Tropical Storm Alex Moves Inland; Battle Over Immigration Reform; Turning Point Along the Border
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what we're working on this morning. Monster waves, whipping wind, drenching rain. Alex slams ashore. And all that churning water could mean trouble for oil cleanup. A push for immigration reform. An estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the U.S. This morning, the president making his case for a way forward. A former vice president, a masseuse, and a sex assault case reopened. What happened in Portland? Al Gore's people speaking out. And we begin with those heavy rains and tornadoes that are pounding south Texas as Hurricane Alex comes ashore. The season's first hurricane actually made landfall in northeastern Mexico with 100-mile- an-hour winds. Alex has weakened and it's moved inland. It is now a tropical storm. But still got the potential to trigger flashfloods and mudslides. Alex is also having an impact on the oil spill cleanup hundreds of miles away. Aftereffects of the storm could keep the skimming operation from resuming until this weekend. South Padre Island, Texas escaped the brunt of that storm but still took a pretty big hit. Reynolds Wolf is there -- Reynolds.</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, what we have here is still plenty of wind. The rain for the most part is gone. The waves continue to rock against the shores. Some of these things have just been monsters that have been coming along the coast here. The beach which used to stretch out towards the horizon, now the water is coming right up to the edge of these dunes covered by the sawgrass on which I'm standing. This could have been far worse. This could have been much worse. What I mean by that is if this storm to make landfall about -- about 100 miles to our south, in Mexico, if it had been out over the open water to the Gulf of Mexico for a couple of extra days, this could have been a major hurricane. To put things into perspective, plain and simple, this could have been, say, another Katrina, it could've been an Andrew, could have been Hugo. Possibly a Gustav, maybe even an Ike for that matter. But it didn't. It came onshore. All things considered, the damage was minimal. Here on the island -- South Padre Island -- there are times yesterday especially before it made landfall to the south but the water got up to about a foot in some places. There were a few scattered power outages back in Brownsville. They had issues with tornadoes. In fact, they had confirmed reports of two tornadoes causing minimal damage. Thankfully no injuries and there are reports of other tornadoes in the area which, believe it or not, not unusual when you have these tropical systems making landfall that rotation, around the center of circulation, can pretty create a little bit of a twist in the atmosphere and cause some of those thunderstorms to rotate into the tornadoes that we get. Flooding was a bit more of an issue over towards the Brownsville- Harlingen area. I can tell you the mayor there -- the city actually put out some 60,000 sandbags so they were well prepared for it. Quite a few more power outages out there, but as we speak people are getting ready to get power restored. I can also tell you that on the island, Kyra, the main bridge that goes across to the mainland, it was actually closed for two reasons. One, the winds exceeded 39 miles an hour which means no traffic either coming on or off the island. But there's a little something extra that happened. There were two light poles right in the very middle of the island, both of them pushed over by the wind. That blocked traffic and could have gone either way. Could have gone back and forth anyway. They were able to clear it now. Both lanes. Now the bridge is open so people will be coming over to see what's left of the island. And again, things here, all things considered, they are fine. A few places here and there, and some of the buildings, we had some tiles knocked out. Few places where, of course, we've had a little bit of sign damage. But other than that, they really lucked out. No question. Much better than how they fared back in 2005 -- rather 2008, 2008, with Hurricane Dolly. Cat 2 made a direct hit on South Padre Island. Let's send it back to you.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, appreciate it, Reynolds Wolf. Thanks so much. And Bonnie Schneider monitoring some tornado watches in effect for Texas. Is that right?</s>BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Kyra. You know we had a tornado watch early this morning that expired but then it was just reissued. Look at the thunderstorms slamming into south Texas. Coastal Louisiana. But it's the area of south Texas we're most concerned with. There is a tornado watch not just for this morning but this goes all the way until 8:00 tonight. And it means that we run the risk more tornadoes to touchdown than any time in this region. And it does include where Reynolds is in South Padre Island. Very strong thunderstorms and heavy rain. The flood watches also persist all the way to Mississippi. And that goes through this evening as well -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie, thanks so much. An alleged sex case against former Vice President Al Gore that came up four years ago is back in the spotlight. Portland police reopening an investigation into charges that Gore made, quote, "unwanted sexual contact", against a massage therapist in Portland in 2006. Listen to what the therapist told police in a prepared statement.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had the fear that rape would be inevitable if I could not get out of the room, yet I could see no way to immediately leave without it also being a risk to my safety.</s>PHILLIPS: Now back in 2006 Portland police determined there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against the Nobel Prize winner and former presidential candidate. CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin weighed in about this last night on "AC 360."</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: What's obviously very much disputed is what happened in the hotel room. She says that he made a series of sexual advances, short of rape but physically painful. She says she was in -- she had to get physical therapy for months afterwards because of injuries that she received. But she then managed to extricate herself from the room and eventually reported the crime. That's what -- what she says. What's disturbing about reporting on it is that the police have only released her statement, not all the things you would do if you were a police department investigating something like that. Corroborating evidence, other witnesses, DNA evidence. We don't know if any of that existed and/or which side it helped.</s>PHILLIPS: Now Gore denies the allegation and his spokeswoman issued this statement. Quote, "Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this allegation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial." As you may remember, the Gores announced their separation last month. The body of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd will lie in repose today in the U.S. Senate chamber. While inside the chamber the casket of the one-time Ku Klux clansman will rest atop the funeral that are built for the coffin of Abraham Lincoln. The nation's longest-serving lawmaker died Monday at the age of 92. Byrd's funeral is tomorrow in Charleston, West Virginia. Witnesses for and against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on tap to testify today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. You're watching live pictures now from the hearing room where senators finished their public questioning of Kagan yesterday. She will answer more questions privately today before the Senate committee sets a confirmation vote. The battle over immigration reform, next hour President Obama taking his case to the American people. He will speak at American University, the school with lots of students from around the world. He'll confront the politically volatile issue on a high-stakes election year. The president will call on Congress to pass reforms on securing the U.S. borders and dealing with the millions of immigrants who are already living here illegally. President Obama launching his initiative. And CNN's Jill Dougherty joins us from the White House. Jill, states already moving ahead with their own immigration policies. Has the president waited too long to take the lead?</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a good question. You know, it really is true that there is a lot of frustration out in the states, Kyra. And the frustration is that Congress really hasn't done much of anything for years. And with this -- they've kind of done their own thing. Arizona is the best example. It's the strongest example of that. And the administration is challenging that law which some consider draconian. In fact they could take that suit next week. Sorry, I hope you can hear me with all this noise, construction. But President Obama -- and you're going to hear this today undoubtedly -- says that that's not enough. Going after illegal immigrants is not enough. That you need comprehensive reform. And here's some of the points that we expect that he'll be getting into. One, he says basically it's accountability, responsibility. The government has to secure borders. Employers who hire illegal immigrants have to be held accountable and in some cases prosecuted. And then finally, dealing with the people in the country illegally, they have to pay their taxes. They have to come clean with the law, learn English, and then finally, get in line and apply for citizenship. So it's a hot button issue. But this is going to be another -- a push by the president. And as you mentioned, there are 11, maybe even 12 million people here illegally. So something does have to be done. We'll see if it does get done.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Jill Dougherty, we'll follow it. Thanks so much, Jill. Immigration reform has always been a hot button issue in the nation's border states. They, of course, are the frontlines of this battle. And the passions flared even more this past spring when an Arizona rancher was gunned down. Police say an illegal immigrant actually pulled the trigger. CNN's Casey Wian looks at the potential turning point in this debate. He's joining us now from Arizona -- Casey.</s>CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the death that you mentioned of rancher Rob Krentz earlier this year really galvanized residents of rural communities along Arizona's border with Mexico. Many say that they no longer feel safe in their own homes. And they are growing tired of waiting for the federal to secure the border.</s>WIAN (voice-over): Howard and Rosemary Hunt live 40 miles from the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona. In January they were tied up and robbed by two illegal immigrants. One wielding a machete. (</s>On camera): Is this where you had your first confrontation with him?</s>ROSEMARY HUNT, ARIZONA RESIDENT: Yes, standing right there.</s>HOWARD HUNT, ARIZONA RESIDENT: But I told him when he took her down, I said, you harm her and I'll kill your</s>R. HUNT: He wanted me to go in here. I got this far and I went --</s>R. HUNT: He said you -- you hit hard.</s>WIAN (voice-over): The intruders tied up the Hunts in this bedroom and fled in their vehicle. They were caught and sentenced to long prison terms. The Hunts feel fortunate to have escaped with their lives. The residents of this nearby house also escaped by selling their property and moving to Montana where we spoke with Terry Stoller via Skype.</s>TERRIE STOLLER, FORMER ARIZONA RESIDENT: We thought oh, my, you know, that could have been us.</s>WIAN: Then another neighbor, rancher Rob Krentz, was shot and killed by a suspected illegal immigrant.</s>STOLLER: When the rancher was killed, we knew we had to make a decision not to go back. It was no longer safe for us to be walking out on the ranches, hunting quail. We were not -- they would make quick work of us.</s>WIAN: Even though government statistics show a decrease in violent crime in cities near the southern border, rural border residents say drug and immigrant smugglers are a bigger threat than ever. Yet Chet Miller just bought the Stoller property and plans to move his family there.</s>CHET MILLER, ARIZONA RESIDENT: The violence is going to be here just like anywhere else. It's going to be here. And to me it's a better lifestyle for my family to be out in the country versus being in the city.</s>WIAN: We asked what these current and former Arizonans want President Obama to say about illegal immigration and border security.</s>MILLER: I'd like to hear him say that we are going to secure our borders first.</s>STOLLER: The only thing that would make us feel safe enough to go back is if the border were secured.</s>R. HUNT: If they come across the way they should and get their papers, fine. But this illegal stuff, no.</s>H. HUNT: The heck with the Afghanistan, the heck with Iraq, the heck with the rest of them. How about us?</s>WIAN: Frankly, no matter what the president says later this morning about immigration reform or border security, most residents here say they are skeptical that the federal government has either the ability or the will to actually stop smuggling along the border. Many people here say just a few years ago they felt safe enough to leave their homes unlocked, their cars unlocked. It's no longer the case -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Casey Wian, we'll follow the issue obviously all afternoon. Appreciate it. We're going to have live coverage also President Obama's speech from American University. It's scheduled to begin next hour 10:45 Eastern Time. Now turning to the Gulf oil disaster. It's day 73. Here's the latest. Today the Coast Guard will conduct an aerial survey to assess just how bad the storm's impact was. And some reinforcement in the cleanup effort is now there. The world's largest oil skimming ship called "The Whale" has arrived. It's the length of 3 1/2 football fields. Ten stories high. And will be able to suck up as much as 21 million gallons of oil per day. Plus the new head of the Gulf Coast disasters claims fund says that his top priority is to cut bigger checks to compensate claims victims. Instead of month-to-month emergency checks, Kenneth Feinberg plans to have his claims fund send out six-month lump sum payments. Just ahead, he calls the oil disaster a war. And he is helping battle it on the frontlines. Philippe Cousteau joins us in studio. Plus how do you know if you are at risk for getting Alzheimer's disease? We're going to tell you about a test that's considered the most reliable predictor yet.