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Hayward on the Hot Seat Today: BP's Money Plan: 20 Billion in Escrow Fund for Spill Claims; Oprah Winfrey Talks About Gulf Oil Crisis; Soldier Slapped with Bag Fee; BP Oil Spill Costs; Crude Politics of Drilling Debate; Hayward at the Helm

Aired June 17, 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: Hello and welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Thursday, June 17th. Glad you're with us this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry.

Hello, Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good to be here with all of you. I'm Drew Griffin in for John Roberts. He is off today. Lots to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it, shall we?

Can you believe it, 59 days ago this happened, the disaster in the Gulf. Two months. BP's CEO is ready to testify now on Capitol Hill. You can expect Tony Hayward to get a drilling. One congressman says this. He's promising the oil executive is going to be sliced and diced when the day is done.

CHETRY: BP's money plan. Company executives face-to-face with the president and getting billed for the Gulf disaster. The oil giant agreeing to set aside $20 billion to cover damages from the spill. The devil though may be in the details. We're live at the White House breaking down the deal.

GRIFFIN: Yes. It's almost as big as the spill as the debate over drilling. Plenty of environmentalists want the president's six- month moratorium on deep water drilling to be extended for good, but the families living along the Gulf Coast say the drilling freeze is something they can't financially survive. Mortgages, bills to pay, what do you do when a disaster puts your way of life on hold? We're live in Louisiana. That's ahead.

And the amFIX blog is up and running, so get typing. Join the conversation right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.

CHETRY: And meantime, BP CEO Tony Hayward once famously said that he wanted his life back. Well, today, it's all about survival. For 59 days oil has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico and in just four hours, the man who's become the face of this nightmare will be occupying one very hot seat on Capitol Hill.

Now we already do have the copy of some of his opening remarks where he'll be telling a House subcommittee that he's deeply sorry for the catastrophe that's poisoning the Gulf. And he'll be lowering expectations as well, telling members of Congress BP cannot guarantee the outcome as it attempts to kill the well.

Meantime, BP executives, after meeting with President Obama yesterday, agreed to set up a $20 billion escrow fund to pay the victims of this spiraling disaster. But that news was overshadowed by yet another remark, perhaps a misstatement by BP executive chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL-HENRIC SVANBERG, BP CHAIRMAN: I hear sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies who don't care, but that is not the case in BP. We care about the small people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill this morning. So he said "We care about the small people." He said that a couple of times. And, of course, that met with a firestorm of controversy. And then he sent out a statement later saying it was a clumsy characterization. If you're being generous you just say, look, maybe -- I mean, it was a language barrier and he didn't mean to say it. He meant like we'll look out for the little people. But there were people who were very upset at what he said yesterday.

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were people very upset and unclear if that's going to be brought up in the hearing that we are going to have here. You see there's a hearing room behind me. I think we can probably call it the lion's den. And it will not be that top CEO but rather the CEO that we have all really seen a lot since the spill began and that is Tony Hayward.

This committee, Kiran, sent him a 14-page letter detailing some of what they have found in their investigation, saying that BP had cut corners, doing things like getting cheaper well designs and even -- not even running tests that they said was crucial for the rig that ended up exploding. I spoke with the man who's going to chair this hearing with Tony Hayward in about four hours from now. His name is Bart Stupak and he told me that none of the members on this committee are going to have any patience for Tony Hayward evading their questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: You know, Tony Hayward has in many ways become the poster child of this and in many ways the villain of this. Do you see him as the villain of this BP explosion?

REP. BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: Look, he's a corporate guy. At the end of the day, he's going to put his best foot forward. It's not going to ring true with me or the American public. And we've got a mess on our hands, a disaster, a catastrophic disaster for our environment and those people who lost their lives. He's just going to say I'm sorry, it won't happen again. That's not good enough. That's not good enough.

BASH: It almost feels like he's going to be facing a firing squad, not necessarily a congressional hearing.

STUPAK: Well --

BASH: It's going to be tough?

STUPAK: Oh, yes. Yes. Members are angry. Members are frustrated. Members are -- they're going to take his hide off.

BASH: What about you?

STUPAK: As they should.

I will be fair but firm.

BASH: I saw somewhere that you were quoted as saying I hope he's sliced and diced.

STUPAK: But fairly sliced and diced.

BASH: Right. So these are documents that you have uncovered.

STUPAK: Correct.

BASH: One employee calling the Deepwater Horizon well, crazy well, another a nightmare well.

STUPAK: Correct. Correct.

These are the top engineers. So, when you say things like this in this corporate, this culture, what does that mean? Oh, well, so you got a crazy well, we've got a runaway well, it's a nightmare. Keep moving forward, cut corners, get it done. Get the nightmare over with. It created a bigger nightmare for the American people.

BASH: But you think that Tony Hayward -- he bears the ultimate responsibility?

STUPAK: Yes, he's head of -- he's head of the corporation. He goes down with the ship, as they say.

BASH: So this is an interview that he did with Sky News. Tony Hayward.

STUPAK: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HAYWARD, BP CEO: I think the environmental impacts of this disaster will be very, very modest. I think we'll be seen as a textbook example of how to do an emergency response. It is unprecedented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STUPAK: Well, this is not modest and even if it was in May (ph), it was not modest. First of all, they couldn't tell so much oil is coming out -- textbook example of how to do a cleanup? They can't handle 5,000 gallons or 5,000 barrels let alone 60,000 barrels we think it is now.

Tony Hayward and BP will be held accountable. When it's all said and done, I want him to go back to Sky News and say, oh, this is a textbook example of the way it should be done. It's a textbook example of how things should not be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now I asked Congressman Stupak what he thinks the toughest question is going to be for Tony Hayward at these hearings. He said that his question is going to be, whether or not or why the fact that he knew that alleged corners were cut, why he didn't do anything about it. And Stupak says he anticipates that Hayward will say I didn't know and then Stupak says his follow up will be, why didn't you know? This is your rig -- Kiran.

CHETRY: It's very interesting. And of course, we're all going to be watching very closely what they talk about. But, Dana, isn't it also interesting about whether or not some of these congressmen are going to talk about the regulations and the groups and organizations that were supposed to be overseeing some of this as well and whether or not the BP chairman is going to be bring that up either?

BASH: Absolutely. I mean, this committee has also been investigating for example, MMS, the Minerals Management safety organization, or I should say agency. That is the one responsible, responsible for overseeing. They're responsible for all the rules and regulation of all of the oil drilling in this country and that has been a big topic of discussion. Why were they not only potentially asleep at the switch but in the words of many congressmen in bed with many of these members. Unclear how much that is going to come up here because the focus, Kiran, seems to be very much on BP and really zeroing in on Tony Hayward and what went wrong and whether or not he does bear responsibility.

CHETRY: Yes, when you have the congressman saying sliced and diced and he's not even there yet, you know, it's going to be fireworks today.

BASH: Exactly.

CHETRY: All right, Dana. I know you'll be watching and we'll check in with you. Thanks so much.

And meantime, the fireworks begin 10:00 Eastern this morning when Tony Hayward takes the stand. You can watch it all unfold live right here on CNN or CNN.com/live.

GRIFFIN: Meantime, the focus yesterday at the White House was on money. President Obama promising to make BP pay for the damage done in the Gulf of Mexico. Well, after a meeting with the president, company execs have agreed to put up $20 billion into an escrow fund. It's to help compensate the victims of this disaster.

CNN's Dan Lothian on the phone this morning to break down the deal for us. Good morning, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, Drew. Well, first of all, you have this meeting that took place at the White House yesterday. Lasted for about four hours and we're told that the tone was business-like, but as you pointed out they did reach this agreement. First of all, BP saying that they'll cut their dividends for three quarters. And then that they'll set up this $20 billion fund that they'll pay out starting this year and then over the next three years.

This is something that won't be controlled by the government, won't be controlled by BP, but by an independent third party. Now, some have been criticizing this, saying that, you know, $20 billion is not nearly enough. The White House aide saying that this is just a start, it is not a cap. Now in addition to this $20 billion, BP agreed to set up another fund for $100 million. This is to pay out to the unemployed rig workers. President Obama yesterday said that this is a start to help struggling residents and business owners in the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It should provide some assurance to some of the small business owners and individuals down in the Gulf who are -- I was visiting with that BP is going to meet its responsibilities. BP's liabilities for this spill are significant and they acknowledge that fact. We will continue to hold BP and all other responsible parties accountable. And I'm absolutely confident BP will be able to meet its obligations to the Gulf Coast and to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now agreeing to setting up these funds, administration officials say that BP never volunteered to do any of this, that there was pressure that had to be applied by the White House in order to reach that agreement -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: OK, Dan, from the White House, thanks a lot. And Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. She's going to be talking about this $20 billion, how it's going to be funded, who's going to oversee it. And actually interesting, yesterday BP stock went up after this announcement. Very interesting.

Coming up at 6:40 Eastern, we're going to talk with General Russel Honore. He says the best way to fight the Gulf oil spill is to treat this like World War III and he's got the battle plan.

CHETRY: That's right.

GRIFFIN: And new this morning, some common over-the-counter drugs have been recalled. They include Benadryl Allergy ultratab tablets, 100 count, Extra Strength Tylenol rapid release gels, 50 count. The company, get this, forgot to include them in that drug recall back in January. Consumers had complained there was a moldy odor coming from the drugs. CHETRY: Well, this guy once snorted a line of ants as he recalls in his autobiography. His stories of drug and alcohol abuse legendary. Well, now, scientists are reportedly studying Ozzy Osbourne to find out how he's still alive, seriously.

A company in Cambridge, Massachusetts is actually using a drop of Ozzy's blood to map his entire genome and want to find out how his body absorbs drugs. It will take months, but Ozzy isn't going anywhere. The self-proclaimed medical miracle is 61 now, sober. New album out next week and he's headlining Ozzfest this summer, whether he knows it or not.

GRIFFIN: Yes, and whether you can understand him or not.

A very rough night of weather in Dupree, South Dakota last night. I want to take a look at this video taken by a team of these crazy storm chasers. The National Weather Service confirming at least two tornadoes touched down. We're getting reports the storm blew off the roof of a courthouse. High winds that could cause more damage are in the forecast today.

CHETRY: That is a terrifying look right there.

GRIFFIN: Let's go take a closer look, Joe.

CHETRY: Right toward it.

Ten minutes past the hour right now. We do get a check of the weather headlines with Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center. I mean, that picture with the clouds, I mean that looks like end times.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really does. That is about as close as you want to get. And the thing that's interesting is we can see that same storm system march a little bit more to the east today in parts of the upper Midwest. More storms possible, maybe even some more tornadoes.

This morning let's show you what's happening right now. We're going to take you first right to the gateway to the west, right near Mississippi, rather along the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis. We're seeing some strong storms. But even heavier ones developing over parts of the Dakotas, Bismarck this morning and Fargo, some strong thunderstorms. But take a look later on today.

Western half of the Great Lakes, upper Midwest and parts of the southeast may be dealing with some strong storms. We're going to talk about those coming up in just a few moments and how both of those may impact your business travel for the day. That's all moments away. Let's send it back to you in New York.

CHETRY: Reynolds Wolf for us, thanks so much.

All right. Well, still to come on the Most News in the Morning, we catch up with Oprah Winfrey and talk to her about her thoughts on the Gulf oil spill and she tells us what kind of job she thinks the president is doing. Eleven minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: 6:14. Almost 6:15 now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

It's day 59 of this crisis in the Gulf. People of all political stripes and walks of life frustrated, want this disaster to end.

CHETRY: And so the celebrities are speaking out about it, too. And our Don Lemon had a chance to catch up with Oprah Winfrey at an event in Atlanta to ask her what she thinks about what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have to ask you this, because of the news. You have been so supportive of the folks down south and what's going on with the oil. What's going on in your heart with that?

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW: What's going on in my heart is the same thing that's happening, I think, everybody feels for what is happening to all of the fishermen and all of the families who this time of the year would be hosting people from all over the country and all over the world there, you know?

We can only hope and pray that this will soon be resolved in a way that people can pick themselves up and we begin to move forward. Yes.

LEMON: The criticism from the president, his handling of --

WINFREY: I think the president is doing the best anybody can. I really don't understand what people want him to do. I think -- he's the president of the United States. You're not supposed to be emotional. You're supposed to take action and get things done and make sure those things happen.

So I really don't know what it is people want him to do.

LEMON: You're so charitable. Are you going to help do anything for the folks down there?

LEMON: Well, I don't -- I don't have any plans right to do anything specifically because it's going to take more money than I have to do that. So I think that all of us being united in our sense of understanding, what is going on and what is happening not only to the people but to the -- to the animals, that's what breaks my heart too, watching that every day.

LEMON: Thank you, Oprah.

LEMON: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHETRY: Well, there you go, hearing it from Oprah. She thinks the president is doing everything he can.

GRIFFIN: Of course she does. She supported him during the elections. Come on. She's like old pals with guy, right? You know. Chicago buds.

CHETRY: That's right.

Well, how about this one for an outrage, an airline story, a military family from Texas says basically this was a slap in the face. They want to know why American Airlines charged a soldier for his overweight duffel bag as he was on his way back to Iraq.

Army Specialist Gary Sharpen was on a two-week leave. His wife says he showed up. He had a 64-pound duffel bag, so that would make it 14 pounds overweight for civilians and within the 100-pound limit for active duty military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELODIE SHARPEN, SOLDIER'S WIFE: They want him to take out the pictures of our family, the toothbrushes that he was bringing over, the extra toothpaste he was bringing over, deodorant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, airline officials told local stations that they only waive the fee if soldiers show their travel orders and they say that he didn't, although he was wearing fatigues at the time. He claims he was not asked.

GRIFFIN: Yes. I don't -- you know, I travel all the time. I see these guys in the airport. They get treated really well by the airlines these days. There's got to be more to that.

CHETRY: They should be.

GRIFFIN: Or that it was just one bad employee, I don't know. I've got a shout out to American Airlines to see if anything happens, so we'll see (ph).

CHETRY: Good.

Hopefully -- they said if he can show his travel orders they'll refund it.

GRIFFIN: Right.

CHETRY: So we'll see.

Meantime, BP agrees to put $20 billion into an escrow account. This would be to cover the claims by those -- for those affected by the oil spill. Can they afford it? Is it enough? And what does it mean to their bottom line and also to people who depend on BP for their incomes? Our Christine Romans is going to be breaking it all down for us, coming up.

It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour right now. Time for "Minding Your Business". Christine Romans joins us now with a bit of a breakdown what we're talking about here when we talk about this $20 billion escrow fund that BP has agreed to pay into.

ROMANS: So it's $5 billion a year for the next four years when you look at this, $5 billion right away and then $5 billion more for each of the next few years. This, of course, is a fund to decide and pay quickly the claims against this company from victims of this -- of this spill.

Can they afford it? The short answer is yes. BP generates about $7 billion -- it has $7 billion cash in the bank. That's what they had at the end of the first quarter. It generates, we've been saying, it is a cash machine. These oil companies are cash machines. They have the ability to borrow very quickly and without too much trouble, $17 billion immediately and they're taking some other measures to free up some cash as well so that they can be pumping money into this fund even as they are paying the costs of the cleanup and trying to cap the well.

A lot of people have been saying, is this -- is this a big gesture of goodwill? Is it something that is going to have a big impact overall on -- on the costs of the spill? Well, look at the wide, wide range of estimates and this is -- I want to be clear. No one knows how much this is going to cost in the end. CNNmoney.com says expert says the highest, highest estimates are $100 billion. I've heard more like $37 to $50 billion for the costs. You can see where $20 billion is on this wide range of just what the overall costs are going to be.

BP is also pledging $100 million for idle oil workers so that they can be paid quickly, and this is how they're going to pay for it. They're canceling that quarterly dividend. They're going to sell $10 billion in assets. They're cutting investments. This company invests billions of dollars every year into -- into new wells and new technologies and new kinds of business ventures. So they are going to be freeing up money pretty much immediately to try to -- to satisfy the government and this country, put that $20 billion in the escrow account and make sure they have the financial flexibility to pay these claims and the costs of the -- of the spill.

The stock is up eight percent in London trading.

GRIFFIN: Yes. That's wow.

ROMANS: Because it takes a lot of the uncertainty away. And, at least today, there might be a relief rally, but at least today, investors are saying, you know, they have -- they have the money to put in the bank and they seem to have appeased -- appeased the president for now. But we'll see if they appease Congress and that all comes later today.

CHETRY: And -- and there's always fallout from any decision, I mean, the decision to cut dividends is not sitting well with many over especially across the pond.

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: Lots of people that are worried about their pension funds because BP, you know, is a huge company that makes up a nice chunk of some of these investments.

ROMANS: There are some, and one of the statistics I read with that in the U.K., pensioners in the U.K. is about 13 percent of the dividends paid out to pensions in the U.K. are from BP -- BP stock. There are pensioners along the Gulf Coast, teachers, for example, in Louisiana --

GRIFFIN: Right.

ROMANS: -- who their pension, they have BP shares, BP -- that that dividend helps pay the pensions of -- of all kinds of public sector workers around the world. And it also is, you know, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the end of the first quarter among the biggest holders of BP shares, they used that dividend to help fund good works around the world.

So, yes, you can see there will be a knockdown effect from the dividend being -- being cut for the next three quarters.

CHETRY: All right.

GRIFFIN: Thanks.

ROMANS: Sure. See you soon.

GRIFFIN: We'll see you next time.

ROMANS: Yes.

CHETRY: Still ahead, the president's six-month ban on deepwater drilling is dividing politicians, environmentalists and even families across the Gulf Region. We're going to break down both sides of the debate from Louisiana, next.

It is now 24 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Day 59 of the disaster in the Gulf. The political hot potato of this crisis continues. The president's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, you know, lots of environmentalists -- they want to keep this ban forever.

CHETRY: And then there's plenty of business owners and people living along the Gulf shore and politicians from Washington say that the longer the rigs are shut down, the more families depending on the industry for a paycheck will suffer.

Our Chris Lawrence joins us live from New Orleans this morning to break down the debate. Hey, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran and Drew. Yes. You know, Governor Bobby Jindal sent a delegation to the Obama administration basically pleading with them to try to cut short this moratorium, not so much for the oil rig workers themselves, but the other people involved. Because for every man on that rig, there could be 10 or more support workers whose jobs are in jeopardy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): There's one boat left for this oil field cleaning company, one last bit of oil and drilling mud to scrub.

VILMA MOCH, COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATIONS: Once this job is finished, this boat will no longer have a job because of the moratorium.

LAWRENCE: That's how the dominos fall. The president shuts down deepwater drilling which dry docks the boats that supply the rigs.

MOCH: We wouldn't be able to clean this boat again because it wouldn't have a job to go offshore to bring mud back to us to clean.

LAWRENCE: Vilma Moch says the president's six-month moratorium could kill her company on its 20th anniversary.

MOCH: July, August, if drilling is not back into effect, these deepwater rigs aren't -- aren't working, we're not working. Next week we won't be working.

LAWRENCE (on camera): That's a hard thing to argue against.

AARON VILES, GULF RESTORATION NETWORK: It absolutely is.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): But environmentalists Aaron Viles is going to try.

VILES: How can you look at this ecological nightmare that's happening right now and say, let's keep going? We have got to get answers.

LAWRENCE: President Obama has ordered a commission to inspect the deepwater rigs and decide when it's safe to start drilling again.

VILES: There shouldn't be a gun to the head of the commission saying, look, every week you take, means 25,000 more jobs or something like that.

LAWRENCE: He says in addition to BP's new $20 billion cleanup fund, another $100 million has been set aside to pay oil rig workers sidelined by the moratorium. VILES: That I think removes the pressure on the -- on the commission to do their work quickly and instead do it well.

LAWRENCE (on camera): Your gut feeling, do the oil companies stick around and wait out the moratorium?

MOCH: Some will. Some will. And so the ones that can go overseas are going to go overseas. The rigs that go overseas, you're looking at two to five years. Those rigs will not be back here. So this is not going to affect us for six months. This is going to affect us for a few years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: You know, Vilma feels that, a, look at this, the $100 million fund that BP set up, that's just for oil rig workers, not the supporting workers that go along with that. So, they're going to have to go through the claims process for that $20 billion.

And Vilma really feels that if these oil companies take their business overseas, you know, that fund just is not going to fund some of these small businesses indefinitely to sit around and do nothing.

CHETRY: And you can see the arguments on both sides and why there are very different opinions about this. No easy answers.

Chris Lawrence for us -- thanks so much.

Well, it's half past the hour right now. We check our top stories.

Lawyers on both sides of the same sex debate argument had their say during final arguments in a California courtroom. The supporters of the state's Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage, described marriage as an institution that's intended to promote procreation. Opponents argue that marriage is recognized as a fundamental right by the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge still hasn't given any clues about which way he might rule.

GRIFFIN: New murder charges against Amy Bishop. Remember her? The college professor accused of gunning down three colleagues at an Alabama school in February? Well, that shooting rekindled interest in the shooting death of her brother 24 years ago.

And now, she's been indicted in Massachusetts for first-degree murder of her brother. The shooting originally ruled an accident. Prosecutors reopened the case because police allegedly failed to share vital info.

CHETRY: And BP's CEO in the hot seat this morning. Tony Hayward expected to get grilled by House members. He is the executive who famously complained last month that he'd like his life back after being asked about all of the difficulties dealing with this oil spill. He may not feel that way after today. The chairman of the committee investigating the oil spill in the Gulf is promising that Hayward will be, quote, "sliced and diced."

GRIFFIN: You know, when Hayward took over the helm at BP, he already had a mess on this. He kind of inherited this mess.

CHETRY: Yes. And Allan Chernoff has been looking in Hayward's tenure as the head of the oil giant. He's with us.

I mean, I guess mess is relative. This is probably the biggest mess he's had to deal with for BP.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: He really did have a mess to deal with back when he came in. In fact, he had to deal with this. This is the Baker report about the Texas City refinery fire. Remember that one? Hayward said, yes, we're going to improve safety, things will be better. And it appears that, indeed, BP was making improvements until the Deepwater Horizon exploded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): When Tony Hayward became BP CEO three years ago, he promised to make safety his "top priority" and focus "like a laser" on safe and reliable operations. BP was in crisis. In the wake of an explosion at the company's Texas City refinery that killed 15 people, a review panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker demanded BP create a corporate safety culture from the top down. Hayward accepted the Baker report as a real gift for BP, saying it's a mandate for change.

Analysts Jason Gammel tracks BP.

JASON GAMMEL, MACQUARIE RESEARCH: He talked about having to change the culture, having to focus more on safety, having to focus more on incident-free operations. And it was really a big part of his overall mantra.

CHERNOFF: While laying off thousands of employees, Hayward's public commitment to safety continued. Two weeks before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Hayward said, "Providing a safe working environment is a paramount responsibility and our first and foremost priority."

Hayward's predecessor, Lord John Browne, had become the face of BP's safety failures -- not only at the Texas City refinery, but also due to violations at BP's Whiting, Indiana refinery and oil spills in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Then Browne suddenly resigned in scandal after admitting he lied to a British court to hide a homosexual affair with a male escort.

In came family man Tony Hayward, appearing to be BP's Mr. Clean. But the Deepwater Horizon has changed everything for Hayward, his image and his company.

TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: Overall environmental impacts of this will be very, very modest.

CHERNOFF: Now, three years and one environmental disaster later, it is Tony Hayward who is tarred by yet another failure in BP's safety culture.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: While Hayward often spoke of BP's commitment to improving safety, a source who has actually worked very closely with the company on this issue tells CNN that the CEO's talk was more lip service than an actual heartfelt commitment.

CHETRY: It will be interesting to see what they talk about today when he's in the hot seat in Congress because there are varying reports and accounts of what happened in the days before that explosion.

CHERNOFF: He is going to be grilled. Sliced and diced, I am sure that is not an exaggeration.

CHETRY: Allan Chernoff for us -- thanks.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Allan.

CHETRY: Well, coming up: the general best known for his command performance during Hurricane Katrina says the U.S. needs to declare World War III when it comes to fighting the Gulf disaster. We're going to be speaking with Russel Honore about his battle plan -- coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

GRIFFIN: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn't it?

CHETRY: It sure is. A gorgeous shot of New York City this morning, 70 degrees. It's your lucky day actually. You're in town on two of the nicest days this week, 77 degrees.

GRIFFIN: Any day I'm here with you is my lucky day, darling.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: I thought you were going to say you bring the sunshine, meaning you.

GRIFFIN: Hey, also this morning, a black bear decided the town of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was the perfect place to take a stroll.

CHETRY: Yes. Our affiliate WTAE says that the bear -- there he is -- was spotted Tuesday in backyards.

GRIFFIN: Look at the ears on this dude.

CHETRY: I know.

Eventually, I love how they call him the "little guy," because he is, you know, relatively speaking. He was hit with a tranquilizer dart. He was taken back out of town, and he was released.

GRIFFIN: Just to the edge of town.

CHETRY: Yes. Right at the very edge, he was taken. They took him right there to the city limit and let him out.

GRIFFIN: Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. The most dapper man in weather -- Reynolds Wolf, look at that outfit, my friend.

CHETRY: He's been admiring your suit all morning, I have to say, Reynolds.

WOLF: (INAUDIBLE) out of closet, here it is. It happens.

GRIFFIN: Oh, man. That was freshly pressed, I know it.

WOLF: Well, not -- I'll tell you what, though, not really the thing to wear today in parts of Atlanta and parts of the southeast where it's going to be scorching -- certainly not the appropriate thing to wear in places like St. Louis where we've had some heavy rainfall this morning.

As we zoom out a little bit, you're also going to be seeing something else, some heavy storms developing over parts of the Northern Plains, possibly some strong storms especially in the western half of the Great Lakes later on and into the upper Midwest. And what we're going to be seeing is this area of low pressure, this frontal boundary surging off to the east. As it interacts that moisture of the Gulf of Mexico combined with your daytime heating, we're going to have two places -- not one but two spots -- where we could see severe weather. Western Great Lakes, upper Midwest, but also in parts of the Tennessee Valley, especially between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00.

So, when you have the daytime heating, it's going to make things pretty unstable, and with that, some strong storms are certainly a possibility. High temperatures getting up warm in many places, let's see Washington, D.C., both into Raleigh, North Carolina, it's going to be in the 80s. That's kind of deceiving because when you bring in the humidity, it's going to feel like it's beyond 90 degrees. For Dallas, 96, it's going to feel into the 100s. Forget about the high humidity, is going to very dry but very warm in Phoenix with 103, 94 in Tampa, 91 in Miami, 81 in Chicago.

And when we were talking about those storms, any chance they might give you a few issues in terms of your travel? Yes, pretty much. You can expect some delays in places like Chicago. Of course, back over to New York, you might see some delays anywhere from, let's say, five, even to 15 minutes.

But Minneapolis and then back into Atlanta and Orlando, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, up to 15 to 30 in many of those spots due to the wind and thunderstorms. Memphis and Los Angeles, haze and thunderstorms could give you less than 15 minutes of the wait. So, be patient out there.

So, that's a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you guys in New York.

CHETRY: All right. It sounds good. Reynolds, thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet.

CHETRY: Well, still ahead, the general best known for his command performance in Hurricane Katrina has a plan that he says needs to be put into place for the oil spill response. He says we need to start treating this like World War III. Russel Honore joins us to share his battle plan -- next.

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GRIFFIN: Forty-three past the hour. Time for the Most News in the Morning -- and Bigfoot just won't mind his own business apparently.

CHETRY: A North Carolina man says that the beast was trespassing on his mountain top property, Bigfoot. So, he put down his poking stick and called 911. And I don't know. I don't know, I guess it's -- I guess he was poking around up there.

Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When self- described mountain man, Tim Peeler, dialed 911, he didn't report a mugger or a burglar.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TIM PEELER, HAD RUN-IN WITH BIGFOOT: I don't know what it was. He's walking upright like a man.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS: In his backyard, messing with his dogs.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK. What did it look like?

PEELER: It looked like a giant ape with a man's face.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS: Now, we've heard a lot of weird 911 calls from complaints about fast food.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: I asked for four different times to make me a Western Barbecue Burger.

911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, we're not going to go down there and enforce your Western Bacon Cheeseburger.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS: To a lady looking for a husband.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Could you get a husband?

911 OPERATOR: You need to get a husband?

CALLER: Yes.

911 OPERATOR: You're calling 911 to get a husband?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS: Yes. Well, maybe Tim Peeler has got someone for her, someone tall, dark and awesome.

PEELER: This thing was 10-foot tall. He had beautiful hair.

MOOS: This being rural North Carolina, Mr. Peeler had a gun, but PETA would be proud --

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PEELER: I did not shoot --

911 OPERATOR: OK.

PEELER: -- the thing.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS (on camera): Tim Peeler called 911 not once, but twice that night, and both times police said, it sounded like maybe he'd had a few.

Reminds us of the plot from "Harry and the Hendersons."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to report -- something in my house. It's Bigfoot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. Yes. They can be a nuisance.

MOOS (voice-over): Actually, the Cleveland County dispatcher refrained from sarcasm.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Was there more than one or just the one?

PEELER: Just the one.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MOOS: Hey, one's enough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I said get away from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where is it now Mr. Henderson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in the bathroom.

MOOS: At least Mr. Peeler's Bigfoot never made it that far. Twice he says he scared it back into the woods. This, by the way, is a cheesy simulation.

MOOS (on-camera): Now, there is one way we would have known for sure whether this guy actually saw bigfoot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would I get in any trouble if I shot and killed this beast?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't answer that question.

MOOS: We recommend against calling 911 if you're just going to put your foot in your mouth, your big foot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get!

MOOS: Jeanne Moos --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get!

MOOS: CNN --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he went right back out that path again.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: His artist rendering is beautiful.

GRIFFIN: Pretty hair.

CHETRY: Yes. Do you think he was under the influence of something?

GRIFFIN: Yes.

CHETRY: All right. That clears up that.

Your top stories just minutes away, including the most up close look we've seen so far in a sea of fire. Ali Velshi embedded with the Coast Guard during a controlled burn.

GRIFFIN: The curious case of Alvin Greene, his rise from unemployed military veteran to South Carolina's Democratic Senate nominee. Many people still saying, who is this guy? And if they even voted for him? Was Greene a plant?

CHETRY: Also, the thing it's not golf. World Cup officials telling players and fans to get used to the sound of 40,000 or more horns blaring continuously, but why all of a sudden? Forty-seven minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Fifty minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. With the Gulf Coast under siege from the gushing oil, our next guest says that the U.S. needs a new battle plan. Lieutenant General Russell Honore who led the military response to hurricane Katrina says that we need to treat the Gulf oil spill like World War III. General Honore is now a CNN contributor, and he joins us this morning from Chicago. Great to talk to you this morning, General.

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): And good morning.

CHETRY: Last time we chatted with each other, we were down in Grand Isle, Louisiana and that was day 37. Now, we're day 59, and you said back then that this needed to be a much more coordinated, larger response. What do you make of how it's been handled so far?

HONORE: I think things are moving, you know, in a better direction, Kiran, but we need more boots on the gound. We need more troops. We need more capability.

CHETRY: And, you know, you talk about wanting the military to mobilize and take this over. We heard the president speak about it in his address from the oval office. He said, look, I've authorized 17,000 National Guard troops. The governors can call them into action. That's a different commitment than the full might of the military. Explain.

HONORE: Absolutely commitment. Let's take Florida here. The national guard, I spent four years training the National Guard in my last command, and they are great force, very adaptable, but it's a land-based force. It's been trained and equipped to operate on the land. In this status, they work for the governor, and they are doing a great job in each state. You saw them in Louisiana working 24 hours a day to get the job done working at the shoreline. But what we need, Kiran, let's take Florida here, we need the navy and the marine-type forces working with the coast guard to be able to go out and find the oil, then call in skimmers to skim that oil before it hit the shoreline.

And that's the level of frustration that the states are having. You hear Billy Nungesser every night talking about the oil is getting closer and closer and it's not being skimmed. What we need is what we call in the military, command and control, the ability to command and the ability to control. We got orders going out, but there's no one to be out there to move those boats to the right place to get that oil before it gets to the shoreline. So, we need to mobilize the Department of Defense to come in and help Admiral Allen do this.

CHETRY: So, the criticism of that point of view has been, look, the military is not trained in any specifics of oil cleanup, but you're saying that what they are trained in is the command and control that would put better organizational face on what's going on out there because, I mean right now, look, they say they have 4,200 response vessels. They have skimmers. They have barges. They have tugs. They have 30,000 personnel they say working across four states. Are you saying that we're coming up short on the organizational part?

HONORE: It's the organizational part. That's where we need to use our naval forces along with possibly some marine and army forces because the army has small boats too that have the right communications on them. They are satellite based so you can see where each boat is and then we can go out and find that oil, skim it, before it hits the shoreline. Then we need to bring in the federal command and control the work with the National Guard and coast guard, so this can be coordinated on shore where we got a commander here that can make decisions that can respond to the governors.

Right now, you hear the frustration every day. They can't get decisions out of the command and control system because it's too spread too thin. We need to get some more command and control on the ground, and it's the Department of Defense that can do that in this federal waters.

CHETRY: It's interesting. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the disaster is, quote, "beyond the military's expertise." Do you think the government isn't seeing what you're seeing or do you think there's a larger or perhaps different motive for not wanting to get the military involved in this?

HONORE: I'm not quite sure. You know, the number one mission of the United States military by our constitution is to defend our country, and we need to keep that in perspective that defending this country is our number one task. And the military is adaptive. We've built cities, towns, and even roads, and dams in foreign countries in these wars we've fought. Our military is adaptive enough. We got the equipment to do it. We need to stop dragging our feet and go out here and help Admiral Allen and the president fight this oil.

CHETRY: Yes. And the other interesting thing that you talk about is going from defending against the oil to actually attacking it out to sea. Do we just need more equipment right now?

HONORE: And we will need more equipment, along with the military, what we call IBB, itty-bitty boats or the navy -- brown water navy with vessels like the "USS Bataan," put one off to coast in each state that could command and control. They have small boats that can go out of the back. Each one of these commanders takes up a sector

Now, we can find that oil, get the skimmer at the right place at the right time, and get that oil off the water. Then we need to empower the governors to spend what they need to spend to protect their shoreline as opposed to having to go to BP and say, mother, may I?

CHETRY: I hear you. Well, I have to say, I had your power point presentation. I was going to ask you what employing IBB means and now I know, itty-bitty boats and those vessels of opportunity, I know that they are trying to use. But a lot of really interesting thoughtful analysis of how this could go, and we'll see if anyone else is listening.

General Russell Honore, great to see you this morning. Thanks.

GRIFFIN: You know, when he wrote in to New Orleans five days after Katrina, you just felt like the cavalry arrived and everyday after that it got better. Sixty days now and we're still not feeling anything like that.

Top stories coming your way right after the break.

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