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Touring Louisiana's Damage; Building Walls of Sand; Legal Claims Adding Up; South Korea Seeks Support from China; iPad Goes Global With Worldwide Launch Today; Gunmen Attack Mosques in Pakistan; ; Sex and the (Other) City

Aired May 28, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips. Here's what we're working on this morning.

A crew's go back to top kill after trying the junk shot but we're still 48 hours away from knowing if the oil is being capped.

And a volcano blows in Guatemala. And a nation is under a state of emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The amendment is adopted.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And lawmakers move closer to repealing the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

First, we have new details this morning on the efforts to shut down that massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Crews are resuming work today on top kill and pumping more mud into the ruptured well.

It could be two more days before we know if the effort to plug the leak is actually working. This is a live video feed right now as you can see. The well is still gushing.

Also, this morning, BP revealed that it tried a junk shot yesterday. That's the method of cramming shredded tires and golf balls into the well.

This hour, President Obama is on his way to the Louisiana coast. It will be his second visit to the gulf since the rig explosion and it comes amid growing criticism of how his administration has handled the crisis thus far.

So BP's CEO Tony Hayward was on "AMERICAN MORNING" earlier today. And he says the chances of top kill being a success remain at about 60 to 70 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: It's proceed broadly according to plan. The first phase was to pump heavyweight drilling mud into the well to try and overcome the pressure. We managed to line out the entire sub C system in doing that, the first time it's been done a mile beneath the sea.

That was -- resulted in some success. And then yesterday afternoon, we moved to pump lost control material into the blowout preventer to try and create some bridging within the blowout preventer against which we -- we could blow.

That is the local terminology is the junk shot. That was concluded in the early hours of this morning and later today we will go back to pumping drilling mud in an attempt to overcome the blow of the oil and gas.

As I said, we go back to pumping mud later today. I think it's probably 48 hours before we'll have a conclusive view of this. I know that's frustrating for everyone. I am probably more frustrated than many. I want to get this thing done and over with as soon as we possibly can. We are doing everything we can to achieve that.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, Louisiana has begun constructing a wall of sand between its fragile coastline and the sludge that is inching toward it. Already, more than 150 miles of the shoreline have been polluted.

CNN's Kiran Chetry accomplished -- accompanied, rather, Louisiana's governor to some of the hardest hit areas. She is joining us now from Grand Isle.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Fredricka. Yes, we did have a chance to see what the local and state officials were talking about when they said, we need to make sure that we're protecting these marshlands.

What they did get approval finally from the federal government to build one section of what they called berm, which is basically just building up the sand about 5 or 6 feet high, preventing it from getting into the fragile marshlands, allowing it to be scooped up there.

But what they're upset about is that they haven't gotten approval for doing that in all of the areas they want to. The approval, of course, is where they get the money. But we had a chance to see firsthand just how important it is to try to clean up the coastline.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys all know we have Kiran with us from CNN on board.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Welcome.

CHETRY (on camera): Thanks so much. Thanks for having us.

JINDAL: You can see up ahead (INAUDIBLE) the National Guard has built. This was open water before they went to work. If that land bridge wasn't there, that oil would have gotten right past that land bridge.

And the National Guard in four days was able to build that land bridge of about 785 feet. Forty gaps like that all the around the coast of Louisiana.

CHETRY: And, Governor, you said that they basically were able to do that in four days. Who had to make the call and OK that?

JINDAL: We did. We basically deployed our National Guard. They want to help defend their way of life. This is their -- this is their state. And they've fished here for years, many of them for decades. They want their children and grandchildren to do it.

This is a great example of -- look, I hate to see this oil on a sandy beach. I'd much rather see that oil right here than back there in those wetlands. If this oil here, we can come and you can come with shovels, they can come clean that up. They can replace this sand.

You hate to see it. And you don't want to see it on any inch of Louisiana's coast but it would be much more dangerous once it gets behind us.

That's the actual dredge out there about 20,000 feet offshore. It's is getting the sand there. And you can see it's piped in back here. And that's how they're building these sand booms -- these sand berms here.

CHETRY: So we've been touring East Grand Terre Island here with Governor Jindal and he's been explaining to us exactly what's happening. They were already dredging sand for a coastal restoration project. They redirected it to build these berms up to 5 to 6 feet high to be able to be the first line of defense when the oil comes to shore.

They say it's not ideal of course for any oil to come ashore. But at least they can capture it here and scoop it up, get it off the sand before it makes its way here. Without these berms, it would slowly seep into these very fragile wetlands. And once that happened, these grasses would be destroyed.

JINDAL: These wetlands are important to the entire country. This is 30 percent of all the fisheries for the entire country. You know, you're talking about the gulf as one of the most important ecosystems, one of the most important estuaries.

It's caught 30 percent of those fish caught off our coast. And what's even more important about these wetlands is that the gulf is a nursery. Literally, this is where the young come. And it's not just the fish and the shrimp and the crabs and oysters you want to catch this year, it's for multiple years. CHETRY: You know, of course, everything always turns into a political hot potato. And now you even have Democrats -- huge supporters of the president like James Carville -- saying that this has been botched. In fact, in some cases insinuating that this would be, quote, "Obama's Katrina."

Is that fair?

JINDAL: Well, a couple of things. Look, Katrina for Louisiana was a unique event in our state's history. Over 1,000 people died from Katrina, over $100 billion of property damage due to Katrina. It's changed our state permanently. We're rebuilding and recovering from that awful storm.

This oil spill is another huge challenge for our state. It threatens literally our way of life, presents its own set of challenges. I know folks in D.C. are trying to point fingers and forget the politics. I really don't care.

What I care about is stopping this oil off our coast. What is clear to me is, there hasn't been a sense of urgency. There hasn't been the resources.

CHETRY: Explain a little bit about what you're trying to get the federal government to understand and to approve.

JINDAL: The most important thing to me is get us the permit. Get us the dredges. The most important thing to me is get us the local decision-making authority so we don't have to wait. Get us the additional boom and skimmers.

Give us, another words, the tools to help us help ourselves fight this oil and keep it off our coast. We're doing everything we can to protect our coast. All we want from the federal government is permission to go out and do even more and for them to hold BP accountable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: And so there you heard it from the governor. But also, there's -- you know, a bit of a dispute, even with some of the local leaders who say, why do they have to wait? Why is the federal government only approving some of the experimental building of these sand berms? Why not just allow them to do what they know will help make a difference?

And the other interesting thing, Fredricka, is many of the wildlife scientists, experts and even our own Rob Marciano, who went out on these boats about 20 miles offshore say, where are the skimmers? We -- they talked about not seeing any in a 20-mile radius, even though there was about a half an inch thick oil sheen across this area.

And they're saying we need more resources. When I spoke to Homeland Security Director of Jefferson Parish, Dean Bonano, he said the federal government needs to treat this like a war, not an oil spill.

And the enemy is out there. He said he wants to see a flotilla of boats out there doing everything they can to prevent the oil from coming ashore.

WHITFIELD: You know, and as it pertains to that berm, Kiran, the federal government or the White House is saying that it is experimental in that they'll allow them to do this berm for a few miles and to see how successful it is before it is to be extended.

What's the governor have to say about that?

CHETRY: Well, you know, it's interesting because the governor is saying let us -- you know, let us build like we know how all of these but they -- but he wants the government to pay for it -- the federal government to pay for it or BP, not Louisiana.

And what the federal government is saying if you go ahead with this after -- you know, if you go ahead with additional ones that we haven't approved, the money is not there, and so that puts the governor in a tight situation as well because local leaders were saying, it doesn't matter, let's get it build and let's get the money out there.

So we'll wait and see what happens. Today the president is obviously visiting here in just a couple of hours. And we'll see if him getting a chance to see this firsthand as well as more input from local and state leaders make a difference.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kiran Chetry, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right, meantime, let's take a closer look at these walls of sand, the berm, how much hope is actually riding on them.

CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is with us now. It's really interesting because, you know, the governor is saying one thing. We know that this will be an effective tool. But the White House is saying we're not so sure. So let's just start out in baby steps.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. And you know there are some people that are probably hearing about these berms and they're thinking, why do we need them? Because we have hundreds of miles of that protective boom that had been set up.

Well, let me show you and to our viewers across America what's happened to some of that boom. Take a look at it. Look at this. Right along the coastline. This was out of sea. A lot of these are at the mercy of the waves. And a lot of these have been pushed on shore.

It's supposed to be kind of a temporary stop gap and this is the reason why they're going on to other measures. Now the other measure we're talking about, these berms, are basically a sand fortification they're going to set up along sensitive areas of the coast. Case in point, you look at the oil spill. Right here. Let's enlarge this a bit. Oil spill shaded in these areas of gray. You see extreme southeastern Louisiana. And you see some of these marshlands, the reason why these -- really protect this because they're obviously environmentally sensitive but they're also like sponges.

They absorb this oil and then once it kills the plants, they're gone forever. It holds on. Those extensive root systems really give that -- again, its fortification or rather its structure so to speak.

So what they plan on doing is putting these sand berms -- you got 45 miles of them -- obviously, the one I'm drawing is going to be a lot more than 45 miles. But you get it, a kind of an idea. It's basically creating like a wall, making sort of a fortress, if you will, to hold back this oil.

Forty-five miles where they're planning on starting right now but I would not surprised to see that it being extended quite a bit. Not just in parts of Louisiana but possibly into Mississippi, maybe even Alabama and Florida, before all is said and done.

But just one step, one way to fight back the battle, trying to hold that oil, Fredricka. Let's send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Reynolds. Appreciate that.

WOLF: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right, BP says it has already handled thousands of claims and paid out tens of millions of dollars. But you'll find few, if any, people who say that they are completely satisfied. They say their losses are growing and the anger is building.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has that story from New Orleans.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, BP says it has already paid out millions of dollars to people affected by the oil spill. But the people getting those checks say the amount is falling way short of what they deserve.

And around here, trust in BP is in short supply.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Chris Battle and his crew of crabbers want more than just talk from BP. They want money.

(On camera): How much money do you think you lost?

CHRIS BATTLE, CRAB FISHERMAN: Close to $20,000, $30,000. You know. I mean it's a good bit.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Crab fishing waters closed for more than three weeks because of the oil spill, leaving these guys out of work. When Battle filed his claim with BP, all he got was a $5,000 check. BATTLE: At this time of year, like I mean, I'm catching $2500 to $3,000 worth of crabs a day. And they wrote me a check for $5,000. It's just not enough. It's not -- it's not what I lost. I mean if you go by what I lost, I lost way more than that.

LAVANDERA: Deck hand Derrick Bennett says he only got a $725 check for the three weeks he was out of work. And he says he can't find out from the claims rep if more money is coming.

DERRICK BENNETT, CRAB FISHERMAN: He tells me to call him back every week. I call him back every week. It's the same (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over and over again.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So far BP says it has paid more than $35 millions on about 27,000 settlements. The company promises that this is just the beginning, that it's only a partial settlement. But around here, people who make a living off the gulf waters say it's going to take a lot more than that to make things right.

(Voice-over): Anger is spreading across the Gulf Coast and many business owners like Buggy Vegas don't trust BP to pay up.

(On camera): So business has completely disappeared?

BUGGY VEGAS, BUSINESS OWNER: It is. I sold four cups of coffee this morning.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Vegas owns the Bridgeside Marina in Grand Isle. He filed a claim more than two weeks ago and he's still waiting for a check.

(On camera): What have they told you that you can get?

VEGAS: They put us in a large claim and they said we can get $5,000.

LAVANDERA: Just it? That's it?

VEGAS: That's what the large claim.

LAVANDERA: One check for $5,000?

VEGAS: That's what they tell us. It don't even pay the light bill.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): At town hall sessions, BP claim representatives are getting an earful from angry folks out of work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When that oil is gone, BP is going to be gone, too.

LAVANDERA: But the company vows to bring more money and streamline the process.

ALAN CARPENTER, BP CONTRACTOR: We're doing as much as we can as quick as we can as far as that goes. That is not the end. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are taking the next step. Actually, we've begun taking the larger claims which affect businesses like yours. It wasn't there in the first 30 days, you're right but it's now time for the second phase.

LAVANDERA: Those are just word for Chris Bennett and his crab- trapping crew. They won't count on any more money from BP until they see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Interestingly enough, BP has contracted out the claims process here along the Gulf Coast region. And they say that anyone not happy with the money they eventually receive from the company will have a chance to make their case in an arbitration hearing -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Ed.

All right, the families of those killed in the oil rig explosion say they may face a second heartbreak. A legal loophole may drastically limit how much money will go to the victim's families and they say BP is not giving them any answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS JONES, BROTHER DIED IN BP ACCIDENT: In a month or so since this accident happened, we haven't heard a single word from BP. In fact, after the memorial event, I saw them rushing out the back door jumping into tainted window SUVs with proper security to avoid the media.

Today at the hearing, there was a BP representative 10 feet away who didn't look at us, didn't say a word to us.

And honestly, it's an insult. They're going to take responsibility for the economic damages. And that's what they talked about today. They haven't said a word about the families of the victims of this explosion on April 20th.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Next hour, we will hear from the father of Gordon Jones and his testimony in front of a House committee as well as his take on how President Obama is handling this disaster.

A minority religious group under attack in Pakistan, gunmen stormed two mosques packed with people. We'll have details from the scene straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In a brutal assault on a minority religious sec t in Pakistan, it is happening right now in the eastern town of Lahore. Officials say suspected Islamic militants opened fires and tossed grenades at two packed mosques. At least 70 people were killed. The Associated Press reports the attackers are believed to be holding several worshippers hostage in a standoff with police. Muslim radicals have attacked the Ahmadi religious group in the past.

We'll have a live report from Pakistan in just a few minutes. More on that.

And two trains crash in eastern India earlier today. And Maoist rebels are being blamed. At least 70 have been killed and 115 more injured.

Indian investigators are working on two theories. One, that a bomb explosion caused the passenger train to jump the tracks and hit a cargo train. The second is sabotage. Investigator say someone may have removed a portion of the track causing that collision.

On to South Korea now where it's ramping up efforts to haul North Korea before the U.N. Security Council for sinking one of its war ships.

CNN's Kyung Lah joins us now live from Seoul.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we've seen a couple of key developments today primarily surrounding the visit of the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Seoul for a summit with South Korea's president.

Now in that summit, according to South Korean officials who were speaking to reporters after the summit -- they said that the Chinese premier said that China would not defend whoever is found responsible for sinking the South Korean warship.

That's a significant development. Also China saying that it would look at the international investigation and they come up with their own assessment objectively and fairly.

Now this may not sound like a very strongly-worded statement coming out of this bilateral summit by the Chinese premier but it does mark a step away from its ally, North Korea, and closer to the U.S. and South Korea position. Closer to the international position.

And it's significant because China is seen as being very key to maintaining peace in the region. Also trying to lower the temperature, lower those tempers in North Korea. So some significant developments here, Fredricka. Maybe not a huge step for the United States but a baby step -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Kyung, you know, the U.N. has not had a whole lot of success with North Korea, you know, in recent years for a very long time. Why might this time be different?

LAH: This time might be different, according to South Korea, because they believe they have more of the international community behind it, and China, again, being key that if it goes before the U.N. Security Council -- China, which does have veto ability -- won't exercise that. That it won't block anything. And that's the belief right now that we're hearing from South Korean officials and also the United States.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much, from Seoul, South Korea. Appreciate that.

And so in a show of support for South Korea, the U.S. says it will soon stage two joint military exercises off the Korean Peninsula. The United States has a significant military presence in the region. More than 28,000 troops are stationed in South Korea and about double that number in Japan.

A volcano blows in Guatemala. The eruption rains down ash and soot on the capital. We'll tell you what's happening to the people who actually are living near that site.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The president of Guatemala has declared a state of emergency after a volcano erupted there. At least three people were crushed to death by rocks. Another 1800 people living near the volcano have also been evacuated.

The volcano spread ash and soot over the capital and the city's airport is also shut down.

Our Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center for us now. Boy, it seems as if we have had a lot of volcanic activity this year as well as earthquakes. Just so many natural calamities.

WOLF: When it comes to natural disaster, we've had a busy time, haven't we?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WOLF: A quick look at your forecast. We've got a lot more to share with you coming up through the rest of the day and into the afternoon. Let's send it back to you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Thanks so much, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, perhaps you have one. The iPad. Well, it's been a big hit in the U.S. Today, other countries get to see what the buzz is all about. We'll see how the world is reacting to the iPad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. There's a quite a show on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow surged 284 points. That the second biggest gain of the year, but don't expect an encore performance today. Stocks are set for a flat open. Trading will probably be light because investors tend to check out a little early ahead of a three-day weekend. You hear bell there. We will check in with Stephanie Elam throughout the morning.

All right. Apple's iPad, well, it's been available in the U.S. now for more than a month. But today, it goes on sale across the world including in the U.K. and that's where we find CNN's Zain Verjee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT : Finally, it is here. Hundreds of people camped outside the Apple store here in London to get the iPad. They've been here for hours.

How long have you been here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here about 15, 16 hours now.

VERJEE: You're almost first in line?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, well, I'm fourth.

VERJEE: Are you excited?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, sort of, yes. I've been here 12 hours.

VERJEE: Why do you want to buy this so badly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my son wants it. I personally don't particularly, but he does.

VERJEE: What about you guys, how long have you been here? And what's the most exciting part of all this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been here for about 16 hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixteen hours --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's making computing fun again. You know, it's the touch phase, having it so close to you. It's personal computing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

VERJEE: Will it be worth the wait?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

VERJEE: I want to show you who we ran into here outside the Apple store. The tallest married couple in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records and look what they have in their hands, something that everyone here wants to get their hands on. The Apple store has opened an hour earlier so that as many people can get it as possible. I'm going to have to wait in line. It may take me all day, but I'm going to do it too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Zain Verjee in line in London.

President Obama is on his way to Louisiana. He wants to see the disaster up close again and maybe even stop some of the political fallout. We're going to talk with CNN's Candy Crowley about that in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: At least 70 people have been killed in Eastern Pakistan. We're told gunmen stormed two mosques. Let's go live right now to Reza Sayah who's joining us from Islamabad with more on this -- Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, this is one of the worst examples of sectarian violence we've seen here in Pakistan in recent years. According to police, 70 people killed, 78 others injured in simultaneous attacks targeting two mosques. These mosques both belonging to the minority Muslim Ahmadi sect here in Pakistan. A sect so despised, but according to the constitution, they're not even to be considered Muslims.

Let's briefly tell you about these two attacks according to police. Two gunmen storming one of the mosques around 1:30 p.m. local time here in Pakistan on motorcycles. They went inside the mosques and started firing simultaneously five miles away. A number of other attackers stormed another mosque. A witness telling CNN he saw at least four gunmen inside the mosque. Video from the scene shows some of these gunmen taking positions inside the mini-rays of these mosques with what appeared to be automatic weapons.

Police tell CNN, eventually, they found the heads of three of these attackers which indicate that they were suicide attackers. These are some of the grim details that come with these type of attacks, Fredricka. The Pakistan facing a lot of problems these days. One of them is sectarian violence, and we saw it. And it's deadliest one today, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Reza Sayah, thanks so much from Islamabad. Appreciate that.

All right. Back in this country, it is the biggest oil spill now in U.S. history, but just how big is it? We're putting the numbers in perspective.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It is now day 39 of the oil spill, and you can see in this underwater vision there, kind of just murky water. We're not seeing the gushing taking place, but they have a few different cameras giving us different angles at any period of time. This is what you're seeing right now. BP is again, however, pumping heavy mud into the blown out well, part of its top kill operation. The company is also trying another approach called junk shot in which it tries to plug the leak with rubber and other debris. And there you see other views from various cameras that are submerge there about 5,000 feet below in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the meantime, the federal government has issued dire new estimates about the scope of this spill. Christine Romans is live in New York.

So, Christine, the largest spill in U.S. history that we have all been convinced of very easily. Just how big are we talking in terms of comparison to the Exxon Valdez, which many people remember?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Bigger than the Exxon Valdez, Fredricka. And remember, oil and water don't mix and oil and water and money and blame, all of it makes just an unholy mess in the Gulf of Mexico. And that's what people are trying to measure here right now. And remember, it took 30-some days for the effects of this to really be felt on some parts of the coast. So, even if they stopped it today, you still have an untold number of days of damage just to measure.

So, this is what we know so far putting it in context, 29 million gallons leaked perhaps so far. That's if you're using 12-19,000 barrels a day. Look at the high end of that. That becomes 798,000 gallons a day. That's 29 million gallons. That's about 44 Olympic size pools with the Gulf oil disaster. Compare that now to the Exxon Valdez that's 11 million gallons and 17 Olympic size pools full of oil dumped in to the area. The economic damage of the oil to the oil industry, to tourism, to fishing, to shipping, some $1.6 billion, so far, and that is damage that is still being tallied here because we don't know the extent or how long this is going to last.

The numbers overall, quite frankly, are pretty staggering, and they continue to mount here. As these days unfold, 39 days so far, it's simply impossible to know what the ultimate damage will be. But if you look at these government statistics, it means we are already beyond Exxon Valdez, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and let's talk about, you know, many of us are shareholders without even really knowing about it.

ROMANS: That's right. I mean, you might not know it. You know, there are talks of boycotting. There are talks of, you know, trying to use other gasoline suppliers and to fill up your car. Look, there are a lot of ways that you depend on this company quite frankly and you might have it in your 401(k). There are big mutual funds, many of them from vanguard, for example, who have this holding in their mutual funds. The Vanguard Windsor II Fund is one of them. There are several others. The fidelity diversified international fund, a lot of big mutual fund names have holdings in BP.

So, there are many Americans in the retirement who are probably an investor and a shareholder, quite frankly, in this company. And remember, sometimes on the market, this oil is also -- the gasoline is comingled with other brands and other suppliers. So, you just, in some cases, don't even know what it is you're putting in your gas tank, but I think, Fredricka, the bottom line, when you look at these numbers, it's pretty clear that we are geared as a society to suck this stuff out of the ground, not necessarily try to plug the hole that it came out from. So, it's a very interesting challenge, both economically and both scientifically, to try to reverse the trend which is usually we're just trying to get this stuff out of the ground so this country can run on.

WHITFIELD: Christine Romans, thanks so much from New York. Appreciate that.

All right. John Hofmeister is the former president of Shell oil, and he talked with Larry King just last night. One of Larry's questions to him was, is this spill a terrible mistake or a crime?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HOFMEISTER, FMR. SHELL OIL PRESIDENT: I think this is a combination of horrible human judgment gone bad. We don't know exactly all the causes yet. There is a right of due process in the way in which this should be investigated, but I think the president's decision to stop all drilling was unnecessary. They just inspected all the rigs since the blowout. All the rigs passed inspection.

I think it's a panicky decision to shut all drilling down to label every oil company as though it was the deep water horizon. I just think that is a mistake, and it sends the wrong signal. And it sends pink slips to thousands of people who through no fault of their own are doing their job according to government regulations. That is, to me, an extreme decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hofmeister said when he ran Shell, his company, along with the coast guard, practiced responses to spills. He also said that it is the government's job overall to protect the water and the shore.

In the meantime, President Barack Obama has defended his administration's response to the spill, and he's heading to the Louisiana coast today. Let's talk more about that with CNN's chief political correspondent and "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley.

All right, Candy. You know, the president said that, you know, he's making his way to the Gulf. This is the second time around. Why might this trip be different?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it might not. I mean, what you're seeing today is the pictures that go with yesterday's news conference. And that is, I'm in charge, I'm responsible. I worry about this in the morning. I worry about this at night. I meet about it. So, here are the pictures. He's going to go down. I mean, let's face it. He could get a briefing about what's going on down there sitting in the oval office. But if you go down there, you have the picture of the father George Bush used to say, I care.

And that's important to this administration right now because, increasingly, they've been under fire, even from Democrats, particularly, in the Gulf region saying he seems completely disengaged in this. This is the president's way of showing that he is engaged. So, I think that's what you're -- will it make a difference? I think probably not a huge difference, but it is a start for a president who has begun to take some big hits on this.

WHITFIELD: At the same time while, you know, the president is engaged, he also said during that press conference yesterday that this is still BP's responsibility to clean it up. It's BP who's going to pay for all of this, et cetera. And he also, though, said the federal government, the resources cannot compete with the oil industries resources, with BP's resources, and so, in a strange way, there's a bit of a contradiction because the White House says, we're in charge, but at the same time, they're still leaving it up to BP because they have, you know, superlative resources in order to address this problem.

CROWLEY: I mean the bottom line, the experts on this are in the industry. Regardless of how you feel BP has performed on this or what they did prior to this that may or may not have caused this leak into the Gulf. You still, nonetheless, are left with a private industry that knows more about this sort of thing than the federal government.

So you are right, we are kind of splitting hairs here. Is the President saying, they're responsible but we're in charge? They don't do anything unless we say ok. But, if the experts say we need to do this, it's hard to imagine the federal government would say, let's not do that.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

CROWLEY: So I think it seems like that there's also, I think with the cleanup, that's where the federal government may come more into play. That's where they could summon, one assumes, any number of military boats or skimmers.

We are being told that there aren't any boats down there. And you're thinking, well, really? I mean, shouldn't there be -- shouldn't somebody be picking up this oil at some point, trying to skim it? So I think the cleanup is a little easier for the federal government to be more involved.

But when you're talking about the technicalities of trying to plug this leak in the Gulf, that has to be left up to the oil industry so the President sort of set himself up as the overseer on that.

WHITFIELD: The President also saying there's going to be a clearing of house or cleaning up the house so to speak, we already know that the Minerals Management Services Director was fired yesterday. There might be other heads to roll. Is it something that's going to be the focal point of "STATE OF THE UNION" this weekend for you?

CROWLEY: Certainly, the oil spill and what's going on there has been our focus ever since it started. Certainly it's been a part of the show and it we will be.

And we're going to have Senator Vitter from down there to talk about it. We also have Senator Jim Webb from Virginia, one of those who has been very pro oil drilling who now says he believes in the moratorium until we find out what exactly went wrong here.

But beyond that, we're also going to talk, it's Memorial Day weekend, and we have the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, Admiral Mullen who will join us, talking about any member of the trouble spots in the world, his personal reflections on Memorial Day. So, a packed show on a couple of issues.

WHITFIELD: Candy Crowley thanks so much from Washington.

CROWLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Again, watch Candy this weekend, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY", Sunday 9:00 a.m. Eastern this holiday weekend.

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WHITFIELD: Oh, you recognize that tune, so "Sex and The City 2" is out this weekend and the sequel has Carrie and her crew packing up their stilettos and heading to Abu Dhabi. But the movie may never actually hit the screens there.

Senior editor of the Middle Eastern Affairs, Octavia Nasr, is here to explain why. So, you know, it's interesting, so they pretended really to be shooting this in Abu Dhabi. They were actually shot in Morocco, correct?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, MIDEAST AFFAIRS: Correct.

WHITFIELD: And this movie won't make air in many places throughout the Middle East. Why?

NASR: Well, first of all, they tried to shoot it in Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi said no. So they were banned from shooting the movie in Abu Dhabi. That's why they went to Morocco, in North Africa basically and shot it there.

So now the movie is banned. Why -- because of the title and because of the topic. This is something that many people don't know about the Middle East. Governments still control -- in most of the Middle East governments control what people see on their big screens and even, even, when you talk about home entertainment, when you talk about release of DVDs.

So some movies are shown, no problem. Others are censored in the sense that scenes are cut out of certain movies and these scenes can be -- can have sexual content, they can have drugs, bad language, topics that are --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: -- considered vulgar by the government. So -- so a range of reasons why a movie is censored.

WHITFIELD: But unlike some of the movies that are being edited and allowed to be shown, even if there may be sex, violence, drugs, et cetera, the difference here is the name "sex" is in the title and thereby they felt like we're not going to edit because it's already suggestive and everyone --

NASR: Of course.

WHITFIELD: -- gets what it's about.

NASR: Of course and then, think about the marketing of it, think about you know, these billboards, promoting --

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WHITFIELD: "Sex and the City".

NASR: Exactly, how are you going to do that? So basically the easiest way out is to ban the entire movie.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: And the thing is about the Middle East is that, you know, it is so varied. You talk about -- sometimes you say the oh, the Arab world as if it's one, it's uniform, it's the same but it's not. You have some --

WHITFIELD: Each country will handle things differently.

NASR: Really. I mean, some -- some are very open, others are very closed. And -- and it's up to the governments usually to decide which -- which is really -- I mean the sad reality of the Middle East -- of the Arab Middle East is that there is no real democracy in any of these countries.

So at the end of the day governments decide what you should see --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: -- and what you shouldn't see; what's good for you, what's not good for you.

WHITFIELD: But what's interesting in the end is a lot of these households still have like satellite televisions, so maybe you can't go to the movie theater to see "Sex and the City" or "Brokeback Mountain" or anything else but if you've got satellite TV then maybe you're able to see it, if you're in any one of those countries, right?

NASR: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: And people see it. So I'm only surprised to hear people say, "Oh, my favorite show is "Sex and the City." And I'm like, "How did you watch it? Where do you see it?" Satellite, satellite TV is (INAUDIBLE) everywhere including in the most conservative of countries in the Arab world, you know like Saudi Arabia or Kuwait. WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: No problem, you have a satellite dish you can watch.

And also people travel and they buy the DVDs elsewhere.

WHITFIELD: Right.

NASR: So it's a joke, you know. When you think about it you say why don't you complain about it? Some people are used to it. This is the way it is. You just live with it. And -- and some countries are more lenient, others are more strict, sometimes countries will ban based on religion --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: -- in one country, in another country it might not be a problem at all. So it's really hard to say, one movie, like I quickly ask people on Twitter saying, "Is the movie showing?"

Bahrain, Oman, it's showing.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NASR: Jordan, it is show, Lebanon, showing. Most probably Egypt is going to be showing. But people, you know, are not up in arms about it. "Well, no problem, this is how it is, we get used to it."

WHITFIELD: Well, we -- well we know at least this weekend in this country a lot of people will be seeing "Sex and the City" and they'll be blogging and talking about it and perhaps reaching a lot of folks in other country who may not be able to see it for themselves.

Octavia Nasr thanks so much. It's good to see you.

NASR: It's good to see you as always.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Of course, pretty busy day here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's a look at the stories that we're working on for the next hour. We begin with Kiran Chetry who is in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

CHETRY: Hey there, Fredricka. Yes. We're here. This place is supposed to be playing host to thousands of tourists. Instead the President is going to be coming today to assess firsthand all of the damage, because of this oil spill. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to hear from local officials about what they say needs to be done.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill where Congress took two significant steps to allow gay men and women serving in the Military to serve openly, for the very first time. I'll have more on that in the next hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam in New York where we're following prices at the pump. Thousands of barrels of oil are still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. So does this mean that we'll soon see gas prices go higher? Fred, will have more on that in the next hour here.

WHITFIELD: All right. And just in time for the big driving season of the holiday, summer holiday. Thanks so much, Stephanie and everyone.

Also ahead, when the blast ripped apart the oil rig it ripped apart families as well. Eleven workers died as the oil began gushing out. Now the victims' family members are testifying on Capitol Hill. Coming up, we're talking to one worker's father.

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