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Fires Racing in Southern California; Donald Sterling Fights Ban and Fire; Nigerian President Attends Paris Summit; How To Tell If A Wildfire Is Arson; Firenadoes Pose Serious Danger; 12-Year-Olds Pick Tobacco Legally; Russian U.S. Space Partnership At Risk

Aired May 17, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's the 11:00 Eastern hour of the CNN NEWSROOM which begins right now.

A wall of flames and smoke spreads in southern California. Half a dozen fires are now out of control and as firefighters rush to the hot spots, residents scramble to get out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was flames, there was smoke. There's people driving through the median, any which way you looked, there was a little bit of chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Concerns over a ruthless terror group in Nigeria intensify after a new attack today in a Boko Haram stronghold. Hear who was targeted, plus the latest information on the search for those missing Nigerian schoolgirls.

And children, some as young as seven, are working 14-hour days on tobacco farms in dangerous conditions. It's happening right here in the U.S., and it's all perfectly legal. The startling Watchdog report -- this hour.

All right. We begin with those ferocious fires burning now in southern California. Thousands of acres are in flames in San Diego County. Dozens of homes and businesses have been destroyed and thousands more lie right in the fire's path. Dan Simon joins us now from San Marcos, California.

So, Dan, I understand the weather is helping firefighters a little bit this morning?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Fredricka. The weather is cooperating. The temperatures are cooler and the humidity is rising, so that's all good. We're in San Marcos, California. This is one of the areas that they're really keeping an eye on, as you can see, we're in front of this charred house. It's just a smoky mess.

This was somebody's dream home on a mountainside here in San Marcos, California. You can see the landscape off in the distance. Actually, behind there is Camp Pendleton and that's another potential disaster that firefighters are keeping a close watch on.

So in terms of where we are today, we know that San Marcos, the fire is about 50 percent contained, over in Camp Pendleton they're trying to get those numbers up as well and apparently Mother Nature is cooperating over there. So we think that those numbers are going to go up.

But in terms of the way things look now, Fredricka, it looks a lot better than it did say 24, 48 hours ago. At this point, we're not seeing any active flames, but there are a lot of resources on the ground. We've got more than 1,000 firefighters still here on the ground and the aircraft are ready to be deployed at any moment should there be any hot spots -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right thanks so much, Dan Simon, I appreciate that from San Marcos, California. So good news on the weather front, but still a very fierce fight straight ahead for those brave firefighters.

In fact, joining me on the phone right now, someone who knows exactly what crews are facing out there, Mike Muller is a fire captain for Cal Fire. So Mike, describe for us what it has been like for those 1,000 firefighters on the front lines.

MIKE MULLER, FIRE CAPTAIN FOR CAL FIRE: Well, what we've seen and obviously your viewers in the footage that you have, was this was a very difficult week. We saw unseasonably warm temperatures, that Santa Ana wind, offshore flow, the critical fuel mixtures. It was a difficult week. But what we've seen overnight in the past about 24 hours is an onshore flow. The weather is on our side. And I really feel, again cautiously optimistic, that we're going to turn the corner on these fires today, we hope.

WHITFIELD: And what gives you that feeling, because the weather conditions are much more promising today than they have been?

MULLER: That's -- yes, that's exactly it. We've got the higher humidity. The temperatures should drop about 10 degrees today. And then humidity levels should come up. But really, what was pushing those fires was that offshore Santa Ana wind, and that has completely subsided, so it gives our firefighters a chance to go direct, is what we would call it on these fires, and not have to go what we would call flanking because of the wind-driven fires.

So right now, direct attack. Our focus is to get a containment line around all of the fires today.

WHITFIELD: Mike Muller, we wish you the best. And we hope that you and all of those firefighters involved stay safe as the residents, as well.

Firefighters battling those California wildfires could get a break today in large part because of the weather, as we've opinion mentioning. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele says it has been -- it has been perfect-storm conditions, the weather. But now, how's it looking in your view? ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes you know it really has, Fred, had the perfect storm in terms of everything coming together. The confluence of the atmosphere has set the stage for these fires. Captain Mike certainly was very promising and certainly had a very positive outlook, didn't he? And the weather is turning the corner.

So you know, it has been the recipe for these wildfires. No matter how they have started. The ground certainly has been set and certainly staged for it. Why? We've got dry conditions. Just an incredible drought. Last year was the worst since 1895. This year, exponentially worse than that. Hot temperatures, record heat day- after-day, month-after-month, and also these very strong, hot Santa Ana winds. Santa Ana blows offshore, so hot, dry winds blowing from the north-northeast. But now we're going to see a change in the wind direction, and that tells the tale.

High temperatures, we've been in the 90s in Los Angeles. It should be in the 70s, back to the 70s. So the temperatures are surely going in the right direction which is down. The moisture is coming in the right direction, and that is up. And really what tells the tale with this is these wind barbs, and the direction from which they're coming, emanating from. And it's here. It's the water. It's the cold Pacific Ocean, bringing in all this moisture.

So finally this is like the first day we've had a dense fog advisory. We've had it all morning long. And certainly that shows you, what's a fog, of course, it's a cloud on the ground. And the clouds are made up of water molecules and that is moisture.

So what we've seen, weather conditions certainly Fred are favorable and to the effect of the temperatures that way, humidity that way, the fire forecast is less so. I mean, they're going to get it under containment now, but the problem is, you know, this year alone we've doubled the five-year average just thus far with fires. So fire forecast less so as we look out. Short-term weather forecast certainly much better than it's been.

WHITFIELD: Ok. We like that optimism.

STEELE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Alexandra Steele. Appreciate that.

All right. The focus overseas now, Nigeria's President is in Paris today to talk about the growing threat from Boko Haram terrorists and this comes the same day as Boko Haram is suspected in a new attack. We'll go live to Paris next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Donald Sterling is fighting back against the NBA. In a letter this week, Sterling told the NBA he won't pay the $2.5 million fine and he's rejecting the lifetime ban. He also said he plans to sue if the NBA doesn't back down. That came a few days after this apology in an exclusive interview with Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD STERLING, LA CLIPPERS OWNER: I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness. Am I entitled to one mistake am I -- after 35 years?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So it was the apology that didn't really seem to fix much and it puts him in a category of business leaders who have stumbled and fallen flat when a sincere apology is needed most.

CNN Money's Christine Romans has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really sorry. I am. I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't matter if you apologize if it's not sincere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apologies don't have to be sincere. It's just the act of the apology itself.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The art of the apology may be lost on Larry David but the corporate suite doesn't always get it right either. After dealing with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, BP's CEO Tony Hayward offered this --

TONY HAYWARD, FORMER CEO, BP: I'm sorry. We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused to their lives. And you know we're -- there's no one who wants this thing over more than I do. You know, I'd like my life back.

ROMANS: He got his life back. He was replaced less than two months later and Comedy Central "South Park" rubbed it in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sorry. We're sorry. Sorry.

ROMANS: Nothing says I'm sorry like free pizza. That's what Chevron offered residents of Bob Town, Pennsylvania, after one of its gas wells exploded killing a worker. "The Daily Show" mocked Chevron's attempted apology.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok all right. Everyone calm down. Ok it sounds like you're hungry. I know just the trick. Pizza.

ROMANS: Comfort food couldn't help Paula Deen. She took a seat on the "Today" show to apologize for making racist comments and she got biblical.

PAULA DEEN, CELEBRITY CHEF: If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you are out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me.

ROMANS: But Deen couldn't butter up her sponsors. They fled. And her Food Network show shut down. Deen is attempting a comeback.

But for Lululemon's former chairman, there was no commenting back from comments about the company's high-priced yoga pants.

CHIP WILSON, FORMER LULULEMON FORMER CHAIRMAN: Quite frankly, some woman's bodies just actually don't work for it.

ROMANS: Co-founder Chip Wilson tried to apologize after offending customers, but his mea culpa was only to employees.

WILSON: I'm sorry to have put you all through this.

ROMANS: Sales stalled, the stock plunged, Wilson resigned. At Target, CEO Greg Steinhaufle apologized for a hack that exposed tens of millions of customers' private information. "I'm sorry" came with free credit monitoring and 10 percent off for a whole weekend. Sales fell, the hack extended he resigned.

STERLING: And I'm so sorry. And I'm so apologetic.

ROMANS: The lesson for Donald Sterling, in business, saying sorry isn't enough. It's how you say it.

Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So how does Sterling's apology rank? For more on that, I'm joined by communications consultant Fraser Seitel. He's the author of "The Practice of Public Relations." Fraser, good to see you.

So if anyone thought that his apology on the air with Anderson Cooper was sincere, as soon as he said I'm not paying that $2.5 million fine, didn't that very much undermine that apology and kind of throw it out the window?

FRASER SEITEL, COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT: Boy, it really did, Fredricka. Donald Sterling is a walking advertisement as to why people in the public spotlight need public relations counselors. Every time he opens his mouth, he digs a deeper hole out of which he has no chance of ascending.

Yesterday was the coup de grace, as you said he told Anderson Cooper I'm going to get along, I'm going to accommodate the will of my fellow NBA owners and then he turns around and has his attack dog lawyer send this letter to the NBA saying there's no way Mr. Sterling is going to pay any fine. He is a textbook example of what not to do in a crisis.

WHITFIELD: But now, at the same time, he's in the driver's seat, isn't he, of this whole situation? It seemed that the NBA had the upper hand by imposing the fine, by saying collectively the owners will have a vote. But now, he's in the driver's seat, and it seems like he's not the only one with the image problem. In your view, do you think the NBA, too, the commissioner, the league, has an image problem on their hands, as well? SEITEL: Well, the NBA really has a public relations challenge, you're quite right. The owners are going to vote him out of the league. That's what's going to happen. The question for the NBA is, what do you do now with the Sterling family. That is, with the soon-to-be divorced wife, with the daughter and son-in-law, who work for the team, how do you handle them? At the same time, as you say, Sterling is going to sue the NBA.

Thus far, Adam Silver, the commissioner of the league, has been resolute. He's been stern, if I can use the name of his predecessor. He's been correct in everything he's done. The fun starts now with the Sterling family, who has done, we think, no wrong, and the suit of Donald Sterling and, of course, you have Magic Johnson in the background, as well, which complicates the situation further.

WHITFIELD: Well, if you were asked, how would you advise the NBA at this point in terms of how it responds to the threats of the legal challenges that Sterling may have up his sleeve, or -- and/or, what would be the advice you would give Sterling and his people about its continued pursuit? (inaudible)

SEITEL: I think what I would tell the NBA, Fredricka, is that there is no way, after all of this has come down, that Donald Sterling should ever be a part of the Clippers, and I suspect any member of the Sterling family as well. The Sterling name has to be wiped clear of the NBA, because of the remarks that Donald Sterling has made. In terms of the advice, the public relations advice for Donald Sterling, I would tell him five words. Shut up and get out.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Simple as that. Frank and curt, straight to the point. Fraser Seitel, exactly what you're known for. Appreciate it. Thank you so much for your point of view this morning.

SEITEL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Overseas, shifting gears, quite a bit, those missing schoolgirls in Nigeria still a huge focus and worry around the world. Nigeria's president is now attending a summit in Paris this hour talking about the growing threat from Boko Haram, the terrorists. We'll take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. It's now been over a month since more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by terrorists in Nigeria, and the Nigerian government doesn't appear to be any closer to finding them.

Here's what we know right now -- Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan spoke moments ago in France at the Terrorist Summit for Security in Nigeria and he addressed the growing threat from Boko Haram. This comes one day after Jonathan was supposed to visit the town where the girls were kidnapped, but then now his staff claims he was never scheduled to go there at all.

Today, Boko Haram is suspected of a new in attack, this time targeting a Chinese engineering firm near the Nigerian border. Ten people are missing. Boko Haram has used attacks like this to demand ransom in the past.

Let's turn now to Jim Bittermann who is focusing on today's summit in Paris. So, Jim, how do they collectively plan to address Nigeria's security problem and that of Boko Haram?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think, Fredricka, there's a fair amount of acknowledgement now that there has not been in the past that this is now a regional problem, that Boko Haram is a terrorist organization. Both President Hollande who called this summit and Goodluck Jonathan and others made a connection between Boko Haram and al Qaeda and said that this is now a major threat to the region.

There are a total of five heads of state here. There's Goodluck Jonathan, there's President Benin of Cameroon, of Niger and Chad are all gathered here. Those are all of the neighboring countries around Nigeria. And basically, they're pledging to cooperate in terms of intelligence and in terms of border surveillance. One of the things about Boko Haram is they've been striking mainly from Cameroon and then retreating to the sanctuaries in Cameroon into Nigeria. In any case, they're trying to coordinate things regionally.

About the schoolgirls, Goodluck Jonathan specifically talked about that, kind of reacting to the charges that they hadn't been doing enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOODLUCK JONATHAN, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: We are totally committed to ensuring that these girls are found wherever they are and make sure that they joined their families. We'll do all our best -- presently, Nigeria has 20,000 troops in this part of the country, the northeastern part of the country, where we have these terrorists. We've been scanning the areas with surveillance aircrafts, and of course also using local intelligence sources.

This has been complemented now by France, U.K., U.S., and other countries --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: One of the things that's come out of this that's very tangible is that in fact all the countries in the region have given over flight permission to outside military agencies like France and the United States to fly intelligence aircraft and drones over the areas.

And that will give them a little bit better picture, hopefully, of where to find the girls, although at one point, Francois Hollande and Goodluck Jonathan made the point they don't know whether the girls are still together as a group or have been broken up and are in different hiding places around the country -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Jim, we heard the Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, say that there were 20,000 Nigerian troops fanned out looking for these young girls. But then, as you know, in our CNN reporting, our correspondent who was in the Chibok area where boarding school is located, it's been reported there are no signs of any kind of military presence, no police presence, no investigation whatsoever. Was the president pressed on that? Or was he asked to respond about the whereabouts of these troops?

BITTERMANN: Well, one telling thing is that he was supposed to go to that area, as you mentioned in the lead-in, he was supposed to go that area today and decided not to for security reasons, among other things. So those troops may be there, but they must be pretty well diluted. It's a pretty wild area, it must be said.

And there's also no clear idea of where exactly these girls may be, or if they're together as a group at all. Right now, they could be off in small groups. And so, it may be very, very difficult to track them down. That's one of the reasons they're hoping that these over flights and drones perhaps will be able to spot where the Boko Haram forces are and where they'll have to go to find the girls -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: A big hope riding on that kind of apparatus. Thanks so much, Jim Bittermann, in Paris.

All right. Crews are making progress on wildfires raging in southern California. Part of the investigation is figuring out how the fire started in the first place, or maybe who started them.

Next, an arson investigator tells us how officials know the difference.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Today, three people are in custody, one charged with arson as it relates to those fires in southern California. Meantime, firefighters are starting to gain the upper hand on a series of fires near San Diego. So far, out of ten wildfires, four are fully contained. Two are close to being fully contained, and four others vary from 25 percent to 65 percent contained. In total, the wildfires have scorched 31 square miles so far.

I'm joined now on the phone by the former assistant San Diego fire chief who was also an arson investigator, Jeff Carl. Oh, Jeff, can you hear me?

JEFF CARL, FORMER ASSISTANT SAN DIEGO FIRE CHIEF: Yes, I can.

WHITFIELD: Ok, very good. So, Jeff, what is it about this fire or what is the evidence left behind that now leads investigators to believe and charge one person with arson that at least one of these fires was intentionally set?

CARL: Well, they have very good witness information, and from the media reports, no longer fully connected to the law enforcement side of the fire department side of things. But one person is going to be -- or has been charged today, was seen feeding a fire that was already burning in a riverbed. It was very small. He was the only person in the area. And then they'll do an origin and cause examination to make sure no other possible causes for that fire, and as I understood it from the district attorney, he will be charged with that arson.

WHITFIELD: And at the very beginning, as the world witnessed these blazes, were your instincts telling you that this is likely a fire that was intentionally set to some degree or is it just as simple as the conditions seemed to be right and this is something that could happen naturally?

CARL: Well, unfortunately, when the conditions are like that, any mistake anybody make can result in a pretty large fire pretty quickly. As you could see from the one fire that happened within the city -- or at least originated within the city of San Diego, they've now determined that was a piece of construction equipment with steel treads merely striking rocks and creating sparks.

That doesn't always result in an initial of dry vegetation. But in that particular case, the winds were really blowing, the vegetation was extremely dry, the fuel mixtures have been critical for a while, and we're in this period of sustained drought where there isn't that much moisture to replenish, if you will, in the plants, and that fire just took off from around the guy -- his statements --

WHITFIELD: Sorry.

CARL: -- and then they -- well, they had the statements of an equipment operator. They were able to find out who reported the fire. They figured out where the fire first started and they were able to find out that that piece of equipment, that tractor, was the most likely cause or ignition source for the fuels.

WHITFIELD: You were an arson investigator -- yes, I wonder, you were an arson investigator for many years. And while a fire is burning, take us through the process how investigators are then able to try to determine what may have sparked the fire, all the while other resources are being poured into trying to stop the fire?

CARL: Well, it can be very difficult, because it's a very dynamic situation. The one you just described is one where it could be difficult to get a hold of witnesses immediately. It could be hard talking to the firefighters who first got there. You get their perspective on where the fire was and it was not. The fire investigation methodology that's common throughout the United States right now is to go immediately, check in with the person managing the fire so that they know you're there, and then find out if they have any specific information that's been reported to them.

And from that point work backwards from the area to the area of the most damage and determine where the fire first started. Once that's happened, they have the ability to start looking for all of the possible accidental ignition sources. In fact, if they're all eliminated, then they're going to have a real hard time figuring out what caused the fire. In any case, you get lucky, I did that once in my career, I found the cigarette and matchbook device almost the moment we started looking.

WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible. CARL: It really depends on the motivations of the person who's going to set that fire. But you can't just determine that a fire's arson first. First, you have to figure out where it starts, and then you have to start looking at all of the possible accidental sources of ignition. And again, as we first said, the weather for the last three days here has just been extraordinary.

WHITFIELD: Because of the weather, and you're talking about the entire state is in the midst of extreme drought, do you worry that this is really the beginning of what could be a very dangerous season?

CARL: This is one of the most dramatic starts to fire season that I've seen. I've been a firefighter in Southern California for all of my adult life. And it's an extraordinary set of circumstances that reverse of what we've seen in the past and we normally see this kind of extreme fire behaviors and fire conditions much later in the year.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Jeff Carl. Appreciate it.

CARL: My pleasure, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Those fires are indeed very dangerous and this is one big reason why. Firenadoes, they look like something made in special effects, and they make fighting these wildfires that much more difficult. Here's CNN's Indra Peterson and her look at the science behind firenadoes.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So many are fascinated, what is it? First, keep in mind you need a lot of dry brush. Unfortunately, California is seeing one of the worst droughts in history. We're talking about a majority of the state already in extreme drought conditions. So why does that matter, right? Well, you have all of the dry brush.

Let's look at this animation here. What you have is that dry brush, it is fuel. Keep in mind a fire already has its invisible eddies it spins up from the fire itself. Now, it finds that brush. What is brush, right? Releases carbon. Carbon is combustible. Here in the middle of this funnel, there's no oxygen. So you don't see it engulf into flames.

Once it rises up, the entire tunnel, what do you find, oxygen. Suddenly the thing engulfs in flames and you have the long line we know as a firenado. That's the concern, but even more dangerous is how high these firenadoes can go. You can see they can soar into the air as high as 1,000 feet. This is the problem firefighters are trying to battle.

And keep in mind, you can't combat the firenado directly. You have to fight the fire around it, because of the combustible flames on the inside you cannot fight directly. And they can be as powerful as tornadoes themselves. They're not coming from a supercell, but either way, winds can go as high as 120 miles an hour. They can knock down trees and of course, move the fire line away from the original starting point definitely difficult for firefighters on the battle lines. WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much for that look. Indra Petersons, appreciate it.

Children as young as 7 working on tobacco farms are getting sick with rashes, burning eyes, nausea, and vomiting. And this may be perfectly legal. Now, some people say that needs to change.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Children as young as 7 years old are getting paid to harvest tobacco in America. And in many cases, this is perfectly legal. Human Rights Watch interviewed young workers under the age of 17 in these top tobacco-producing states. These children describe hazardous conditions which often make them sick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The heat gets to you. When you're working in the field, you're, like, looking up, you get dizzy, because you get tired, your neck starts hurting, your shoulders are hurting, and it's like your body wants to give up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they spray, you can tell the chemical is very, very, very strong. I couldn't work at all. I couldn't even stand.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): They are the tiny voices few have heard before. But in a new report from Human Rights Watch, they're revealing stories about working in the tobacco fields of America are now out in the open. In the 138-page report, nearly 150 children across four states were interviewed over several months last year.

Some as young as 7 years old enduring 50 to 60-hour work weeks on tobacco farms. Under dangerous and deplorable conditions, including exposure to nicotine and toxic pesticides. Use of risky tools and machinery with limited use or no access to toilets and drinkable water. Sam is just 9 years old.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: There's no one to baby-sit me while my mom, my brother, my sister are working. And I first went out to the fields, I didn't know what to do. We were in tobacco. I cut the weeds with a knife or a machete.

WHITFIELD: Most children of tobacco workers go to school full time, but when classes are over, there are few restrictions to keep them out of the fields. Extra hands to help put food on the table at home, but at an extreme cost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You feel nausea. Your head starts hurting. You get a fever and it's just the chemicals really getting to you. You feel like you're going to die in there.

WHITFIELD: One major tobacco company, Altrea, tells CNN it intends to work with other companies to further discuss the topics in the Human Rights Watch report, saying it does not condone the unlawful employment or exploitation of farm workers, including those under the age of 18. And although it may be a crime in the United States for children under 18 to buy cigarettes or other tobacco products, it is not illegal for minors to work on the tobacco farms of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Margaret Wurth is the lead researcher and co-author of the Human Rights Watch report, "Tobacco's Hidden Children." Margaret, good to see you.

MARGARET WURTH, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: I think this has to strike everyone as, "this doesn't make sense. "They're too young to smoke it, buy it, then why in the world would the children be permitted allowed to work in the fields, you know, plucking and packaging tobacco no less?

WURTH: Yes, these findings are shocking, and people should be surprised. But under U.S. law, kids as young as 12 can work 50 to 60 hours a week on tobacco farms. They have no protections. They're given no safety gear. And most of this is perfectly legal.

WHITFIELD: And that's the part that's so perplexing. We know there's some lawmakers trying to -- trying to change that, but does it seem like it will be an uphill battle for them?

WURTH: We are going to continue calling on Congress to change labor law and we're calling on U.S. Regulatory agencies to establish regulations to get kids out of dangerous work. But we also want to see tobacco companies establish clear policies to keep kids out of dangerous work on farms in their supply chains.

WHITFIELD: What are the tobacco companies saying in general? I mean, why is it that farmers of tobacco fields and, you know, clearly the tobacco companies are all, all right with children being in the fields? What's the explanation?

WURTH: Yes, we wrote to ten companies as part of this report, and nine of them responded. These are the largest tobacco companies in the world, and they all say they're concerned about child labor and their supply chains, but none of them have policies that do enough to protect kids from the hazards we documented in this report.

WHITFIELD: What were some of the children, what were some of the parents telling you as to why these children do endure these conditions, work out in the fields? Is it as simple as, you know, making money and putting food on the table or is there another issue here?

WURTH: Look, kids in all four states told us the same reasons for why they're doing this work, which is economic need. They are using their earnings to help their families make ends meet. But we want to see kids get out of this dangerous work, and we're calling on companies to invest in alternatives, so kids have other opportunities. And this isn't the only option for them.

WHITFIELD: And what are the options that you've been trying to tell these companies about?

WURTH: Yes, there are programs in place in many of these states, and there are, you know, networks of local groups that know farm worker families well. And we want to see the companies work together with the local stakeholders and invest more in programs here in the United States to keep kids out of dangerous work.

WHITFIELD: And as far as you know, I mean, these young children talked openly about how being around this tobacco, touching it, the wetness of the tobacco, getting on their skin would make them sick, nauseated. They would vomit. They would get rashes. Do these children go to the hospital? You know, are they -- are they attended to medically?

WURTH: Very few of them ever seek any kind of medical care. The symptoms usually last 12 to 24 hours, and if they're not continually being exposed to the nicotine, they feel better. You have to understand as well, no one told these kids and their families about how hazardous the chemicals are, the pesticides are, how bad the nicotine exposure is for kids. They're out there not really knowing how bad the conditions are they're working in.

WHITFIELD: All right, Margaret Wurth, thanks so much.

WURTH: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: At 1:00, I'll be talking to a young man. He's only 17. He says he has grown up working in the tobacco fields of North Carolina. This week, he shared his experiences on Capitol Hill. You can read much more about this issue on cnn.com. We also profile an 11-year-old girl working on a tobacco farm.

Straight ahead, it's round two in the race for the Triple Crown. Can California Chrome win the Preakness as well?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. It is the third Saturday in May. In the sports world means only one thing, the Preakness Stakes. Rashan Ali is here with a preview of the horse race in today's "Bleacher Report." Welcome. You come to us from ESPN, NBC Sports, and now CNN Sports. Here you are.

RASHAN ALI, "BLEACHER REPORT": I am absolutely loving it. The second jewel, Triple Crown takes place later today in Baltimore. Kentucky Derby winner, California Chrome is the heavy favorite. He has run away from the competition in five consecutive victories, winning by an average of five lengths. He will have some new competition with seven horses that didn't race at the derby. California Chrome is trying to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

It looks like Michael Phelps is getting back to his old form, with that, I mean, winning. He easily qualifies in the 100 meter butterfly. He also qualified in the 200 meter freestyle. The finals for both events takes place later today. He hasn't announced plans for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, but earlier this week wore a Rio 2016 swim cap. He is definitely throwing some hints there. The reality TV show centered around the NFL's first openly gay player is a no go. Oprah Winfrey's network said they had the rights to produce a docu series about Michael Sam. But by Friday, that all changed. Representatives from both sides announced the project is being put on hold for now. Rams personnel said they didn't know about the show when they drafted him in the seventh round.

WHITFIELD: That's awkward.

ALI: Both sides agree his focus should be on football and securing a spot on the roster. First things first.

WHITFIELD: Yes, come on. That's going to be a big transition going to the NFL, not that I know. So I've heard.

ALI: It is.

WHITFIELD: You know, it would seem as though it just might be a distraction.

ALI: That needs to be the focus, making the team, making the roster.

WHITFIELD: Speaking of Olympians, you talk about Michael Phelps hasn't said Rio, but wearing the cap. I spoke with Lo Jones. She does want to make her way. She wants to condition herself for real. I talked to her. You'll see her interview beginning noon Eastern Time. You know what's amazing, she said she needs to lose 30 pounds after the winter games. You'll say where?

ALI: You know, Lolo, I hope she makes it. I am thinking she thinks the same thing.

WHITFIELD: I know. Three Olympics so far, maybe a fourth. Remarkable. Good to see you, Rashan.

ALI: You as well.

All right, the crisis in Ukraine is escalating. Tensions between the U.S. and Russia again. Why that's now posing a serious threat to America's space program now.

And Anthony Bourdain admits he had preconceived notions about life, past and present, on the Mississippi Delta. Then he went there for his latest episode of "PARTS UNKNOWN" and shares his discoveries with Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": You went to the Mississippi Delta. My family comes from Mississippi. My dad's side of the family were farmers there. Why did you go there?

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": I like to challenge the misconceptions, during a world and time where Mississippi was looked down on, and looked at contempt and derision. It was the place where, I grew up thinking Mississippi. They shot Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda there, I'm not going there. They're all racists and hicks, but it is such a deeper story. So when you're -- when you grow up with a prejudice like that it is increasingly interesting to me to challenge that.

COOPER: In the wake of Katrina I went to Biloxi, to Mary Mahoney's, it has been there a long time. And the owner came out and said, welcome back, Anderson, you were here with your father when you were 7 or 8 years old. He showed me the table where I sat with my dad. There is something about Mississippi that -- I don't know, there is a memory there. There is a history there.

BOURDAIN: It is beautiful. Physically, it is a beautiful place. And look, I like going to a place where I sort of blunder about, a Yankee that surely has nothing to learn from.

COOPER: How was the food?

BOURDAIN: It is great.

COOPER: I was down there, and somebody said everything is covered in sugar and fried.

BOURDAIN: That is not true also, where did the food that we call southern down home food? Where did that come from? Who created that food? What we're calling southern food on TV? How is that different? Is -- is it the real thing or a mutation? The traditional, southern cooking in its pure form and over time was a very different and often healthier thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, for decades, the U.S. and Russia have put aside their differences to cooperate in space. Now the crisis in the Ukraine and rising tensions between the two nations could cause big problems for the U.S. space program. Here is CNN's Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They were all smiles in the International Space Station this week, but could this be one of the last times American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts journey together through space? Russian officials are taking the battle over Ukraine into orbit, vowing to abandon the space station four years early in 2020.

And banning Russian made rocket engines to launch U.S. military satellites. The deputy prime minister even suggested astronauts instead use a trampoline. And this is no small problem because since NASA retired the shuttle in 2011, American astronauts have no other way up or down than hitching rides on Russian rockets.

JIM LEWIS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The Russian announcement means we need to rethink our reliance on them because it shows we are dependent on them in ways that might have made sense 10 years ago, but doesn't make sense anymore.