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Top Kill Maneuver: 'Some Success,' No Solution; Critics Say President Obama Not Doing Enough Regarding Oil Spill; Oil Workers Getting Sick
Aired May 28, 2010 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And again, we're at the top of the hour here now. Want to kind of reset this thing we are keeping an eye on in the Gulf Coast right now.
There are several things happening, including the president is in the Gulf Coast right now, in Louisiana. He is taking a look at what's happening in that entire region with this oil spill.
The president expected to come out at any moment. We had been expecting the president of the bottom of the hour, so 30 minutes ago, a little behind the schedule, but, still, when he comes out, you will hear from him live. So that can happen at any moment.
Expecting to get some kind of an update from the president. Maybe he got an update about what's happening in the efforts to possibly cap off, to stop that oil from going out into the Gulf of Mexico.
There you see the president on one of the beaches there, along with the now retired Admiral Thad Allen, who is still, even though he retired just a few days ago, he is still in charge of the effort. That's a heck of a way to go out on your career, to take care of this huge mess that they have in the Gulf.
Again, you'll hear from the president in just a moment.
Our Candy Crowley, also David Mattingly standing by for us to talk about the political fallout, one thing. But also, there's a huge economic and ecological happening fallout in the Gulf, as well.
Candy, I'm going to ask you, like I said just a moment ago, about some of that political fallout, and the fact that some Democrats are coming out. We'll get to that in a second.
But I want David first to give everyone -- here were are at the top of the hour -- the update about this top kill method. How are the efforts going on the top kill, David, right now?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The only insight we get today is from BP's CEO, Tony Hayward. And he tells us that through the two steps of this operation that they've taken so far, that they have made progress. It's some of the most upbeat language I've heard BP use since that disaster began. They said there was some success when they first tried to pump that heavy liquid, that mud, under heavy pressure, down into the well. The idea is to pump that liquid down, so they push the oil down into the well and then seal it off with cement. They said they saw some success with that.
Then, the second step, they were trying to put solid material in there as well to give that mud some sort of footing, where they could push down even better. That's called the junk shot.
They attempted the junk shot last night, they found some success by doing that, as well, we're told. And then they were stepping back again to evaluate. And Tony Hayward said that they would then, again, sometime today, begin pumping that heavy liquid again into the system that they have down there to push that oil down.
The only clues we have right now to what's going on is to watch that plume that's coming out of the top of the blowout preventer that they have down there. That blowout preventer is a huge five-story- tall device that failed to cut off the flow of oil and stop this disaster from happening over a month ago.
Now what we're seeing is the kink in the riser tube where it's sort of broken, and some -- before, we were watching black clouds of oil and streams of White natural gas pouring out of there. Well, now we're seeing what looks like the cloud of mud, and BP has confirmed that there is that mud solution that they're using.
They say it's nontoxic, it's water-soluble. It's coming out the top. At the very least, it is obscuring the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, sort of diluting it somewhat to keep it from coming out.
And while they're pumping that liquid in there -- and this is the good news that we received -- as they're pumping that liquid mud into that system, they are actually blocking the oil from escaping. So, for the first time since this disaster began, they have, at least temporarily at times, stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
What we're waiting to find out next is if BP can come out and say that they are now having the success that they needed and have the optimism that they can pull this off. Tony Hayward was telling us it could be 24 to 48 hours, still, before they can find out or say for sure if this top kill is going to work and they effectively kill this well.
HOLMES: OK. Candy, I'm coming to you, I promise.
But a point -- and I want to say that again, David -- we don't know if it's a complete success yet. But you just said something very important that maybe we're not reiterating enough here. And the emphasis is that for the time being, according to BP, there is not oil going into the Gulf of Mexico from this well.
MATTINGLY: We haven't confirmed yet that BP has started pumping that liquid back in there. When Tony Hayward talked to us, he said they were going to reattempt that sometime later today. They haven't confirmed yet that they are doing it.
But while they are pumping that liquid mud, that heavy liquid under heavy pressure, while they are pumping it, they are obscuring the -- they are stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, because, in a sense, they are trying to drown this well. That heavy liquid is pushing that oil back down into the well, and they hope to be able to pump enough of that mud in there to sustain that, sort of create a plug, and then cap it over with cement.
They haven't gotten to the cement stage yet because they haven't been able to determine if they can get enough mud down there in that well to hold that oil at bay. So, this is the wrestling match that's going on right now. But like I was telling you, as they're pumping this mud, they are stopping that oil. So, at least temporarily, we're getting a little bit of relief here.
HOLMES: That is relief, and that is good news and a good sign at a time over the past 40 days we have been waiting for some kind of good news or a good sign that something might work. So that was important. We appreciate you clearing that up, David.
Candy, I told you I was coming back to you. I appreciate you holding on with me there.
But we were talking a moment ago about the president and this steady drumbeat of possibly the president, the administration not doing enough. We're starting to hear it now from some Democrats, including some very vocal and some very animated and some very high- profile Democrats. We're talking about James Carville here, who is very passionate about the region.
Now, the president is getting the criticism, but how much does it hurt to have somebody like a James Carville or other prominent Democrats come out so forcefully that this president is not doing enough?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that some of these Democrats -- and James isn't the only one, but he certainly has been the most vocal, or certainly the most colorfully vocal of the critics talking about the president's lackadaisical approach to this -- I think they would tell you that they're trying to help him, that they're seeing it from a viewpoint that perhaps the White House isn't.
I mean, we have seen friends of presidents before go out and say something in order to try to push the White House. So this is not a permanent break. This is just a, hey, you need to get on the stick here and come on down.
So it certainly helps move the president, if it is Democrats criticizing. And I think just to a certain extent, it also moves the public, because one expects Republicans to criticize the president. But when his friends start to do it, the public kind of looks and thinks, well, there is something to this.
So, it certainly does hurt, but I think in the long run, James would argue with you that he's trying to protect the president here by getting him down, in addition to protecting the coast, but trying to get him to engage in this more than he has been engaged, at least as far as James sees it.
HOLMES: And certainly James Carville is one, and many people in the region, but he is one who is certainly passionate about that area, his home, where he calls it his home. No doubt about it.
Candy, thank you.
And again, to our viewers, we have been standing by. And I haven't been blowing smoke here. We have been stand big since the bottom of the hour, last hour, waiting on the president.
We had expected him to come out at 1:30 Eastern Time to speak. We're running a little behind here from the schedule, at least, comments. But still, any minute, the president could come out.
He has been meeting with governors in the region, also local officials, the parish presidents, as well, meeting with folks in the region and taking a tour as well of the Gulf Coast. When the president does step out to make his comments and possibly give us an update about what's happening in the efforts to cap off that well, we will bring that to you live.
Also, we've been hearing a lot about the effects of the oil on the wildlife in the Gulf. But we're also now hearing about the effects on the people who are trying to clean up the mess.
Questions are being asked, including why didn't BP give them masks to protect themselves? That's coming up.
Ten minutes past the hour. Again, standing by, waiting to hear from the president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And again, a reminder. We're standing by to hear from the president at any moment. He's in the Gulf Coast region. Expecting some comments to give us an update on what he saw and on the efforts to cap that leaking oil.
Also, we know now that we're starting to see that some cleanup workers in the Gulf are getting sick. Seven have had to go to the hospital, complaining of headaches, nausea, dizziness.
Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joining us here now.
This sounds pretty serious. And I was talking to you before we got on the air here. It seemed like, ok, of course, this nasty, toxic stuff is all around. Clearly, there would be some bad air.
You should be wearing a mask, right?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: BP says not necessary.
HOLMES: That's the thing.
COHEN: Yes.
HOLMES: It's one thing not to provide them, but then to specifically say you don't need them, that's different.
COHEN: Right. They said you don't need them. They said we tested the air, presumably, like right here, where people are doing some work, and they said it was fine, it was not dangerous. And they said if there is an area where we think you would need a mask, we tried to -- that's the word they used -- they said, we were trying to keep you out of those dangerous areas.
So, if you take a look at this, here are some crews. You'll notice no masks, you'll notice no masks. And this is vapors from that kind of stuff. That's what they're breathing in.
HOLMES: What is this? I mean, how nasty is this gunk they are breathing in? We see this, that's one thing. But that's a bunch of stuff in the air.
COHEN: Right. It's what goes into the air.
And so what we do know is that what's in here is a combination of probably a lot of things, but two of them are oil and dispersants, because, remember, they put the dispersants in there. And here is what -- we looked up the label for these dispersants, for these chemicals. And what we found out is that on the label, from the company that makes dispersants, they clearly say, "Avoid breathing vapors."
I mean, it is right there. It is right there on the label.
And then, if you go to the Environmental Protection Agency, and you ask them, well, what about breathing in oil vapors, how is that for your health? And they clearly say that oil gives off toxic vapors.
HOLMES: OK.
COHEN: OK.
HOLMES: Now, what's BP -- I mean, that's the part I'm hung up on, because it's one thing just not to hand them out to the workers, but to specifically tell them they don't need them, that's something else. It sounds like they're lining themselves up for even more litigation down the road then they're already going to be facing.
COHEN: Well, they -- you know, I can't sort of explain their thought process. All I know is what they have told us, and they have told us two things.
One, we have tested the air, you know, sort of around these cleanup crews, and it's not dangerous. And if there is an area where we think people would need a mask, we are trying to keep these crews away from those areas. That's what they told us.
HOLMES: How serious do we know the condition of these seven that went to the hospital? Do we know how bad off they are?
COHEN: We don't know yet. We know that they went in with headaches, dizziness, nausea. I've heard from other families shortness of breath, those kinds of symptoms.
HOLMES: Do we know if they're starting to hand out -- people are starting to use masks down there now?
COHEN: I've talked to some of the wives of the workers, and they say that their husbands are being told not to use them.
HOLMES: Still being told not to.
COHEN: Being told not to use them.
HOLMES: OK.
Elizabeth Cohen, I know you are going to stay on top of that.
COHEN: That's right.
HOLMES: But that's a head-scratcher right there, why you wouldn't wear a mask.
Elizabeth, thank you so much.
Again, a reminder. We're waiting to hear from the president. He's in the Gulf Coast region.
We'll take his comments live when he steps out to that podium. You see we have been waiting on him for about 40 minutes or so, but, still, the president trying to get the best update he can. He's going to come out and update us, hopefully, and maybe some more good news. We had heard at least some positive signs that maybe this top kill method is starting to work.
Well, of course this is the Memorial Day Weekend we're heading into. We're going to check in on a CNN Hero saving lives and spirits of struggling U.S. vets.
Roy Foster is going to be with us live. Don't go too far away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Once again, a reminder. We are awaiting to hear from the president of the United States. He is in the Gulf Coast region, taking a look at just how much damage is being done by that oil spill.
The president, expecting him at literally any minute. He can step out. And when he does, we will bring his comments to you live.
(NEWSBREAK) HOLMES: Well, we want to talk about Roy Foster right now. His mission was borne out of his own struggles. An Army veteran battling alcohol and drug addiction, he had trouble finding the help he needed. When he finally did get clean, he was determined to provide that help to his struggling brothers in arms.
And for all his good works, he was one of CNN's top ten Heroes last year. Take a look. .
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please stand up and honor CNN Hero Roy Foster.
ROY FOSTER, CNN HERO: I was overwhelmed at the tribute.
There will be no man left behind as long as we are this nation.
To be honored in something that you love doing, showcased internationally, was tremendous. And it's still reaping benefits as we speak today.
We did come up with Stand Down House 10 years ago to provide assistance and services for homeless veterans. But every day they would bounce to another place, go to the hospital, go to the VA, trying to meet their criteria. It's a natural run-around.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as we mark our military veterans' sacrifices this Memorial Day Weekend, we thought we would bring in Roy to give us an update on his efforts.
Roy, good to see you, young fellow. How are you doing?
FOSTER: I am quite well today. Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, good.
Tell me, how much has your life changed since that whole CNN's Heroes experience?
FOSTER: How much has it changed? You know, it's very good, the CNN Heroes project. It opened so many doors.
Now, how has it changed? My wife says, "Look, you better slow it down." But I convince her each day that, hey, there's work to be done.
HOLMES: It's a good effort, it's a good cause. So you're saying that exposure you got, it really brought in more support and you're becoming busier, and that's a good thing.
FOSTER: It is a good thing. It actually opened the door so that we can expand the services to assist our female veterans, as well as families that are in need, as well, which is good. HOLMES: Roy, are we doing any better of taking care of our veterans these days?
FOSTER: I believe we are doing better in the VA. It's just so many.
They're being overwhelmed. And, you know, the community support, we are the ones that are filling the gaps with these services in order to -- you know, just to assist in that overload. So, it is much better than when I was discharged years ago.
HOLMES: Now, I think I kind of am hearing you on what you just said there. Would you say it's only so much the VA can do, and it's going to take more people like you to fill those gaps?
FOSTER: You're absolutely correct, because there are windows, whereas these veterans are in need of basic services in the community. And community services actually provide more assistance than anyone might really understand or know about.
HOLMES: And Roy, I don't want to downplay the need out there, but a lot of the stuff seems like it's simple stuff. Like, give me a ride to the VA hospital, something that rudimentary. Does it really seem like so much of the problems we have can be fixed by people stepping up and offering, like you said, the most basic of services?
FOSTER: They most certainly can. It's very easy to offer a bus pass up to one of our veterans to transition to wherever they need to go. And just the basic services that are out there.
Just that gap where they might need a little assistance before they get into school or they might need a little assistance before they move into permanent housing. This is what the community-based programs are doing. And I assure you, it is definitely meeting the needs that are out there.
HOLMES: How are those needs different, just to wrap up here with you? The needs different from when you got out of the service to today, with young men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you find the needs are pretty much the same?
FOSTER: The needs are pretty much the same. But at that point in time, don't forget, when I got out, the world really didn't want to hear about the Vietnam veterans. It was very hostile.
At this point in time, it is not hostile for the young men and women, but they are definitely unwilling to accept the label of being broken, incapacitated or PTSD. They really don't want that label.
Therefore, they're kind of lingering, you know, in order to -- before they go in to get services. And that's one of the community needs bases, what provide. We can assist them in equipping them to understand what conditions they are faced with. There are ways out. And the VA definitely has many services that can actually help them.
HOLMES: Well, good to catch up with one of our CNN Hero alum. And despite what your wife might say, we're glad that you are busier, because there is a need out there.
Is she with you there, by chance?
FOSTER: She isn't?
HOLMES: She is not? OK.
FOSTER: She is not.
HOLMES: OK. Well, tell her it's a great thing. We are glad that you are busier. Great work that you're doing.
You enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend, sir. Thanks so much, Roy. We'll see you down the road, buddy.
FOSTER: Thank you, now.
HOLMES: All right.
Roy Foster, one of our CNN Heroes. Good to catch up with him heading into this Memorial Day Weekend.
Well, again, we are keeping an eye on, still, the breaking story. It's been a breaking story for the past month, really.
We could get some kind of an update from the president at any moment about what he got as an update from BP officials, and also the governors on the Gulf Coast and other representatives about just how close we are to possibly seeing an end to this oil at least leaking into the Gulf. Of course, the other situation is trying to keep it away from that precious, precious ecosystem along the Gulf Coast.
When the president steps out to make his comments -- he is there in the Gulf Coast region -- we will take those comments live.
A quick break here. We are right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: About to head "Off the Radar" with Chad here, but want you to know, on our radar, the president, again, when he steps out to speak here in just a moment from the Gulf Coast, you will hear from him.
But "Off the Radar" today, a lot of people talking about beaches.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The beach.
HOLMES: The beach. A lot of people worried about the beaches along the Gulf Coast. And we need to remind people, the president said yesterday only three beaches in the entire Gulf Coast right now are closed. The rest are open.
Go visit, please. They need that.
MYERS: They do need you to visit. Have you been to Florida beaches? Have you seen this sand?
HOLMES: Yes.
MYERS: This is the best sand, literally, that I've seen in America. I haven't done a lot of West Coast beaches, but it's amazing, sugar-white. And to see or to think about what that could look like for years to come just kind of gets you.
HOLMES: But we're not there yet.
MYERS: We are not there yet.
HOLMES: Not close, really.
MYERS: And if you then want to go on to our Web site, you can see the top 10 beaches in America, two of which are in the Gulf Coast. But they are still opened and they're not affected yet, thank goodness. OK?
But the number one beach -- we're going to start with number one, because it's just easy. Right?
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: I know you're supposed to --
HOLMES: Count down, yes.
MYERS: Yes. Countdown is overrated.
Let's just go to the best one -- Cooper's Beach in New York.
HOLMES: In New York.
MYERS: In South Hampton.
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: You've heard of the Hamptons.
HOLMES: The Hamptons. Everybody goes to the Hamptons.
MYERS: Of course you've heard of it. So, the best beach in the country. Mansions along the beach, not a gum wrapper to be found. The sand dunes are perfect there, and the beach is probably 100 yards wide.
HOLMES: OK. Is that what makes it -- what's the criteria for these best beaches? Because it has -- there's not a gum wrapper? I don't mind a gum wrapper every now and again. I don't need a mansion to have a nice beach.
MYERS: Well, actually, it's the amount of access the public can get.
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: For this beach, anyway. The amount of access the public can get into that spot.
HOLMES: Can I get on that beach?
MYERS: You can get on that beach.
HOLMES: I can get on that beach. OK.
MYERS: I'm not saying, you know -- hey, look, we got it. There it is.
HOLMES: Oh, there we go.
MYERS: Now that doesn't look so bad, does it? The mansion, that's probably, you know, I don't know, $45 zillion.
HOLMES: OK. That's nice.
MYERS: A hundred square feet or so on the beach. That's all you need.
I do love it when they put those snow fences on the beach, you know, and it catches the sand. That's so romantic to me. That was one of the things that I painted -- I'm not a big painter, but I painted these snow fences when --
HOLMES: Look at you!
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: All right, number two. Number two, Sarasota, Florida, Siesta Beach, Florida.
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: Yes. Great sand there. People actually go to the Siesta area to put the sand in a bottle and take it home. Now, if everybody does that in the world, there won't be any beach left.
HOLMES: It's going to be a problem. OK.
MYERS: But it is clearly one of the finest --
HOLMES: Is that it?
MYERS: Yes.
HOLMES: That's gorgeous.
MYERS: Siesta Beach. And if you go there, too, there are -- up and down that stretch of the Florida coast, some of the shells that you can find along there are spectacular, as well. I know -- I'm not a shell collector, but you can find sand dollars, you can find all the kind of things up and down the stretch. HOLMES: We are learning a lot about you, you're collecting shells and you're painting, obviously.
MYERS: I have a lot of spare time on my hand here.
Coronado Beach, everybody has heard of this one. A lot of pretty people are there. You know -- and a lot of pretty views. There you go. How about that? Coronado Beach, it's subtropical, it's Mediterranean, you have the tile roofs on the houses. Literally, it's like, wow. If you picked me up from Kansas and put me there, it would look like a whole other country. No question.
Number four, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, kind of sticking way out there onto the cape. The left side would be the ocean clearly. The right side would be the bay, and kind of up toward the vegetation.
HOLMES: What makes this one special?
MYERS: It sticks out, all the way out into the Atlantic Ocean and it's hard to get to. It's a long drive to get to. It's a national sea shore. It has the best board surfing, they say, because of the way the waves curl up here on the coast. All the way from the cape, all the way up and people surf up and down the East Coast, but they're not like west coast waves. West Coast surfers come to the Atlantic Ocean, and go -- uh, that's a wave?
And number five, Main Beach, again back to the Hamptons. You know, they have the most money and get the best beaches -- Don.
HOLMES: I've got to get to the Hamptons, apparently. Learned a lot about Chad just now.
All right, we are hoping to learn a lot more about what's happening in the Gulf Coast where most of the beaches, folks, are open. You can go, it's OK. The president is right there right now, though, looking at right now some of the parts that are having a tough time, quite frankly. The president has been there for the past several hours, expecting him to come out shortly and make some comments. He has been getting an update, maybe he will pass one to us about maybe how effective that top kill has been going today. But when the president comes out to speak, you will hear his comments live.
Quick break. We are right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Once again, a reminder, we are standing by, waiting to hear from the president any minute. We were expecting him about an hour ago, but he is getting updates and taking a view of how badly the Gulf Coast area has been damaged by this oil spill. Maybe get an update from the president about how this top kill method is going to possibly plug the leak. When the president steps out, you will hear from him live.
Also, for now we want to go a little trekking. It's something we do here every single day, do some "Globe Trekking." And today we take us from the U.S. -- we'll get out of here -- and trek the globe over to a spot you have been hearing a lot about lately, North Korea, the Korean peninsula is where we'll start. A check of today's efforts by China to cool the tempers between North and South Korea. Before we do that, let's give you a little Korea 101, if you will.
The map you're seeing here shows the division between the north and south. It's the so-called DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone. To the south, you have the democratic South Korea; to the north, the one-man dictatorship of North Korea, really one of the most secretive and mysterious countries on the planet.
Despite the name, the DMZ, there's the most heavily fortified border in the world. Give you some pictures here to give you an idea of what we're talking about.
On either side, you have nearly 2 million troops facing each other. Standing with South Korean forces, more than 28,000 American troops. If the North ever were to attack across the DMZ, Americans would be among the first to die and the U.S. would be at war with North Korea.
All of this is why former President Bill Clinton called the DMZ the scariest place on earth. Even more so now, since North Korea is a nuclear power.
Ever since the end of the World War, North Korea has been ruled by one family. First is was the man you see here, Kim Il-Song, the country's founder. He's what they call their "Great Leader." The family dynasty continued at his death in 1984 when his son, current ruler Kim Jong-Il, assumed in 1994, that's when he assumed power. You see him in the pictures, we just showed you. He's wearing the customary jumpsuit you've seen, talking to his troops, reviewing his troops. North Koreans call him their "Dear Leader". He apparently surrendered stroke two years ago, and now all that brings us to today and the current crisis.
South Korea and the U.S. blaming the North for the torpedo attack in March that sank the South Korean warship that you're seeing. Forty-six, mostly young, mostly draftees into the South Korean Navy, they all died. North Korea denies the allegations and this week threatened war if South Korea attempts to retaliate.
Some analysts believe Kim ordered the attack as a way of getting the military to accept his son as his successor.
This crisis, one of the main reasons for today's visit to South Korea by the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. If his country -- if any country has any influence really over the North, it's China because that's really considered the North's only true ally. Wen told the South Koreans that China will not defend whoever carried out the attack, however, stopped short of blaming North Korea. He says China will make formal decisions after reviewing international probes and reactions.
South Korea and the U.S. need China to come on board, because as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, it could block any attempt to impose sanctions on the North.
Again, that's just our first part of our trek across the globe. Our trek continues now, we'll head to another spot that saw violence today. We're going now to Pakistan. Today, suspected Islamic militants attacked two mosques packed with hundreds of worshippers. The mosques belonged to a minority sect in the Eastern city of Lahore and CNN's Reza Sayah joins us now from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
Reza, hello to you, and give us the update about this attack. Again, the numbers kind of kept going up, but what's the latest on the number of dead and number injured?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J., just an awful, awful day in Lahore, and one of the deadliest episodes of sectarian violence that we have seen here in Pakistan in recent years. According to police, 80 worshippers were killed, another 78 injured when five gunmen, some of them strapped with suicide vests, attacked two separate mosques simultaneously.
These mosques both belonging to the Muslim minority Ahmadi sect. This is a sect in Pakistan that is so despised that even Pakistan's constitution has declared them non-Muslims.
Briefly, let's tell you about the attacks. They took place in the middle of Friday prayers, a time when mosques are usually packed. Police say two of attackers charged one of the mosques with motorcycles, went inside, killed dozens of people. Those two attackers were eventually captured by police in less than an hour.
In the other mosque, about five miles away, the face-off between these attackers and police lasted for at least three hours. They were inside as well according to police, slaughtering dozens of people, eventually police moved in. When they moved in, these suicide attackers blew themselves up.
Following these attacks, outrage in these neighborhoods. Television here, local television, showed one man being beaten while led away by police. Local reports identified him as one of the attackers.
So T.J., emotions running high on an awful day in Lahore.
HOLMES: An awful day like you said.
Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad in Pakistan. Reza, we appreciate you, we appreciate the update as always. And that wraps up our trek across the globe for today.
Meanwhile, back here in the U.S., what we have been keeping an eye on sometime, the situation in the gulf. The president is in the region, and we are expecting comments from the president. When he steps out, we will hear from him, live.
Don't go anywhere, stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back.
To give you an idea of what we're focusing on now, the Gulf Coast in particular, where President Obama has been the past several hours getting a tour of the Gulf Coast. We're expecting to hear from him at any moment. We will bring that to you live.
Also, back in Washington, the House is scheduled to vote today on repealing the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for gays in the military. This is part of a larger defense policy bill. That same compromise also passed the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, but the full Senate still has to vote. No change can become official, however, until after a White House ordered review that's due in December.
Also, the White House acknowledging that it used former President Bill Clinton as a go-between last year to try to get Congressman Joe Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary. Sestak issued a statement a short time ago saying he turned down a job offer that would have allowed him to stay in the House. Sestak beat Arlen Specter in the primary last week.
Well, stay with us. "The Ed Henry Segment" is coming up. That segment is coming to you from Grand Isle, Louisiana, where he is covering the oil disaster. Also, we're standing by to hear from the president, once again. But right after the break, "The Ed Henry Segment."
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HOLMES: I want to pass along news we're just getting about Gary Coleman. We had been following the fact that he had been in the hospital, we are now getting word in fact Gary Coleman has died. You'll remember him from child stardom at least from the show, very popular show, "Different Strokes" but the age of 42.
He was in a Utah hospital, we heard he was in it a critical condition from some kind of brain hemorrhage, apparently suffered some injury from his home, according to a statement from his family. Now his family and friends were apparently by his side when he died. But the reports were for the past 24 hours he was the fact that he was slipping in and out of consciousness.
But Gary Coleman, a name and face that you will certainly remember from TV fame as a child star. But Gary Coleman, 42 years old, dead at the age of 42. We'll certainly be hearing more about exactly what happened to Gary Coleman. But again, a sad story to have to pass along to you about, really, a guy who was a very popular actor, certainly television actor. Age of 42, just 42, dead today. We're just getting that in.
I want to turn now back to what we've been keeping an eye on, the Gulf Coast and our Ed Henry. We have been talking to him throughout the past couple hours. Ed, we'll bring you in for "The Ed Henry Segment" today. I will ask you first of all, maybe you have gotten some kind of an update as well, but we were expecting to hear from the president a full hour and 15 minutes ago now. Is there any word about possibly what the holdup is? Of course, these things always go on time, but any idea when we might hear from the president now?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very little word. Interesting, our colleague, Dan Lothian, is in that group known as the pool, the small group of reporters traveling with the president just down the beach there. There is a Coast Guard facility, and Dan has been sending e-mails out saying they've gotten very little word on what has happened.
But we think it's because the president has been getting briefings from Coast Guard officials, as well as governors in the region. And perhaps, you know, that's just going on longer, frankly. Maybe he is getting more information. We don't know if it's positive updates, negative updates. We hope to find out as soon as the president comes out.
What we have been doing on the beach is taking a look at these -- you see these little tar pieces. It's basically oil mixed with sand, and they're just popping here on the beach. You can see them now dotting all along here on the sand -- hundreds, thousands of them, along the beach. Something the president was inspecting down on the other side of the beach a little while ago.
And if you look out on the water, we have been watching the waves coming in, gentle waves, but you'll see little brown dots coming in with it. It's not cooperating with me right now, maybe the waves will start coming in.
But we're -- interestingly, if you see out to the left, as well, there are some fish jumping out there and we have been watching them. They're snapper chasing mullets, and they're sort of having some fun. The wildlife, at least some of it, seems to be going on just fine and that's good news, obviously.
But when you see all of these little tar bombs coming through here, you have to wonder, are these little bits of oil exactly -- and you see how it just starts rubbing out on my hand, bit by bit, what it's doing to these beaches long term.
HOLMES: Yes, now, the president -- we talked certainly about this earlier, as well, just how powerful that image can be. The message is one thing, but it's very important for people to see the president there. I believe Candy Crowley was talking about this, seeing the president down there and showing that he cares.
What else can he possibly add to the message that we heard yesterday from the White House about his administration being in charge? What other message just besides the visual is the president hoping to bring today?
HENRY: I think it's those two points, as Candy was making, to show that the government really is taking charge and also the very simple message we used to see from Bill Clinton. Whenever there was sort of either a natural disaster or manmade disaster and he would say I feel your pain. People made fun of him for it, but he would connect with average people in regions like this saying, look, even though I'm in Washington, there's all this bureaucratic stuff going on, I -- just really feel what you're going through.
It's interesting, a little while ago, I mentioned this tar in my hand the oil and the sand mixed up, some of the comments the president made earlier when walking the beach. There was a reporter from "The New York Times" saying, look, I've seen this tar on normal beaches even when there's not an oil spill. How do we know this is from the oil spill and not just tar that's washed up? I've even seen it, the reporter said, it's popped up in my bathing suit. And the president made al little joke saying, I want to hear a little more about that tar in your bathing suit, maybe we'll hear about that sometime.
It was just an offhand moment, don't want to make too big of a deal out of it. But if George W. Bush made a comment like that along the beach after Katrina, you can imagine the criticism he might get. And I think those kind of little moments can trip a president up when they're trying to send the message that I get it, I'm here to feel your pain, and then there are these little moments that might take you off that stride just ever so slightly.
HOLMES: When you talk about little moments, did the president allow for a lot of time to interact with a lot of people who are being affected? The business owners down there, whether they own restaurants, whether it's the folks -- all those shrimpers, fishing boat captains, is he taking some time out to meet with them and hear from them while he's there?
HENRY: The straight answer is no. We have not seen any time for the president yet to actually meet with some of the fishermen, meet with restaurant owners, people really affected by this, maybe the average people on the ground and that could be a problem for him. Let's be clear, he's got more time here on the ground, he could add a stop when he's done with these briefings.
And also in fairness to him, these briefings, of course, are important to hear from not just average people, but the local governors here like Bobby Jindal, the republican governor here in Louisiana, to hear what they're saying, what they're seeing, what they're feeling, from their constituents on the ground. So some of that could be passed on to him.
But you would expect the president to at least have some direct time with people here on the ground, and he hasn't really done much of any of that at all. Again, he's got a little bit more time, we'll see.
When he's done, I am hoping to run over to the little part of the beach where he was down the way a little while ago, to see what people there think. Whether they think he spent enough time, whether there was enough interaction.
But so far, he has mostly just met with officials. So that could add to the challenge in terms of trying to connect with people, T.J.
HOLMES: All right, well we are, again, standing by waiting to hear from the president. Ed Henry, we appreciate hanging out with you over the past couple hours. We'll hear from you plenty, I'm sure, throughout the day.
Ed, good to see you as always. Thanks so much buddy.
Well taking a shot to fix the broken well. By now, you've heard this top kill, but what about junk shot? We'll explain.
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HOLMES: We told you we had been standing by to hear from the president. Looks like we might hear from him at any moment.
Let's go ahead and show that live picture we've been keeping an eye on, the podium there in the Gulf Coast. You see some of the other players starting to line up right now. A lot of those players are playing a role in trying to clean up the Gulf Coast, a part of this whole effort, many of them.
You see the retired Admiral Thad Allen -- retired yes, but this is his last project. He's going to stay on and direct this relief effort. Also, Governor Crist and Governor Jindal and other Gulf Coast governors, but they have been there with the president getting updates, getting an update on what's happening with this top kill effort, in particular, this latest effort that is at least starting to show some signs of some success.
This is really, what's happening right now, is the first sign over the past 40 days that maybe there's hope that something is working. Of course, this is the contingency plan to the contingency plan to the contingency plan, if you will. But still, something appears to be working, at least. Still, they're telling us, 60 to 70 percent chance that what they're trying right now, which a part of it is to fill this well with mud, they're jamming it with mud and then they're going to put cement on top of it trying to close it off all together.
That whole process is underway right now and we're hoping, hoping, everybody is hoping that maybe over the next 48 hours, according to BP, they will be able to know more about the success.
