everyone. ever since faisal shahzad was arrested in the times square bombing attempt, one big question has been where did he get the money to finance the operation? broke and unemployed, he still came up with cash to pay for the s.u.v. and that plane ticket to down. today, in the search for answers, federal agents staged seven raids in four northeastern states and made three arrests. details now from justice correspondent bob orr. >> reporter: f.b.i. agents converged on multiple locations chasing the money trail behind the botched times square attack. suspect faisal shahzad has told interrogators that he had some help paying for his plot and used private money transfer businesses called hawalas, to get cash from pakistan. icpakistan. hawalas like these use very little paperwork. the cash goes literally hand to hand and is often delivered by curriers for a fee. since there are few records, hawalas are frequently used by terrorists to move money. source say shahzad claims he obtained a few thousand dollars in cash last month from a money exchange in new york and two spots on long island were among the locations searched. agents also hit two locations in new jersey and two more in massachusetts. >> i looked out the window, and there were several police officers, people with f.b.i. jackets on and a lot of people with guns. >> reporter: three men were arrested on immigration violations and are now being questioned by the f.b.i. officials say the three had some contact with shahzad and apparently provided him with cash. but investigators caution it's not clear if the three knew about shahzad's plot and say it's possible they helped him unwittingly. in any wais, attorney general eric holder says the arrests and the searches single no new danger. >> the searches are the product of evidence that has been gathered in the investigation since the attempted times square bombing, and do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the united states. >> reporter: holder also repeated his earlier claim, linking shahzad's attack to the pakistani taliban. pack taken officials have said they see no hard evidence that shahzad was connectedly to the terror group, but source tell cbs news the evidence is compel. u.s. officials say they can place shahzad at a pakistani training camp and his story claiming connections to known terrorists is proving to be tr true. sources tell cbs news, investigators still have not found any conclusive evidence that shahzad had any u.s. coconspirator. katie. >> couric: bob, what were some of the key items that authorities found today? >> reporter: it could be very important. they found some computers, some paper files, handwritten notes. they're hoping, of course, some of that material will verify shahzad's account but beyond that they have immigration charges over the heads of these three guys which they can use as rench to get some cooperation so we'll see where it goes. katie. >> couric: bob orr at the justice department tonight. in the gulf of mexico tonight, b.p. will make another attempt to get control of the oil leak which has grown to about four million gallons now. meanwhile, more than three weeks after that oil rig exploded, a sea captain is now telling the story of how his crew rescued more than 100 workers. mark strassmann has some exclusive report. >> reporter: moments after the rig first exploded, you can hear the roar. in this exclusive video shot by a crewman and obtained by cbs news. it's the sound of escaping gas feeding the fireball insenerating the deepwater horizon. >> may day, may day, may day. rig's on fire. abandoning ship. >> reporter: captain landry's supply ship was stationed alongside the rig. >> i was on the bridge in this area. >> reporter: a rain of mud had suddenly showered landry's ship, the well blowout beginning. then, boom. >> a giant fireballs, a few secondary explosions, personnel mustering those, jumping. >> reporter: jumping 70 feet. the rig lost power. a general alarm sounded. the bangston pulled away to safety, fleeing a rig erupting into catastrophe. >> it was a really, really tense situation. >> reporter: in all, landry's crew rescued 115 people. >> it was very, very intense. that was one of my most nervous points was watching my crew go into the situation, the heat intensities, the fire and water spreading. >> reporter: as the rig burned on the left, coast guard helicopters airlifted the injured to shore, four of them critically hurt but alive. >> i couldn't be more proud of a crew in a situation like this. they performed wonderfully. >> reporter: and saved a lot of lives. >> that they did. >> reporter: two days later, as we all now know, the rig collapsed and this environmental crisis began. there's a new possible fix by b.p. to talk about tonight, a threaded tube into the underground leaking pipe and suck the oil to the surface, the equivalent of a mile-long straw. it could be here by tonight, katie, and in place as soon as tomorrow. >> couric: mark, that's yet another idea to stop the massive flow of oil. whatever happened to the so-called top hat plan? >> reporter: still out there, katie. in fact a b.p. official just told us the company hasn't decided what to try next, the tube or the top hat already on the sea floor, just has to be moved into place. the top hat, the same basic principle-- it is a containment boch, you trap the oil on the surface, funnels it up to a surface ship. what's happening here, katie, is they're throwing a lot of different fixes at this thing hoping one of them is going to work. >> couric: all right, mark strassmann, mark, thanks very much. another rig sank into the sea this this morning, this time off the coast of swrns the state-owned energy company was drilling for natural gas when the rig tipped over. all 95 workers were safelily evacuated. the well was sealed and no gas escaped. in this country, the uproar continues over yoors' new immigration law. the commissioner of major league baseball today brushed off calls from latino groups to move next year's all-star game out of phoenix. but bill whitaker reports, the boycott of arizona is spreading. >> reporter: for every action in nature there's an opposite reaction, so, too, in politics. the city of los angeles, the latest to react strongly to arizona's tough new anti-illegal immigration law. >> that is approved. >> reporter: city council voted yesterday to ban city travel to arizona, ban future contracts with arizona businesses, and to check whether $58 million in existing contracts can be broken legally. >> we have to act swiftly and strongly. >> reporter: council man hue a grandfather helped to build city hall as a mexican guest worker in the 1920s. >> we fear what arizona did will continue to spread to other states. >> reporter: a growing number of states and municipalities are boycotting or considering boycotting arizona, push the state to repeal the law. highlight park high school in chicago's suburbs is pulling its champion girls' basketball team from a tournament in arizona because of the law. arizona's tourism board estimates it's losing $90 million to boycotts already. the state has become the butt of jokes. >> but can my accent, i was worried they were going to deport me back to austria. >> reporter: still, a expwhroofort americans, 59%, according to a pew poll out this week, support the arizona law, requiring everyone to produce proof of citizenship when asked by police. in fact, 16 states are considering legislation similar to arizona's. state senator russell pearce wrote the controversial law. >> arizona spend $3 billion a year to educate medicaid and incarcerate illegal aliens. it is a serious problem. >> reporter: and a serious challenge to arizona's image and pocketbook but so far arizona stands willing to pay the price for its actions. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >> couric: here in new york city today, president obama visited the police department's realtime crime center and praised the police for their quick response to the times square bombing attempt. will be earlier in the day, he traveled to a metal manufacturing plant in buffalo to push his jobs plan. but elaine quijano reports some of the city's unemployed have a few choice words of their own about the job market. >> i need a freaking job. i need a freaking job. i need a freaking job. >> reporter: in a blunt message delivered on youtube... >> hey, i need a freaking job! >> reporter: some of buffalo, new york's unemployed hoped to grab president obama's attention. the video is part of a campaign started by a 48-year-old unemployed businessman. >> it's aimed at nothing more than really trying to readjust the national focus. >> reporter: jeff maker came up with the idea after his small family-run textile business folded more than a year ago. >> the american families aren't sitting around the kitchen table saying, "geez, i hope the unemployment situation improves soon, hone." they're look at each other scared to death being like, "i need a freaking job." >> reporter: baker hopes to create a nationwide movement, untouched, he said by political operatives and aimed largely at young people. young adults face the worst job market on record with one out of 6 unemployed, more than 2.6 million young people nationwide looking for work. >>y like living here. but that's the problem. am i going to be able to find a job here when i graduate? >> reporter: president obama acknowledged those fears, saying many americans may not be feeling the recovery but, he insisted, it is happening. >> we can say beyond a shadow of a doubt today we are headed in the right direction. >> reporter: but that's not how things look to jeff baker. he wants to see results in his home town. >> i need a freaking job. >> reporter: elaine quijano, cbs news, buffalo, new york. >> couric: it's one of the most famous movie lines of all time-- "if you build it they will come" from "field of dreams." universal built it, a ballfield in an iowa cornfield, and since the movie, tourists have come, but now, the current owners are putting the property up for sale. if it's your dream to buy it, the field will cost you $5.4 million. and still ahead on the cbs evening news, we first met this homeless boy a year ago. in a moment, we'll tell you why his life is so much brighter these days. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm. 6 years. i've had asthma forever. i never knew why my asthma symptoms kept coming back... ...kept coming back... ...or that i could help prevent them in the first place. the problem was that my controller medicine... ...was treating only 1 main cause of asthma symptoms. but there are 2. airway constriction. and inflammation. unlike most controllers, advair treats both main causes. advair treats both main causes. and that helps prevent symptoms in the first place. 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'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. we asked real people to film themselves taking the activia 14-day challenge. hi. i'm emily ilic. i'm going to start the activia 14-day challenge today. problems that i have are, you know, irregularity... i do have some doubts if it works. i think it's really good. um... i like the flavors. i think from being a skeptic in the beginning i do think that activia actually works. help regulate your digestive system. take the activia challenge. it works or it's free. ♪ activia >> couric: the recession has been seen as an adult problem, men and women on the unemployment line, husbands and wives losing their homes. but it's also having a major impact on children. 1.5 million are homeless, that's one out of every 50. tonight, chief national correspondent byron pitts catches up with two children of the recession. >> reporter: it is through the lives of two boys we can see the progress the nation's economy has made this past year and the distance left to go. two boys who for a time were the best of friends, 11-year-old tristen clarke, and nine-year-old gus hernandez jr. >> me and him share the same life. and he understands me and i understand him. >> reporter: they are living here a year ago at the el dorado motel in salinas, california. they played together, shared the same risks. >> stop! stop! >> reporter: brought together by the hard knocks of the recession, job losses leaving both families homeless. a year ago, tristen and i talked. how's life for you, man? >> pretty bad because everything is gone down the drain. woe don't have enough money to pay. we can't afford food. >> reporter: at times, things felt pretty desperate. find the word for me. >> life and death. >> reporter: why are you thinking about things like that? >> because i gave up. last year, was hell on earth. >> reporter: what a difference a year makes. >> i just didn't think god had a plan for us then, and now i do. >> reporter: he does because his mother, rhonda, finally found a job as a salesperson after a long year of looking in a depressed area with high unemployment. >> i'm happy because i have a new life. >> reporter: his spirits and his grades are soared, too. although highs repeating the fifth grade, this year he's done so well, he'll be attending the junior national young leaders' conference in d.c., and it gets better. no longer does he sleep on that air mattress at the motel. now his walk home from school end at the doorstep of their own studio apartment. >> i've learned to keep myself hoping and to... keep dreaming. >> reporter: across town, gus hernandez jr. is still at the motel with his family. >> hopefully, he's going to take this as a learning experience. >> reporter: it is a hard lesson now facing even more children here in salinas. according to the latest statistics, the number of homeless children seeking help in salinas, come, jumpe jumped m 308 last year to 425 so far this year. one reason-- while the national unemployment rate has stayed level at nearly 10%, unemployment rose in salinas from 14.8% last year to 16.8% this year. gus' father, gus sr, is still working at the motel and picked up a side job as a handyman. >> this allows me to come up with extra cask. >> reporter: the toll on the family has been immeasurable. last year, gus jr. had frequent outbursts, was doing poorly in school. this year, his grade have improved but being a child and homeless is still page painefully difficult. as gus told me last year, friend from the motel had are hard to keep. what do they say when they go, do they stay good-bye? >> no. >> reporter: they never stay long. do you remember tristen? >> no. >> reporter: you don't remember tristen? he was a boy who live lived heru played with last year. you guys were buddy last year. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: but friend come and go here, i guess. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: how is that for you? >> i think it's harder to find new friends. >> reporter: because you make a friend, they move away. >> yeah. >> reporter: here you go. that's why i carry these with me. my hanker chief. i asked him about losing friends, how people move away. and that seemed to make him sad. >> yeah, i think mental overall he's adjusted to moving forward, but the fact is, we're here. >> reporter: and snow are more than 20 other families. since our report a year ago, the city of salinas and community volunteers have joined forces, mentoring gus and over two dozen other homeless children in the motel's new community room. it's a hopeful sign. >> who's going to give me hugs and kisses. >> reporter: tonight, nine-year-old gus hernandez jr. will go to sleep at the motel again, hopeful that more change come. for now, he and his family have little else. >> lights are off. good night. >> reporter: byron pitts, cbs news, salinas, california. >> couric: meanwhile, an 11-year-old girl in hattiesburg, mississippi, knows a penny here and a pen thre can really add up. to raise money for an animal shelter, anna claire walker asked schoolmates to save their pennies and did they ever. 1900 pound of pennies, nearly it will 3,000 worth. and today, four pickup trucks hauled it to the bank before the same amount can be sent to the shelter. wasn't my daughter's cabbage appetizer spectacular? 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[ inhales deeply ] i told my allergy symptoms to take a hike. omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for $11 at omnaris.com. >> couric: the president of afghanistan meade a poignant visit today to national cemetery. hamid karzai was accompanied by defense secretary robert gates and top military officials. he walked slowly among the headstones in section 60, the final resting place for some of the americans who died fighting for his country. more now about the miracle survivor of yesterday's plane crash in libya. the nine-year-old dutch boy reportedly was found strapped in his seat, a half mile from the tail section. he hasn't bye-bye told yet his parents and older brother were among the 103 who died, but when relatives came to the hospital today, he did recognize them and managed to smile. in china, a convicted killer was awarded $96,000 today after serving 11 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. in fact, there was no crime. the man he supposedly killed suddenly turned up alive. the convict claimed he'd been tortured into confessing. there is sad news on the funny peablgs. "little orphan annie" a fixture in newses since 1924 was canceled today. in its heyday, as many as 500 papers carried strip. now only 20 do. the final installment will run june 13. annie's final tomorrow is only a month away. and coming up next, the hot new fashion accessory that kids are snapping up. granola nut clusters from nature valley. 100% natural nuts and granola in bite sized clusters. it's a little bit of nature... a little bit better. and nature approves. granola nut clusters from nature valley. toi switched to a complete0, multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has gingko for memory and concentration plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's. ♪ [ male announcer ] what are you gonna miss when you have an allergy attack? benadryl® is more effective than claritin® at relieving your worst symptoms and works when you need it most. benadryl®. you can't pause life. called it "one of the best family cars of 2009." the insurance institute for highway safety calls it a 2010 top safety pick. with automatic crash response from onstar that can call for help, even when you can't. we call it peace of mind. a consumers digest best buy two years in a row, chevy malibu. may the best car win. >> couric: now an update on a story we told you about earlier this week. walgreen's is shelving plans to begin selling do-it-yourself d.n.a. kits. we were told they could predict your risk of everything from diabetes to cancer. but the f.d.a. says there's no proof they work. so there's proof that not every invention is a hit, but here's anthony mason with one that is. >> reporter: what are these things called? >> silly bandz! >> reporter: they're silicone bracelets that come in dozens of different shapes. >> dolphin rocks. >> reporter: and at about $5 a pack, stores can't keep them in stock. >> for a while they were just picking up the phone, "do you have the bandz? do you have the bandz?" >> reporter: does everybody in school have neez. >> oh, yeah. >> there was one girl who started wearing them and the next day everyone had them going up their arms. >> reporter: across the country a new arms race is on. >> i used to have 101. >> reporter: you used to have 101! >> my best friend lost her circulation and her wrist was hanging like that. >> reporter: have these become valuable? >> yes! >> reporter: especially to robert croak. >> looking good. >> reporter: he's the rubber band man who came up with the idea after seeing a similar product designed for japanese offices. his business has grown 10 times in the past six months. >> and every time we think we've got a handle on it, it just keeps growing. >> reporter: a year ago, croak was shipping 20 boxes a day from his toledo company. now it's up to 1500. that's millions of silly bandz every week. >> i definitely feel like i'm one of the luckiest guys alive, that's for sure. >> reporter: he's done it without advertise, the buzz spreading over the internet. silly bandz's facebook page has 166,000 friends. >> let's face it, in a tough economy, any parent can afford to spind $5 to get their kid something they want. >> reporter: what would you say to this guy who gave up with this idea? >> you're awesome and give me some of your money. >> reporter: a fortune from fancy rubber bands. nothing silly about that. anthony mason, cbs news, yonkers, new york. >> couric: and that's the cbs evening news for tonight. i'm katie couric. thanks for watching. i'll see you tomorrow. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs from the first local station with news in high- definition, this is 9news now. >> goo evening. tonight in your only local news at 7:00 p.m. 9news now is first on the scene when four students get taken to the hospital when sources say they were smoking pot. heartbreaking loss. a young mother losing control of her car killing her 2-year- old daughter. but first, here we go again. metro talking about fare hikes. i'm at the vienna metro where commuters are coming home to the realization that they will be facing an historic fare increase. the committee voted and now we are just waiting for the vote of the board. mostly urban bus riders will see