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Between 150 and 200 People Dead In Pipeline Exposition Near Lagos, Nigeria; Strategic Petroleum Reserves Only For Shortage; Trappers Search For Killer Gator
Aired May 12, 2006 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It was instant and very, very deadly. Between 150 and 200 people are dead in a pipeline exposition near Lagos, Nigeria. The government blames the poor trying to siphon fuel.
CNN's Becky Anderson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were taking a desperate risk, authorities suspect, tapping into a gas pipeline to steal much-needed fuel. That risk turned almost instantly to tragedy when the pipeline exploded, leaving charred corpses scattered across a sandy beach on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria.
Police and Red Cross officials say many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. This rescue worker was at the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Able to see actually what is the cause of the explosion or the fire, also to be able to see what damage it had caused, if there's any lives lost, and also to be able to take some samples and be able to analyze in the laboratory and find out what -- if the water has been contaminated or polluted here and there.
ANDERSON: Theft from oil pipelines is a fairly regular occurrence in Nigeria, where much of the population is mired in poverty. People frequently tap into pipelines crossing their lands seeking fuel for cooking or for resale on the black market. The highly volatile petroleum can ignite, incinerating those collecting it.
In September 2004, an oil pipeline exploded near Lagos as thieves tried to siphon oil, killing 50 people.
VOICE OF FEMI FANI-KAYODE, NIGERIAN GOVT. SPOKESMAN: It really is very unfortunate. As you said, it's not the first time this has happened, but where you have some people that just insist on breaking into these installations in order to steal the petrol inside the pipe, it's very, very difficult to man every pipeline in the country.
We simply don't have the people or the resources, and neither do I think any country on the planet does. It's a very, very unfortunate incident. And it really is very sad and it's regrettable. ANDERSON: Nigeria is the eighth largest oil exporter in the world, yet those vast riches rarely trickle down to the majority of the population, spot an occasional protest, attacks and kidnappings by militant groups such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
Meanwhile, desire for that black gold continues to fuel tragedy for those just trying to survive day by day.
Becky Anderson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Millions of barrels of oil ripe for the tapping as near as Louisiana and Texas. So why don't we tap it and get a grip on gas prices if it were that simple? Well, the strategic oil reserves are for emergencies and sorry, pain at the pump doesn't count. Here's CNN's Sean Callebs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miles of twisted pipe, a lot of meters and gauges, but absolutely nothing that would indicate this is the first line of defense in the event of a crude oil crisis. This happens to be one of our Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
MARSHALL JACKSON, SITE MGR. STRAT. PETROLEUM RESERVES: This is actually our cavern well head. The cavern is located below ground, and that's where all the oil is stored.
CALLEBS: The oil is there for an emergency, for example, OPEC nations cutting off exports. Experts say today's high gas prices don't constitute a crisis. There is no shortage of crude oil.
GARY ROSS, CEO, PIRA ENERGY GROUP: It couldn't solve the gasoline problem. It's an insurance policy in protecting us against an interruption of supply and it gives us a cushion to rely on in case of emergency.
CALLEBS: The West Hackberry Reserve and three others are located along the Gulf Coast over natural salt domes. About 2,000 feet down, man-made caverns are carved out of salt and Hackberry contains about 220 million barrels of oil.
(on camera): In the event of a crisis, this pipeline is how crude would be rushed to the U.S. market. This site is one of four Strategic Petroleum Reserves in the United States. All totaled, they contain about 700 million barrels of oil. It may sound like a lot. Actually it's enough to quench the U.S. crude consumption for a little more than a month.
ROSS: It's not the general savior for our oil dependency. Often people think it's -- could bring prices down and would have a dramatic effect on prices. And I think it wouldn't.
CALLEBS (voice-over): Ross says the petroleum reserve still fills a vital role as a safety net, a net that could get bigger. The government is considering boosting the amount of crude to one billion barrels. When the strategic reserve was established in the mid-'70s during the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. imported only a third of its oil. Today it's nearly twice that amount.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Once again, that was our Sean Callebs.
Well, moms, it turns out, they really like their SUV. But lots of other people are tired of $3 gas and are switching to scooters. Ali Velshi in Washington today. Maybe we should talk about that scooter craze, but have you been take your motorcycle to work?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I just got a gadget to hook my motorcycle up to my truck so that I can actually bring it to Washington and noodle around. Because, you know, I keep it in New York. I don't really get much driving, but even in New York, the scooter craze is catching on.
These scooters take up a gallon-and-a-half of gas and they get about 100 -- 90 to 100 miles to a gallon. And, you know, you have seen it all these years, these Vespas driving around. It's kind of a chic thing to do. Well, now they are picking up in popularity because of the price of gas.
So there's this whole group of people driving scooters, but there's a -- sort of an informal survey by the Auto Dealers Association of mothers and expected mothers asking what they drive. And the survey was interesting. About 54 percent said they drive an SUV. About 22 percent said they drove a four-door sedan. About six percent -- only six percent -- said they drove mini vans.
But when asked what is the dream vehicle, you know what was at the top of the list?
PHILLIPS: What's the dream vehicle?
VELSHI: Escalade -- Cadillac Escalade, which is a sweet ride. Number two on the list was a Land Rover or Range Rover, and number three was a Porsche Carrera. That's what mothers and expectant mothers would like to drive.
PHILLIPS: Very expensive cars, I might add.
VELSHI: And none of them are particularly fuel efficient.
PHILLIPS: I was going to say, not fuel efficient and very pricey.
VELSHI: Now, there's an interesting proposal out there by the CEO of Gulf Oil. Now, I don't know if you know if you have ever lived in a place where they do this, Kyra. You and I have talked about this. You know, there's some places in America where you can lock in the price of your natural gas or your heating oil for your home.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I have lived -- because we have lived all over the country going from job to job in this business.
VELSHI: Yes, I like that sort of thing.
PHILLIPS: Right. We've been able to do that in the past.
VELSHI: Yes. Some places don't have that but the CEO of Gulf Oil is saying that he would like to introduce a program like that for gasoline. There was a story last week about someplace in America, I don't remember where it was, where people sort of hedge. They lock in a price for their gas.
Well, he's suggesting that people can do this. In other words, you'll sort of buy gasoline, a certain amount of gasoline, let's say 500 gallons and you lock it in at a price. It might be higher, it might be lower. Who knows, but you know what gas is going to cost you for that year.
And he's thinking that that certainty will help a lot of people budget. That's kind of interesting. There are 1,800 franchise Gulf stations across the country which is where this program would start, but they also have responsibility for 600 Exxon stations in New England and New York, and he's saying you might see it expand to those places.
So there are some regulatory problems to overcome, and it's not a done deal but that's what they are talking about. Might be interesting to some people locking in the price of gas.
PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to talk again just a little bit coming up close to the closing bell.
VELSHI: About the markets, yes.
PHILLIPS: Yes, about 20 minutes or so.
VELSHI: Good.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
PHILLIPS: Round up the usual suspects. Trappers in Florida are pulling alligators from canals and swamps, trying to find a killer. We're going to have a live report. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Battle lines on Capitol Hill, and I don't mean congressional debate. That happens next week. Today members of the Minutemen Project face down their opponents. The minutemen fighting for tougher border controls and stronger law enforcement.
The other side fighting for new restrictions, including a bill that would make illegal immigration a felony. The Senate will debate that issue on Monday. That night President Bush plans a prime time speech to make his case for an easier path to citizenship. Tune into CNN for live coverage, 8 p.m. Eastern.
Hurricane Rita forced them out of their nursing home, but a bus explosion ended their evacuation just outside Dallas. You may remember, 23 people were killed, 21 others escaped. Now, two companies responsible for getting those seniors to safety will have to pay up. In settling a law suit, the bus company and the company that hired it will pay $11 million to survivors and victims' families.
Well, it's not hard to find an alligator in Florida unless you're trying to find one alligator in particular. Today trappers are charging through canals and swamps in search of the gator that killed that 28-year-old jogger earlier this week.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti has the latest for us.
Susan, what are they doing?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, they are still trying to find that alligator, as you said, but so far no luck. It was a horrifying death and so rare in Florida, which is home to 1 million alligators.
In this case a young woman, as you indicated, was out for a jog on Tuesday night. And was apparently maimed and killed by this alligator. Her remains have been found. The alligator is still on the loose. From the young woman's injuries, environmental officials suggest that it's about eight to 15 feet long. And she bled to death according to the coroner.
Yovy Suarez Jimenez, as we said, was out for a run. Her family says that she phoned home and told them that she was depressed. And some witness say they thought they saw a woman by the canal with her feet near the water. But then that was the end of the phone call.
Now if too much time passes before trappers are able to find this killer alligator, it might be too late to tell which alligator actually is responsible for the attack. And here's why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORGE PINO, FLORIDA FISH & WILDLIFE COMM.: The normal digestive period for an alligator is anywhere between three and four days. So if we trap an alligator a week from now, the chances are that we will not be able to determine whether that specific alligator was the culprit in this particular attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now just to show how rare these fatal human attacks are, there have been only 18, Kyra, since about 1948 or about 60 years or so. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Susan, how are they trying to trap it?
CANDIOTTI: Well, they are using -- and get this -- pig's lungs, which according to these wildlife officials smells a lot but is apparently very attractive to the alligators. And they have these strung out at various locales along this canal, around a 500 yard area. So far they have trapped two alligators and have euthanized them, cut them open. Neither one was found to be responsible for the attack.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Candiotti of course we'll stay on top of that story. Thanks Susan.
Straight ahead, red hot celebrities, behind the glitz, the power players, the image makers, the ego groomers. We're talking Hollywood. An inside peek just ahead.
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PHILLIPS: So what's the scoop? Who has got the dirt? We are starved for news about Hollywood's rich and famous. And this weekend, "CNN PRESENTS" goes behind the scenes, a look at the power players behind the stars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSIE O'DONNELL, ACTRESS: Bye, everyone. Happy 100th show.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): February 13, 11:15 a.m. Martha's 100th daytime show comes to a close. Rosie and her publicist, Cindi Berger, head back to the green room for a quick good-bye.
CINDI BERGER, PUBLICIST: Thank you so much.
PHILLIPS: And a quick aside.
O'DONNELL: CNN presents: Fame publicists. Do they spin? What do you think? A tad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERGER: Spin is moving something in a direction you want it to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: We pay people to lie for us, really. They are called publicists.
PHILLIPS: In a career that spanned more than two decades, Cindi certainly has been through the spin cycle.
O'DONNELL: Sharon Stone. Are you divorcing anyone?
There was a brief period when Cindi was actually the publicist for Star Jones. Can I just say something? It didn't work out well for me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: Cindi was the one who represented the divas, so when I had the talk show, whenever there was a huge diva, like Mariah, you'd always see Cindi Berger. And I was like, Ugh, that one! She has got the hardest women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: From 1997 to 2004, Cindi represented the biggest selling female recording artist of all time. She's now billboard's brightest, but a few years ago, Mariah Carey was a glittery mess.
MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: I don't want to upset everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has another two minutes.
CAREY: OK. Cool. I'm fine.
PHILLIPS: In July 2001, during promotion for the disastrous "Glitter" album and motion picture, Mariah melted down. There was the infamous striptease on MTV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing? Oh, my god.
PHILLIPS: And those strange public appearances, including one that came to a screeching halt.
CAREY: We're all just living in the moment of being positive and there's, like, people called haters.
BERGER: Let's go.
CAREY: No, no. And we give them positivity. I can't even get a minute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'DONNELL: I think Mariah, to this day, is still angry, but frankly, one day, she will thank Cindi for that, because Mariah was not in really any state to be on TV at that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Two days after Cindi forcibly unplugged an incoherent Carey, the superstar entered a psychiatric facility. Berger's official explanation --
BERGER: She was exhausted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER CASTRO, EXEC. EDITOR, PEOPLE MAGAZINE: A publicist's best friend is the word exhaustion. That could mean so many things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERGER: She is so disciplined -- the level of work that she puts forth took its toll. CASTRO: Was it just exhaustion? Probably not, but it was a hiccup in her career, and she has moved on. And Cindi Berger had a lot to do with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The celebrity hunt is on and the target is Angelina Jolie. As the world awaits the birth of baby Brangelina, CNN Presents takes viewers on a wild ride during the paparazzi's pursuit of the red-hot actress. Tune in this Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. Eastern.
It's a bird, it's a plane. It's somebody's grandma. We're going to take you free falling with this daredevil senior when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: More proof you're never too old for something new. This is 86-year-old Glenna Sparks (ph) jumping from the airplane. That's right. She did it. She said she thought about this for years, but she did it yesterday over Molalla, Oregon, and we can report she landed safely and is hinting now that she might want to try something else. What else do you do after that?
Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by in THE SITUATION ROOM to tell us what is coming on at the top of the hour.
Hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'd be chicken to do that at any age.
Kyra, thanks very much.
Poker, hookers and the CIA. Police search the home of a man who was the third in charge. It's a very complicated story. We're going to try to sort it out for you.
Also, President Bush's immigration plan: He's planning a prime time address on Monday. We'll take a closer look at what he's expected to say.
And get this. Saddam Hussein's new book. That's right. On the eve of the US-led invasion, he was supposedly finishing his novel. We have that story as well.
All that, Kyra, coming up right at the top of the hour.
PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf. Thanks.
Whether you're a great granny or a maternal greenhorn, you're going to get a kick out of this. The most popular baby names in America as compiled by the US Social Security department -- here's some of the top names on the 2005 list, just released today. For boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, Anthony, Christopher and Joseph. Where is Wolf? For girls: Emily is tops, along with Emma, Madison, Abigail, Olivia, Isabella, Hannah, Samantha, Ava and Ashley.
Scott, is that your baby?
Around LIVE FROM, though, our favorite boy name, of course -- and that's not Ali crying. Ali -- wait a minute, maybe it was Ali crying.
VELSHI: How did you get a naked picture of me?
PHILLIPS: You were such a cute baby, Ali. And you know, you haven't changed a bit.
VELSHI: I look exactly the same. If I was sitting here naked, that's exactly what I'd look like, but bigger.
PHILLIPS: Do you still have the little pink bunny?
VELSHI: Totally.
PHILLIPS: Sleep with it?
VELSHI: All the time. Doesn't everybody sleep with something like that?
PHILLIPS: Oh, no.
VELSHI: There we go.
PHILLIPS: Now that could get us in big trouble.
VELSHI: Retribution.
PHILLIPS: I guess folks -- folks didn't know we were born twins.
VELSHI: That's right. But we grew differently. Grew differently. You have a better hairstylist than I did, or maybe you ate better food.
PHILLIPS: I wasn't expecting that one. Thank you.
VELSHI: Need a little levity. I have nothing to offer you in the way of fun stuff right now.
PHILLIPS: You don't have anything fun? Nothing better than that?
VELSHI: No, look at this market. Didn't -- you remember at the beginning of the week I was talking about how it was going to break through records.
PHILLIPS: Historic. You and Susan Lisovicz, historic.
VELSHI: Susan and I are going to be eating crow tonight because the Dow, which was supposed to surpass the all-time record of 11,722 -- down again; more than 100 points lower. We're 125 points lower on the Dow. Big losses on the Dow and the NASDAQ.
(MARKET REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Have a great weekend.
VELSHI: And you. Love that picture.
PHILLIPS: See you soon.
Naked in a crib, Kyra and Ali.
VELSHI: See you later! That is very cute.
That's the only cute look you're going to get of things, because now we're taking it over to the Dow, as I show you there, 122 point loss. Over on the NASDAQ, 29 points lower.
Let's take it over to Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
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