they're not the only ones talking. the feds say the car bomb suspect is cooperating. real chaos in greece. angry crowds, protests and coming austerity measures, several people die when a bank is firebombed and the gulf oil spill. the smallest of three leaks now capped. crews getting ready to lower a giant containment dome over the gushing wellhead. good morning, everyone. i'm tony harris. those stories and your comments right here, right now in the cnn "newsroom." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we are learning more details about the suspect in the times square attempted bombing. we know what he said to authorities at the moment he was arrested, but questions linger about the motive behind the terrorist plot. what caused faisal shahzad to abandon what seemed like the american dream and allegedly attempt an attack in the heart

of america's largest city. deborah feyerick in just a moment where faisal shahzad once lived and she's available to us now. deb, first of all, this is a man who knew police were on to him, correct? >> reporter: oh, he definitely did. we're talking to a lot of law enforcement sources and they're telling us that faisal shahzad -- shahzad knew that police were getting close. as a matter of fact, he was following news reports and had heard that the authorities had discovered that the car came from connecticut. so he feared that the police were going to be turning up at his door. as a matter of fact, when he was on the plane, and the door his closed and then they opened when the authorities came to him, when agents came to him he looked up and he said, quote, i was expecting you. are you nypd or fbi? there's a report that after -- after he dropped the bomb in times square, apparently he hopped a train back to

connecticut. the reason this is known is because he called his landlord saying that he had locked himself out of his apartment. what he did in between in those hours between getting back into his apartment and then leaving for the airport about 50 mores, that right now is still a mystery, tony. >> deb, when did things start to fall apart sort of around him. >> reporter: it's interesting. it seems that things started going bad in 2009. he was unable to make the mortgage payments on his house. this house behind me had gone into foreclosure. he left his job and quit a mickably. his wife started selling possessions on craigslist and she moved away with the couple's two children. that is when he allegedly went to pakistan and trained in a jihadi terror camp and when did he get back from pakistan. >> he got back two months ago actually. he went to a gun shot that's

half a mile from here and he brought a .9 millimeter semi-automatic rifle. we talked to the manager and we were told to leave the premises and with a wave of the hand were shown where the door was. faisal shahzad did pass a background check by the fbi to purchase a gun. it was purchased in his own name. authorities believe in the last few months he was acting pretty quickly to gather the components to build a bomb and tried to figure out how to build it before transporting it to times square. deborah feyerick with the latest. faisal shahzad was trained in bomb making during a trip to his native pakistan. authorities have detained several people in pakistan for questioning including shahzad's friend and father-in-law. in "the situation room" with wolf blitzer, wolf talked about his immediate family members. >> his wife and children, are they in pakistan? have you been in touch with your

government with nah? >> i'm not going to comment on the wife and children. most pakistani, several hundred thousand of them they come to america essentially to pursue the american dream. this man wanted to shatter it so we want to understand what happened, who was he connected to and we do not want to embarrass his wife and children if they were not part of anything that he did. >> so what is it about new york that seems to make it a prime target for these types of attacks? former new york mayor rudy giuliani joins larry king live tonight at 9:00 eastern time. tennessee is slowly starting to dry out, but try selling that line to the folks in nashville. folks are still submerged and some lost everything. one i-reporter tells us about his personal battle to keep the river away. >> as you can see, our driveway is completely covered over with water, not as high as it was

yesterday, but i don't think it really matters at this point because today you can see all the oil and gas, residue on the water. it smells pretty much like sewage. >> boy, the state's death toll stands at 19. ten of them in nashville. president obama has named parts of the state a disaster area. an immigration protest on the basketball court. the nba's phoenix suns will wear their los suns jerseys. the suns owner ordered the uniform change to take a shot at arizona's tough new immigration law. >> i don't think sports and politics mix, and i don't think that as far as that goes even celebrity and politics. >> you have a professional wrestler that's now a governor. you have kevin johnson, sacramento mayor. >> just let politics do politics. they should just stick to basketball.

okay. later in the hour i will talk live with the texas lawmaker who wants to bring an arizona-style immigration law to her state and a lawmaker trying to stop her. one leak capped on a damaged oil well in the gulf of mexico, but tackling two bigger leaks and the growing oil slick still a big question mark. we will get you a live progress on the problems. tennessee flooding, after record rainfall, what is next in jacqui jeras is tracking weather. we're back in a moment. you're in the cnn "newsroom." ag. as skin ages, elastin fibers break down. this exclusive biomineral concentrate system... has active naturals ingredients shown to multiply... elastin's elements. i'm impressed. the study showed improved firmness, texture, wrinkles, or spots in 100% of women. how uplifting is that? new ageless vitality. save $15 at aveeno.com. that's the beauty of nature and science.

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this is the last line of defense for the oil spill/slick that is arriving here. >> cnn i-reporter tommy fayer there videotaping beaches in bay st. louis, mississippi, while bracing for an oil slick to wash ashore. he says he wants to get as many before and after images as possible. i've got to tell you, progress now being reported in the fight against that oil spill in the gulf of mexico. a bp executive says one of three leaks on the damaged oil well has been capped and our rob marciano is in biloxi, mississippi. rob, if you would, tell us where

the oil is now and where it is going and what people along the mississippi coast are doing. >> reporter: first off, good morning. it's still 30 miles south of this spot so it hasn't made any more northward progression, so that's the good news. it has snuck into the west into the sensitive wet lanns of coastal mississippi. here along the north coast, what they're doing, oddly, to prepare for the possibility of an oil landfall later this week or next week or whenever is to actually clean up the beach. we ran into workers hired by bp to clean up the beach and the theory being the cleaner the sand is, the easier it is to clean up if oil gets in contact with it and that's an ongoing effort right now. volunteers have a lot of nervous energy in the gulf and people are channeling that and there's been hundreds of volunteers that want to train to be able to do the same thing and train if the oil comes ashore and how to clean up that oil and we ran into some of the volunteers yesterday. some of those people were also

looking for some answers from bp, bp, although hosting that event were not there to answer questions and there was frustration there. let's talk about where this gulf slick is. it's 30 miles south of here, pretty much kissing some of the wetlands of the louisiana coastline and into the chandler islands. we flow overhead there a couple of days ago. that's still the case. where is it going to move in let's talk forecast. wins are calm right now and that's the good news. if anything, there will be a slight component in the next couple of days, but we don't expect the wind to be driving this anywhere, any time too soon. inning any, some of the eddies out of the mississippi might bring it to that shoreline so that's certainly a concern. longer term, winds go northerly over the weekend and we're pretty confident the oil won't get to this spot this week, but it does get further into the gulf in does it get brought into the gulfstream? maybe around that horn? that's a possibility, but way too early to tell. as far as wild life, as you know, we have a couple of birds

found yesterday, a brown pelican, the state bird of louisiana was found with oil. that animal's being treated. a couple of sea turtles have been seen floating in the oil and we are just down the beach in biloxi, we saw something odd, a big one. ten-foot alligator swimming right off the beach. this one looked to be way too big to come out of any sort of pipe and we'll talk to some wild life experts here in about an hour and see how unusual that may have been and if what's going on out there has anything to do with it. >> it sounds pretty unusual. rob marciano for us in biloxi, mississippi. thank you. greece's economy in shambles and greek taxpayers pretty furious. look at these pictures. how chaotic scenes like these could bite you in the portfolio. ♪ a day once dawned ♪ ♪ and it was beautiful

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financial news we always like to guide you to our 14s at cnnmoney.com. it is the best financial website online right now. what's missing from wall street reform? i've got to tell you here, are we going to take a look at the dow a couple of hours in? i will tell you this, that might be the lead story right now at cnnmoney.com, but our friends there are paying close attention to what's happening right now in greece. take a look at some of these pictures of protests, close to riot conditions. look at this. protesters are taking to the streets there in greece today and the situation has consequences that really circle the globe. stock markets in the united states and in europe falling because of greece's debt problems. stephanie e larm. let's get to new york now. stephanie is following this. stephanie, why are we seeing the protests? we know that there are strict austerity measures going into place in greece, but we're still

talking about a massive debt. >> tony, this really comes down to spending cuts because part of what has to happen here for greece to get this bailout to the tune of $146 billion, they've got to do some things on their own, so it's got some strings attached to it. so greek officials are meeting today and they'll vote tomorrow on public sector wages and pensions as well as tax increases. so these protesters, you're talking about people who are teachers and bank employees and you're talking about doctors and they're upset with how politicians have managed their country's economy. remember, this came to light when a new regime came to take power in greece. we have a little problem here. we have this debt issue. so this is something that is not sitting well with these people. you guys duped us. americans can relate to that. think of the outrage people had about wall street and what was going on over there. actually, some people still have outrage with wall street, we're not done with it. the difference, though, in greece, this situation has become violent. we know that three people are

dead. we know others are missing, and it's not just a protest. there's also a 24-hour strike. flights have been grounded. ports have shut down. hospitals do not have enough staff on hand and ancient tourist sites are closed. look at this. it's not making it encouraging for people to say i want to go see mykonos right now. that's a problem for the country because they make money off of tourism. >> another question on the story is whether the bailout, in quotes here, that's being fashioned by the eu is actually going to do the trick short term and long term whether the countries who are promising e i pony up are actually going to pony up. >> on monday we saw ooh, they worked something out. good. so there was a bit of calm in the markets on monday, but then wait a second, is this really going to be enough? that's what investors are not sure about. most of the european stock markets are down. the value of the euro dropped below $.30 for the first time in

a year. and we saw the dow plunging 225 points yesterday. today we've come back. we were off triple digits and now we're off 30 points on the dow at 10,895 and the nasdaq off two-thirds of a percent. you see oil prices are down and obviously people are concerned that the issues in greece are going to spread. >> yes. >> portugal. you hear about the pigs. i don't know if you've heard that term, tony, but whether or not portugal could be a problem, italy, ireland. >> spain. >> greece, obviously and spain, right? >> yeah. >> portugal has been put on the standby for another credit rating downgrade and if that's happening it will make it harder and more expensive for portugal to borrow money and they could be in the same situation and this could be another credit crisis that could spread through the eu. there are 16 count threes share the same currency and greece is one of them. >> i guess i'm one of the people who believes that we need to pay close attention to what's happening in greece right now, particularly with the cuts that are being made by the government

because we're talking here in the united states about reducing the budget deficit. look, we're going to have to make very hard choices here as well, aren't we? >> oh, yeah. definitely. i think it's more severe the way they're looking at that time in greece right now. the situation that they're dealing with mainly because they're getting a lot of pressure because they share this currency, they're getting pressure for countries like germany, like, hold on, we're not going to bail you out for free. we want something back for that so it's a little bit more severe, but i'm sure there are a lot of people that will argue some cutbacks need to be made here as well because the deficit is really large. >> stephanie, good to see you. thank you. still to come in the newsroom. a disaster impacting thousands of lives and livelihoods. we're talking about floodwaters covering much of nashville, tennessee. we will get the latest from the cnn weather center. you're in the cnn "newsroom." comes in a new liquid gel. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

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>> reporter: let's get you caught up on top stories. federal officials say new york car bomb suspect faisal shahzad is talking. in fact, they say he admits to the failed attack. several people are in custody in pakistan and they're being questioned on the investigation. iran's navy launched eight days of war drills today. the exercise comes as the u.s. and other powers forced the u.n. to punish iran for its nuclear defiance. the cumberland river falling today leaving nashville coated in mud. the sheer force of the flood buckled roads and pushed houses off foundations and the mayor is

asking for donations of diapers, formula, brooms, mops and other cleaning supplies. we're back in a moment. you're in the cnn "newsroom." recently a whole new kind of cloud came to st. cloud, minnesota.

that's actually part of the house. >> and welcome back. i'm cnn meteorologist jacqui jeras, and you're looking at some pictures. is this the flooding video in yes, it is, out of nashville, tennessee, where the cumberland river continues to be out of its banks. it's only dropped down maybe four feet since its crest which was more than 24 hours ago already and so it's going to

take some while, certainly for those waters to continue to go down and get back within their banks. so you're still dealing with quite a few issues. i have a cool satellite picture i want to show you here. check it out. here's tennessee. here's kentucky and there you can see the swollen rivers. it is so swollen that you can actually see this from space. so there's the cumberland and there's the tennessee just to give you an idea of how large and widespread this is. by the way, if you want to help these flood victims you can go to cnn.com/impact and they a link on here, there you can see, help for the tennessee flooding and so you can help those people as well. so cnn.com/impact. all right. what's going on across the u.s. today in terms of active weather that's continued to come down. you've got a line of some showers that's been moving in across the great lakes. in chicago, a few sprinkles finally making your way. this line has moved up a lot since it's moved from milwaukee. if you're getting ready for lunch you might want to have

that umbrella. one of the other things that you'll be dealing with this front is that the winds will be very strong and expecting to see gusts between 30 miles per hour on the back side of this system. ahead of it, we could see a little bit more in terms of stronger thunderstorms this afternoon as we get more daytime heating as this front approaches the ohio valleys and indianapolis and on up into cleveland, large hail and damaging winds will be a little bit more of a concern in that area. temperaturewise ahead of that front, oh, my gosh, is it gorgeous? up and down the eastern seaboard. look at these highs. boston, 78, 9 in new york. 86 here in atlanta and look at those temperatures, tony, 91 degrees in dallas, fort worth today. it is feeling like summer. >> so here's the thing. we talk all of the time and we veez people. you're terrific about it, and when you're in flood conditions, turnaround, don't drown. okay? people who should know better. here's an example.

people who should know better, signs are posted. we've got a situation now where we've got fire fighters having to make a rescue here, right in this is in on roswell, georgia. >> and there was a dam there. >> vickory creek. if you've ever heard of it. >> i guess it happens a lot, jacqui? people attempt to cross? >> if you remember, we covered this, it was, like a year ago where people had to be rescued from here. it's a dam. it's about a 30-foot drop and the water moves very, very rapidly. >> what happened to our pictures. >> i don't know. it kind of disappeared, but when you get a lot of rainfall in a short period of time that power of that water is greater than it is normally. look at that. >> there were some teenagers and they thought it was a good idea to walk out there. look at how close to the edge. >> yeah. they're really lucky to have made it out. the signs are posted. pay attention and it's our admonition to you. be careful in flooded conditions. >> don't walk in it. don't drive in it.

it's dirty. it's nasty. >> thanks, jacqui. let's take a break. we're back in the cnn "newsroom" in just a minute. and sneezing for 12 full hours with less drowsiness than benadryl. it does all that? chlor-trimeton. less drowsy relief that lasts 12 hours. my name is chef michael. and when i come home from my restaurant, i love showing bailey how special she is. yes, you are. i know exactly what you love, don't i? - [ barks ] - mmm. aromas like rotisserie chicken. and filet mignon. yeah, that's what inspired a very special dry dog food. [ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. so tasty and nutritious it's hard to believe it's dry dog food. chef-inspired. dog-desired. chef michael's canine creations.

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anything can happen. arrest of a times square bombing suspect raised new questions about the no-fly list for airlines. now the government is tightening the rules. faisal shahzad was able to board a plane for dubai each though his name had been added to the no-fly list. effective immediately airlines will be required to check the list within two hours of being notified about changes. until now they were required to check for updates every 24 hours. 53 hours from the smoking car bomb in times square to shahz shahzad's arrest on a plane to jfk. drew griffin walks us through the timeline. >> reporter: the moment the danger was over, prot pain tath tank, the tanks, the rigged up wires removed they wrote down the clue, faisal shahzad apparently did not know he left behind. etched on the engine block of the vehicle, the vehicle's identification number. the same vin number shahzad apparently removed from the

dashboard according to a source familiar with the source with the investigation. that led to a registration to connecticut and with it, sources tell cnn a name and address of the owner whose daughter was selling the car on craigslist. she met shahzad to show him the car. he gave her his phone number so they could meet again to buy it. all cash, no paperwork in the parking lot of this shopping mall. according to the federal complaint, that call back number led police to shahzad. they worked on a sketch of the suspect. it was good police work and very sloppy criminal work. the would-be terrorist built an inept bomb. court records show he drove the bomb himself into new york, leaving behind keys to another car. cell phone used to call a fireworks company and so many other clues he literally led detectives right to his door, and according to those same court records, shahzad admits to much of it. >> the mistakes made by this individual that contributed to

the quick solution of this crime are phenomenal in the sense of the mistakes all along the way. >> reporter: once identified, the idea was to watch him, listen, try to record phone calms allow shahzad to make more mistakes and perhaps lead to accomplices, but by monday sources said he got spooked, apparently deciding to flee as agents began to track his movements. one of the first things he did, sources tell cnn was put his name on a no-fly list. monday night as he drove to new york's jfk international, according to federal sources he called emirates air, reserving his seat onboard this flight bound for dubai which would eventually connect for a flight bound for islamabad, pakistan. unknown to shahzad there was no way he was going anywhere, even though the fbi briefly lost track of him, customs and border protection agents began examining flight manifests and then shortly after he arrives at the airport, an emirates employee phones law enforcement saying a man had paid cash for a

one-way ticket to pakistan. according to an account provided to cnn by a federal law enforcement source, here's what happened next. as the plane is boarding, agents are moving in. the decision is to allow the plane to shut its doors. before the plane can push back, sources tell cnn the plane's door is re-opened and faisal shahzad is placed under arrest and removed from the flight before it ever leaves the gate. now under intense questioning, there is another emergency. two more napes onboard the emirates flight appear suspicio suspicious, out of an abundance of caution, the plane already taxing to the runway is being told to return to the gate. >> i have a message to go back to the gate immediately. >> two individuals removed, questioned and let go. so far the only arrest made is faisal shahzad and he is said by law enforcement to be cooperating with the investigation and detailing his crimes and travel. >> cnn's drew griffin for us. some people in nashville returned to their homes, but

what they're finding is pretty grim. weekend storms and floods are blamed for at least 28 deaths in the southeast. 19 of them in tennessee. ines ferre is with us with a look at some of the devastation and, ines, the pictures have been pretty horrific. >> definitely, tony. let's head straight to nashville where you can see some of the flooding that's taken place here. president obama declared this area a disaster area making way for federal aid and some of the water has been receding. officials are looking -- are still looking and going door to door, looking for victims and also we checked with the department of transportation there, and they said that the interstates there are open, but there are still flooding in secondary roads and some state routes which are partially closed. now we want to take you to cheatham county about an hour away from nashville and here, take a look at this. a home was destroyed and this piece of roadway that literally

smashed a home. it's on top of a home and mike and cindy lee are the homeowners and they said that they're lucky to be alive. listen to this. >> it was just a miracle of god. that's all you can say. >> he just kept watching. >> if it had been at night we would have never made it. >> so incredible, and we also want to take you to an i-reporter who on a lighter note, she took some video of this. this is a wake boarder. >> what is that? >> he's cruising along there. he's being pulled by a vehicle and take a look that the and then the cop comes and he arrests him and also the person that was in the vehicle. >> handle him a little roughly there. there you come. >> and this guy was charged with clinging to a vehicle. a misdemeanor citation there. >> ines, appreciate it. see you next hour. to find out how you can make a difference and help provide

relief for the flood victims in tennessee, visit our "impact your world" page at cnn.com/impact. an oval office meeting this hour. the subject? the next supreme court justice. let's take a quick break. absolu! i have a lot of stuffiness at night. it wakes me up. i have allergies. ♪ you're right. i'm getting more air. -oh, yeah. -oh, wow! [ female announcer ] for two free samples, go to breatheright.com. announcer: there's an easier way. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal.

okay. we are getting more information on the times square car bomb suspect, this time from pakistan. our reza is joining us live from

pakistan. what are you learning? >> reporter: tony, the mystery surrounding faisal shahzad is about to grow some very interesting new information coming in to cnn. for the past couple of days we've heard about the possibility of the pakistani taliban being linked with this attempted bombing in new york. of course, shahzad himself said he received militant training in waziristan which is the nerve center for the pakistani taliban, but now in a phone call to cnn, the spokesperson for the pakistani taliban saying that the pakistani taliban was not involved in this incident. they praise shahzad for what he tried to do, but they say they were not involved. listen to this statement. here's a quote. the action of faisal shahzad was very good. we appreciate faisal shahzad, but he has no link with the t e tarek taliban pakistan. there are other groups that can provide the type of training, too. he goes on with a warning for

the u.s., basically saying tarek-i-taliban pakistan say everywhere in the world where islam is in danger and non-muslims are attacking muslims, we will defend islam by any means necessary. right now america is the biggest enemy of islam. we will send mujahadin to america and you will soon see the results. a very ominous message to america, but the headline here is the pakistani taliban essentially saying we don't know this guy. we like what he tried to do, but he is not part of our group, tony. >> reza sa sayeh. thank you. the man accused of trying to bomb times square apparently expected to be arrested, faisal shahzad was taken off a plane that was about to leave jfk airport. law enforcement sources say he told officers, quote, i was expecting you. are you nypd or fbi, unquote. street demonstrations turned violent in athens today and

police responded with tear gas. an athens bank was firebombed. three workers were found dead inside. tens of thousands of greeks were protesting in the streets aimed at saving the nation from bankruptcy. we're back in a moment. [ female announcer ] for extra-dry skin... [ roars ] ...there's lubriderm advanced therapy. and now there's lubriderm advanced therapy spf 30. the only body moisturizer with an spf this high. its nutrients match the same nutrients naturally found in healthy skin... for a great clean feel with the best uva/uvb protection.

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making a political statement at the nba playoffs, arizona's phoenix suns will be wearing uniforms in spanish at the game tonight to protest the state's new immigration law. the game falls on cinco de mayo and the team has worn the jerseys before to honor the latino community, but not all fans like the message this time around. >> i think it's great for the hispanic culture. >> i don't approve of it. >> i think it's wonderful. >> there is a political statement and that is that we felt like however well intended

the law was not right. >> two cnn i-reporters weigh in on the immigration debate next hour. one making the case against the strict new law. the other says he can't get a job because of illegal immigr t immigrants. don't miss that discussion don't miss that discussion coming up in the cnn "newsroom." 24-hour allergy relief, t

president obama calling two key republican senators to the

oval office. this hour both sit on the judiciary committee which will soon consider the next supreme court nominee. sources familiar with the process say president obama has now interviewed a fourth candidate for the court. she is federal judge diane wood of chicago. the president interviewed four finalists last year before settling on justice sonia sotomayor. the justices may work in a marble palace, but their decisions have a real-world impact in the homes of everyday americans. kate bolduan shows us an example involving the debate over gun contr control. >> emily hawes three years ago. i don't remember hearing him come in and he obviously came in and just started firing. >> reporter: speaking just days ever being shot twice in the virginia tech massacre, struck down with other students in her classroom. >> i had my eyes closed so i didn't see anything. i didn't see him ever. >> reporter: in the aftermath, emily and her mother became

champions for stricter gun control laws, joining the fight to support washington, d.c.'s handgun ban. they were on the lose of a close 5-4 ruling. >> but for one vote the decision could have gone the other way. >> hawes knows first hand what is at stake with a high court vacancy, a justice who could cast the deciding vote. >> the law his been in place to prevent criminals and prevent domestic abusers, terrorists and others from getting guns there would be many, many, many lives saved. i know it, you know? i witnessed the pain that happens and i witnessed what happens when someone who shouldn't have a gun gets a gun. >> reporter: in reality that real-world impact means a fierce political battle ahead over whomever the president pick. conservative picks are preparing a frontal assault on the likely left-leaning nominee. >> i think the people are worried that president will

appoint someone who will be a reliable liberal vote and in particular, who will be ready to rubber-stamp his policies. >> reporter: but liberal groups seemed concerned as well. they fear the nominee might not be liberal enough on issues like executive power. >> it's going to be a challenge for the obama administration to appoint someone, frankly, that we think will do the right thing. the difficulty is that we will likely see judges that will be appointed as a question of political compromise. >> reporter: one thing both sides agree on, the stakes, both political and personal couldn't be higher. >> we know what happens. we've seen it. we live it. we live it every single day. >> reporter: government sources tell cnn top obama aides have been getting an earful from liberal activists who want to ensure a strong voice from the left, has chosen not a so-called compromised choice that could get a smoother senate confirmation. a confirmation the white house hopes wraps up by the august

recess. kate bolduan, cnn at the supreme court. some major help is on the way for those severely wounded in war and the people who take care of them. around 1:30 p.m. president obama will sign a new bill that improves health care for vets who have suffered major injuries and it also provides more than $1 billion to expanded benefits and training for vets' caregivers who often have to quit their jobs. the vets who need this bill are suffering major head trauma or lost limbs. that's where the wounded warrior project comes in. recently, the warriors took a special bike ride to shed light on what they're all going through. >> don't stop! >> it's like doors are opening and walking outside for the first time. >> come on. you can do it. keep going, man. >> all cyclists, you must stay in the lane the cruiser is in when you're over there for them to accept the responsibility of the escort!

>> this is a great event. it's progressed into a rehab ride where we have over 30 warriors here right now, participating in the ride getting out sometimes what they can accomplish again in life. >> i also always see a big change in his mood with the bike ride coming up. a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement. >> i've been going to the gym and riding exercise bikes for several hours. >> ted had neurosurgery over in germany and spent about two weeks in the neurosurgery intensive care you're it in there. it was doubtful that ted was going to survive. >> got it. >> it's kind of surreal. you know, it definitely puts things in perspective. i think it definitely helps you stay motivated when sometimes it's easy as far as post-injury to burn out from rehabilitation.

>> it's continuing my momentum forward, the future, and with the way things are looking good into the future. >> going house to house, they whoer hood to neighborhood, dangerous searches under way. nashville amid deadly flood waters. martin saf advantavidge joins m hour. and bomb suspect faisal shahzad made on board a plane despite being on that list. homeland security reporter will join me with those details. hi, ! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao!

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gecko: ah, i still have nightmares. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. on the gulf coast, they're waiting for the oil to come ashore and the big bell to leaf port. the oil slick is out there growing by 210,000 gallons every day. today we're seeing better weather, which means skimmer boats, booms can be put to some pretty good use here. we're also seeing the big bell, right? it's that dome bp plans to drop over the leak. earlier on cnn's "american morning" bp's ceo gave us a time line for the fix. >> i'm confident we're going to do everything we can to make it work. we have the best people not world working on this. the dam will leave port this morn, late morning around noon, we think. it will take about 12 hours to

get to the scene. and then a couple of days to get to the bottom. but i think what could happen here is that it will be a bit frustrating at the beginning, but i'm confident we'll find a way to make this work. >> they've said the bell will stop about 80% of the flow. we will have much more on this story a little later in the program. let's get you to jacqui jeras. jacqui, so we are still in that relatively calm weather window. >> yeah. >> that allows for these efforts to continue. >> yeah. absolutely. you know the weather seriously couldn't be any better for trying to do some of this recovery. and check it out, you know, we had our storm system in here with the strong southerly winds earlier this week. that has stalled out now across parts of florida. what's going on here is that we have very calm winds and mostly clear skies. the winds light and variable. the seas are maybe two to three feet. so that's hardly any chop at all. that is certainly a good situation. but that front is bringing in some showers and thunder showers

across parts of the central florida. that's going to be a part of the u.s. that we're going to be watching today as well. the nation's mid section, this is the big show where all the action is happening for the most part today. we could see strong to severe thunderstorms right here this afternoon and to the eastern great lakes and the ohio river valleys. places like indianapolis, cincinna cincinnati, cleveland and detroit could see some of these stronger thunderstorms as they move on through. check it out as we take a look at our radar system, you can see that line. it's kind of weak now as it's moving towards chicago but stronger in lower michigan. so we'll keep your eye on those thunderstorms as they continue to develop this afternoon. the other thing is that it's really windy on the back side of this thing. we've got some wind advisories in effect across the dakotas. wind gusts in parts of montana, approaching hurricane strength. that's really going to blow things around. we're only expecting maybe 30, 35 miles per hour though across the great lakes as it moves on through. now, ahead of that front, it's nothing but sunshine. beautiful.

look at this from atlanta, georgia, 77 me agrees outside right now. we're going to make it into the 80s today. a little bit on the muggy side. as cold as it is in the studio, tony, can't wait for that, 77 degrees. i can't wait to feel it! one more thing i want to add. our i-reporters, oh, my gosh, thank you, i-reporters. we've just really gotten a much better handle on how wide spread this flooding is here in nashville. this is from stephanie balt. this is opryland drive where people wanted to get inside and get inside looks. we have exteriors here. you can see people out in the boats. look at all the debris that's in the water. a big thanks to stephanie for sending us these pictures to give us a better idea of what's been going on in nashville. >> yeah, we're going to continue to follow that story. martin savidge joining me at the top of the hour right here. jacqui, appreciate it. get out and get warmed up. gulf coast beach is brace for a black tide. gulf shores, alabama, mother took her daughters to the beach

to clean up in case it reaches their shores. cnn's all platform journalist patrick ottman went along. >> what did you tell them today about why they were coming here? >> i told them they know -- they're aware of the oil spill. i told them if it does affect our beaches our beaches possibly aren't going to be the same anymore. i wanted us to have one last day, rain or shine to come down here, pick up shells, play, took pictures. and got our bags and gloves and clean up and get the trash off the beach in case the oil does hit. all you do is just give them your name, your address, your phone number, your e-mail, they give you a glove and a bag. . come on, girls. now, listen, you've got to do this without fighting, okay? >> what are you looking for? >> any kind of trash. not seashells but actually any kind of trash. and the reason they're doing that is because it's easy to pick up now. if it becomes contaminate with

oil, then it's hazardous material and it's a lot harder to pick up. they're just trying to get rid of it ahead of time. >> what are you doing right now? >>ic ipicking up trash? >> why are you doing that? >> the oil spill. >> what do you think about the oil spill? >> bad. >> have they asked you anything about the oil spill. >> oh, yeah, yeah. they've asked me lots of things about what animals it's going to affect. she actually brought a towel with her because she said in case she saw a bird or something she wanted to wipe it off. i told her there wouldn't be anything out here yet. she started crying last night about it. my biggest fear is that our beaches will never be the same again and the way of life down here won't be the same. i work at a hospital. you know, if the population starts dwindling down there because they lost their livelihoods they won't need me where i work. oh, my godness. >> what kind of memories do you have here? >> oh, gosh. all my memories. this is where we -- you know, wake up in the morning, get

shells, collect shells. play in the sand, built sand castles. this is where we spend our days. if you live on the gulf coast, this is where you come. >> reporter: this is why you live here. >> this is why you live here, exactly. and this is a day that if this is the beach that we may never get back again. hello again, everyone. i'm tony harris, in the "cnn newsroom" where anything can happy. first, tennessee flood victim. >> it was just a miracle of god. that's all you can say. p. >> he just kept watching. >> if it had been at night, we would have never made it. >> white until you see mike lee's house splattered across the highway. the power of water will absolutely shock you. also, the view from next door neighbors talked about the new york car bomb suspect. >> like to come out and wear all black and go jogging.

his family, his wife didn't speak much english. his daughter played with my daughter. >> you how an american success story ended in terrorism charges. heartbreaking scenes in nashville as flood waters start to inch their way down. some of the thousands of people who fled their homes are returning to mud caked floors and soggy furniture. other neighborhoods are still under water. cnn's martin savidge live now from nashville. you know we talk about the cumberland river cresting and starting to recede but there is still an awful lot of water in nashville, if you would, describe the scene in that city today. >> well, you're right, tony. the water is going down. this is the cumberland. you can see it's rolling by at a pretty good clip here today. it's gone down. it's gone down actually a number of feet, three feet, they claim. as a result of that, that means most of the tourist areas in the city of nashville have been recovered, so to speak. power's out in the heart of the city. probably because water got into the transformers.

it's going to be at least until friday until they get it turned back on. that's hampering getting the water out of the basement so the businesses and the hotels anyway. as the waters go down it's also revealing the damage. and there is a concern that it may raise the death toll because now you have the rescuers who can get into areas they were not able to get in a few days ago. we joined a team of searchers that were in cheatham county and we went out to see what they're up against. here's what we found. we meet captain tony clark who has only had eight hours sleep since saturday as he leads his team into another neighborhood. >> we still need to go. and do our search. i understand that. but just in case, we need to try to see if we can get into the house. >> reporter: especially trained firefighters were here over the weekend helping people to evacuate. now they're back, making sure everyone made it out alive. >> this will keep you us from

having to search these houses again. we'll mark them. we'll know they're clear and we won't have to come back and waste resources searching again. >> reporter: located downstream from nashville, ashland city is still battling the water. it's down some, it still has a long way to go. and so does captain clark. >> everything is clear here. so we're going on to our next area from here. >> reporter: a half mile from city hall on a road that's now a boat ramp, we hitch a ride with a different group of firefighters searching where only boats can go. for deputy chief derrick noe, these are familiar waters. his son usually plays soccer on the field 15 feet beneath us. the flood waters have brought new dangers, of which propane tanks are just one. here's the latest hazard these days of navigating the cumberland. you've got to avoid the traffic lights. out here the water plays tricks on you. some houses don't look so bad until you realize you're looking at the third floor. sunday when these crews first came out it was to warn the

residents that the flood waters were coming. about two-thirds decided to stay. ever since then, the teams have been out pulling in all the people who stayed behind. >> we had some that even got ugly with us and said that they would sleep on their roof or whatever, if they had to. they wasn't going to leave. they were going to ride it out. we picked them up the following day off their roof. they got their wish. >> reporter: just trying to get close to a home for a look isn't easy. first, you have to clear the trees. >> you don't know what's underneath you. trampolines and swimming pools. >> reporter: in the end, we fortunately don't find anyone and head back. you wonder how long it will be before ashland city gets back to normal. from the looks of things, it's going to take some time. tony, we should point out the death toll officially in the state of tennessee stands at 19 as the flood waters recede, people are really getting an idea of just how bad this devastation is. >> yeah.

it looks and sounds like it's pretty nasty. marty, what about drinking water? we're hearing stories about pumping stations and the ability of those pumping stations to get clean water to folks. >> reporter: right. there are about 622,000 people that live in the city of nashville. they have two water treatment plants. one of them did get flooded. the other, they barely stopped from getting flooded. the problem is now, with only one plant, they've got to conserve water. people to do that, many people have no -- they started filling the bathtubs, bringing in water thinking the city is going to run dry. it won't but the city does have to conserve and that's something the mayor has been stressing over and over. >> okay, marty savidge for us right there on the cumberland river. marty, good to see you. thank you. it could be a long, long time before nashville is back to normal. our ines ferre is follow that part of the story for us. good to see you. >> let's head straight to nashville where we just want to show you the flooding that's taking place there. and the water is receding as

marty had just noted. we spoke to the department of transportation in tennessee. they said that the interstates are now open. all the interstates. but they still have flooding in some areas and some of the state routes are closed. and we also want to take you to cheatham county. this -- now, take a look at this. this is part of a roadway, asphalt. >> is that like highway, freeway or something there? >> it literally is this roadway that's -- the asphalt just kind of lifted up and it destroyed a home there. mike and cindy lee, their home was destroyed. listen to what they have to say. >> it was just a miracle of god. that's all you can say. >> he just kept watching. >> if it had been at night, we would have never made it. >> saying that they're just lucky to be alive. i spoke to the department of transportation also. they said that with the flooding that was just so bad that, you know, it's no wonder that that happened. now, we want to show you this

video. >> oh, boy. >> and this is a wakeboarder. this is from one of our i-reporters. he's a approached by a policeman and he was then arrested for clinging to a vehicle. the driver of the vehicle was also arrested. misdemeanor citations they received. >> a couple of shots around the head and neck would be appropriate there. oop, i didn't say that. ines, appreciate it. thank you. president obama hasn't made it to the flood zone just yet but he's authorized a major disaster declaration for four counties including davidson where nashville is located. the declaration makes federal funding available for flood victims. other counties in tennessee are expected to be in the list in the coming days. we are learning more about the suspect in the times square attempted bombing including what he said to authorities. law enforcement sources say when faisal shahzad was taken into custody he said, quoting now, i was expecting you, are you nypd

or fbi? shahzad's father-in-law and a friend of his are among several people detained and being questioned in his native pakistan. that's according to intelligence sources. department of homeland security is tightening the no fly policies in response to shahzad's arrest. he was able to board a plane for dubai despite being added to the list. what caused faisal shahzad to abandon what seemed like the american dream and allegedly attempt an attack in the heart of america's biggest city? cnn's joe johns has more on shahzad's background. >> reporter: so who is the who according to authorities admitted trying to blow up an suv in times square? he's 30, born in pakistan, and a naturalized u.s. citizen. he's highly educated. has an mba, family man. his wife, a graduate of the university of colorado. they have two kids, a boy and a girl. shahzad left his job at a marketing and data management company last year and he got hit

with foreclosure. he owed $200,000 on his home in shelton, connecticut, last fall. a neighbor who does not want to be identified said the family was low key. >> very private person. he kept to hisself. liked to come out at night, wear all black, go jogging. his family, his wife didn't speak much english. his daughter played with my daughter. his oldest daughter played with my daughter. >> reporter: other biographical notes, shahzad's father is a retired senior air force officer in pakistan. in 2005, shahzad graduated from the university of bridgeport. he made little impression there. >> people remember his name but don't remember a lot about him as a student in the classroom. >> reporter: still, the emerging picture of shahzad is unsettling. shahzad was in the u.s. on a work visa and then a year ago, he took the oath of american citizenship. then five months later, according to court records, he

admitted having travelled to pakistan. in fact, just last february, an immigration inspector at kennedy airport in new york stopped him. authorities say shahzad told them he had been in pakistan for five months visiting his parents. said he was planning on staying at a motel in connecticut while he looked for a job and a place to live. and he told them his wife was back in pakistan. though something about his travel profile at the time set off red flags. for example, we know he bought a one-way ticket for the flight and paid for it with cash. >> without getting into a lot of detail, he was screened when he came back because some of the targeting rules applied. >> reporter: what we now know is shahzad admits he had bomb-making training in pakistan on one of the trips. back in connecticut, shahzad moved to an apartment in bridgeport. one neighbor said she didn't even know he was there. >> so now we don't know that someone was on the second floor. i know someone living on the

third floor. but still we never see the guy. >> reporter: he may have been invisible to the neighbors but he was apparently no expert in stealth and concealment. in some ways he was creating a neon sign for police pointing straight at him. >> looked like he come here last year and he bought a couple phone cards. >> reporter: court records say they traced his telephone calls that went to pakistan, calls made to a fireworks store in pennsylvania that sells the type of fireworks linked to the makeshift bomb. joe johns, cnn, new york. we will turn our attention back to the gulf oil spill. a tiny bit of progress to tell you about. who will pick up the clean-up bill, bp or the taxpayers? first, though, a random moment.

shaqqing shocking police activity. this sus sfethed carjacker caught the end of a tazer after a foot chase along oregon's clackamas river. he even dove into the river at one point to escape, giving the taser a little tinkle. and a 17-year-old knucklehead got tasered monday night after he ran on to the field. that's what knuckleheads do, right, at 17. and how about this? a random moment flashback. classic from 2007. >> taze me, bro. don't taze me. i didn't do anything. ow! ow! ow!

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all from just $4.99 a month, get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. we're talking about a stretch of uninhabited islands sl selected for a refuge of wildlife. our gary tuchman took a boat out to the chandelier islands. area thriving in marine life. and first in line when the oil spill hits louisiana. >> we're 35 miles south of gulf port, mississippi. these are the chandeleui rylands. you're looking at the oil. the yellow thing is the boom. it looks like foam but this is

the oil from the massive oil slick. people on the coastline obviously in louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida are very concerned. we can tell you because we took a 3 1/2 hour boat ride to get out here, that the oil is still at least 35 or 40 miles away. i mean, you can see right now if it wasn't for this protective boom it would be on he's islands. these islands are major wildlife refuge. the birds come between north, central and south america. you can see the birds on these islands. these islands used to be about 20 miles long north of south. because of hurricanes over the years, katrina, george, it's now about 16 miles. ultimately the fear is that in years to come when there's more damage here the islands will be gone. they're uninhabited. no one lives here. a couple hundred years ago, there were a couple hundred people. but now, there's great concern it will go over the boom on these islands and then on the coastline. this is gary tuchman, cnn, on

the chandeleur islands, louisiana. >> chad meyer, i'm in your space. >> your light, it comes this way. my light comes this way. in the middle, there's darkness. >> yes. we wanted to take a look at the gulf region again. and take a look at the gulf of mexico because is the window of opportunity, right? >> it is, big time if winds have died off. this is the opportunity that they didn't have for the past seven days to coral some of this stuff with the booms and actually light it on fire or get it off with a skimmer. have you seen that the skimmers, how the skimmer boats work? >> no. >> they're awesome. they put a boat here and a boat here. the skimmer boats in the back and they connect all three of them with a boom. they all three move in unison. so all the oil is collected in this chamber and goes back and is funneled down to the skimmer boat. the skimmer boat sucks it off. it's awesome. hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil mixed in these skimmers. that's working.

right now, here are the numbers. 14 fixed wing aircraft dropping dispersements. three remotely operated vehicles. they go down and do their thing under water. you can't go down 5,000 feet. i'm a diver, you can't go down there. nobody can go down there. 170 vessels out there either taking the containment booms out or doing something with that all of that. the good news is we had a wind for a while out of the southwest. today the winds have died off and literally this is awesome. it's not blowing toward land anymore. not blowing toward shore. i'm going to open up this number four. we have images that we wanted to talk about. a couple of images we've been seeing. you can go on to google earth and type in oil slick or gulf oil problem and then type in images and you will see those images. you can see the dispersements being put in the airplanes and how those things are pumped in and flown over. >> really? >> i said weeks ago it's kind of like a 409 product. it's a little bit higher tech

than that. but you're trying to cut the grease. you're trying to cut the oil. use cut the oil you spray it over. the oil gets cut, mixed in with water and all of a sudden it flushes out. >> do you want to see something cool? >> yeah. >> we can -- can we walk this way and take a look at the dome that's being loaded there -- >> is that live? >> i think it is. >> it's a live picture now. >> they painted it then because it was orange. it was a rusty orange color. unless that's another one. look at that. this thing weighs tons and tons and tons. made of concrete and steel. they are going to drop this thing on top of the -- >> the well head? >> the wellhead. it's going to go completely over the blowout preventer because the blowout preventer didn't work. blowout preventer is leaking because of the way the line kinked. so the line kinked and oil was coming out of the top of that where the blow out preventer shouldn't be allowing it to come out. all the oil is going to collect in here, float. oil floats. it's going to float up to this funnel and they're going to drop a line on this funnel and suck

the oil out of that container. so it's going to stop the flow of oil into the water. it's going to be pumped into a ship up above. and that ship can hold about 125,000 barrels of oil before it has to be off-loaded or replaced or pumped out. this is the latest and greatest possible thing they can do. that right there -- >> you took the words out of my mouth. >> 30-footmark. 25-foot mark. they have to remotely operate it. i don't know what kind of game this is. like playing plachinko. the winds and waves are taking it forth and all of a sudden you have one wellhead. >> good stuff, chad. got to get out of here.

very quickly now we want to get you to our capitol hill -- congressional correspondent brianna keilar who has some important news to share with us. brianna, what are you following

right now? >> yeah, this involves the democratic chairman of the house appropriations committee, david oby. this is a very important role, arguably one of the most important roles that a lawmaker can play up ear on the hill. we're hearing from democratic sources, tony, he is going to announce that he is going to retire, that after this november election, this session of congress, he is no longer going to be up here on the hill. this is a very big deal because, as they say, the the power of congress lies with the fact that congress controls the purse. well, if congress controls the purse, the appropriations chairman is hanging on to the purse strings. this is a role that david obey has had for years. he has been very instrumental in helping democrats push their legislation for years, including here in this last session of congress. and my producer walsh has been talking with democrats outside of a meeting they are having, normal weekly meeting, many admitting this is going to be a big loss for them.

david obey was going to face a tough re-election battle in november because you have this antiincumbent feeling where you've got someone like david obey, basically an institution, has power but the power has become a bit of a liability for him. we're waiting an announcement from him at 1:00 p.m. we don't know why. we don't know, we're going to hear about what he has to say about why he decided to step down. politically, republicans jumped on this, tony. they've been calling obey the architect of president obama's failed stimulus. so they're basically saying in their opinion it has to be because he was facing a tough re-election. that, of course, is the spin we're getting from that side of the aisle. we're waiting to hear from david obey in his own words. we're thinking that should be happening in the next half hour. >> and he was absolutely critical, as you know, brianna, to the administration's efforts to get health care reform passed as well. i can absolutely remember seeing some of those hearings. >> reporter: very instrumental. >> yep. >> reporter: and you have

someone like obey who has been in congress, been in this role for so long. he understands how to get things done. and that is why democrats say this is going to be a major loss for them going through this really tough mid-term election. what's going to promise to be a tough session of congress. >> congressional correspondent brianna keilar for us. breaking news. it's a big one, too. brianna, appreciate it. the arizona immigration law, is it fair or not? you're letting us know what you think. a couple of our cnn i r-reporte will tell us. >> if you're an illegal alien, you don't have rights. you should leave. get the green card, get the proper documentation. you need to be in your country, that's cool. that's fine. that's dandy. but when you're here illegally we don't know who you are. are you a drug dealer, terrorist?

pictures, information, insight you won't find anywhere else. "cnn newsroom" with tony harris. anything can happen. >> the phoenix suns have jumped into the fight over arizona's new immigration law. they'll wear spanish language jerseys at tonight's nba playoff game. the team says it is a way to honor the latino community on the sink cinco de mayo holiday also acknowledges it's making a statement on the new law. >> i don't a profit of it. >> i think it's wonderful. >> there is a political statement. and that is that, you know, we felt like how far well intended, the law was not right. >> okay. and from the basketball court to

the judicial court, arizona's immigration law seems to have everyone talking, including our i-reporters. ramos is in dallas against the new law. and jason azland is in green bay, wisconsin. why did you decide to share your view on this issue in an i-report? >> i'm sorry. i didn't hear you. >> why did you decide to share your views on this issue with us in the form of an i-report? a you concerns? >> i decided -- my concern is that there are many concerns that i have for all of the americans in the immigrants, people because that's what they are. but i decided to send the i-report in because i felt like i should take a stand in what i believe in and we're all brothers and sisters and one father. >> what's your stand in what do you believe in? >> i believe that what arizona is doing is completely wrong. it's very wrong. i didn't know we can legalize racial profiling. that's what they're trying to

do, exactly what they're trying to do, is legalize racial profiling. that is against the law. that is not right. >> gotcha. jason, look, you live in northern michigan. why is this an important issue for you? >> pretty much all over the united states we're dealing with job issues and americans that don't have jobs. unemployment is an all-time high in the state of michigan. i myself right now is unemployed. and 12 million illegal immigrants right now in this country. if we didn't have those illegal immigrants in our country american people would be back to work. people would fwlok to those areas and take those jobs and maybe i would be back to work. maybe it would be easier for me to find work. >> do you at all blame the employers who hire the illegals? >> it's absolutely, the employers are the number one concern. when they talk about racial profi profiling, when you go to mexico -- i'm sorry, when you go to arizona and places like

memphis, you will see street corners filled with people looking for work. how come they don't apply for work or use a social security number. those people are illegal immigrants for the most part. so those people are taking out of my pocket, out of american people's pockets. >> gavino, what do you say to people who will say to you, look, we need immigration reform and the arizona law may not be absolutely perfect but for a lot of people, particularly people in arizona, 70% by some polls, it is a step in the right direction. >> okay. well, what i would say to them is, yes, i agree. we do need immigration reform, but the way arizona is going about it is all wrong. and you cannot make, you know, allow state by state to make their own immigration laws up and try to pass them. i mean, that has to be sent to the federal government. you know, a higher supreme court. and back to what the other

i-reporter was saying, you know, many immigrants in this world, in the country need work. they come here for a better life, the land of opportunity, you know. and, yes -- >> but the land of opportunity deals with -- the land of opportunity deals with people that come into the country illeg illegally. the people that sign -- that go through the proper channels, not the people that just cross the borders every day. those people shouldn't come here and steal our work, is what they're doing. >> and the gavino, last word to you on this. all right. gentleman, appreciate the debate. thank you for your time. >> thank you. as we mentioned earlier today is a very important day for mexican-americans. cinco de mayo simply means may 5th in english. marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory over the french. interestingly enough, it is a much bigger holiday here in the united states than in mexico.

and with the new debate over arizona's immigration law, it has taken of special significance this year. it is going to cost a pretty penny to clean up this mess. will taxpayers get stuck with the bill for the gulf oil spill?

mark, come over here. i want to direct everyone again to cnnmoney.com. if you want the latest news and analysis, this is the best site in the business. our money team does a terrific job. what's missing from wall street reform? a lot of folks say a lot is missing. let's get you to the middle screen here for a look at stokes. new york stock exchange, three hours into the trading day if negative territory for most of the day. and it remains the case. we're down seven. nasdaq, jen, what was that? nasdaq is down 13. we'll follow those numbers for you throughout the day here in the "newsroom." while we're focussing on money, let's discuss the growing bill related to that oil spill in the gulf of mexico. cost estimates for clean-up of the damages right now into the billion of dollars. i heard a figure today of $14

billion when all is said and done. we are getting conflicting messages on who will pick up that tab. dana bash is on that story. what's the bottom line on this? is bp ultimately as the president suggested going to pick up the whole tab on this? >> there's confusion over the answer to that question, tony. you mentioned the cost could be $14 billion. federal law only requires bp to spend $75 million in economic damages. you listened to the white house, of course, bp is going to pay. there's a lot of skepticism here on capitol hill, especially from senator bill nelson from florida. he met with them yesterday at their request. and afterwards, i want you to hear what he said about that. first, i also want to play for you what the bpceo said in response to a question from our own ted barrett about this issue. he said that they would pay legitimate costs but never explained what legitimate is. listen. >> what i said is what i mean.

all legitimate claims will be honored. and i would add one further point. i think it is inevitable that the over-cap will be exceeded. >> the ceo of bp has stated that they expect to exceed the liability cap of $75 million. when i said, will you be responsible for the economic damages, he said that is something that we will have to work out in the future. >> reporter: now, after that meeting last night senator bill nelson there along with senators to introduce legislation, that would bump that cap up significantly to $10 billion and make it retroactive. i asked the senate majority leader if he supported that but he said yes but wouldn't commit to bring it to the center floor. >> as bp gets ready to face

scrutiny over this, this is a company that knows its way around washington, d.c. a bit. >> reporter: they sure do. look. start with the question of whether or not they were here yesterday and they were here making the rounds big time. one of the things that they did was they met with the committee that is going to be investigating them. interesting tactic there. they were invited by the committee. but what was fascinating, tony, is that it was bipartisan that they were not satisfied with their answers. joe barton, the republican, said they looked like deer in head lights. that was the executive. listen to what democrat ed markey said. >> we asked a lot of questions. we did not get all of the answers that the american people, but especially the people down in the gulf region really deserve. bp is now known as british petroleum. if this leak is not shut off

soon, it will become known as bayou polluter. >> they're very frustrated that there are not only not answers but bp simply did not prepare for this worst case scenario and they simply don't know why they're doing it, in their words, on the fly and on the run. you mentioned the fact that bp is no stranger to washington. i want to quickly put up numbers on the screen for you just to show you how much they have invested in lobbying and campaign money. first of all, lobbying, last year, nearly $16 million. and this year alone, they have already spent over $3.5 million. that's just in lobbying. and then campaign contributions in the last decade, tony, over $3 million. and this year, in this election cycle alone, already spent $108,000 and the tab is running up. guess what, the committee that received the most campaign contributions from bp is the committee that will hear bp executives next week. they know where their bread is buttered, so to speak.

>> yeah, yeah, for sure. senior correspondent dana bash for us. thank you. still to come in the "newsroom," greece convulses in violence. the latest development it is when we check top stories in the "cnn newsroom."

let's get you caught up on top stories now. flood waters in nashville, tennessee, finally receding after catastrophic downpours left entire neighborhoods submerged. the mayor is asking for donations of diapers, formula, brooms, maps and additional clean-up supplies. athens, greece, now, take a look at these pictures. police sirens and the smell of tear gas fill the streets around the parliament building after protests against government spending cuts turn violent. then deadly. three people were killed when a fire bomb hit a bank in the center of the city. and here in the united states, the arrest of that new york bombing attempt suspect aboard an airplane is prompting stricter rules for the no-fly list. airlines now required to check the list within two hours of being notified about changes. they were previously to check for updates every 24 hours. got to tell you, british voter goes to the polls

tomorrow, but it could be foreigners who ultimately decide the winner. really? i'll explain.

immigration issues in great britain. under the microscope for upcoming parliamentary elections. the british public has been growing increasingly frustrated. cnn's atika shubert is in the middle of it all for us. atika, tomorrow voters are headed to the polls. just like here in the united states, immigration is a major issue. how do the candidates for prime minister stand on this issue? >> well, pretty big differences here. david cameron of the conservatives says that they want to put a cap, a numerical maximum limit on the number of non-immigrants that come here. gordon brown of labor has already put in place a points based system. that allows for immigration but

only in certain area where's there's a skill shortage. and david clay has made gains in recent polls is saying that he also wants to see a one-time offer for immigrants that are here illegally to get an earned citizenship, provided that they don't have a criminal record. but the thing is, even with all of these three proposals, for most voters this doesn't really hit the issue because what they're worried about is immigration that's coming from eastern europe. and as perfectly legal for them to come over, according to the european union laws. in fact, in a recent poll, it shows that voters say 77% of voters say they want net immigration to decrease, no matter which where it comes from. >> atika, maybe you can take us right there into the neighborhoods. what does the immigration issue look like on the ground there? >> reporter: it really depends on where you are. we went where they had more than 20,000 immigrants coming there

since 2004. many of them from eastern europe. the recession has made some of them homeless and without a job. here's a look at what we found there. meet milash, for the last year he's been living on the banks of the river with his partner in a tent made of plastic tarp and old wooden pallets. you stay here all winter, december, january, february, you're here? >> here. >> reporter: it's too cold. too cold. >> here. >> reporter: yeah? he's from slovakia, under eu regulations both can work here legally and in broken english he explains neither wants to go home. they do odd jobs and seasonal work, gardening, painting, picking produce and sometimes factory work earning about 20 pounds, or $50 a day, that's much more than they can get back home. when they have enough money, they rent an apartment.

when they don't, they live here. they have the right to work here, but if they go without work employment for more than three months, they can be deported and they fear separated. an estimated 20,000 immigrants have come to peterboro since 2004, 2 year the uk became part of the eu and opened its doors to europe. most are from eastern europe and many have found steady jobs, boosting the local economy. but others like this man have not and the burden on public services has grown. local council member charles swiss says either there needs to be less immigrants or more money for local government. and he wants tough action on migrants sleeping rough. >> tomorrow i would open a place and with all these camps down and raise them to the ground and get them all into empty factory units and those who should not be here, are illegal and causing all the problems that we've got,

they would be on the next boat out. >> reporter: for locals their new neighbors have become part of the community. for good and bad. chris owns a canal boat and lives on the river. >> we need them. a lot of people see it as a problem. >> reporter: they have become visible simymbols of britain's immigration whoas with no easy solutions. he won't be voting but it's their case that will be on the minds of voters when they go to the polls tomorrow. tony? >> cnn's atika shubert for us in london. thank you. we've got a live picture we want to show you. let's see. is that picture up here? there we go. this is from a port in louisiana. and, chad, come on in here and help me with this. this is that giant container dome, right? >> yeah. when you hear the word dome you expect it to be round like the georgia dome. this is a box, okay, with a funnel on top. and it is going to be lowered over the top of the wellhead.

all the oil is going to leak into it instead of the water. they're going to suck the oil out of that thing because the oil is going to float to the top of that funnel like device, you see above the letter "s." that's "sw", i guess that's south and west, could that actually work? yeah that would work. i didn't know what the "w" was earlier. i thought, that's interesting they put that on there. that's how they know how to align it when it gets down to the bottom because it probably spin on the way down. they made it some type of oblong issue to fit over the blowout preventer. so the oil that's leaking out of this kink in the blow out preventer hose is going to go in this thing and take it to the top. also today just coming off the wires, they're going to start the controlled burns today. we thought the weather was going to be good enough and this is a great window of opportunity for that. that's the case. >> more with chad in just a couple minutes. back in a home. you're in the "cnn newsroom."

i got to the you while the gulf coast oil spill hasn't hit the shore just yet, it already is taking a terrific toll on marine life. cnn's david mattingly went out into the gulf to get a look. >> reporter: both captains in port told us where to find it, ugly reddish brown wave of oil, a bumpy two-hour ride later it was impossible to miss. finally here we are 15 miles out. we slowed down. the seas are still pretty rough as you can see.

i don't know if you can see it or not, just right here in front of us, looks almost like a red muddy line through the water. that is the oil. >> reporter: national wildlife federation president believes the impact on wildlife is inevitable. >> you can see it's been treated so it's breaking up and it's dispersing into the water. >> reporter: it looks like pea-sized blobs in the water. millions of them. all the way down. >> okay. i'm going to grab a towel here. this stuff is rubbing up against the side of the boat. there it is. that's what's in the water. that is sticking to the side of the boat right there. if this is doing this to the boat, what is it going to do to anything that lives in this water? >> it's going to be very, very hard on the fish and shellfish. >> reporter: and the oil seems to go on forever. over here, as far as the eye can see, there is like a red line of that oil going right across the gulf of mexico.

it is endless. and as bad as it looked, it was about to get worse. this is something we didn't expect to see. this is a sea turtle. it's right here in the water. right near the top. it's swimming right in the middle of all that oily mess out there. we're going to try and get as close -- >> he's having trouble. that's why he's doing that. >> reporter: clearly distressed. the turtle has to come up for air. >> the turtle is coming up for air. when it does it's gulping the surface. >> reporter: it's taking it into its body. >> if you're drinking oil, it's not good for the digestive system, so he is in distress. >> reporter: it seemed to be having breathing problems. after a few moments it disappeared into the reddish oily muck. we're about to take off. didn't want to leave without getting a souvenir. there it is. the gulf of mexico oil spill. that's just one leading band of it. see how it floating to the top, how nasty it is. all of this is going that way

towards shore. quickly, let me do this here. let's go to live pictures. do we have those from the port on the coast of louisiana? terrific. this is the giant container, the container dome that will be leaving port shortly. and here's the plan. the plan is to lower that container some 5,000 feet into the water off the coast of louisiana, chad. right? >> it looks like they cut the bottom off of a milk carton. now they're going to put the milk carton over a hose and try and get all that stuff. it's going to work because the oil is going to float to the top of that box and they're going to vacuum it off. >> okay. fingers crossed. we need it to work. we really need it to work. >> it better work. >> chad is back at the top of the hour. down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking, maybe... we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ]

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