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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bubble of Methane Gas Triggered Rig Blast; Receding Tenn. Floodwaters Reveal Tragedy, Resiliency; Frequent Terror Scares Have New Yorkers Wary
Aired May 08, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, everybody. From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this May the 8th. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
RICHELLE CAREY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Richelle Carey.
Six a.m. here in Atlanta; 5 a.m. in Nashville; 4 a.m. in Salt Lake City. Thank you very much for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: And this could be a big day in the Gulf Coast. They are essentially trying to do it today; they are trying to cap that big oil leak by putting essentially a four-story building on top of the leak. We're going to get into exactly what they're doing, and the fact it might not work; it is something they've never done before.
But there is hope today, at least.
CAREY: Hard to process, isn't it?
HOLMES: Oh my God.
CAREY: All right.
And the cleanup in Nashville after all the flooding continues to be the story. The death toll now, at least 31 in Nashville and -- in Tennessee, rather, and surrounding states. The cleanup effort his morning is massive. The estimates, about a billion dollars in damage. And of course, there's lots of historic places there; the Grand Ole Opry house -- they've had to take out all sorts of memorabilia.
Those stories and more. And a quick look at headlines right now.
All right. The funeral for a University of Virginia lacrosse player found dead in her off-campus apartment, that is today. At a Mass yesterday, mourners were told to also pray for the young man accused of beating Yeardley Love to death.
George Huguley -- he is in custody. Police are looking into reports of previous altercations between the UVa men's lacrosse player and the victim.
That belching Icelandic volcano is causing more travel interruptions today. Starting this hour and lasting for at least six hours, a total of 16 Spanish airports are to be closed because of the blowing ash. The airports are in the northern half of the country. We'll continue to monitor the situation to see if other European airports will be affected as well.
And more fallout from a visit of Young Republicans to the sex- themed nightclub in Southern California back in January. The clubgoers ran a tab picked up by the Republican National Committee. That incident led to a couple of firings, (INAUDIBLE) consultant, questions about Chairman Michael Steele's leaderships and some jokes on late- night TV.
Now, the RNC's finance director and his deputy, they have been forced out.
HOLMES: Well, like we mentioned, a big story we're watching today. This could be the day that they finally get that oil leak capped. They're sending down a dome right now on the sea floor. They're in the Gulf of Mexico.
It has to go down some 5,000 feet. Here's an illustration of it. But that's essentially a four-story building, if you will, that they are trying to lower down and put on top of that leak that has been leaking some 210,000 gallons every single day since this whole thing broke around April 20.
Now, once they get it down, they'll then put a pipe up. They could possibly siphon out most of that oil. Please, keep in mind here though, they've never tried anything like this before. This is a first. So even though hopes are high, still, there's a little skepticism and a little anxiety about whether or not, in fact, this is going to work.
Our Brooke Baldwin has more on the spill as she rode out to get a closer look at exactly what's happening in the waters of the Brooke.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORREPSONDENT: T.J., good morning to you from Mississippi.
You know, our CNN crew took an eight-hour boat ride out to the beautiful Chandelier Islands. They're barrier islands that run perpendicular here to the Gulf Coast. We found sharks. We found pelicans. We found dolphins, bat rays, sting rays. But we also found a whole lot of this: oil.
Captain George Pelaez good enough to drive us out here to check out the oil. And we just came upon this.
When you see this, what do you think?
GEORGE PELAEZ, CHARTER-BOAT CAPTAIN: It's a little discouraging now. Because right -- right now, we are at a very popular fishing location. We fish the Chandelier chain, and we are already in the oil. So it's -- it's on this side of the island right now, and we're going to keep on going south. BALDWIN: As you take a look at some of the oil here in the water, we've noticed that it's at least about 18 inches deep. I've seen some fish already swimming through it.
So to get a better glimpse as to what it really looks like under there, take a look with our underwater camera.
Now, one of the biggest concerns here with this oil spill, of course, is the wildlife. And now, we have a front-row seat to what these experts are talking about.
This is New Harbor Island. There are hundreds of pelicans here. This is nesting season. The pelicans, their babies -- and you can see here, just about 10 feet from that show, the authorities have put out this protective booming to do precisely that, try to protect this habitat.
Today, we have perfect conditions. But here's one of the criticisms: This is a close look at the booms. The booms are supposed to keep all of this oil from going anywhere close to the eco-habitats in the islands. This massive criticism is that the winds on any other day is worse; it could easily go over the boom.
Another worry is, because some of this oil is so broken up, underneath, these booms are only about this thick. It could go right on under.
PELAEZ: And what I see from these booms, anything above a 15- knot wind -- it's over. I mean, it's -- it -- it's -- it's not going to serve its purpose.
When do you go back to work and...
BALDWIN: You don't know.
PELAEZ: That's it. We don't know. And right now, what I've seen out there, it's -- it's going to be later than soon.
BALDWIN: And that boat captain was good enough to take us to the Chandelier Islands. He's told us just in the last week, he has lost $21,000 in lost businesses. You talk to environmentalists, you talk to people at the restaurants -- everyone is affected in their own different way, and they're concerned that the damage being done isn't just short term. It's long term -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I'm over here now with Reynolds. We're certainly going to talk about the -- the weather and how this has affected this oil.
But also, this -- this Plan A -- there's really not a Plan B after this.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There is no contingency plan...
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: ...for this. I mean, it really is amazing. I mean, I'm not -- I don't want to say that they're making it up as they go along, but you've got some very intelligent people who are thinking outside the box. And what they've done is, they've created this incredible structure.
T.J., it looks kind of like a -- a four-story building.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: It weighs 125 tons. They made this Port Fourchon, Louisiana. They're going to lower it very, very slowly, very carefully, guiding it also with submersible vehicles. And they plan on bringing it right over the biggest leak. And if all goes as planned, it could possibly harness about, say, 80 to 85 percent of that oil. It's going to pull it right up to the surface, put it on a tanker boat and then actually put that another ship and other containers. And then it's going to bring that all to land.
So again, the -- the question is, what do they do after that? Well, they're not worried about that part. They just want to go ahead and cap this for the time being. It's one of three leaks, and they're going to put it right over the biggest one.
But it is -- it's going to be a very, very amazing thing to see. Now, they've done this before, but they've done it on much smaller leaks over -- with -- with much smaller containers right after Hurricane Katrina. But this is something that they've -- they've never done before.
HOLMES: And they've never done it at this dept. They've never had to deal with 5,000 feet down. And -- and again, the pressure underwater at that depth is something they haven't dealt with.
They don't know exactly how this thing's going to hold up once it gets down.
WOLF: It's ridiculous. I mean, but let's -- this may be the thing that works. But I mean, it really is going to be a tough thing. It's going to be amazing to watch this.
What you have to have for something like this though, is you have to have perfect weather. You've got to have great conditions, and it does look like the weather is going to cooperate. We're looking at waves of one to two feet out in the open water; a breeze mainly out of the southwest going to the northwest around 15 miles per hour. It should be picture-perfect.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: Other things today, in terms of containment, putting out more of that additional boom, that's going to be limited along the coast.
In terms of the burns -- they occasionally do have those burns, they try to cordon off some of the heaviest oil -- that probably won't happen today because the winds are a little bit too strong.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: So OK for the container that they're going to put over it, but not so much for the burns.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, keeping an eye on this. I know some other weather happening around the country. We'll (INAUDIBLE)
WOLF: Snow, too. We're going to talk about that in a few moments.
HOLMES: Yes, he said snow, folks.
All right. We'll check back in with you.
All right -- Richelle.
CAREY: Great explanation, guys.
And while -- while workers try to put that dome on the leak, we're trying to figure out what happened, what caused that blast -- that rig to blow up, what (INAUDIBLE) -- supporting a bubble of methane gas escaped from the well, shot up the drill column. The gas expanded so fast that it blew right through seals and barriers and then it just exploded.
This is coming from interviews with surviving rig workers taken during BP's internal investigation. Now, BP officials are not commenting on their support. At least publicly, all they're focusing on is containing the spill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HAYWARD, BP CEO: We are proceeding with a lot of caution to ensure that we don't make what's clearly a very bad situation worse.
QUESTION: And how could that be made worse? Did you do some damage to the pipe somehow?
HAYWARD: Well, if we do somehow do some damage to the pipe. So this needs to be done with a great deal of care and attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAREY: Well, BP is hoping that this oil siphoning will be operational by early this coming week.
And it was a week ago today when the rain began in Tennessee. It didn't end until parts of that state were underwater.
HOLMES: Yes, and that state, a third of it has been declared a disaster area. And now that the water is finally beginning to recede, we're getting an idea of just how much was lost and how much it'll cost to clean up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, welcome back to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
Of course, this -- a story that some think maybe is not getting enough attention...
CAREY: Yes.
HOLMES: ...right now, because, of course, we had the big oil spill in the Gulf, and also the -- the terrorist scare up in the Times Square.
Another story though, a major disaster happening in this country right now is in Tennessee, a state hit hard by floodwaters. One of the worst-hit states, and now we're getting an idea of just how much damage was done.
CAREY: It's about $1.5 billion. That's what they're thinking right now. The loss of life -- well, this flooding has killed 31 people in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. Now, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, she's going to tour Nashville this morning so she can see all this for herself, some of what you're seeing right now.
The city's mayor says Napolitano will find a resilient city already starting to rebuild. It's going to take time, a lot of money, a lot of manpower. The flooding seriously damaged some of Nashville's best-known country-music attractions. This is Music City we're talking about.
So, the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel, severe damage there. Twelve thousand people in Tennessee have registered with FEMA to get disaster assistance. And Nashville continues to dry out.
The stories of survival keep pouring out of that flooded city. Some of them seem like something out of a movie. One woman tells how she was rescued from her home on a Jet Ski just seconds before her house exploded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESLIE BILLS, SAVED FROM BURNING HOME: I look up, and there is an angel on a Jet Ski. God sent me an angel on a Jet Ski.
I yelled at him, 'Can you please check and see how the -- what's coming out of that garage?' He went and looked in and saw that the fire had taken over and has -- was getting ready to attack the cars. And he said, 'We have to get the -- out of here.'
And so, jump -- he goes, 'Jump on the Jet Ski.' So he jumps on his Jet Ski. I grab the dog, Deuce (ph), get on the Jet Ski with him. We got 20 yards way, and kaboom -- the house blew up.
This man saved my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CAREY: She told the story better than we could.
She did lose everything in the fire, but you could tell, she's still plowing forward.
Another story that we have been following all week, the attempted terror attack in New York's Times Square.
HOLMES: Yes, Josh Levs has been looking into this, actually, for us.
And Josh, we -- we all know, this is not the first, second, third -- I mean, even 10th or 100th time that New York has been targeted.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but you know, throughout last weekend, as we were covering this, I got to thinking more and more about how often this is happening. And it kind of is stunning when you look at it from the shoe bomber to the underwear bomber, just how many of these attempted attacks have been taking place.
We are about to take you through a security timeline.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Taking a look now at some stories making headlines.
NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor admitted to paying a young woman $300 for -- quote -- "sex acts" in a New York hotel. That is according to the criminal complaint filed against him.
Federal prosecutors have charged him with third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute. The girl was 16 years old. Taylor's lawyer denies the charges.
Well, 290,000 jobs added in April. That's the most we've seen in four years in this country. However, the nation's jobless rate did rise to 9.9 percent. But that could be a bit of good news there, because analysts say, that's because more people are encouraged to go out and look for work.
Also, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has rejected a request to put the state's controversial immigration bill on hold. New York Senator Charles Schumer made the request to buy time until Congress passed a comprehensive immigration-reform bill.
Governor Brewer wasn't convinced though. She says she's already been waiting a year for federal action, citing a letter she and other governors sent to congressional leaders last year asking for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a suspicious package in Times Square -- yes, another one triggered another evacuation on Friday. However, it was determined this was a false alarm; it was just a green cooler that had bottles of water in it.
CAREY: Not even the big cooler. It was a little cooler.
HOLMES: It was a little thing.
CAREY: The kind that somebody brings their lunch in to work, OK? People are on edge; you can't blame New Yorkers for being this way after what they have been through, including the attempted attack last weekend at Times Square.
But that's actually just the latest attempt. I think Josh Levs likes to do research, so he did some digging to take a look at other attempted attacks on Americans in recent years.
It was quite a day yesterday, Josh, wasn't it?
LEVS: It -- it was, yes. And you know what? You were also talking about the vigilance of New York. I was at LaGuardia just the other day. Someone spotted a suitcase that no one was standing immediately next to. For the next five minutes, they checked it out; just the guy who put it there was walking through the line.
But people are very careful in New York after what they've been through. And yes, it's true, I like to do research.
Ever since what we saw last weekend with this incident in Times Square, it got me thinking: How often are we really seeing attempted terrorism on the United States? And unfortunately, all too often.
I got a timeline for you here. And if we're going back to post- 9/11, the first big event we saw after 9/11 was this one, of course. This was Richard Reid, the would-be shoe bomber. And that was very briefly after 9/11, December 2001.
Let's jump up to the next one, Jose Padilla. This is a guy whose name you remember. We have some video of him. When you see Jose Padilla, you probably think of the term "dirty bomb." And that's because he was originally accused of bringing -- of attempting to set off these radioactive dirty bombs inside the United States.
He was ultimately convicted of something lesser, of supporting terrorism and of conspiracy charges. And that was one big event early on.
All right. Let's come back to this timeline here. The Lackawanna Six -- this was in the area right near Buffalo, New York. These people arrested September 2002, later convicted of providing material support to al-Qaeda.
Boom. Next incident. Big one. Iyman Faris -- a lot of people remember this one. Arrested in May 2003, later pleaded guilty in a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
So what we're seeing as we go through this timeline, more and more and more incidents popping up.
We're skipping a couple years here, even though I could point to even more. This is the next big one you might remember: the Sears Tower plot, when seven men were arrested in June 2006 for a plot. They had this quote saying they wanted to blow up -- quote -- "all the devils" that they could, focusing originally with a plot against Chicago's Sears Tower.
The liquid-explosives plot. This was a -- 24 men were arrested in London, August 2006, for a plot on a U.S.-bound jet. And we all know that, because that's why, to this day, we have to handle our liquids differently coming into the United States.
We're going to come up now to Najibullah Zazi. We have some video of him as well. As you know, this is one of the incidents going on right now, with this investigation, collecting information from him. He and four others were arrested just months ago. This was September 2009, in a plot against the New York City subway.
And as though that wasn't enough, it was just a couple months later that we saw this other incident, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. We got some video of him. This is the man who was arrested after -- this Christmas Day 2009 bombing attempt on a U.S.-bound jet.
Now, I have basically pulled out here some of the biggest ones every since 9/11. But when you take a look at how many incidents there are, you can easily see more than a couple dozen. It's a reminder of how often this country faces terrorism. It's a reminder of how often the government is managing to thwart some of these incidents.
And T.J. and Richelle, it is of course a reminder of what this country faces every day, and of why we see things like we saw yesterday. It's because -- granted, it turned out to be just a cooler -- but given how often the country is facing attempted terror, there's obviously a reason for everybody to be vigilant at all times, guys.
CAREY: All right, Josh. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Josh.
CAREY: All right. It looks like a yard sale in parts of Tennessee. Hundreds of personal items had to get pushed out onto the sidewalk.
HOLMES: Yes. The items though are waterlogged. They're destroyed, thrown out by residents now cleaning up the damage from those floods.
CAREY: Three candidates, no clear winner. So who will be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom and what impact will that have on the United States?
We go live to London for answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning again and welcome back to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Bottom of the hour now. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CAREY: And I'm Richelle Carey. Thank you so much for starting your day with us.
Here is some of what we're covering today.
The funeral for a University of Virginia lacrosse player found dead in her off-campus apartment -- that is happening today. Yesterday, there was a Mass. And at that Mass, mourners were told to also pray for the young man accused of beating Yeardley Love to death.
That is George Huguley. He is in custody. And police are also looking into reports of previous altercations between the UVa men's lacrosse player and the victim, Yeardley Love.
Two teens have been charged with conspiring to kill students and faculty at a high in Long Island. Police say cell-phone and computer evidence show the two had communicated about buying guns, and they'd also searched for bomb-making information. We're talking about a 16- year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy who was a former student at Connetquot High School in Bohemia, New York. They're charged as adults.
And more fallout from a visit by Young Republicans to that sex- themed nightclub in Southern California. January, got a lot of play. Well, the clubgoers ran a tab picked up by the Republican National Committee. That led to a couple of firings, the exit of a consultant and also questions about the chairman, Michael Steele's leadership, and a lot of late-night jokes as well.
Well, now the RNC finance director and his deputy, they have been forced out -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, people's prized possessions are piling up in the streets in many parts of Tennessee as the floodwaters continue now to recede.
But -- sure, that's great news to hear that the waters are going down and the recovery can begin. But still, a really tough road ahead for a lot of people.
And our Martin Savidge with the folks who literally have lost everything.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On West Hamilton Street, everything everyone ever had is now on the sidewalk for everyone else to see.
Walk down the street and the flood stories still pour out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water just gushed in. And it had a force to it.
WILLA MAE STRICKLANDJORDAN, FLOOD VICTIM: They put -- put this rope around me and pulled me through this water. Scary. We were so scared.
RONNIE COLEMAN, FLOOD VICTIM: And the water line was there and here in the living room. You can see on my wall...
SAVIDGE (on camera): So -- so on you, that's -- that's chest high?
COLEMAN: Yes. Yes. And -- and I can't swim.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Two days of rain and water from White's Creek did this to a working-class neighborhood where most have lived for decades, and few have flood insurance. Everyone dreaded coming back.
REBA PERKINS, FLOODING VICTIM: And we prayed that we would not -- whatever we found, it would be something that we could learn from.
SAVIDGE: Soon, the first trips to the curb began.
(on camera): What have you lost?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I lost everything. Everything is ruined.
SAVIDGE: Are you worried?
CAROLYN PHILLIPS, FLOODING VICTIM: Yes, but I'm going to be OK. We're going to be OK.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Like they say, one man's trash is another's treasure. Kelando Hambric gets $135 a ton from the scrap dealer.
(on camera): And what are the things you carry away most?
KELANDO HAMBRIC, SCRAP DEALER: Refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, water heaters. The heavy stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in the living room.
SAVIDGE: Ronnie Coleman lost everything and gained something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I keep stopping and thinking and I'm alive. You know, everything else, rest of my life, if I have to fight cancer or whatever, I mean, it is going to be a piece of cake to what I went through.
SAVIDGE: I watched with Sherry Hathaway as a city truck loaded her stuff for the dump. Is that your life going away?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Sure is. Children's lives. Our lives.
SAVIDGE: For her 24-year-old daughter, Janey, it was too much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to watch it. I mean, this is everything we own. Everything.
SAVIDGE: Martin Savage, CNN, Nashville.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: And our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on the weather for us. Reynolds, we were waiting for the waters to start to go down. They have to go somewhere, still caused a lot of problems but at least good news. They can start to clean up a bit.
WOLF: Absolutely. Breezy conditions yesterday. It should be dry for most of the weekend. Highs mainly in the 60s and 70s, but then as we get into Monday, a chance of a rain back in the forecast, but certainly not on the magnitude of what they dealt with.
Country music singer, Charlie Rich referred to it as an inland tsunami and that was certainly the situation. They're going to be digging through stuff today and try to clean things up. Take a look at the video. I mean, it's just mind boggling.
That heavy rainfall spilled into the Columbia river and then, of course, you see the -- throughout the Cumberland river and you see the big difference there. It is amazing how quickly the water rose, of course, it's falling away now. So many landmarks, the Grand Ole Opry, things that people in that region hold so dear are just gone.
Billion dollars may be the price tag to get things back to normal. The weather will be getting back to normal there today, which certainly a good thing. Further to the north, seeing as we go to the weather wall is we're going to be seeing scattered showers, possibly a few thunderstorms in parts of the northeast.
Take a look at this, maybe even some snowfall in the northern half of Michigan. Looking at maybe one to three inches of snow in few places and midday hours, the afternoon, much of that switches over to rainfall so certainly interesting there.
Now let's draw our attention a little bit further to the south into the Gulf Coast for, again, it's one of those days they'll be dealing what they can to try to harness that oil and seas about two feet or so. Kind of choppy out in the water and not, but certainly not quite as bad as when saw last week. It should be pretty interesting to see how things fair.
That oil slick, again, we've got around 5,000 barrels guesstimated coming from the largest leak, and of course, a lot of that is being wind driven and also basically at the mercy of the tides so it's going to very, very compelling to watch how it hands out over the next couple of days.
Something else we're going to be watching very carefully, again, those scattered showers, possible thunderstorms in the northeast and then that area of low pressure bringing the snow to the Northern Peninsula of Michigan.
Guys, that's a quick look at the forecast. We got a lot more to talk about. Not just on the east coast, but also the west coast and more on that in a few moments. Let's kick it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: I really appreciate you, buddy. We'll talk to you again here shortly.
It was over time for the elections in U.K, and the candidates for prime minister got the majority votes. So we don't exactly know who's taking over the position.
CAREY: And this is really strange. The candidate who got the least number of votes may be key in deciding who actually wins. Max Foster is live in England with more. Max?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nick Clegg, the king maker of British politics expected in the building behind me in the next half hour. Who has he chosen to run the British government?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Who's going to be the U.K's next prime minister? It's not like here in this country where two people are running for something. The one with the most votes wins the office. Not exactly like that over there. No one won the majority after Thursday's vote so the race is still undecided.
Figuring out who wins is going to be a little complex here. Let's walk you through the players at least. On the left, you see there, that's Gordon Brown, his current prime minister and leader of the Labour party. You call them the Moderates if they were here in the U.S. He's been in power since Tony Blair took over.
Now in the middle there or the one right next to him, on the right of the screen there that's the powerful conservative leader, David Cameron. He has the most votes. His party does right now. He wants to cut immigration, taxes for the rich.
One more picture to show you. He is on the political left even though he's on the right of your screen. That's Nick Clegg. He's called the Obama of Britain because he went around talking a lot about change.
The Liberal Democrats are more critical of the U.S. and want better oversight with Afghanistan operations. CNN's Max Foster has the latest on this election. He's live in London at 10 Downing Street.
And Max, hello to you. Is Gordon Brown set to turn over the keys to the place just yet?
FOSTER: Yes, well, we have moved. We are actually outside Liberal Democrat headquarters. Nick Clegg, really, is the man with the power right now because he has to decide whether he is going to go with Gordon Brown or with David Cameron.
And the talks are very much focused between Nick Clegg and David Cameron right now because the most hopeful coalition really is Conservative Lib-Dems because if the Lib-Dems go with Labour, Golden Brown. Actually, they still don't have enough seats and still need more parties involved. So we have talks going on today between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. And let's just hear from Nick Clegg ahead of those talks about what he's going to consider during negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK CLEGG, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT: Clearly, the result of the election means that politicians have a duty to speak to each other because people deserve a good, stable government. And that's why I'm very keen, a Liberal Democrat should enter into any discussions with other parties as we are doing in a constructive spirit. That's precisely what we'll do in the coming hours and days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So there's the man who's very much controlling things in British politics. It's up to him effectively who runs the country next. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats -- there are lots of things they disagree on and a lot of those things are foreign policy.
For example, Europe. They agree on the policy towards the U.S., I have to say. Both saying perhaps Tony Blair and his time was too close to the U.S., too keen to impress the U.S. and actually, both David Cameron and Nick Clegg saying they should pull back a bit from that.
HOLMES: Talking about pull back a bit, certainly could change the relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. depending on how this plays out. How long do we expect this to play out, Max?
FOSTER: Well, if they can reach agreement quickly, actually, David Cameron was very clear he understood that there were massive differences so they're avoiding those areas, for example, on Europe and they're focusing on other things like schools, education, the economy where they can actually reach some agreement.
If they do it quickly, we could have a result today, but it could go on for a long time. The unusual thing with the Liberal Democrats, as well, is there any major agreements, any coalitions have to be agreed with the whole party so they have to jump through some hoops. I don't know how quickly that can happen, but we should hope have a deal by Monday.
HOLMES: We should. We hope. We think. All right, Max, we'll see how it plays out. We appreciate you. Talk to you again soon.
CAREY: Queen Latifah with the big break in the music business.
HOLMES: Yes, but that's kind of the last thing on their mind these days and not making as much music as they used to. They have moved on to much bigger things including the big screen. They took some time out for a little old me. We'll be hearing from them in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: It's rare that you get to sit down with royalty, but I recently got to sit down with the queen. This queen just happens to be an Oscar-nominated actress, a Cover Girl model, a movie producer, an author and has actually put out a jazz album. This queen as you can see is Queen Latifah.
I talked to her and Common, that's her co-star of the new movie "Just Right" and tried to get them both to clear up just what it is they do for a living.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): It's nothing new to see rappers moonlighting as actors, but for Queen Latifah and Common, it seems like it's the other way around.
(on camera): It's like I forgot you all are rappers. Is that fair to say? You all are rappers, right?
QUEEN LATIFAH: He is definitely a rapper.
COMMON, ACTOR/RAPPER: I'm definitely a rapper.
LATIFAH: That's Common, come on.
COMMON: Obviously, Queen Latifah's not just a rapper.
HOLMES: Some people may forget you started out as a rapper.
LATIFAH: You all must have forgot. I did, I did. I definitely did. That's always, like, the root, the roots, you know, of who I am inside. You know, I think starting off as a rapper and expanding into these other places, it just kind of prepares you. Like it's kind of a training ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. How's the work going?
HOLMES (voice-over): They have parlayed that rap training into acting jobs. So much so that lately their movie credits outnumber their album credits. In their latest movie, Common played an NBA star who suffers an injury on the court. Queen Latifah plays the physical therapist who takes him through rehab, but of course, falls for him at the same time. Officially, it's a romantic comedy, but they say don't let that fool you.
LATIFAH: We wanted it to not be like a chick flick per se. Like a romantic comedy that's not like a labor for your boyfriend or your husband to go watch, you know? Something that can actually be fun for him, fun for you, you know, fun for young and old.
HOLMES: Despite the acting careers, neither goes too far from their roots in hip hop. They believe is evolving.
LATIFAH: I think what people are more so realizing in hip hop is that we have a voice and that voice has power. And how are you going to use that power? Are you going to use it, you know, to bring things up the way you see them or are you going to -- at some point of hip hop, we were dumb and down. We were dumbing things down.
HOLMES: Both Queen Latifah and Common were active Obama supporters and credit his election for helping to change attitude to hip hop and challenging artists to raise the bar.
COMMON: I definitely see, like, the hip hop community have the aspirations to just function with class in certain ways and it's not -- it's not like looked down upon if you're well spoken as much. People just want better things in life.
Hip hop is to me is just a voice of a people. It's just a voice of a culture that's expressing themselves. Overall, it's still just a gift from God that is really our voice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The movie comes out next Friday, but as we try to figure out exactly what they do, as I said, just call them artists. Just kind of all encompassing and it wraps everything up. Just call them artists.
CAREY: It is, it is. You brought back old art with those videoclip.
HOLMES: I haven't seen Latifah like that in a while.
CAREY: It is nice.
All right, I don't know if you've checked your 401k lately, portfolios are plummeting across the U.S. and really around the world. One of the reason is what's happening in Greece. Pictures of rioting in Greece. How the actions halfway across the world are impacting your pocketbook. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We have been watching these scenes play out in Greece for some time now. Take a look there. People out in the streets, riot police out, as well. There have been deaths, as well. But what they're doing is protesting some really tough measures that the Greek government has had to take essentially trying to save the Greek economy.
Right now, in a debt crisis that's been going on for several months. Want to bring in our Stephanie Elam who keeps an eye on things all money for us here at CNN.
Stephanie, hello to you. The Greek debt crisis, it is, in fact, a crisis that's been going on for some time now. What are the new options or the new measures they're trying to put in place to essentially save this little -- quite frankly relatively speaking, at least, a little country that has a really big problem?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's true. Good morning, TJ. This isn't something that I know a lot of Americans think why do we care so much because it's happening over there in Greece?
Well, it does affect us, but what they're doing in Greece is because of the fact they've got this huge debt crisis and they need to get this money to help them out. So now the European union, remember they now share currency with 15 other countries, they said they'll help them out, but to do that, they have to take into account some austerity measures.
And this means that they're going to see severe pay cuts for some people there. They're also going to see that their taxes are going to go up and the retirement age for some women is also going to go up so all of this coming out. Remember, when there was a regime change in Greece, this was when they found out that the debt issues were so huge.
So the Greek people didn't know that this was coming. That's why they're rioting. That's why they're so upset. But the issue is, they have got this credit problem and what everyone is concerned about around the globe is whether or not the EU will be able to contain it to just Greece.
HOLMES: You talk about the domino effect. We have to save Greece because if Greece goes down, it might trickle out to other European countries and at some point those markets, this is a global economy now and we are all connected.
ELAM: Exactly. And we are connected to Greece via investment in trade because they're part of the European Union. Remember, we are talking about 16 countries that share the same currency. So we have banks here that own some of the debt of Greece. That would affect them there, as well.
Also, some analysts say we may actually reach parody at some point in the next couple of weeks meaning that the U.S. dollar will be equal to one euro, so one to one. If that were to happen, that means our exports to Europe become more expensive. If they're more expensive, they probably going to buy less of our products.
And remember, we are still in a fragile recovery here. So this is why it's so important to see that we are doing -- that all is being done to contain this issue to Greece and not affecting the rest of the global market. But it's such a small world now, as you said, TJ. We are all very interconnected.
HOLMES: Yes, the Greece problems. Their problems there in Greece so not just their problems. They're important to us all. Stephanie Elam, we appreciate the breakdown. Good to see you as always here with us.
ELAM: Good to see you, too, T.J. Thanks.
CAREY: The man accused of planning a car bomb in Times Square is a U.S. Citizen. No previous criminal history. So, how does the U.S. fight home grown terrorism? Some members of Congress are proposing a pretty drastic measure.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello there, everybody. Hope you're having a good weekend. A good start to it so far. This is "CNN Saturday Morning." The 8th of May - the top of the hour here. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J Holmes.
CAREY: Getting close to Mother's Day too. I'm Richelle Carey. It's 7 a.m. here in Atlanta, 6 a.m. in Nashville, 4 a.m. in Phoenix. Very early there. Thanks for starting the day with us.
HOLMES: And we start with several big stories today, but one of the biggest, this could be a big day that they could possibly contain that oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Still has been spilling some 200,000-plus gallons of oil every single day for the past couple of weeks now.
But now, they have finally lowered that containment, that sealed, that big four-story essentially is what it is building putting on top. It's on the sea floor. They're waiting on it to settle. Never tried anything like this before, but hopefully it will work.
CAREY: And if it does work, they're going to contain the majority of this leak.
HOLMES: Eighty five percent.
CAREY: Absolutely.
All right, and well, all that's been going on, folks in Nashville have been focused on the aftermath of all these flooding. Folks in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, the total death toll, 31 people. They're trying to clean up this morning and it's a big mess.
We're talking at least a billion dollars of damage and talking about Nashville, music city. Grand Ole Opry house. They have to get out lots of memorabilia. We're checking on that. Those stories and a lot more. Here's a quick look at headlines now.
HOLMES: Including the funeral for that University of Virginia Lacrosse player that was found dead in her off-campus apartment. That funeral expecting to see that today. There was a mass yesterday.
Mourners were told to pray for the young man accused of beating Yeardley Love to death. His name is George Huguely. He's in custody right now. He was also a Lacrosse player. Police are looking into reports of previous altercations between the two UVA students.
CAREY: All right, two teens have been charged with conspiring to kill students and faculty, this all happened at a high school in Long Island. Police say there's cell phone evidence and computer evidence that showed the two had communicated about buying guns and they also searched for bomb-making information.
We are talking about a 16-year-old girl, a 17-year-old boy. He's actually a former student at this high school. It's Connetquot High School in Bohemia. They are charged as adults. HOLMES: Also, the finance director and his deputy of the Republican National Committee have been forced to resign. This comes as a part of more of that fallout from the visit by young Republicans to a sex-themed nightclub in Southern California in January.
The club goers ran a tap that was picked up by the Republican National Committee. That incident led a couple of firings, an exit of a consultant. Questions, of course, about Chairman Michael Steele's leadership abilities and, of course, this became the butt of a whole lot of late-night jokes. But again, the RNC finance director and his deputy are now out.
There are some new jitters in Times Square. Police cleared the streets and called in the bomb squad in yesterday. A cooler had been left behind. It was filled with what you expect to be in a cooler, water. But nobody knew that at the time. New Yorkers' nerves may have been on edge since last Saturday when Faisal Shahzad allegedly left an SUV packed with explosives in the theater district.
Well, Shahzad reportedly has been cooperating with authorities. There are new calls to strip the rights of American citizens accused of terrorism.
CNN's Jim Acosta looking into it for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the charges stick, Faisal Shahzad fits right in what's becoming a long line of U.S. citizens or legal residents at war with America. Shahzad became a citizen just last year. Senior al Qaeda operative Adam Gadan hails from Oregon. Online extremist Anwar Al-Awlaki born in New Mexico.
Authories say Awlaki inspired American citizen Nadal Hassan to carry out the massacre at Fort Hood and accused bomber Najubullah Zazi was a legal U.S. resident.
PETER BROOKES, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Osama Bin Laden has talked about these sort of people. Talked about having people who don't have to go through customs like the 9/11 hijackers did who are actually here. What the military might say inside the wire.
SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN, (I) CONNECTICUT: Those who join such groups, join our enemy and should no longer be entitled to the rights and privileges of American citizenship.
ACOSTA: Some in Congress want to treat future American terrorist suspect as enemy combatants, stripping them of their citizenship and the rights that come with it.
SENATOR SCOTT BROWN (R) MASSACHUSETTS: This isn't a knee jerk reaction. It reflects the changing nature of war and recent events.
ACOSTA (on camera): Your view is this is unconstitutional?
JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I think it's facially unconstitutional. I also think it is rather facially un- American.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Constitutional Law Professor Jonathan Turley questions how far the law would go.
TURLEY: Any Looney Tune can park his car in New York filled with fireworks and gasoline. It doesn't take a bloody genius. That doesn't mean that our laws failed.
ACOSTA: One constitutional right at issue is the right to remain silent, the Miranda warning.
SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D) CALIFORNIA: Is it true that every American has the right under the Fifth Amendment to a Miranda warning?
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes.
ACOSTA: But as Attorney General Eric Holder pointed out at a hearing, there's wiggle room.
FEINSTEIN: Is there any exception?
HOLDER: Yes. There are exceptions to Miranda and that is one of the ways in which we conduct our interrogations of terrorism suspects.
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Candidates, please raise your right hand and repeat after me.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Others in Washington want the look at the process used by the hundreds of thousands of people who become U.S. citizens each year, like these active duty soldiers sworn in by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
The current application for naturalization does ask potential citizens whether they're members of the communist party or terrorist organization. But there are no questions about al Qaeda or terror training camps.
Napolitano told NPR the form may be dated.
NAPOLITANO: As you read it, I suspect the form hasn't been changed for quite a while, and that may be something to look at.
ACOSTA (on camera): A spokesman for U.S. citizenship and immigration services confirms to CNN that the agency is now reviewing the application for naturalization to, quote, "ensure that it best meets our needs."
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: Let's talk about the Music City now. Nashville, a country music institution, is largely under water this week because of all the floods that have ravaged Nashville, Tennessee. The show, though -- the show has to go on. So performances at the Grand Ole Opry House have moved to the former home of the Opry at the city's Ryman Auditorium.
Country music lovers were really worried about some classic costumes and set designs that were stored there, thinking maybe they've been destroyed in the floods, but Opry official Collin Reed says several important pieces were actually saved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN REED, GAYLORD CEO: What I'm shocked about is the speed at which this stuff came over the levee. That's the thing I find very, very hard to comprehend.
Pete, I think most of these benches are going to have to go, man. I mean, they're wet and warped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
REED: What you see here are a lot of the costumes that the artists that have been removed from their lockers and bagged, ready to take out and be cleaned -- dry cleaned and cleaned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAREY: Wow. Well, Nashville is also home to the Tennessee Titans and the team owner has joined with the NFL and the NFL Players' Association in giving $400,000 to the American Red Cross and also another group in Tennessee, and this money is going to be used to help the state recover from all the floods that, again, killed at least 31 people in three states.
Now, the rainfall is over in Tennessee. Other parts of the country could see some storms and snow today.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we were all kind of shocked this morning when we saw on your note you sent out to us every morning, said there could be snow in some places. Now, we will -- since it's been 80 degrees here in Atlanta where we are, we're shocked by this.
CAREY: You thought he was crazy. Tell the truth.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Well, I mean, it won't be the first time. I mean, let's be completely honest. I've sent you guys some kind of message that you guys won't rip your hair out.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Let's be completely honest -- full disclosure with our viewers across the country.
But, yes, snow is indeed in the forecast. Also, a chance of storms. We're going to talk about that coming up.
Plus, we're going to talk about this weird thing, this contraption that weighs 125 tons that may be an answer to our prayers in stopping the giant oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. I'll let you know what that thing is -- coming up in just a few moments.
Plus, we're going to tell what kind of conditions they're going to have in the Gulf to possibly put that thing in place. That's coming up in just a moment.
You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: What was that? What's that song?
CAREY: Maxwell. "Woman's Work." I forgot that's how you all roll on Saturday morning. I like it.
HOLMES: Well, yes, we pulled that out of the cellar, though.
CAREY: Well, Mother's Day weekend, OK?
HOLMES: Oh, yes, of course.
CAREY: OK. All right. The first family actually got an early start.
HOLMES: Yes.
CAREY: They kind of started of celebrating. The president and first lady went to dinner. It's always a big deal when they do. They went to an upscale Mediterranean restaurant in Washington last night. So, like I said, it's a big deal when they -- it's not like that when I go to dinner. How about you, T.J.?
HOLMES: Kind of.
CAREY: Little crowd.
(CROSSTALK)
CAREY: People taking pictures?
So, let's talk about the first lady. Michelle Obama was carrying flowers as she left the restaurant. So that means the president did right. OK? Talk about what she was wearing. Black pantsuit, ankle length slacks and at least three-inch heels and she's already very tall.
HOLMES: Seriously, folks.
CAREY: You know -- OK, I care. Somebody else cares besides you, T.J.
HOLMES: OK. All right, all right. I get it. I get it.
Now, the reason they had to get an early start, it's going to be Mother's Day weekend. But these two are not going to be seeing a whole lot of each other because they're going to be traveling in two different directions. This was 7:00 last night for their date. It was about a two-hour date.
But this weekend, they actually are going to be in two different places. The first lady today actually is giving the commencement address at my parent's alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The president tomorrow is giving the address at the historic black college, Hampton University in Virginia. So, kind of -- he won't be too far from home. But still, they're kind of going to different directions this weekend.
CAREY: And she's got a job, too, being the first lady.
HOLMES: It's very important job, very important job.
CAREY: All right. Anybody you know going to go to the commencement?
HOLMES: No. Actually, that was a big deal down there because so many people, alum, wanted to get tickets to be there for the first lady.
CAREY: Yes.
HOLMES: And they said, no. This is for the students graduating and for friends and family. So they had to not let a lot of people in. And plus, she's only going to be there for the speech. When they actually get their diplomas, she will be probably back at the White House.
She's gone. There's a lot of talk about that.
CAREY: All right. It sounds good. It sounds good.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, keeping an eye -- we'll turn to some -- to some weather for Reynolds.
And, Reynolds, where do you want to start? It seems like there's so much going on in weather and around so many parts of the country. So, where should we even start?
WOLF: You know, I'm thinking maybe the northeast and the reason why is you're going to see rain there. But then back in the Great Lakes, the stories go cuckoo for cocoa puffs. We're talking about some snow.
You guys were going to rip your hair over snowfall this time of year. Let's be honest. It sounds weird but it does happen. We're not breaking any records with it. We do have snowflakes in this part of the world up in, say, the Rockies and certainly northern Michigan, one to three inches possible.
And as we get to the afternoon, some of that rain -- actually rain is going to move in. The snow is possibly moving out all due to the temperatures. Let's show what we got right now. Here is the national perspective. We've got this -- this double-barrel low that's churning its way over parts of the Great Lakes. That's going to bring the scattered showers to places like Boston, New York. You could have a thunderstorm later on today.
And when you follow that frontal boundary all way down to the Gulf of Mexico, what we're going to be dealing with, some breezy conditions out there. But I will tell you that on the open water, we can expect conditions to be really not that bad in terms of battling that oil spill, anywhere from one to two feet in terms of waves.
Temperatures: about 80 degrees or so, scattered shower possible but certainly not thunderstorm activity. Wind out of the northeast at 10 to 15 miles per hour. And occasional gust might be a bit stronger.
Now, in terms of your temperatures, for a day like today, going into the southeast, it should be pretty nice, planning on a picnic or something like -- maybe not. Whatever you have planned, your conditions are going to be fairly nice.
High temperatures are merely in the 70s and 80s in many spots -- 76 in Atlanta, 87 degrees in Raleigh, 89 degrees in Tampa. With the high humidity, it's going to feel like it's in the 90s. It's Florida, guys. That's what happens.
Seventy-seven in Dallas, and Houston, 82 degrees, 97 in Phoenix, 89 degrees in Las Vegas, 58 degrees in San Francisco. Always seems chilly in San Francisco. I don't care if it's July. It still feels chilly out by Pier 59.
Fifty-seven in Billings, and 50 in Minneapolis, 53 in Chicago -- out by Wrigley Field and Waveland Avenue.
That is a look at the forecast. Guys, we got a lot to talk about. Always do when it comes to weather on the weekends. That's coming up straight ahead.
Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right. Renny, appreciate it.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
HOLMES: Talk to you again soon.
CAREY: Renny? I like that.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: It's a family thing. That's what we do here.
CAREY: So, that means I can do it, too.
WOLF: Yes, this is one of the names I have.
CAREY: I love it.
All right. Let's talk about capping that oil spill. I am fascinated by this task. I mean, it's a big one. The folks in the Gulf of Mexico are working on it today.
HOLMES: And there's some hope here. They could get this thing capped today, but still, this is a huge spill with a huge impact.
Josh Levs is among the many who are looking into just how much of an impact this could make down the road.
Good morning to you again, Josh.
LEVS: Hey. Good morning again to you guys.
Yes, we're all hopeful, obviously, for great news from the region and not counting on too much until we start to hear what the results.
In the meantime, we are talking about billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake at least. I'm about to show you the economic toll that this oil could take and how that translates to your wallet.
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HOLMES: We've been keeping up with -- for the past couple of weeks, all this oil into the Gulf. And this weekend, really, is the best hope for possibly stopping that leak. But they're doing something that has never -- literally, never been tried before at that depth at least.
CAREY: I mean, I guess, simply, it's basically putting a cap on it, kind of, but this is the contraption they're using. And they're trying to get this done 5,000 feet below the surface.
B.P. says that what you're seeing there is basically the size of a like four-story building and they're trying to lower it over the leak. It's really difficult. They admit they don't know if it's going to work. They have no idea.
Well, all-platform journalist Patrick Oppmann talked to three generations of one fishing family now struggling because of this oil spill. They need this to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to pick up oysters first, some crab claws, crab meat. Second, maybe picking it this morning and then go and get some shrimp.
The thing is, further they have to go for it, the more it's going to cost.
BOB POPE, RESTAURANT OWNER: My name is Bob Pope with a "P" and I've been here in this restaurant August 1st for 37 years. One of the things that you'd like to have especially in this business is close to local seafood as you get. People come here. You can buy shrimp anywhere but to have to come here, they're looking for local stuff.
Well, my mother works here. She's been here with me just about -- well, she started three years after I got the place. And my nephew and his wife and actually just about the whole family been through here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, if a hurricane though (ph) come and they knock the electricity out. You know what to expect in a hurricane. This, you don't know what to expect.
ADAM POPE, CONCERNED ABOUT OIL SPILL: She wanted oysters and she asked me today, oil spill affected yet? You know, it's not even close to the coastline and they're already asking, you know. What kind of affect will that have? If people don't want to get seafood or seafood restaurant on the bay is covered with oil, you know? Is it time to move now and get somewhere else?
B. POPE: It depends on how thick this layer is of oil coming in. Whether it's -- whether it's an irritant or whether it ends up just a devastating glob of something. I'm going to remain optimistic until shown otherwise that this is going to be something that's short lived, it's going to be a mess. It's going to get cleaned up.
We'll do what we have to do to get through it and get over it, get it behind us where down the year, we're just talking about that oil spill. Remember, this is what we're good at. I mean, we take a whipping every once in a while here and you just have to, you know, brush yourself off and come back and hit it again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAREY: What an attitude. We just take a whipping and we got to keep on going.
HOLMES: He has to. And, you know, so many folks, certainly, in the Gulf Coast, they've been through so much. They know how to take a licking and keep on ticking as the saying goes.
CAREY: Yes, they do.
We're going to talk now about the impact, the financial impact that they just talked about there. It's happening on a large scale, to the entire region. It could cost billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs in one industry alone.
HOLMES: And Josh Levs is here to give us a good view of that.
Hello to you, again, Josh.
LEVS: Yes. Hi again to you, guys.
And basically, what we're doing is we're taking what Patrick showed us and we're multiplying it by an incredible number of families. We keep hearing from officials over and over the kind of impact that this oil can have on the fishing industry.
Here's just one example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SCHWEIGER, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATL. WILDLIFE FEDERATION: Clearly, there's an enormous amount of pollution under the water and that pollution has enormous impact on the fish, on the reproducing fish, on the shell fish, on the crabs and oysters, and all the things that people care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right, enormous impact -- time to put some dollar signs on that. Let's start with Florida.
I've been into this for the whole Gulf region. How many billions are we talking about in the fishing region? Look at this. Florida: annually, $5.2 billion in sales in the fishing industry alone, 103,000 jobs. That's just in Florida.
Let's come over here in Louisiana. You're talking more than $2 billion in sales every year and 46,000 jobs.
Come over a little bit more -- Texas: $2.2 billion in Texas, another 47,000 jobs in that industry. These are all in commercial fishing.
And now, let's take a look at one more figure for you, recreational fishing. These numbers are pretty stunning. In the Gulf region alone, you have $2.2 billion that people spend on trips for recreational fishing there every year. $14 billion is spent on equipment for fishing only in the Gulf region every year.
So, take all that and then think about one more thing, all those figures are from the government and the last really good figures they have from 2006 when the region was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
So, T.J. and Richelle, what we're seeing here is most likely even more billions of dollars, even more hundreds of thousands of jobs, are at stake in the fishing industry alone in the Gulf region. That's how huge this task is and that's why so many families like that are counting right now on some kind of stop to that leak, guys.
HOLMES: Well, a stop to the leak and everybody is so hard to figure out and oil is going to go where it wants to go, depending on, certainly, the current and also depending on, as well, the winds a little bit. So, where exactly is this thing? I know a lot of people are curious exactly where this blob is now.
LEVS: Yes, exactly. And you know what? One thing we're really doing really well on CNN.com, I encourage everyone to check it out as we actually, physically trace you through it. Can you zoom in right here?
I'm just going to press "play" and what we have is a video that traces through where the oil has been every single day and it shows you how it's been growing, how it's moving and ultimately, where the effort needs to be done and the surface point of the spill is right there is where that red mark is. We trace you through that, plus a lot more information to help you understand what authorities are doing. All there, guys, at CNN.com.
CAREY: All right. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Well, economic boom long gone and this year's graduates going to be fighting for some jobs out there.
CAREY: Clyde Anderson will explain how students can find that first job and this is key -- not fall deep into debt while doing it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A look now at some of the stories making headlines.
NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor admitted to paying a young woman $300 for, quote, "sex acts" at a New York hotel. That is according to the criminal complaint filed against him. Federal prosecutors have charged him with third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute. That girl was 16 years old. Taylor's lawyers deny the charges.
Also, some encouraging economic news: 290,000 jobs added in the month of April. That's the most we have seen in four years in this country. However, some bad news seemingly to go with it as jobless rate went a tick. It went to 9.9 percent. However, analysts say that could be a sign of good news because that means more people are actually looking for jobs, that means they're more encouraged about the possibility of going out and looking for work.
Finally, here, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has rejected a request to put the state's controversial immigration bill on hold. The request came from New York Senator Charles Schumer. He made the request, wanted to buy sometime, at least a year, until Congress passed comprehensive immigration reform. Governor Brewer says she's already been waiting for federal action, citing a letter she sent to congressional leaders last year asking for help.
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HOLMES: Simple as ABC, right? You go to college, you get a degree and you go out in the world and you get a job, right? Well, ain't that simple. College grads are preparing right now -- it's a college graduation season. And seniors at the University of Michigan, they're getting very special advice and inspiration from a very special commencement speaker. It was President Obama. You may have seen that last weekend. He urged them to expand on what they've learned by keeping an open mind.
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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I look out at this class and I realize, for four years in Michigan, you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars, professors and students. Don't narrow that broad, intellectual exposure just because you're leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with somebody that grew up in a rural town.
If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your own race or ethnicity or religion, include people in your circle who have different backgrounds, life experiences. You'll learn what it's like to walk in somebody else's shoes, and in the process, you will help to make this democracy work.
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HOLMES: All right. That's the advice from the president. And you might think that's pretty good advice to take, but who you really need to be listening to is our Clyde -- our Clyde Anderson. He's here -- our financial specialist is here with me now. He's going to be answering some questions from you this morning. We actually asked the students out there.
But, initially, how big of a problem is this? Kids leave school and all -- they got all kinds of issues, just trying to find a job and start life. But you start in debt, that's how they do it.
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: You start in debt, and a lot of times, starting in debt and uneducated about how to handle that debt. And that's a big problem. You learn about all these other things that you never really use after you leave college, but you don't learn about how to balance the checkbook and have a budget.
HOLMES: Did you just tell everybody they don't need to go to college? I think I heard you ...
ANDERSON: Not everything, just a few things that you don't use, just a few things.
HOLMES: All right. We asked people out there, the college graduates themselves. Listen to the question. He's going to answer for you. So, let's roll the first one.
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JASON RODZIK, UNIVERSITY SENIOR: Hey, Clyde. I was just wondering, is it better to rent or buy with the housing market having gone down over the last couple of years? I thought it might be a good time to buy a house now, or is it better to sort of save up for a while, and maybe invest, hope the market keeps going back up, and looking for a house in the future?
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HOLMES: Wow.
ANDERSON: Wow.
HOLMES: That's a good question.
ANDERSON: Very good question.
HOLMES: Yes.
ANDERSON: I say you definitely get a house if you can. This is a perfect time to buy a house, you know? They're -- we are talking about prices that are record low right now. We can go in and take advantage of these low prices. This is a great time to do it.
Now, if you're a college student straight out of college, you may want to take a little bit of time though first. But this is a great time to buy.
HOLMES: All right. Let's go ahead and roll the next one.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Clyde. I have a question. Once I graduate, what should I do -- should I pay my students loan off or should I invest?
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HOLMES: What do you do with that? What do you do first?
ANDERSON: You pay those student loans.
HOLMES: Yes.
ANDERSON: You pay those student loans. Now, student loans usually have a low interest rate. And so, I'm not saying that's an urgency to pay them off right away, but you definitely want to pay them off. You do want to have some investments, 401k, you know, the basic things you want to have in play.
And before you start investing all that money in the stock market and trying to trade and do things like that, you definitely need to make sure you're taking care and knock that student loan out of the way.
HOLMES: All right. I think we got one more here. We could go ahead and roll that one, too, and let you answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Clyde. My question is this: Is it advisable to pursue a professional degree and get in debt or get a job with a bachelor's?
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HOLMES: Hmm.
ANDERSON: Hmm, that's a good one.
HOLMES: Yes.
ANDERSON: I'd say you get a job with a bachelor's.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: Right now, in this economy, I mean, I know people with master's degrees that are still looking for employment. And so, it's great to go ahead and get the bachelor's, get that job experience, start earning some money, start balancing your budget and get prepared for that before you go and take on new debt. I mean, master's degree is a lot of debt.
HOLMES: OK, this was something -- I didn't realize the kid had asked this question. So, I told you because I've been on college campuses -- kids seem to think, hey, you know what? Not a good economy. I'll stay in school. Some are even going to law school. That is an expensive proposition and you're saying that might not be the right mindset.
ANDERSON: May not be the right mindset. You know, a lot of employers like on-the-job training. You know, they like you to have that real-life experience. And so, that could help you, as well. But before you just go and get more debt with no prospect of having a job when you come out, or no guarantee that you're going to have a job when you come out, you may not want to go into so much debt right now in this economy.
HOLMES: All right. One last thing, as we got the few tips we're putting up here, I only got about 20 seconds. Do those for me?
ANDERSON: We're talking about payment history. Things that help you make the grade: your payment history, the amount borrowed compared to available credit, length of credit history, inquires and new debt, and the type of debt. These are the main things that you have to look at when you're looking at what makes up your credit.
HOLMES: All right.
ANDERSON: To me, this is a new transcript. So, you're coming out of college. This is the transcript that you're really going to have to pay attention to.
HOLMES: OK. So, my "Ds" didn't even matter, huh?
ANDERSON: They didn't matter. HOLMES: All right. Clyde, we appreciate the advice. It's always good to see you.
We're going to hand this thing over to Dr. Sanjay Gupta right now. Richelle and I will be back at the top of the hour. More live news. Stay with us.
