be stuck on the side of the road waiting for a warrant, or how do you see that playing out?

HILL: Well, they could be stuck if there was a crime involved and if there was probable cause for that officer to seize that phone. If there isn't and it is a mere traffic stop and all the officer is looking for is consent to take that phone, then the driver can say no. And then the officer is going to either have to develop that probable cause within a certain amount of time, a short time period, maybe 20 minutes or so to move forward or he has to let that person go.

Or perhaps there's some kind of a criminal investigation where all they need is that phone. They may be able with a search warrant to take that phone and let the person go. But either way, that driver is probably going to be there for at least a little while.

KAYE: Andy Hill, interesting perspective and thanks for the conversation.

HILL: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: And finally, an upgrade to airlines passenger rights. That is my XYZ right after the break.

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KAYE: Time now for the XYZ. How are the so-called friendly skies treating you these? Not so friendly, are they? When was the last time you had a flight-mare? You know, that awful flight when you're trapped on the tarmac for hours waiting to take off, in some cases without food or water? And if you're lucky, a screaming child behind you? Well, those trips may be on the way out. We can only hope. That's because a new passenger bill of rights has been approved. The new rules will take effect in about four month. With this updated bill of rights, airlines will have to disclose all fees and taxes on their web sites, including baggage fees. It also increases compensation for passengers who are bumped from a flight. With short delays, it will get up to $650. Longer delays, you'll be paid about $1,300.

And yes, finally, it limits those terrible tarmac delays for international flights to four hours. Tarmac delays for the domestic flights are limited to three hour. And I love this one, if your bag is lost, damaged or delayed -- that never happens does it? Well, the airline must refund the fee that you paid to check that bag, and that is usually $25.

The airlines can't be happy about that, of course, considering in 2010, some 2 million bags were lost or damaged or delayed. So, next time you get sticker shock over these skyrocketing airfares, be thankful that at least there is a new passenger bill of rights that awaits you.

That'll do it for me. Brooke Baldwin takes over from there.