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Border Aid Volunteers: Life Savers or Law Breakers?; Tourist Boat Sinks Off Coast of Bahrain

Aired March 30, 2006 - 15:30   ET

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

(WEATHER REPORT)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Life savers or law breakers, or both? A debate in the desert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: .. agua, comida! Como se la iglesia! Tenemos agua, comida!

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LIN: See what happens when immigrants meet up with aid workers near the U.S./Mexican border. And Lou Dobbs joins me live from Cancun, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: President Bush and President Fox of Mexico are meeting this hour in Cancun. Our Lou Dobbs is covering developments at the Mexico summit. He's also anchoring "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" from Cancun at 6:00 Eastern, but he joins me now with a preview.

Lou, what are you looking for to see out of this meeting between President Bush and President Fox?

LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": Carol, it's good to be with you. We're looking at three leaders, one of whom is about to say adios -- that is, Mexican president Vincente Fox -- and another who's saying hello, Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper. President Bush will be -- is the veteran and the one who's going to be with us for at least another three years in talks like these.

These three leaders trying to advance the discussion. It's a fairly limited goal, but they're trying to advance discussion on what they're calling economic integration among the three countries. And they're also talking about extending security to the perimeter of these three nations. It's going to be a very difficult discussion because neither the United States, nor the people of the United States right now, are extremely comfortable that the U.S. government has control over its own borders or its own ports.

So there is going to be a lot to talk about, including, of course, the impact of free trade in trade among the three, and specifically, bilaterally with Mexico. LIN: Lou, you've had two write-ups so far, just in "The New York Times" alone on your broken borders coverage, with focus on illegal immigration. Mexicans see CNN. You might, they might read the American papers. I'm wondering how you have been received and what Mexicans' perception of your presence there is?

DOBBS: Well, I won't presume to give you any suggestion as to what the 100 million Mexican citizens believe, but those...

LIN: No, just those you've met.

DOBBS: Those with whom we've come into contact have been extraordinarily gracious, they have been warm and welcoming. This is a wonderful country, and it's a wonderful people. And, frankly, I never for a moment expected any other kind of reception in all of the contact I've had with the citizens of this country. Cancun is admittedly a resort community, but it's been very -- it's been very welcoming and terrific.

LIN: Yes, I'm just wondering if your focus on immigration has, you know, made people curious about you, if they wanted to share things about their perspective of immigration and why they come to the U.S.

DOBBS: Well, absolutely. And we get, on my broadcast, Carol, thousands of e-mails each night. We get them from U.S. citizens, of course, and also from around the world. Uniformly, people understand that this is a situation that is in dire need of fixing. It's broken.

And the Mexican people want dignity. They're not being treated with dignity by their own government. In point of fact, illegal immigration, and the remittances from Mexican citizens in the United States back to the nation of Mexico is the number one source of revenue. We're watching illegal employers exploit these people. We're watching the government of Mexico to do very little to build wealth in this country.

And one hopes that these three leaders, when they talk, will talk honestly and directly amongst themselves at least, and then hopefully with the constituents in their respective countries, about the problems. And not -- there's so much of a sham and a scam about all of this.

Because the ultimate result here is that the United States is far too strong, and far too noble a country to permit the indignities to be continued against a people who work hard, who desperately need help. And it's a shame that the government of Mexico cannot do more and has chosen not to do more to enrich their own people.

LIN: Well, Lou, we're going to be...

DOBBS: This is a problem for Mexico as much as the United States.

LIN: Yes, and that's why the leaders are meeting. Certainly we're going to hear from President Fox as to what he has to say and what came out of that meeting with President Bush today. So Lou, we'll look forward to your coverage at 6:00 Eastern live from Cancun.

DOBBS: You got it, Carol, thanks.

LIN: Now, many illegal immigrants arrive in the United hungry and thirsty, dead tired. Others die on the way. The lucky ones encounter volunteer helpers who says their only aim is to relieve suffering. But they, too, are being called law breakers.

Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Volunteers hunt for illegal immigrants, not to stop them, but to give them food, water, and medical care, even transportation to a hospital if they need it.

They are members of a group called No More Deaths.

JOHN FIFE, NO MORE DEATHS: If you've got any kind of compassion at all, it seems to me you have to be out here and doing whatever you can to relieve the suffering and save as many lives as you can.

MESERVE: Lives are lost in this treacherous stretch of desert south of Tucson, at least 216 last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, socks? Everybody has socks already?

MESERVE: Some of the illegal immigrants No More Deaths meets this day are healthy, but are lost, discouraged and asking to be turned over to the Border Patrol for return to Mexico.

Shanti Sellz, another member of No More Deaths, has met people like this on her patrols.

SHANTI SELLZ, NO MORE DEATHS: He says the Border Patrol has passed him two or three times and hasn't stopped for him.

MESERVE (on camera): Last July, Shanti Sellz and a colleague were transporting three dehydrated immigrants to a hospital for medical treatment when they were stopped on this road by the Border Patrol. The volunteers were arrested and charged with transporting illegal aliens, a felony.

ISABEL GARCIA, ATTORNEY AND ACTIVIST: I think it's an absolute outrage and misuse of public funds to prosecute two young people that were trying to save lives.

MESERVE (voice-over): But the head of the Border Patrol here is adamant.

CHIEF MICHAEL NICLEY, BORDER PATROL, TUCSON SECTOR: There's no free ride for someone who wraps themselves in the cloak of humanitarian aid and yet violates the law. There is no special dispensation, if you will, for somebody who's violating the law for a certain set of reasons.

MESERVE: Laine Lawless couldn't agree more. Head of a group called Border Guardians, Lawless is crashing a meeting of No More Deaths.

LAINE LAWLESS, BORDER GUARDIANS: Laine, Border Guardians. I'm excited to be here.

MESERVE: No More Deaths is not excited but let's her stay and invites her to participate. There is no changing Lawless' opinion of her host and what she sees as their aiding and abetting of illegal immigration.

LAWLESS: It's all about transporting them away from the border. Humanitarianism is just a cover.

MESERVE: While we are with No More Deaths, they direct a group of migrants to hide when they hear what they believe is a Border Patrol helicopter.

FIFE: You better get under the tree over there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

MESERVE: When he was a pastor in the 1980s, John Fife gave sanctuary to Central American refugees and was convicted of harboring and transporting illegal aliens. But he denies that is part of No More Deaths' agenda and he rejects complaints that the group's provision of food, water and medical care is encouraging illegal immigration.

FIFE: We provide no incentive at all. The incentive is all hungry children and desperate families in Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).

MESERVE: In Tucson, No More Deaths holds a vigil for those who have died in the desert, reading and posting the names of those who have perished.

Shanti Sellz is here but three names are not, the names of the men in her car when she was arrested last July.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, in the Sonoran Desert.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We're now working on a story of a Bahrain ship, a tourist boat, that has sunk off the coast of Bahrain -- that's off the coast of Saudi Arabia there, 150 tourists on board, including westerners. Stay right with us, we're going to bring you more on this breaking news story right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: All right. Just in the last couple of minutes, we've been working on a breaking news story, some kind of ship has sunk off the coast of Bahrain, which is right there off the coast of Saudi Arabia. We've got producer Caroline Faraj who is standing by in Dubai, just to the south, on the latest situation there.

Caroline, what happened? We understand there are also western tourists on board.

CAROLINE FARAJ, CNN PRODUCER: Yes indeed, Carol. It is a ferry that takes tourists from one island to another, so it is for tourists, and the officials in Bahrain are confirming to CNN that there are more than -- dozens of -- mainly are westerners, but they were not able to tell us what exactly the nationality of the tourists so far.

What they're involved in right now is trying to rescue as much as possible of the 150 people who were on board. And they're all tourists, as I said, and the incident took place in the southern part of Bahrain in an island called Muharraq. And this is a very active and very touristic place for tourists in Bahrain.

And so far, they're trying to rescue as much as possible. The officials told CNN that some dozens have been sent to hospitals with injuries, and also they mentioned that a lot of people are still missing, and they're trying to rescue as much as possible, because it's getting dark -- Carol.

LIN: All right, Caroline. Thanks for the latest situation there. We want to go to the Pentagon right now, where our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been monitoring this.

Barbara, is the U.S. military going to be involved in this rescue?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Carol, at this hour, the U.S. Navy already is involved. U.S. Navy officials that we've just spoken to out in Bahrain are confirming that the U.S. Navy is sending a number of divers, a number of small boats, and a helicopter out to the site of this accident to try and rescue whoever may be in the water, or still on whatever ship or vessel was involved in this situation.

U.S. Navy officials in Bahrain saying they have very little information at this hour about what exactly they're dealing with. We've also spoken to officials in the Bahraini government in just the last five minutes. They also are still trying to assemble information.

This is an area, we've all traveled out there, where there are a number of small ships, local fishing vessels called dows. These are wooden fishing vessels. They go through these waters all the time. There are also a number of cargo ships and these tourist vessels. This is a tourist area in the region. It's very picturesque, a lot of people moving around on the water.

So it's not entirely clear at this hour exactly what did happen. But with darkness falling, of course, the U.S. Navy and the Bahraini military rushing to the scene, trying to get as many people as they can.

It's worth just reminding people, Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy 5th Fleet. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf, and they are able to respond very rapidly.

They have very good relations with the Bahraini government. They work together all the time, and that apparently is what's unfolding at this hour. They're working together very quickly trying to get to the scene and rescue as many people as they can -- Carol.

LIN: Barbara, thanks very much for the latest on this.

We're covering this breaking news story. The news keeps coming, so we're going to bring it to you on LIVE FROM. We'll be right back.

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LIN: Not that we're trying to be nosy, but have you ever called someone and asked, "What are you wearing?" We have some revealing results of a survey of British callers. As many as third of Brits claim they don't have anything on when they call someone. Now the British post office did research for its phone service and found that 40 percent of men admit to being naked and naked dialing, compared to 27 percent of women. Let's hope they have the heat on, and no word on why the post office wanted to know.

Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by, well dressed in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Carol, lots of news going on. An American hostage walking free. Were there any behind the scene deals made? We'll try to get an inside look at the negotiations.

Also, immigration and the Republican divide. Senator John McCain, he's my guest live here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Plus, nuclear Iran. My interview with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. I'll ask him some of the tough questions. And the 9/11 plot. There are brand new details we're all learning today about how the terrorists pulled off this deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil. All that, Carol, coming up right at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

LIN: Busy couple of hours ahead for you, Wolf. Thanks, we'll be watching.

Now, right here, coming up on LIVE FROM, what happens when you get a bunch of bunnies together. Anybody who saw the movie "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" could have predicted this predicament. A hare- raising tale, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Live, beautiful picture of the beaches of Cancun, where Presidents Bush and President Fox are meeting right now to talk about the critical issues of trade and immigration. And our Lou Dobbs is there. You'll see him at 6:00 tonight.

In the meantime, Jackie Decker of Reno, Nevada loves her bunnies. She's been raising them for 30 years, but alas, Jackie can't care for her pets anymore. So she called Best Friends Animal Society for help. Now, you don't have to be a math major for this education. Add two rabbits, multiply by 30 years and divide by Jackie's one-acre property. The animal group says it ran out of cages after moving about 800 rabbits to a nearby ranch. One rabbit wrangler figures 400 more could still be holed up somewhere on the property. The rescue effort could cost $1 million. Now the group hopes the animals will be adopted. But just get one, OK? One.

Oil prices are up, guess what that means for stocks? Ali Velshi is here with the numbers. Ali?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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