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The Oil Beneath the Surface; Facebook's New Privacy Controls; Survivor Recalls Air India Crash
Aired May 24, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The volatility of the stock market is now having a big effect on the mortgage market. Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange with the details.
Felicia, good to see you. What's going on with mortgages now?
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is actually some good news, Tony. Mortgage rates are nearing record lows right now. The 30-year fixed is at 4.84 percent. This is a big surprise. We had expected that the rates would go higher, especially because the Fed stopped buying mortgage securities. We were expecting to see mortgage rates more like around 6 percent. So let's literally lay this out for somebody.
Let's take, for example, that you had a 200,000 mortgage. At a 30-year fixed previous estimate of 6 percent, that would be $1200 a month. If you take a look at 4.8 percent, where things are right now, it's $1,054 a month. That's a savings of $1,752 a year. That's because the debt crisis in Europe is actually boosting demand for these safe haven investments such as treasury bonds, which are tied to mortgage rates, making it good for homebuyers in the United States.
Not bad, right?
HARRIS: Not bad at all. I like it.
All right. Felicia Taylor in New York, New York Stock Exchange, for us.
Good to see you, Felicia.
I am Tony Harris. Top of the hour here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen.
Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.
Gulf Coast residents keep a wary eye out and hope a new procedure being tried this week plugs the spewing oil.
And Ivy League or darned good school? Inside one family's college compromise in tough economic times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that there's a lot of peer pressure to say -- among his friends and our friends -- to say, wow, why aren't you letting him go to Boston College, or, you know, why weren't you more aggressive in going to one of the Ivys?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You're online right now, and we are, too. Ines Ferre is following the top stories trending on the Internet -- Ines.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, here's what a lot of you are looking at on CNN.com.com.
Brittany Murphy's husband found dead in his home in L.A. And also, why are so many people searching for pictures of Venus Williams at the French Open?
I'll have more on that story later -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Can't wait.
All right. Let's get started with our lead story.
Oozing oil and rising anger along the Gulf Coast. BP says it is doing all it can to stop the leak. The government says it is not so sure.
We expect to hear from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar this hour. After flying over affected areas, they plan to hold a news conference at 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
BP's latest effort to cap the leak is on track to happen Wednesday morning. The top kill procedure involves pumping thick fluid into the leak, then cementing the well. As the oil slick pushes farther into Louisiana's marshes, state and local officials are calling for sand berms to protect the coastline.
We are taking a closer look at the oil leak from a different perspective. CNN used an underwater camera to see what's happening.
David Mattingly has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All along, we've been able to see oil on top of the water, and lately we've been able to see that live feed of the oil gushing up from the bottom of the ocean. But we haven't been able to see what's in that vast area in between.
The satellites can't see it, the human eye can't see it. So what we did, we're able to get an underwater camera and send it down into the Gulf. We did this about 20 miles away from where the oil is spewing out into the Gulf.
What we were able to see, we went to an area where there was one of those massive orange bands of emulsified oil. This is oil that has come into contact with the dispersant and is breaking up. We saw pieces of oil on top of the water and throughout the water column. What surprised us was how deep it was going.
We actually saw oil, pieces of oil that it was breaking up, going down 50 feet below the surface. And we took the camera deeper to see what was down there.
We went to a coral reef in particular, about 200 feet down, to check on the health of the life that was down there. Also to our surprise, it looked like it had been undisturbed. The corals seemed to be healthy. There was some sea life down there, some fish. Not in abundance, but they all seemed to be unaffected.
We are asking experts now to take a look at some of our video to see if there was anything we might have missed.
David Mattingly, CNN, New Orleans, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, BP says it is making sure everything is in place before the next effort to stop the oil leak. The top kill procedure is expected to begin before dawn on Wednesday.
Crews with inject a drilling mud. What is that? A drilling mud into the blowout preventer. That's a device, the blowout preventer, that was supposed to stop the oil from gushing into the Gulf. Then cement will be used to plug the leak.
On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," BP's chief operating officer was asked about other options.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: If the top kill doesn't work, what's left other than these relief wells that are being drilled? And they won't be ready until August.
DOUG SUTTLES, COO, BP: Well, we do still have some remaining options, both to stop the flow and contain it. If the top kill procedure doesn't actually work, the next step we'll take is the next containment device, which is tool we'll place over the top of the riser. We'll cut and remove the riser where it comes out of the top of the blowout preventer, and put the next containment device, we believe, quite tightly over that piece of pipe which we think will capture even more of the flow than we're doing now.
And then we still have a number of other options to kill the well. Those include the junk shot technique you have heard about. But there are also techniques where we could put another blowout preventer on top of the existing one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. We've got to get an update on all of this, particularly the size of the leak and where the oil is right now. Chad Myers is tracking that part of the story for us. He is -- there he is, in the Weather Center.
Good to see you, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Tony.
You know what? The numbers are changing. And I guess that's going to occur no matter what you do.
But last week at this time, people were saying 13,000 square miles. You know, the size of Maryland. Today, the new numbers, 1,000 square miles.
How did 12,000 square miles of oil disappear?
HARRIS: Oh boy.
MYERS: Well, it didn't disappear. It eroded, it evaporated, it turned into small tar balls. Maybe they settled to the ground. But they 're still floating around. But they don't have -- they're not thinking that the sheen is as big as it was, which is some great news.
This is an animation. You can go to CNN.com and see this as well. But it will tell you exactly and show you what has gone on, how many days in a row. From April 22nd, you can take the slider, you can go all the way back over to the other side, and it will show you where this oil was and where it is going.
What it has done over the past couple of days is slid back off toward the west. Unfortunately, because for a while, Tony, every other day, like, you know, three days in a row, the wind would blow this way, and then another day the wind would blow back this way, and then it would blow this way. And that was perfect, because it kind of kept it all in one spot.
HARRIS: Right.
MYERS: But now we've had wind for too long from one direction, and that's from the southeast. And that's why there's thick oil on the shore here and also through into the delta. We had those pictures with Governor Jindal, and he was there with them showing how the booms did work on some but didn't work on others, and how the marshes are completely covered with the oil.
I also talked to some people at NOAA. They said that if a stalk on that marsh is covered in oil, that won't kill the plant. But if that oil gets into the soil, then that's poison for the plant and it kills it. Or, if that oil gets on the foliage, it will kill it. But if it's just sitting there on the stalk, that plant won't die. So I guess it gets cleaned up eventually, but it takes a long time.
HARRIS: Boy, let's hope so. We really need that to happen.
Chad, appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Got to tell you, folks are trying to save pelicans and other birds from the oil in Louisiana's marshes. Well, they've cleaned up a few of the birds and released them in Florida. Seven of the birds were brought to a wildlife refuge near Tampa.
Pelicans are especially vulnerable to oil because, as you know, they dive into the water to feed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says they were only able to save a few. Two hundred fifty others washed up dead on Louisiana's shore.
And again, we are expecting a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the oil leak. That is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Eastern Time, and you will see it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Guarding your privacy online, a new promise from the president of Facebook. We will break that down for you and tell you what it means.
First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Getting from here to there, you never know when a "Random Moment of the Day" will crash into you.
A Washington State couple kept their wits and their heads when a pickaxe -- look at this -- shot through their windshield. The driver says the tool came off a pickup truck in front of his Mercedes on I- 495. The truck driver, if found, could face criminal charges.
Then there's the pilot who beached his small plane on the Georgia seashore. No emergency. He and his mother wanted to take a walk and see the sights.
Police not amused. The pilot charged with reckless conduct and contributing to a "Random Moment of the Day."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Facebook says it hears the complaints loud and clear. Founder Mark Zuckerberg writes in today's "Washington Post" the site will soon roll out new, simpler privacy controls.
Let's talk about all of this with our tech expert, Katie Linendoll.
Katie, good to see you. Katie, where are you, in New York?
KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH EXPERT: Good to see you. I am.
HARRIS: You are? OK. Very good. Very good.
All right. So we're getting, obviously, a response. Trying to turn the PR story on this from Facebook, the CEO saying we've made mistakes on privacy.
What do you think of the apologies?
LINENDOLL: Well, first off, I think we should have a segment every week, because it's never going away. There's always issues with Facebook now, and it's, like, surprise, something else. So, yes, we should build some graphics and have a Facebook segment weekly.
HARRIS: OK.
LINENDOLL: But I think the question here is, is it too late to apologize? We asked the question, where was this coming from two weeks ago? Where was he a few years ago? Is it too late in the response to people's privacy and their data? This is a big question.
HARRIS: No, I think you're absolutely right on that.
But aren't the settings -- because I hear this all the time -- aren't the settings just too doggoned confusing right now?
LINENDOLL: They are incredibly confusing. And that is the problem.
Four hundred million users on Facebook, these are not 400 million tech experts. And that's the problem.
We have people here that aren't tech savvy. And to go into your settings and to try to explain to somebody how to opt out -- you're already opted in, in certain settings -- and how not to share all of that personal information, listen, it comes back down to the core message. If you don't want something on a billboard in the middle of Times Square, do not post it on the Web.
For anybody out there using social networking, do not post, do not put video, do not put photo of anything online that you do not want the world to see. And I think for some people it's confusing, because they think, oh, well, I'm just sharing it with my core friends. No, that's the problem here.
We're all starting to perk up, and it's good that we're talking about Facebook, because people are starting to realize that, hey, you know what? My data isn't as secure as I thought it was.
HARRIS: Well, let's drill down even deeper on this. Facebook says it does not share user information without user consent. Now --
LINENDOLL: OK.
HARRIS: Yes. Pick that up and cut through it. Is Facebook being truthful here?
LINENDOLL: It is such a loophole answer. And the way I like to say it is, have you ever filled out one of those credit card papers and the terms and conditions are seven pages long?
HARRIS: Oh my goodness. Yes. LINENDOLL: And you're, like, well, I'll just hit "accept," because if I don't hit "accept," then I don't get the service. The same thing going on here with Facebook.
They say they don't share your data, but embedded in those terms and conditions, we're really finding out that, yes, we are giving away personal information. So, technically, yes, we are. But according to their conditions, no, we're not. So you can see how incredibly complicated that is.
HARRIS: All right. I need a little true/false here from you, or if you need something more, then take the time and explain it better.
LINENDOLL: OK.
HARRIS: Facebook says as part of its principles, you have control over how your information is shared. True or false?
LINENDOLL: False.
HARRIS: False? Really? Why? That's what Facebook is telling us.
LINENDOLL: OK. That's the thing.
So, according to us, we're only -- again, this brings up the whole topic of, we are only sharing with our core friends. But, really, again, if you're putting it out there, your information, it is really putting it out to the world.
We're going back to that core message of, anything you put on Facebook can be shared anywhere. And, again, back to those terms and conditions, do we think that they can't be shared everywhere? No. The answer is you have to be safer about the content that you put on the Web. So, it's so complicated and so tricky, because, again, it's a whole loophole answer.
HARRIS: OK. We do not -- again, Facebook principles -- we do not share your personal information with people or services you don't want. True or false?
LINENDOLL: That is false. And there are complaints and claims to the FTC, one by a Harvard professor saying, yes, of course, you do share that information, and we're going to prove it.
And now I think what the problem is, the law isn't caught up with Facebook. It is very new media. And really, there is no precedent set with Facebook.
So, now, again, these 400 million users, we're starting to perk up on privacy. So, we are starting to come at Facebook at a different direction and realizing, while the law isn't caught up, we're trying to catch up and to better understand how we can push back on this data.
HARRIS: We do not -- again, Facebook principles -- we do not give advertisers access to your personal information. True or false?
LINENDOLL: Same as the above, false.
HARRIS: Oh my God.
LINENDOLL: Again, we are starting to see claims again up (ph) to the FTC of people that are realizing, secretly, our data has been shared with third-party advertiser. And this is the perfect example of why (INAUDIBLE) coming out. We're starting to know that yes, that data is being shared. No secrets.
HARRIS: Oh man. Katie, all right. I don't even have time for the last one, but I think if I asked it I know what the answer would be.
Good to see you, lady. Thanks for your time.
LINENDOLL: Yes. You can see how confusing it is. It's like craziness.
HARRIS: Yes, it really does.
That's Katie Linendoll. We love her on this program.
We are expecting a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the oil leak in the Gulf. That is scheduled to start any moment now. You'll see it live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, we are expecting a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the oil leak in the Gulf. That is scheduled to start any moment now. We will bring it to you live when it begins, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Investigators at the site of an Air India crash are searching through the rubble for the plane's flight data recorder. The plane crashed on landing at Mangalore Airport Saturday. One hundred fifty- eight of the 166 people on board were killed. India's civil aviation chief says it could be months before the cause of the crash is determined.
One of the crash survivors believes God has a plan for her. The woman named Sabrina told CNN's Sara Sidner how she escaped the wreckage before a fireball ignited.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sabrina is in serious pain and wants to keep a low profile. So we agreed not to show her face. She is one of only eight people who survived this, one of India's deadliest plane crashes in more than a decade.
Everybody thought that they were about to land safely a split second before the wheels of the Air India Express 737 touched down in Mangalore. They were wrong.
SABRINA, CRASH SURVIVOR: Instead of decelerating and stopping, it picked up more speed, and it kept going really fast. And we all knew that it was something abnormal because everything was shaking. After that, I remember, like, we had some sort of plunging sensation as though we were going down a slope.
SIDNER: They were going down a slope, a steep embankment just at the end of the runway. The plane was about to crash into the thick valley forest below.
Authorities initially believed the pilot overshot the runway. But they're not sure as they must now collect details from the flight voice and data recorders.
Sabrina is a living witness to what happened. When the flight ended this way, it was so dark and quiet she thought she must still be sleeping.
SABRINA: Especially in the beginning, I thought I was dreaming, but then when I was walking, I felt the pain. So I knew that I wasn't dreaming and it had to be real.
SIDNER: She had to free her foot that was trapped in the wreckage to get out.
SABRINA: Ether someone pushed me out of the plane or I jumped out. And then I landed on the forest floor. And after that, I remember that, you know, of big (ph) crashes, it bursts into flames.
SIDNER: That is exactly what happened -- but not before she was rescued by a handful of farmers who heard her cries.
SABRINA: There were five or six of them who are trying to maneuver me out through the woods.
SIDNER: She was safe but terribly shaken.
(on camera): The first thing you said to your mom --
SABRINA: I just told her I must be really lucky and that God must have something specific in mind for me later on.
SIDNER (voice-over): As she lies in her hospital bed with more than a half dozen injuries, she knows one thing. She now knows what it's like to be a patient so she can be a better doctor. Sabrina is in the final year of medical school.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Mangalore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy.
The Duchess of York caught on camera taking a wad of cash. A tabloid camera posing as a wealthy businessman paid Sarah Ferguson -- have you heard this? -- $58,000 for a meeting with ex-husband Prince Andrew. Fergie wanted thousands more later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH FERGUSON, DUCHESS OF YORK: If we want to do a big deal with Andrew, then that's the big one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do. Of course. OK. No, of course.
So you need 500,000 in pounds?
FERGUSON: But that's in wire transfer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That has to be in wire transfer. I mean, obviously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, Fergie says she's broke, but she adds that was no excuse.
Reaction now from the streets of London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An absolute disgrace. Those people are in positions of power, exploited for their own gains. So, very bad news. I feel sorry for her and for the queen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's outrageous. I mean, really, you know, everyone's short of money, but you wouldn't sell a story like that, would you? I can't believe that he's actually still talking to her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like the way the papers behaved. Some of the time, I think it's plainly a setup. And she's not perfect, but most of us aren't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have sympathy for her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In some senses, yes. So I think she's being a bit silly, but, yes, she has plainly been caught on the wrong end of some fairly vindictive newspapers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Buckingham Palace says Prince Andrew had no idea what his ex-wife was up to. The couple divorced in 1996 but have remained friends, at least until now.
Lots of smart kids are turning down Ivy League offers to attend college these days. CNN's Alina Cho explains why.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.
Here's the bottom line. More and more kids are graduating from college. They can't find a job, many are in debt. And at the same time, colleges and universities are feeling the pinch too. Endowments are down, so in many cases tuition is up.
So, what we're finding is that some kids are actually turning down top-tier schools in the name of value.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): Liam Coffey is a college admission officer's dream -- valedictorian, varsity hockey, honor society. His pick of schools -- he got into Boston College, was wait-listed at Brown and Cornell, but his choice, TCNJ, The College of New Jersey, a state school.
LIAM COFFEY, FUTURE TCNJ STUDENT: Four years at TCNJ is less than one year at Boston College. That right there is the point that sold me.
CHO: Especially now.
DENNIS COFFEY, LIAM'S FATHER: But I think with this economy, it's a lot more real to the kids and the parents because the money is just not flowing the way it used to.
CHO (on camera): The reality is, in this economy, kids can't find work. So, in growing numbers, they are going to or staying in school. Seven in 10 high school grads now go straight to college. That's a record.
But they're also paying more. Average cost at a private institution, including room and board, is more than $35,000 a year. At the public school, it's $15,000. It's why the buzz word these days is value.
(voice-over): Liam's school, where application were up 8 percent this year, even has a value comparison calculator on its Web site. Prospective students can click on any number of schools in competition with TCNJ and see just how much money they'll save over four years. In some cases, it's more than $100,000.
LISA ANGELONI, DEAN OF ADMISSIONS, TCNJ: We do say that this is what you're going to get for that dollar.
CHO (on camera): Value.
ANGELONI: That's right, and it's comparable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm able to sit back and relax, at the end of the day I have extra cash, you know, to go out on the weekend or see a movie or something that, you know, just -- CHO: Have a life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHO (voice-over): Other institutions, like Manchester College in Indiana, are offering three-year bachelor's programs as a way to save on time and tuition. Cost-conscious community colleges are bursting at the seams.
But what about the prestige of an Ivy League education? Doesn't a Harvard degree mean something?
JACQUES STEINBERG, NY TIMES EDUCATION REPORTER: We still live in a world where these institutions do open doors. It's not the only way into some of the finest companies and graduate schools in this nation, but it is still a way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's your college list right there.
CHO (on camera): That's still entree, right? Did you ever think about that?
D. COFFEY: Well, I'm not going to lie. We wrestle with that a lot. And I think that there's a lot of peer pressure to say among his friends and our friends to say, wow, why aren't you letting him go to Boston College? Or, you know, why didn't -- weren't you more aggressive in going to one of the Ivys?
CHO (voice-over): For Liam, first in his class, it's a choice that makes dollars and cents. He's planning to go to medical school and wants to start in the black.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just looking for a great education, whatever school that may be. And at a better value, that's just more reason to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they're calling it Ivy School on a budget. So it's a great education for less than half the cost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And how about this? Liam got a $28,000 merit scholarship from the College of New Jersey. He also received two other scholarships totaling $8,000 which he couldn't transfer to a private institution.
So, Tony, as I said, it really did make dollars and cents for Liam to choose a state school -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, you're right. All right. Alina, appreciate it. Thank you.
Boy, a Colorado man who lost his wife and children to a drunk driver graduated from law school this weekend with a message for all. This guy, pretty amazing. Frank Bingham (ph) gave the commencement address at the University of Denver. Three and a half years ago, his wife and children were crossing the street when a drunk driver ran a red light, killing them.
Listen to his message to his classmates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK BINGHAM (ph), DELIVERED COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: Hopefully none of you will ever face anything like we have dealt with, but you will encounter life's inevitable obstacles. And I bring proof that hope, faith, forgiveness and love can survive even the worst that this life might throw at us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Man, all right.
And still to come, they're called peak travel days. If you fly on one of them this summer, the airlines will charge you more money.
Christine Romans tells us what that means for your family vacation. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: OK, CNN, your source for financial news. Let's get you to the number one site, cnnmoney.com. Well, we think it is the number one site for financial news. You can see the lead story. We were down 100 points to start the day, the trading day. We've recovered a bit. You'll see that in a second. Why? "Stocks cut losses after housing report." It was a pretty good housing report.
Let's get you to the big board. Better than just past three hours into the trading day. And again, we've bounced back from lows, 100 point losses. We've bounced back. We're almost flat. We are just down eight points, almost nine. We'll follow these numbers for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And airlines are starting to slap passengers with yet another surcharge. If you fly on one of the so-called peak travel days this summer, it's going to cost you a little bit more. Christine Romans.
Good to see you, Christine.
Are we talking simply about holidays or - there are probably a slew of peak days, huh?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Tony, there are 74 days in the summer travel season. How many of those days do you think are peak travel days?
HARRIS: Seventy-four.
ROMANS: Yes. HARRIS: My guess. All right, you would get the holidays. You would get Memorial Day. You would get the Fourth of July. You would get Labor Day weekend. So, what, about 10 maybe?
ROMANS: How about 73?
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: The only day you're not -- the only day you're not going to get a peak surcharge from the big carriers this summer is the Fourth of July.
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
ROMANS: The real holiday of the summer.
HARRIS: Yes, exactly.
ROMANS: Yes. This is from Rick Seaney at farecompare.com. He worked this up for "US Today." And we had a good little chuckle about it, although it's one of those things you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
So let me show you what these one-way ticket airline fees are for the summer. $30 on Sunday, no surprise, Tony, because that's the most frequently traveled day in the summer is a Sunday.
HARRIS: Oh, yes.
ROMANS: The least traveled day is Tuesday and Wednesday. So you were only going to get nickeled and dimed or $10 to $20 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
HARRIS: Right.
ROMANS: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, it will be $20 each. This is for the period of June 10th through August 22nd. So you're coming up on this peak season here. These are all the big carriers that are imposing some of these.
I will say there are a small number of sale fares, Rick Seaney says, that will be exempts from this. A small number. And they also point out that Southwest and JetBlue do not use peak travel day -- peak summer travel day surcharges.
HARRIS: Yes.
ROMANS: But if you're a family of four going to grandma's house or going to the lake, going to the cabin, going to go to Lake of the Ozarks, going to go to the Wisconsin Dells, it's going to be about $240 extra for your family to fly this summer.
Tony.
HARRIS: Well, I'm trying to understand this. Now we've been reporting that gas prices are down. I would imagine that jet fuel is down as well. So is this just a money grab? What's going on here, Christine?
ROMANS: You know, here's the thing. When you look at the fundamentals of the airline industry over the past 10 or 15 --
HARRIS: Not a good look.
ROMANS: I mean they lose money hand over fist.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
ROMANS: I mean they -- it's not good. They are in a money grab so that they can, quite frankly, return a profit.
HARRIS: Right.
ROMANS: And, you know, some years they manage to and some years they lose billions of dollars. So this is - you know, I talked to the guys at Fare Compare and they say this is the way it is. If they're going to find a way to put more of a fee on there, they're going to do it because they're trying to get the revenues when they're filling the planes and that's just the way - that's just the way it is.
But, I love it, 74 travel days, 73 of them are peak. There's no valley, it's just all peak.
HARRIS: Yes, it's all peak. All right, Christine Romans in New York for us.
Good to see you, Christine. Thank you.
Actress Lindsay Lohan finally faces the music in a Los Angeles courtroom. Could she be looking at jail time? Our Brooke Anderson has the very latest. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right, we are expecting a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the oil leak in the Gulf. That is expected to happen any moment now. You'll see it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
In the meantime, let's get you caught up on our top stories right now.
Let's start, yes, in Yemen. Two American tourists are kidnapped in Yemen. Their driver and translator were taken too. Yemeni officials say it happened today near the capital of Sanaa. Their captors say they will hand over the tourists in exchange for a jailed tribesman.
And give me a second here, because I've got to take you on a bit of a journey here. I think I've got it. Nope, wrong story. Wrong story. Stay with me. Let's get you to the Gulf. Take a minute. But there we go. And, all right.
Anger, of course, growing in the Gulf of Mexico over BP's apparent inability to stop a massive oil spill. BP says it is doing the best it can to cap the leak. Its latest plan is to try to plug the well shut on Wednesday.
Now let me take you back. All right, there we go. One more time, all right, and our last top story. Tensions are certainly racheting up between North and South Korea. South Korea is halting trade with the North and adopting a tougher military posture. The North is accused of sinking a South Korean warship in March. President Obama is promising full support to North (ph) Korea.
Did you catch the movie "Parent Trap" on television yesterday? It was certainly on my cable system. I don't know about yours. Let me get out of the way here. Lindsay Lohan, man, what a star, right? What happened? A lot, apparently. Just a few moments ago, Lohan was in a Los Angeles courtroom learning what she has to do to stay out of jail. Entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson is with us from Los Angeles with the very latest.
And if I heard correctly, Brooke, she's not going to have to go to jail, correct?
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not right now, no, she's not, but she needs to behave herself, Tony, or she might in the future. The judge this morning, in about a 15-minute hearing, outlined new terms for Lindsay Lohan's probation. She has to wear a scram alcohol monitoring bracelet, which means, Tony, one drop of alcohol means a one-way ticket to the slammer. So she's got to keep that on at all times. She has to undergo random drug testing. And a full probation violation hearing has been set for July 6th at 8:30 in the morning.
But, Tony, she was late. She was late to her court date this morning, if you can believe it. And I was here, you know, for a couple of hours ahead of time. The traffic was light. They had the thing roped off like a red carpet for her. Security was tight. No paparazzi. Nobody could get near her. So they made it very easy for her to pull up to the front and walk in the door. But she arrived about four minutes late. Sat in her car, after that, for a few minutes.
HARRIS: Hey, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke, Brooke --
ANDERSON: The judge on the bench waiting on her for five minutes.
HARRIS: Brooke, I apologize. I apologize. I've got to get us down to Louisiana and there is the Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. My apologies.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: -- some forward motion in the sense of solving the spill. But, in the meantime, we're fighting this oil on the sea. The goal is to either disperse it, to boom it, to burn it, to keep it from reaching landfall, to do everything possible that needs to be done to make sure that BP protects this valuable area. And if it should happen to reach landfall, be it beach or marsh, and to have the wherewithal to get it cleaned up and to make sure that claims are paid. And it's not until this well is sealed and this ocean and this area is cleaned up and the claims are paid that this incident will be deemed over. This is the largest incident response to an oil spill ever in the history of the United States. We have over 22,000 personnel working this spill. Literally hundreds of thousands of feet of boom have been laid. There are over 1,000 vessels that are on the water to skim, to lay boom, to pick up oil, to do what needs to be done to try to keep the ocean as free as possible from the oil.
In addition, we have formed an independent estimates group with the best scientists available within the federal government, with peer review by others, to really estimate how much overall oil BP has now spilled into the Gulf of Mexico out of the Deep Horizon spill. That work is ongoing.
So we continue to hold BP responsible, as the responsible party. But we are on them, watching them. We know the value of these lands of these parishes. We know, for example, Grand Isle, which is one barrier island that has a large population, 100 people, living on it. We're heartsick that Grand Isle is now at risk. We are going to do everything we can to protect these lands, protect these parishes and to make sure that claims are paid, the oil well is sealed and this area comes back.
So it's been a very productive session I think for all of us today. We are glad that we came. For some of us, we have been down -- this is my fourth time to this area, the area of the spill. Secretary Salazar has been here repeatedly as well. We are going to stay on this and stay on BP until this gets done and it gets done the right way.
With that, let me turn it over to Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana. He has a few words. He'll be followed by the secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: I want to thank our secretaries and the senators for coming to Louisiana again. I want to give you an update. We had some very good, some very direct, some very frank talks.
Over the past weeks, you know, I've visited each of the different parishes and cities and have met with local officials. We met often to discuss resources we would need to protect our coast. Unfortunately, our visits have now also included on the ground assessments of the damage caused by this oil spill. For anyone who has seen this damage or seen the impact of this oil firsthand, you know that what we've been saying is true. This oil threatens not only our coast and our wetlands, this oil fundamentally threatens our way of life here in south Louisiana.
Yesterday, just yesterday I went out on a boat to Cat Island with the president of Plaquemine's Parish. We saw islands covered in oil, where our brown pelican's nest. We could actually see multiple birds that were oiled, some to the point where they couldn't fly. Wildlife and fishery officials tell us that critical birds are likely not even visible because they move to the inside center of the island.
The brown pelican is, obviously, our state bird. Recently -- it was only several months ago it was removed from the endangered species list. The oil on those islands yesterday may actually kill off much of the marshlands that are so important for not only those birds, but for migratory birds, in addition to damaging that bird population there.
It's not just at Cat Island. A few days ago we took out a boat out to Pasalutra (ph). We saw thick black and brown colored oil covering much of the perimeter of the marsh out there. And again, our biologists tell us that marsh may begin dying in as soon as five to seven days.
It is clear that we don't have the resources we need to protect our coast. We need more booms, more skimmers, more vacuums, more jack- up (ph) barges that are still in short supply. And let's be clear, every day that this oil sits and waits for cleanup is one more day that more of our marsh dies.
Over in Terrebonne Parish, oil is moving through their days. Boom and workers sat for days waiting for their orders to be deployed. Yesterday, we met again with coastal parish leaders, just like we did when we formed our own detailed parish protection plans. We know we've got to take action. We've got to take matters into our own hands if we're going to win this fight to protect our coast.
We met with parish leaders, emergency professionals, levee district officials to discussed strategies to fill the void we are currently seeing in response efforts to stop this oil. And let's be clear, our goal is not to just clean up this oil once it hits our marshes, our top goal must to be to keep this oil out of our wetlands, our of our marshes, out of this fragile ecosystem.
The marsh is not a sandy beach. It would be difficult to clean up. Environmental experts say trying to clean it up could actually do more harm than good in many cases. That means we, as a state, we've got to do everything we can to stop this oil before it comes to our marsh. We've initiated a number of strategies, including tiger dams, hesco (ph) baskets, sand bag drop operations, fresh water diversions, sand fill operations and the proposal of our sand boom, our dredging plan. Had the chance to talk to the secretary and the president about that yet again today.
Working with parish leaders yesterday, we came up with new additional strategies to fill the current void in response efforts. We developed a strategy for state and parish officials to have better situational awareness of the oil's movement within our coast and our offshore waters. Wildlife and fisheries have divided up the coast into sections. They'll be patrolling these sectors continuously so the containment and cleanup efforts can be operationalized quickly.
Their efforts will be supported by the National Guard and parish officials. We will communicate our findings to BP and the Coast Guard on a daily basis to insure our coast is continuously monitored and quickly cleaned. We will also report these findings publicly so the media and the public can keep updated and make sure that BP is held accountable for their cleanup efforts.
We've also asked the Coast Guard to refocus their efforts so they have greater command and control on the ground where action needs to be taken quickly to save our coast. We ask for the Coast Guard to forward deployed troops into every basin area of the coast so they can work closely with parish officials there, see the impact of the oil firsthand so they're better able to have eyes on the problem and respond quickly.
We need decision makers from the Coast Guard there on the ground. We've been frustrated with the disjointed effort to date that is too often and too little too late for the oil hitting our coast. We need folks in each of the vulnerable basins. For example, the Betton (ph) Sound, Timbalier Terrebonne Bay, Baratary (ph) Bay. That can mobilize resources quickly to contain oil when it arrives. We don't need to wait 24 hours or 48 hours.
BP is the responsible party, but we need the federal government to make sure that they are held accountable and that they are indeed responsible. Our way of life depends on it. The actions taken in response to this oil today are going to determine the future of our state.
We've also identified additional equipment and personnel available from parishes, agencies, levee districts that will help us take our own proactive measures to keep oil out of our marshes. We plan to use this equipment to expand ongoing efforts by the guard, the National Guard, to close gaps in our coastal areas. We've identified 40 cuts, prioritized 14 of those. We're identifying additional cuts to -- we're going to work to expedite fill-in efforts wherever we can with equipment from the state and parishes. The National Guard has already asked for additional helicopters from other states. We've gotten positive responses from other states on that request.
On May 2nd, we leaned forward. We requested a large amount of resources that our parishes would need under a worst case scenario in response to this oil spill. The very next day we announced all of our coastal parish detailed protection plans. We formally requested three million feet of absorbent boom, 5 million feet of hard boom, 30 jack- up barges to allow us to keep this oil out of our wetlands.
Today is May 24th. We have received to date a total of 815,569 feet of hard boom. Not even a million feet. And 680,249 feet of this total hard boom has been deployed. And 135,320 feet of hard boom sits and waits to be deployed.
In the last 24 hours - in the last 24 hours, we have only received 5,040 feet of hard boom. We need more boom. We need more resources. We need the materials we've requested to fight this oil, to keep it out of our marsh, off of our coast.
I'll close by saying, we continue to await a decision of our dredging, sand boom claim from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We have made the modifications suggested by the Corps. We've answered every question they submitted in the same day they asked their questions. We have shown them and the media pictures of the sand boom in Fushon (ph) that is actively holding the oil back from farther inland traveling into our marshes.
We know this strategy works. That is why I've taken matters into our own hands yesterday to do more of these sand fills ourselves while we wait on approval for the larger dredging plan. To date, a total of just under 70 miles of our coast has been hit by oil. That is more than the seashore line of Maryland and Delaware combined.
Let's be clear, and I'll close with this, we've only got two options in Louisiana. There's only two options in front of us. We can either fight this oil off of our coast, 15 to 20 miles away on barrier islands, on sand booms, where it will do much less damage to our marine life and to our wetlands and our fragile eco system. But every day we do not fight this oil on a barrier island, every day we are not dredging sand means one more day this oil has a chance to come into our ecosystem, into our wetlands that are home to some of the nation's most important fisheries. Thirty percent of the nation's oil and gas comes off this coast. Thirty percent of the nation's fisheries. These are America's wetlands.
Let's make no mistake about what is at stake here is our way of life. This is not just about keeping oil off of a rocky land or a beach. This is about a way of life for our people and for our state. So we need to get this plan approved as quickly as possible. Every day that it is not approved, is another day this choice is made for us and we are forced to fight this oil farther and farther in our wetlands instead of off of our coast where we'd rather right this. We don't want a drop of oil to hit our coast. And as governor of Louisiana, I'd much rather fight this oil on a barrier island, on a hard, rocky coast than have to fight it inside of our wetlands.
Thank you all very much.
KEN SALAZAR, INTERIOR SECRETARY: From day one President Obama has made it very clear that the United States of America will not rest - we will not rest for one minute until this problem gets resolved. And that is why Secretary Napolitano is here today, on her fourth visit here. I've been in Houston at the command center about (ph) four times and this is also my fourth visit here to Louisiana. And we will not rest until this job gets done.
It is also important to note that with us today is the leadership of the United States Senate. When we think about the assistant majority leader of the United States Senate, Dick Durbin is here with five of the colleagues in the U.S. Senate because the eyes of the United States Senate are on Louisiana, what's happening here in the Gulf Coast today.
I want to make it very clear. Under the law, BP is the responsible party. BP is charged with capping their leaking oil well and paying for the response and for the recovery without limitation. They will be held accountable. We will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done. And as I said yesterday, we will make sure that all of their responsibilities are fulfilled to the people of the Gulf Coast and to the United States government.
When Admiral Allen (ph), as a commander of this situation, is not satisfied with the actions of BP, he calls and we'll call BP and push (INAUDIBLE) to take every appropriate step. He will order them to take the appropriate steps. I also have made it clear that we are not standing on the sidelines and letting BP do what BP wants to do. The federal government has mounted the largest response to fight this oil in all of the history of this country. We have deployed more than 1,000 vessels, 20,000 plus people are out there working day and night. We have burned oil off the surface. We have skimmed it, dispersed it on the surface and in the undersea. We have deployed miles and miles of protective boom and we are working to protect and clean up the shorelines.
We are getting, as Secretary Napolitano said, independent (INAUDIBLE) numbers from the best scientists in the world that will tell the United States how much of this BP oil has already spilled out into the Gulf Coast. The administration has done everything we can possible to make sure that we push BP to stop the spill and to contain the impact.
We have also been very clear that there are areas where BP and the private sector are the ones who must continue to lead the efforts with government oversight, such as a deployment of private sector technology 5,000 feet below the ocean surface to kill the well. BP and the private sector, with the help of federal scientists, are the ones who must get that problem solved and we have the oversight capacity in the administration to make sure that they are doing that.
Let me just encapsulize what I said in my own words. The fact of the matter is, that this is a BP mess. It is a horrible mess. It is a massive environmental mess. The accountability here, as the investigations unfold, will hold them accountably, both civilly and in whatever way is necessary. And we will not rest until the job is done.
And that's why we are spending the amount of time that we are spending on this matter. We are resolute and confident as we move forward that better days are ahead. But in the meantime, as we go through this very, very difficult time period, our job collectively, under the president's direction, is to not rest a single day, but to keep pushing with everything that we have to make sure that the very best is done under these very difficult circumstances.
And with that, it is my honor to introduce the assistant secretary - the assistant majority leader, United States Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Thanks. Thanks, Secretary Salazar.
I want to thank Secretary Napolitano as well. I also want to thank our host here, our colleague, Senator Mary Landrieu and Senator David Vitter, who are hosting us, with Congressman Kyl here from Louisiana.
We put this trip together on sort notice. I contacted my colleagues late last week and said, we'd like you to come and see firsthand what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico. And the turnout was amazing. We ended up not only with those you see from the state of Louisiana, but clearly, in addition to those, we have Senator Jeff Bingaman, who is the chairman of the energy committee in the United States Senate, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who is a member of that committee - ranking member of that committee, the energy committee as well and a member as well, Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
The reason we came here was to see firsthand what has happened. I can tell you, after seeing it and after listening in that hall to the men and women, whose lives have been affected, that I've come away with a new feeling about BP. BP, in my mind, no longer stands for British Petroleum, it stands for beyond patience. People have been waiting 34 days for British Petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that's happening across the Gulf of Mexico. There are options and alternatives that we hear a lot about. But what we've heard from this administration and what we need to tell BP is, excuses don't count any more. You caused this mess, now stop the damage and clean up the mess. It's your responsibility.
My listening there to the oystermen, the fishermen, the charter boat operators, some of them were emotional. They're talking about their ways of life. They're talking about their families. They're talking about businesses that they've had for generations that are at stake right here and now.
Now, I've seen something like this before in Lisa Murkowski's state 21 years ago. I went up to see the Exxon Valdez spill. I'll never forget those scenes. They were heartbreaking. That crude oil, that swamp, that sound, that beautiful, beautiful sound, changed the way that that sound works today. Lisa Murkowski can tell you, it's different.
And the people who live there face a different life because of it. That's what's wrong with this situation. We never should have been where we are today and now this administration will continue to put the pressure on BP to do what's right, to clean up this mess and pay for every dollar of it. Not the taxpayers of America, but British Petroleum. They're t he ones who have to foot the bill here for their mistake, for their accident and the damage they've caused.
It's my honor now to introduce my colleague and friend from the United States Senate and senator from Louisiana, Mary Landrieu.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: Senator Durbin is going to be a strong ally to all of us in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast as we fight for justice and fairness in this situation. Secretary Salazar has been an extraordinary leader, and Secretary Napolitano, as the commander of this situation. As they've both described, this is unprecedented and they are putting the full force of their offices, their departments and all the assets of the federal government to tackle this problem.
Secretary Salazar recognizes, as he said, that BP is responsible. But I recognize that the federal government is in charge of this situation and he is pressing BP at every level with every scientist at his disposal and every engineer available to him and to the secretary to get this well shut at the earliest possible convenience -- or earliest possible date, not a convenience, earliest possible date. And they are doing that. I hope it could be done today, if not in the next few days.
Secondly, we need all to do a better job of processing these claims. There was very emotional pleas today but I've heard them before. I've been here a half dozen times and on the phone with hundreds of Louisianans and people from around the Gulf Coast.
I want to say again, if you made $50,000 last year and you can't work this year, BP is going to write you a check for $50,000. If your business made a million dollars last year, and you can't make that million this year, BP is going to make your business whole.
There is no question in my mind or the minds of these senators or these leaders up here who will pay this bill to individual individuals, to businesses, to parishes, to the state and to the federal government resources that have been spent to date. So I wanted to just, you know, clear that up, because there's still some uncertainty. We're working the details of that out. But those bills will be paid in full.
And finally, just I want to say that I could not expect more from Secretary Salazar, who's running this department, to have a balance of prosecuting -- and that's a good word -- prosecuting this incident, but preparing the right way for the future for our state, for the Gulf Coast and for the nation that needs to mine these resources safely.
So as we clean up this mess, handle the thing right before us, he also has his eye on the future and how we manage the fisheries industry, the oil and gas industry, and all the industries that call this working coast home in a way that protects us and protects the nation. So I thank him for that and thank Secretary Napolitano for her leadership, too. And call on Senator Vitter from Louisiana.
SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: Thank you very much, Mary.
I want to thank the governor for his great leadership; want to thank the two cabinet secretaries and our Senate colleagues for being here. We very much appreciate it.
I agree with all of the statements that have been made about BP. But I've spent my time today with these federal government officials, focusing on what I think millions of Louisianans feel and know is the greatest inadequacy of the federal response. And that's our inability so far to get a timely, positive response to this crucial emergency dredging barrier island plan. That's been going on and languishing, unfortunately, for more than two weeks.
Because of that, I wrote President Obama on Friday a very clear but respectful letter. And I said, "Mr. President, "We appreciated you coming to Louisiana. We appreciated the clear commitment you made to act in a timely manner and do whatever it takes. But that commitment is now being broken, because we cannot get, so far, a timely, clear answer from the Corps of Engineers and others on this emergency dredging barrier island plan. We need more boom; we need more boom deployment; but we need that land boom immediately to block oil from our marsh." And so I'm asking the president respectfully again, we need that immediate positive answer. I'll be following up again with Admiral Allen today, again with the leadership of the Corps, and working with the state until we get that positive response. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Bingaman.
SEN. JEFF BINGAMAN (D), NEW MEXICO: It's great to be here with my colleagues and with Secretary Napolitano and Secretary Salazar.
I'm persuaded after the meetings we've had today and what we've been able to see that -- that this is the nation's problem. It's not just Louisiana's problem. And the nation is pulling together and moving aggressively to solve it.
And I'm persuaded that the president has this solving of this problem as his top priority and that, of course, he's -- he's delegated these two secretaries to get that job done, and they're working night and day to get it done.
So we're anxious to help in the U.S. Senate. I'm glad to be here to learn about it and continue with the effort to come to the aid of the Gulf region and of Louisiana. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Murkowsi.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: We had an opportunity to fly over the spill area before we came here to the -- Port Fourchon. And I looked down at the ocean with great sadness. Because your ocean, as warm and lovely as it is, looks just like my ocean up north, except my ocean is a little bit colder. But we experienced a similar tragedy just a little over 20 years ago. And it's a devastation that lives with you forever.
And so to listen this afternoon to your fishermen, to your shrimpers, to your chartered boatmen, to your oystermen and to hear their fears and concerns, unfortunately it's like deja vu all over again for those of us from Alaska.
And if there's one thing that we learned from the tragedy of the Exxon Valdez, it's not to repeat the mistakes from history. It's not to treat the plaintiffs in that case, the fishermen and their families, who waited decades for compensation from Exxon -- we want to work together to make sure that this claims process works fairly and efficiently and in a manner as is promised. We need to make sure that those that are accountable, BP, are held accountable to the fullest extent.
But it's going to take a commitment to make sure that the people of Louisiana and the fishermen and their families are not treated in a similar manner as we saw played out some 20 years ago. So know that we're committed to working with you so that the mistakes that were made in Alaska are not repeated here in the Gulf of Mexico.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. We are here to represent the Senate, particularly the energy committee and the environment committee, which will have a lot to do with overseeing this and making sure that the restoration continues effectively and that an incident like this does not happen again.
We are here from a variety of states, including the largest coastal state in America and the smallest coastal state in America, in solidarity with the coastal economy and the coastal way of life of this part of Louisiana and the Gulf.
And many of us are here because we know firsthand what a relentless and formidable advocate for Louisiana Mary Landrieu is in our caucus. And we want to make sure that we don't get in trouble with her, because she's a powerful advocate for Louisiana.
And so looking forward, we want to make sure that the work continues. I think we've all been impressed by the unprecedented nature of the involvement that the administration -- in getting this done. More people, more boats, more action than ever before. But also the continuing need for further action and to bring this home to a point where the people of Louisiana can say, the water is clear, the leak is capped, and we are made whole.
So, thank you all very much.
NAPOLITANO: Thank you. Thank you. Well said, and we're happy to take questions.
I want to reiterate one more time: BP is the responsibility party. We are going to make sure that BP does what is necessary. If we need to put more supervisors in the Coast Guard in the field to get it done, we've already said, yes, we're going to do that.
Boom is an issue. We are dealing with that.
Senator Vitter mentioned the issue about a special kind of dredging and boom at the barrier islands as Admiral Allen, who will be -- is the national commander, has already said. That is on an expedited review process. Looking at that, looking at whether there are some options that would be as effective or even more effective and less environmentally sensitive. But hopefully, have some response, direct response on that within the next few days.
So we move forward and understand, all understand and have from the first day, the urgency, the uniqueness of this situation and the importance of holding BP responsible.
Let's take a few questions.
Clark (ph), you want to lead that?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good. That's Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napoliano (sic) -- Napolitano and a whole lot of other government officials and senators in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, which is sort of the central point for oil that comes in from offshore.
