Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Life After the Spill; BP Cuts Checks for Lost Wages; Is the School Your Diploma is From Worth the Debt to Get it?; Pigging Out in America: The Role of Restaurants in the Fattening of Americans
Aired May 25, 2010 - 09:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is making waves on Capitol Hill today. Several hearings are looking at this growing disaster and some lawmakers are focusing on the government's response as well the future cost of the cleaning up the environmental impact.
Another idea being considered today, increasing the tax on oil to help pay for the cleanup.
Now to countdown to Top Kill. This hour we're going to try and make sense of that option and other efforts to stop the gushing flow of oil. In fact, we're going to show you what the engineers -- rather -- are talking about.
First up, take a look at this. What you see here is the first bullet in the chamber. This is the Top Kill method. It's how the experts hope it will play out beginning tomorrow.
As you can see, crews would start injecting cement and heavy mud right into the pipe that you see there to try to plug it up. It's the best hope going forward right now and even BP says it has no more than a 70 percent chance of succeeding.
OK. So what's next? Graphic number two: it could be another shot at placing a dome like this over the leaking oil well. It's like putting a bucket over a broken sprinkler head in your backyard. Experts have actually tried this technique twice and have twice failed. But we're engineers have tweaked this approach so maybe next time it will work.
Another option, let's take a look at this graphic. It's the so- called junk shot. It's similar to tomorrow's Top Kill maneuver, but instead of cement and mud, crews would actually use, well, junk. They'd inject tires right there down the tube as you can see -- they'd inject, rather, tire, golf balls and other (INAUDIBLE) materials right there into that pipe and then try to clog it up.
No matter what happens with any or all these other attempts, the real answer is actually months away. Crews have already begun drilling new relief wells and what's so special about those? Well, they would actually have a cutoff valve that would just stop the gusher immediately.
Even BP executives seem to be tamping down expectations for tomorrow's Top Kill maneuver. Here's what the company's top man had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: The third option is the top kill, and we will be, in all likelihood, in a position to execute that in the middle of the week. It has never been done in 5,000 feet of water. If it was on land we would have a very high confidence of success, but because it's in 5,000 feet of water, we need to be realistic about the issues around operating in a mile of water. We rate the probability of the success of somewhere between 60 and 70 percent.
PHILLIPS: We'll get back to oil in just a second, but breaking news to tell you about. Don't ask, don't tell. The policy we've been talking about for months recently because apparently there's a push to get this vote into play.
Our John King on the phone with us right now. Apparently, a statement coming from the secretary of defense, John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, Kyra, good morning. And a lot of people on Capitol Hill have been waiting to see what the secretary of defense thinks about the compromise. He has put out a statement that indicated support for it, but wow, it is a very, very, very tepid statement likely to influence the political discussion.
Here's the statement. Secretary Gates continues to believe that ideally the DOD review should be completed before there is any legislation to repeal the don't ask don't tell law. With Congress having indicated that is not possible, the secretary can accept the language in the proposed amendment.
So essentially here, Kyra, the defense secretary is not getting his way. He wanted Congress to hold off on any votes until the end of the year until he can have a survey of military members and the families and having been told by leading Democrats in Congress that they wanted to go ahead with those votes this week.
He is tepidly endorsing this compromise language. The question now is is that enough? Because a number of moderate and conservative democrats who don't know how to vote on this issue anyway aren't sure how they want to vote and certainly are worried about a risky vote in a tough election year. They wanted the backing, the cover of the defense secretary and while this statement says he can accept the proposed language, he also makes clear here that he is not happy that they're going this route.
PHILLIPS: That's right because the House can vote on an amendment as soon as this week, right, John?
KING: Right. And later this week they could. The Senate is also trying to take this up this week in the Armed Services Committee and Secretary Gates, I talked to him just a couple of week ago and he said there are smart ways and stupid ways to change this policy and he made very clear in that blunt interview that he thought taking any votes in Congress before he had the feedback from the troops, the input from the troops was the stupid way.
And that's the way Congress is going. So even though he's on the record saying I can accept this, it is very clear, Kyra, that he does not like this. And so the question now is can Carl Levine, in the senate Arms Services Committee and (inaudible) in the Armed Services Committee and then Patrick Murphy and other supporters of this legislation on the House floor, can they find enough votes to pass it?
That will be the big question now and they can say they have an endorsement from Secretary Gates, but it's certainly not a glowing endorsement.
PHILLIPS: OK. We'll follow it. John King with the news first there. Appreciate it, John.
Let's get back to the oil spill now. David Mattingly joining us. He's actually been listening to that BP conference call on the top kill effort. David, what's the latest?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, all those details you walked us through just a couple of minutes ago is sort of what BP was doing again this time, with all of their options and everything they've got in play. But what we got from listening to that conference call was the sense that this is really the big moment for BP.
They brought all their resources to bear, they called experts in from all throughout the industry, all around the world to work on this for a project that's never been done before and now they're going into a testing phase that's going to be going on for the rest of the day where they're going to be just very meticulously connecting everything, pressure testing everything.
They want to make sure they get this right the first time. It's clear that they are feeling the pressure. They've got so many backups in play right now that they brought to bear as well. All of these are going to be ready to go if this particular procedure, this mud kill, this top kill thing that they've been talking about for so long.
They say if that turns out that that's not going to work then they've got other procedures ready to go and they've got everything in play right now so hopefully they'll be able to get this thing stopped with these next procedures that they're going to be trying.
Again, this is a very big moment for BP. They've continued to emphasize throughout that call that this is something that they're doing with a matter of weeks, and something that they would normally use months to prepare for.
So now they're going to be testing, making sure every theory that they have is going to work before they try this top kill and then the top kill itself. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. We'll keep tracking it. Thanks, David.
So if BP's own leaders aren't voicing a lot of optimism, how about the locals who are seeing their livelihood slipping away.
CNN's Rob Marciano live again for us in Venice, Louisiana. So, rob, are people on the ground optimistic that top kill will work?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, yes but they're also realistic, Kyra and considering what's going on around the Mississippi delta, they are certainly cautiously optimistic. You know, the last few days with oil washing up onshore into the sensitive wetlands and the estuaries and really the garden from which all of the wild life that these people sustain themselves of, nurtures themselves from, this is endangered if not some of it killed.
It's the bread and butter of this community and to say that the residents here and fishermen alike are upset. Well, that's certainly an understatement. They just want some action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRANDON BALLAY, CHARTER FISHING BOAT CAPTAIN: Everything down here lives and starts their whole life cycle inside of these canes. Once they're dead, they're gone. They're not going to grow back.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Wetland grass now covered in oil makes running a fishing charter boat tough business here in Venice, Louisiana. Brandon Ballay is worried about his livelihood, but also across the Mississippi delta, it's a way of life.
BALLAY: Now we're mad at BP because, basically, I guess, they're dropping the ball, you know? They were supposed to catch it and they were supposed to plug it. Forget about giving me some money. You know, save my estuary. Save my home.
MARCIANO: This environmental disaster has already affected generations.
BALLAY: But here's another example. This man catches bait for the recreational fishermen. He's out of business.
MARCIANO: Brandon's father Dave Ballay worked in oil rigs in the gulf as a young man and then later built this marina in 1985. All of the people here somehow depend on the oil business.
(on camera): Those oil rigs out there. I mean, that's the hand that feeds this community. How frustrating is it that they've killed part of this community?
It's very frustrating because almost every one of us, almost every family in Louisiana has a cousin, an uncle, a brother or a wife that works in the oil industry. There are so many things that are related to the oil industry. So we're mad. We're mad that it happened.
We're not mad at the oil industry. We're mad at that one individual or that one company that made that mistake.
MARCIANO: Over two weeks ago Plaquemine's Parrish proposed a plan to build sand barriers across 80 miles of sensitive shoreline. Meanwhile, oil has already hit some of those wetlands and still that plan goes unapproved.
BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARRISH: We will start laying the groundwork and protecting the coastline. If they've got a better plan, tell me one.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Plaquemine Parrish president Billy Nungesser believes the Coast Guard commander is holding up approval of his plan.
NUNGESSER: Now let me tell you something, one man in Washington can say you can't do it in six months? That's cheap talk. Show me some proof and I'll stand toe to toe with him any day and prove him wrong. But you know what? e worked his way up to the Coast Guard and he has the floor and the decision making. Shame on them, they ought to be prosecuted.
And I don't care if they're in the Coast Guard, the Corps of Engineers or BP. They let this coastline be destroyed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Admiral Thad Allen, the U.S. Coast Guard has told CNN that he's working with the Army Corps of Engineers to try to come to some sort of decision on that plan. One of their sticking points is the timeline. They believe it's six to 12 months, but regardless, even if they capped that well tomorrow and there's no more oil spewing from it, the amount of oil that's in the gulf right now, that's going to be coming onshore for weeks and months to come.
So residents here, Kyra, certainly want to build more of a long- term solution because some of the shorter term solutions including those booms aren't working to 100 percent effectiveness. So they're very frustrated down here, to say the least. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: OK. Rob, thanks.
You may be surprised to learn that some people are already getting paid for their losses. Thousands of individuals and small businesses and many more are waiting for word. Let's take a closer look.
Business news correspondent Stephanie Elam is joining us from New York. So Stephanie, how many people are actually getting checks from BP right now?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The checks have already gone out, Kyra. We're talking about 23,000 workers who have filed claims with BP for lost income. Now, at this point, 9,000 of them have been paid out so far. So the total that we're talking about is $27.8 million.
And most of that money has gone to small businesses along the Gulf Coast. Think about fishermen, shrimpers or charter boat captains that you just heard in Rob's piece right there. The problem is that fishing, in some parts of Louisiana, is banned because of the spill. Louisiana is the top seafood producer in all of the continental U.S. so this puts people's livelihood in danger and they can't make the money and that's the issue here, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let's talk about how much money that they're actually getting from BP. Is it different based on amount of loss, with whom they work?
ELAM: It's a - it does vary, you're right about that. It varies based on the size of the company for one thing. A small charter boat company owner that CNN Money got to speak to said he got $5,000 from BP. He said he used the money to pay his boat captains and his deck hands but he says his company can make up to $50,000 in a good fishing month so what is $5,000 compared to that?
Also he got his money weeks ago. So this is money that's long gone and there's nothing he can think about now. Other claims are taking longer especially if the company is bigger and is asking for more money so BP is asking some companies because they want to see if the numbers they're asking for is real. They're asking people old tax returns and other records and that means some people could be waiting a while to get their money and it's not a quick fix here.
PHILLIPS: All right. And real quickly, the Dow is in negative territory. Is it going to get worse?
ELAM: Yes, you know, actually, we came back a little bit, Kyra. We came back about 100 points and we're now, still at 9845. It's off two percent. The Nasdaq off 2.5 percent right now, but we are off of our lows as we keep our eyes on this. But do keep in mind that we saw this spread around the world yesterday and it's making its way back here.
The main issue is that we've been worrying about these debt issues and the solvency of some of these countries and in Spain over the weekend they did go ahead and bail out their country's banks because of that, that fear of whether or not they're going to be stable in Europe, rattling the markets here in the U.S. so we're keeping our eyes on it.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Steph.
PHILLIPS: A college degree from a prestigious school. Many people say it's a ticket to success. Others are saying it's just a ticket to debt. We're going to meet one college grad who says it just isn't worth it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we all know that college degrees don't come cheaply and the price tag is only getting bigger, but once you get to toss your tasseled cap and collect your diploma, it's all supposed to be worth it, right?
Well, Alina Cho live in New York, and Alina, you're looking at the rising cost of college and you actually met a grad who says he actually regrets getting his high-priced, big name degree.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he does because he traded that in for a full ride at Hofstra University and so now he's hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, Kyra. You know, for a high school salutatorian, Ryan Durosky, there was no question that he would go to his dream school, New York University, a brand name school, of course, but expensive. Now he's nearly $300,000 in debt and he's not alone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): As a graduate of prestigious New York University, Ryan Durosky thought his business degree would be a ticket to financial security.
But today he lives above a gas station in an apartment he shares with three others. He commutes two hours each way every day from Pennsylvania to his job in Manhattan and back to stretch his budget. He says he can't afford any other way, strapped by sky high college debt.
(on camera): You talk about the American dream.
RYAN DUROSKY, COLLEGE GRAD IN DEBT: Yes, it's almost become an American nightmare.
CHO (voice-over): Call it a $275,000 nightmare. What Ryan took out in student loans plus interest for four years at his university. At this rate, 24-year-old Ryan will be almost 50 before his loans are paid off.
(on camera): You had an offer for a full scholarship?
DUROSKY: Yes.
CHO: And then you had NYU as an option.
DUROSKY: Yes.
CHO: Which was so much more expensive.
DUROSKY: Yes.
CHO: So why?
DUROSKY: In my opinion, NYU is a better school. It was right in the middle of Manhattan. I thought it was going to be providing me with better opportunities after I graduate.
CHO: Did you have any idea how much it was going to cost?
DUROSKY: Honestly, no. I mean, I had done the math but when you're 18 and, you know, and you're about to move into New York City, it's just like who cares, I'll pay for it, and I'll worry about it later.
CHO: So after four years here at NYU, Ryan did get a job, but soon after, just as the economy was collapsing, he was laid off. What's worse, right about the time that he got his pink slip, Ryan also got his first bill for his student loans.
DUROSKY: I believe it is $1,020 or something like that.
CHO: What did you think at that point?
DUROSKY: And I freaked out.
CHO: (voice-over): He's not alone. Two-thirds of bachelor's degree recipients graduate with an average of $23,000 in debt, that's up 50 percent since 1996. And then there's this.
JACQUES STEINBERG, "NY TIMES" EDUCATION REPORTER: Fewer than half of the kids who will start a four-year degree program will end up graduating even in six years. And that's a staggering number of kids who are spending a lot of money -
CHO: As for Ryan, in the two years since he graduated, he's paid down $12,000, about four percent of what he owes. Debt he calls both daunting and depressing.
(on camera): Do you regret your decision?
DUROSKY: Yes, I do. I look at the amount of money that I have to pay back, and it's the money that I would almost be using to fulfill my American dream. I would like to, you know, get my own house one day, and get married and possibly start a family. And right now, I don't see that as part of my future. You know, my future right now is debt. It's almost devastating in some cases.
CHO: You do have a degree?
DUROSKY: Yes, I do have a degree. That's a positive point, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: You know, to be clear, Ryan does not blame NYU for his college debt. He blames himself for making the choice and he believes the economic downturn played a role. He certainly did not expect to be laid off especially so soon after graduation. NYU tells CNN that its advice for prospective students is to plan ahead.
College, they say is an investment, people need to save for it. Also, they say, Kyra, if you are in default you should contact the lender, of course, and NYU's Career Center for help. But you know, Kyra, a lot of people say how could he allow himself to be in such debt after college.
You know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, nearly $300,000, but you can really feel for him. You know, at age 18, he gets into NYU, he's the first person in his family to go to college and he says to himself, why should I not go to my dream school because I can't get for it. I'm going to get loans and somehow I'll pay for it, now that ride in hindsight is looking pretty good. PHILLIPS: Yes, no kidding. I've actually have friends, their son going to NYU too and I remember, they never said this to him, of course, and now he's going to know, right? They called me up and said well, I guess we won't be retiring, but he's going to have the best education possible at NYU.
So let's just hope he graduates.
CHO: Those are good parents.
PHILLIPS: They are. They're amazing parents and hopefully he graduates and gives back, you know, for years to come. It's a tough time. School's expensive, that's for sure.
CHO: Hopefully he'll take care of his parents down the line.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Believe me, they've earned it. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: OK.
PHILLIPS: Well, students struggling to make ends meet, but so are schools. We've talked about this for months now and budget cuts mean your kid could soon have more classmates. How many more? The sky's the limit in Georgia where the state Board of Education has voted to lift all limits on class sizes over the next year. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHY COX: Nobody wants to do this. But again, we really are at a point where we don't have a choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And another tough choice? Acting summer school programs. The White House is urging districts to keep classrooms open for summer sessions but a ton of education officials say it's just too costly. The cuts started when the recession began and have worsened, affecting more children and more essential programs that help struggling students.
From neighborhood nuances to pillars of the community, the likely transformations, rather, in Tennessee's historic flood.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Weeks after the Nashville area's historic flood, the unlikely heroes of the storm met with some of the folks they helped out in their greatest time of need like teenagers taking a kayak and transforming it into a literal life preserver by ferrying some of their more seasoned neighbors to safety from the rising waters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW MAHAND, RESCUED NEIGHBORS: We were able to get them in the canoe and pulled them out and at that point we were able to actually pull the canoe into the house so that they could get in.
Zack and his brother, Josh, and their friends that helped, those were the type of people that you, you know, that we need more of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: In one fateful day, Drew and his brother went from neighborhood troublemakers to community treasures. Way to go, guys.
And checking top stories now, hours away from oil giant BP latest attempt to stem the flow of unrefined crude oil that's been gurgling in the Gulf of Mexico for more than a month. BP estimates its top kill plan to stuff the leaking wellhead with mud and cement has a better than 50 percent chance of working.
There's another oil spill to tell you about. This one off the coast of Singapore. One of the world's busiest ports. There's now a mile-long slick in the Singapore strait after the predawn collision of an oil tanker and another ship.
And right now, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is before the judge who will decided Kilpatrick new sentence of violating the terms of his probation. Prosecutors want Kilpatrick to get anywhere from two to five years in prison. We'll keep you posted.
It's an honor that no restaurant wants to own and we'll tell you the winners of the extreme eating award. The places where you get calorie overkill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: So do you remember the clip of John Belushi's stuffing his face in "Animal House?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BELUSHI: Don't you have any respect for yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is absolutely gross! That boy is a p- i-g, pig!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, you can all laugh as much as you want, but pigging out is a big problem in America right now. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with some pretty staggering calorie counts from your favorite restaurants. Who are the big winners?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Are they big winners or are big losers?
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: I don't know, I guess a little bit of both.
The Center for Science and the Public Interest, which is this Washington group that likes to take a stab at various restaurants and see how they're doing, they decided to see who has the highest calorie dishes out there, and you know, you don't realize it. You go out there and you go to your favorite restaurant and you don't necessarily know how many calories you're eating.
So here are the winners. Take a look. Five guys, hamburger joint around the corner from my house, all over the place. A bacon cheeseburger and large fries, 2,380 calories. Another one, P.F. Chang's double pan fried noodles combo, the combo has chicken, shrimp and I think some other stuff in there, 1,820 calories.
PHILLIPS: That's right. That's much better.
COHEN: And Chevy's crab and shrimp quesadilla 1,790 calories.
So as you can see, that's a lot of calories all in one dish.
PHILLIPS: OK. What about the fajitas? All right. Let's talk about, I mean, we're talking about equally bad in sodium, right?
COHEN: That's right.
PHILLIPS: A lot of times we don't realize how much salt is in there.
COHEN: That's right. You don't realize that. And you know, blood pressure, they call the silent killer. I mean, you eat a lot of salt and that can up your blood pressure and you may not even know that you have high blood pressure and you usually know when you're getting fat.
Let's take a look at the sodium content of some of these dishes because it is eye-popping. First of all, let's sort of set the standard here. The recommended amount of sodium that you're supposed to get is no more than 2,300 milligrams per day.
So we start on that, we start there. At California Pizza Kitchen, their tostada pizza with steak is 2,630 in one dish and you're supposed to have no more than 2300 in a day. P.F. Chang's, again the double pan-fried noodle combo, 7,690. Now even if you split those noodles with several other people, you are still having more sodium in one dish than you're supposed to have in an entire day.
PHILLIPS: OK. I can eat an entire CPK pizza.
COHEN: You can. My goodness. Come on. You don't look it. Not just I can, I have.
PHILLIPS: Exactly, with the Hawaiian pizza. But anyway, what are the restaurants say to all of this?
COHEN: All right. Well, the restaurants have some comments about this - PHILLIPS: Of course.
COHEN: (INAUDIBLE) that will study life and the public interest and here's what they had to say. First of all, here's the response from California Pizza Kitchen. They say that they offer a wide variety of menu choices and they note that most often their pizzas are shared.
So they say well, just go ahead and share that pizza, which Kyra and I never do and then at Outback Steakhouse, they say we provide an online interactive nutritional tool which provides consumers to all the information they need to make good decisions. So in another words, they're saying, go online.
If you see something that's too caloric, choose something else. Now, the response from P.F. Chang's was interesting. They said, look, we never intended for anyone to eat that whole noodle dish on their own. They should split it into quarters but then you'll probably get two or three other dishes and split those as well, but they're saying it's all about the serving size.
Control your portions.
PHILLIPS: Well, they're all yummy. That's hard to do because they're all yummy dishes.
COHEN: Exactly. There's a reason we all go there.
PHILLIPS: Good advice.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
Well, the disastrous oil spill in the gulf and the blame that's shifting to the White House now. We'll actually talk to a man who helped four presidents deal with crises of their own. How does he grade the administration's handling so far and what advice would he give the president?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All along the Gulf, the worst fears of the oil spill are taking shape. Fouled wetlands, dead wildlife and a massive oil spill growing by the minute. Anger is building into rage and not just targeting BP, but the federal government and its handling of the crisis. Last night CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke to one Louisiana politician who says it's time for the White House to take charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH: The president of the United States has to step up to the plate. We're begging him. I looked him in the eye for two hours. He cares about us. I could tell because he made the Coast Guard implement our dredge, our jack-up (ph) boats. We have them out there on the front line.
He needs to step up to the plate, put somebody in charge that will protect the wetlands and will keep this oil out. We've given him several plans that will work. Either do our plan or come up with one better. But quit trading back and forth between BP and the Coast Guard. It's like a bunch of kids pointing the finger at each other. Step up to the plate. we need leadership right now. We don't need a blame game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about that. So, should the federal government take charge, just as it does, say, after a hurricane? Or should the decisions be made by private interests with all of their equipment and expertise?
Let's ask someone uniquely qualified. David Gergen has served as an adviser to four presidents and helped them deal with disasters of their own. Today he serves as CNN senior political analyst.
David, let's go ahead and just begin with the basics, if you don't mind. How would you grade the government's response to this?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think I would give him a B-plus for the first ten days or so. But as the scale of this crisis has mounted and the threats have grown and it's become a real national emergency, I think you have to give them a failing grade over the last two or three weeks.
PHILLIPS: Which you bring up a good point. We're talking about a growing national emergency. So, does it make sense to have a single corporation handling something like this at this scale?
GERGEN: Well, I think we have to say one thing, Kyra, and that is that BP is making a strong effort to try to contain this and help out. And after several failures, it does have an important experiment underway tomorrow. And if the top-kill experiment works they can actually cap the oil that's spewing out. So, all of us hope that they succeed.
But I must tell you that when it comes to protecting our precious coastlines, and the waters just off our shore, there's no doubt that we cannot leave our fate in the hands of a single foreign-based company. That's a national responsibility. That's what the fed -- that's fundamental to what the federal government is all about, why we have a government.
PHILLIPS: Oh --
GERGEN: This company is not up to it, so I believe the president should take charge of it and he should have taken charge of it two or three weeks ago. But it's imperative they take charge now.
PHILLIPS: OK, got it. So, you're saying the president needs to say to BP, that's it. You're done. You're out. We're in control.
And so then -- so say the president does decide to do that and also what are the chances that the president will do that, David? And then you need to bring in experts from around the world, right? From the oil industry, from the Middle East. I mean, you've got to have a different set of minds, correct?
GERGEN: Absolutely. Now, we're in a delicate moment, and I think this, today, is not the day to do that, but if this top kill does not work tomorrow, then I think the president and the administration have to move, because what do they have to do? They have to mobilize all of the companies in the oil drilling business.
Offshore drilling is on trial now. Exxon Mobil and all of the other companies, the best technologies and the best minds in the country need to be mobilized. The best thinkers in the country need to be mobilized. The military needs to be mobilized more aggressively. We've got to get more help to the states. We have to get citizens and volunteers in place.
We have a lot that can only be done by a take-charge administration. I'll just say this. There are very different episodes in our history, but if we had fought the World War II and the way we are now fighting this oil spill, we might all be speaking German today.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Point well made. You know, you've served under a number of presidents. You've advised a number of presidents. I'm just curious, is there a president that would have handled this differently? Do you remember a president handling a disaster like this that did handle it in a way where you thought, okay. He nailed it.
GERGEN: Well, you know, we've had ups and downs on this, but I -- I definitely think that this is more -- this is beginning to be more like what we saw in Katrina, and that is political peril for this president. And the whole country got a sense that too little was done from the White House and there was almost a cavalier attitude toward it.
But if I look back, I go back to the earlier days. When Franklin Roosevelt saw trouble coming, he mobilized a country. When he saw the Allies could not provide the guns and planes and automobiles, he mobilized U.S. industry in an all-out effort. And we were extraordinarily successful as a people when we put our minds together, led by the White House.
I think there have been other episodes in our history since then when presidents have stepped in; sometimes they haven't. And the country pays a price, and ultimately, the president himself will pay a price politically.
PHILLIPS: Yes. David Gergen, always appreciate your insight. Thanks.
GERGEN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: What if this gusher were happening in the Middle East, where oil is everything? You have to wonder if Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates would be caught with their pants down if a well in the Persian Gulf had a big gaping hole.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon actually went to Abu Dhabi to investigate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Abu Dhabi, one of the world's largest oil producers, prevention is key.
AYEDH AL MASSABI, SUPREME PETROLEUM COUNCIL: We learned from others. You know? What others' mistakes, we learn, and we implement them, this learning to protect our area.
JAMJOOM: Ayedh al Massabi heads up the crisis management team for Abu Dhabi's Supreme Petroleum Council. When and if an oil spill happens, he and his team must be ready to deploy and deal with it within an hour.
ILHAB EL SAFTAWI, SUPREME PETROLEUM COUNCIL: Our job is be prepared 24/7 in case of any emergency.
JAMJOOM: This warehouse stores all the equipment they'll need. Some of it's even been used in other cleanup efforts, like when the team went to assist with Egypt's oil spill in 2006. And it will be used again.
The team is now preparing to go help in the massive cleanup effort under way in the Gulf of Mexico.
MASSABI: So we are sharing knowledge. We are sharing information every time, because this is a crisis. And it can happen any time. You know? It can happen now, it can happen in this area, or in a foreign area.
JAMJOOM: Abu Dhabi has learned the hard way. In 2000, mangrove trees lining its coastline were severely threatened by an oil spill. Thabit al Abdessalam's organization took the lead in rehabilitating the area.
THABIT AL ABDESSALAM, ENVIRONMENT AGENCY ABU DHABI: As you can see, the mangroves are healthy.
JAMJOOM: Protection of this ecosystem is a priority. Since the spill, a water-monitoring program has been put in place and sediment tests are now done regularly.
ABDESSALAM: One group (ph), basically, essentially, in that they act as filters for the west (ph) also. So, there is a dual function. I mean, you would want to see that the water is clean, but also, the mangroves contribute to making that water clean.
JAMJOOM: Abdessalam says the damage could have been far worse. 2000's oil spill was small, compared to what the Gulf of Mexico is facing. But it's not just the amount of oil that plays a part. MASSABI: So, our strategy at the Supreme Petroleum Council is to control the whole area of Abu Dhabi, to protect the whole area, the sea life, the humans, the environment. So this is our land and our philosophy.
JAMJOOM: Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS; It's a Web site you must visit. It's like the Vietnam Wall, but for fallen troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. And you can visit and pay your respects anytime you want, no matter where you are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: The name of an American killed in Afghanistan will live on in his hometown. A street was renamed yesterday for Louis Maxwell, Jr., in Miami Gardens, Florida. Here's what his mom had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDRA MAXWELL, LOUIS MAXWELL JR.'S MOTHER: It really makes us very proud because that meant he's not forgotten. He -- he paid the ultimate price. He sacrificed his life in order to save others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He was actually a retired Navy SEAL. Maxwell was working as a U.N. security officer in Kabul last November when Taliban militants stormed the guard house that he was protecting. Maxwell and another security officer were called heroes for holding off the attackers long enough to get those guests back to safety.
More than 6,000 coalition troops killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they're being remembered in a whole new way online.
Josh Levs here with more on that. Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'll tell you, the role that Internet and technology in general has played in our lives has revolutionized at the same time that this war that has been going on throughout the last decade. It's only a matter of time that there would be a brand new way, a much more interactive way to memorialize all these fallen heroes on the web.
We now have that Web site actually as part of CNN.com. It's called CNN.com/homeandaway. I'm trying to get to it there. Actually, Andres, why don't you go ahead and hook me up, there you go. It's going to it.
I want you to see the very beginning of it because when you get there, you have what's called a splash page, and this happens. And the numbers appear before you, and that's Afghanistan right there. So, showing the number out of Afghanistan.
What we will do now is show you a few of the features here. You have two maps for you. You have the United States, which shows the hometowns of all of the U.S. troops that have fallen in that war. And then a map in Afghanistan that shows you where they were killed. And if you click on any point, it gives you information about individuals, how they died, what they were doing, about where they were serving. And you can do the same thing here in Afghanistan.
If you go over to Iraq, as well, it's the exact same thing. We'll give you stories about the troops who served in Iraq. The numbers of casualties, their hometowns, what you would want to know about them.
Let's go through a few of these. As you get there, what you'll find is some specific information about every single one of them, and you can click on any one of them. This is Staff Sergeant Heath Nathaniel Craig. You learn about his hometown, you learn about his age, you learn about the fatal incident, you learn about what it is that he did. We have more and more of these as you go all over the map. You click on any one and you ultimately get their information, how they died, where they came from and learn all about them.
And this is another feature that we have there as well. If you want to switch to list view, we have based on the absolute latest casualties and also based on hometowns. You can search through the full list of all of the U.S. and coalition casualties in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
All of it is at the address on your screen there, CNN.com/homeandaway. It's obviously up just in time for Memorial Day. We encourage you all to take a look at it, and also we encourage you to send us iReports. What we have is a whole section on iReport now in which you can send your thoughts, your messages for the families of these troops. If you know one of the soldiers, you'll want to let us know more about him or her, go ahead and send an iReport. We're starting a big collection of that as well. And all of that will be part of the brand new site that just launched, Kyra, CNN.com/homeandaway.
PHILLIPS: All right. I want to stress it again because I think it's awesome, Josh. It's CNN.com/homeandaway, and make sure you check it out. Pay tribute to those men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So, what the heck was she thinking? A history teacher in Georgia giving the green light on white robes, letting students dress like Klansmen for a history project on racism. The kids were doing a scene like a historical re-enactment, but they got a crash course in current events when they wore the robes outside class and outside context.
Watch this story from Linda Stouffer of WSB TV, then let's talk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not acceptable under any circumstances for students to be walking around the halls dressed in offensive attire.
LINDA STOUFFER, WSB-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reverend Markell Hutchins blessed students at the community meeting who told him about their shock in the cafeteria last Thursday.
CODY RIDER, STUDENT: I seen them walking through the lunchroom in the white sheets and the KKK attire.
STOUFFER: Cody Rider was outraged.
RIDER: The white students, they were laughing about it, you know? And everyone is saying we're blowing it out of proportion, we're blowing it out of proportion, but they don't understand the magnitude of the situation.
CATHERINE ARIEMMA, TEACHER: I am heartily sorry for making anyone feel uncomfortable.
STOUFFER: The teacher told me they were in costume for a year- end film project, and their intention was about to teach about historical mistakes.
ARIEMMA: This is a film about racism. And we have to discuss racism in our society because if we don't, we are condoning it. And I don't cover it up. And you can't discuss racism and not include the Klan.
STOUFFER: She's on paid administrative leave now, and I asked her what she would have done differently.
ARIEMMA: I would tell my students if you're going to film the Klan, do it on our own time outside of school.
MARKEL HUTCHINS, PASTOR: If there is any hesitation towards diversity training and cultural sensitivity, then we'll come back to this community if it means we have to protest and march and go to jail and get in the street, we will do that, too.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thanks to Linda Stouffer for that piece.
So, there's a history teacher who wishes she could go back in time and tell the kids to shoot "Birth of the Nation 2" somewhere besides school. I don't think she meant any harm. She admits it was a bad idea and bad judgment, but I do think she does need a little commonsense check. The history teacher got too wrapped up in the past and forgot about the realities of the present.
That bring us to today's blog question. We asked whether you think this teacher or these students should be punished. Here's what you wrote in and told us.
Emmanuel says, "The teacher should never have gone so far as to dress some students as KKK members, due to the fact that it is not history, for it still exists in some states."
And Cody says, "They shouldn't be punished. It would be a historical re-enactactment. And it would be no different than if four African-Americans kids re-enacted a slave uprising and the white student said he was scared."
And this comes from David. "The teacher should have set guidelines on the assignment to avoid this issue. If the student was to dress like bin Laden or Hitler, then the student would be in trouble. The teacher should have re-thought his or her methodology."
Remember, we always love to hear from you. Just log on to CNN.com/kyra and share your comments with us.
This just in. The former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, is going to jail again. He's been sentenced up to five years for violating the terms of his probation. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty in 2008 to obstruction charges after sexually explicit text messages showed that he perjured himself in a whistle-blower's lawsuit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PHILLIPS: You wouldn't think a fox would apply for a job at a hen house. Foxes are way too smart for that, and apparently, they're smarter than an alleged drug dealer in Ohio who applied for a job at the police department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prior to the sale or in another way that awarded you the sale of any controlled substances or prescription drugs or any other substance purported to be a controlled substance that we talked about before?
LORI FURRY, DRUG SUSPECT: No. It's just something that I've always wanted to do. This is the job I wanted. If anything to help kids. And I love -- I love children. I love children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Hmm. Well, she didn't get the job, despite her love of children. The cops had already been watching her for months, by the way.
Tony?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: She's got to go, huh?
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: We're on out of here.
PHILLIPS: America's finest.
HARRIS: Hello!
PHILLIPS: -- all of us.
HARRIS: You have a great day, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You, too, Tony.
