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American Morning

Live Look at the Spill Pushed by Senator Bill Nelson; BP CEO on the Progress of "Top Kill" Operation to Plug the Oil Leak; Did Obama Dropped the Ball?; Waiting for BP to Start "Top Kill"; FDA Investigates Tylenol Recall

Aired May 26, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking this morning at a series of live pictures from underneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico right down there at the ocean bottom as BP prepares its so-called top kill operation where they going to be pumping thousands of tons of mud into the drill hole there in an attempt to stop this massive oil leak. The big question this hour is that top kill actually going to work.

Good morning to you and thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. It's Wednesday. It's the 26th of May from New York City. I'm John Roberts. Good morning, Kiran.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, John. I'm here in Grand Isle, Louisiana, this morning where hopes are high this will be successful.

Meanwhile, a lot of locals, especially those who make their living off the sea and studying wildlife and fisheries say some of the damage may already be done. It may be too late regardless of what happens today in the effort to cap the well.

But again, we're live here and the sun has come up on the shores where on a daily basis people come by and scoop up the oil and put it into bags and carry it away. And they are paying close attention to what goes on.

As we look at that live feed of the BP oil spill, a make or break moment at hand. In the next 10 to 12 hours we may know if this catastrophic oil spill can actually be stopped. BP's "top kill" operation as it's known, expecting to get underway this morning.

And again, we've been looking at live video of the oil gushing from the oil floor. BP plans to inject 50,000 pounds of thick mud into the well in an attempt to be able to stop it and eventually seal it by shooting concrete in after the mud.

The world, of course, is watching this operation, hundreds of miles of coast line covered in crude oil, and a way of life and wildlife all in jeopardy. If the top kill fails, this environmental disaster could continue unchecked for many more months.

That said, here's the latest on the oil spill this morning. BP is now admitting there were warning signs that were missed in the moments leading up to last month's oil rig explosion. BP investigators now are confirming to Congress that the company made a crucial, fundamental mistake by ignoring pressure spikes and fluid coming from the well's riser shortly before that blast.

That should have been seen as a warning sign that the blowout preventer might be malfunctioning. Meanwhile, the president will be turning up the heat on BP coming to see it firsthand and bashing the oil giant for its response to the disaster. He will be here along the Gulf coast on Friday and he's not exactly offering BP a vote of confidence.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are now having to do a thoroughgoing review to see how it is that oil companies say they know how to handle these problems when it turns out actually that they don't.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And according to investigators at the Interior Department, staff members that oversee what is going on, the offshore drilling, situation, there are questions about their conduct, accepted gifts and tickets to sporting events from the very energy companies they were supposed to be regulating.

This report goes on to say that employees at the Mineral Management Service, an agency under extreme fire because of this, used government computers to watch porn. One MMS reported being high on crystal meth while on the job.

So again, those are the latest headlines. And for a look at exactly what this top kill procedure entails, let's head back to John.

ROBERTS: We want to lay this all out this morning, Kiran, because we want to give a good explanation of what BP is trying to do. What you're looking at now here on the magic wall is one of the many live feeds.

The riser pipe as you can see on the ocean floor hasn't been fully explained what this particular picture is, whether or not that's the part connected to the blowout preventer. It's supposed to be lying on its side.

That's another part of the operation here for the top kill. That could actually be the bottom of the drill riser through which they are going to pump that mud.

But let's take a look at what's going to happen here with this top kill operation. This is the blowout preventer. What you see here is these rove units, remotely operated vehicles, connected up a couple of three-inch lines to the blowout preventer. What you're seeing injected in here is heavy drilling mud. It is twice as heavy as water. Water is heavier than oil. So the principle by which this happens, it's actually ships that will be pumping the mud down. They start the flow of this heavy mud into the blowout preventer and into the well itself.

And that should, if they can get the proper weight of mud to push down the oil here, as long as it's not coming up at too great a rate, and cap off of that well with the mud. Then they put in cement to permanently seal it.

The problem that they have here is the rate that that oil is coming up. If it's coming up at more than 1.6 million gallons per day that could be too much pressure coming up out of the well for that mud to go down and actually seal it off.

There's another risk that if they have the pressure of the mud going too high into the blowout preventer, depending on what the extent of damage is, that they could hurt the blowout preventer and could damage it further, which may actually increase the flow of oil coming out of the well.

So that's why this is a risky process, never been tried before at this depth. But everybody this morning crossing their fingers and hoping this will be the thing to stanch the flow of oil.

All morning we're committed to showing exactly what CNN sees as we see it. At the lower right hand corner of your screen we'll show the live feed of the oil leak all morning long. But right now let's go back to Kiran.

CHETRY: John, you bring up a good point. You say they have to figure out what the flow rate is, which would indicate that they know how much oil is flowing out or they can make estimations, right?

ROBERTS: What they've been saying it's impossible to accurately gauge the amount of oil flowing out. They said it's 5,000 barrels a day, 210 gallons. Other analysts have said, no, it's much greater than that, probably in the neighborhood of 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day.

So this is why they've been doing these tests and analysis over the last few hours to determine exactly how much and at what pressure this mud needs to go in there to see if they can force that oil back down the hole and get the well stabilized enough where they can cap it off with the concrete.

So it's a bit of a gamble but one they are hoping will pay off today.

CHETRY: Absolutely. And David Mattingly and Ed Lavandera are with us as well. What are the chances -- and this is something they have not tried at these depths?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And John laid it out very well. This is a gamble. Every step they take is a step into unchartered waters. BP is going through those diagnostics to make sure all their plans and ideas can actually work beyond theory to actual impracticalities here.

Now we're looking, the sun is coming up here. This is the moment that BP said they had hoped that they start the top kill. We'll be finding out from top management if that's going to be a go.

They are checking everything and checking the pressure, and it's all about whether the blowout preventer, that huge damaged device down at the bottom of the ocean can handle this procedure and all that pressure.

So what they are doing right now is preparing and trying to decide is this going to work. And this is their best shot. To put this in perspective for you, they've other things lined up but this is going to be the thing they thought had the best chance of working. And Kiran, they are only giving it a 60 percent chance of success.

CHETRY: In terms of how soon they'll be able to gauge whether or not this is working, is this going to be something that they'll be able to report back incrementally about how it's going, or will they not know until the cement is in there whether it is a permanent solution?

MATTINGLY: They were starting to answer those questions yesterday when they started all the diagnostics. We're still waiting to find out if the top kill is a go for sure.

Once they start it, they've got so many things that can happen during the procedure that maybe they'll change what they are doing. They might slow things down or speed things up. Again, they are learning as they go. And the entire industry is watching this because BP is not the only one drilling in deep water.

CHETRY: And you can see the rigs behind us right now.

MATTINGLY: And BP is not the only one using that blowout preventer. They are all doing it. They all were doing this and thinking that a disaster like this could not happen. So now they are watching to see can this disaster be fixed. Can we prevent this from happening in the future?

CHETRY: And meanwhile, a parallel story that's going on is the dispersants and the controversy over whether BP is doing the right thing by continuing to pump a dispersant underwater and on the surface.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The decision to use these dispersants, chemicals mixed in with the oil, essentially the command structure here that has been battling this disaster said early on said we use the dispersants or we face the threat of more oil washing on the beaches. They went with the dispersant option. Obviously, that has created a lot of controversy.

Right now the EPA and BP scientists are struggling and having a little bit of a standoff debating on which dispersant is the most environmentally friendly. Right now they are using a dispersant called Corexit. EPA scientists are going back and retesting a lot of viable options to see if this is the best one to use.

In the meantime the EPA has ordered BP to cut down its use by at least 50 percent. And that started yesterday.

CHETRY: Are they complying?

LAVANDERA: We haven't heard they are not complying. So we'll assume they are. I would imagine the EPA would have put out a statement if they are not.

So the dispersants being used on the surface of the water in very controlled areas and focusing on the underwater, as you see the live picture there, the dispersants being sprayed on the side of that leak.

What that does is breaks up the oil into droplets and keeps it from getting into the surface. A lot of environmentalists say you're not getting rid of it but making it hide.

CHETRY: And a lot of fisheries and wildlife experts say it's getting into the food chain at the very base levels, and they have no idea what the long-term ideas of that are. Ed Lavandera as well as David Mattingly, thanks so much. They'll join us throughout the morning.

And "AMERICAN MORNING" is the place to be for complete coverage as BP tries to stop this massive oil leak. We will be getting new details from the top brass at BP, in fact the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, will join us live.

Then at 40 minutes past the hour we're going to speak with the president of a Louisiana parish and the home of the state's seafood industry Billy Nungeser (ph). He says the coast guard and the federal government in general, BP are all dropping the ball and it's the locals suffering the most.

Now time to send it back to New York and John.

ROBERTS: All right, Kiran.

And coming up, a CNN exclusive -- multiple cameras all under water showing you everything that's going on right now. Also joining us live, one of BP's biggest critics since the spill started, Florida Senator Bill Nelson. It's all coming up next. It's 11 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A live look underwater as you see the oil spill still spewing. And the plans are still moving forward to attempt the risky top kill operation. We're waiting to hear from BP about whether or not they are going to go forward with that and when. We will let you know when it begins.

Interestingly enough, BP did not want you to be able to see it live, but there was a huge amount of pressure from Congress and from the White House and of course from the public. So the company then changed its mind.

This morning CNN is going a step further. We have an exclusive look with multiple cameras and we'll show you this shot as well tracking everything that's going on underwater. That's something you will not see anywhere else.

For more we bring in senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. It's amazing to take a look at this. This is because of Florida Democrat Senator Bill Nelson who you're with right now that we're able to get this multi-view and that live feed continuing, despite BP wanting to actually pull the plug on it.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It is because of pressure from Congress and specifically from Senator Bill Nelson who is joining me here and the chairwoman of the committee where we are, Barbara Boxer on the Senate side, that we're able to see this live feed, which is pretty remarkable and is only -- you're only able to see it here in this committee room and another one over on the House side.

And again, Senator, thank you for joining us. It is because you pressured BP to allow you to get the password for all of their cameras. Now they have 12 roving cameras now. They're only sending us eight feeds. But this is what has been streaming in for you to see, for staff to see and for the public to see. Why is that so important that we can see these images?

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: We want the public to know what's going on. The public is the one that is so fearful of what is happening as a result of this spill. And now, there's a lot that prayerfully hopeful for today that it's going to work.

But it's important that, you know, we've seen so much lack of transparency in the past. It was undersold at 1,000 barrels a day. Then that was revised to 5,000. Now, if you look right here, this is just the end of the riser pipe that's laying on the seabed. That's just one of two places the oil is coming out now. And the experts, the scientists are telling us that and the wellhead is far exceeding 5,000.

BASH: And that's why this is important for you to be able to see so that scientists who I guess are contacting you from all over the country, maybe all over the world can give you the real deal on what's going down there by watching these images.

NELSON: Once this thing is plugged and we hope it's today, we need to know how much we're dealing with on what we're going to have to clean up and whether or not when the winds shift and they're coming pushing it to the south getting into the loop current, which is going to take it down to the Florida Keys and up the East Coast of the United States, when the wind shift -- how much of the oil is out there in the gulf that's going to take it to the world's most beautiful beaches along the northwest coast of Florida. The idea is, come on, BP, let's be open. We're all in this together. BASH: And it's transparency but it's also from the perspective of you and Congress, record keeping to prepare for the future fight that the government is going to have to get taxpayer money back, correct?

NELSON: Absolutely.

BASH: And these images will be those records?

NELSON: Clearly, this is a part of the record. But another part of the major battle is to cut off this nonsensical artificial limit of $75 million for damages. That's far been exceed already. We're talking about economic damages. With as much oil that's out there in the gulf, this thing is going to be billions and millions.

BASH: Just very quickly, you've been very critical of BP. But what about mounting pressure on the government and specifically President Obama and his administration. Are they doing enough? Because a lot of your colleagues walk the halls here and say they don't think so.

NELSON: If this thing is not fixed today, I think the president doesn't have any choice and he better go in, completely take over, perhaps with the military in charge, not because the military can do this, but the military has the apparatus, the organization by which it can bring together the civilian agencies of government and to get this thing done.

And I think the president is going to have to have Secretary Salazar clean house in the Minerals Management Service, which has had such a cozy, incestuous relationship with the oil industry. And basically let the oil industry rule the roost.

BASH: Senator, thank you very much. Thank you for giving us this interesting look at what you all are getting because you demanded these images from BP.

And, Kiran, you heard from the senator not only is this important for record keeping but we also heard a little bit of what we hear a lot here in the hallways, not just from Republicans but increasingly from Democrats. BP is a problem but frustration with the administration that they're going to have to step it up too eventually.

CHETRY: Yes, and we have the president going to visit this region tomorrow -- or actually Friday and see it firsthand. Dana Bash, great job. Thanks so much.

And now it's time to send it back to New York and John. Hey, John.

ROBERTS: Hey, Kiran. We've been watching the live feed from the spill all morning long as we wait for word on the attempt on what's called the "top kill" procedure that hopefully will plug the well.

I want to get right to our next guest now for the latest on the progress and lots of other issues to talk about this morning as well.

Tony Hayward is the CEO of BP. He joins us from Houston this morning. Mr. Hayward, this "top kill," do you expect that you're going to get it going today? When and how long do you think it will take in its entirety?

TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: Good morning, John. Over the last week or so, we've rebuilt the blowout preventer on the seabed. In the course of the last 12 hours working overnight, we have begun the process of diagnosing the pressures and the potential flow paths in the blowout preventer.

Later on today, I will sit with my team, review the analysis and determine whether or not we should proceed. So in the course of today, we will be determining whether or not we should proceed with the "top kill" operation.

ROBERTS: How's it looking so far?

HAYWARD: So far it's looking OK, but we haven't got all of the data we need to complete the collection of the data we need. And then as I say, we'll take a decision in the course of today.

ROBERTS: Mr. Hayward, so many questions have been raised over what happened 37 days ago. The first one that many people have is, you know, we keep hearing that efforts to stop the flow of oil out of that well have never been tried before at this depth, which prompts the question, why did you ever drill that well if you didn't have an adequate disaster plan in place.

HAYWARD: Well, I think the first thing to recognize is that this is an unprecedented accident. The industry has been working in the deep water for 25 years and not had to contend with this. As our initial assessment of the accident has indicated, which we've now shared with both Congress and Secretary Salazar, there are a whole series of failures here. Most importantly the fail-safe mechanism, the blowout preventer, failed on three separate occasions.

Now having said all of that, it's clear that this will be a transforming event in the history of deep water exploration. It's very clear that much more needs to be put in place to deal with this situation should it ever occur again. Clearly, our intentions going forward will be to change many things to ensure that it never can occur.

ROBERTS: Let me just ask you about that statement. You said series of underlying failures. And yesterday, the House Energy Committee let us know about a memo in which there was a clear warning sign of what BP called, quote, "a very large abnormality" with that well about 51 minutes before it blew up. Well, the well's fluid three times, pressure on the drill pipe increased unexpectedly. There was an unexpected loss of drilling fluid, which suggested a potential problem with the blowout preventer. A series of failures suggests that somewhere along the line somebody could have done something to shut it down. And the question many people have is why wasn't it shut down at the first sign of trouble? HAYWARD: Well, as in all major accidents of this sort, what we're seeing here is a whole series of failures. We've identified initial assessment, at least seven. And that investigation is far from complete because the blowout preventer is still on the seabed. We've not only been able to interview BP people, not anyone from any other companies and, of course, the rig is also still on the seabed. So I'm certain that the regulatory investigations, in particular the marine board, will determine exactly what happened and the sequence of events.

ROBERTS: Is it safe to say, Mr. Hayward, that the oil industry has pushed the boundaries of drilling but you haven't made similar advancements in disaster preparedness?

HAYWARD: I think what this has demonstrated is there was very significant progress has been made in terms of surface response. There is clearly the needs to have much more preparedness with respect to sub-sea response. That is undoubtedly one of the big lessons from this incident.

ROBERTS: You have actually been quoted as saying it's probably true that BP should have done more to prepare for such an emergency, which begs the question, why didn't BP do more? Some people have raised the issue of were you trying to keep costs down? Were you trying to cut corners? Is that why there wasn't an adequate disaster preparedness response in place?

HAYWARD: I don't think this has anything to do with costs, frankly. As I said, the industry had been exploring for 25 years, never had to contend with this. The critical issue is that what was believed to be the ultimate fail-safe device has failed.

We have assembled the world's biggest fleet of sub-sea intervention capability in a very short period of time. With the benefit of hindsight, it would clearly have been good to have that ready to go from day one. And that is something that the industry will undoubtedly need to, should do and will probably be required to have in the future.

ROBERTS: You know, in terms of the blowout preventer being the fail safe, is it true or untrue that a BP engineer in a report in 2007 said we're increasing the strength of these drill pipes to the point where the blowout preventer may not be able to shear it off and close off the flow of oil in an emergency?

HAYWARD: As I say, we need to wait the full results of the multiple investigations before we draw any conclusions --

ROBERTS: But with --

HAYWARD: -- as to why the blowout preventer does not work.

ROBERTS: With respect -- with respect, though, Mr. Hayward, you don't need an investigation to be able to know what a report three years ago said.

HAYWARD: Well, the report three years ago was not referring to the drill pipe in this particular well.

ROBERTS: There's one other issue that many people have raised, many environmental, and that's the continued use of the dispersant Corexit. The EPA is uncomfortable with it. They've asked you to cut down on the amount that you've used on the surface. And environmentalists are asking, you have a supply of another dispersant called disperse-it which is available to you, some 60,000 gallons. The company says it can make more for you on demand. It is said by the EPA to be far less toxic and more effective than Corexit. So why do you continue to use Corexit as opposed to going with an alternative?

HAYWARD: In the matter of dispersants, we've worked cooperatively and collaboratively with the EPA from the very beginning. We're using dispersant from the approved list. It's something that we continue to discuss with them on an ongoing and regular basis. And it is ultimately their decision as to what we use.

ROBERTS: Well, Mr. Hayward we certainly wish you a lot of luck with this "top kill" operation. A lot of people are counting on you today to shut out the flow of oil. Thanks for spending time with us this morning.

HAYWARD: Thank you very much.

ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way after a quick break. Stay with us. It's now 27 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Live from the Gulf Coast this morning. Ground zero of the oil spill catastrophe. And this morning BP is moving equipment in place for a last ditch effort to choke off the oil leak. Something that's never been tried before so deep. It's a procedure called top kill. We're going to take a look now at BP's live video feed from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

That now familiar image of the broken off end of the riser pipe with natural gas and oil spewing out of it. The top kill operation still has not started. We spoke with BP's CEO Tony Hayworth a couple of minutes ago and he said they are still running tests and they're trying to analyzed the data in the next few hours and probably it won't be until later on today that they begin that process, if at all. This is what they are trying to stop and haven't been able to for five weeks.

Just millions of gallons of oil polluting the sea, the shore now and millions more gallons still to come out of that pipe.

Top stories for you this morning. Standing with Seoul, secretary of state Hillary Clinton in South Korea pledging full support for the country in a tense dispute with North Korea. South Korea has officially blamed the north for sinking a warship back in March, which killed 46 sailors. Secretary Clinton is calling it an unacceptable provocation by North Korea and saying the world has a duty to respond. Well, don't say that I didn't warn you. This time there will be a Navy flyover to kick off fleet week here in New York City this morning. What a sight it's going to be. Two F-18 Hornets, two MV22 Ospreys, scheduled to zip past the (INAUDIBLE) bridge at about 8:35 Eastern. We're going to be looking out for that on our tower cams. Later on, we're going to pass the annual parade of ships in New York Harbor and that the V-22 was flying around up and down the Hudson yesterday as a matter of fact.

And right now, the crew of the space shuttle "Atlantis" getting ready to come home for the very last time. Slated to touch down at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:48 Eastern, and weather permitting, we are going to bring that to you live. This is going to be Atlantis' last re-entry ever. It's the first of the three remaining shuttles to retire.

Later on today, lawmakers on Capitol Hill will be looking into whether the feds could have prevented the massive oil spill in the gulf. The hearing could end up being a report card on the crisis for the government officials and the president.

Our Jim Acosta is tracking that side of the story. He's live in Washington for us. Good morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John, that's right. That House committee you mentioned is holding a hearing today on whether the federal agency that oversees the oil industry is broken. And some democrats are starting to take a look at how the Obama administration is handling the spill and whether it is doing the right thing at the right time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): What do you do when you have thousands of barrels of oil spewing into the gulf and countless federal and state agencies scrambling to get a handle on the crisis? How about putting one person in charge.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D) FLORIDA: It's now time for the president to put the military in charge. Why the military? Somebody that has a command structure that can coordinate things among many different agencies or if he decided to go with a civilian, somebody like General Colin Powell -

ACOSTA: Florida democratic Senator Bill Nelson is pushing the idea because he says all of BPs failed attempts to seal the leak -

NELSON: We will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done.

ACOSTA: Are making the White House look weak at the critical time.

(on camera): Does it look like we're fumbling around down there? Do you think? NELSON: The perception is that we're fumbling around. I'm sure that BP wants to get this plugged as much as anybody. But it hadn't worked.

ACOSTA (voice-over): West Virginia Democratic Congressman Rick Rahall says the president needs to show a more take-charge attitude.

(on camera): Do you think it's been enough so far? I mean, would you have like to have see them?

REP. RICK RAHALL (D) WEST VIRGINIA: I'd like to see more, yes.

ACOSTA: Not enough so far?

RAHALL: Not enough so far. Yes, I would like to see more. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is some frustration there.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Rahall is conducting hearings on a new scandal over at the federal agency in charge of regulating offshore drilling. The minerals management service. And Inspector General's report charge that during the Bush administration MMS inspector had accepted gifts from the oil industry and at least one inspector may have used drugs on the job.

The report follows a separate probe conducted in late 2008 that found MMS regulators were having sex with oil industry officials. The culture of corruption, Interior secretary Ken Salazar vowed to clean up.

KEN SALAZAR, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: It will be clear that we will no longer tolerate those types of lapses at any level of government, from political appointees or career employees.

ACOSTA: What Congressman Rahall wants to know is whether that behavior continued right into the Obama administration.

RAHALL: We now have to find out whether continued ethical lapses occurred after those reforms were implemented.

ACOSTA (on camera): Whether they even listened to the secretary in the first place?

RAHALL: Exactly. That's what we have to dig into.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, Interior secretary Ken Salazar has put out a statement saying he has asked the inspector general in that department to determine whether the misconduct at MMS is going on today and John as you know, the interior secretary has discussed breaking up that agency. That will be discussed at today's hearing. But the big headliner at that hearing today will be the inspector general, who oversaw that study that is causing a lot of waves on Capitol Hill this morning. John.

ROBERTS: Yes, the findings of that report, nothing short of stunning. Jim Acosta for us this morning -

ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely.

ROBERTS: Jim, thanks so much. And now let's go back to Kiran who is in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Hi, Kiran.

CHETRY: Hey, John. You know, the people that live here, this entire region is known for being resilient, of course, dealing with many things in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding. But there's a lot of fear and there's a lot of anxiety about what may come of the livelihood of this area and many other Gulf Coast place just like this place here in Grand Isle because of the uncertainties of whether or not the oil will have a long-lasting effect on the vital estuaries that really drive the lifeblood of this region.

And the hope this morning is that BP can stop the spill. We're going to be live with the president of Plaquemines Parish, Billy Nungesser. He's been the voice for so many frustrated fishermen, businesses and residents across this gulf region, saying that the federal government that the Coast Guard and that BP is not doing all they can to make sure this region survives. We're going to take a quick break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. I'm out here in Grand Isle, Louisiana. It's 40 minutes past the hour right now.

I just picked up a little bit of sand that's on this beach. Just to give you an idea, it just looks fine. It doesn't look like it's been oiled. It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it.

I spoke earlier with the mayor of Grand Isle and he said that it comes in waves. So the beaches will be browned with the sand. People will come by and scoop up the oil, put it into bags and move on.

But meanwhile, while it seems like everything is OK, all of these beaches are closed across this region. They're closed not only to commercial fishing but to the recreational areas that draw so many tourists. 10,000 this memorial day weekend coming up. And all of that is basically dead.

And there is a lot of fear right now in these communities. All eyes are on the video screen, of course, at the top kill operation that BP is going to be attempting later today. It's about to begin at any time. And there's a lot of anxiety as to whether or not that will work and cap the leaking well. In the meantime, fishermen, boat captains, residents all here. They're hoping and praying it works but also wondering whether or not it may be too late.

This disaster will be stopped maybe before things get worse but how bad are they now. Joining us from Venice, Louisiana is Billy Nungesser. He is the president of Plaquemines Parish, an area very similar to what's going on here at Grand Isle where people make their livelihood off of this gulf and they want answers. Thanks for joining us this morning, Billy.

BILLY NUNGESSER, PLAQUEMINE PARISH, PRESIDENT: Thank you.

CHETRY: So, I understand that yesterday you guys had a town hall meeting, a parish meeting, you wanted to get some answers from BP, some solid time lines about when they are going to help and exactly what they are going to do. What was the upshot of that meeting last night?

NUNGESSER: Well, you know, they gave the fishermen a check and we appreciate that. But they don't want to sit by the phone, is there another check coming? Are they going to make them whole for the catches they are missing? And we need a plan and they need to come up and put that plan in the public. So people know that they are proud fishermen, they don't want a handout. They just want to know what the plans for the next three to six months.

We need a shot and a long term plan from BP and we realized the focus on stopping the leak but we've been hearing that for a month now. You know, the same guy that's stopping the leak is not the guy writing the check to the fisherman.

We can multitask. We've got to do a lot of things at one time. We've got to clean up the marsh, put the barrier up and stop the leak and make the fishermen whole. We've got to do it at all one time and we got to continue to do it.

CHETRY: And Billy, I understand that this thing has been plagued with delays, from getting the fishermen on the boat to laying the boom, to making decisions about what boats are going out when. As I understand it, you guys commandeered 50 of your own boats that were just sort of sitting idle. What was the situation there?

NUNGESSER: Right, Jefferson Parish did that. They were sitting behind an island waiting for a task order to go to work while the oil was coming ashore. There is absolutely no organization. There's no chain of command. I've never seen such a mixed up mess in this whole thing.

We were told oil wasn't coming ashore. Now we know the dispersants are making it sink and it's sneaking to shore underneath the surface of the water. So the monster that keeps growing has now become invisible and it's threatening our wildlife, our bird sanctuaries, the breeding grounds for the wildlife.

The pelicans are dying by the hundreds. It's just a mess. And we couldn't stop by putting the barrier island where you pick up the sand this morning, if we would have built that berm that we asked for over two weeks ago, we could pick the oil up there and then fight it in the marsh. We'll never clean up this marsh. And we'll never and if we keep letting it come ashore, it will ruin the fishing rounds for many, many years to come.

CHETRY: Yes, what's scary, I was talking to the Louisiana Fish and Wildlife commissioner yesterday and he said this happened 37 days ago and it's been about a week oil has been washing up. So he is fearful and many others are that we have no idea what's to come. That this could be bad. That this could get way worse than it is right now. But is it too late? Meaning, if they get their act together today, we know that the president is coming down on Friday, can some of these be salvaged?

NUNGESSER: Absolutely. We should start building that berm today. Every day that those dredges are out there building that berm, that eliminates an area - it saves marsh. Because that oil will be kept at bay on the outer barrier islands. And, as we build that, we're going to see oil coming ashore for six months or a year. When they stop the leak, this is not going to stop the thousands and thousands of barrels of oil that's out there.

You know, Jacques Cousteau's grandson said it best. There's a - from 10 foot down to 50 feet, there's a black sea lurking underneath the surface out there. That's coming ashore. And God help us if a small hurricane, which the season starts next week, picks up this oil, brings it ashore and drops it in our marsh, it will devastate coastal Louisiana. We may never recover.

And we could avoid it if we put that berm out there to give us a fighting chance. And the Coast Guard needs to step up to the plate, take a leadership role and order the dredges out there.

CHETRY: Yes. And I don't know if you know, but I had a back and forth based on what you said about challenging that six-month timeline for getting things built and getting things taken care of in terms of the barriers.

I talked with Carol Browner when she was on our show this week. She's working with the Obama - representing the Obama administration for their energy issues on this issue as well. And I asked why not just allow some of the parish presidents who see it firsthand to - to move forward.

Have you gotten any - any indication from the White House or from the administration that they're going to maybe change course and allow you guys to try to get this moving faster?

NUNGESSER: No, but we're really counting on the president. You know, when he was down here last time he spent two hours. We had a plan to put jack-up boats in the mouth of the river to be ready at the first line of defense. Coast Guard didn't like that idea either. He said, no, the plan makes sense, do it. He called the next day to make sure things were moving forward, and we were very proud of him for stepping up to the plate.

We're hoping Friday he steps up to the plate and tells our admiral of the Coast Guard to mote the dredges, build the berm and send BP the bill. That needs to be done. We could still save coastal Louisiana, but time is running out.

CHETRY: Well, thanks for your perspective this morning, Billy Nungesser, Plaquemine Parish President. You've got huge challenges ahead and I know that you're the voice for many who are hoping that this can get ironed out before it's too late. Thanks for joining us this morning.

NUNGESSER: Thank you.

CHETRY: I'll send it back right now to the studio and John. Hey, John.

ROBERTS: Hey, Kiran.

Coming up, reports of dangerous side effects and even death from Tylenol and other over-the-counter medicines recalled this month. The FDA is investigating. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta making an "A.M. House Call" for us coming right up.

And an early heat wave sweeping the eastern half of the country today. Bonnie Schneider has this morning's travel forecast and she'll be up right after the break.

Forty-eight minutes after the hour.

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BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I'm CNN Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking extreme weather across the country.

In the Pacific Northwest, we'll look for clouds, wind and rain today as yet another storm system comes onshore. Watch out for severe weather through the Plain States, including the possibility of more tornadoes.

And as we head to the east and the southeast, this low-pressure area that could have been Alex, the first named storm of the season, will bring some wind, rain and rip tides to the Carolina coast. And finally, warm, boy, actually hot across much of the northeast. Look at the high temperatures in Washington and New York, in the 90s. Some of those places will top out at 95 degrees.

But, keep in mind, severe weather is on the way. Afternoon thunderstorms will roll on through for the evening rush and that will make a difference of course in the heat to come.

We're also tracking your travel. Watch out, it's going to be a stormy one across the northeast. You can see the airport delays we have anticipated.

Stay tuned. We'll have a lot more straight ahead on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: Five minutes now to the top of the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

New details today about the FDA's investigation into the recall of Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl products earlier this month. Hundreds of serious side effects have been reported including dozens of deaths. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta digging deeper for us today in an "A.M. House Call". He's in Atlanta for us.

What can you tell us about all of this? Very troubling.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is, John, and I think this has been getting bigger.

Obviously, a lot of people have been hearing about this for some time now. But what CNN can tell you today, talking to some sources close to an investigation that's ongoing, is that 775 serious side effects are being looked into that occurred over a two-year period, between 2008 and the spring of 2010. And then just over this past month they're looking into hundreds more serious side effects and seven deaths as well, again, all potentially linked to these medications that we're talking about.

You know, as I said, this is something that's been ongoing. It's now officially the largest recall of children's over-the-counter medications in U.S. history. And, again, there's no end in sight, necessarily. It does include other medications for adults as well, including medications for arthritis.

Fifty different varieties of these children's medications, though, John, now pulled off shelves. They're really focused on two things, a potential bacterial contamination in these products. What does that mean? Are there other contaminants in there? And also the dosing seemed to have been off on some of these medications, up to 24 percent higher, for example, of acetaminophen in some of the Tylenol products.

But the - some of the hearings starting tomorrow, John, on this very issue.

ROBERTS: So, Sanjay, if a parent goes to the medicine cabinet and they have some of these medications in there, what should they do with them?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's funny, because we went to the store the other day. Kids get sick this time of year. We couldn't find these medications.

Here's the rules. The medications in your home are potentially the ones that you have to investigate. If you go to FDA.gov, look at the lot number on your medications and see if it's been recalled. It's easy as that. If it's been recalled, throw it away.

If you find the medications on shelves now, they're OK because they're starting to re-supply some of these stores. Those medications are going to be OK. And generics are an option as well, staying away from some of these medications until you get the all-clear sign.

ROBERTS: All right. Good information for us this morning.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta, good to see you, doc. Thanks so much. GUPTA: Good to see you (ph), John. Thanks.

ROBERTS: Top stories coming your way in just a couple of minutes. Stay with us here on the Most News in the Morning.

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