Stowaways Possibly in Shipping Containers at Port Newark; Drug War on Minds of Mexicans As Presidential Election Nears.
PHILLIPS: Illegal immigration is a hot topic across the country. And a drama is unfolding right now in a New Jersey port. Immigration agents got a call from Port Newark this morning. It appears that someone heard sounds coming from inside one cargo container that arrived there and suspected stowaways were inside. Mary Snow is in Newark. Mary, have they actually opened the container yet?</s>MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this is what we have confirmed, that some of the containers have been opened. They said, so far, they haven't found anything yet. What we've been told by the Coast Guard</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks to our affiliate WABC there. You can see you've got kind of a bird's-eye view of what's taking place there at the port on the ground. You see exactly what Mary Snow was talking about. We are going to follow what WABC is able to get a connection to there. And check in with Mary on developments on the possible stowaways there coming possibly from Pakistan, India. We will let you know. Well, imagine the outcry here in this country if some 50,000 people have been killed in just five years. Well, that's the reality of Mexico's drug war. And there's no end in sight, as the country is preparing to vote in next month's presidential election. We've got the latest now from our Rafael Romo.</s>RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wasn't just the fact that there was another shooting. What made headlines was that it happened at Mexico's largest airport, during the busiest time of the morning.</s>LISBETTE VELAZQUEZ, WITNESS (through translation): We were really very confused. We didn't know whether the attackers were people dressed as police officers or if it was a fight among real police officers.</s>ROMO: Officials say the attackers were federal police who opened fire on fellow officers, investigating them for drug trafficking. President Felipe Calderon says a corrupt police force is one of his greatest challenges.</s>FELIPE CALDERON, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (through translation): Are the fragility and vulnerability of police and prosecutors in a good portion of the country made Mexico incapable of defending itself and it also allowed corruption and the power of criminals to grow exponentially.</s>ROMO: Calderon's administration, ending in December, has been defined for his crackdown in organized crime, a crusade that has had mixed results. (on camera): On the one hand, the president says his government has captured 22 of the 37 most-wanted criminals in Mexico. On the other hand, his critics say, drug violence has left more than 50,000 people dead since he took office.</s>JORGE CASTANEDA, FORMER MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Some people think President Calderon was right in being atypical and declaring a war that no one had declared before. And some people, like myself, feel that he made an enormous mistake, a costly mistake in human lives, in jobs, in security for people.</s>ROMO: In the last five years, Mexicans have seen catapults tossing drugs across the border, hitmen shooting from armed trucks with tourists --</s>ROMO: -- plenty of gun fights between security forces and criminals, and gruesome murders, including hanging bodies and beheadings. President Calderon suggests criminals are lashing out like a beast. The future, he says, is at stake.</s>CALDERON (through translation): We're leaving behind a fundamental legacy for Mexicans. A Mexico where criminals can no long act without impunity. A Mexico where they are prosecuted, face prosecution and justice and pay for their crimes.</s>ROMO: Mexicans go to the polls on July 1st to choose a new president. The four candidates battling for the job have not specified how and if they will pursue the war on drugs that Calderon started.</s>PHILLIPS: Interesting that you mentioned that the elections are July 1st, but why won't they talk about specifics with security?</s>ROMO: Well, the answers have been long, but the specifics very, very short. One thing they have said is that it is time to change the strategy. It is time to take the army out of the streets and put it back in barracks and use the federal police to do law enforcement work against the drug cartels. Whether they will actually apply that or not once the new government takes over on December 1st, is an entirely different matter.</s>PHILLIPS: For decades we have talked about the corruption within politics, within the police force, within the military, but it is interesting, because this is where you grew up and although still there is a long way to go, you have witnessed over the years a difference.</s>ROMO: There is a difference. The ruling party, the PRI, the government of Mexico over 71 years and during that regime, I would like the call it that, it was difficult to do anything, because it was not truly a democracy. The fight against organized crime was not really there. Many analysts say that the government was just looking the other way. President Calderon decided to change course and face this battle head-on. That is what he did, but the critics say it is not working the way he intended.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, it is a tremendous problem, and it will be interesting to see what happens come July. You will be following it for us? Yes?</s>ROMO: Yes, I will be there in Mexico City.</s>PHILLIPS: Will you actually be there? That's what I thought. All right. Good. We will talk about it then, Rafael.</s>ROMO: Thanks.</s>PHILLIPS: Thank you so much. It is not a distinction that a city would ever brag about, but Sunday, Stockton will become the largest U.S. city to go broke. That is when the California city is expected to file for bankruptcy protection. The city manager says a special budget was approved yesterday amid a $26 million budget deficit. Under the plan, the city will be able to continue paying employees, vendors and service providers. Last year, Jefferson County, Alabama, filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, with a debt of $4.2 billion.