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Researchers Say Oil Flow Estimates Doubled; BP Under Fire: White House Lawmakers Push for Transparency; Tracking the Spill and Cleanup; More Time for Homebuyer Tax Credit; World Cup Kickoff; BP Builds Tent City; Nuke the Well?; "You Have to Go Ask BP"

Aired June 11, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's Friday, June 11th, a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING from New York. I'm Kiran Chetry. Good morning, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Kiran. I'm John Roberts. We're back in New Orleans again for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

You know, it is not the kind of news that you want to hear when you're already on the edge of despair but the hits just keep on coming this morning on the Gulf Coast. The latest estimates for the amount of oil that has been spewing into the ocean have just been doubled. And as we enter day 53 of this unfolding nightmare, all eyes are on Tony Hayward. Will the CEO of BP show up at the White House next week for a face-to-face with President Obama?

But first, here are the latest developments in the gulf oil disaster. The new figures from the scientists are nothing short of staggering. Up to 40,000, yes, that's 40,000 barrels a day now estimated to be spewing into the gulf. That's as much as 1.7 million gallons every 24 hours for nearly two months now.

And no word yet on whether BP's lightning rod, CEO Tony Hayward, is going to show up at the White House on Wednesday to meet with President Obama. The international chairman of BP, Carl-Henric Svanberg, has been asked to appear and bring other BP executives along with him. The invitation does say, quote, "We assume that includes the CEO."

And as the Gulf of Mexico grows more contaminated by the minute, Louisiana lawmakers are scrambling to the defense of local folk who work in the oil industry, pleading with the administration to lift the moratorium on deep water drilling so thousands of workers can collect paychecks again. They are afraid of a double economic disaster here. They're afraid of a double economic disaster here.

And those are the latest developments, 84 million gallons. That's the amount of crude that may already be in the gulf if those stunning new estimates from government scientists are right. To put that in perspective for you, the Exxon Valdez spill dumped 11 million gallons of oil onto the coast of Alaska in Prince William Sound. These new estimates would mean that an Exxon Valdez worth of oil has been dumped into the gulf every week. A catastrophe seven times larger than first thought and growing.

Let's bring in our Ed Lavandera now. He's been looking at the numbers. And they're nothing short of numbing.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the crazy thing about this is that you can still find scientists. The scientists working on this say it's still going to go up some more because there are some things they haven't taken into account yet. Some say it could even -- there are still some out there saying it could be 100,000 gallons a week. I mean, it's clear that the information that is coming out from the bottom of the ocean is coming out a lot slower than that oil gushing out of the ocean floor. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Once again, the grim reality of this oil disaster keeps getting worse. The flow rate team of independent scientists has doubled its estimate of how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. It could be as much as 40,000 barrels a day. The new numbers have triggered another round of backlash towards BP.

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I think it's quite clear that BP has known that this is much more catastrophic right from the beginning. They have been hiding it from the American people and from the federal government. And now we know the full dimension of what is unfolding in the gulf.

LAVANDERA: BP said in a statement that it fully supported this effort, providing scientific data and high resolution video. But one of the scientists says this latest estimate was reached before it had full access to the enhanced video and the latest estimate also doesn't take into account the increased flow after BP cut the riser from the blowout preventer a week ago or the amount of oil BP is capturing with the containment cap. Still expect the numbers to go up more.

DR. IRA LEIFER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA ((via telephone): There probably will be some slight revisions to this estimate, which is for the past in the next few days as it's finalized.

LAVANDERA: Congressional Ed Markey says the only way to get an accurate flow rate is to let the scientists inject a fluorescent dye into the well. He's asked BP to give scientists the access. BP hasn't responded.

MARKEY: My intent is to ensure that independent scientists can measure the accurate flow of oil into the gulf. BP can do it voluntarily or they can do it involuntarily.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And, John, what he's referring to there is that in a week or so, the time frame isn't exactly clear, but that containment cap that's currently over the blowout preventer is going to be switched out for another one. Representative Markey wants to get those scientists. As they're switching, that is just going to be free flowing. They want to get scientists in there to pump in that fluorescent dye so they can do a bunch of tests and really get what they feel would be the clearest picture yet of just how much oil was flowing. So they're fighting for that access. They haven't gotten it yet.

ROBERTS: And remember, when this disaster first happened, even though that rig went down in flames, which would indicate that some oil was flowing, the first thing we heard was no oil is leaking. Then we heard 1,000 barrels, and then 5,000 for the longest time, and now potentially 40,000. You said maybe according to some estimates, 100,000 barrels a day.

LAVANDERA: Staggering numbers. It's hard to wrap your head around just how much that is.

ROBERTS: Yes. When you go see the beaches and the marshes and things, it's not too difficult to wrap your head around what's happening. Ed Lavandera this morning. Ed, thanks so much.

The mouth of the south is roaring again as the oil continues to spew. James Carville is erupting again. The Democratic strategist and CNN contributor unleashing on BP last night. His message to the oil giant, zip it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The government -- the Justice Department just tells BP, you don't interfere with our journalists, you don't do anything. You've just spoiled our coastline. You wrecked our country. You don't have the right to deprive anybody from doing anything. We need you to fill up the hole, write the check and shut up. I'm serious. That's the message that they need to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: James Carville. Much more coverage from here on along the Gulf Coast and from New Orleans this morning, including we take a boat ride coming up in just a couple of minutes from Jean Lafitte down to Grand Isle and find that, well, in terms of the beach along Grand Isle, the situation is getting more and more dire by the moment. Now let's send it back to New York. And here's Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes. It's something that the locals feared would happen. The mayor said you think it looks bad now. Come here a month from now, and it will be a way worse. John, thanks so much.

Meanwhile, it's time for a check of the other stories new this morning.

First, a confession. Now, new information coming from Joran van der Sloot. Police in Peru say van der Sloot told investigators he knows the location of Natalee Holloway's body and will finally explain everything to Aruban authorities and whose arrested twice after the Alabama teen vanished there five years ago. He was the only suspect in her disappearance, but they were never able to prove anything. Van der Sloot confessed also to the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Lima.

New developments overnight on the 16-year-old California sailor. She was feared lost at sea. Well, we learned she's now alive and well but they still have not yet managed to rescue her yet. Australian search teams say they have made contact with Abby Sunderland. Her family says she sent out an emergency beacon yesterday 2,000 miles from the coast of Australia. We're going to be speaking with Abby Sunderland's very relieved parents at 7:40 Eastern.

And the FBI is now looking into that security breach at AT&T that exposed 114,000 iPad user e-mails. A hacker group claims that it was able to tap into AT&T's Web site and sent the information to the Web site gawker.com. AT&T didn't comment on the hack but said that it is fixing a security hole.

Well, soccer fans are in a frenzy. The World Cup kicks off today in South Africa. And it's the first time the continent of Africa is hosting the biggest sporting event in the world. The first match today, 10:00 a.m. Eastern between the host country, South Africa, and Mexico. We're going to be live in Johannesburg to show you what all the excitement is all about coming up in about 15 minutes.

Meantime, it's seven minutes past the hour right now. We got a check of this weather headlines. Bonnie Schneider is in the CNN weather center for us this morning. The soccer fans are going crazy already. It hasn't even started yet.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. I love those hats and glasses for sure. Well, unfortunately, Kiran, if you're in New Orleans today, as many people are, we are looking at a real scorcher. In fact, today will be just as hot as yesterday and the heat is not going anywhere.

There is a heat advisory for high temperatures as well as a high heat index, possibly up to 110 degrees in New Orleans with a high temperature of 93. Now this advisory is straight through the weekend, so it's not going to cool down any time soon. We are definitely looking at the heat building and persisting across a good portion of Louisiana for today. We're watching that very closely.

Well, we had some severe weather roll across much of the Midwest and the high plain states. And you can see that now. We have some storm reports into Colorado as well as into Texas. And for those of you that are traveling for today, we are looking at some delays. Showers and thunderstorms in Atlanta, Georgia, will slow you down over an hour. Also thunderstorms right now in the Midwest and, of course, through the south. It would be nice to get these storms in the south into these areas in New Orleans to cool things down, Kiran. But even if we get a storm, it is not going to cool down at all. That heat advisory once again straight through Sunday.

CHETRY: All right, Bonnie Schneider for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Meantime, if you're a first time homebuyer, you're worried maybe that you missed the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit, help could be on the way. We're going to tell you what a group of senators is proposing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 11 minutes past the hour. The Army says war heroes were disgraced at Arlington National Cemetery. A scathing report by the Army's inspector general found numerous cases of mismarked, unmarked and empty graves at the cemetery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCHUGH, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY: As to the negative findings in the report, there's simply no excuse. And on behalf of the United States of Army and behalf of myself, I deeply apologize to the families of the honored fallen resting in the hallowed ground who may now question the care afforded to their loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, this mistake went undiscovered until a family of a veteran visited Arlington. The report blamed quote, "dysfunctional management." The cemetery's two civilian leaders will be asked to step aside.

Another recall of window blinds from the popular retailer Ikea after a baby got caught up in the cords and nearly died this year. Three million Roman, rollup and roller blinds without a tension device were being pulled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission because of the risk of a child being strangled to death. Ikea already recalled thousands of blinds after similar strangulation reports.

Well, minorities now make up close to 35 percent of the nation, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The numbers also show aging baby boomers contribute to a shrinking Caucasian population. The surge in diversity is most dramatic in children in California, where 72 percent of minorities are 15 or younger. Demographers say that Hispanic births accounted for more than half of the country's population gains last year.

That's a look of some of the other stories we're following. Meantime, we'll head back to John in New Orleans. Hey, John.

ROBERTS: Kiran, thanks.

The anger that's directed at BP has spread from here on the Gulf Coast all the way to Washington. Much of it has to do with the oil giant's lack of transparency across the board starting with just how much oil is actually spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, which we're now learning may be double what we thought it was in recent days. Florida Senator Bill Nelson has been pushing BP to be more accountable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: If we need to know for trying to clean up the gulf and protect marine life how much oil is in there, then we need the clear pictures and we need all the streaming video in order to let the scientists calculate how much oil is out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Meantime, the spill just keeps getting bigger, threatening wildlife and the livelihoods of so many people along the Gulf Coast. We went out with a Louisiana parish official on a boat ride from Jean Lafitte down to Grand Isle and got a close-up look at the oil and the damage that it's done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS (voice-over): The trip from the bayou to the gulf has become a sad journey. It's the height of shrimping season. The shrimp boats either idle at the dock or out hauling oil boom. Our captain, Chris Eber (ph), traded fishing charters for ferry work three weeks ago, today taking Jefferson Parish councilman Tom Capella to Grand Isle. Just a few minutes out, we spot trouble.

(on camera): We're way up in Bayou Norman (ph). It's about 20 miles from the actual Gulf of Mexico, and you can see this rig with emulsified oil has come all the way up here. It's very disturbing for people who work these waters because they have not seen it this far up in the bayou until now.

TOM CAPELLA, JEFFERSON PARISH COUNCILMAN AT LARGE: (INAUDIBLE) the boom that we have out there, the heavy sea boom. It had to get past the boom on the inlands. It had to get past the absorbent boom and the skimming vessels.

It just shows the enormity of it. We've never seen it this far inland.

ROBERTS (voice-over): The oil is old, a thick goo that clings to whatever it touches and will not come off.

ROBERTS (on camera): It doesn't even -- it doesn't smell like oil. It's sort of like a type of a peanut butter putty, cake batter it's been described as.

ROBERTS (voice-over): A hassle for humans, deadly to birds, marine life and marshes.

On Grand Isle, we find a place more desert than beach. Blocked off by orange tiger boom that runs the length of the entire island, the area down to the water line declared a hot zone. Anyone who goes in has to be decontaminated on the way out.

With no miracle to kill the bleeding well, the summer is likely lost.

ROBERTS (on camera): When the president says the other on -- I think it was probably day 49 or day 50, so I know whose ass to kick, does that give you any comfort that the administration's on the job?

CAPELLA: Well, listen, I appreciate the words but we certainly hope he finds out whose ass he does need to kick and move it forward because, you know, these people can't take it for a whole lot longer.

ROBERTS (voice-over): Cleanup crews took 19,000 bags of oily muck off the beach yesterday. More hope, tough, lies in a sort of Zamboni that could pick up much finer debris.

Deano Banano is director of Emergency Management for Jefferson Parish.

ROBERTS (on camera): How bad was this beach before the machine came along?

DEANO BANANO, DIRECTOR, JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGEBCY MANAGEMENT: It was pretty heavily oiled. It looked like melted brownies, and, as you can see, these machine has gone back and forth over it all day and actually moved the oil out.

ROBERTS: It's cleaner but not clean.

BANANO: It's not completely clean. And they're bringing the machine's later this week that they can actually scoop that up with front-end loaders and put it into machines that essentially cooks the oil out of the sand and spits out the clean sand out of the back.

ROBERTS: But Deano Banano has bigger problems than Grand Isle Beach. That, he says, can be cleaned. What's more difficult to protect are the back bays and those sensitive marshes, and what Banano wants to do is string together a series of barges, cut off the passes and access to those bays.

But it's a huge logistical problem. One of those passes is more than a mile wide.

ROBERTS (voice-over): Booming just isn't enough. Queen Bess Island, one of the region's biggest seabird nesting areas, is ringed by boom, not enough, though, to save this pelican, alone, confused and soaked in oil.

ROBERTS (on camera): You've been in Emergency Management for a long time. You're usually preparing for -- for hurricanes and things like that. Did you ever think you were going to have to deal with something like this and on the scope of this?

BANANO: No, Sir. Now, I'm a veteran of Katrina, and at -- you know, Katrina was a massive, horrible disaster, but at least there was an end to it. You knew the damage stopped after the storm passes.

This damage continues to occur, and there is no end in sight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: There's already a huge problem with the loss of marshland in Southern Louisiana. Canals that were dug by oil companies combined with levees that rain in naturally occurring sediments have led to the loss of a football field's worth of wetland each and every day. And marsh that dies from oil contamination is just going to compound that situation. Well, every day hundreds of workers get on buses and head out to sea to combat the oil that's gushing into the gulf and many of them are silent, refusing to answer a single question, avoiding cameras at all costs. Is it a case of BP trying to control the message and contain the damage or is it more of a problem of too many chiefs? We'll find out.

It's 18 minutes now after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Who needs sleep?

Twenty-two minutes past the hour right now. Christine Romans joins us this morning. She's "Minding Your Business", and we're talking about the homebuyer tax credit, the extremenlt popular first time homebuyer tax credit.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And, you know, you had to have a contract signed on a house by April 30.

CHETRY: Right.

ROMANS: And you have to close by June 30th, so a lot of people really pushed and rushed to get through to the end. And then you saw the mortgage application volume drop dramatically the next month because, you know, look, there wasn't going to be a homebuyer tax credit.

Well, the Senate has put out an amendment to this big Tax and Jobs Bill that would actually make more time for the homebuyer tax credit. Instead of having to be closed by June 30th, they're going to push this out or they'd like to push this out a few months later, to September 30th. That would be the proposed deadline.

Who's proposing this? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Johnny Isakson from Georgia, Chris Dodd from Connecticut. One of the reasons, they say, is because they're worried that this backlog of all those people who were trying to take advantage of this and get it done by April 30th, well, they might actually not be able to get their deals done by the closing date of June 30th, by that final date of June 30th.

So they're worried a little bit about that. I mean --

CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) --

ROMANS: These realtors have actually said there may be 50,000 or 75,000 people who might not be able to get it done because the backlog in the banks.

CHETRY: Right. And the realtors have loved it because it really has boosted the market.

ROMANS: Yes. It has -- it has, and then, suddenly, once it wasn't available anymore, you saw things turn around again. So there are those critics who say, OK, great. It boosted the market. But is it a sugar rush for the housing market? And are you just delaying the inevitable that you have wiped out all the people who are potential first time homebuyers or people who are, you know, in a situation that they can buy, and now what's the -- you know, what's the bottom line going to be for the housing market and how healthy is it going to be?

And we also don't know how far this is going to go because, you know, this -- this Tax and Jobs Bill is a little bit controversial. They're not -- we're not going to hear about it again until maybe next week. So it's an amendment. We don't know if it's going to make it.

So I'm not saying, hey, everybody, you've got a big extension. I'm just saying they're talking about putting an extension.

CHETRY: There's a chance. Right.

All right. Well, you have a "Romans' Numeral" for us this morning?

ROMANS: I do, 1 point -- I know you're going to guess this one -- 1.4 million shows the popularity of the first time homebuyer --

CHETRY: That's how many people who took advantage of it?

ROMANS: According to the IRS, this is the number of people who have filed with the government for that first time homebuyer tax credit who got a little money back, $8,000 for first time homebuyers, $6,500 for people who are --

CHETRY: Anecdotally, I know a lot of people who did. Some of my younger cousins took advantage for the first time, jumped in the -- thought it made more sense than renting.

ROMANS: If you are -- yes. And if you're already in a position where you had the money saved and you were thinking about buying, you know, then it -- it was a little bit of free money -- well, a lot of free money for you.

So we'll see if -- if there's a little -- a little bit more of it. We'll see.

CHETRY: Right. All right, fingers crossed.

Christine, thanks so much.

Well, it is the biggest sporting event in the world. It is America -- although it may not seem like it here in the U.S., but it has some extra political and historical significance as well, being played in a place that was divided by apartheid 20 years ago.

Game one is today of the World Cup between host country, South Africa, and Mexico, in a rebuilt Soccer City in Johannesburg that fans absolutely mobbed for a warm-up game that took place last month.

CNN's Pedro Pinto is live for us in Johannesburg. Tell us about the hype and the excitement leading up to this World Cup game today.

PEDRO PINTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, I've never seen anything like this. This is my third World Cup reporting. I was out in the first one in Asia, but Africa is ready for an historic moment.

As you mentioned, this country was divided for so long, and since apartheid ended, they were waiting for an opportunity like this to mark their place on the world stage. Behind me here at Soccer City Stadium, we'll have over 90,000 people packing into it for that opening game, as you mentioned, between the host nation and Mexico.

The free World Cup party occurred here in Johannesburg last night in the township of Soweto with a mega concert. Tens of thousands of people were there as was the South African President, Jacob Zuma. Shakira was performing, so were the Black Eyed Peas and a series of well known African bands. And you really can feel the energy in the air here in South Africa.

This World Cup will have a completely different sound from any other, and I'll explain why. Everyone has been blowing these horns here. They're called the vuvuzelas. We've got our own personalized horns here with a CNN logo. And everywhere you go, you see people blowing these horns and they're really getting so excited.

I'm not -- I promise I'm not over-hyping this because the energy level here is at -- is at a fever pitch. This soccer fever is taking over in South Africa.

Now, I do have a little bit of a sad note to report. After the concert last night, one of the great granddaughters of Nelson Mandela, of course, the former leader of this country, she passed away following a car crash. They're actually on the way back home following that concert. And, as a result of that, Nelson Mandela wouldn't be here at the opening ceremony for the game later today, Kiran.

CHETRY: Unbelievable tragedy to happen at a time of such a celebration in that country. Unbelievable.

Also, you know, we've talked a little bit about how, you know, football has really captured the attention of the world and it's soccer here in America, not as popular. But tomorrow, the U.K. and U.S. are playing, right? 2:30, I think, Eastern Time.

PINTO: You're absolutely right and they're playing in another town called Rustenburg.

I lived in the states for a long time and I watched a lot of Super Bowls. I was around a couple of Super Bowls reporting. And just imagine, 64 of those in the space of a month. Because you're going to have stadiums with 70, 80, 90,000 people packed everyday. And the -- the audience, the TV audience level of the last final, over 700 million people around the world watched that. So that's three times the population of the United States. You really got a feeling for how big the final is. And that game between the U.S. and England, a lot of history there, because back in 1950, I wasn't born, you weren't born, but everybody remembers the fact how a bunch of American amateurs beat the almighty England team. So America really hoping to repeat that victory in Rustenburg tomorrow, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll be watching for sure. Thanks so much. It's great to see you as well.

All right. We're going to take a quick break.

Twenty-eight minutes past the hour. We're going to have your top stories in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back. Thirty minutes past the hour right now -- time for the top stories this morning.

As if it can sound any worse, scientists now estimate that double the amount of oil previously thought is now flowing into the Gulf. Up to 40,000 barrels a day. You remember when BP officials were saying it was maybe 1,000 to 5,000 barrels? The massive disaster is now bringing to life a massive cleanup effort as well. Jim Acosta will show us how cleanup teams are setting up shop on the Gulf shore.

Joran van der Sloot says that he's ready to talk about missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway. Police in Peru say that he told him he knows the location of Holloway's body, but he'll only talk to Aruban authorities. Van der Sloot is being held after confessing to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez. She was found dead last week in a hotel room registered in van der Sloot's name.

And breaking overnight, they're celebrating in California after rescuers were able to make contact with Abby Sunderland 2,000 miles off the coast of Australia. Now, she's a 16-year-old sailor set out to break a world record for sailing solo. And she was missing yesterday after running through some powerful storms. She's fine but the mast of her sail boat is broken, she says, and now a fishing boat is racing towards her to rescue her.

Coming up in about an hour, we're going to speak with Abby's parents about the wonderful news and also the risk of letting somebody so young sail solo around the world.

Time now to go back to New Orleans.

And, John -- and, John, you remember, we actually talked to them when their son did it himself. I think he was 18, her brother. He sailed solo around the world and his younger sister wants to try it as well. She was still 16 years old when she ran into this trouble overnight.

ROBERTS: Yes. Some tense moments there when they couldn't find her. But, thankfully, everything is OK now. We'll see if she continues the troop or if the parents say, no, it's time to dock the boat. We'll find more about, looking forward to hearing from them.

Back live now here in New Orleans where BP is bracing for the long haul, pitching tents for cleanup teams left jobless and penniless by this disaster. And there is plenty of work for them to do as well. Miles of tarred of coastline and oil-slicked wildlife and reserves have to be cleaned up.

Our Jim Acosta joins us now with a closer look of the operation.

I guess they're calling it "BP City" down there in the Gulf, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is like a BP city. And as you know, John, they got a major logistical challenge down here. Thousands of workers -- some from in states, some from outer state, many of them with no place to live.

And so, BP, within the next couple of days, will be opening up its own city outside of the town of Venice, Louisiana. It's an idea BP hopes will speed up the cleanup.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): In just two weeks, BP took this grass 32- acre lot right off the Louisiana Gulf coast.

(on camera): All of this was brush?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of this was 32 acres of brush.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And created its own city. And soon, roughly 1,500 cleanup workers will call this place home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will a city in its own.

ACOSTA: A city that will have housing, dining and even laundry facilities.

LEE ABBOTT, BP CITY BASE OPERATIONS COMMANDER: We have a laundry service that will be working 24 hours a day doing laundry for them.

ACOSTA: Lee Abbott, the city's operations commander, took us on a tour of the compound which has the feel of a military base.

ABBOTT: This would be a typical bunk house.

ACOSTA: Where the workers will sleep, 24 bunks to a trailer.

(on camera): This looks like we're on a battle ship or a submarine.

ABBOTT: Basically, that's what it looks like -- very close quarters, reminds you of being in the military.

ACOSTA: Once the workers check in to this BP city, it might be a while before they check out. A BP official says all of this could be here for three to six months, a sign of how long the cleanup operation will last.

(voice-over): The idea, BP says, is to keep the workers, some from Louisiana, others from out of state, closer to cleanup activities.

ABBOTT: By the time they get in from working out on their job and they get back here 6:00 at night, 5:00 at night, they're bushed.

ACOSTA: And just like any city, there will also be a police presence, 24 hours a day.

(on camera): There's going to be rules here?

ABBOTT: There will be rules here. Yes.

ACOSTA: Such as?

ABBOTT: Such as no alcohol.

ACOSTA (voice-over): All of the construction came as a surprise to some neighbors in the area.

ISRAEL GARZA, BP CITY NEIGHBOR: I've been looking for the past few days. There were a lot of trailers. And I said, wow, they must be busy.

ACOSTA (on camera): So, they didn't tell the residents around here what they were doing, I guess?

GARZA: No. Not that I know of.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Back at the construction site, one worker told us he's proud to be part of building something on a coast that seen so much destruction.

(on camera): Good to come down and do something?

CLEVELAND GUNSOLAS, BP CITY CONSTRUCTION WORKER: Yes, you know, even -- I was thinking about doing volunteer work, but got in with the company and, you know, they sent a bunch of us down here. So, we're all happy to be here and happy to be, you know, helping out.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The only thing BP city doesn't have at the moment, is much of a name.

(on camera): Does the city have a name?

ABBOTT: Yes. Venice Responder Village.

ACOSTA: Venice Responder Village.

ABBOTT: Yes.

ACOSTA: Not very catchy.

ABBOTT: No, but it's appropriate.

ACOSTA: OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Yes, very appropriate. And BP has plans to expand the city to hold 2,000 workers. And that's why at this point, John, they don't have a price tag for this project yet because it's still growing, and on an aside, you know, we had problems dealing with BP contractors down on coast a couple of days ago while shooting.

They didn't have a problem yesterday. They let us right on the site, let us talk to any worker we wanted to.

The only problem? I had to shoot a portion of that piece myself because they wouldn't let my photographer in there without pants on. So, they're still running a tight ship, but they are providing more access to reporters.

ROBERTS: Right. He did have some attire on below the waist?

ACOSTA: Yes.

ROBERTS: He was wearing shorts?

ACOSTA: Exactly. That's right. Exactly.

ROBERTS: There are so many places where you need to have steel-toed shoes, long sleeve shirts, safety glasses and helmets as well. So --

ACOSTA: That's right.

ROBERTS: All right. We're all going to suit up.

ACOSTA: Yes, exactly.

ROBERTS: To make sure we put appropriate gear. Good piece, thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. You bet.

ROBERTS: Lost and now found at sea, the all-American teen trying to sail around the world on her own is found adrift, thousands of miles off the coast of Australia. Our Ted Rowlands is with her team. They'll tell us how Abby is doing.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty minutes past the hour right now.

So, BP is running out of options trying to control and eventually stop the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. There are some scientists saying that it is time to go nuclear.

Deb Feyerick is looking at whether this is really a safe and serious option.

You know, because it's the buzz. People are saying, wait a minute, didn't they do this in Russia? Can't they nuke this thing?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You know, one big thing is that the public debate is going to be absolutely huge. People are going to be debating whether it should happen, how it should happen, especially because the world tried to move away from nuclear option.

But this ecological disaster is so huge this just could be the exception.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): It's a crazy last resort kind of idea. But what if it works? What if nuking the well finally stops the oil from surging into the Gulf?

(on camera): Do you remember where you were standing when this nuclear device was detonated?

MILO NORDYKE, FORMER PROJECT DIRECTOR, PROJECT PLOWSHARE: Oh, yes. I was standing at the control point. It was exciting to know that it went well and everything worked about as we expected.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Eighty year old Milo Nordyke is one of the few people you'll likely meet who saw not one but nine nuclear explosions. He helped run Project Plowshare, a program in the 1950s, '60s, '70s to find peaceful, practical uses for low radiation nuclear devices.

(on camera): When you see what's going on in the Gulf, did it sort of come in your mind, this is a perfect use for some sort of small nuclear device?

NORDYKE: Oh, it certainly did. And, of course, knowing that the Russians had done it that many times -- number of times -- brought it to the top of my attention.

FEYERICK (voice-over): That's right. The Russians successful shut down four out of five gas runaway wells by nuking them.

(on camera): The red and white is the device.

(voice-over): As seen on YouTube, this Russian well had been burning nonstop for three years.

NORDYKE: The gas flame was so high it could be seen 50 miles away.

FEYERICK: Watch as the nuclear device detonates, a shock wave rattles the earth. Moments later, the flame extinguishes and the well is finally sealed.

NORDYKE: The shock wave would initially melt the rock and it would crush the rock and it would compress the rock so that it would be crushed completely shut.

NATHAN HULTMAN, ASST. PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY: There really isn't any certainty that doing this kind of detonation under the water and in this particular geologic situation would work.

FEYERICK: A nuclear option to plug the well is downright laughable, says Nathan Hultman, who has studied civilian nuclear power.

HULTMAN: There are certainly questions about radiation leakage. There are questions about damage to ecosystems. There are questions about the impact of a shock wave.

FEYERICK: But because of where the nuclear device would be placed, Nordyke disputes concerns about radiation release or damage to wildlife. The blast would take place more than a mile below the ocean floor near the ruptured well. The nuclear device would be lowered down a secondary tunnel similar to the relief well now being built.

NORDYKE: The explosion tends to seal all the rock around it so that radiation doesn't escape.

FEYERICK: The force of the shock wave is the great unknown. Could it destabilize more oil wells miles away, even Milo Nordyke admits that threat remains unclear, but says, in a worst case scenario, it's a last resort worth considering.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: The National Nuclear Security Administration says exploding a nuclear weapon in the Gulf of Mexico is not an option. And even Nordyke says that detonating a device so far below the surface of the ocean has never been tried. Even if it does become an option, timing could be problematic because while designs for low radiation nuclear devices exist, the device itself does not. And so, therefore, it would have to be built. So, again, more time.

CHETRY: So, by the time they got through the political firestorm over this, went back and forth, even if it were to win, you could probably drill like 10 relief wells in between, right?

FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. And the interesting thing is, really, what happens is it would expand and then basically compress and seal that well down there. But you would not have any leaking radiation up to the top of surface. And so, you would not be doing damage to the ecosystem for example.

The shock waves are a bit different. When you think about the oil that's pouring in the Gulf right now, that could do more damage.

CHETRY: I know.

FEYERICK: So, that's what people are talking about.

CHETRY: Do you think -- I mean, this is a very interesting theoretical -- do you think this would ever see the light of day?

FEYERICK: It depends how bad the spill gets I suppose. But, you're right. I think there are a lot other options that people are going to try before they go this direction. And the administration has absolutely no intention of using any sort of nuclear device on this.

CHETRY: It's fascinating to hear from the scientist who's there when this happening.

Deb Feyerick for us this morning -- thanks.

FEYERICK: Of course (ph).

CHETRY: Forty-four minutes past the hour right now. Bonnie Schneider is going to be up ahead to tell you what your weekend is like weather-wise. A travel forecast right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Forty-eight minutes after the hour and a live look at the Mississippi River this morning as the sun begins to come up on the city of New Orleans. How's it going out there? It seems like it's a harmless enough question, but when it's directed at any of the hundreds of workers who've been contracted by BP to cleanup the oil spill, the only response the reporters get is silence.

So, is BP trying to control the message or is the message to go ahead and talk to the media just not getting through. Somewhere, there appears to be a command and control issue. Here's Tom Foreman with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, here it is the end of the work day out here on Grand Isle. These are the workers who've been working out here all the day, loading up to call it a day. We made a point to come out here to the beach on Grand Isle right at quitting time for the workers who were handling the clean up because we didn't want to interfere with their work or be accused of interfering with their work. And when we first showed up, security forces said, no you cannot take their pictures, that's. And we said, why not? It's a free beach. It's a free country.

After a while, they relented on that, but then they said, you cannot talk to the workers on the beach. We said, BP specifically issued a statement that workers were free to talk and the security guards guarding these workers said we have been told to not let the media speak to anybody who's working on this beach nor let the workers talk to them. When we tried to talk to the workers as they were leaving the beach, when we have been told their work was done, we were still being ordered by the security guards to leave them alone, to stay away from them.

Can I talk to you about the work out here at all? Is it part of your contract that you, guys, can't talk to us or can you tell me anything? No comment? Can I ask you a question? Are you part of the work crew? You don't want to talk about anything? Have you been told you can't talk? Another one won't talk. Could I ask you a question? You look like a guy who's in charge, though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In response to you, we're here in support of a mission to clean up the oil, that's it.

FOREMAN: But you can't -- nobody here can talk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No sir.

FOREMAN: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm only here to support the cleanup mission.

FOREMAN: BP is your employer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm only here to support the cleanup mission.

FOREMAN: What I'm asking, BP said that everybody could feel free to talk and everyone out here says they can't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: BP didn't tell me that. OK? And, all I can tell you is that we're here in support of the cleanup mission. That's all.

FOREMAN: OK. So, nobody here can talk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir, we cannot.

FOREMAN: Why do you suppose that is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't know. You have to ask BP, not me.

FOREMAN: OK.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Grand Isle, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: We should mention that we were down on Grand Isle yesterday and tried to do the same thing that Tom was doing and were told by similar security guards in a different area, no, you can't talk to any of our workers. So, I quickly fired off an e-mail to the head of PR for BP who said, I don't know why they're getting that message. Give me names and companies and we'll get it straightened out. So, there was a letter that was issued about 48 hours ago. It's just taking a while, obviously, for the trickle down effect to happen, but in all fairness, they do have a lot on their minds, but perhaps that's not exactly high on the agenda. It's coming up now on 52 minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check on this morning's weather headlines. Bonnie Schneider is in the CNN Weather Center. And we should point out, Bonnie, it's feeling just a touch cooler this morning here in New Orleans than it was yesterday.

SCHNEIDER: John, I think that's because it's early. Unfortunately, the heat is going straight up. You got to see this, we have a heat advisory that's -- yesterday, it was in effect until the afternoon. This time, the heat advisory where temperatures will sore into the 90s and the heat index up to 105 to 110, that goes straight through the weekend. So, we have the heat advisory in effect until Sunday evening. It's going to be a scorcher out there for the remainder, I say, of the next few days.

Now, we're also tracking severe weather in other parts the country especially in the Midwest. Look at all this real time frequent lightning occurring right now in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a stormy morning there. We also have more thunderstorms in Northern Nebraska. Omaha got hit yesterday with severe weather. So, we're seeing it once again for today. And finally, your morning commute in Little Rock, Arkansas, a little bit wet and stormy as well, we're tracking that. It looks like this wet weather isn't too much in a way of severe storms, but it's definitely causing a little bit of problems.

Finally, for those of you that are traveling today, Atlanta, our big hub here in the southeast, watch out for thunderstorms, and this could slow you down up to an hour. Also delays in Chicago, Minneapolis and through the Midwest, back out westward to Denver, Colorado where temperatures have been really, really warm. Once again, tracking the heat in Louisiana, the heat index in New Orleans, up to 110 degrees today. We'll have more on that throughout the show. Back to you.

ROBERTS: The little rest pit that we have right now, Bonnie. We will enjoy to the best of our ability. Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much.

Coming up, President Obama inviting top BP officials to the White House next week to talk about the oil spill. We'll talk with Carol Browner, she's the White House Energy and Climate Change adviser about the president's next move. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to Most News in the Morning. Fifty-six minutes past the hour right now. We'd like to show you a new initiative from CNN.com. It's called "Home and Away," and it's a tribute to our fallen war heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's interactive. You can go on our website. For example, if you click on Iraq, it shows places where the soldiers were killed in country and corresponding to their hometowns across America.

And this morning, we're honoring Corporal David Bass, just 20 years old, his hometown, Nashville, Tennessee, and he is one of six marines killed when a seven-ton truck they were riding in rolled over during flash flooding in Iraq. It was on April 2, 2006. And this morning, we honor his memory through the words of his mother, Tammy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF TAMMY BASS, MOTHER, CPL. DAVID A. BASS: It seems like David always knew he wanted to be a marine. When he was young, he would talk about it. They had a great big, 4th of July, picnic, and they had hung up a big flag, and then at some point during the party, David had the flag and was running down the street with it. David was very gung ho marine and gung ho patriotic before he was a marine. He was always piecing things together and putting things together, and he had a picture of where he had actually used duct tape to keep a car together.

He had a T-shirt that said he could fix anything with duct tape. David loved being outside. He loved the ocean. He even brought his little brother out to spend some time with him out in California. They would go to the beach. He was so comfortable with who he was. He was having a good time. He was smiling. And the rest of it could take care of itself. And I'm so glad he had that for a period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Marine Corporal David Bass. You can learn more about the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price for America in Iraq and Afghanistan by logging on to our website, CNN.com/homeandaway. Two minutes until the top of the hour. We'll have your top stories after a quick break.

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