Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Obama in the Gulf; The Growing Heat on BP; What is Emotional Intelligence?; Gulf Heat on Obama; Big Oil's Checkered Past; Dramatic Flood Rescue
Aired June 15, 2010 - 07:00 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 Tuesday, June 15th. Thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. A lot to tell you about because it's a big news day. Here's what's coming up in the next 15 minutes.
Gulf heat on President Obama. One week after he said "this is not theater," he's using the most powerful political backdrop there is to send a message about the oil spill. A rare oval office address. Ed Henry tells us what's going on behind the scenes at the White House.
CHETRY: And a dramatic flood rescue in Oklahoma City after a teenage girl gets caught in the current. Nearly a foot of rain deluging the city, triggering flash flooding and more severe weather on the way. Jacqui Jeras following all of that for us and how this girl got out alive.
ROBERTS: Plus, is there more to being smart than what you know? Some experts now say we should be teaching kids to boost their emotional intelligence. We'll explain the difference between your IQ and your EQ. That's ahead in our A.M. Original Series, "Are You Smart?"
CHETRY: Also, join a live conversation by heading to CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: But first, maybe the most pivotal day for President Obama 57 days into the gulf oil disaster. Tonight for the first time he'll address the nation from the Oval Office, the most symbolically powerful setting at his disposal to convince the American people that he's doing everything he can to manage the worst oil spill in American history.
New poll numbers show that he does have a lot of convincing to do. 71 percent of those surveyed says he hasn't been tough enough on BP. Ed Henry is live for us in Pensacola this morning where the president is going to start his day. Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He'll start at the U.S. naval air station to thank some of the troops here who have been helping deal with this crisis. Then he's going to hit Pensacola beach and hear from locals yet again. I talked to some of those folks yesterday and they're still very frustrated. They believe the federal government just doesn't get it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Take a tour with Buck Lee who runs Pensacola beach, and you'll see a picture-perfect summer scene. But Lee knows big gobs of oil are likely to wash up here soon and he's furious that a month ago he requested four tractors from the federal government to help sift the sand and only one finally arrived Monday afternoon just hours before President Obama came to town.
WILLIAM "BUCK" LEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANTA ROSA ISLAND AUTHORITY: They're just sitting over there. Finally the word got through, we raised enough heck that they said, OK, if it will shut you up, we'll get these things for you.
HENRY: Locals are so desperate, they're demanding FEMA, once reviled, get more involved so that equipment can arrive quicker. And they're demanding more accountability for BP.
LEE: It's a disaster, OK? So we need to have BP set up some kind of funding, whether it's $5 billion or $10 billion a year, that everybody, whether you're a government that needs equipment or whether you're a business person suffering, that can go to this account and present their legitimate claims and get their money back.
HENRY: White House advisors say such a fund will be announced by the president Tuesday night, but that may not be enough for some here on the beach.
HENRY (on camera): You voted for president Obama. What's your trust level on him right now?
BRUCE PARIS, GENERAL MANAGER, THE DOCK RESTAURANT: I'm starting to think I should have voted for Hillary. I think she may have more nerve, might have not put up with this for as long.
HENRY: Bruce Paris says business is down 40 percent at his restaurant from last year and he's worried it will only get worse when the oil arrives.
PARIS: We pretty much know it is going to be here. It is inevitable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Obama officials tell me FEMA is already is playing a coordinating role but they cannot take the lead in this crisis because that's being done by the incident command through Thad Allen. Locals here still insist they need equipment and other supplies.
ROBERTS: Ed, what are you hearing about the president's address tonight from the Oval Office in terms of themes, goals?
HENRY: Top Obama advisors are saying one key bit is going to basically be laying out a game plan for the first time. They realize there is frustration among the American people. There's been all these competing claims from BP about how much oil is seeping out, how much is being captured.
The president wants to lay out a reasonable plan going forward on what the American people can expect from the government, and also a lot of accountability on BP. You talk about the escrow fund the president wants to set up to make sure these claims are paid.
The White house has seen those poll numbers that we're talking about. They realize the American people are feeling maybe the administration hasn't been tough enough on BP. We'll hear a lot about accountability tonight.
HENRY: Ed Henry for us this morning, thanks so much. Don't miss the president's oval office address tonight right here on CNN. Special coverage begins at 7:00 eastern followed by reaction and analysis on "LARRY KING LIVE," and live from the Gulf Coast on "AC 360" at 10:00 eastern.
CHETRY: BP took risky shortcuts to save time and money when it was drilling the well that's now spewing oil into the Gulf. That's the assessment of two prominent lawmakers that have been investigating the oil giant in the wake of the spill.
They say that BP chose a well design with a very limited capacity to stop the surge of methane gas that apparently ended up blowing up the deepwater horizon rig.
According to federal investigators, a BP drilling engineer sent an e-mail to a colleague about deepwater saying, "This has been a nightmare well which has everyone all over the place." That was five days before it erupted into flames.
According to BP documents, when a BP engineer learned about a "severe gas problem," he responded "Who cares? It's done, end of story. We'll probably be fine and we'll get a good cement job." Here's how committee chairman Henry Waxman characterized the findings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HENRY WAXMAN, (D) CALIFORNIA: In each and every case they cut corners. They wanted to save time and spend less money. And had they not done that, we might not have had the kind of explosion that we're now dealing with.
We found five separate instances from their own documents, from their own e-mails, and from interviews that we've done that indicated that something was really wrong, not just once but over and over again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: BP declined to comment on the letter, the spokesman saying it would be inappropriate to comment on the matters in advance, but they will raise them during the hearing. Coming up at 7:40 Eastern, our Carol Costello digging deeper on the story. She's also looking into the safety records and accidents at other deepwater rigs. The experts she spoke with say this is a continuing problem with the industry.
ROBERTS: Powerful storms and flooding rains from Dallas all the way north to Duluth have got the Midwest under the gun again this morning. Right now flood watches and warnings up across much of the midsection of the country which has been just soaked by record rainfall that's causing a lot of flash flooding.
And 59 counties in Oklahoma are under a state of emergency this morning.
CHETRY: And in the state capital, dozens of people had to be rescued as floodwaters rushed through the streets. Cameras captured the dramatic scene of a teenage girl clinging to tree limb to keep from being swept away.
Jacqui Jeras is in Atlanta with more on this story. It was just amazing to watch this unfold. Nobody had any idea what would happen to this girl.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, some amazing moments there. Yesterday, it was so surreal, it seemed like a movie didn't it where you were cheering the girl on and just hoping for that happy ending. Unfortunately, this was real life and there were many touch- and-go moments that could have ended in tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JERAS: This was Sooner Road in Oklahoma City until eight inches of rain in just three hours turned it into a torrent of mud-brown water. Caught by the sudden flood, a young woman tries clinging to anything to be swept from being swept away.
A news helicopter catches sight of her, but then she disappears under a canopy of trees. For a few moments, no sign of her. But then --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, guys, I think this is a woman, clinging on to this tree. There is a road here. She keeps trying to swim but she's going nowhere.
JERAS: And there's little chance of her making it to dry land. Five minutes later she's still holding on. A rescue airboat is on the way. The woman swims from one tree to the next but appears to be tiring.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on, girl.
JERAS: By now she's been in the water for at least 20 minutes. A few minutes later she managed to clamor out of the torrent and on to a branch. But still, no rescue in sight, and lightning forces the chopper to leave the scene. And 40 minutes later, help is at hand, but the first rescue boat capsizes. Finally, fighting the current, a dingy gets close enough to pull the woman on-board, as well as some of her rescuers. And after a terrifying ordeal, she's brought to dry land, apparently none the worse for the experience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JERAS: It's a miracle that she made it out of there alive for as long as she was in the water and as strong as that current was.
There were many water rescues across the Oklahoma City area yesterday, as well as other parts of the Midwest and the east. Take a look at these pictures that we have out of West Virginia for you where flash floods brought up high water over the weekend. Still, many mud- covered roads and the town's main road is covered in that mud and debris.
Now in Kansas City, you've been dealing with your fair share of flooding here as well. We've had a number of nights in a row where you've woken up to high water. We've had strong thunderstorms which dumped to two four inches of rain into the metro area, and also we're looking at many roads which have been closed as a result.
Now we are looking at more clusters of thunderstorms across the nation's midsection today clusters are expected to move into the Ohio River valleys. We'll watch places like Indianapolis and Cincinnati for that flood threat later on today.
John and Kiran?
ROBERTS: Enough already, I think a lot of people are saying. Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much for that.
A member of the House is asked a simple question on the street, and this happens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you fully support the Obama agenda?
REP. BOB ETHERIDGE, (D) NORTH CAROLINA: Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow, things get heated, even physical. What happened and why just ahead. It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KURTZ: It's 12 minutes after the hour right now.
New this morning, a security scare that took place at the base that houses the headquarters for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A man and woman are now in custody this morning for trying to enter MacDill Air Force base in Tampa without authorization.
Air Force officials say the pair was stopped last night at the gate, could not produce proper IDs. A search of the SUV found military uniforms and gear and several weapons. The base was actually briefly closed but it is now back open this morning.
ROBERTS: North Carolina Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge is apologizing after this embarrassing video went viral. Two men with cameras claiming to be students approached him on a street in Washington asking if he supports President Obama's agenda. Here's what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, congressman. How are you?
ETHERIDGE: Good, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you fully support the Obama agenda?
ETHERIDGE: Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here for a project, sir.
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just here for a project, sir.
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just here for a project. Would you please let go of my hand.
ETHERIDGE: Tell me who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just students, sir. We're students. That's all we are.
ETHERIDGE: I have a right to know who you are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are students.
ETHERIDGE: Who am I? Who are you? Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please let go of my arm. Sir, sir!
ETHERIDGE: Who are you? Who are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: While apologizing later, Etheridge said it had been a long day, but added that was no excuse. The two men in the video have not been identified.
The video was posted on websites owned by Andrew Breitbart, a conservative web entrepreneur, also known for releasing video of the workers for the community organizing group ACORN, counseling actors posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
CHETRY: The low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines again canceling all of its flights until at least Thursday now. Spirit's offering affected passengers a credit, throwing in an extra $100 for the trouble. The airline is going back to the negotiating table today with its pilots. They have been striking since Saturday over pay issues.
ROBERTS: President Obama is waking up in Pensacola, Florida this morning. It's the president's fourth trip to the gulf coast since oil began spilling. Nearly four weeks separated his first two visits. Only 10 days separated the last two, underscoring the urgency of this disaster and the impact it's having on his administration.
Chris Lawrence is live in New Orleans for us this morning. And what kind of welcome has the president received so far? We should point out he didn't go to Louisiana.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No, he didn't. But, John, you know, we wanted to talk to people, you know, all over the gulf because obviously the president can't go to every single town along the entire Gulf Coast. We wanted to see collectively, you know, what's the feeling when he comes to the gulf, now for the fourth time? You know, do people feel better, inspired when he's gone? Or do they just feel more cynical about this whole government response?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: You're looking at what's left of Dean Blanchard's shrimping business. Boats are docked, no big catch coming in. After 28 years, the guy's just about ready to give up. So, yes, President Obama's visit matters.
Are you excited to see him back here for a fourth time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the little bit of hope I got left that really in his heart he wants to do the right thing. That's about the only thing that's keeping me sane right now.
LAWRENCE: And the thing is, the worst the winter, the better the crop of shrimp that comes after it. And after the record-breaking winter they had down here, this could have been the best in years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was licking my chops. But I should be making $100,000 a day. Instead I'm losing $5. So you figure it out. Everything was perfect and here comes BP.
LAWRENCE: But you see the other name on these signs next to BP? That says Obama. We spoke to some oil workers who say their lives and livelihoods amount to more than just what they see as a photo-op.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe politically, you know, he makes him look good or something. But I mean this is how we are living. You know? And him coming down here don't help our way of living. You know? So --
LAWRENCE: Well, he says he's coming down here to try to save your way of living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's coming help clean up the boom -- the oil? I mean that's about all he could do.
LAWRENCE: Now even Dean Blanchard says he's going to watch the president's address tonight but what really matters to him is the follow-through, three months, six months, a year from now. In other words, is the president going to walk the walk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he said he's going to kick some butt. But we got a bunch of pair of boots we're not using over here right now. We'd like to donate it for him to use them because it's time he started kicking butt. You know, it's time for him to start doing what he says he's going to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Some of the people we spoke with say they in his address tonight they want to hear President Obama be really tough on BP, to really lock in that money that they want for some of the businesses down here. Other people say, you know, they don't want him to go so far that he starts to drive out the oil industry because they said they depend on that business for their livelihood -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes, a lot of folks saying that if the moratorium continues much longer, they're going to lose a lot of those drilling assets and may not get them back for a long time.
LAWRENCE: Yes.
ROBERTS: Chris Lawrence in New Orleans this morning. Chris, thanks.
And coming up at the bottom of the hour, we're going to be joined by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. We'll get a preview of the president's address to the nation tonight and his meeting tomorrow with BP's top executives.
For now, though, it's coming up on 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We have Christine Romans with us. She is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
We're talking a little bit about the financials of BP and how much this disaster could end up costing them. We know it has cost them a lot already.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really has. And still in the uncertainty arena, it's cost them a lot too because people just don't know how long this is going to go on. And that's one of the reasons why Fitch, the rating agency, this morning downgraded BP another level, downgraded its debt. What does that mean? It means when BP, if BP has to borrow money, it's going to make it more expensive and it's just another kind of negative light on this company. It shows how much trouble it's having and how much uncertainty is surrounding its situation.
Meanwhile, the president is trying to hammer out just sort of the framework for how BP will pay its claims and pay all of the mounting costs of this mess. BP has already paid $1.6 billion for the clean- up. That's to fix the well, to pay states directly. The states have said thanks for the money, but we need more. This will not be enough. So you know there's more payments coming that way.
There will no doubt be billions more. Just how many more, no one knows. And that's why the stock has been in a free fall, cut in half since this disaster began, trading now around $30 a share. It's pretty much steady right now in London trading, if you're wondering. It has lost roughly $90 billion in market value. $90 billion disappears. How big is that? That's about the combined size of the economies of Kenya, Uruguay and Costa Rica, or twice the size of Bulgaria.
Think of that. I mean, there are countries that don't have as much money as this company has lost. The big questions, as much about politics as costs, how far will the U.S. government go to punish BP for this horrific spill? Will BP be forced to cut its dividend? What about the future of BP's lucrative big government contracts? What about its leases in the gulf? Can BP pay?
Many analysts say even under the more pessimistic scenarios, yes, it can. Oil companies are quite literally cash machines. But Washington wants that cash, $20 billion of it in an escrow account and they want it supervised by someone other than BP. They said, hey, BP is in the business of getting oil out of the ground. It's not in the business of paying claims, and they're not doing a very good job at that.
Can it come up with the money? Sure. BP at the end of the first quarter had $7 billion in cash on hand. We've reported this many, many times. They're got a lot of money, John. With deep pockets, they are cash machine. They generated $66 million in profit every single day. Its cash flow is immense, but so is the political pressure from Washington and the uncertainty.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANS: It is really, really a tricky situation here.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
Well, you might have a high IQ but what about your EQ? Why your emotions could play a role in just how smart you are. That's ahead in an "A.M. Original."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Twenty-six and a half minutes after the hour. Your top stories just a few minutes away now. But first, an "A.M. Original," something that's you'll see on AMERICAN MORNING.
You know, there are all sorts of different ways to gauge intelligence.
CHETRY: There's book smarts, there's street smarts, but more and more experts say you need to pay attention to another kind of smarts.
Our Alina Cho is here now with part two of her special series, "Are You Smart?" We're talking about the emotional intelligence.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. How emotionally smart are you, guys? That's what we want know. Good morning, guys.
You know, you have heard about your IQ, right? That's your intelligence quotient. What about that EQ, your emotional quotient?
Well, a lot of smart minds are calling that the other smarts, so important to success, that kids are actually being taught how to be emotionally smart in school.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Along with math and science --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so, what you're going to do is put on your blindfolds.
CHO: This is part of the curriculum at Clarendon Hills Middle School near Chicago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When everyone has their blindfolds on, I'm going to have three people take off their blindfolds.
CHO: An exercise in boosting self-esteem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tap two people who you think can make you laugh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a different kind of enjoyment than a subject. It's more like a spirit lifter and it makes you feel good inside.
CHO: But what does that have to do with being smart?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a horrible idea. Do you get graded then for being angry? I mean, what does that mean in terms of real life?
PROF. ROGER WEISSBERG, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO: Emotional intelligence is a different way of being smart.
CHO: Roger Weissberg, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the man behind the groundbreaking research on which the best-selling book "Emotional Intelligence" is based. The concept, EQ is just as important as IQ. Weissberg says it turns out kids who get good social and emotional training score 11 percentage points higher on tests than kids who don't.
(on camera): Why? Why?
WEISSBERG: Well, I think there are a variety of reasons. They can overcome obstacles when they reach them. Some of this involves academic tenacity, teaching kids self-discipline and self-control.
CHO (voice-over): A learning process that starts in kindergarten. These are second-graders. Role playing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel proud because I just learned how to drive dinosaur computer lab.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. That is great. Can you teach me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHO (on camera): What is the real world benefit of this?
WEISSBERG: One real-world benefit is kids behave better in school. Another real-world benefit is they're less likely to fight. Another benefit is they're less likely to do drugs.
KATHLEEN JIRASEK, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER: I believe that this is the future. These children are our future. And so I believe by teaching them this, they will be the leaders.
CHO (voice-over): Research also shows great leaders tend to be funny and the best doctors are empathetic. But can emotional intelligence be taught? Should it be?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're now telling me that you can't learn how to behave with your peers?
CHO (on camera): What you're saying is do we really need a class for this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we need a class for this.
CHO (voice-over): Others argue getting along is just as important as getting good grades and that the really smart thrive at both.
WEISSBERG: This is not academics versus social and emotional development. That's a false choice. This is teaching kids to be socially, emotionally and academically skilled.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Author Daniel Pink says logical thinking, in other words being book smart, well, that still matters but these days those jobs that require book smart thinking can be outsourced in many cases, even to a computer. We all heard about that. So Pink says what's more valuable these days are those abilities that are harder to outsource. So those emotional intelligence qualities like empathy, big-picture thinking and creativity. So guys, there is an argument to be made that emotional intelligence does count, that it is important, that it does have a real-world benefit. Right?
CHETRY: Your whole life is day to day your inner personal relationships, your inner personal connections are what make things happen or not happen.
CHO: That's right. I had a boss one time say to me a long time ago, you know, all things being equal, I'm going to hire the nice guy. Always. You know, and so it does matter, you know, when you think about things down the line and there are some efforts in Congress right now to make this federally mandated so that emotional intelligence is taught throughout all of the schools across the country.
CHETRY: They're going to teach it to themselves in Congress? Or -
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: That's not a bad idea either.
CHETRY: Well, judging from some of the video we saw today, maybe not.
All right. Alina Cho for us, thank you.
ROBERTS: Alina is going to be back tomorrow, by the way, with part three of our series "Are You Smart?" She is looking at a new trend of college applications. Are video essays the future? That's tomorrow here on the most news in the morning.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, we check our top stories right now. It is day 57 of the gulf oil disaster. Workers are running low on government-required protective gear and other clean-up equipment. BP says it is trying its best to keep the supplies stocked but that there are shortages on everything from plastic gloves to oil-blocking booms and sand-sifting machines. Still though the Coast Guard says there haven't been any major slow-downs.
ROBERTS: Pakistani police have arrested an American citizen for allegedly trying to cross the border into Afghanistan to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden. It happened near the town of Chitral (ph), near the Afghanistan border. He's been identified as 52-year-old California construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner. Police say Faulkner was armed with a pistol, a dagger, and a 40-inch long sword and was also carrying night vision equipment.
CHETRY: Well, more severe weather threatening states up and down the Midwest. Flood warning and watches are in effect and forecasters are telling people to be on the alert in you're in low-lying areas. All this just 24 hours after the floods in Oklahoma injured more than 130 people. ROBERTS: Well, with the good majority of Americans saying that he's not being tough enough on BP, the president is doing something that he's never done before tonight - it's addressing the nation from the Oval Office. We, of course, will carry it live here on CNN.
Right now though to give us an idea of what we can expect, we're joined by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who is in the White House briefing room for us this morning.
Robert, great to see you this morning.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good morning, John, how are you?
ROBERTS: Good, thank you.
So what is the news going to be in the president's address tonight?
GIBBS: Well, look. I think the president will discuss the challenges that we face and outline a plan to meet those challenges, John. First and foremost, how do we contain the leaking oil and restore the gulf and clean up the beaches.
Secondly, what do we do to make the people of the gulf whole again through an economics claim process that processes claims quickly, efficiently and transparently. How do we make sure this never happens again? And how do we challenge ourselves to create the type of energy approach that doesn't increase our dependence on fossil fuels or foreign oil?
ROBERTS: That's a lot on his plate tonight. But one of the most interesting things that's been talked about in recent days - and Doug Brinkley, the noted presidential historian has been telling us about this is the possibility of a wetlands recovery plan for the gulf coast, restoring the traditional flow of the Mississippi River, getting it outside of those levees, helping to wash out the oil and also replenishing the marsh areas with sediment to try to halt or at least slow down that process of sustenance that we've been seeing that resulted in the loss of a football field of the marsh land just about every day for years now.
How far down that road is the president going to go tonight in restoring the wetlands?
GIBBS: Well, look, John, what we outlined tonight will be the beginning of a process to restore the gulf as Doug and others have talked about, not just the way it was the day that this rig exploded, but years ago so that it can help us deal with both natural and man- made disasters like this. BP is responsible for the economic - the environmental damage and the economic damage that they've created in this and money from those natural resources damage assessments will likely be used in the coming years to restore the gulf.
It's not something that can happen overnight. It's something that's going to take years to accomplish. But something that the president is committed to. You heard him talk about that yesterday.
ROBERTS: So is the plan then to take down a lot of those levees that have reined in the Mississippi River and stop the natural process of floodwaters going into those marshes and bringing with it a lot of sediment that keeps up the land mass there?
And are you going to put BP on the hook for that?
GIBBS: Well, look, John. I don't think the president -- and I don't think anybody's going to get down quite to that level at this point. We're focused on the response and we want to be ready for a restoration project. They're going to be responsible for the damage that's created.
As I said, there will be an assessment of the cost to the environment that has been caused by this disaster. BP will be presented a bill for that and they'll owe the American taxpayer that amount of money.
ROBERTS: The president is going to be meeting tomorrow after his Oval Office address with the chairman of the board of BP, probably the CEO as well. And one rather outspoken New Orleanean (ph) that we talked to last week, Julia Reeds (ph) said "why is it taking this long?
If the president can meet with Skip Gates and James Crowley over a beer, why it is he waiting 57 days before he talks face to face with the people who are running BP?"
GIBBS: Well, John, people at all levels of this government and all levels of this response have been in touch with BP from the very beginning. They're drilling not only a relief well to put a permanent end to this crisis in the gulf but they're drilling a second relief well at the cost of $100 million, not because they wanted to but because the government directed them to.
They're increasing their containment strategy on the surface so that we can pump more oil up, not because they wanted to but because we directed them to. We've been meeting and discussing what BP is responsible for throughout this disaster. The president tomorrow will meet directly with the chair to discuss one of I think the most pressing things, and that is an economic claims process to pay the people that have been damaged.
ROBERTS: Hey --
GIBBS: The fishermen that can't do what they have always done. The hotel owners that are watching reservations be canceled in the gulf. Those are the people that have been damaged by this disaster, and they must be made whole.
ROBERTS: Hey, one other huge issue down there particularly in Louisiana is this six-month moratorium. People are saying, and Democrat and Republican alike, are saying, wow, we got hit by the economic impact of the fishery shutdown, tourism is suffering, but now this moratorium is costing us jobs in the oil and gas industry. They're imploring the president to lift the moratorium saying this is a one-off incident. There was a problem with the BP well but all the other wells appear to be functioning just fine.
Would the president consider lifting or at least shortening that moratorium?
GIBBS: Well, what he's directed is the commission that is studying the regulatory framework for deepwater drilling. He wants to look at this first and to put in place whatever structures we need to put in place to make this safe.
ROBERTS: So is he concerned about the economic impact?
GIBBS: Oh, absolutely, John. But let me tell you this. BP owns four of the permits for drilling in deep water in Louisiana, off the coast of Louisiana right now. What the president told the governor of Louisiana is, you can't look at me and say we can't trust BP to do anything but when it comes to deep water drilling, we'll just take their word for it.
I don't think anybody wants to go through what's happened over the last 57 days again. Lord knows I don't and I can't imagine that the people of the gulf, they don't want to do that either. We need to figure out exactly what happened, ensure that that never happens again.
But let's not rush to put in place the type of risky framework that led to this type of disaster. Let's not let that happen again. Let's do all that we can. We're going to protect the people whose livelihoods have been lost and damaged because of this. That's the right thing to do. But we're not going to take BP's word for it right now that things are safe in the gulf.
ROBERTS: And just before we go, does the president trust Tony Hayward? Yes or no?
GIBBS: It's not about trusting Tony Hayward or anybody at BP. It is about ensuring that they live up to each and every responsibility that they have and that's exactly what the president and everybody in this administration will do.
ROBERTS: Robert Gibbs, good to see you this morning.
Look forward to the address tonight, 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
Appreciate you coming in.
GIBBS: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: Well, in Louisiana, they're still mourning the death of those 11 oil rig workers who died back in April when all of this started, when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded and burst into flames. It's not the first time that workers have died on the job.
Carol Costello takes a look at the oil industry's history of casualties ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 19 minutes to the top of the hour.
According to documents released by Congress, BP took risky shortcuts to save money and time when it drilled the well that's now spewing all that oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana, they're determined to remember those 11 workers who died back on April 20th when BP's rig burst into flames.
CHETRY: They were not the first workers though to lose their lives laboring for big oil. The industry has a long checkered past when it comes to safety.
Carol Costello takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The explosion that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon has captured the nation's at10tion. But it isn't the first deadly accident in the oil industry.
On April 2nd, an explosion at the Tesoro refinery in Washington state killed seven. May 5th, two were injured at the AGE Refinery fire in San Antonio. May 17th, another fire broke out at Lyondelle Bassell's Houston refinery. If you add up all the refinery and rig fires, you get 13 fires, 19 deaths, and 25 injured over just the past two months.
KIM NIBARGER, UNITED STEEL WORKERS: The workers that are injured or killed on the job -
COSTELLO: Kim Nibarger of the United Steel Workers' Union in D.C. to testify about job safety is appalled. And has been for a long time. 12 years ago he witnessed his fellow oil workers die on the job.
I live that nightmare in 1998 every day. I mean, it hurts me. I know what the families goes through. It needs to come to a stop. People shouldn't have to die just because they have to work.
COSTELLO: Oil industry representatives still insist though their industry is safe, but -
(on camera): So even with these statistics that I've given you on the number of fires over the past two and a half months, you say that safety is not a problem at refineries on shore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We like to look at that data and see if there is a trend or something that can be addressed broadly or if it is related to individual facilities.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Safety experts have wanted the oil industry to do that for years. Instead, it's bragged about an excellent safety record when it comes to falls on the job and oil spills but has refused to account for equipment and operational failures.
JOHN BRESLAND, CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD: If I got on an airline and they said, well, we've got a terrific safety record with our slips, trips and falls and our baggage handlers are really safe, but maybe we're not quite as safe on the process side, the running of the airline, I would have serious doubts about getting on that airline. I think the same analogy applies in the oil industry.
JORDAN BARAB, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: Obviously, the status quo is not working.
COSTELLO: Jordan Barab from OSHA, the government agency responsible for protecting America's workers has tried to rein in BP after serious incidents at BP's facilities in Texas City and in Toledo, Ohio, OSHA, according to the Center for Public Integrity, slapped BP with 862 citations between June 2007 and February 2010.
OSHA told CNN it levied $87 million in fines because BP was slow to correct the violations. But OSHA, the union and other safety experts caution, while BP might be the biggest offender, it isn't the only one.
(on camera): When you look at the number of fires that have occurred in the last two and a half months, what goes through your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like we're going to have another year just like last year and the year before. It's a continuing problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Long before the disaster in the gulf, OSHA sent letters to every refinery in the country asking them to address systemic safety issues. OSHA now says that it will also send in inspectors to everyone of the nation's 150 refineries, but John and Kiran, you know that that will take some time because OSHA is not staffed that way.
150 refineries is a lot of companies when you add them up with all the other companies that OSHA must oversee.
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. It is a big job. As we've seen, they're still doing EPA testing trying to figure out whether or not some of these areas where people are actually taking past in the cleanup were sick.
So, you know, it still takes a long time to get things moving into - (INAUDIBLE) right again.
COSTELLO: In the meantime, fires are breaking out and some workers continue to be injured on the job. It's just - union workers say it's appalling.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello this morning. Great story. Thanks, Carol.
And coming up, a life-saving rescue after a teenager suddenly finds herself trapped by floodwaters rushing through the streets of Oklahoma City. We'll talk to the victim, now safe and sound, thankfully, and two of her rescuers, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
We've been showing you the pictures all morning of the dramatic scene captured on tape, a helicopter hovering overhead as Oklahoma City was hit by flash flooding. And there, in the pictures, you saw a 17-year-old girl, Raquel Dawson. She was caught in the current.
You saw her swimming from tree limb to tree limb, holding on for dear life, to keep from getting swept away. And this is the happy ending as she's finally rescued. But, boy, some scary moments for her.
And joining us this morning from Oklahoma City, Raquel Dawson and two of her rescuers, firefighters Mark Edwards and Josh Pearcy. Thanks to all of you for being with us this morning.
Raquel, let me start with you. First of all, how are you doing this morning? Were you hurt at all in that ordeal?
RAQUEL DAWSON, RESCUED FROM FLOOD: I was, but it's minor stuff. Just scratches and bruises.
CHETRY: When you look back at the video, can you believe you made it out alive?
DAWSON: I haven't seen it.
CHETRY: You didn't get a chance to look at it yet? We're watching it right now and at - at some point, I mean, all you can see is your head as - as you're swimming. And it's amazing that you're even able to keep yourself - with that current, keep yourself swimming like that and above the water. I mean it really is amazing.
How - what was going through your mind when - when all of this was happening?
DAWSON: I was concentrating on making it to land and people.
CHETRY: And, all told, it was about two hours that you were trapped?
DAWSON: Yes.
CHETRY: And we're seeing -
DAWSON: Right. My mom said about three.
CHETRY: Oh, about three hours.
How did you get in that situation in the first place, Raquel? What was going on?
DAWSON: I was going to walk to work.
CHETRY: You're going to walk to work? And you said at the time you thought, OK, it looks like there's some flooding out there, but it looks like it's about knee-deep, I think I can make it?
DAWSON: Yes. And then I was going to turn around once it got, like, halfway up my thighs. I was just ready to turn around. But then I saw the lady off in the distance, so I went deeper.
CHETRY: And this was another woman who was stranded in her car and you thought I'd better get over there, see if I can help her out.
So what happened after that?
DAWSON: I helped her to the tree line and I gave her my kind of dark blue bag, but it sticks out a lot. And then I left her to go find help. And then I made it to this area of concrete, but there was water on the other side, too, so I started swimming again. And I didn't make it that far away from there.
CHETRY: Wow.
Lieu10ant Edwards, let me ask you. You got the call to help her and you actually got the call to help rescuers that tried to go out there in an airboat, right, and they also got capsized at that point. What were you concentrating on as you were trying to get this rescue in and - and try to save everybody that was now trapped?
LT. MARK EDWARDS, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, we knew it's going to be difficult for us and that there's heavily (ph) woods, densely populated. It's going to be difficult just to find her and the other rescuers as well.
So the nice thing about - we had a lot of air support and it was just a concerted effort where everybody was very fortunate that we found them. We were able to rescue them out of the trees and put them into the Zodiac and get them back to shore.
But the water was swift and their boat did capsize before ours. And, you know, the Good Lord smiled on us and we made it back to shore. And everybody was elated. You know, typically on a - on dive, we were in a recovery mode, so it's just a blessing to be on that rescue mode.
CHETRY: And - and when you look at it, there were a lot of people packed in that boat because the first rescue boat capsized.
Corporal Pearcy -
EDWARDS: That's right. CHETRY: -- explain what the conditions were like - Corporal Pearcy, what was it like to try to be there in that swift moving water and try to rescue not only the - Raquel, who originally was trapped, but then the other rescuers that became trapped as well?
CPL. JOSH PEARCY, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: For me, it's always concerning because we knew other rescuers had - you know, went into the same area and had problems. So that was in our minds and the water was extremely violent as it came through the trees there.
It's - generally people realize - or don't realize how violent the water is. It's moving very, very strong through that area, as the river was out of its banks.
CHETRY: And once the - once the river started - once it starts coming down like that, I mean, it looks like rapids, almost, in some of the areas. It's - were you surprised that Raquel was able - I mean, she said she swam. She, you know, took lessons, but, I mean, she had to be pretty strong to stay and actually swim through some of that current.
PEARCY: Yes. It is very difficult to swim in swift water. Generally, you'll swim forward as it's pushing you downstream, which she did great, used the water and swam with the current and got to the tree line where she could grab hold of something, which is, I mean, excellent.
CHETRY: Thank goodness. I'm sure all of you are relieved.
Raquel, boy, you know, I guess (INAUDIBLE) your job. You're a dedicated worker. You're going to try to make it there no matter what. But, glad you're OK.
And -- by the way, before we leave, any word on the woman that initially you were trying to help out in her car? Did she get rescued as well?
DAWSON: I'm not sure.
PEARCY: Yes.
EDWARDS: Everybody was accounted for.
PEARCY: She got home.
CHETRY: Everyone's accounted for? Wow, some great work on the part - I - firefighters rescued me from my house once because of flash flooding a couple of months ago. You don't realize how fast it happens and then you're surrounded.
So, great work to both of you as well. And Raquel, I'm glad you are safe and sound. Thanks for joining us this morning.
PEARSON: Thank you.
EDWARDS: Thank you. ROBERTS: Well, more than 2,000 earthquakes rattling Southern California last night. No serious damage reported, thankfully, but it sure shook things up at the old ball yard. We'll show you the pictures, coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A look at (ph) the temperatures today, and hot across parts of the country. We've had some crazy weather lately.
But in Southern California, they were rocked by more than two dozen earthquakes last night. A lot of them were centered near the U.S./Mexican border. It was in San Diego County. The largest one actually measured 5.7.
And the reason we're showing you the ball game is because they actually stopped the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays game in its tracks. It continued after a brief delay. A little bit of shaking there, but no serious reports of any damage or injuries.
ROBERTS: Add the University of Florida to the growing list of schools that has banned smoking on campus. Since 2005, the number of smoke-free colleges has jumped from just 18 to 394.
The Gainesville campus will implement its new policy on the first of July and, starting in August, all public universities in Arkansas will be smoke-free.
CHETRY: A Starbucks giveaway. The coffee giant will begin offering unlimited free Wi-Fi at all of its stores in July. It's part of an effort to get back business lost to McDonald's and smaller independent cafes which have been offering free internet access.
Starbucks have previously offered two free hours each day to registered customers.
ROBERTS: And a young bullfighter in Mexico must have been channeling Monty Python when he came face-to-face with an angry bull, then, run away, run away. The would-be matador, Christian Hernandez, took off across the ring and over the wall.
"When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled." But he managed to get back into the ring only to run away again.
The botched bullfight actually got Hernandez arrested -
CHETRY: What?
ROBERTS: -- for breach of contract.
CHETRY: Well, maybe he saw what happened to that other matador, that gory picture from a couple of weeks ago and thought better of it.
ROBERTS: Yes. That was a little terrible. You want to remind people at home of what -
CHETRY: The whole sport is terrible.
Yes, gored right through the mouth - I mean, through the jaw. But it's a very nasty, brutal sport.
ROBERTS: The horn went in here and came out here.
CHETRY: Yes. No word on his condition. The bull is dead, though.
Two minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
