. >> to even imply that i don't support the united states coast guard or any other military members or their families is absolutely silly and ridiculous. i do believe that we are almost $18 trillion in debt in this country and if the united states coast guard commandant only asks to build two cutters than that of the amounts they should be appropriated when the request comes to the u.s. senate. we are in a crisis in our debt. to people in louisiana deserve it so they can have long-term sustainability. >> thank you. >> his first photo will be for harry reid. harry reid has turned the senate into a rubber stamp for barack obama. >> we are $17 trillion in debt. she would be shoving coast guard cutters down there for? >> i am the chair of the committee and the fact of the matter is the coast guard is desperate for these boats. the president of the united states undercut the coast guard budget and i restored the money on the condition of the president -- over the condition of the president because sometimes i don't agree with him. i have tried to represent louisiana plus interests 100% of t

coast guard mayday... [narrator] we are the coast guard foundation and we support our united states coast guard.ide scholarships and grants to help make college dreams a reality. we provide equipment and gear to promote fitness and health. and when the unthinkable happens, we're there providing relief to families of the fallen. go to coast guard foundation dot org to help support coast guard members and their families. >>> welcome back. from the big screen to the small screen, and now broadway, kiki palmer continues to dazzle audiences with the impossible. let's take a look. ♪ kiki palmer is breaking broadway records, but her appearance as cinderella that has people looking. ♪ >> when i think about cindere a cinderella, it's interesting, i think about my nieces and i think they look at cinderella as that blond hair -- >> totally. >> white, so the fact that you now are the first african american cinderella, tell us what's that experience like. >> on that sample, unbelievable because literally one time i came out, ran out, the beginning of the show is cinderella comes out, prologue, and i'm lookin

united states. i was hired by the united states coast guard to help write the regulations for the country. and so there i am sitting in washington, dc 20 years later after seeing this oil spill, writing the regulations, the oil pollution regulations for the united states. i have to say that i believe that we all have that possiblity, that journey, inside ourselves, that if we do the things that our heart says to do, that we are going to make a difference and we are going to change the world. >> hinojosa: so is that the lesson? i mean, you said that when you first started walking, you wanted people to kind of start walking with you. >> yeah. >> hinojosa: so should we... you know, should... i took a vow of silence for about a day. it was a lot of fun. it was before i had kids. i've never stopped using transport. is that your message, "do like me"? >> well, there are a lot of people out there who are giving up riding in their automobiles particularly young people. >> hinojosa: i know, and that's kind of... did you ever... i mean, in a sense you're such a visionary, because now people really a

that is exactly what happened during world war ii when the united states coast guard used about 13 acres of land as a training base. 00 coast guard men and women trained here during the second world war. specializing in shipboard security and firefighting. i had the pleasure of interviewing a lot of these world war ii vets. i would ask them what they remember most. almost all of them to a person, they say, i remember seeing the "star-spangled banner" waving over the fort. and how we had to change into our class a uniform spirit every morning when the colors were hoisted in every evening when the colors were taken down. it shows you the impact of the stars & stripes on the world war ii generation. and the way that the stars and stripes stood as a symbol of democracy triumphant. you see that here in a way "life" the image on magazine, the imagery of the flag and the events that happened here and during the war of 1812 inspired another generation of americans many years later. so in a way, the visitors are still writing the chapters of fort mchenry's history. visiting fort mchenry is part o

united states every year and that is certainly an issue that many politicians deal with, some risk their lives by taking boats from their home countries. with exclusive access, cnn rode with the u.s. coast guardn the florida straits and witnessed dramatic rescues. >> we got eyes on them. >> a dramatic scene plays out in the florida straits. >> i got them. >> a united states coast guard plane spots this small boat packed with 29 cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> the nordel is coming on scene. >> the groups leader refused to cooperate when the boat arrives to help. the group gives up and gives in. joining the growing number of migrants rescued while making this dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest migration levels that we've seen from cuba and haiti the past five years. >> roughly 10,000 have been found in this past year. the biggest spike, cubans who's numbers have doubled sips the government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. >> you have to be pretty desperate to go in open water and try to make it. it's very dangerous. >> most of it is economic. they are looking for a better way of life.

coast guard to get a firsthand look at the crisis. >> we got eyes on them. >> a dramatic scene plays out in the florida straits. >> i got them. >> a united states coast guard spots this small boat packed with 29 cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> the norvel is coming on scene. >> yet when the coast guard cutter arrives to help, the group's leader refuses to cooperate when the boat arrives to help. the group gives up and gives in. joining the growing number of migrants rescued while making this dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest migration levels that we've seen from cuba and haiti the past five years. >>> >> roughly 10,000 have been found in this area just this past year. the biggest spike, cubans who's numbers have doubled sips the government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. >> you have to be pretty desperate to go in open water and try to make it. it's very dangerous. >> most of it is economic. they are looking for a better way of life. >>> this person is the commanding officer of the norvel. >> this is the front line of coast guard operations. thi

in a cnn exclusive, our alina went along with the coast guard to get a firsthand look at the crisis. >> i got them sgroosh a united statesard plane spots the small boat packed with 29 cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> it's coming on scene. >> yet, when the coast guard cutter margaret norvelle arrives to help, the group's leader refuses to cooperate. >> noncompliant and claiming they are entering -- over. >> eventually the group gives up and gives in. joining the growing number of mi grants rescued while making this dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest high gregs level that is we've seen from cuba and haiti in the past five years. >> roughly 10,000 mi grants have been found in this area just this year. that's more than 3,000 than the year before. the biggest spike? cubans, whose numbers have doubled since the castro government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. >> you would have to be pretty desperate to jump -- to go into open water and just try to make it, no? >> yeah, it is. >> it's dangerous. it's very dangerous.

. >> to even imply that i don't support the united states coast guard or any other military members or their families is just absolutely silly and ridiculous. but i do believe that we're almost $18 trillion in debt in this country and if the united states coast guard commandant only asks to build two coast guard cutters, then that's the dollar amount that they should be propose rated for when the request comes to the u.s. senate before the president signs it. because we are in a crisis level in our debt and the people of louisiana deserve that so that they can have long-term, sustainable jobs that aren't tied to government contracts. >> thank you, colonel. congressman cassidy? >> senator landrieu's first vote will be for harry reid for senate majority leader. harry reid has turned the senate into a rubber stamp for barack obama approving his agenda. if you love barack obama's agenda, vote for senator landrieu. she is going to vote for harry reid. he will make sure the senate enforces that. >> senator, gosh. we're $17 trillion in debt. should we be shoving coast guard cutters down their

coast guard to get a first-hand look at the crisis. >> we got eyes on them. >> reporter: a dramatic scene plays out in if florida straits. >> i got them. >> reporter: a united statesne spot this is small boat packed with 29 cubans, including several women and at least one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> they're coming on scene. >> reporter: yet when the coast guard cutter arrives to help, the group's leader refuses to cooperate. >> being non-compliant and claiming they are en route back to cuba. >> reporter: eventually the group gives up and gives in. >> they got them now. >> reporter: joining the growing number of migrants rescued while making this dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest migration levels we've seen from cuba and haiti in the past five years, i roughly 10,000 migrants have been found in this area just this year. that's more than 3,000 than the year before. the biggest spike? cubans whose numbers have doubled since the castro government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. >> you have to be pretty desperate to go into open water and just try to make it, no? >> it is. >> reporter: it's dangerous,

there's an ice and snow center, which is important for navigational reasons to the united states coast guard and navy. they're partners in one of the noaa systems that go into this weather service overarching system. so there are points on which these things intersect. the degree to which the firewalls that are there separate them once you get a little bit i side the system is not something i know, but there's certainly connections at least on the public side of it -- >> the interpretation of it is this could be one of those instance where is they just are jealous and want to create one of these for themselves. and so they're going to go in there as they've done before, and try to figure it all out and copy it. >> and perhaps somebody looked at something and misread what they were looking at. that's not the evidence that we have on that, but it would be even the more innocent explanation. >> yeah. thank you very, very much for joining us. >> you're welcome. thanks. >> thank you. coming up, why former republican congressman tom tancredo wants to stop chris christie from becoming president. an

. >> reporter: a united states coast guard plane spots this boat packed with 29 cubans including several one young boy. the boat is taking on water. >> so it is coming on scene. >> reporter: yet, when the coast guard cutter arrives to help, the group's leader refuses to cooperate. >> they're claiming they're entering. rl eventually the group gives up and gives in. >> they got them now. >> reporter: joining the growing number of migrants rescued while making this dangerous and deadly journey to the u.s. >> we've been seeing the highest migration levels that we've seen from cuba and haiti in the past five years. >> reporter: roughly 10,000 migrants have been found in this area just this year. that's more than 3,000 than the year before. the biggest spike, cubans whose numbers have doubled since the castro government lifted travel restrictions in 2012. you have to be pretty desperate to go into open water and just try to make it, no? >> yeah, it s. >> reporter: it's dangerous, very dangerous. >> most of it is economic. you know, they're looking for a better way of life. >> reporter: this li

award, awarded to him for his unwavering support of the brave men and women serving in the united states coast guard. when i arrived at the ceremony, i wasn't surprised to find the committee room packed from wall to wall. seating was scarce and there was hardly any standing room left. for supporters. everyone was there to show support and appreciation for our good friend, howard. just as he had been there to show support and appreciation over the years to all of us. while speaking at the ceremony, admiral pat shared some words of advice howard once gave him. always take care of your shipmates. howard, you have truly embodied this piece of advice through your service in congress, especially when taking care of your constituents. you have always taken care of each of us, your shipmates, through both your dedicated service and loyal friendship. on a personal note, i have had the incredible honor of following howard in representing brandoff re and counties in district two and i must say, you are truly loved and respected and i have very ig shoes to continue to fill. your retirement marks the end of an e

. >>> more now on the immigration debate, and coast guard officials say the number of immigrants coming to the united states from cuba, for example, hit a five-year high. it can be a treacherous journey. 9 other miles by boat or raft from cuba to the florida keys. 3,000 cubans have been caught at sea this past year alone. phil keeting is in key west. >> last fiscal year, thousand cubans made it from the communist island, setting few in the florida. it's been 40 years since the wet foot dry foot rowell, if you put your foot on stand you get to stay. we went on the high seas in the florida straits with the u.s. coast guard counter raymond evanss, and the crew told us everytime they are going out for patrols, they are finding cubans adrift at sea every trip. during our trip they rescued these four cubans, engine broke, no foot food and water, floating three three days. they were sent back to cuba and even though it's 90 miles from key west to cuba, you cannot see land. it's open seas. it's improbable any of these moment made boats can make it to florida but some do. >> the highest level in five years. what tha

united states. >> reporter: with the faa's blessing, the video camera-equipped drone will be launched from an old airstrip at the u.s. coast guard center in cape may. >> this video feed is coming from their location. >> reporter: researchers from the new jersey institute of technology in newark will use the flights to test tools. >> i have all the atlantic city casinos on here. >> reporter: aimed at improving how emergency workers respond to catastrophes, like superstorm sandy, one way by providing aerial views to quickly pinpoint who needs help. >> during a response, time is critical. >> reporter: other tests will involve emergency communications. if cell service went out on a barrier island during a crisis, experts say a drone could be used to relay a cell signal to responders on the mainland miles away. >> it allows the uas -- >> flying the drone requires training and experience. in fact, no one can operate it without a private pilot's license. >> basically what we set up here is a cockpit. >> reporter: the aircraft is controlled from inside this mobile operations center. the upcoming flights have sparked privacy concerns fro

united states. >> reporter: with the faa's blessing, the video camera equipped drone will be launched from an old airstrip at the u.s. coast guard training center in cape may. >> this video feed is coming from their location. >> reporter: researchers from the new jersey institute of technology in newark will use the flights to test tools. >> i have all the atlantic city casinos on here. >> reporter: aimed at improving how emergency responders respond to catastrophes like superstorm sandy, one way providing aerial views to quickly pinpoint who needs help. >> during a response, time is critical. >> reporter: other tests will involve emergency communication. if cell service went out on a barrier island during a crisis, experts say a drone could be used to relay a cell signal to responders on the mainland miles away. >> it allows the uas to fly to the cell tower. >> reporter: flying the drone requires training and experience. in fact, no one can operate it without a private pilot's license. >> basically what we set up here is a cockpit. >> reporter: the aircraft is controlled from inside this mobile operations center. the upcoming f

coast guards men. chris. >> so many of you have shared pictures and tributes using the hashtag cbs3. heidi saying happy veterans day to her husband who served five years in the united statescoming to us from bit see j saying thanks to all who served and sacrificed for our freedom especially her grandfather who is here and her mother. let's go down to lance sending out thanks to antonio gonzalez for his service and finally sometimes the shortest simplest messages are the defendant. tracy simply saying my favorite veteran my dad. there is still time to honor your favorite veteran. post those photos on facebook or twitter and use the hashtag cbs3. >> any day now a ferguson grand jury could reach a decision on whether to indict the police officer who shot and killed teenager michael brown. today missouri's governor outlined law enforcement plans to deal with any unrest following the announcement. brown was shot and killed by officer darren wilson on august 9th. governor nixon says state and local police will work as one unified command and the national guard will also be available if needed. >> well, a close encounter is caught on camera. still to come here on "eyewitness new