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How Much Oil Has Spilled From Disaster?; Critics of Oil Cleanup: Call in the Military; Oil Coats Wildlife; Update on Government Response to Gulf Oil Crisis; Top Kill Maneuver Under Way
Aired May 27, 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: Hello again, everyone. Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Top of the hour where anything can happen. Today's top story, the growing manmade disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Plenty of Americans say the Military should take charge of the oil gusher and the clean-up. But, as you will hear from our Pentagon correspondent, there are some jobs the Military isn't cut out to do.
Seafood prices are surging faster than you can say, pass the shrimp. Seafood markets to mom and pop restaurant say they are shelling out 25 percent more in just the last couple of weeks.
Let's get started with our lead story, assessing top kill.
Latest word from BP and government officials is that all is going according to plan in an ongoing effort to plug the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico. No one is declaring the operation a success yet. It has been under way for 22 hours now.
Our David Mattingly is outside the Joint Command Center. That's in Robert, Louisiana.
And David, let's start with this. When do you expect we'll get some word as to whether or not top kill is a success?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That should be coming some time later today. We're expecting that around the 24-hour mark, sometime this afternoon, that they will be able to come out and tell us whether or not this was working. But now we have some context behind all of this that we didn't have before.
The government now releasing some new figures that they've been able to come up with to actually determine how much oil has been spilled from this disaster. And it is confirming some of our worst suspicions, that it probably now exceeds the Exxon Valdez. A low estimate of the amount of oil that has been seen on the top of the Gulf of Mexico could be 260,000 barrels of oil. The top level of that could be 540,000 barrels of oil.
That would be more than double the Exxon Valdez, Tony. So we knew we were looking at a bad disaster. These government figures now show we are clearly looking at something that is worse than the Exxon Valdez, possibly double the size of the Exxon Valdez just in terms of the gallons and the barrels that have been released in the Gulf of Mexico.
So, all of that putting into context what we're seeing going on, on the bottom of the ocean today with that top kill to finally perhaps shut that flow of oil off before this gets any worse.
HARRIS: How is it, David, that these estimates have been so wrong for so long now?
MATTINGLY: That is exactly the question I asked, is that who got this wrong and how could they get it so wrong? Because they were telling us that we were looking at possibly an estimate of 5,000 barrels per day.
Well, they used different methodology this time. And they say last time, when they came up with that 5,000-barrel-a-day figure, they were using very limited data from NOAA, and they had a number of estimates ranging from lower than 5,000 to up to possibly 13,000 barrels a day. So here's what they did, Tony.
They chose "a conservative but defensible figure" that was somewhere in the middle. That's how they came out with the 5,000 barrels a day that we now know was not only conservative, but was incredibly wrong here.
HARRIS: Oh boy. Man, that is so disconcerting.
David, appreciate it.
David Mattingly for us.
Thanks, David.
The oil cleanup could actually be making some people sick. More than 100 boats have been pulled from the waters after nine Louisiana fishermen involved in the cleanup reported feeling ill. Some were taken to the hospital by ambulance and one by helicopter. Their symptoms included breathing issues, nausea, dizziness and headaches.
A friend of the fishermen says he warned of potential problems.
OK. Some family members of the 11 workers killed in the oil rig explosion are speaking out today at a hearing before a House committee. They include the father of Gordon Jones. The 28-year- old's wife Michelle gave birth to their son, Maxwell, 13 days ago.
Jones' father wants to make sure his two little grandsons and his daughter-in-law are taken care of. He says corporations should pay large punitive damages for their reckless acts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH JONES, SON GORDON KILLED: If you want these companies, one of which is headquartered in Great Britain, and another in Switzerland, to make every effort to make sure their employees don't act as these did, putting American lives at risk, you must make certain they are exposed to pain in the only place they can feel it, their bank accounts. As a friend recently said, "Make them hurt where their heart would be if they had a heart."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy.
Some critics of the administration's response to the oil leak says it's time for the government to take charge. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida warrants to bring in the military.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: If this thing doesn't work, then the president ought to turn this over to the military. It has the command structure to bring in all the civilian agencies.
We did this before when there was so much oil around after the first Gulf War, including four inches of oil on top of the Persian Gulf for thousands of square miles. It's time now.
You've got to have BP's cooperation, because they've got the technical instruments. But, you know, we've got to have somebody to take charge. And I think the U.S. military is best suited to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK.
Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joining us with more on this story.
Barbara, will you please set the record straight? Help us understand this, because I hear the senator's complaint a lot here. What could, what can, what are the capabilities of the military in something like this?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Tony, we are now hearing a lot of talk about it, and even here in the Pentagon hallways, folks are talking about, will they come to the military? Will the White House turn here for a solution on the oil spill? What can the military do?
Senator Nelson's correct. The military has a tremendous capability to coordinate, control large-scale operations with lots of moving parts. You know, they do it all around the world, in combat and humanitarian relief. They know how to do it.
But let's look at what the military can't do and let's look at a couple of points here.
You know, the military doesn't have the expertise in offshore drilling or large-scale cleanups. It's not what they do.
They would still have to basically take all of that over, but get the technical expertise from civilian authorities and from the oil industry. They could coordinate it at the top, but, still, they would have to get all the expertise, all the technology from the oil industry and from civilian authorities.
And, you know, what people say here is, if the president was to make a decision to put the military in charge of this, what about that Department of Homeland Security? Isn't that what they're supposed to be doing? The Pentagon says it's not looking for more work, but they're sure eyeballing this whole situation knowing it could come to them, maybe -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Barbara, at the end of the day, would it make sense to have a military commander at the helm of this operation?
STARR: Well, you know, we've talked to a few people about this. Think of it this way. What does somebody like a General Petraeus or a General McChrystal really bring to the table?
OK. So, what they bring to the table is the ability to assess risk in a major disastrous situation like a war.
There's no magic solution here that's readily apparent in the oil spill. It's going to be, what are the options, what are the risks, assessing the risk, taking it to the president for a decision, and then when you get a decision, taking it back out into the field and coordinating that response.
HARRIS: Oh, Lord.
STARR: That's what the military could bring to the table, but if they do it, it would be unprecedented for the White House to ask the military to intervene in this kind of oil spill situation -- Tony.
HARRIS: Boy, that sounds like it would be a time-consuming process.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.
Barbara, appreciate it. We'll see you. Thank you.
STARR: Sure.
HARRIS: President Obama is clamping down on oil drilling. He is extending a moratorium on drill permits for new deepwater wells for the next six months. He is also expected to cut off new drilling in the Arctic until next year at the earliest.
The president is planning to make the announcements at a news conference in about 40 minutes. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will bring that coverage to you live, today, starting at 12:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We are hearing that people are getting sick just by cleaning the Gulf oil slick. Imagine how bad it is for sea life immersed in it.
Scientists headed out into the waters to see for themselves. CNN's Rob Marciano was with them. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was worse right back there, where it was super thick, man. I've never seen anything like it. It's unreal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man, look at that streak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the hulls of all the boats. It's thick, thick, thick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like mud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unreal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is ugly. This is really ugly.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): "Ugly" is definitely an understatement, and we're only 12 miles from shore.
(on camera): By far, the thickest oil we've seen yet. This is just disturbing. Check it out.
I mean, the oil, layers of oil, actually building on each other in a putty-like form. This definitely is not dispersed. It's barely weathered at all. It almost looks like it's fresh, fresh from the pipe.
(voice-over): Some areas of the oil are thicker than others. This is only the western edge of the slick.
(on camera): We are still not even 50 miles from the site of the spill. Unbelievable.
(voice-over): Our little armada pauses.
(on camera): We're out here with five other boats, and all of them have this nasty oil stuck to the hull. That's going to be a chore getting off. This boat just across the way, those guys are lowering a submersible camera to take a look at what the water and oil mixture looks like below the surface.
(voice-over): Boats are carrying scientist, peering into and under the oil.
Dr. Ian MacDonald takes samples back to his lab in Florida, while Dr. Doug Inkley patrols for the National Wildlife Federation.
A dead eel floats toward our boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a jar large enough to put this in?
MARCIANO: It, too, is taken as a sample, now headed to the lab for a closer look. Minutes later, something else is in the water. This one is alive. DR. DOUG INKLEY, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: That animal may be in a lot of trouble. You normally don't see sharks like this running around on the surface. But this animal looks like it's in distress.
MARCIANO: The shark dives as we approach. Along the way, we see other sea creatures struggling in the oil like this baby crab. What's on the surface is easy to see.
DR. IAN MACDONALD, OCEANOGRAPHER, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: The animals like this that are out in the open ocean, we don't see them washed up. How do you assess that? If you have a shark that dies in the water here and sinks to the bottom, where is the assessment on that? How do you assess that?
MARCIANO (on camera): Can't count it.
(voice-over): Much like the oil still spewing from the well, the amount of wildlife lost here may never be known.
Rob Marciano, CNN, Venice, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: President Obama is clamping down on oil drilling. He is extending a moratorium on drill permits for new deepwater wells for the next six months. He is also expected to cut off new drilling in the Arctic until next year at the earliest.
The president is planning to make the announcements at a news conference in less than 30 minutes, about 15, 16 minutes. And Wolf Blitzer will guide our coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's see. We're talking about great beaches, restaurants and casinos, right? The Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast attract folks from around the worlded. And with Memorial Day Weekend just ahead, there is a lot of concern the oil slick offshore will keep tourists away. But both areas are open for business.
Last hour, right here in the NEWSROOM, I spoke with tourist leaders from both states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Were we too quick to report some of the dire predictions from engineers, from academics, from scientists?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The national media did not have your reporters here actually on our beach and shooting the live shots from here. All the shots were coming from out there at BP. Obviously, I'm going to walk here just a second.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Yes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But our beaches are open, and the shrimp boats, tours are out there, the fishermen out there. The watt is beautiful. The picture is worth a thousand words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There wasn't as much concern for the other side of the story, which basically said that, you know, millions of people down here make their living by people coming down and spending time either on the sand or at the casino or on the golf course. And we get calls every day into our welcome center that says, "I'm so sorry for what's happening with you. I'm so sorry you got so much oil on your island." And the reality is, it's hard to convince those people that that isn't the case because, of course, someone in an anchor desk said it must be true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
You know, a lot of people have sent in their ideas on how to clean up the oil in the Gulf. Even other countries are offering a helping hand.
Josh Levs is looking into that angle.
And where are these offers, Josh? Where are they coming from?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From all over the world. And this is really beginning. I mean, as you know, the United States is very good at reaching out to other nations and offering a lot of help.
We have a map for you here that's going to show you what the State Department is talking about. They're talking about 17 different nations that so far have already reached out and offered their help. But you can see basically on this map where a lot of them are, Russia being the biggest over here. But if you look all throughout the world, what you're seeing is a lot of help coming in.
But what's interesting to me, Tony, is that there's a pretty complex process to accept this help. It goes through several stages to determine whether the help will actually be worth it or whether it actually cause more problems in terms of trying to accept it, get these people in, the expenses of making sure everyone is safe when they're in doing their help.
HARRIS: Right.
LEVS: We've accepted help from three countries so far at this point -- Canada, Mexico and Norway. So that is the beginning of the international help now the United States is getting.
And one thing I know you were interested in also is that one of the things the people in that region are talking about needing is boom. A lot of boom.
HARRIS: Yes. Boom, yes. LEVS: Every time there's any kind of talk about boom, what we've -- this is some great video. You know, there's two different kinds of boom that we talk about.
HARRIS: Hard boom.
LEVS: Yes. And the official names are containment and sorbent. I mean, basically, one is supposed to help keep that oil gunk, right, into one general area, and the other is sorbent. That's supposed to what it sounds like, absorb and help take it out. And it's important that one not be used the opposite way.
Now, every time we hear people in the region talk about the boom and the need for boom, there's a lot of numbers that fly around. There's something that Governor Bobby Jindal said yesterday I want you to hear.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: The last 24 hours, we received 28,000 feet of hard boom. They deployed 30,000 feet. And again, it shows how important it's going to be to continue to get more resources as we stand up additional lines of defense against these waves of oil that continue to hit our coast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So there's no doubt that they need a lot of boom. What I wanted to know is, how much boom have they gotten so far? What's going on?
So, this is what the White House is saying so far in terms of what's been deployed -- 1.85 million feet of that containment boom we're talking about; 1.25 million feet of sorbent boom. And I've got one more screen for you here that's going to show what's still available.
Again, according to the White House, 300,000 feet of containment boom still out there, one million feet of the sorbent boom is still available. That's what they're saying.
Now, you've got two problems with that, Tony. One is that even though it's available, that doesn't mean that it's actually getting where it needs to go. And that's a lot of the frustration on the ground, is there's all these steps, there's red tape, there's frustration about physically getting it where it needs to be.
The other problem with that is that even this, what's still out there, is only the beginning, as we're hearing of what is needed for this massive and probably historic oil spill out there. So, a lot more of that boom is needed, and that's one of the things, Tony, coming in from other countries.
HARRIS: That's terrific. Yes, we were curious, and you found the answers for us.
Josh, appreciate it.
LEVS: Thanks.
HARRIS: You're the man.
All right. Let's get to Chad Myers now.
And Chad, look, we're supposed to get an update, right --
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we do.
HARRIS: --- in the next couple of hours on whether or not top kill has been a success. Boy, it's really going to take longer than that.
MYERS: It does.
HARRIS: Yes, come on.
MYERS: Yes. Professor Satish (ph), yesterday, on "RICK'S LIST," said it takes about 10 hours to fill up a 1,000 feet of this well, to put this mud in. There are 10,000 feet. So you multiply 10 times 10, I get 100. It could take 100 hours to fill this thing up to get it to equalize.
So, we need to be patient.
Look at this.
HARRIS: What have you got going on over there?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: The oil slick in the Gulf impacting lives, the environment, and now seafood prices.
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And once again, President Obama's news conference scheduled for 12:45 Eastern Time. And Wolf Blitzer will be picking up the coverage in just a couple of minutes, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I've got to tell you, before we turn things over to Wolf, the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits dipped last week. The Labor Department says 460,000 workers applied for benefits. That is 14,000 fewer workers than the week before.
But check the trend here for 2010. Initial jobless claims are running in the mid-400,000s each month. There were just 20,000 fewer claims based on monthly averages in May than January. That suggests a stagnate labor market. The oil slick is sending seafood prices through the roof all around the country. The owner of this restaurant in West Des Moines, Iowa, says he is shelling out about 25 percent more for shrimp than he did just two weeks ago, and he can't get oysters. Customers are getting a little crabby about the disaster and the higher prices it is bringing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STAN ENGMAN, RESTAURANT CUSTOMER: I think the government should be -- should have been involved early on. Yes, BP is to blame, but our government should have been in there at least running the show. The damage down there that it's done to the ecological system will take years and years to get back. I don't know if it will ever be normal again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The oil disaster has shut more than 20 percent of Gulf waters to fishing.
Fast-moving developments in the CNN NEWSROOM. We are about a little more than 15 minutes away from President Obama's news conference. He is expected to discuss efforts to combat that devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, among other issues.
Our Wolf Blitzer is taking over CNN's special coverage. He will be joined by the best political team on television right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting, together with the best political team on television.
We're standing by the president of the United States about to have a major news conference over in the East Room of the White House. Arguably one of the most important, if not the most important - oh, there you're looking at live pictures from the White House right now. The president getting ready in about 15 minutes or so, we're told, to walk in and make a statement on the oil spill, the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, announce some steps he's taking to try to deal with this crisis and then move forward, start answering questions from reporters. Something he hasn't done a whole lot at least this year, not yet so far. We're seeing how that will play out.
We're here with John King, Candy Crowley, Gloria Borger, David Gergen. Suzanne Malveaux is over at the White House. Dana Bash is up on Capitol Hill. Anderson Cooper is standing by. He's on the scene for us in Louisiana right now. We're going to check in with everyone.
But first, John King, let's talk a little bit about what the president needs to do today, because he's got a huge crisis unfolding. And as he gets ready to answer questions, we don't know yet whether this top kill procedure is actually going to work. JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: We don't know that. And we should know by this evening. But we now do know, because of these new government estimates, Wolf, that this far exceeds the damage of the Exxon Valdez spill. It is by far the largest oil spill in American history. And the challenge for the president, I would say, is two-fold, leadership and accountability.
Number one, he needs to show he's taking charge of this. The White House has said time and time again, he's as mad as anyone. But have you seen him mad as anyone? That is a question people are asking. He's going back to the Gulf on Friday. But he was out doing political fund raising the other night. The White House says he's taking charge in meetings, he's very angry that he can't get the answers, but the public has not seen that and they need to see it from their president.
The other question is accountability. Number one, is the administration riding herd on BP to make sure it is doing everything it can, as fast as it can, as safely as it can to fix this. But what about the government? They pushed out the head of the MMS, the agency in charge of offshore drilling safety and regulation earlier today. They say they will reform it. But there are vacancies at that agency. Vacancies at other government agencies that do the oversight of mine safety, off shore drilling safety. The president has been president for 15 months now and, yes, you can say many of these problems go back into previous administrations, but he needs to show the American people that the government will be held accountable for its mistakes here, too.
BLITZER: I tweeted earlier in the day, Candy, that if the president of the United States on this oil spill issue has lost at least for now James Carville, our CNN contributor and Democratic strategist, you know he's in deep trouble right now. How deep is this trouble for the president?
CANDY CROWLEY, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the key is just for now. Presidents, with the possible exception of Richard Nixon, don't generally go down for one thing. If you look back at George W. Bush, people had started to turn against the war, they were feeling uneasy about it, they were feeling a little bit uneasy about some of his leadership and then came Katrina and then he took a dive. So I think that it needs more than this, but he has to get out in front.
And one of the things that people have said to me, particularly up on Capitol Hill, is, every day of the stimulus plan, every day of the health care plan, this guy was out there going, it's urgent, it's urgent and he's been nowhere but fund-raising on this particular issue. So the contrast is also hurting him.
BLITZER: They say behind the scenes he's been meeting in the situation room -
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He has.
BLITZER: With his senior staff. He's been all over it. He's been very frustrated, deeply angry. Shut this down, end it. But we haven't seen that, at least in public.
BORGER: Plug the damn hole I think was the phrase we heard from the president.
You know, what's interesting is, the American public wants to see the president take charge. But the public is very conflicted about this drilling right now. We did some polls this week at CNN. Fifty- seven percent of the public says we need to continue drilling because they understand we've got some energy issues here. But only 37 percent of them actually believe that the government can stop another leak like this.
So they're not quite sure what the next steps are and they want some answers from the federal government that, yes, they're going to figure this out and they're not going to start drilling, which is what the president is going to say, until this is figured out. But the American public understands that we can't just put the brakes on this whole hog and say never again, because they know what our energy issues are.
BLITZER: David Gergen, you worked for four presidents. If you were working for this president this morning and he got together with his senior staff and said, what do I need to do at this -- making this statement and answering the reporters' questions at the news conference in the East Room, what advice would you have given him?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Plug the damn leak.
BORGER: Yes.
BLITZER: Easier said than done, as you know.
GERGEN: Which is exactly, I think, he's got two issues here. One is the leak. And we're at a pivotal moment. If this top kill works, great relief for everybody. Terrific. If it does not work, I think he has to be prepared to take over the efforts to stop the leak. And I think he needs to signal this morning, or today, that that's what he intends to do. If this does not work, we're taking over.
But the second thing he needs to take over now is the clean-up and protecting these coastlines because we are losing precious fisheries. Every day that goes by and I don't think the American people right now are terribly interested in whether Obama is up or down. I think what they're interested in, are you going to protect our coasts and are you going to protect us from what's happening to this (INAUDIBLE).
BLITZER: Because when people see that oil, though, the damage that's already happened, you get sick, you get nauseous.
GERGEN: Absolutely.
BLITZER: It's heartbreaking to see it. The frustration, clearly, is up on Capitol Hill. Dana Bash is up on Capitol Hill right now.
Not just Republicans, a lot of Democrats are frustrated with the administration's response as well, right, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They sure are, Wolf.
I've been walking the halls this morning just trying to get a sense of how people feel. I talked to a senior Democratic leadership aide who said, point blank, people have just had it. They really have.
And speaking about the administration, he said, they've only got through today, maybe tomorrow, and that perhaps the only thing that's saving the administration from a total, massive political nightmare is that Congress is leaving town probably today or tomorrow for an entire week to go home for recess. That is really going to save them politically.
And you really do sense in talking to Democrats that they're trying to look for ways to try to fix this and looking to the administration to do that. For example, Bob Mendez of New Jersey. He just had a press conference. He said, well, if the federal government can help more, great. They should. In fact, why don't we just send the National Guard, send troops to the Gulf region. Maybe they can help. It's supposed to be -- they're supposed to be there for a national disaster and, you know, why not do that.
So we are hearing a sense of frustration. No question about it. Not everybody is feeling that, but it is mounting, it is growing and it is very real and there's no question the administration knows that full well because they have been in close contact with these Democratic members who are trying to bite their tongues, but it's getting harder for them every day.
BLITZER: A critically important White House news conference coming up. We're only moments away. The president will be walking into the East Room of the White House, making a statement, then answering reporters' questions. We'll be there, of course, live for you, for our viewer here in the United States and around the world.
When we come back, Anderson Cooper, he'll be joining us. He's on the scene in Louisiana with an update on what's going on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
We're continuing our coverage. We're only moments away from the president of the United States having a news conference. He's going to be announcing some steps to deal with the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and then he'll be taking reporters' questions. A full scale East Room White House news conference only moments away. Anderson Cooper is on the scene for us down in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anderson, tell our viewer where you are right now, what you're seeing and what you're hearing about this top kill procedure, the prospects for success or failure.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're in Venice, Louisiana, outside of New Orleans.
You know, there's a lot of hope, obviously. I mean people are just kind of waiting. A lot of prayers have been going out to, you know, make sure this thing works. But there's not a lot of confidence, as you know, both in BP. There's a lot of anger toward BP certain, and a lot of frustration and even anger toward some of the federal government response. I'm going talk to be talking to Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commander in charge of the effort.
But you know, I went out with the governor yesterday in Plaquemine's Parish, President Billy Nungesser, and they are fed up. In fact, Bill Nungesser is saying that the head of the Coast Guard should step down because the response isn't coordinated to the degree they want.
And while the top kill is one thing, which, you know, the U.S. government doesn't have much control on, that's something that BP as the expertise on, there's a lot of frustration among local officials and the governor about the clean-up operations. We were out in an area in the marsh land that oil has been soaked in for a week now and it doesn't look like anyone has been out there to try to clean it up. So there's a lot of, you know, just anger and a lot of questions for President Obama when he comes tomorrow.
BLITZER: I'm sure he's going to get an earful when he comes tomorrow. Based on what you know, and I know you spent a lot of yesterday with the Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, and the president of the Plaquemine's Parish, Billy Nungesser, is there any basic daylight between the two of them? Because Billy Nungesser is really furious at the Coast Guard, at the Obama administration, the federal government's lack of response, in his words. Is Bobby Jindal that angry as well?
COOPER: You know, he's more measured, I would say. You know, he's much more probably cautious in some of his statements, but he certainly has said he's frustrated. He certainly says that the federal response has not been everything he would like. He wants more booms out here in the water. He wants greater coordination. He's very frustrated with the Coast Guard, saying that there's not -- that each of these parish presidents doesn't have a Coast Guard representative with decision making authority. And Bill Nungesser says a lot of the Coast Guard officials he's had with him, he said he's had numerous ones with him that keep getting changed out and that they keep deferring to BP on things. And so there's this question of really who is in command, who is calling the shots, and is there some organizational way to make it run better. That seems to be what the governor, Bobby Jindal, is really focused on.
In addition to this, they, you know, they have this whole project of wanting to build berms out offshore that connect some of these barrier islands to prevent any more oil from actually coming into the marshes. There's a lot of environmental questions about that, about what kind of impact that might have on Mississippi and currents and the Army Corps of Engineering, at this point, is not giving a permit and hasn't at this point.
BLITZER: Anderson, I'm going to have you stand by.
Suzanne Malveaux is our White House correspondent.
You're over at the East Room getting ready for this news conference, Suzanne. I assume officials have been saying to you what I've been hearing, they understand how serious a crisis not only environmentally, economically, but politically the president faces right now.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Wolf. And you're going to hear the president today expressing a sense of frustration, anger. The fact that he gets it and that he is moving forward. That he is ahead of the curve here. A lot of criticism, who is in charge, what have they done here. But we have heard and seen already the fallout from this.
Elizabeth Birnbaum, she is director of Minerals Management Service. That's the agency under the Department of Interior. She is out. She no longer has her job. The secretary of interior, Ken Salazar, put out a statement saying that she left of her own volition. She even said that it was the previous administration that she inherited some of these problems in the agency, essentially, that oversees the offshore drilling.
But it is clear that the president is going to talk about this. He's not going to scapegoat anybody, but he is going to make it clear that he is holding people accountable, that he is making changes. That's just one of the things that he's going to be highlighting.
Some other things, a moratorium on offshore drilling. It's going to be extended by six months or so. They're putting the brakes on this, Wolf. This is really a 180 change, if you will, in some ways. Some delays, some cancelations of exploratory oil drilling. We're talking off the coast of Alaska, the western Gulf, as well as Virginia. This administration getting very serious and second- guessing, if you will, taking into account what they have learned over the last six weeks, which is a lot of the information they have before, not reliable, assumptions they had made incorrect, and now they are on a course correction to make sure going forward that this is dealt with.
BLITZER: All right, Suzanne, stand by. They haven't given the two-minute warning yet, have they?
MALVEAUX: No, they haven't. We're still waiting.
BLITZER: All right, so we're waiting for the president. He should be walking in within only a few minutes, we're told. We'll go back to the White House, of course, as soon as the president begins his statement, then starts answering reporters' questions.
We'll take a quick break. Our special coverage will continue right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: President Obama's about to walk into the East Room of the White House. We're only seconds away. We'll go there live in just a moment. But I want to quickly check in with CNN's David Mattingly. He's at the command center in Louisiana.
What are you hearing about top kill, this procedure to end this crisis, at least stop the oil from spewing up?
MATTINGLY: Wolf, so far we're hearing that everything is going as planned. BP, the Coast Guard, not willing to come out and say right now that it is a complete success, but we've seen encouraging signs this morning. But to put this in perspective, we've got some new numbers out today from the government team that was put together to access the flow of oil that was leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. Their estimates today put the amount of oil that's leaked into the Gulf at 260,000 to 540,000 barrels of oil. That was based on information 10 days ago.
Now, to put that in perspective, at the high end, that is more than double the amount of the Exxon Valdez. So we are clearly looking at an unprecedented environmental disaster in the Gulf, and no doubt the president will be fueling that pressure when he goes in front of the cameras.
BLITZER: And he's about to be introduced, David.
The president of the United States is getting ready to walk into the East Room of the White House, make his statement, an opening statement, and we will listen very, very closely. Here he is, the president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon, everybody.
Before I take your questions, I want to update the American people on the status of the BP oil spill. A catastrophe that is causing tremendous hardship in the Gulf Coast, damaging a precious eco system, and one that led to the death of 11 workers who lost their lives in the initial explosion.
Yesterday, the federal government gave BP approval to move forward with the procedure known as a top kill to try to stop the leak. This involves plugging the well with densely packed mud to prevent any more oil from escaping. And given the complexity of this procedure and the depth of the leak, this procedure offers no guarantee of success, but we're exploring any reasonable strategies to try and save the Gulf from a spill that may otherwise last until the relief wells are finished. And that's a process that could take months.
The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort. As far as I'm concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States, as well as the people and communities victimized by this tragedy. We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they've done and the painful losses that they've caused and we will continue to take full advantage of the unique technology and expertise they have to help stop this leak.
But make no mistake, BP is operating at our direction. Every key decision and action they take must be approved by us in advance. I designated Admiral Thad Allen, who has nearly four decades of experience responding to such disasters, as the national incident commander. And if he orders BP to do something, to respond to this disaster, they are legally bound to do it. So, for example, when they said they would drill one relief well to stem this leak, we demanded a backup and ordered them to drill two. And they are in the process of drilling two.
As we devise strategies to try and stop this leak, we're also relying on the brightest minds and most advanced technology in the world. We're relying on a team of scientists and engineering from our own national laboratories and from many other nations. A team led by our Energy Secretary and Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Stephen Chu. And we're relying on experts who have actually dealt with oil spills from across the globe, though none this challenging.
The federal government is also directing the effort to contain and clean up the damage from the spill, which is now the largest effort of its kind in U.S. history. In this case, the federal, state, and local governments have the resources and expertise to play an even more direct role in the response effort. And I will be discussing this the further when I make my second trip to Louisiana tomorrow.
But so far, we have about 20,000 people in the region. We're working around the clock to contain and clean up this oil. We have activated about 1,400 members of the National Guard in four states. We have the Coast Guard on site. We have more than 1,300 vessels assisting in the containment and clean-up efforts. We have deployed over 3 million feet of total boom to stop the oil from coming onshore. And today, more than 100,000 feet of boom is being surged to Louisiana parishes that are facing the greatest risk from the oil. So we'll continue to do whatever is necessary to protect and restore the Gulf Coast. For example, Admiral Allen just announced that we're moving forward with a section of Governor Jindal's barrier island proposal that could help stop oil from coming ashore. It will be built in an area that is most at risk and where the work can be most quickly completed.
We're also doing whatever it takes to help the men and women whose livelihoods have been disrupted and even destroyed by this spill. Everyone from fishermen, to restaurant and hotel owners. So far, the Small Business Administration has approved loans and allowed many small businesses to defer existing loan payments. At our insistence, BP is paying economic injury claims and we'll make sure that when all is said and done, the victims of this disaster will get the relief that they are owed. We're not going to abandon our fellow citizens. We'll help them recover and we will help them rebuild.
And in the meantime, I should also say that Americans can help by continuing to visit the communities and beaches of the Gulf Coast. I was talking to the governors of just a couple of days ago and they wanted me to remind everybody that except for three beaches in Louisiana, all of the Gulf's beaches are open, they are safe and they are clean.
As we continue our response effort, we're also moving quickly on steps to ensure that a catastrophe like this never happens again. I've said before that producing oil here in America is an essential part of our overall energy strategy, but all drilling must be safe. In recent months, I've spoken about the dangers of too much -- I've heard people speaking about the dangers of too much government regulation. And I think we can all acknowledge there have been times in history when the government has over-reached. But in this instance, the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship with government regulators meant little or no regulation at all.
When Secretary Salazar took office, he found a Minerals and Management Service that had been plagued by corruption for years. This was the agency charged with not only providing permits, but also enforcing laws governing oil drilling. And the corruption was underscore by a recent inspector general's report that covered activity which occurred prior to 2007. A report that can only be described as appalling. And Secretary Salazar immediately took steps to clean up that corruption.
But this oil spill has made clear that more reforms are need. For years there's been a scandalously close relationship between oil companies and the agency that regulates them. That's why we decided to separate the people who permit the drilling from those who regulate and ensure the safety of the drilling.
I also announced that no new permits for drilling new wells will go forward until a 30-day safety and environmental review was conducted. That review is now complete. Its initial recommendations include aggressive new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies, which we will put in place.
Additionally, after reading the report's recommendations with Secretary Salazar and other members of my administration, we're going to be ordering the following actions. First, we will suspend the planned exploration of two locations off the coast of Alaska. Second, we will cancel the pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and the proposed lease sale off the coast of Virginia. Third, we will continue the existing moratorium and suspend the issuance of new permits to drill new deepwater wells for six months. And four, we will suspend action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.
What's also been made clear from this disaster is that for years the oil and gas industry has leveraged such power that they have effectively been allowed to regulate themselves. One example, under current law, the Interior Department has only 30 days to review an exploration plan submitted by an oil company. That leaves no time for the appropriate environmental review. The result is, they're continually waved. And this is just one example of a law that was tailored by an industry to serve their needs instead of the public's. The Congress needs to address these issues as soon as possible. My administration will work with them to do so. Still, preventing such a catastrophe in the future will require further study and deeper reform. That's why last Friday I also signed an executive order establishing the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. While there are a number of ongoing investigations, including an independent review by the National Academy of Engineering, the purpose of this commission is to consider both the root causes of the disaster and offer options on what safety and environmental precautions are necessary. If the laws on our books are inadequate to prevent such a spill, or if we did not enforce those laws, then I want to know. I want to know what worked and what didn't work in our response to the disaster and where oversight of the oil and gas industry broke down.
I want to make one final point. More than anything else, this economic and environmental tragedy, and it's a tragedy, underscores the urgent need for this nation to develop clean renewable sources of energy. Doing so will not only reduce threats to our environment, it will create a new homegrown American industry that can lead to countless new businesses and new jobs.
We've talked about doing this for decades and we've made significant strides over the last year when it comes to investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The House of Representatives has already passed a bill that would finally jump-start a permanent transition to a clean energy economy and there is currently a plan in the Senate, a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans, that would achieve the same goal. If nothing else, this disaster should serve as a wake-up call that it's time to move forward on this legislation. It's time to accelerate the competition with countries like China, who've already realized the future lies in renewable energy and it's time to seize that future ourselves.
