Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

BP Pays $27 Million to Gulf Coast Workers; BP May Cut off Video Feed; Inner-City Boarding School; National Missing Children's Day: How to Protect Our Kids; Obama in San Francisco, Friday Back to Gulf; Facebook Changes Privacy Settings

Aired May 25, 2010 - 13:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Now here is another issue, kept on hearing from various senators the other day that any payouts that have to be made to people who have lost money will be made by BP. Well, people have started to apply for those payouts. In some cases, they have already got checks issued; in others, they are on a list; yet others they are sending insurance adjusters out.

Stephanie Elam is on top of that for us and joins us now to tell us where we are on this. Hi, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali.

Yes, you are talking about 23,000 workers who filed claims with BP for lost income. Now, at this point, we do know that 9,000 of them have been paid out so far. You total that up and the total so far is $27 million.

And most of the money has really gone to small businesses along the Gulf Coast. You are talking about the fishermen, the shrimpers, the charter boat captains, these small businesses who rely on the ocean to do their business.

The problem is, is that fishing in some parts of Louisiana is actually banned because of the spill. At the same time, Louisiana is the top seafood producer in the continental United States, so this obviously puts people's livelihoods in danger and this is the reason why BP is in this position at this point, Ali.

VELSHI: Stephanie, what kind of checks are people getting, those that have been paid out? What kind of claims are being made in terms of money coming from individuals?

ELAM: You know, it totally varies on this one based on the sizes of the company. A small charter boat company owner that CNN Money had the chance to speak with says he got $5,000 from BP. And he used that money to pay his boat captains and his deck hands. But he says his company could make up to $50,000 in a good fishing month.

And then, Ali, keep in mind, he got this money weeks ago. So, if he got this money a while ago, $5,000 is gone. Like, that's a drop in the bucket.

Other claims are taking longer, especially if the company is bigger and is asking for more money, because then BP is asking for old tax returns and other records to make sure that they are not getting bilked. So, if that is the case, that means more of these people are waiting with for money.

VELSHI: Sort of tricky to figure out what the damages are if you work -- if you depend on seafood or the ocean for your livelihood when you don't actually know how much damage there is going to be or how long it will take. I mean, if you're a shrimper, how do you know when you're getting back into business?

ELAM: Right. That's the thing. You're asking for money based on something that isn't even resolved yet. So the amount of money that people are going to ultimately apply for and the amount of money they are ultimately going to get, that is anyone's guess at this point.

It's nowhere near being wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. But we can say that some people are getting checks. But I have a feeling -- it's just a guess, Ali, but I have a feeling there' going to be a lot of people on the Gulf Coast who are going to think that this is still not enough right now.

VELSHI: Yes, no kidding.

All right. Stephanie, thanks very much for staying on top of it.

Stephanie Elam live in New York.

All right. Here's what I've got "On the Rundown." It's a new hour. We've got all sorts of new developments.

On day 36 of the gushing Gulf oil spill, BP is gearing up for its latest attempt to plug the leak. But guess what? We're not going to be able to see it live. At least that's according to Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who says about BP is pulling the plug on its live feed.

Plus, it's called SEED, and it is taking root in the inner cities, a unique education program that has graduation rates skyrocketing. We'll talk about that in "Chalk Talk."

Also, Facebook making some big changes. I'll tell you what you need to know and how I feel about it as a frequent Facebook user. Don't miss my "XYZ."

But first, let me bring you back up to speed.

Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts telling CNN at this hour he has learned that, in fact, there is not going to be a feed, a live feed, of the oil gushing out of the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow.

Let's bring that feed up, Michael, and show our audience what we're talking about.

Until now, we have been able to look at this. These are live pictures of one part of where the oil is gushing out into the Gulf of Mexico. These are pictures that have been provided by BP, not willingly, initially. They were asked to do so.

Now, according to Representative Markey, there are 12 of these feeds. We're only seeing one. He has asked them not only to continue this one, but to release the other ones that are there.

Here's where the issue comes in. Tomorrow, BP is taking a big effort, a last -- another stab at trying to kill this well using a method called top kill, which I will tell you about in just a moment. BP is saying while that effort is under way, they are going to kill that feed, according to Representative Markey.

We've reached out to BP for comment. We will bring it to you momentarily.

What you are looking at right now is video of this top kill situation. That's the blowout provider -- preventer. That's the thing that's at the top of the wellhead.

Now, what they are going to do is they're going to try and push the oil that is spewing out of that thing down using something they called mud. It's called mud in the industry. It's not actually mud. It's a heavy lubricant that is heavier than the oil, and the idea is you fight the pressure back down.

Oil comes out with natural pressure from the ground. You fight it back down. And once you have got that oil down, you put in cement behind it, and there you see that oil hardening. You see cement going in there. There is the cement, and it clogs the whole thing up and stops the well.

Let me show you a little bit more about this.

Well, first of all, before I show you more, let me tell you what BP's senior vice president, Kent Wells, said this morning. They had a technical briefing about what they are going to do, and they were asked, what happens if this top kill method that you are looking at right now doesn't work?

This is what Kent Wells had to say.

All right. You know what? I'll come back to that in a minute, but, basically, he said, "We have one priority to shut off the oil flow from the well, ,and we're committed to doing that."

Now, let me show you a couple of other things that Congress is doing right now. They are considering quadrupling the tax that oil companies pay from 8 cents a barrel to 32 cents a barrel to fund future oil spills.

Also, under pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency, BP has been putting this dispersant into the water. It's basically a soap that disperses the oil. They are now trying to find a new one because Corexit, which is the name of the dispersant that they have been using, can be quite toxic. So, they have been asked by the EPA to stop using it, there isn't enough of a replacement to use at the moment. Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, commenting today on a damning report by the Interior Department's own inspector General, saying that the Minerals Management Service -- that is the branch of the Interior Department that gives out the royalties for offshore oil companies to drill and collects the -- gives out the leases and collects the royalties -- the inspector general of that agency has said that some of the workers, some of the inspectors in that agency, took money -- took meals and took sports tickets from the companies that they were supposed to be monitoring. In fact, in one case, somebody who was inspecting four rigs in Louisiana was doing so at the same time that he was negotiating with that company that owned the rigs for a job.

And finally, the rig's owner -- remember, BP leased the rig -- the rig's opener, Transocean, is holding a memorial service right now for the 11 workers who were killed in -- on the Deepwater Horizon. Here are live pictures from a memorial service for 11 workers who were killed on the Deepwater Horizon.

Let me tell you a little about them, because in 36 days, it has been easy for them to be put into the background while we have worried about this oil spill. But this started with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, where 11 men were are missing. We were looking for them for a few days, and then the search for them was called off after it was determined that they couldn't have survived.

Jason Alexander (sic), I want to start with him. He was 35 years old. He was a tool pusher from Bay City, Texas. He had a wife and two children.

Karl Kleppinger, he was a floor hand from Naches, Mississippi. He was a Desert Storm veteran, and he leaves a wife and a son behind. According to reports, his wife had a premonition just before the blast that something bad was going to happen.

Roy Kemp was 27 years old. He was a derrickhand from Jonesville, Louisiana. He has a wife and two daughters.

Stephen Curtis was 39 years old. He was an assistant driller from Georgetown, Louisiana, with a wife and a daughter. He was a son of an oil rig diver and welder.

And Shane Roshto, 22 years old, was a roustabout from Franklin County, Mississippi. He wrote his wedding date and his son's birthday inside his hard hat.

Let me continue to show you some of the victims.

Gordon Jones was 28 years old. He was what you call a mud engineer. We're talking about that mud that is going to be put into the well. He was a mud engineer from Baton Rouge. He's got a son and a pregnant wife.

Dewey Revette was 48 years old from State Line, Mississippi. A wife and two daughters. He worked for Transocean for 29 years. Donald Clark was 49 years old. He was an assistant driller from Newellton, Louisiana. He has a wife and four children. This is devastating. He was scheduled to leave the rig on April 21st, the day after the incident.

Blair Manual, 56 years old, also a mud engineer from Gonzales, Louisiana. He has a fiancee and three daughters. His nickname was "Big Baby." That's how his friends knew him.

Adam Weise was 24 years old. He was a floor hand from Yorktown, Texas.

And finally, Aaron Burkeen, 37 years old, was a crane operator from Neshoba County, Mississippi. He had a wife and two children. He was helping other crew members get to safety before they was lost on the Deepwater Horizon.

Those guys right now at a service held by Transocean.

Let's go to Ed Lavandera. He is in New Orleans, also covering this for us.

We told you moments ago that Representative Edward Markey from Massachusetts said that BP is going to be cutting off that video feed. Ed and I were talking about the fact that at least while the top kill method is being used tomorrow, we will be able to see something. We'll be able to see that video feed.

Are we going to be able to or not, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're still waiting to hear confirmation from BP officials. We have got our initial calls into them to confirm whether or not Representative Markey's story is indeed the case. We have got calls out to quite a bit.

But, ,of course, you know, Ali, as well as anyone, a couple of weeks ago we did the story kind of wondering why we hadn't seen video for so long of that underwater leak that we knew that BP had had for quite some time, since early on in this explosion and in this disaster. And it was -- it took a lot of pushing and a lot of prodding to get this video released.

So, from a public relations standpoint, this will really ratchet up the intensity. You have heard the calls over the last few weeks about how many people have been losing trust in BP and the way they are handling things. I cannot imagine that this will help in that arena.

VELSHI: All right. But as far as you know, Ed, the top kill approach is still going ahead tomorrow? They are planning on starting this thing tomorrow? But we get sort of more murky as to how long this is going to take and how we are going to know whether it succeeds.

LAVANDERA: Well, and it is a very fluid situation. Right now, we know that there are crews out there in the Gulf of Mexico. They have been running all the preparation tests that BP has kind of been walking us through and explaining to us what they are trying to do, all of the different tests that they need to go through to make sure that they are well prepared to take this on.

And they must start this during daylight hours, so that the best time that we have so far is that tomorrow morning, this process of implementing the top kill method would work. And if the cameras come down, this is a method that could take 10 to 12 hours, so these cameras would be out of commission and we would be unable to see them for most of the day tomorrow.

VELSHI: All right. Ed, thanks very much for being with us.

Ed Lavandera.

We will continue to follow this with you and, of course, our whole team following this.

All right. Today in "Chalk Talk," it ain't your mama's boarding school. An innovative public institution has more applicants than it can handle and more fans than you can imagine.

We will tell you about it when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Every day we talk about "Chalk Talk," a way to make things better for our nation's students.

This is an unusual boarding school we want to talk about. No rich kids here, just a wealth of opportunity.

It's called the SEED School. Its roots go back to 1998, when it opened its doors in inner-city Washington, D.C.

Now, it is a public boarding school, enrolling what its founders call underserved students. And since day one, it has been an oasis amid the blight in Washington, D.C., in an area where only one in three kids finish high school.

Check out these numbers, by the way. And keep in mind, these are kids coming in who are not reading at grade level, they are reading far beyond grade level. They are studying at far beyond grade level. They are testing at far below -- I'm sorry, not beyond, below grade numbers.

Now, check out these numbers. The graduation right at the SEED School, which stands for -- well, I'll tell you what it stands for in a minute, I was reading it off the screen -- 91 percent versus 33 percent locally. So, 91 percent of SEED students finish the 12th grade, and some, about 95 percent of them, go on to college. That is way higher than even the national rate.

The admissions are strictly by lottery. At the most recent one, about a third of the applicants got in, very much like most charter schools you know. But 200 applicants, a third of them got in. The school's central code for kids is respect, responsibility, self-discipline, integrity and compassion. Here is how it works.

The students live on campus from Monday through Friday, and they head home for the weekend. In the class of '09, 75 percent of grads are the first in their families to actually go to college.

A second SEED School opened in Baltimore in 2008, with potential future sites in New Jersey and Ohio. You can find more information at SeedFoundation.com.

We'll continue to bring you innovative ideas here on "Chalk Talk" every day on this show.

All right. One of the other things unfortunately we have to continue to bring you is bad news about the stock market. Stocks are taking a dive again, but hopefully -- that is actually a little better. It was down almost 300 points today, and ever since we started this show it has improved a little bit.

I'm going to tell you what this means and whether you should be worried.

Straight ahead, market talk. Stay with us

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. We have just been reporting to you that Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts has told us that BP has made a decision to pull its live webcam. This is the feed that you are looking at right here.

This is the gulf oil spill. We have been looking at this webcam. They say that when they start their top kill tomorrow to kill that well, he says they are going to pull the feed.

Now, we've just received a response from BP's PR rep, Andrew Gowers. And he says, "The decision to keep the feed up or pull it during the top kill is under review. The decision has not been made yet." So, a little bit of conflicting information, but it does appear that there is some discussion about pulling this feed.

The point of keeping that feed up was that we were going to be able to track whether more or less oil was coming out of that picture if -- as this top kill was being initiated. This is the attempt to kill that well.

Now Representative Markey says they made a decision to pull it. BP saying the decision has not been made.

We'll continue to keep you up to speed with what that decision is and what is going on in that story.

We also want to keep you up to speed with what's going on, on the stock market right now.

We have been seeing a lot of very volatile days this morning. And overnight, we saw a great -- some heavy losses in Asia and Europe.

Right now, we are off about 1.6 percent. Now, it doesn't seem as bad because it's only down 161 points on the Dow to 9,904. But the fact is, if you were to lose 1.6 percent every day on the market, things would be very, very bad. We have lost a lot, actually, but I want to give you some larger perspective.

Let's go back to 2007, October of 2007, which was the height of this market.

Now, from October of 2007, to March of last year, we think that was the bottom. We hope that was the bottom.

If you were invested in a fund, like an S&P 500 fund, or a Dow fund, if your 401(k) had some of that in there, you would have seen a drop of roughly 57 percent if you hadn't done anything, if you just stayed in your investment until March of last year. But look at what happened from March of last year to April of this year. The market had been on a steady march upward, gaining about 80 percent.

Now, typically, a good market, on average, over 10 years, your market should return 10 or 11 percent to you on an annual basis. We don't see 80 percent up in that period, but that's what we have seen in that little while.

Now, look at what has happened since April of this year to now. We're down 12 percent. That would be, you know, a bad year in the market under any circumstances. So, what you can see is over the last year and a half, you have seen a very, very volatile market, and that is back to where we are right now.

A lot of people are asking, how do I take advantage of what's going on right now? This tends to be a bit of a trader's market.

For the average person, you should have a strategy, an investment strategy that takes into account how much money you have and how long you have until retirement. You shouldn't really be playing markets like this. The people buying and selling actively today tend to be traders more than investors.

What you should do is talk to your financial adviser or look at your 401(k), look at that pie chart, and see how much exposure you have to Europe. You may want to pull some of that back right now. It might be safer to be involved in companies that do more money in the U.S. and Canada and South America and in Asia. Europe, at the moment, looks like it has got problems for some time to come.

OK. Let me give you an up-to-date view of some of the stories we're following on CNN this hour.

We're not going to be sure -- we're not sure yet whether or not we're going to see BP's latest attempt to plug the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. As I mentioned to you at the top of this hour, we are hearing from a congressman, Representative Edward Markey in Massachusetts, that BP plans to put plug on its live streaming video of the leak. We have been showing you that video here on air. BP says it has not made a decision yet. We're going to continue to follow the developments and bring that to you as soon as we know about them.

In Yemen, an American couple is free after being held hostage. Tribal gunmen kidnapped the tourists recently, demanding the release of a jailed tribesman in exchange. Kidnapping of tourists, by the way, is relatively common in Yemen. The freed Americans are now safe in the capital.

Queen Elizabeth, by the way, officially opened parliament today in Britain. This normally happens in November or December, but recent elections shook things up, causing major party shifts. Britain now has its first coalition government in 70 years.

And you know that temperamental volcano with the big name that caused a bunch of problems around Europe? It's in pause mode. Chad's going to explain when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: Listen, another story that's making news, a remarkable story coming out of Kingston, Jamaica. There is violence there as police try and arrest a drug lord, an alleged drug lord who's wanted here in the United States. Now, nearly 30 people are dead. A live report on that right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Oh, we are "Globe Trekking" today. Let start by adding to Kingston, Jamaica. Remarkable violence going on there, as troops are clashing with supporters of an alleged drug lord. They stormed the stronghold of this drug lord, who is wanted, by the way, here in the United States.

Rafael Romo is live in Kingston, Jamaica, right now. And he tells us what is happening, including reports that up to 30 people could be dead in a firefight that occurred between police and the supporters of this drug lord.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICA AFFAIRS EDITOR: Ali, in addition to the 30 people dead that you just mentioned, more than 30 have also been injured in a firefight between supporters, sympathizers of alleged drug lord Christopher Coke who is fighting extradition to the United States.

There was a clash overnight between police forces and sympathizers of Mr. Coke and that's what resulted in the deaths of as many as 30 people. Many more injured. The police are telling us at this hour that more than 200 were arrested.

Now, we just received a statement from officials here in Jamaica telling us that -- calling the situation stable, but at the same too, many people that we have talked to say that they are inside their homes just too afraid to go out because they say gunships have be penetrated their homes and too afraid to go anywhere. They are keeping their children inside because they saw the barricades and the violence that erupted on Sunday.

So still very volatile situation. Christopher Coke still trying to elude authorities and fight extradition to the United States. Violence started on Sunday when his arrest became imminent and hasn't stopped since, Ali.

VELSHI: Rafael, you explained this to me earlier and it gave the best context I have heard in all of the reporting on this and that is that Rafael Romo, though he is an alleged drug lord a kingpin is seen as a bit of a Robin Hood to the poor people around Jamaica in these slums and that is why the authorities having a hard time closing in on him?

ROMO: You mean Christopher Coke?

VELSHI: I'm sorry.

ROMO: Yes, he is widely popular in specifically two slums here in Kingston. I'm talking specifically about Tivoli Gardens and Denim (ph), those two slums are believed to be under the control of Christopher Coke.

And just to give you an idea, Ali, this is a very powerful individual, according to authorities. He controls drug traveling from Jamaica into the United States, into Great Britain, Canada. And we are talking about connections that go to Colombia in terms of cocaine, to Mexico for marijuana, to South America for heroin. Officials say that he controls all of that traffic and also gangs that operate in cities like New York.

So, you're talking about a very, very powerful individual and that's why he is fighting extradition to the United States. Once there he could face up to life in prison if he is convicted, Ali.

VELSHI: Rafael, I hope nobody ever plays that tape back write just indicted you being a major drug lord. These days with video, somebody is going to put that on YouTube and you will get arrested.

Everybody, I take that back it is not Rafael Romo but Christopher Coke who is known as Dudus as well.

Rafael Romo will continue to cover that for us. We'll stay on that. Thank you, Rafael.

Let's globe trek around the world now, let's go all the way over to Asia. Let's go to Korea. There is a story going on in North and South Korea, basically, rising it tensions between these two countries. North Korea has cut all its ties with South Korea. The issue here is that in March, there had been a ship that had been sunk in South Korea, a South Korean ship, a warship, 46 South Korean sailors were killed on this. North Korea said it had nothing to do with it, but investigators say that the missile that sunk this ship was a North Korean missile. South Korea had already announced it was cutting trade with North Korea.

By the way, while these two countries have this demilitarized zone in the middle which allows a great deal of trade to go through, the U.S. is now planning to hold joint military exercises with South Korea. There are 28,500 American troops in South Korea.

All right. Today is National Missing Children's Day. Thousands of kids go missing every single day, but there are people out there on a mission to find them and you are going to want to -- you are going to meet one of those people straight ahead on this show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: More than 2,000 American children are reported missing every day. Today is National Missing Children's Day. Robert Lowery of the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children is joining me now.

Robert, thank you for being with us. This is a tough one because it is news because is National Missing Children's Day, but you have news every day when you hear about these children that go missing. What is it? What is -- the bulk of children who go missing, what has happened to them?

ROBERT LOWERY, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Well, there is about 800,000 children missing each year in the United States, and you are correct about 2,000 per day. An awful lot of these kids are runaways and left on their own volition, but still about 200,000 of these children are victims of family abduction, 58,000 are nonfamily abductions. And a very small percentage are the ones being taken by sexual predators. So then they provide for our biggest challenge.

VELSHI: All right. And what -- if somebody is watching this today, I mean, one of the advantages of having a national day is that it allows people to be reminded of something. What exactly -- what are the best methods for finding missing children? Is it these Amber Alerts? Is it when it is on TV? What works the best?

LOWERY: You know, back in 1990, our recovery rate on children was only about 62 percent. And today, we are realizing over 97 percent of our children are being recovered. So, we are having a tremendous success but we got to do more.

The fact that now we have access to cellular telephones to make quick reporting, the 24-hour news, such as CNN, that's broadcasting photographs and images of our missing children are very useful tools. Plus, the awareness and cognizance of the people in the neighborhoods and communities where these children are missing are out watching for them.

VELSHI: What are the elements that have led to that increase in your recovery rates? Is it better investigation techniques or better policing or is it the public that reacts differently today than they might have back then? LOWERY: I think it is a combination of a lot of factors. The fact that we -- National Missing Children's Day has brought us at least awareness of a critical need to make people aware of missing children. You know, each day, we have many, many long-term missing children that we still haven't found, so we have to be stronger and we have to be better in our techniques of looking for. Engaging the public has been one of our best tools but also important that I urge parents that -- to educate their children about safety and about their awareness.

VELSHI: You have got a way to do this, by the way, this website, take25.org. Tell me about this.

LOWERY: Take25 -- we offer 25 teaching points for your children to make them aware of their surroundings. Teaches them simple things like how to use the 911 system. Teaches them that when they are at home, not to open the door for anyone except their parents or someone allowed by their parents. Also making them aware it is OK to report things that are inappropriate behavior by adults so that they can tell their parents about that.

VELSHI: That is really good. I hope people take advantage, take25.org.

Let me ask you this, Robert, has the advent and increase of the use of social media by kids, helped, hurt, complicated it? What does it do for us?

LOWERY: We have seen cases of Internet luring on these social networking sites and making aware on take25 on what to teach kids about Internet luring. But we're also finding a awful lot of kids through social networking sites so a useful tool for finding children also.

VELSHI: The effect of social media on what you do is the same for all of us, some of it is good and some is bad, hopefully if we learn how to use it properly it can be a tool more than a problem for us.

LOWERY: Absolutely, and it's been a tremendous tool in finding kid. But like I say, at the same time there are risks involved and parents need to be aware of that. One thing that we urge is monitor your children's use on the Internet, know who they are chatting with and what kind of conversations they are taking place and keep that computer in a public -- in a common area of your home.

VELSHI: What a great bunch of suggestions. I hope people go to take25.org. Robert, I think it is fair to say, without having to be objective about this, we all hope you have less work to do but all the work you do continues with great success.

LOWERY: Thank you.

VELSHI: Robert Lowery is the executive director of the missing children's division at the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children. Let me keep you up to date on what we are checking on CNN.

The White House says President Obama is head together Gulf Coast on Friday. He wants to assess firsthand the efforts to stop the massive oil leak.

Tomorrow, BP plans to launch its latest effort to plug it up. We are hearing from a congressman that BP plans to turn off its live streaming video of the leak during the attempt, but now, the company says no decision has been made.

At the White House, President Obama is calling on Congress to pass a package of tax changes, credits and loans for small businesses. The president met with several mom and pop business owners today.

And if you always wanted to own a home -- or own an iPhone -- I'm sorry -- but thought they were too expensive, today is your big day. Wal-Mart is selling iPhones for less than half price, $97 in a clearance sale. Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone next month.

And when we come back, there he is, Ed Henry in San Francisco. Why? Because the president is going there tonight. We are going to be talking about the president, his trip to the gulf and talking about what Ed did this weekend when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Always got to have a nice song for "The Ed Henry Segment." Ed Henry, our senior White House correspondent not at the White House today. He is in beautiful San Francisco. I was there a couple weeks ago. It is just a fantastic town. You are not there hamming it up and vacationing, you are there working.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I am. And I was flying out west yesterday, Ali, I got news for you, you can be watched now in flight on Continental, for example, on Direct TV. And you thought maybe I wouldn't be watching 'cause I was in the air?

VELSHI: Yes.

HENRY: I heard you talking about how Ed's not watching so maybe you can go on twitter and --

VELSHI: I did say that.

HENRY: -- follow me, Ali Velshi.

VELSHI: Oh, man.

HENRY: It was a good show by the way.

VELSHI: Not as good as it could have been with you on it. So we are here, you are there. What are you doing in San Francisco?

HENRY: You know, it has been relatively quiet, but you mentioned the president is now going -- we just confirmed, my colleague, Dan Lothian, back in Washington, the president going back to the gulf on Friday.

Very interesting because you remember he was there on May 2nd for a quick visit, the story seemed seems to have changed since then, the pressure really ratcheting up. The fact that the president is going on Friday, he is supposed to be in Chicago with his family for Memorial Day Weekend. He will fly there on Thursday, but now on Friday, breaking away from the family to go back down to the gulf. It shows the stakes for the administration.

And he's going to be raising money here tonight in San Francisco for Barbara Boxer. She is the chairwoman of the Senate Environment Committee and was the first senator last week who said she believed BP is engaged in a cover-up here, she is very skeptical for the president's push for more offshore oil drilling. So I think a lot of this is coming together now, there's a lot of heat on the administration.

VELSHI: So he is there for a fund-raiser in San Francisco. You had something about a fund-raiser San Francisco. What is that about?

HENRY: Well what's interesting is we were talking about the gulf oil spill, we have been covering it so closely. One of the companies that popped up in this is sort of a sidebar it is a nonprofit called Matter of Trust. They have been collecting hair all around the country and trying to ship it to Louisiana because, you know, hair obviously soaks up oily substances. And it is sort of -- it is not going to solve this problem, but it is a nonprofit that's trying to help.

So we went to a hair salon here in San Francisco, you can see, I even got my haircut.

VELSHI: I noticed that. I was just saying you look like your hair's a little shorter.

HENRY: It looks all right.

And, you know, they are collecting this and they collect your hair, once it hits the ground, send it out there to try to mop up some of the hair. And so, I wanted to show you what happened, cause we have a little surprise for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So, Bradley (ph), how did you get involved in sending hair off to Louisiana?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we heard the radio asking for people to help out through this matteroftrust.org. So they -- we just thought what a great idea, we have all this hair.

HENRY: When you cut the hair, you own the hair once it hits the floor sore there any custodial issues?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not at all, everyone is happy to get rid of it. My hair now, once I cut It. HENRY: How successful has it been?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So successful. We have sent 13 pounds in a week and a half so it has been great. People are very excited about it.

HENRY: Well, I'm glad that I'm giving because there are some people at CNN who just don't have anything to give.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The Salon is Suite 5 in San Francisco, they were kind enough to let us in. And that T-shirt, which I have is from our weekend and it's a nice picture of you.

VELSHI: Yes. I told you to meet me in Atlantic City and you did.

HENRY: Yes. And you know, we went there, we were celebrating your new show, a lot of your friends getting together. You're recently married, a lot of your friends coming together, it was a big weekend.

But I thought it was interesting that you ended up not being the headliner. It was one of our colleagues who I should probably not get into too much detail so I don't get him into trouble. Let's just call him "Darius," just as a name, if I speak out of thin air. He did he pretty well in Atlantic City. I think some of my friends back at the Treasury Department in Washington may want to be talking to him.

VELSHI: Might want to -- he did quite nicely at the slot machines.

HENRY: Pretty well.

VELSHI: A nice weekend. Nice to see you in person. We don't get -- you and Christine and so many, Richard, so many of my friends I don't get to see in person as often. We spell spent a lovely time there it was good to see you.

HENRY: It was good to see you.

VELSHI: Nice to see you in San Francisco, have a good time there the haircut looks very nice, you are right, I wish could I contribute something to that. Is this hair going to be used by the way -- it sops up oil?

HENRY: What they do is they basically, I think it is the Hanes company that is donated nylons, ladies nylons. They can take the hair, they stuff them in there and they use them to try to soak up some of the oil.

And again, this is not going to solve the problem, obviously, but you have people around the country trying to do every little bit to say let's try and at least mitigate the damage to the environment. And so, you've got people contributing. I know you can't contribute to this but you can probably contribute.

VELSHI: We know they have tried much more scientific things that haven't work so far. Hopefully this will mitigate some of it.

Ed, good to see you. We will talk to you again tomorrow. Ed Henry, "The Ed Henry Segment" joining us today from San Francisco.

Well, listen, politicians sling it, kids make pies out of it, now it is the next best hope for stopping that leak in the Gulf of Mexico. A down and dirty "Wordplay" is coming up, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time for "Wordplay." As always, we take a term in the headlines that might be unfamiliar to a lot of people and explain it. Today's word is tricky because it is not unfamiliar to you. "Mud" is today's word, but it's not what you think it means, at least in the context of the gulf oil spill.

Your average mud is wet, soft earth. The mud everyone is focused on this week is drilling mud. It is a manufactured fluid. It's Bentonite clay, usually with other thickeners added. It's normally used as an oil drilling lubricant, but right now it is the main ingredient in BP's Top Kill plan. That is their effort to kill that well tomorrow. They have got about 50,000 barrels of the stuff standing by, they are going to pump it down into that ruptured well head tomorrow and hopefully plug it up. We're following this whole effort with you, fingers crossed.

All right, tomorrow, Facebook is reportedly making its privacy settings much easier to adjust. It comes amid a storm of criticism from users. I'm a frequent Facebook user myself. I have a lot of thoughts on this subject. I will share them with you on the other side of this break in my "XYZ."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now for "The XYZ of It."

We've talked about Facebook's latest brush with online privacy advocates. Under pressure, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publically acknowledged that the company has made mistakes by offering privacy controls that might be complicated to use.

So I went into my Facebook privacy settings last night and generally agreed, they could be made easier. Facebook says it's going to fix that. Tomorrow, it's reportedly unveiling a new version of its privacy menu to make adjusting the settings much easier.

A lot of you use Facebook, it's one of the best ways you communicate your kudos and criticisms to me. Social media sites help people connect but the responsibility for maintaining privacy falls on the companies that offer platforms for social networking and by the way, on all of us who use them. You can actually go on Facebook and shut your flow of information off. In fact, you can just not use social networking all together. Facebook is a company that provides a service for free. In exchange, it needs ways to compile information about users' likes and dislikes and use that information to make money. That's what they do. If you want to use their platform to make friends and post your pictures and tell me what you think of my show, you should know the rules and they should make it easy to know about them.

The reason I get a little hot under the collar about this is that there really are serious online privacy issues out there, identity theft being the main one. This isn't that. This is us volunteering our personal information -- sometimes too much of it -- in return for something of value to us, the chance to share with others. This is a transaction. The more information you give Facebook, the more they will use it.

You may not care, but if do you worry about your information being out there, be careful about what you post and change the privacy controls, not just on Facebook but on all the platforms and services you regularly use. Social media sites can be fun, they can be useful, but like a car, they can be dangerous if you take the wheel without knowing how to drive.

That's my "XYZ." Here's "RICK'S LIST."