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Driving The Price Of Gas; FBI On Hunt For Mall Bomb Suspect; Senator Resigns Amid Ethics Probe; McCain Tours Libyan Stronghold; Two Girls Commit Suicide; Oil Spill Blamed For Gulf Coast Resident Illnesses; Doing Your Part on Earth Day
Aired April 22, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, you as well, Suzanne. Everybody talks about gasoline prices, but can anybody do anything about them?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The attorney general's putting together a team whose job it is to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, and that includes the role of traders and speculators.
ELIOT SPITZER, HOST, IN THE ARENA: This is a cheap press release. Let's be honest, this is not something that's going to address the issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just part of the times. This is how it goes, it goes up, it goes down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Well, we can hope it goes down. And here are the latest averages to factor in your weekend travel plans, $3.85 a gallon for regular, $4.12 for premium. The key word there though is average. At least a half dozen states are paying north of $4.00 for regular. Hawaii for all its good points has the highest average gas price in the nation, $4.52 a gallon.
Now, oil prices are high, too, but the so-called benchmark price for west Texas intermediate is still more than 20 percent below its record high of August 2008. Gas on the other hand is now only 6 percent below its all-time high and climbing by the day. For "Two At The Top," I'm happy to be joined by Poppy Harlow of CNNmoney.com.
Poppy, start with the disconnect.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Sure, the big one.
KAYE: Between gas and oil, what gives?
HARLOW: You know, what we saw in 2008 was the record gas prices, $4.11, and folks, what we also saw is gas around $140.00. And the president is saying we're putting a task force on this, we're going to see if it's market speculators, if it is Wall Street. I think what Eliot Spitzer said -- gets to the point here, we did the same thing in 2008, the White House did and where we got was pretty much nowhere.
They brought one firm under investigation for $1 million in crude trading that they say may have been speculative but that's about it. The disconnect here is the fact that in the United States, we've actually got a glut of oil sitting in a big, big place called Cushing, Oklahoma. That oil is not really factoring in as much to our gas prices as worldwide oil is.
I just got off the phone with an oil trader in New York and he said, look, supply is clearly not the issue. Randi, what he said is that we are betting on where oil's going to go. The unrest in Libya, big question mark there. The unrest around the rest of the region, that's what we're betting on, not the supply. Supply's not an issue here in the U.S. at all. We got a lot of oil from the Canadian oil sands and a lot domestically right now and that makes people angry.
KAYE: So, it is really about speculation.
HARLOW: You know, it is -- that's how these markets work, we bet on where things go, that's just the way the market goes. You might not like it, I think speculation has gotten this negative connotation. That's the way the stock market works, that's how the stock market works. It's partly that, it's also the fact that oil is more expensive around the world, folks, than it is in here.
Oil in Europe, oil in the Middle East, more expensive right now, called Brent crude. It is a little more expensive than that west Texas crude, a lot of which comes from here and that we hold in this country. Our gas prices are not just based on how much oil we have but how much oil is around the world and where people think those oil prices are going to go because of what may happen to that supply. So, it has a lot more to do than what we have here.
KAYE: So, but consumption really seems to be slowing down -- -
HARLOW: Yes.
KAYE: -- yet we're still seeing the prices high.
HARLOW: Because it comes back to the issue that it's not a supply issue. It's really up to all of us to drive more fuel efficient vehicles, to take public transportation, but right now, we are not looking at a lack of supply in this market for driving these prices higher.
We may if we had more upheaval in the Middle East but right now, it's not really a consumption issue at all, and I think that's hard for people to swallow.
And you started out with a great point, Randi, can we do anything about it? No, we can't. We can drive less, buy less, but a lot of people don't have a choice, they have to commute to work. The president is saying, look, if it is speculation, we're going to look into it, we're going to put our task force, Eric Holder, the attorney general's office, on it. But again, in 2008, we had a very similar move. That didn't affect our gas prices at all. So, I don't want people to get too excited here and think, all right, the administration's on it, I'm going to be paying less next week.
KAYE: Right. And they don't really - -- they don't coincide, they don't march together, gas prices tend to lag behind.
HARLOW: Well, exactly, by a few weeks, too.
KAYE: All right. Poppy Harlow, great to have you here.
HARLOW: You got it.
KAYE: Thank you.
I want to update you now on the failed plot to bomb a Littleton, Colorado mall. The attempt may have failed but investigators are calling it domestic terrorism, and they've launched a manhunt for a possible suspect.
The FBI just released some new photos here, take a good look. The investigation centers around this man, and officers are working right now to track him down. These pictures are just the latest. They were taken from a surveillance camera inside the Southwest Plaza Mall. Here you can see him carrying a bag. What's inside, of course, may be key.
Investigators say just minutes before these were snapped, a security guard noticed a fire, possibly set to detonate a pipe bomb and propane tanks which are found nearby. Authorities say an explosion could have been devastating. Luckily that did not happen.
But here's the thing, this all went down less than two miles from Columbine High School. Exactly 12 years to the day two students massacred 12 students and a teacher.
Let's go straight to Ted Rowlands who joins me now from Denver. Ted, what's the latest, what more can you tell us about this man that they're looking for?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple things, Randi. First off, we just talked to the individual that first reported the fire, and we have a better indication of those propane tanks that were used in this attempted bombing. And they're the small ones, just like this. They're not the large ones or the small ones, but as you mentioned, the FBI says that they could have been very lethal.
Let's take another look at that new photo which was released just an hour ago by the FBI, and the critical thing here is that they have upgraded this guy to a suspect. Usually, of course, when they're looking for somebody they call them a person of interest because they're still building a case. The fact that they've released these new photos, which they got off a bus which left this mall here, and they are now calling him a suspect is key.
Back to the propane tanks, here's what they found in this area right near a food court. It was a fire scenario with these propane tanks, and according to the FBI, also a pipe bomb. Take a listen to Marshall Wood, the young man that first reported the fire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARSHALL WOOD, WITNESS: I saw one of these, maybe two, sitting on the panel itself and, you know, there were flames around it. I couldn't tell if they were coming from this or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Now, investigators are hesitant, at this point, to connect the 12-year anniversary to columbine, people here are not so hesitant. One person in particular is Linda Sanders, she was widowed after Columbine. Her husband, Dave Sanders, was the lone teacher that was killed in that massacre 12 years ago. Believe it or not, she was inside the mall at the time of this bomb scare this week.
KAYE: All right, Ted Rowlands for us there reporting. Thank you, Ted.
And moving now, another senator is on the way out. Senator John Ensign is resigning amid a scandal and an ethics investigation. The Nevada Republican announced he'll leave Congress on May 3rd. Ensign was exposed for having an affair with a female aid who is the wife of his former chief of staff. He previously said he wouldn't seek re- election in 2012.
An ethics committee is looking into allegations he illegally gave his mistress' family nearly $100,000 and arranged for lobbying work for her husband. Ensign denies he broke any laws but said he no longer wanted to subject his family, constituents or the Senate to his investigation.
Senator John McCain is in Libya today in Benghazi, a rebel stronghold in the east. McCain has been an early supporter of helping the Libyan rebels fight Moammar Gadhafi. The ears of the senator arrived to a cheering crowd of Libyans waving American flags and chanting, thank you.
McCain, the top Republican on the senate armed services committee, stopped by a hospital and suggested allies were not doing enough. His visit comes as President Obama revealed he was deploying armed drones to Libya.
Two teenage girls are dead after they hanged themselves during a sleepover. Coming up after the short break, find out why their families believe the eighth-graders committed suicide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Two young girls were laid to rest this week after taking their own lives during a sleepover. Fourteen-year-old Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz had a sleepover last weekend in Marshall, Minnesota. Both girls hanged themselves and left suicide notes. The notes ask for their families to remember them and pray for them. The girls both attended Marshall Middle School.
Both families have told media outlets that they believe the girls were bullied at school. Haylee's aunt says that fellow students made fun of her weight and her red hair. Haley was expelled from school allegedly for defending Paige during a fight in school. Our affiliate KSFY spoke to some students from the school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADDY, STUDENT, MARSHALL MIDDLE SCHOOL: They were so young. I just never thought anything could be so bad where you'd think that somebody would do that.
SADIE, STUDENT, MARSHALL MIDDLE SCHOOL: You were born for a reason and you deserve to live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Haley's family released this statement to mead media outlets about the alleged bullying at school, quote, "We need to stop pretending this isn't happening or that it is just a cry for attention because obviously it is not...it shouldn't take more tragedies to realize this."
Kids being bullied is a national problem. A study by the Massachusetts department of public health and the centers for disease control and prevention that just came out suggested one in four kids are bullied in middle schools. The study also found that kids who bully often are victims or at least witnesses of violence in their own homes.
And here to tell us about this study is John Auerbach, he's the commissioner of the department of public health in Massachusetts. His office was directly involved in this bullying study.
John, glad you're with us. First of all, let's start with the violence in the home connection to bullies and their victims. This sounds very critical in terms of what you found. Tell us more.
JOHN AUERBACH, COMMISSIONER, MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, we looked at both middle schools -- - middle school students and high school students and we found that those students who were either likely to be bullied or bullies themselves were significantly more likely to have experienced violence in their homes.
KAYE: And tell us -- I mean, can you expand on that a little bit? I mean, we've always looked at the root of bullying. I mean, is this the answer?
AUERBACH: We think that it's -- the answer itself is complicated and there -- we don't know about causation, but we definitely saw an association between experiencing violence or being the victim of violence in the home, and an elevated likelihood of either being bullied in a school setting or a bully. And the highest percentage of all were those individuals who said that they were both bullies and had been bullies though, a third category of individuals. For those individuals, we saw a very high likelihood of having experienced violence in the home or having been the victim of violence in the home.
KAYE: So, it sounds like that there's a vulnerability, maybe, that we weren't aware of in terms of the bullies themselves.
AUERBACH: We -- - there has been a -- - other studies that have also looked at the likelihood that if you have had adverse childhood experiences including violence, that it does create a range of different vulnerabilities in terms of health and behaviors.
KAYE: I want to know what you found in terms of bullies, their victims and suicide as well in your study.
AUERBACH: Yes. Well, there we were alarmed to see that for both the middle school students and the high school students, we saw a greater likelihood of considering suicide or actually attempting suicide for the -- not surprisingly -- for people who were bullied. But again there we were surprised to see that the likelihood was even higher for the bullies, and at its highest level for those -- that third category I was mentioning earlier, the people who said they had bullied others but they had also been bullied themselves. That category in some instances was multiple times like -- more likely to consider harming themselves or committing suicide when compared with the students who hadn't experienced bullying at all.
KAYE: And I want to ask you about this. Glenn Koocher, the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, told "The Boston Globe" that family violence is, quote, "beyond our control but not beyond our responsibility because society has put that on us to deal with it." So how do we, as a society, need to react to this?
AUERBACH: Sure. I think that there are many different sectors of society that need to play an important role. We think it's important that parents talk to their children about bullying and make it clear that bullying is considered unacceptable. And also encourage their children to let them know when they see bullying or if they are the victims of bullying.
But schools play a very important role as well. And in Massachusetts we're fortunate that Governor Patrick has prioritized the reduction of violence in young people in many, many different settings. But he, last year, signed an important piece of legislation that he is overseeing the implementation of and that legislation requires that every single school, both public and private in Massachusetts, has to have an anti-bullying plan with a training components, with educational components for the students themselves, and with a strong emphasis on reporting bullying incidents to the school administration and action steps that will be taken in response.
KAYE: Yes, I mean it is so important. I can't tell you how many stories I've done and how many conversations I've had about these young people who have taken their lives because of bullying for various reasons. And we talk about all these changes that all the change that people want, yet it doesn't seem as though much is changing actually out there. So I'm glad to see Massachusetts at the forefront of this and hopefully other states will follow.
John, appreciate it. Very interesting discussion. Very important discussion as well. Thank you.
AUERBACH: Thank you.
KAYE: To check out the entire report for yourself, head to our blog, cnn.com/ali. We'll link you up with that study.
Well, it's a great time to buy a house with low prices and great rates. So why is the government suddenly shying away from helping people get a mortgage? We'll hear from the man in charge next in "Your Money."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Today on "Your Money," well, have a look at these numbers. New numbers this week tell us the median price of a single family home in America, at the moment, is just over $159,000. You see it right there. That's down almost 6 percent from last year. And with a 30-year mortgage at 4.8 percent, it seems like a good time to buy, right? Earlier, Ali Velshi talked to Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and asked him that question.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHAUN DONOVAN, HUD SECRETARY: For those who can put together the downpayment, today is a good time to buy. And, in fact, we've seen six out of the last eight months home sales rising. But it's a fragile recovery and what you can see is that, after declining for 30 straight months before the president came into office, we've seen prices stabilize, but we haven't seen a consistent upward trend that makes me confident yet. And I think this spring is really going to be a time where we're going to be watching closely.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Look we've got this whole discussion going on right now about smaller government. And one of the things that the government is so heavily involved in is the backing of new loans for mortgages. Some say nine out of 10 new mortgages are in some fashion backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration. You're one of those people who thinks the government should have a smaller role in this as we go forward, but isn't that going to make it harder for people to get mortgages?
DONOVAN: Look, Congress set up FHA, which is part of my agency at HUD, just for this kind of moment. When we're in crisis, housing is too important to not have credit available. It helps folks move to new jobs. It makes sure families are stable. And so we've stepped up. Forty percent of all home purchases the last year were FHA. So we played a critical role. As this recovery takes hold, we need to see private capital come back into the market.
VELSHI: We've just been reporting that fully a quarter of loan applicants who think they could qualify for a mortgage in the private sector just don't. That's good that we're not lending money to people who can't pay them. But at the same time, are we keeping a lot of people out of the market that will help us recover?
DONOVAN: Ali, I do have concerns that in some places we may be restricting people that are good risks that can be successful homeowners. And let me give you an example. We saw many lenders taking our FHA standards. We say that if you don't have a 580 credit score or higher, you need to put a bigger down payment down. So we've raised our standards. But we saw banks going even farther than that and we thought that we were leaving good folks on the sidelines and potentially hurting the recovery as a result.
So we worked with lenders an we've seen a number of them step back those requirements to what we think are our strong FHA standards are. And so we're hopeful that that can help more folks be able to get into this market, as you said, at a time where prices really do present an opportunity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And you can catch plenty more of CNN's great investment coverage with Christine Romans on "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern and, of course, Ali Velshi on "Your Money" Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00.
Twenty-four minutes past the hour. Let's get you caught up with some of our top stories.
Are gasoline prices out of control? That is what the Justice Department plans to find out. Attorney General Eric Holder said he is forming the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group. It is being tasked with finding out if there is price gouging going on and if there have been any violations of state or federal laws.
Well, it may be Earth Day, but Greenpeace says it is not impressed with Apple's environmental impact. It singled out the company as having what it calls the dirtiest data. The environmental group examined the amount and type of energy consumed by several top tech companies data centers. The massive warehouses where banks of servers store information.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he would sign a birther bill if it crossed his desk. The proposed bill would require presidential candidates to provide a copy of their birth certificate in order to qualify for the Louisiana ballot. The bill was filed last week by two Republican lawmakers. A similar bill was recently vetoed by the Arizona governor.
The U.S. has authorized the use of predator drones in Libya. Is this a game changer in the conflict? Our Ed Henry is working his sources to see what's going on behind the scenes at the White House. And we'll talk with him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: President Obama has approved the use of armed predator drone aircraft to launch air strikes against ground forces in Libya. The drones can fly lower to the ground, which should provide more precise targeting of Gadhafi's military hardware. Some see this as a sign of the White House's growing concern that the NATO-led air campaign has failed to stop Gadhafi's forces in populated areas. But the biggest plus, of course, is that they are unmanned. Ed Henry joins me now from the White House.
Ed Henry joins me now from the White House.
Ed, this seems to be a way for President Obama to help the rebels without actually putting the boots on the ground, which he doesn't want to do.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. that's the key, you're right, because from day one of this situation in Libya, it's clear the president has been very direct with the American people and saying, no boots on the ground. You're right. And so with these drones, as we've seen along the Afghan-Pakistan border, you can unleash some more surgical strikes without adding to the boots on the ground, for example, already there in Afghanistan. Here in Libya, you don't have to put any boots on the ground at all.
But, of course, it's not that simple. It comes with great risk. As we've seen in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, sometimes these drones are not perfect and you end up hitting innocent civilians. That has been a huge problem for the U.S. in Pakistan. Admiral Mike Mullen was just in Pakistan the last couple of days trying to soothe some of the hard feelings, in fact, between the U.S. and Pakistani government.
So there is some political risk here. But the bottom line is, you're right, I think it is very clear the president authorized these drone strikes to try and make sure that there's not a need for ground troops. But we'll see after these drones are used whether or not there is any change to what looks like a stalemate right now. Gadhafi is still in power.
KAYE: Yes, and John McCain is exactly saying that. I mean he's in Libya today. He was in Benghazi. He said there are significant signs of a stalemate. He went to see a hospital. He looked at some of the collateral damage. I mean is he putting pressure on the White House to expand the U.S. role?
HENRY: There's no doubt about it because John McCain's message was pretty simple. He was standing with some of these rebel leaders and was calling them heroes and saying -- you know, praising the French, for example, while he's traveling over as a very senior U.S. senator, praising the French for sending over trainers, for example, to help these rebels, and prodding -- not so subtly prodding the Obama administration to send some trainers over to help the rebels as well.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates made it clear again, though, yesterday, that the U.S. has no plans to send over trainers. It is just going to let the existing NATO trainers do the job. You can bet John McCain is not going to stop pressuring this administration, though, to give these rebels more help as we see a stalemated situation. KAYE: Yes, what's so interesting is that -- I know John McCain doesn't want to put boots on the ground and troops on the ground, but he does say that we can facilitate weapons to the rebels, which is sort of in this ongoing debate, do we arm the rebels, do we not. So how do you think the president will respond to that?
HENRY: Yes, I mean, I think you're right, it has been a thorny issue. So far, the administration has come down squarely on the side of not directly arming them. Maybe if other Arab allies want to arm the rebels, if some of the NATO allies want to arm them, that's fine with the U.S.
But this brings back the broader question the administration has been confronting since the beginning of this crisis in Libya, which is how big will the U.S. role be. This president has made clear that he believes the American people by and large are weary of Iraq and Afghanistan, didn't want to send ground troops, didn't want, just beyond ground troops, a big U.S. presence in Libya. There are some people like John McCain who think that may be a mistake.
KAYE: Be interesting to see when John McCain returns if they have a little meeting in the Oval Office.
All right, Ed Henry, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much.
HENRY: Have a great weekend.
KAYE: You, too.
New clues as police on Long Island search for more remains where eight bodies have already been found. We'll get an update on the serial killer case. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A little over half past the hour now. Here's a look at the stores that you may have missed.
Lindsay Lohan is back in court this hour facing charges that she stole a necklace from a jewelry store in Venice, California. Today's preliminary hearing is to decide if the case will actually go to trial. The judge in the case is also expected to decide whether or not Lohan violated her probation for a 2007 drunken driving conviction by being charged with the theft. Lohan decided last month to reject a plea deal, opting to fight the felony grand theft charge instead.
Senator John McCain made a visit to Benghazi, Libya today to show his support for the rebels there. While McCain remains a strong opponent of putting U.S. troops on the ground in Libya, he stated that the U.S. should have a role in helping the rebels oust the Gadhafi regime. McCain is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the region since fighting broke out in February.
In Colorado, investigators are asking for the public's help in identifying a man caught on surveillance footage Wednesday near the scene of a failed bombing attempt. It happened at a mall in Littleton, Colorado, less than two miles from Columbine High School which was the scene of a deadly shooting 12 years ago. A mall security guard spotted a small fire in the mall and subsequent searches of the area turned up a pipe bomb and two propane tanks.
Police on Long Island will conduct a land search in an area of the town of Oyster Bay for more human remains as part of an investigation to find more clues in the deaths of eight people. Two teeth that appear to be human were found in the area just today. The remains of four women were discovered in that same area back in December.
Republican Senator John Ensign announced that he'll resign his seat on May 3rd. The Nevada senator previously said he would not seek reelection in 2012 after it was revealed that he had an affair with a female aide and that his parents subsequently gave money to her family. Ensign said that he firmly believes he has not violated any law, rule or standard of conduct of the Senate, but he does not want to subject his family, his constituents or the Senate to any further rounds of investigations, drawn-out proceedings or public hearings.
People who live and work near the site of last year's BP oil spill say something is making them sick. We talked to experts who say they know exactly what it is. BP's response just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Well, something is making some Gulf Coast residents sick. Many are convinced it has to do with last year's BP oil spill.
Our Tom Foreman has this CNN in-depth report, "THE GULF: ONE YEAR LATER."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the wake of the spill on the Gulf Coast, a baffling medical mystery, people by the dozens saying they are seriously sick. Clayton Matherne he spent weeks working on a boat engineer the explosion site.
CLAYTON MATHERNE, OFFSHORE WORKER: Started being nauseated. Light headedness. Started getting real tight to breathe.
FOREMAN: Andy LeBoeuf worked the oil booms just a few days.
ANDY LEBOEUF, ARBORIST: I was coughing stuff out of my lungs every 20 or 30 seconds. Just coughing constantly.
MATHERNE: I've had had a lot of memory loss. A lot of eyesight loss, I lost half my eyesight.
LEBOEUF: I was down for about three weeks ere I couldn't do hardly anything.
FOREMAN: Ever since the spill, periodic reports of gas station- like odors from the water have triggered health fears all along the shore, and nowhere are they being recorded more aggressively than an hour outside of New Orleans by ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Michael Robichaux.
DR. MICHAEL ROBICHAUX, EAR, NOSE AND THROAT SPECIALIST: I've never seen anything like this.
FOREMAN: Although he says he can't afford to collect bloodwork to backup his claims, he is convinced that people up to 100 miles inland may have been poisoned by toxic fumes from oil in the water and disbursants sprayed through the air. And clean-up crews, he says, got the worst of it.
ROBICHAUX: We are spraying these areas and sending people into the lion's den to be poisoned. I mean, it makes no sense at all.
FOREMAN (on camera): That's what you believe is happening.
ROBICHAUX: No. That's what I know has happened.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Faced with such accusations, in Washington, the National Institutes of Health is launching an unprecedented study. While it will not focus on people who just live or vacation on the Gulf, it involves interviewing over 100,000 of the people who worked closest to the oil.
DR. DALE SAND, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES: We're not really sure what we'll find.
FOREMAN: Dr. Dale Sandler says out of dozens of past oil spills, only eight have been studied much for health impacts.
SANDLER: We hope to be able to narrow this down to specific activities that people might have been doing or specific chemicals that they might have been exposed to.
FOREMAN: But that's not enough for Wilma Subra, who wants government treatment offered while the study commences. She is a chemist and activist who insists many of the dangerous chemicals involved in this spill, such as benzene, are causing these severe health problems.
WILMA SUBRA, CHEMIST: Acute health impact such as respiratory impacts, difficulty breathing, skin rashes, loss of lung function --
FOREMAN (on camera): That's what's caused by these chemicals.
SUBRA: Yes.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Many workers seem certain that they were exposed to something.
LEBOEUF: I could smell it. I could smell it. It was strong. It burned your eyes. I mean it was strong. It was bad.
FOREMAN: But federal health official must also consider stress, depression, or if some people simply want to blame BP.
(on camera): What do you say when people say they're faking it. ROBICHAUX: Come over here with me and let me introduce you to these people, and if you believe that when you leave, I'll -- then, I'll be amazed.
FOREMAN: What do you hope happens here?
MATHERNE: I hope that these companies finally wake up and realize what they've done to us.
FOREMAN (voice-over): In a written statement to CNN, BP said most worker illnesses during the clean-up were short-term and related to hard work in hot weather. Furthermore, it said, "...monitoring consistently indicated that responders' exposures of chemicals of concerns were well below the most conservative... limits..." set by the government and industry groups.
And as for that federal study, it could take years before it proves or disproves any connection between the spill and those who are ill.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Raceland, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: This Earth Day we want you to go green. We've got 10 simple ways you can help the environment coming up right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
Every day on this show at this time we do a segment called the "Big I," it's all about big new ideas and innovations. In honor of Earth Day, we're all green for the "Big I" today.
First of all, the Earth Day Network is looking for a billion acts of green. They are hoping for a billion pledges to help the environment. Some of the pledges so far include not watering your lawn for a week, turning of the water when you brush your teeth, planting a garden at your school or maybe even at home, eating more local food or taking shorter showers. All good ideas. Of course, though, you can even make up your own pledge.
We've also posted 10 ways to do your part this Earth Day. Volunteer with a conservation group or go out on your own to clean up a park or maybe a river. Where clothes twice before you wash them. It's OK to do that, you know. Buy greener light bulbs, use your shredded documents as compost. Save on gas by driving slower, accelerating less quickly and coasting to a stop. Take your own bags to the grocery store. That's a good one, too, cause you end up with all those plastic bags in a drawer or cabinet you're never going to use. So don't bother keeping them.
To see the other ways you can do your part this Earth Day, head to our blog, CNN.com/Ali. You'll find plenty of ideas there. Our first stop in "Globe Trekking" today is Syria. Security forces opened fire on demonstrators during mass protests across the country, killing at least 33 people and wounding dozens. Today's mass marches follow Friday prayers. It is being called Great Friday on social media. After weeks of daily protests, the Syrian government announced yesterday that it is lifting the emergency rule that has been in place for almost 50 years. That decree also included recognizing and regulating peaceful protests in the country. Human rights groups have been pressuring the government not to crack down on peaceful demonstrations. It is believed that more than 200 people have been killed since anti-government demonstrations began last month.
Two years ago, the beauty store chain The Body Shop started a campaign to fight sex trafficking. It is asking customers to join a petition that will go before United Nations late this year. More than 5.5 million people have already signed that petition. Chris Davis is running The Body Shop's campaign, and he makes the case that businesses have the ability to leverage the power of their customers for social change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS DAVIS, THE BODY SHOP INTERNATIONAL: Business has a key role within society. Every business should be taking action in this area and tackling the problem.
From The Body Shop's perspective, we need to use our core skills and our core abilities to influence governments for change. And absolutely our strength lies in our customer base.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: This story is part of CNN's year-long Freedom Project. You can learn all about it by going to CNN.com/freedom.
Would Donald Trump hire John McCain's daughter, Megan, to help him if he runs for president? Brianna Keilar joins us with the latest campaign news. That's next.
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KAYE: Time now for CNN political update. Brianna Keilar joins us from the political desk in Washington, and Brianna, some good news for Mitt Romney out of New Hampshire, I understand.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is right. What if, Randi, President Obama were to square off against Mitt Romney if Mitt Romney were to be the Republican presidential nominee? Good news for Romney, some bad news for the president at least as far as New Hampshire goes, at least when we're talking about right now. Because a Dartmouth College survey shows Romney beating the president by eight percentage points, 47 percent to 39 percent.
The good news, though, for President Obama, he soundly defeats in this survey every other GOP possibility. Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour and Sarah Palin and, yes, Donald Trump.
Which brings us to our next couple of stories here. If Donald Trump runs for president, he's probably not going to be getting a lot of help from Karl Rove. He slammed the former top adviser to president George W. Bush on Fox News last night. He said, "Rove is the man that ran Bush into the ground and he finished so weak that we ended up getting Obama," and I quote, "Those comments surprise, surprise coming after Rove criticized Trump saying that he should not be taken seriously as a potential GOP candidate because of his dwelling on the birther issues."
But -- and this is our next story on the ticker -- guess who Trump could get a little help from? Meghan McCain, the daughter of the 2008 presidential nominee for -- Republican nominee John McCain. She did an interview with Trump for The Daily Beast. I would actually say this is maybe more of a love fest than an interview, because she asked him if he runs, could she work on his campaign. His response, Randi: I love it.
And then he asked her about some of the critical early primary caucus states, New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and she said, "Oh, yes, I could definitely help you.'" I say why stop there? She could be the running mate, right?
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: Well, oh, boy, I don't know about that, although she was pretty impressive though, during, her father's campaign. She took the lead on a lot of stuff. And I'm sure that Donald Trump was impressed with that, so, hey, who knows? Stranger things have happened.
KEILAR: Who knows? Sure.
KAYE: All right, Brianna. Thank you!
Your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just an hour away.
This time next week, Will and Kate will be husband and wife. While we expect them to live happily ever after, the road to the altar was long. The unexpected turn in their relationship which had many questioning if it was even meant to be. That next.
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KAYE: Many say once Prince William met Kate, he had eyes for no other. But in 2007 after six years of dating, their relationship took a turn. That twist had many questioning everything and doubting they would get their fairy tale ending. From her new documentary "The Women Who Would Be Queen," Soledad O'Brien gives us a behind the scenes look at their long road to the altar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHOTOGRAPHER: Happy birthday.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: January 2007, Kate's 25th birthday.
CHRISTOPHER ANDERSEN, AUTHOR, "WILLIAM AND KATE": The inquest into Diana's death is raging. headlines everyday about the circumstances leading up to Diana's death. There's this party for Kate at Bugi's (ph), their favorite nightclub. They come out and all of the sudden, they are descended on by hundreds of paparazzi.
And there is a huge response of bodyguards. They're shoved into the Land Rovers and they speed away, but it was a moment in which became obvious that it was history just repeating itself.
O'BRIEN: Lawyers for William and the palace and the Middletons lashed out. Two newspapers responded and stopped publishing paparazzi photos. But the pressure on William and Kate was still mounting. According to biographer Christopher Andersen, everything came to a head on Valentine's Day 2007.
ANERSEN: She thought she would be getting that proposal. Instead, he gave her a Van Cleef and Arpels enamel compact. They started to quarrel bitterly. She really demanded that he commit, as they say, and William was not ready for it. He went to his father, Prince Charles. Prince Charles said you can't keep stringing this girl along. If you are not ready to ask her to marry you, break it off. And unfortunately, he listened to his father's advice.
O'BRIEN: A father, perhaps trying to prevent history from repeating itself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: That was Soledad O'Brien, and you can watch all of Soledad's documentary "The Women Who Would Be Queen" this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And join us on the big day, Friday April 29, starting at 4:00 a.m. for CNN's royal wedding experience. And you can watch it, DVR it, we just want you to participate with us. We will bring you every unforgettable moment. You can count on that.
Happening now, lines of people are waiting in miles of traffic to get back to their homes in Texas following days of raging wildfires. Patrick Oppman joins us live from Bart, Texas, with much more on this. Set the scene, Patrick.
PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, people here -- evacuees here in the hard-hit area of Texas have been pleading with authorities for days to be able to do just what we are seeing here behind me, go in and check on their homes for the first time since these destructive wildfires raged across this community. They're getting to do that, but they are also having to wait a little bit longer. We are seeing up to 300 cars lining up here, lines that are taking over two hours now for people to get in and see their homes.
The issue is even though authorities gave them the green light to go ahead, to go in and check on their homes. The issue is that the fires are kicking up. You can probably hear that wind noise, and it is getting very, very windy here and some flare ups. So what authorities behind me is they have set up a checkpoint, they're asking the residents what neighborhood they live in because it's become a neighborhood by neighborhood event. And some of the neighborhoods, there are flare ups going on and it is just not safe to let people in. So, some people are allowed to go in for a few hours, get some possessions, check on their home. Others are being told, no, you have to turn around, and wait until the weather clears up, until this weather allows them to say it is safe to go in and be able to see what is left of their homes.
It is so bone-dry here in Texas, Randi, that the governor has actually taken the step of asking people to pray for rain this Easter weekend. As you can guess in this community, there will be no shortage of prayers.
KAYE: I can only imagine. It certainly looks like it will take some time to get to their homes, Patrick. I hope they find some good news when they get there that the homes are all right. Thank you for the update.
Everybody talks about gas prices, but can anybody do anything about them?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The attorney general is putting together a team whose job it is to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, and that includes the role of traders and speculators.
ELIOT SPITZER, CNN HOST, "IN THE ARENA": This is a cheap press release, let's be honest about it. This is not something that's going to address the issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just part of the times. This is how it goes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Well, we can hope it goes down at least.
Here are the latest averages to factor into your weekend travel plans: $3.85 a gallon for regular, $4.12 for premium -- $4.12. The keyword there is "average."
At least a half-dozen states are paying north of $4 for regular. Hawaii, for all of its good points, has the highest average gas price in the nation, $4.53 a gallon. But I also want to show you where gas prices are actually taking the biggest bite.
On average, Americans are now spending just under eight percent of our incomes on gasoline. New Yorkers are spending less than five percent, and New York is one of the 4-buck-a-gallon states. Hawaiians are spending less than six percent.
But look at Montana and Mississippi. Yes, take a look at this. Drivers there are spending 13 percent or more of their incomes on fuel. Thirteen percent!
Everybody wants to know why, of course. Sure, oil prices are high, but the so-called benchmarks, the benchmark price for West Texas Intermediate, is still more than 20 percent below its record high of August, 2008. Gas, on the other hand, is now of course only six percent below its record high and climbing by the day.
