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Rick's List

Oil Executives Grilled on Capitol Hill; Palin and Thatcher to Meet?

Aired June 15, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Two major developments in stories we have been working on today.

First is what you have already been reporting, the developing news to the work to siphon off the leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, it's come to a halt because of a lightning strike. It caused a small fire out on that rig.

We also have the first interview with a family member of an American arrested in Pakistan, that American on a mission, hunting for bin Laden on his own. Here's what else we have got.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Making the LIST today:

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Fifty-seven days ago in the dead of night, the worst environmental nightmare in U.S. history began.

GRIFFIN: Lawmakers accusing BP of operating on blind faith. They rip into big oil.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D-CA), GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We found that none of the five oil companies has an adequate response plan.

GRIFFIN: Is this war on oil, and what does that mean for the future of offshore drilling?

A pistol, a sword, night-vision goggles and Christian books, that's what an American man took with him to Pakistan. And police there believe he was on his own mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

MELISSA HUCKABY, DEFENDANT: I still cannot understand why I did what I did.

Melissa Huckaby apologizes in court for killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. But the girl's family is there, firing back. We will bring you the emotional exchange. GRIFFIN (on camera): Should there be an investigation?

ANDREW ROMANOFF (D), COLORADO SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, the best thing I can do is to lay out the facts. I have done that. GRIFFIN: First, there was Sestak, then Romanoff. Republicans say they are the faces in a White House job offer scandal. Democrats say it's business as usual. So, who's right? We're drilling down to find answers.

The lists you need to know about. Plus, who's today's most intriguing? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why we keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: First on the list: day 57 of this oil disaster. BP reports there was a small fire at the top of the derrick on the Discoverer Enterprise. It was believed to have started by a lightning strike. The fire's been put out. There were no injuries, and operations are expected to restart sometime this afternoon.

The president, meanwhile, concluded his fourth trip to the Gulf since the oil disaster began in April. Today, in Pensacola, Florida, he toured some beaches there, talked to more locals and ate more local cuisine. He also spoke to the military and told them, get ready to join this fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an assault on our shores, and we're going to fight back with everything that we have got. And that includes mobilizing the resources of the greatest military in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The real fireworks were going on back in D.C. Representative Ed Markey's House Energy and Environment Subcommittee questioned chief executives from BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell.

One of BP's most outspoken critics, Markey laid out the argument that there's plenty of blame for all of the oil companies. He talked about reading the various disaster response plans and finding that BP was not an exception, but the rule.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKEY: In preparation for this hearing, the committee reviewed the oil spill safety response plans for all of the companies here today. What we found was that these five companies have response plans that are virtually identical. The plans cite identical response capabilities and tout identical ineffective equipment. In some cases they use the exact same words.

We found that all of these companies, not just BP, made the exact same assurances. The covers of the five response plans are different colors, but the content is 90 percent identical. Like BP, three other companies include references to protecting walruses, which have not called the Gulf of Mexico for 3 million years. Two other plans are such dead ringers for BP's that they list a phone number for the same long dead expert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: But Markey criticized big oil for handing in the same homework or oil disaster response plan to the teacher, or, in this case, the Minerals Management Service, run by the government, which should have noticed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, CHAIRMAN & CEO, EXXONMOBIL: It's a scenario that the MMS and the Coast Guard require us to calculate using their methodologies, and that's why it's in there.

(CROSSTALK)

TILLERSON: But, to your point, and I think that's all that matters is -- the point is, we have to take every step to prevent these things from happening. Because, when they happen, it is a fact that we're not well-equipped to prevent any and all damage. There will be damage occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Back to the president.

Now, tonight, he is going to use the Oval Office to address and lay out a game plan for dealing with this oil disaster. His speech comes on the eve of a highly anticipated meeting. That's Wednesday with top BP officials. They are expected to discuss a new structure for processing damage claims from this disaster. A new plan would include an independent third party to handle claims.

White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said the administration confident it has legal authority to force British Petroleum to set up an escrow account for the purpose of paying damages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The best way to prevail on BP is to take the claims process away from BP. The president possesses the legal authority and will use it to make this -- this claims process independent, to take it away from BP, and to ensure that those who have been harmed economically have their claims processed quickly, efficiently, transparently, and that they're made whole again for the disaster caused by BP.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: All right, the president's speech is at 8:00. Of course, you can see it here with all the analysis before and after, the president's speech live on CNN.

We want to remind you work on that oil rig, the rig that is sucking up the oil, has stopped, according to BP, at the moment, no capture, no containment going on. But we're going to start up the Enterprise when it's safe to do so. That's from BP spokesman Robert Wine.

We got this tweet in: "BP has approved 90 percent of initial payments, totaling $16 million to commercial large loss claims via the process."

I guess that's coming from BP. That's BP wanted to update us as we were doing this story.

An American on the trail of Osama bin Laden. What on earth was this guy doing in Pakistan? And wait until you hear what he was carrying? We are hearing exclusively now just this afternoon from his brother. That is next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABY: Not a day, not an hour goes by that I don't think of the harm that I caused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: That's a former Sunday school teacher tearfully apologizing for killing an 8-year-old girl. But there's one question she's never answered. That question is ahead on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Guys, I want to show you a picture you're going to remember.

This is Gary Brooks Faulkner, 52-year-old from Colorado, that picture taken just before Faulkner went to Pakistan, where he's now under arrest. He told authorities he's been hunting for Osama bin Laden. And get this,. It's not his first time there. He claims he's made six trips to Pakistan with the same objective.

When authorities picked him up, he had a sword, a pistol, night- vision equipment, and Christian reading materials.

CNN's Jim Spellman got an exclusive-access interview with Faulkner's family back here in the states today. Listen to Faulkner's brother describe his motivation and mind-set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT FAULKNER, BROTHER OF MAN DETAINED IN PAKISTAN: My brother Gary, he is the oldest of four. We were born in California. And our parents moved us to Fort Collins when we were young in 1968, where we grew up. He spent a lot of time in the mountains hunting. Our father taught us how to hunt.

So, Gary's always been a very passionate individual. And when 9/11 happened, as a Christian, we took that very personally, as did most of the country.

Osama had made some references to our God, the God of the Bible, and in a poor light. And the fact that he was taunting in America and getting away with killing thousands of Americans, my brother took that very personally.

He felt that the U.S. government was not doing enough to bring this man to justice. And he felt that he was, as a Christian, not afraid. And now he -- his health is failing him. He's on dialysis. And, in fact, about five days ago, he had to go down to Southern Pakistan to get dialyzed, because he was getting weak and then he went back up.

So, he's got a sole focus. He's not crazy. in fact, he's very smart. Normally, Gary, when he goes to Pakistan, he will have a sword, and he was trained in hapkido, so he knows some martial arts and how to handle himself, and a three-edged dagger, and that's his weapons of choice.

Unfortunately, the Pakistan government is not going to allow you to carry a sniper rifle, a .308, onto an airplane into their country. So, these reports are right now unsubstantiated. But I can promise you that, when Gary left DIA, he did not have those weapons on him.

He's a very passionate person. And most people go through their lives without passion. They don't have something that they truly believe in and would give up everything in their life for.

Is this my passion? Absolutely not. But is it my brother's? It is. And, as an American, he's doing something that we would all wish to do. If we saw Osama walking down the sidewalk, you and I -- well, I know I would probably put a bullet in the guy's head. Yes, I'm a doctor, but I'm still an American, and served in my country in the military.

We believe in the Constitution. We believe in the freedoms of this country. And to have one guy slap us in the face and say, ha, look what I did, and you can't touch me, that goes against everything that, as a family, we stand for. And I pray that my brother gets him. Do I think he will get another chance? Absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Fascinating, isn't it? Some people have a passion for tennis. Others apparently have a passion to kill Osama bin Laden.

We will have much more on this in the next hour. I will speak to a former CIA covert operations officer about how Faulkner may have flown under the radar in that part of the world and to really find out if he's really done this six times in the past.

Well, could she be the perfect mentor, or will a meeting of these two just be a perfect photo-op? Lady Thatcher introducing Governor Palin. Jessica Yellin has that next on our LIST.

And a shakeup during a Major League game in Southern California. We're talking about an earthquake shakeup. That's ahead on the LIST, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) GRIFFIN: OK, keep in mind that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were pals. Now a question for you, a thought-provoking question, if you will.

Could Alaska's Sarah Palin be the ideological heir to England's iron lady, former Prime Minister Thatcher? Palin saying on her Facebook that she is mulling a visit to London and a possible meeting with Lady Thatcher.

Is it a courtesy call or perhaps something more? Jessica Yellin is who we turn to for answers.

Jessica, who is inviting who here, or is there really an invite, or is it just random thoughts on a Facebook page?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Excellent question, Drew.

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: Sarah Palin's group says -- Palin says on her Facebook page that she was invited to England and offered to have a meeting arranged with Lady Thatcher.

So, she doesn't explicitly say it was Thatcher that made the invitation. And, in fact, we called Thatcher's folks. They said, no, they didn't invite Sarah Palin to come meet with them. They have not heard from Palin's people. But if Palin does want a meeting, they would be happy to arrange one -- quote -- "if it's feasible."

I should point out that Margaret Thatcher is suffering from dementia. We understand it's quite advanced. I'm not sure how much of a meeting the two women could have if there were to be one, Drew, but a good picture.

GRIFFIN: So, if -- yes, a good picture. I was going to get to that.

YELLIN: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: So, it would be more or less a photo-op.

Why is Sarah Palin doing this kind of thing? Is it -- is it to get presidential candidate cred somewhere down the line?

YELLIN: Well, you know, there's -- I'm not in the camp that's convinced she's definitely going -- shooting for the presidency.

But she definitely wants to stay in the public eye and retain her status as the spokesperson and leader of the conservative feminist or women's movement, conservative movement. And being aligned with Margaret Thatcher gives her certain bona fides because Margaret Thatcher was the first to break through and be a leader in this sort of tough conservative female mold. And if Sarah Palin can say she comes from that line, that there's a connection, it certainly benefits her. Of course, this is deeply frustrating to a lot of progressive women that Palin would claim to be some sort of feminist power base or women's leader. But it's a very legitimate claim if she is this sort of prominent public figure in the way that Thatcher has been.

GRIFFIN: But it just seems like a misstep.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: If Lady Thatcher had advanced stages of dementia, I mean, who can line up with that? I just -- it seems like it could be another potential misstep for Sarah Palin.

(CROSSTALK)

YELLIN: Well, right. And if she goes and takes a meeting, and there -- she has dementia and it gets out that this was all a photo- op, sure, it could backfire.

It's not clear that this is necessarily going to be some sort of policy powwow. I wouldn't expect it to be under any circumstances. But I do think, Drew, one thing that's interesting to just observe, no matter what your politics are, look at where women have come from the time of Margaret Thatcher to now.

When Margaret Thatcher ran, she had to be this sort of, if you will allow me, unsexed woman.

GRIFFIN: Right.

YELLIN: She was almost not female, right? And you look at Sarah Palin. She's feminine. She embraces her womanhood. It's a big change, that women can now be very feminine and womanly and also seek powerful positions. And it's a sign of where we have come in time, still a long way to go.

GRIFFIN: Is it also a sign, Jessica, in current times that the real powerful women on the rise in this country are in the Republican conservative sect, that it's no longer Democrat, liberal women who are leading this feminist charge, as you said, but it is -- it is the Sarah Palins, it's Meg Whitman, it's these powerful conservatives?

YELLIN: You said it, Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Sharron Angle.

I mean, look at the exciting new women on the scene. Whether you like their politics or not, they're coming from the right much more now than they are from the left, at least in this cycle. And it's a phenomena we're all going to have to understand and study. And it's a sign that women are progressing.

They made a lot of moves in the Democratic Party. Now they're weigh their way through the Republican Party. And it's good for everyone, no matter what your politics.

GRIFFIN: Is it upsetting, though, to the liberal left women, who kind of claim to be paving the way for all this stuff?

(CROSSTALK)

YELLIN: So upsetting. Well, very upsetting that they -- that Sarah Palin is claiming some of the language of the women's movement. She talks about being a momma grizzly I think is her phrase and sort of an empowered woman.

And the reason is, some of the policies women who paved the way don't -- some of -- the women who paved the way in the feminine movement don't think some of these policies are consistent with what feminism stood for.

For example, as governor, Sarah Palin was not a big fan of funding lots of social programs for mothers and children or rape treatment programs or these kinds of things that deal with family and motherhood and women's -- explicitly about women issues. So, they think that is inconsistent with feminism.

Conservative women say, no, we can have our own politics. Feminism is just about going for what the guys go for. And they're doing it.

GRIFFIN: And Sarah Palin certainly is.

Thanks, Jessica Yellin. Appreciate that.

YELLIN: Good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Did you think that a White House deputy chief of staff will take note of your log-in and remember, oh, hey, this guy wanted to work for USAID?

ROMANOFF: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Uh-oh. Is the White House meddling with who can run in your state's primaries? Some Republicans believe that's exactly what's happening. We're drilling down. That's ahead.

And he's accused of going alone to take out Osama bin Laden? One of the most interesting stories of the day. He's on our list of most intriguing people in the news. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: A Colorado man ends up on our most intriguing list today.

This guy's accused of being on a mission, a big one: track down Osama bin Laden solo. His equipment? A pistol, a sword, night-vision equipment. Pakistani police nabbed him a couple of nights ago. They actually laughed when they found him, they say. He was on the Afghan border. He told them he's been looking for bin Laden since the 9/11 terror attacks and had gone to the region several times.

He also told investigators -- get this -- he didn't plan on killing bin Laden. Police don't believe that because of all those weapons he had. His brother tells us: "My brother is not crazy. He is highly intelligent, loves his country and has not forgotten what Osama has done to this country."

Gary Brooks Faulkner, a 52-year-old independent contractor, on a one-man Rambo operation, accused of going after the most-wanted man in America, and landing on today's list of most intriguing person in the news.

You heard from Faulkner's brother earlier this hour. Keep it right here. You're going to hear a lot more of what he has to say just ahead.

We want to tell you about the tweets that are coming in, too. Here's one. "Somebody has to find bin Laden. I don't care who does, not that catching him is going to stop terrorism."

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Now an update that literally went viral here on RICK'S LIST. It's the Joe Sestak job offer that just doesn't seem to be going away quietly.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is now considering a request to open an investigation into what Republicans would like to call the White House job offer scandal. Democrats tell me this is all old news, a closed matter, and, by the way, it happens all the time.

Really? Jobs, appointments offered by the White House to lure candidates out of political races all the time? Apparently so, because there are now two Senate races that we know of where the White House directly tried to determine who would and would not run in a Democratic primary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JOE SESTAK (D-PA), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you all very much.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): It's the job that really wasn't a job that first started this mess.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Did the president, did the White House offer you the secretary of the Navy gig?

SESTAK: And the answer is, I have said I was offered something. I don't have to go beyond that. GRIFFIN: Congressman Joe Sestak telling our Rick Sanchez there was an offer, but later backtracking. As the White House tried to explain in a statement, it was actually Bill Clinton intervening on behalf of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who was offering not a job, but a non-paid and yet not fully disclosed position on an advisory board, if Sestak would just get out of the race against fellow Democrat Arlen Specter.

The White House lawyers' conclusion? No paying job, so no crime. A little harder to explain, though, is what happened in Colorado.

GRIFFIN (on camera): He was not a friend?

ROMANOFF: No.

GRIFFIN: He called out of the blue.

ROMANOFF: He called me in September of '09.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): It was September of last year. Andrew Romanoff, the former Democratic statehouse speaker, had decided to run for U.S. Senate. The problem, the White House already had its man running for U.S. Senate in Colorado, the appointed senator, Michael Bennet.

Suddenly, on the phone with Andrew Romanoff, and out of the blue, was Jim Messina asking Romanoff if he was interested in three high- paying positions with the administration.

GRIFFIN (on camera): White house deputy chief of staff calls you up, says there may be a job for you or positions open. What, a day later, two days later, you get an e-mail with three positions?

ROMANOFF: Same conversation.

GRIFFIN: All three jobs pretty good?

ROMANOFF: Well --

GRIFFIN: Right?

ROMANOFF: The job I'm running for is the U.S. Senate.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Romanoff is trying to downplay the incident, sort of. He agrees no job offer was actually made, but the e-mail made it clear. These three job, two with USAID and the director of the U.S. trade and development agency, were available should Romanoff not run for Senate.

The White House explanation from a state released by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was that Andrew Romanoff has applied for the position at USAID during the presidential transition. He filed this application through the transition online process.

GRIFFIN (on camera): When you applied or filled out a form on, what, something.gov, right? ROMANOFF: Change.gov.

GRIFFIN: Change.gov. Did you think that a White House deputy chief of staff will take note of your log-in and remember, oh, hey, this guy wanted to work for USAID?

ROMANOFF: No.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The White House declined interview requests to discuss what happened in Colorado, and until we met him outside a hearing room last week, we weren't getting much response from the Colorado senator who would have benefited from Romanoff getting out of the race, The appointed U.S. senator, Michael Bennett, whose campaign admits he did know about the White House intervention in advance.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Did you ask Messina, don't offer him these positions?

SEN. MICHAEL BENNETT, (D) COLORADO: That's not for me to do. My job is to run the primary race I'm running and that's what I'm doing.

GRIFFIN: I understand that. But my question with regards to the White House basically meddling in the Colorado Democratic primary. Do you think that it's the White House's role to try to decide who can and cannot run in your state's primary?

BENNETT: No, I certainly don't think it's the White House's role.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bennett's Democratic primary opponent, Andrew Romanoff, says he doesn't want to politicize what happens but it is giving him a chance to brand himself as a true outsider.

ROMANOFF: I think it's a fact that my opponent has become one of the top tip recipients of Wall Street cash. He serves on the banking committee and has taken money from g from Goldman Sachs and other investor banks.

GRIFFIN (on camera): And Mr. Romanoff, he's supported by the White House?

ROMANOFF: That's true, too.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Republicans smell blood. They are calling for investigations, want to know if laws were broken and especially if the president knew. The White House insists the answer is no.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Is it feasible?

BENNETT: Sure.

GRIFFIN: That in two Senate races where the White House administration was trying to intervene to get rid of one of the primary candidates, that the president wouldn't know what his deputy chief of staff or White House chief of staff -- BENNETT: I certainly don't have any reason to doubt what the White House has said about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: But Republicans want to know for sure, and they're demanding to have proof of that. But right now, they're getting absolutely zero response from the White House.

So does this happen all the time? Really? Or could this be what critics say is what's done all the time in Chicago where the president and his chief of staff learned to play hardball politics?

One guy who should know is Andy Shaw, veteran Chicago political reporter and now with the better government association of Chicago. There he is in Chicago waiting for us. He's ahead.

Aruban and Peruvian authorities agree to work together to solve a Peruvian woman's murder. What could that mean for the prime suspect, Joran Van Der Sloot? That's ahead, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: A quick update, work to siphon that leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico has stopped because of a lightning strike on the rig out there. We're keeping an eye on this. We'll bring you the updates. Hopefully they can get back to work soon.

But BP saying, nobody hurt. The fire apparently is out and they should be able to start siphoning up some of that oil soon.

Let's get back to the story we were talking about on our political list today. Before we took a break we were talking about the GOP allegations of jobs appointments offered by the White House to lure candidates out of political races.

Republicans demand an investigation. Dems say this happens all the time, not a big deal. Let's find out what a political expert thinks. It is Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association, former political reporter right there in Chicago.

Andy, there's a famous guy going on trial right now about a job in Chicago. We can't ignore that fact. But does this really happen all the time and we're just hearing about it?

ANDY SHAW, FORMER POLITICAL REPORTER, WLS, CHICAGO: Let me first, Drew, talk about the delicious irony of a drew interviewing an Andy about the transgressions of an Andrew. This seems like we're on top of all of it.

(LAUGHTER)

GRIFFIN: It's perfect.

SHAW: I wish I could feel a sense of outrage because as the head of a good government organization, I like nothing better than to call out politicians and public officials for transgressions. But by Chicago and Illinois standards, this is a joke.

This is an administration which needs allies in the Democratic Senate basically taking a public official, a distinctive public official who is the speaker of the Colorado house, and trying to find a fit for him for a job in some foreign affairs-related area. He comes from Colorado, which has a large Latino population.

In a sense, this is just the essence of politics. Would you not expect the president to try to maintain a friendly Democratic senator in a state rather than take a chance on a competitor?

Now, if money had been suggested here, some kind of quid pro quo that was financial in nature, retire a campaign debt, something like that, then this would definitely be untoward.

But a conversation about seeking a job which, by the way, Mr. Romanoff, had been looking for anyway, a conversation about an appropriate job for a qualified individual, that's not pay to play. That would be laughed off the pages of the newspapers and off the screens of television here in Chicago because this is just basic everyday politics.

GRIFFIN: I get that. But he's -- ten months beforehand, he applied for this job. It's only when he becomes a Senate candidate that he gets a call from the White House.

And you say there's no money involved. These are jobs of $150,000 and north of there. It's not money coming out of a back pocket. If not illegal, isn't it somewhat unethical or hypocritical for this hope and change government administration to be doing this kind of stuff?

SHAW: Well, that's the hot button you have pressed. It is a question of business as usual. And yes, in fact, this is business as usual.

So if Obama's being held to a different standard, that is, that the hope and change mantra was supposed to be accompanied by a politics that was above this sort of thing, you're absolutely right. It's untoward by those standards.

But that's not realistic. Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, they come out of the crucible of Chicago politics. They understand hardball. If you haven't broken the law, then you really aren't culpable. You're being accused of business as usual and something that may raise an ethical question, that's different, yes.

If you want to go hold a higher standard, he hasn't met it here. He didn't meet it with Joe Sestak. But it's so far from criminal or really serious and so far from needing an investigation, I would urge the Republicans to focus on the problems in the Gulf and the other problems with the Obama administration and not waste a lot of time and energy on this one because it's almost laughable.

I'm covering the corruption trial of a governor accused of virtually selling the state to the highest bidder. This is hardly that.

GRIFFIN: Right. Rahm Emanuel may be involved in that as well. We can get that on another day. Let me ask you this -- couldn't the administration clear this up if they just answered the Republican's calls to release the memos, release the details, get Bill Clinton to say what he actually said to Joe Sestak?

It seems they've gone into this huddle in a cave and they're not talking about it hoping it will just go away. And quite frankly, it might go away if we stop talking about it.

SHAW: Well, you know, I always think it's a mistake for politicians to circle the wagons, because at the end of the day, you get in much less trouble for being forthcoming than you do when you hunker down.

I think when you hunker down with a bunker mentality, it looks like you're trying to cover up the truth. And when that happens, I think it's much worse than being forthcoming.

There have been e-mails released, the stories out there, I agree with you. Just tell it straight up that you're talking about maintaining a good ally there and you're offering a job to someone who is eminently qualified based on years of government experience. If someone wants to make an issue out of it, go ahead.

GRIFFIN: Andy Shaw, thanks for joining us. See you later, man.

SHAW: Drew, thank you.

GRIFFIN: Well, if you underwent a colonoscopy or know someone who has, you want to stick around for this one. A hospital sends letters to more than 3,000 patients. Wait till you hear what they say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Boy, the forces of mother nature can be biblical in their power. Time for our best video list, "Fotos."

This is Monroe, Ohio, a six-story statue of Jesus burned to the steel frame. It was struck by lightning Monday. The church was home to the, quote, "touchdown Jesus" statue since 2004. It featured Christ with arms outstretched to the sky and reportedly cost $250,000.

Reporters at CNN affiliate WEYI say they often leave the studio's back door open to keep it cool. Thursday that didn't work out so well. Things heated up when an unexpected studio guest popped in, a raccoon from the nearby woods. They're calling him Randy. He ran across the studio a few times before being shown the door.

Shake me up at the ball game, huh? A 5.7 magnitude earthquake centered 70 miles east of San Diego hit during the Padres-Blue Jays game. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a tremor. It's a pretty significant tremor.

GRIFFIN: There it goes. Oh, you bet. We just had an earthquake, boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: You bet. The padres definitely had home field advantage. California quakes are common. Tremors in Toronto, not so much. But the Blue Jays won 6-3. The fans and even a few players seemed to enjoy the wobbling ground.

You can see all our Fotos on CNN.com/RickSanchez.

The Gulf coast is the center of the nation's attention today. There's President Obama spending a day at the beach getting an earful from locals before heading back to D.C. He's got an address tonight to the nation. We are live from the Gulf coast. That's ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA HUCKABY, CONVICTED OF MURDERING EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GIRL: Not a day, not an hour goes by that I don't think about her and what I cost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Hard to hear but that's a tearful apology from the Sunday school teacher who killed an eight-year-old girl. Why did she do it and did she tell the family? That's next.

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GRIFFIN: Tough story on our list today. The little girl's body stuffed in a suitcase dropped in a California irrigation pond. She had been drugged, sexually assaulted, bloody cloth tied around her head like a noose.

Her name was Sandra Cantu, just eight years old. Her playmate's mother, a former Sunday school teacher named Melissa Huckaby pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing her.

Yesterday as cameras clicked, Huckaby stunned the courtroom with this tearful apology.

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HUCKABY: Not a day, not an hour goes by that I don't think of the harm that I caused. I loved Sandra a great deal. She was sweet and innocent little girl who did not deserve to have such a short life.

I alone am responsible for Sandra's death. I would like to apologize directly to you Maria, for all the pain that I have he a caused you. I should not have taken Sandra from you, and I want you to know she did not suffer and I did not sexually molest your daughter.

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GRIFFIN: One question that may hang over this case forever, why did she do it? Huckaby did not have an answer.

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HUCKABY: I wish I could give you an explanation for what happened. I owe you an explanation. But I still cannot understand why I did what I did. Every day, I try to discover my motivation, but I still do not have an answer. This is a question I will struggle with for the rest of my life.

I wish that I could do more to help you. I wish I could bring Sandra back, but I can't. I wish I could trade places with her, but I can't do that either.

I know that Sandra's death will continue to cause you pain. And I hope that this apology will help you in some way by accepting responsibility for what I have done. I hope that I can give you some peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Huckaby has been sentenced to life in prison. There is no possibility she's ever going to get out.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kevlar vests in his closet at home. Not that he wore them every day but he had them.

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GRIFFIN: Thousands of pages of FBI documents on Senator Edward Kennedy have now been released. What do they say? That's ahead.

Could a funnel, concrete, cannonball help BP stop the oil spill? Maybe. That's just one idea how to fix it.

BP's rating takes another hit, this time it is to just above junk status. Alison Kosik has got that at the top of her CNN money list next.

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GRIFFIN: We're sharing five ideas a day, solutions people are telling us about on how to solve the Gulf oil spill disaster. And our Bonnie Schneider has one of the ideas. This comes in from an iReporter?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, an iReporter with --

GRIFFIN: Do you test these scientifically before we put them on the air?

(LAUGHTER)

SCHNEIDER: Of course. What you're going to see is a pan of dirt that represents the ocean floor. In the dirt is a little widget type of thing that represents the ruptured pipe. A funnel is on top of the pipe and our iReporter pours concrete on top. I'll let him explain from there.

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LUKE BARATS, IREPORTER: So we let that concrete set so we have a concrete base in the bottom of the funnel. Once it's set, we bring in a basically a glorified cannonball. This is a ball that's as large and as heavy as it needs to be to combat the pressure of the oil coming up out of the bottom of the ocean.

So let's say this is made out of steel or something along those lines. So we lower it down, put it into the funnel like that. Hopefully the ball is massive enough to either interrupt or at least lessen the pressure of the oil coming out to the point where we can just begin to pour massive amounts of concrete, enough to keep the ball in there.

And then, you know, why not, let's just keep pouring and entomb the whole thing forever and ever.

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SCHNEIDER: Well, sounds like an interesting idea. I spoke with an expert about this method. Richard Charter, who's a senior policy adviser for marine programs defenders of wildlife, he said it really depends on two things. One, the weight of the ball. But even more importantly, how will that ball stay in place with the force of the oil and the natural gas rushing up from, as you saw, his pipe mechanism?

Really he says the only way that would maybe work, was if there was a claw-like mechanism securing the ball in place, like a submarine claw, but even that probably would have some trouble with the force of the natural gas and oil.

But keep watching, because this network has five ideas a day and we'll have another one for you next hour. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Interesting, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Very creative.

GRIFFIN: Very creative is right.

Well, BP's got a lot of troubles. Its rating gets cut again and why Alison Kosik has BP on the top of her money list. BP has enough money to pay its bills. It's a high priced stock if you consider other stocks, about 30 bucks. Why is it being downgraded again? KOSIK: That's a really good question, Drew. This is the second time in a month that Fitch has downgraded BP, and it comes from the far-reaching concerns about what the fallout is really going to be from this oil spill. There's a lot of uncertainty about how much BP is going to be on the hook for financially. We just don't have those concrete numbers yet.

And this downgrade is really important to Wall Street because what it really is, is it's a sign of dwindling confidence in BP. Investors use these ratings as a guide for how great the risk is. Should they invest in this company or not?

Here is why Fitch went ahead and downgraded this company. The government says more oil is spilling than it thought. And that could mean more fines for BP. BP could be on the hook for greater reliability.

Also, the government wants BP to put many billions into an escrow account to cover future claims and Fitch says what this could wind up doing how flexible BP could be with its money it's going to tie up the cash in an escrow account and will limit how much cash BP, how much control it has over this cash.

So these kinds of limits investors don't see as something positive. Drew?

GRIFFIN: The last thing we need is for BP to go bankrupt and the government has nowhere to turn to get these bills paid. Is bankruptcy a concern still?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you talk to Fitch they say bankruptcy is not likely. If you talk to other analysts they say it is probably something that BP could be considering. They're considering all of their financial options at this point.

When you think about it, BP shares, they've lost almost half their value since the April 20th explosion. That's wiped out almost $90 billion in shareholder value.

But if you look at it in a different sense, the issue for BP as a whole isn't just the money. Fitch says BP, it can meet all of its financial obligations. But it's the political backlash that's the greater challenge for BP.

And the big question, of course, Drew, how much will the government go after BP? Could the government actually push BP into bankruptcy? Many say that the government has to really weigh the pros and cons of doing that. Drew?

GRIFFIN: Thanks a lot. Good day on Wall Street. Hard to tell day to day, but this one is up, Alison.