[Whitfield:] All right, oil prices have settled at record highs every day this week. And once again, crude hit an all-time high today. That sending stocks in the opposite direction. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with more details on that. Susan?
[Susan Lisovicz, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Fredricka. Well, oil prices topped $126 a barrel about an hour ago. Wondering about $125 a barrel. You may have missed it because oil blew past that level overnight while you were sleeping. The weak U.S. dollar is certainly once again a culprit. As Europe has indicated, it is going to hold interest rates at high levels, which means that there's more pressure on the dollar and more money going into oil. Also there is a report from "The Wall Street Journal" that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is establishing closer ties to Columbia rebels. That could heighten the chance of the U.S. with imposed sanctions on one of its biggest oil suppliers. And then there's your basic supply and demand issues. The majority of economists surveyed by the journal blamed rising demand in China and India, not speculative buying, supply disruptions are also cited as a factor. Are there enough culprits in there for you? Fred and Tony?
[Whitfield:] Yes. I guess this means no pull back in price.
[Lisovicz:] Not necessarily. I mean, these same economists, Fred, say prices will fall to $93 by the end of the year. That's still a lot higher than we saw at the beginning of last year. Oil executives agree in a separate KPMG survey. More than half of them say oil prices will fall below $100 by years' end. We all know that while oil prices surge, stocks are affected as well. And they usually go in the opposite direction. We also have a double whammy, because the largest insurer in nation, AIG reported a quarterly loss of nearly $8 billion. It says it will raise $12.5 billion in capital to try to shore up its balance sheets. Its stock is pressuring the DOW 30. Its shares are falling more than six percent. Right now, the DOW off the session lows, down 80 points. NASDAQ composite, meanwhile, is down four points. Here's the takeaway. It is Friday.
[Harris:] Yes.
[Lisovicz:] It is Friday. And it is Mother's Day on Sunday, Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] Yes, that's right.
[Lisovicz:] And you, you are going to be celebrated as
[Whitfield:] That's true. I will, indeed. All right, hanks, Susan.
[Lisovicz:] See you in the next hour.
[Whitfield:] All right. Thanks so much. All right, well, patience at the pump for a bargain.
[Unidentified Female:] We've been waiting for about 45 minutes in line here for the price of $3.55 which I can't believe actually makes me happy right now.
[Whitfield:] I know. I can't either. But $3.55, yes, that is considered cheap these days, isn't it. Sign of the times in the
[Newsroom. Harris:] A dream denied. U.S. families looking to adopt from Vietnam are facing a roadblock. CNN's Zain Verjee has the story.
[Laura Teresinski, Adoptive Mother:] This is the nursery that we set up for the baby that we hope to adopt.
[Zain Verjee, Cnn State Department Correspondent:] The perfect nursery. But a baby for Laura may never arrive from Vietnam. That's because an adoption agreement between Washington and Hanoi is falling apart. [on camera]: How did you feel when you learned about what was happening?
[Teresinski:] We were my husband and I were absolutely devastated.
[Verjee:] A State Department warns of serious adoption irregularities in Vietnam, forged documentation, mothers paid, coerced or tricked into giving up their children.
[Michelle Bond, Dep. Asst. Secretary Of State:] One child stolen from his mother is one too many.
[Verjee:] The Vietnamese government denies the U.S. accusations and has slammed the door on adoptions September 1st. Last year, more than 800 children from Vietnam were adopted by parents like Laura here in the
[U.s. Linda Brownlee, Adoption Center Of Washington:] It's hard. It's hard to let go. Because we know we can advocate to these children and we can make a real difference.
[Verjee:] Private adoption agencies insist that 99 percent of Vietnam adoptions are problem-free and want the agreement to stay.
[Brownlee:] Without it, I think children are going to be harmed. They are going to die needlessly and there is going to be trafficking.
[Verjee:] Similar fraud and corruption problems exist in Guatemala where adoptions have also been suspended. The State Department says it sympathizes with families but
[Bond:] No American family wants to adopt a child that was never truly an orphan. And that has a family in Vietnam wondering what happened to him or her.
[Verjee:] Laura understands but she is still angry at them.
[Teresinski:] Adoptive parents have put a lot of emotional energy and a lot of financial resources into the process.
[Verjee:] Including writing a personal letter to the Vietnamese government.
[Teresinski:] We will make sure that our children receive the best education that they grew up with a strong sense of pride in their Vietnamese heritage.
[Harris:] The State Department says the current agreement with Vietnam can't be extended because it simply hasn't worked. They say the U.S. will work with Vietnam to see how the two countries can move forward.
[Whitfield:] Slamming the southeast.
[Unidentified Male:] They actually came out of nowhere. It's just all of a sudden we've seen the lightning and then we just thought it was a regular storm. And it just hit at one time and just out of nowhere.
[Whitfield:] Wow, tornadoes just reaping through several states and with deadly results.