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BP Leak Bigger Than Feared; 'Chalk Talk'; Go to Prison, Go Green; Tragic Discovery After Turkey Mine Blast; White House Talks Oil; Crude Disaster, Crude Solution
Aired May 20, 2010 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's what I've got "On the Rundown."
Debt fears in Europe, uncertainty at home, all fueling another plunge in the markets today. The Big Board on Wall Street cut down to size. We're going to keep checking on that.
Plus, before you try to solve a problem, you've got to know the scope of it, right? Well, we might not even be close to understanding the scope of this oil spill in the Gulf, but we are getting new, live pictures of it, believe it or not, as it happens.
Also the owner of that blown-out coal mine in West Virginia is testifying in Congress this hour. The miners in Turkey might want to pay attention to this guy. That's right, Turkey. We're going to go "Globe Trekking" and we're going to tell you why.
Oil has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, and we're now getting our first live pictures of what's going on there. Real-time pictures coming from BP. We're going to start with that.
By BP's estimate, roughly 5,000 barrels a day have been leaking. Well, today, however, BP says the tube it's been using to bring leaked oil to a tanker ship on the surface is catching more oil than ever, roughly 5,000 barrels a day.
Problem solved? No. The tube is still missing a lot, and we've been getting some signs from that. You can see it's still coming out of there.
Clearly, the original official estimate is low. So many scientists have been warning about it.
On the coast, meanwhile, thick, syrupy crude is now encroaching on the all-important wetlands at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Much more on that in a minute.
Government scientists also are seeing signs of oil in the so- called the loop current that dips around Florida and pushes up the East Coast. Chad's going to have something on that in a little bit. In that case, we're talking about sheen in that loop current, not heavy.
But now to the new pictures. Under pressure from Congress, specifically the Senate, BP making public a live video feed from that ruptured pipe on the ocean floor. It's on the Web site of the House Select Committee on Energy. But be patient. The site is being overwhelmed, we're told.
Moments ago on Capitol Hill, lawmakers showed an array of new images and aired their concerns, one of which deals with the dispersants. The EPA is now telling BP to find another chemical, because what they were using to disperse the oil may indeed be a toxic problem as well. The chemical being used now in mammoth quantities may be developing just another environmental risk.
We can't bring you the smell of that sludge in the Louisiana marsh, but the pictures will take your breath away.
CNN's David Mattingly can testify to both of those. He joins us this hour from New Orleans, just along the Mississippi River there.
David, and I -- there must be a sense of depression coming on there as we're now seeing the wetlands being invaded with this oil.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not just depression, but desperation, because all this talk about how big that spill is, how much oil's actually leaking, that's all academic compared to what's happening here.
What is happening in Louisiana is real. The oil is here. It is impacting over 40 miles of their shoreline. And just now they are able to show us that some very heavy patches of this crude oil is coming ashore.
And Governor Jindal made a point of taking us out there to show us in a very up-close and personal way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Look at this right here. This is some of the thickest sheen that I've seen out here.
(voice-over): I had already seen oil washing ashore in Louisiana several times before, but nothing like this -- a thick, syrupy slug of oil oozing into delicate wetlands.
(on camera): It's getting even worse. Take a look at this, over this way. Look at that, solid black. Look at that.
(voice-over): It's exactly what we were promised, an up-close look at a pool of crude oil poisoning an environmentally sensitive marsh.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal led us here to show the Coast Guard and anyone else who will listen attempts to contain the BP oil slick aren't working well enough.
(on camera): Do you feel like they're listening to you? And do you think they'll listen to you now? GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I hope we get approval for the permit today. I hope that people see this heavy oil, they see the impact this is having on the marsh. Let's be very clear -- this ain't tar balls, this isn't sheen. This is heavy oil.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Oil that is coating everything it touches, killing plants, just like it could kill any fish, turtle or bird that gets caught in it. This is the first time a patch of heavy, raw crude has made contact with land since the disaster began.
(on camera): The big question is, how did it get here? How did it get past all those booms? How did it get past the dispersant and the skimmers? This is exactly the kind of spot where they did not want to see this coming.
(voice-over): This oil not only hit land, it made its way into the fringes of Louisiana's estuaries, the vital birthing areas of Gulf fisheries, something the state is trying to protect at all costs. This trip is part of a political "I told you so," as Jindal wants federal approval and BP money for a massive plan to restore eroded barrier islands, natural barriers to storms and oil slicks.
(on camera): The oil's here. How do you it out of here?
Cleaning it off a beach is one thing, but how do you get it out of the marshes?
JINDAL: That's exactly right. You know, they've got folks out here with shallow water skimmers and absorbent booms. But the reality is this -- it's much, much easier to fight this off of a beach or off a rocky island. It is much, much tougher. And many of our wetland areas, many of our marsh areas, the cleanup efforts could probably do more damage than the actual oil itself.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): This is one marsh that may never recover in a month-old disaster that continues to get worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: A top BP executive looking at some of those pictures that we got, calling it devastating. BP telling us today they've got crews out there to clean this marsh area up as best they can.
And the pictures, Drew, just don't do it justice. This stuff is like a thick chocolate syrup floating on top of the water. Anything that gets in that could easily die from some sort of poisoning, any sort of aquatic creature, any kind of a bird. It's very dangerous stuff, and the fact that it's here now is a great source of alarm to everyone here in Louisiana.
GRIFFIN: David, let's be honest. Once it gets into those marshes, there is no way to clean that up without destroying the entire marsh, is there?
MATTINGLY: The best thing they can do is probably contain it to minimize the damage. But everything that we saw that that oil was touching is going to die -- those marshes, that small part that was hit. That vegetation's going to be gone in a matter of days.
Any sort of microorganisms that were growing in that soil, in that shallow water there, they're probably going to die, and that starts having a cascading effect on the food chain. So officials here in Louisiana are now saying, OK, here's the damage, here's what's happening right now. We can only imagine what's going to be happening 10 years from now, 20 years from now, as this oil is creeping into their most valued possession, these fisheries that keep that fishing -- those fishing operations throughout the Gulf going around here.
GRIFFIN: Wow, David. Great reporting, man. This is like a slow-moving hurricane just devastating that coast.
David Mattingly from New Orleans.
Thanks for joining us.
Well, right now in Washington, the head of Massey Energy is getting ready for his first congressional testimony since that terrible accident at one of his coal mines in West Virginia. You'll recall an explosion deep underground. It killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch facility a month and a half ago.
We've since learned that federal regulators had filed 500 safety violations against Massey in the four years leading up to this blast. Some of those reportedly alleged negligence or reckless disregard. And then came word late last week that the feds have opened a criminal investigation into the nation's deadliest coal mine disaster in 40 years.
All of this pretty much guarantees a rough ride for Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, whose reputation precedes him at Capitol Hill. Speaking at a hearing last month, the head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said Massey's takes a "catch me if you can" approach to workplace safety.
Well, we're going to bring you more on today's hearing later this hour.
And no note cards, no multiplication tables. One teacher is turning math into a conversation. Kind of what we do here at CNN. And it's working.
Some "Chalk Talk" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Time for "Chalk Talk." It's all about new ideas and innovations to help our kids learn more.
There's nothing some kids hate more than math. Well, one ninth grade teacher in California wants to change that. He's stripping away the clutter, making math a conversation.
His name is Dan Meyer. He joins us from California, Santa Cruz, a ninth grade teacher. Dan, thank you so much for joining us.
I can't stand that we kind of stereotype math as this huge problem that nobody wants to study. Isn't one of the big things that you want to do is just make math fun, interesting and relevant to people?
DAN MEYER, MATH TEACHER: Sure. I think math is fun. And a lot of what we do as teachers is get in the way of that sometimes.
GRIFFIN: So how do you do that? How do you do that in the ninth grade? I can't think of a more tough crowd to get in front of and try to say, hey, guys, time for math.
MEYER: They love stories, they love entertainment. I go out and I find the math in the world around me that's compelling and interesting, and try to bring that back to them without any sort of structure on top of that. No pre-built questions. Just something that's compelling and real, and we have a conversation about it.
GRIFFIN: So talk us through one of those examples, one of those problems that you've brought in from the real world that starts a conversation, not a textbook, on math.
MEYER: Sure. I mean, I watch a TV show called "How I Met Your Mother." And there's an episode where they're talking about a hot and crazy graph, which is a way of -- kind of a crude way of evaluating a date. They've got to be as hot as they are crazy. And so I'll bring in a list, fictional list, of my ex-girlfriends, and we'll kind of evaluate them that way and get across the idea of graphing in a way that's much more vivid than the way my textbook does.
GRIFFIN: And in terms of learning, are you seeing kids who otherwise would not have learned that learn? Are you being able to measure success?
MEYER: Sure, yes. I mean, I teach a very remedial crowd, and a lot of them go on to success in higher math, I think because we've taken math and made it more real for them.
GRIFFIN: Yes. You're part time at Google, too, right?
MEYER: Also. Yes, correct.
GRIFFIN: I would think a lot of ninth graders would think that's cool and would want to work at Google. Do you show them that, hey, math is your avenue to places like Google, to good jobs, to a future?
MEYER: You know, I find that holding a job out to ninth graders as a reward for their hard work in high school hasn't been too effective.
(LAUGHTER)
GRIFFIN: They don't care. You also had some conversations about the textbooks that we're using in classrooms and the fact that they are too cluttered. What do you mean by that?
MEYER: They're too structured in how they present real-world math, I think, in that they lay out a problem with several substeps -- A, B, C, D -- and they put all the given information out there in advance for students, an students don't have to do the heavy lifting of deciding, what information do I need here, what's important?
GRIFFIN: If there is one piece of advice you could give to a parent who's listening right now, because hopefully our kids are all in school, in terms of trying to get them excited about math, not teaching them math -- because a lot of us, quite frankly, can't do it -- but excited about math, what would it be?
MEYER: That's a great question. I think that parents should be in contact with math teachers and really hold them accountable. Do the teachers really enjoy math? Ask them what they're learning, the teachers, and then that should trickle down to the students.
GRIFFIN: All right. Dan Meyer, we appreciate the work you're doing for our kids. Thanks a lot. Hopefully this catches on and you can inspire not only students, but other teachers to do the same.
Dan Meyer, thanks so much.
MEYER: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: Well, there is a prison in Washington State that's giving hard labor a whole new meaning. These inmates aren't breaking rocks, they're growing plants. They're not making license plates, they're making honey.
What's going on? You're going to see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: You are looking at live pictures coming to us from British Petroleum, the oil company. And that is of that leak, the very leak on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that is making life miserable up on top of the surface.
These pictures coming to us live, just within the last hour, after a bunch of demands out of Congress that we have this live feed. There it is for you. We're going to have much more on this coming up as we move along.
Well, but, first, it is where hard labor means helping the environment. It's happening in a prison in Washington State.
It began as a way to raise money, but now it's taken on a whole new meaning. As you'll see, going green is good for the inmates.
Here's Patrick Oppmann.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Make no mistake, we are in a prison. Acres of barbed wire keep the 2,000 inmates from going anywhere. But on the other side of the fence, guard towers share the landscape with gardens.
(on camera): Inside these walls, the concept of prison labor is being changed dramatically.
(voice-over): Prisoners here plant sustainable crops, raise bees, and recycle tons of waste.
(on camera): It's the kind of work these inmates say they want to do.
TOBY ERHART, PRISON INMATE: I mean, of course, I'm in prison, but I like the freedom of working out here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So 130 of these trays a day?
ERHART: Yes.
OPPMANN: Inmate Toby Erhart discusses with a visiting ecologist a project to replant an endangered type of grass.
ERHART: I don't feel like I'm languishing. You know, there's good work going on here, and it's for a good cause. And I enjoy it and it helps immensely. I look forward to coming to work every day. How many people can say that on either side of the fence?
OPPMANN: Prison officials say they first went green for the financial, not environmental, benefits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In just the garbage sorting center alone, we're seeing probably between $150,000 and $200,000 a year. I got into it for simply looking at the budget, a way to save money. What I found is it benefits every piece of the facility, organization.
Offenders like it. The place looks better. They're learning new skills.
OPPMANN: But a drop in violence among inmates in the services prisoners are now providing have convinced administrators to expand the program to other state prisons and broaden it beyond the green.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a good girl. You're a good girl.
She's a good girl.
OPPMANN: Convicted murderer Gerald Bellguard (ph) helps train shelter dogs that would have been destroyed.
GERALD BELLGUARD, PRISON INMATE: They get abandoned, forgot about. Do you know what I'm saying? And I can relate to her being locked up in, like, a kennel, incarcerated. So, I'd rather see her go to a good home than perish in the Humane Society somewhere. OPPMANN: Whether it's taking care of canines or growing greens, the inmates here live with a purpose.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Aberdeen, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: A drama has unfolded on Capitol Hill today regarding that whole BP oil spill and the live video.
Brianna Keilar has been following that.
And Brianna, we are finally seeing these pictures, but this was a real struggle to see.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And what you have now here, one month after this explosion, where you see these live pictures that lawmakers here on Capitol Hill have been fighting to get from BP, they say, you have a narrative playing out. And that is, Democrats who were very skeptical of offshore drilling and very skeptical of the Obama administration's policy of planning to expand offshore oil drilling are making their case with this new video, which you see there on the right.
And, you know, before we get to some sound from one of these lawmakers, Congressman Markey, I just want to explain to you what you're seeing here in this video, because this was explained at one of the events that I went to today, Drew.
So, you see that little black straw that's going into the leak there. That is what is siphoning off some of the oil.
BP today now saying it's siphoning off about 5,000 barrels per day. Why is this significant? Well, before, up until now, the estimate from BP has been that the well was only leaking 5,000 barrels per day. Clearly, as you can see, it's gushing.
In addition to that 5,000 they're siphoning off, BP now admitting that there is more than 5,000 barrels per day coming out. And that is what has some of these skeptical Democrats who are very skeptical of offshore oil drilling in general saying that this is proof of a cover- up, as one of them put it.
Let's listen to some sound from Congressman Markey, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, member of the House of Representatives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I think now we're beginning to understand that we cannot trust BP. People do not trust the experts any longer. BP has lost all credibility. Now the decisions will have to be made by others, because it's clear that they have been hiding the actual consequences of this spill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And, Drew, I mean, obviously people like Congressman Markey, they have a point of view here. They don't like offshore oil drilling in general, and they are using this instance to really make their point, because this is such a disaster.
But I have to tell you, I have been reaching out to Republican sources who want to see offshore oil drilling, and they don't want to see this spill threaten the development of more drilling. They just want to make sure that it's done more safely. I haven't heard back from those lawmakers, but I'm very curious to see what -- certainly what they have to say.
What I can tell you, though, my Democratic sources have said they had to jump through hoops to get this video. They say that they asked BP for this video over and over, that BP has given them various and sundry excuses -- this is what Democrats are telling me -- for why they can't get the video. And now, after really sending some letters and getting the administration involved, they were able to get this. This is one of, I think, eight different live views that we have been watching online -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: All right. Brianna Keilar, live on Capitol Hill.
Great stuff today as we continue to follow this.
We're going to bring in Chad Myers, "Off the Radar" now.
We're talking about -- I mean, the idea that they were going to cover this up by not showing us this live feed I think is a bit of a stretch, because --
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think so.
GRIFFIN: -- what we're seeing is the oil. We're seeing the oil now on the coast.
MYERS: We are. And what we were seeing from the video, it wasn't live at the time, but we had the pipe coming out. And the oil was spewing feet away, and we couldn't tell how many feet, but it was just gushing out.
It's no longer gushing. It's just oozing to the surface.
It's coming out. It's still coming out. There's no question. But if they're capturing 5,000 barrels, that's 200,000 gallons.
GRIFFIN: Is this live now, guys?
MYERS: It is, yes.
GRIFFIN: OK.
MYERS: Two hundred thousand gallons of oil is now going into a tanker up above. That's a big help.
We don't know what this number is, how much is still leaking, but it's significantly less than where it is. That is the great news.
What you were talking about, where does it go now?
GRIFFIN: Right.
MYERS: Where is it going to go?
GRIFFIN: Right.
MYERS: This is a picture of the loop current from NASA, and we talk about this all the time. Temperature of the water, the water in the Caribbean, very warm. Here's Cuba.
GRIFFIN: OK.
MYERS: Here's Cuba. Here's Cancun.
GRIFFIN: Got you.
MYERS: Here's Cozumel. Here's Florida.
The loop current comes out of the Yucatan Channel, turns right, and then another right, and then goes up and becomes the Gulf Stream. That is amazing news for all of the beaches on the Florida west coast.
Nowhere is it expected that this oil will land on the Florida west coast, because the loop current doesn't take it there. There's no current taking the oil to Tampa, Sarasota, Anna Maria, all the way down into Naples. But it will probably eventually even get into the coral reefs off of the Florida Keys. That is the most significant thing, because it's the way this loop current goes -- comes up, turns around, and then down, and the oil is now -- the sheen of the oil getting into the loop current and taking its way down farther to the south and eventually on up the East Coast.
GRIFFIN: We haven't talked about this, so slap me if I'm stretching. But they close -- if they get this thing shutdown with their kill mud or whatever the heck they're going to try to do on Sunday, so, then, we stop that oil.
MYERS: Yes.
GRIFFIN: The fact that it does get into the loop current, is that a good and bad news? Good news meaning we can stretch this oil further out and disperse it more? Is that a stretch?
MYERS: It's a stretch, because it's still water and oil don't mix.
GRIFFIN: Right.
MYERS: It eventually gets eaten by microbes a little bit. You know, there is oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day without this. And it's taken care of, but there will be tar balls all the way up the East Coast, all the way to Europe because there's so much oil that's already in the water. It's not going away.
GRIFFIN: Chad Myers. Thanks a lot, Chad.
MYERS: You bet.
GRIFFIN: Well, nearly 30 people dead after an underground explosion inside a mine. It sounds very much like the tragedy in West Virginia last month, but it wasn't in West Virginia. It unfolded on the other side of the globe.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: As we mentioned earlier, the CEO of Massey Energy is testifying this hour before a Senate subcommittee. His company owns the Upper Big Branch Mine. You remember that one, where the blast killed 29 miners on April 5th? Well, these types of accidents, they happen all across the world. The latest one happening right now is right here in Turkey. Twenty-eight found dead after a mine explosion on Monday, two are still missing.
Our Ivan Watson standing by live for us now in Istanbul, Turkey. Ivan, bring us up to date. What are investigators saying about the cause of this disaster?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's still a mystery right now. Nobody knows what exactly happened that caused this massive explosion in this mine on the Black seaport of Zonguldak on Monday, but the end result has been pretty tragic. Today, authorities say that 28 of the 30 miners who were trapped at a depth of more than 540 yards underground in a mine shaft, that their bodies were finally found four days after the explosion, two still missing and rescue workers are not very optimistic right now.
And this is, as you can imagine, a huge tragedy for that mining town. We've spoken to the head of the union there, the Coal Miners Union there. He says that these are families, coal mining are in their families, some of them have two people to a household who were lost in this disaster. And these people were not wealthy. The miners were making the equivalent of between $550 and $680 a month, just above the minimum wage here in Turkey -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: It's amazing the correlation between these two -- not only between the two accidents but between the two families, you might say, of coal miners who are struck by this. Is there outrage in Turkey? Is there a history of mine accidents and government regulators not doing their jobs?
WATSON: Well, what is particularly appalling is this is the third deadly coal mine accident in the last six months, Drew. There was one in December with a number of coal miners killed, another one that took place in February, and this even worse. It brings the death toll to at least 60 now in six months in coal mines. And we've had calls for an investigation coming all the way from the president of Turkey. From some of the labor unions here, they're very critical that this was a state-owned coal mine and the workers there were working for a private company which was subcontracted to work there. They're saying that that should come to an end because they're arguing that the private companies are paid by the distance they move and the amount they are mined and perhaps they weren't as careful as the safety regulations.
In the cases of the previous two disasters, Drew, those were privately owned coal mines and they were shut after the accidents. We don't know what will happen in the case of this mine in Zonguldak. But a dark day there for sure, as the first bodies are starting to be pulled out and handed back to the families -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Ivan Watson, live from Istanbul, Turkey. Ivan, thanks for bringing us up to date on that.
Well, another big story in the United States. Nashville, flooded, remember? Well, it is open for business. That is the message from the city, 20 days after it went underwater in that deadly flooding. We're going to talk to the mayor of that city next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Well, the message today from Tennessee, the music is still playing in the Music City. Twenty days after that terrible flooding, Nashville getting back on track. People in this big-time tourist city are saying, hey, come on down. One of them is the mayor, Karl Dean. He's here to tell us what's going on right now.
And, Mayor, it can't be all rosy, but you're saying at least in the tourist spots, right, come on down?
MAYOR KARL DEAN, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Right, we obviously have work to do in terms of recovery from the storm and there are people here who are hurting, but the message we want to get to the people of the United States and really around the world, the music is still playing in Nashville.
Our downtown is really intact. All the hotels are open and most importantly the honky-tonks are open, you can get a great beer and hear some music. Country Music Hall of Fame is home, the Ryman is open. So people are planning to come to Nashville need to come to Nashville need to come, and if you hadn't been planning to come to Nashville, I'd encourage you to do it. We'd love to see you. We're one of the word's friendliest cities and we'll make your stay here very enjoyable.
GRIFFIN: I can attest to that.
Mr. Mayor, we've seen along the Mississippi coast, the Gulf Coast, a lot of tourist industries saying, look, the oil is not hitting us and yet they're getting a bunch of cancellations. I'm wondering if you've had similar cancellations in your town because people believe you're still under water. DEAN: We're seeing some of that. And what we hope will happen, there's several telethons held with our music community, which has really stepped up and done a lot for the city. We've got a couple of events coming up.
In June, from June 9th to the 13th is the CMA Music Festival which is an annual event here. It is just fantastic, it is the best way to see country music, it is the best way to experience it. Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Darius Rutger, Brad Paisley, all the top stars are at this festival and people have a wonderful time, and you actually get a chance to get close to folks. That's June 9th through 13th.
And then on June 22nd at the Bridgestone Arena, where our Stanley Cup I guess then-contending team, the Predators, play, Nashville Rising, which is the concert to benefit the city, to help the city recover will be at the Bridgestone Arena on June 22nd; Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, ZZ Top -- from my time period -- and Carrie Underwood and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
So you can't beat the entertainment in Nashville. We're still Music City, still a great place to visit and still the friendliest city in the United States.
GRIFFIN: You're the mayor. You seem like the --
DEAN: I'm the mayor.
GRIFFIN: Ticketron guys right now. But you're the mayor, come on down.
Let me see if I can get you to step into just a little bit, Mr. Mayor. Do you feel slighted at all that the national politicians haven't been flocking to you? I mean, you're not getting a lot of attention in your city?
DEAN: I mean, clearly when the flood occurred, there was the incident in Times Square and there's the incident in the Gulf that I think was taking most of the energy in terms of coverage and attention. The news about Nashville is that Nashvillians took care of themselves, initially. The volunteer spirit is alive and we've literally had over 10,000 volunteers in our city helping each other and we took care of things.
Now we're getting federal help. I want to say thank you to all the taxpayers in the United States, because FEMA has been wonderful. FEMA got here before we were declared a disaster area. FEMA has been on the streets, they've been out meeting with people, and they're doing a very good job. I've met with the secretary of commerce, the secretary of HUD, and the small business administrator, and I think we're getting the help we need.
I mean, obviously, we want people to come to Nashville, to contribute to our city and to help, but I don't feel slighted. I mean, I love the city. And I tell you, the volunteer spirit here, the community spirit here, is -- is something to be -- to be lauded, and I am so proud to be the mayor of this city.
GRIFFIN: All right, Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us.
Mayor Karl Dean, from the city --
DEAN: Thank you.
GRIFFIN: -- the great city, the dry city, of Nashville.
DEAN: The great city, you got it. Thank you.
GRIFFIN: Well just in from Arkansas, bad news. Two West Memphis police officers reported have been shot, one of them fatally. Our affiliate is WRG-TV, it's reporting that the officer who died is the son of the local police chief. Right now officers are looking for a white Plymouth Caravan and an orange roof and Ohio plates. It was last seen heading east on Interstate-40. If you can help them out, call police with that.
We're also keeping an eye on the markets. Stocks are sliding again over fears of European debt. Believe it or not, that number is looking pretty good from where it was earlier today. Investors afraid that the falling value of the euro will lead us right back into a recession.
And hugs and tears, this is in Iran today. The mothers of those three American hikers were reunited with their children, all of whom have been jailed since July. The hikers, they're 27 to 31 years old, they're accused of spying, but their moms just saying they were backpacking when they accidentally crossed over the border into Iran. The mothers have reportedly requested a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and on behalf of their children.
Ed Henry, joining us next. Ed, is that you live? Yes.
ED HENRY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Drew, there you are.
GRIFFIN: Go ahead. You know, you can't keep these White House correspondents from shutting up.
Go ahead, Ed, go for it.
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY: Nice one.
All right, no, I mean, I look up at the screen and compared to Ali, you got it all together there. It's not normal, whoa, Ali with all the combinations and stuff.
GRIFFIN: I was going to wear his, like, Charles Barkley outfit, but I don't have it. Ed, we'll be right back. Silence.
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GRIFFIN: We need help, you know, it's White House correspondent Ed Henry we turn to, "The Ed Henry Segment."
Ed, a lot of talk about oil, all over today. And everywhere except I think at the White House. The Democrats up on the hill are just pushing this thing crazy with these live pictures.
HENRY: Well, they are. And you see these live pictures now we're finally getting from BP of the spill and the attempted cleanup.
I thought it was interesting, Brianna Keilar, you were talking to her before and she's been reporting this morning that now democratic Senator Barbara Boxer is calling it a cover-up and pointing the finger at BP, but also suggesting that maybe some of the government oversight has been part of this as well and has not really given the American people the full story.
I was just pressing Robert Gibbs on that and basically saying, why haven't you gotten all the data from the company that a lot of environmentalists will be demanding about, not only air quality but how many barrels of oil are really spilling out. A BP spokesman today said that it's probably more than the 5,000 barrels a day that the company's been saying for days now. And you know, it starred with them saying 1,000 barrels a day, then it was up to 5,000, now it's more than that, but they can't say exactly how much.
Robert Gibbs told me, look, we're asking them to give us some data. I said, how tough is that to ask? He said, we're writing a letter. And I said -- you know, the potential political problem for this White House is, Robert Gibbs has said previously, the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, said again on the morning shows today that they've got the boot on the throat of BP trying to give the impression that this administration is all over the company for information, for cleaning up this spill.
And when you say you're going to write a letter to them that doesn't sound like a boot on the throat, it sounds like they're at the mercy of the company right now, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Yes, it certainly does. Ed, the bottom line is, what does it matter? We know this is going to be an environmental disaster. We know the company that did this. We know that they're going to be on the hook. I don't get all the hubbub about these live pictures other than that this is pure Washington politics.
HENRY: It could be in terms of the atmospherics in the pictures there, but I think there are serious questions about the data, frankly, though. Sure, we know it's an environmental disaster, but how much of a disaster?
I mean, you've got fishermen on the ground now saying that they're sneezing, they're coughing, they're vomiting, that they're having all kinds of effects, they believe, from the air quality. And yet, the company hasn't been able to turn over exactly what is that air quality, how much damage has been done. And when they can't even answer how many barrels a day of oil are coming out, I think it does clearly raise some questions about does the company really understand the magnitude of this? I mean, Anderson Cooper last night had one of the company officials on, was kind of grilling him about these details. But we also learned last night from Anderson that Tony Haywood, the CEO of BP, who at the beginning said I'm not leaving the United States until we get this cleaned up. He's now apparently heading back to Europe for a board meeting, allegations he's also going to attend a birthday party.
Again, getting back to the administration's analogy of boot on the throat, how do you have a boot on the throat when they're literally leaving the scene?
GRIFFIN: So, politically speaking, is this turning into a crisis for the Obama White House?
HENRY: Well, I think it's been, if not a crisis, a severe challenge for weeks now. We're now just about a month in to this broader crisis. I don't think it's really reached the stage necessarily of a political crisis for this president, because he has definitely been projecting the image of someone who's been on top of it -- convening meetings, sending people like Thad Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, who Robert Gibbs pointed out was supposed to retire by now, but has delayed his retirement in order to stay on the scene.
So we do have to acknowledge the public officials who are working on this, but if they can't get the oversight to get the company to finally bring this to a conclusion, it's going to start to becoming more of a political problem for this White House no doubt.
GRIFFIN: Ed, they're going to give me the wrap pretty soon here.
Turn around, where are you? This is a cool little view. Where are you at?
HENRY: We're right where the stakeout location. When people visit with the president or are in the West Wing, you'll see they come out to these cameras here. This is where they come out.
There's a reason why there's a Marine there. That means the president is either in the oval office or in the immediate area around there, and that's our signal. When the Marine leaves, it means the president is going up to the residence or heading somewhere else. And the residence is right over there, and that's why we're standing in this little alley that leads to the White House briefing room, the residence up there. So we're just trying to give you a different view of the White House.
GRIFFIN: Very cool, very cool. Ed Henry, live from the White House, our chief White House correspondent.
HENRY: Thanks, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Thanks a lot, Ed.
Well, straight ahead is "Wordplay," a crude solution to a crude disaster.
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GRIFFIN: These are live pictures that we're getting from British Petroleum, live pictures of an environmental disaster. That is the leak, we're told. Several views, as a matter of fact, that Congress demanded you see and now you are seeing them. We've been monitoring these ever since they came out within this show.
Every day we take a word or a phrase from a big story, show you why it's in the news. We call it "Wordplay," but there's very little play about this one. Top kill, serious business. You've heard it in our coverage of the BP oil leak. A potential means of plugging that broken well. Crews are going to dump mud, not real mud, but very heavy, chemical lubricant, into the hole, so hopefully the leak stops or at least slows down enough so they can seal it with cement. BP is going to try to do that on Sunday.
Like so many of these other ideas they've tried to do, this is the first time they're going to try to do this at 5,000 feet under water. They expect to try it again this Sunday, whether it works or doesn't work or sort of works, you will hear it first right here at CNN.
Well, are you part of the solution or are you part of the problem? I'm talking about the drug war. And it's my "XYZ." Stay here.
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GRIFFIN: Now for "The XYZ of It."
You know, just hours ago, President Calderon of Mexico told Congress that the U.S. demand for illegal drugs is crippling his country. Mexico is fighting a war within its own borders waging between powerful drug cartels and a government that is underfunded, underarmed, and overwhelmingly unable to stop the slaughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FELIPE CALDERON, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: The challenge to our security has roots on both sides of the border. At the end of the day, its origin is the high demand for drugs here and? Other places.
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GRIFFIN: For some reason this message has never really sunk in to the drug users among us. But the plain truth is, if you smoke dope, if you are casually using meth or heroin or cocaine, if you think there's nothing really wrong with it because it should be legal anyway, just know, you're part of the problem.
Your one-ounce bag for Saturday night is leaving a trail of fear, death, and destruction that has destroyed many of Mexico's border towns and is increasingly corrupting its government. Your one-ounce bag brings gang and violence to our streets. Your one-ounce bag, as harmless you think it may be, is creating misery in families both here in the United States and south of the border.
I doubt I can ever change some people's minds about using drugs, but I hope they would at least use their minds and think of what they're doing and not just to themselves.
That's my "XYZ." Here's "RICK'S LIST."
