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BP Press Conference; BP Continues to Try to Plug Oil Leak in Gulf of Mexico; School Teaches Children Financial Investment Practices Using Real Money; Interview With Ted Turner
Aired May 29, 2010 - 13:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. We are taking you straight to Louisiana right now, Fourchon Beach, and that is where you see the chief operating office of BP, Doug Suttles.
Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
DOUG SUTTLES, COO, BP: We need to make sure we get this front managed as efficiently and as effectively as we can ourselves and the Coast Guard are both bringing in additional resources. We're actually moving the people closer to the point where the oil is coming ashore to make sure that we have more time-out cleaning up and less time actually traveling back and forth to these locations.
We are continuing to look at better techniques, I can tell you the people who live in this region have some fantastic ideas of how to clean up the oil. They're very pragmatic, they're very practical, and there are things you can move on quickly. Our plans continue to try to bring those in as fast as we can.
The balance we have to strike is we don't want to create more harm in doing a clean-up than the oil creates on its own. So this is why we have to make sure we -- the things we're doing actually are effective at cleaning up the oil but don't create damage, for instance, to the marsh and the clean-up process.
Those are the things we're doing. We're creating forward operating basis. We are creating floating camps and setting up tent cities to bring workers closer to the place where we're doing the clean-up activities. And we'll continue to do that. We're doing this hand in hand with the Coast Guard. Many other federal agencies, but in particular the Coast Guard.
And I have to say I personally never worked with the Coast Guard like this before. But it's a heck of a group of men and women, very professional, very focused. Used to responding to emergencies, and they're a massive asset to this country and a massive asset as we try to clean this thing up.
I can tell you yesterday I was down at the site where the well is, and our efforts out there are making a big difference. I have flown over it many, many times since the very beginning and whether it's a collection of the oil on the seabed, whether it's the use of skimmers and booming, and the weather itself, we've actually had almost two weeks of good weather now.
And that means we can use all of our tools consistently for two weeks. And there is a lot less oil on the sea than there was. And that's important because if it gets away from us there, it ends up places like here and it can create much more damage. And it's much more difficult to clean up. So with that, I'll probably stop and I'm happy to take any of your questions.
QUESTION: The top kill, how is that progressing today?
SUTTLES: What we've been doing since our press conference yesterday is a series of pumping operations and monitoring operations. As we speak the team is assessing the results so far and trying to make a decision, should we continue with the operation or actually should we move to the cap.
And we've been doing that constantly since we started. And as soon as a decision is made, it's either successful or it's time to move to the next step, we'll tell you. We're going to have a press conference today at 4:00 when I can provide you another update.
QUESTION: Before we had the situation with the seven fishermen that required medical attention, we had fishing families asking us about respirators. We spoke to BP people about the opportunity program. They've told us that OSHA doesn't require it.
Fishing families are still asking that they get respirators and they are now complaining that BP is treating their family members like assets. Are you aware of any of this, respirators, do you have anything to say about that?
SUTTLES: I can say that both ourselves and people like OSHA and other government agencies, we've been EPA in particular, I should actually say, have been doing a lot of air monitoring. So we're monitoring not only at stations along the land. We've got about 20 percent of our air monitoring units on these vessels.
So far we haven't had any of what we call volatile or organic compounds, VOCs recorded. But we also know that people are reporting this nausea piece and we're actively investigating that with OSHA, with the Coast Guard in our own industrial people.
Actually those five fishing task forces VOO Task Forces we brought in while this is going on, we're trying to figure out what that was. We've looked at everything from the materials they are using, the chemicals involved, and the oil they're picking up to the food in the water. These people actually go out for days at a time and we've got to figure out what's causing it because clearly people have gotten sick and we need to figure out what we need to do to change that.
If that means they need respirator, we'll give them respirators. There won't be an issue with resources. I think what we do need to do is find the cause because right now as far as I know we haven't yet pinpointed what is causing this. Because we have a lot of people out on the water and this is actually so far at least been very rare for this to occur.
QUESTION: Keep footing the bill?
SUTTLES: Well, everything to do with this event so far is being paid for by BP. Our costs through this morning were about $940 million to date. I think a little over 100 of that was federal government spend, which we'll reimbursed.
QUESTION: Less oil on the surface of the water, tell us about that. Do you think that there's less coming out or simply you're skimming and recovery efforts are better? And also are you concerned about what's below the surface?
SUTTLES: Yes, I don't think the amount of oil coming out has changed. I don't believe, you know, we said many times you can't meter it or put a person down there to touch it. But just by watching it we don't believe it's changed. There may be more gas coming out than before. That's the only thing that visually appears to be happening. I think what has changed is, things like the riser insertion tool. We collected 22,000 barrels of oil with that tool. That's 22,000 barrels that didn't get spilled.
The fact that we've had two weeks of good weather, I mean, yesterday we were only able to do one burn offshore because we couldn't collect enough oil. Our skimming has -- its efficiency has gone way up because when the wave height is low the skimmers are much more efficient. They can collect as much as 50 percent of the fluid they bring in as oil where the seas are choppy it is about 10 percent. So I think that's the reason.
The subsea dispersant is making a big difference. These concerns about large amounts of oil floating underneath the sea, I mean, we have a major monitoring program going on with ourselves and NOAA and others. We're doing sampling. That sample data is available on the Internet. You can go to BP's website and find it and NOAA is trying to get their data up as well.
We should know that what people observe when they talk about these plumes is very, very minute concentrations of oil. We're talking about oil measured in parts per billion, very minute. And they're also talking about -- what they're looking for is lower oxygen levels than normal. Because that's an indication that the natural bacteria, the microbes is eating oil.
But even those measurements today actually show that those above the EPA minimums, the toxicity is well within the range. So we need to be seeing, is this actually doing what we want it to do, which is disperse this oil into very small droplets so that the microbes in the water actually eat the oil, which is an actual process, a natural bio degradation process.
I don't believe there's any scientific basis for that to accrue are we absolutely no measurement of that. Even near shore we've been doing things like setting crab traps with absorbent boom on the bottom to see if we are finding oil down there, we've been towing absorb boom down in the water column looking to see if there is oil there and we haven't found the oil.
We haven't found that there. What we will see though is I think these tar balls coming ashore and sometimes you'll see them in the waves. They will be caught up in the waves as they sweep to the shoreline.
QUESTION: Do you find it's their responsibility to take care of it?
SUTTLES: Absolutely. Everything to do with cleaning this thing up is our responsibility. We're going to do that.
QUESTION: You said you were assessing this spill. Does that mean you stopped you pumping the mud into the swell?
SUTTLES: I actually don't know if we're pumping right now or not. I've been in the air for a few hours flying around the spill. As we said yesterday, we've done periods of pumping mud, we've done periods where we monitored the well, we've actually pumped these junk shots and these other materials in.
And we've been doing that in intervals trying to determine if it's going to be successful and we said all along it may or may not. If it doesn't the next step would be to go to this lower marine riser package cap. That equipment is on station ready to go. And we've been prepping that all along in case we need to move to that option.
QUESTION: Closer to where you were yesterday at stopping the leak?
SUTTLES: Well, I wouldn't say that. I would like to say that but I wouldn't say that. I would say that, you know, since -- since day three of this event -- or day two when the rig sank and it was day three when we discovered the first leak on the seabed, we've been trying to stop this leak. We've been trying to do that. People want to know which technique is going to work. I don't know. It hasn't been done at these depths and that's why we have multiple options at this parallel.
QUESTION: Will it be today, tomorrow?
SUTTLES: Well I think what we said yesterday is we're looking at this continuously and we expected it to be done within the next two days, which would be through tomorrow. But I would stress we're not doing this alone. We have the minerals management service there; we have had Secretary Chu present, the Department of Energy. We're discussing this with Secretary Salazar.
We have government scientists in with us. Because we're trying to bring in the best minds to say if we believe this should work we should stay with it as long as it takes. We can actually produce a lot of drilling mud. That won't limit us. What we need to know is. Is it going to be successful and if we think it will, we'll continue. If we think it won't, it's time to move on to the next. QUESTION: The bottom line is you have no idea whether it's working or not?
SUTTLES: To date it hasn't yet stopped the flow. That's what I do know. What I don't know is if it ultimately will or not. We're going to keep at this until we either believe we see it work or we believe it won't work and then move to the next option.
The next phase of the plan is to go to this lower marine riser package cap, which is a containment device. And then the next attempt to stop the flow would likely be putting another bop on top of the existing blowout preventer.
Very difficult to predict. The reason we haven't done it to this date is we need diagnostic data to make sure we couldn't make the situation worse. That's been our philosophy since the beginning.
QUESTION: We heard that the robot was holding what looked like a hacksaw?
SUTTLES: What we're actually doing is preparing in case we decide to do the lower marine riser package cap, we are doing the prep work. Because we are trying to shorten the time sockets, all that equipment is offshore, most of it is on the seabed. As much activity we can do parallel we are. So that if we do have to go to it, we can do it as quickly as possible.
QUESTION: There have been some local suggestions that work crews at Grand Isle yesterday were simply window dressing because of the president's visit. Have you addressed that? Do you have a response to that?
SUTTLES: I find it very frustrating. First of all those first 300 people were out in the sun like you and I are right now. They worked hard yesterday, they worked a long day, and these people are typically working from 7:00 in the morning to 4:00 to 6:00 in the evening depending on the travel time.
We ought to respect what they do, we are trying to get more and more people to the beach front, and this was not window dressing. If you went there today you would find people, I just flew over, there are people working there today.
QUESTION: There were three or four teams of people brought in yesterday.
SUTTLES: We've been ramping up this activity every single day; we have been putting more and more people out on the beach front. It wasn't associated with the president doing it, I can assure you that. Not only would I tell you that, the Coast Guard and others would tell you that. You're going to see more and more people in places like right here cleaning up. As oil comes ashore we want to get it cleaned up as quickly as we can.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) SUTTLES: We don't think that is a practical option. While we're pumping at the high rates, we don't believe oil is coming out of the well. That pumping action is holding the oil back. We can do this for a period of time. We probably couldn't do it continuously for several more months.
QUESTION: One more question, guys.
QUESTION: You've got a seven-inch pipe down there; do you think it's going to burst somewhere down?
SUTTLES: Clearly, you have a background in oil and gas. You know the challenge we have is we don't precisely know what is down there and what the flow path is. That's one of the challenges in doing something like this top kill, this dynamic kill. And we actually don't know exactly what the flow path is. That's one of the reasons why we've been staying at this so long. If the flow path is complicated, we'll have to pump on it a long time to make it effective.
QUESTION: That's good. Thanks.
SUTTLES: Thanks, everyone.
WHITFIELD: You were listening to BP's chief operating officer Doug Suttles there out of Fourchon Beach, Louisiana. They cannot say whether the top kill method is working, but he says they are going to continue to use that.
This is pumping mud into the leak 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. They are going to try to do that until they get more definitive answers from this method, top kill method, to see if it is working. He says it hasn't stopped the flow, but they are not sure ultimately it will. They are going to keep going until they can exhaust all possibilities.
He also mentioned that they are going to put out floating camps so these many teams that are trying in this effort, whether it would be to sop up the oil or try to stop the flow here, they will have floating camps in place to continue on with the teams they have in place. He said BP is not alone. He mentioned the U.S. Coast Guard, of course. He mentioned the Energy secretary, interior secretary Salazar who is also a part of this effort, as well as the Minerals Management Services.
He said there will be tent cities that will be put up along many of the beaches, along the coastline for workers to continue their work, as well. He says they will be putting more people -- they had been putting more people on the beaches in response to the questions that have been launched as to whether BP tried to put more people on the beaches as a show while the president was in the area yesterday. He says, no the plan was all along to put more people on the beaches. It was not in response to the president's visit.
Our Carol Costello is also in the area there of Fourchon Beach. She was listening to the press conference. What is your take-away from all that transpired there in the past 15 minutes or so that Mr. Suttles was speaking?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wish I could be more optimistic Fredricka. But really when all is said and done, nothing much has changed. That top kill operation has been going on for a couple of days now. I asked Mr. Scuttles, is it working? He was not able to answer those questions.
In fact, he says they're going to assess today. He couldn't tell me whether they stopped pumping that heavy mud into the well today, but he says over the last couple of days, when this operation started, they've been starting and stopping for scientific reasons that are way complicated.
He says they're necessary to see if this thing is going to work. He says he can't tell me whether they stopped pumping mud into the well right now, but he says they are doing an assessment right now and they are going to have another press conference at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
So maybe he'll have more information for us then. Bottom line is he has no idea whether this thing is working or not. But there is a plan B, Fredricka and he said they are implementing things to get plan b up and running as fast as it can in case plan a is not working.
WHITFIELD: Are you better able to explain that plan b? Because quite frankly, I didn't quite understand his explanation when he talked about this lower marine plug cap. What is that?
COSTELLO: Well in essence, they are going to cut the pipe off, the thing that's leaking. They are cut it off and they are going to replace it with another pipe. And then they are going to siphon off the leaking oil. A long pipe connects to the ship on top of the sea. They are going to collect the oil that way, and as you know they are building another well. That will take two months. I guess that operation will last for those two months until the other well is built.
But he says that plans to do that are already under way. If you watch that video, you can see like a robotic arm with some kind of sawing mechanism there. I haven't seen it personally. One of the reporters asked him about that.
WHITFIELD: OK. Fascinating stuff. At 4:00 Eastern time, another press conference involving BP officials. We are committed to taking that as best we can, as long as the weather shapes up there. Carol Costello joining us there from Fourchon beach, where the COO of BP just held that press conference. We'll have much more here from the newsroom after this.
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WHITFIELD: This hour, a school that teaches kids to invest in the stock market and its real cash, not that Monopoly money. What happens when Madame Tussaud replaces the wax form with the real thing? You will find out at 3:00 Eastern Time. And the ladies are back for more "Sex and the City." A film critic from whattheflicks.com stops by, 4:00 Eastern Time to rate that sequel.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Saturday, May 29. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
All right. First, 40 days into the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and BP is still trying to stop the oil gushing into the waters off Louisiana. As you can see, what is coming out of the ruptured well head now appears to be muddy brown, possibly indicating the top kill tactic to flood the leak maybe working.
Minutes ago a BP official said it has not stopped the leak just yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUTTLES: I actually don't know if we are pumping right now or not. I've been in the air for a few hours flying around the spill. As you said yesterday, we've done periods where we've pumped mud, where we monitored the well. We've actually pumped these junk shots and other materials in.
And we've been doing that in intervals trying to determine if it's going to be successful. We said all along it may or may not. If it doesn't, the next step will be to go to that lower marine riser package cap. That equipment is on station, ready to go, and we've been prepping that all along in case we need to move to that option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And what he also said is it appears now that the gas may be spewing from that leak. Our Carol Costello is in Poshon Beach, Louisiana. You're hearing from company officials, government officials, and people who actually live in that are all have a different view on what is taking place whether this method is at all successful.
COSTELLO: People really are hoping that will be successful, because if it's not, my goodness, that means the leak grows ever larger and there is more danger of that stuff coming onshore. That's what the people here in Louisiana really fear the most.
Mr. Suttles was asked about the controversial going on about BP shipping in hundreds of workers to clean up the beach in Grand Isle in preparation for the president's visit yesterday. And supposedly when the president left these workers left immediately, too. And there were some witnesses, some people who live around here who witnessed that happening.
Mr. Suttles was asked about that and denied that. He said they've been ramping-up operations, Fredricka. They are going to ship in hundreds of people over the coming days to do similar things to what these people were doing yesterday. And what they were doing, they were getting the tar balls off the beach. Anyway, we actually saw school buses full of people this morning being shipped out to grand isle in preparation to do the exact same thing. We actually talked to one of them, Antwan Courtney, because nobody official was able to talk to us. This is what he said happened this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTWAN COURTNEY, CLEANUP WORKER: They called us back about 11:52 when I received the call. And I didn't get to leave out of my house until 1:00. I thought maybe if they knew they was going to dispatch us out they should have told us in the class we should be prepared to leave that evening, you know?
And they woke me up out of the middle of my sleep and asked me to be here for 3:00 in the morning. It's just hectic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Actually, these workers are being trained by a contractor hired by BP. But Antwan told us for some reason they woke him up in the middle of the night so that he could be ready to work this morning on the beach. In the end, Fredricka, he decided he wasn't going to work because he figured he wasn't being paid enough.
WHITFIELD: OK, wow. I wonder if there is any problem trying to get people to work, whether it's volunteer or whether it is for pay.
These floating camps that Doug Suttles also mentioned would be instituted, put in place. He said there would be floating camps to make sure there's sufficient rest time for people committed to working out in the water as well as tent cities right there on the coastline. Did he elaborate further on that?
COSTELLO: No, he didn't. But I don't think you'll have problem getting volunteers or people looking for a job in this area, everyone we have talked to here, Fredricka, more than willing to work.
In fact, yesterday, there are members of the Louisiana National Guard, and they're lay than down seven miles of inflatable pipe. They are working 24/7 to get this seven miles of piping laid down in seven days.
And what will happen is they'll fill that tubing with water and that will create a barrier. So if that oily water comes on to shore at Grand Isle, that will provide a barricade so the oily water doesn't get into the sand.
WHITFIELD: I wonder about the people you spoke to with, if they would dispute the notion we heard from Suttles who said they also put some boom-type material in crab traps and lowered them to the floor of the Gulf there to see if indeed any of this oil might be reaching the bottom.
And he said, from what he could tell from those crab traps, that already it appeared oil was not seeping down to the bottom so that perhaps it wouldn't be putting a lot of that marine life in peril.
Have you heard people who might be willing to dispute that notion even before Mr. Suttles expressed that during that presser?
COSTELLO: Well, a lot of people who live in these parts doubt anything BP says. In their minds, this is not the most exactly trustworthy of companies.
If you walk the beach in Grand Isle, you'll see a lot of these tar balls. That's the reason they doubt marine life is being affected, because there is evidence there is oil in the water.
Actually, if you look in the water at Grand Isle, it looks like there is salad dressing, almost, in there. The water has a really weird oily feel. That's not to say the thick oil is in the water right now, but there is definitely some residue. And residents here don't exactly know what that is. When you hear BP say things like that, then of course they are going to be skeptical.
WHITFIELD: Carol Costello in Fourchon Beach, Louisiana, thanks so much.
Right now, thousands of people are marching to the state capitol of Phoenix, Arizona, protesting that state's new immigration law. See those aerial images right there. The law requires police officers conducting traffic stops to check the residency status of anyone suspected to being in the country illegally.
Opponents say that will lead to racial profiling of Latinos, but supporters insist the law will help police officers fight illegal immigration.
All right, meet America's future financial experts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to look out for the dividend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like checking the Dow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My favorite stock would happen to be Apple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So what grade are they in? The fundamentals of finance -- they start them early at this school in Chicago. And they learn how to use real money and a lot of it to do it.
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WHITFIELD: When did you first learn how to manage your money? Perhaps through your parents? Maybe even your teachers? Or was it through trial and costly errors?
In a recent survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, 41 percent of those polled said they learned about money from their parents or at home, and only six percent actually from school.
Plus, most educators don't think that they are actually qualified to teach their students the basics of personal finance. Fewer than 20 percent of those surveyed felt they were very competent according to a survey paid by the National Endowment for Financial Education.
One school on Chicago's impoverished Southside is trying to change the trend. It teaches kids to financially invest in their future at a very early age. Here is Christine Romans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meet America's future investment bankers and accountants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to look out for the dividend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like checking the Dow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My favorite stock would have to be Apple.
ROMANS: At aerial academy, students learn how to make money, save money ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think everybody should at least save half of their money.
ROMANS: ... and invest money, real money, thanks to the school's unique saving and investment curriculum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The incoming first grade class gets a $20,000 endowment. When they get to fifth grade, students will start to choose stocks they think we should be buying, and we'll buy them.
ROMANS: When students graduate from eighth grade, the $20,000 goes back to the incoming first grade. Any profit above that amount gets split, half goes to improving the school or to charity, the other half gets divided among the kids.
Of course, some years like 2009, there's no profit, and the kids learn that investing is no slam dunk. But that doesn't deter kids like graduates Mario and Miles Gage.
MARIA GAGE, ARIEL ACADEMY GRADUATE: I have my own portfolio. I'm able to take everything I learned at Aerial to the next level.
ROMANS: Miles and Mario weren't the only ones in the family getting an education.
MICHELLE GAGE, MOTHER OF ARIEL ACADEMY GRADUATE: We started looking over some of the materials they were bringing home. It was still a little foreign to me, but they broke it down like children do, and I started getting a little excited about that and the knowledge. I'm like, wow, this is fun.
ROMANS: "Fun" and "finance" don't often appear in the same sentence, but that's not true at Ariel. From age-appropriate learning to inspirational environment and the ultimate reward, attending McDonald's annual shareholder meeting -- making it all possible is John Rogers, chairman and founder of Ariel investments after which the school is named.
Ariel, along with partner Nuveem Investors, put up the $20,000 for first grade. In 1991, Ariel started working with this public school on the Southside of Chicago because it was one of the most underserved in the city -- 98 percent of the student body is African- American, 78 percent are considered low income.
Nowadays test scores are on the rise, outperforming the district and the state average with the help of teachers like Connie Moran. named teacher of the year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship in 2007.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since I listened to Miss Moran in class, I heard her say invest in new money, invest in new money. Now I'm going to listen to her.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Students can opt to get their profit in cash on graduation day or they can put it in a 529 college savings plan in which case Ariel puts in an additional $1,000 as a reward. So the majority of students, believe it or not, choose the 529, very smart.
So joining us now is Connie Moran, director of the Ariel-Nuveem Investment program, Mario Gage, a student who graduated from the school, you saw him in the piece, and Gail Cunningham with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Good to see all of you.
Mario and Connie, let's begin with you. Mario, are you still using those tools you learned through this program?
GAGE: Oh, yes, definitely. In fact, whenever I get money, I split it up three ways. I donate 10 percent, I save 40 percent, and then I only spend 50 percent. And then this way I'm giving to others and then I'm putting money away for a rainy day, and I still have enough money to live off of.
I think this program taught me how to respect and value my money. That's something children need to learn at a young age because this is allowed me to become financially stable at a young age. When you're financially stable your life is in order. When you're not financially stable, your life is not in order.
WHITFIELD: That's definitely wonderful. I know you're making Connie very proud, and your mom, too. I saw you smile when you saw your mom in the piece.
Connie, I guess the hope is everyone takes away the lesson like Mario did he is really influencing his family along the way, as well. CONNIE MORAN, DIRECTOR, ARIEL INVESTMENT CURRICULUM: Absolutely. We really want to make sure that the message gets across, that we teach reading at a very young age. We start three, four years old with those basic skills. Students need to have the same foundation in their financial life, as well. We shouldn't wait until they're 16, 17, and 18 to send them off to college learning about money.
WHITFIELD: Are you surprised though that this really does resonate with kids at a very early age that you don't have to be a preteen, a teenager, or even college age to start really thinking about your personal finances? That this can begin at age five, six, seven?
MORAN: I'm not surprised at all. There is not a student that I've come across in the seven years I had this job that they do not love to talk about money. There is not an adult that comes across that doesn't say boy, I sure wish I learned this earlier because of the mistakes I could have avoided.
WHITFIELD: So how do you convey to other school programs this is something they could institute, as well? I talked in the very early stages about the intimidation where teachers feel they are not equipped to teach kids about financial responsibility.
So what do you say to other school districts, to other schools, private or public, about what they need to do to be able to make this kind of program available for their kids, as well?
MORAN: Well, it's all about the possibilities. It's team work. It is the commitment first from the leadership. Our principal is a great example of that. It's about commitment from the business community as evidenced in John Rogers. And we all work together to make sure it happens.
We have a team of teachers now writing that don't necessarily know what they need to know about investing and saving the future, but we work together and figure it out.
WHITFIELD: All right, so Gail Cunningham back with us now, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Give us some ideas of what can parents or families do at home? You have some very important tips. Say their school doesn't have something like this in place. What perhaps is the first thing a family can do to get everyone onboard with this kind of financial planning?
GAIL CUNNINGHAM, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT COUNSELING: Well, I certainly salute the school and everyone involved with that program. It sounds like Mario has his act together at an early age, hats off to him.
But I think a lot of people watching this today will realize they are in deep financial trouble considering the level of job losses we are experiencing here in the nation. Well-meaning folks then want to protect their children from any financial distress.
And we feel that may be a mistake. Instead, consider having a family council, bringing everybody in the family together. They are going to notice there is a behavior change, that your spending patterns have changed. They'll be curious about it.
So it's really productive to bring everyone together, explain to them the situation. A joint effort will yield greater results. Consider this a teachable moment.
And I think it's a terrific gift for your children, too, because it's inevitable when they grow up, they are going to experience a financial rough patch, and they can reflect back on the time when that was true for mom and dad and how they survived that period in their lives.
WHITFIELD: You say secondly, teach them this 80-10-10 rule. So often parents feel money talk ought to be a secret, a private affair you don't really share with your children. You say after you get everyone together to talk about money, 80-10-10 rule. Explain.
CUNNINGHAM: It's similar to what Mario referenced, although his was much stricter. I suggest spending 80 percent of what you make, saving 10 percent, and giving away 10 percent.
Most of us are really good with the spending of the 80 percent, but it comes a little more difficult to save the 10 percent and donate the 10 percent. If you start that with your children early in life, it's a wonderful habit that will hopefully continue throughout their lifetime.
WHITFIELD: And then third, you say the work ethic is the basic one. Teach your kids they need to earn their own money and perhaps they'll be more inspired about saving it or spending it well.
CUNNINGHAM: I totally agree. I think in the real world we get paid when we've done a job well. And I suggest you institute that in your own families.
Even with very young children, they can do age-appropriate chores. Take that money and put it in an envelope with their name on it. Then when you're at the store and they start begging you for a certain item, say, sure, that's fine you buy that item. Hand them their envelope and tell them they're going to pay for it with their own money.
Nine times out of ten they won't want that purchase anymore. If mom won't pay for it, then they won't want to buy it. That is a great lesson.
And then as far as older children go, I would suggest with their jobs that they learn how to keep their own books, record keeping, also their tax obligation. Teach them how to file taxes. Have them balance their checkbook and have a credit card while they are still at home.
So often at 18 years old, children leave home and they act like a kid in the credit candy store, and they go crazy because they've not had any financial training at home. WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Gail Cunningham, appreciate it.
Mario, you're smiling through a lot of that, acknowledging yes about the taxes, yes about saving money.
So in the end, how do you convey to other kids your age who are not lucky enough to be in this program, how do you convey, you know what, it's important to save. It's important to be accountable for your dollars?
GAGE: Actually, I'm involved in a teen investment club. They are a group of investors called the "wealth warriors" and we go on speaking engagements in the Chicago land area speaking to teens about financial literacy and being financially literate and learning how to save and invest and the importance of that.
And through the wealth warriors, I'm actually am able to convey that message to other teens. It is just a wonderful feeling.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Mario Gage, thank you very much and Connie Moran and Gail Cunningham, thanks to you will after you. Appreciate it.
CUNNINGHAM: Thank you.
GAGE: Thank you.
MORAN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And of course we know folks are really inspired now. so of course you want to find out, what are the other ways to teach my kids about money? We've got some online tools for you, and that means Josh Levs will along to break that all down for us coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.
There is no definitive word yet on whether BP's so called top kill procedure is making progress in stopping the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Right now the well is still gushing and the company is assessing the situation.
Actor Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74. Hopper died this morning from prostate cancer at his home in Venice, California. He was best known for his role in the film "Easy Rider" and his career also included roles in "Rebel Without a Cause," "Blue Velvet," "Apocalypse Now," and "Hoosiers."
The White House admits it tried to sway Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak not to run against Senator Arlen Specter in the recent Democratic primary elections. It used former President Bill Clinton as a go-between. A White House memo says Clinton raised the offer of a nonpaying, high-profile position with the federal government to Sestak if he would drop out of the race.
The White House says what happened was neither illegal nor unethical. More top stories in 20 minutes.
Making, saving and investing money. It's hard enough for adults to learn the ABCs of finance, but what about our kids? Josh Levs joins us with online tools to help parents teach their kids the very basics.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it was inspirational before the break with those young people.
WHITFIELD: It was amazing. Mario's got it all down. He is going to be a financial advisor any day now.
LEVS: It's awesome for kids to learn these things so young. What I wanted to do was take a look at what resources there are online to help all of you help teach your kids about money.
I'm going to show you web tools. At the end of this, I'll show you where I linked everything for you.
There is a great list from creditcards.com about resources for parents. One of the things they led me to is this. It's a credit card simulator from Channel One News. It talks about different credit cards out there. It shows you a few examples, then says which one would you like? If you click one, it says are you sure this is the one you want? It talks about interest rates and how much you have to pay.
If you decide you want this card, you go ahead. There is a box there. I want you to see what happens. I'm going to submit it. Once you have this imaginary credit card, you can start to use it. They give you $2,000 in credit there. I want one of these, one of these. Whoops, can't get one of those.
Then when you're ready to check out, it starts to talk about how much you'll have to pay at any given time. So the credit card simulator from Channel One News is very interesting.
Smartykid.com, this is interesting. Kids can be co-owners of savings accounts along with their parents. Their parents set it up, make kids co-owners. And the kids can buy some things via this website and get discounts which go into their savings.
Another one here, billmyparents.com. You can use their credit card number but you don't have their credit card. Before any one of your purchases is finalized, the parents get an e-mail describing what it is and what the cost is. They then have to approve it, and then it can go through.
This is a few I've seen. I put the whole list for you online on my Facebook. Take a look at these things. Let us know what works for you. If there are other websites out there, share them.
WHITFIELD: These are smart ideas to really get kids younger so when they go off to college and are approached by credit card companies, they know what to do.
LEVS: The amount of debt graduating college students have, the last thing they need are more credit cards.
WHITFIELD: Too many kids are graduating high school and college with too much credit card debt. Thanks, Josh Levs.
BP is under fire for past safety violations at its refineries. We'll take a hard look at the spotty record.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: An alarming new report on BP's safety record. The Center for Public Integrity says two BP-owned refineries are responsible for 97 percent of all flagrant safety violations in the industry over the last three years.
Joining us live from Washington is Jim Morris, staff writer for Center for Public Integrity. Good to see you.
JIM MORRIS, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: So you underscore, and this is based on violations on record from OSHA, and you underscore there are systemic problems BP is accused of. And you say based on your research there is documentation to support that.
Why did you find it was important to underscore all these safety violations? Is it because BP is one of the largest? Is there any real disparity of their record versus any other oil company?
MORRIS: BP, it's important to note BP had one of the most serious accidents in the refining industry in the last couple of decades. That was the March, 2005 exposure in Texas City, Texas, that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170.
We obtained this OSHA data simply knowing they had a nationwide refinery inspection program under way and not knowing necessarily what we would find. And when we looked at the numbers, the two BP refineries in Texas and Ohio stood out. As you said, they accounted for 97 percent of the most flagrant violations.
WHITFIELD: There were 862 citations between 2007 and 2010 involving this Texas City explosion, or as a result of that Texas City explosion, and that investigation that took place in Toledo, Ohio?
MORRIS: Correct. It's not just the sheer number, it's the vast majority of these violations were the most serious type. OSHA calls them egregious, willful violations.
WHITFIELD: What does that mean, if you could stop there? What are the characteristics of egregious and willful? It was broken down separately.
MORRIS: Yes. Egregious and willful are considered so serious, so severe, that OSHA can penalize a company each time for each single violation, as opposed to willful, where they tend to lump violations in. Again, all this goes back to the 2005 explosion and there was a $21 million OSHA fine as a result of that incident. BP promised to make the necessary changes. They obviously did not. So OSHA came back with an $87 million fine last October, primarily because BP didn't make the changes they promised to make.
WHITFIELD: So the fines seem to be a drop in the bucket that BP doesn't seem to be impacted by these fines if indeed the case based on this research BP continues to do some of the same things despite the fact they are given these citations and they are fined.
MORRIS: Yes. BP is contesting both the $87 billion fine proposed against Texas City and a $3 million fine proposed against the Toledo refinery. So the mere fact they are contesting those penalties, and the $87 million is a record penalty, by the way, would suggest they don't think they've done anything wrong, or at least what they did wrong isn't as serious as OSHA says it is.
WHITFIELD: What is your best view as to why BP continues to get the kinds of permits granted by OSHA, by any other federal agency if there is this track record?
MORRIS: I really don't know. I think that is a good question for OSHA. I mean, the real test will be not that OSHA proposed an $87 million fine against them, but how much BP ends up paying. Does it pay most of that amount, all of that amount or pay just a fraction of that amount, which has been what's happened in the past?
WHITFIELD: Jim Morris, staff writer with the Center for Public Integrity to compiled all these numbers based on what OSHA provided to you, thanks so much for joining us from Washington.
MORRIS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And of course, we did try to follow up. We did book a guest with OSHA for the next hour. Yesterday David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, agreed to be here today but canceled in the last hour saying they have all-day meetings to attend as it relates to the Gulf oil spill.
We wanted to ask someone about how a company like BP with all of these violations we just spoke of still has permits and licenses to operate in the fragile Gulf waters. We still have questions and extend and open invitation with anyone from OSHA to answer these questions to try to explain for our show and our audience.
It's an issue that he cares very deeply about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER, CHAIRMAN, TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC.: Without an environment, there is no life. We destroy the environment like we're doing in the Gulf of Mexico right now and it has serious repercussions.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Strong views from Ted Turner. He also talks to me about how his plan to build a community totally reliant on solar energy. That is straight ahead in "Face to Face."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking today's top stories.
Right now BP says it is assessing whether its latest efforts to stop gushing oil is working. Crews are trying to stop the broken drill head with mud, a technique called top kill. If the top kill fails BP will try to place another custom-built cap over the leak.
The streets of Phoenix, Arizona, are filled with thousands of people from several states all marching to the capital building to protest Arizona's tough new immigration law. The law requires police officers conducting traffic stops to check the residency status of anyone suspected to be in the country illegally.
Opponents say that will lead to racial profiling of Latinos, but supporters insist the law will help police officers fight illegal immigration.
President Obama is spending Memorial Day weekend at his home in Chicago. It's only the second time the family has been home since his inauguration. The president urges Americans to take time from barbecue and beach outings to honor the men and women who died in service to this country.
Ted Turner is probably best known as the billionaire businessman who started CNN. But these days you're likely to find him talking about other issues dear to his heart, like our environment, and why he feels it's time to stop using oil and coal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: You mentioned you wished this network would concentrate a bit more on the environment. That really is your baby.
TURNER: Right. It's everybody's baby.
WHITFIELD: Some are more convicted than others.
TURNER: Without environment, there is no life. We destroy the environment like we're doing in the Gulf of Mexico right now and it has serious repercussions.
WHITFIELD: What's your view on what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico right now? Does this change your mind about drilling?
TURNER: Oh, yes. I was always concerned about drilling way offshore like that. I think this has come to everybody's attention that it's much more dangerous than they thought.
And then the week before we had the coal mine explosion up in West Virginia and 29 people were killed. It seems like everybody week 29 coal miners get killed in China, or last week it was Russia. It might have been more than that.
WHITFIELD: Is this in part one of the reasons why you believe coal mining, the coal industry perhaps it's time to replace our need of energy?
TURNER: I do believe that. I believe it's time to say goodbye to coal and oil and replace it with wind, solar and geothermal and maybe nuclear, a combination of clean, modern energy sources rather than something left over from 200 years ago.
WHITFIELD: Right now you're committed on a couple different levels. You're working with law makers trying to come up with an energy bill. At the same time you're also committed to helping build a community of relying on solar energy, right, 14,000 homes in New Mexico?
TURNER: Yes. We are the junior partner, but we are happy to be doing it.
WHITFIELD: How would that work? What would that community look like?
TURNER: The power is going to be -- we are going to start generating -- it will be finished this fall, and it will be finishing approximately 14,000 homes with their electricity needs.
WHITFIELD: Do you feel like this will help exemplify the need or the accessibility of people across the country?
TURNER: Yes, sure. It will be working. It will be covered by the news media and people will know that it works.
Not that they don't question it, but this will be by far the largest solar installation in the United States and one of the top five in the world. When it's completed, there will be other larger ones coming on-stream that are being built now, but it will be one of the largest.
WHITFIELD: So will it be cost-effective?
TURNER: Yes. It costs a little more if you don't figure out the environmental costs. If you don't figure out the environmental costs of coal and oil, they are already more expensive. The cost of the sun is not going to go up. The sun is free. We can do that.
And the electric company really loves that, the power company, because they know what their costs are going to be for 25 years. The price of natural gas is half what it was a year and a half ago, half.
WHITFIELD: Have you altered all your life, all your living so you are what one would call energy responsible?
TURNER: Yes, yes I am.
WHITFIELD: Tell me about that transition. Was it a difficult one to make? TURNER: I did it over a period of time over the last 30 years. I've been cutting the lights out for a long time.
WHITFIELD: So how do you convince people, what would you say to those who say, you know what, the way I'm living right now is just fine. I'm happy with the light bulbs I choose. Convince me this is the way I would want to go.
TURNER: Anybody that watches CNN would know pretty well. They would already be convinced, because we've run thousands of stories about it, everything from light bulbs to saving fuel and automobiles to recycling. It's everywhere.
WHITFIELD: Is it the cost that's the barrier?
TURNER: It's the big story of our time.
WHITFIELD: It's the big story, but not everyone is onboard. That's why you're spending time on Capitol Hill and others are lobbying and arguing for it. What's the obstacle?
TURNER: It's a combination of things. There's reluctance on some people's part to cope with change very well, and want things to stay the way they were.
And really what we really have is a choice whether we want to do the right things from an energy standpoint or the wrong thing. And it's our choice.
And if enough of us choose to do the wrong thing and we don't prepare for global warming and we don't make the changes that we know we should make, then we'll be extinct. And when that happens, we'll be sorry, but it will be too late. And I'm trying to avoid that by getting the people to take action now while there's still time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Face to face, my conversation with Ted Turner continues next hour. He talks about another issue dear in his heart, ridding the world of nuclear weapons and what he considers some of his best investments.
You've got to see this -- a veteran pole-vaulter at 87. He's certainly over the top, just don't say he's over the hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This is both hilarious and very inspiring. Let's talk about the hilarious first, because nobody got hurt.
Falling bears in today water cooler segment. Take a look right here. This bear climbed way up a pine tree yesterday, and then people who lived in the house weren't very amused. They called in the animal control officers as you see. This is Los Angeles area.
They tranquilized the bear, and then they eventually transferred it back into the wild.
This is the inspirational part of our water cooler segment. Take a look. This man, these feet right here, they look pretty fit. He's 87 years old. Take a look at what he's about to do. Yes, he is a pole-vaulter. Can you believe it, 87? Go with your big bad self.
He is training for the Senior Olympics. When he isn't jumping, he is usually on the baseball diamond. He is just all around. This is San Antonio. He is an all-around athlete. He is amazing. I love this. Baseball, pole vaulting.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Much more straight ahead from the NEWSROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Everyone has very strong opinions about what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico. So what do you suppose high school students have to say about this oil spill? CNN's student news anchor Carl Azuz is back with us. What are they saying? They have strong thoughts and they are vocal about it.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: And they are very much aware of what's going on. In the seventh and eighth grade they are studying life sciences. They are studying earth science, and in high school they are studying biology. So you have a group acutely aware of what is being affected, perhaps in some cases more acutely aware than many of us are.
So they are upset about this. We asked them the absolute worst part in their opinion of the oil spill. And as you might expect, many are saying marine life, some are thinking beyond that.
First comment I have is from a student named Rebecca. And she's talking about how this goes beyond marine life. She is saying economically it's not only affecting BP, this is something hitting fishing industries and businesses that can't take the hit as well as BP in her words. So she is concerned about job losses.
Similar comment from Molly. She is saying you can't name a most impacted part of this. It's all bad. She is saying you have the sea life going out, fishermen out of work. If they are out of work and low on money and businesses suffer, and so on. And she is one of the few students who talked about the cyclical impact of this spill.
WHITFIELD: Do a lot of kids express why is it that it can't be fixed? We heard the president during his address this week, he said even Malia says to him, have you plugged the hole yet, have you plugged the oil gushing yet? A lot of kids may be thinking it's as simple as that.
AZUZ: They do. They talk to us about their frustration. Just like many adults are frustrated, these students hear their parents talking about it. This is something that is ongoing and something they continually hear about on CNN student news. It does bother them. In fact the last comment I have for you today comes from a student who says, there's nothing good about this at all.
It is Trevor, he is saying, "The human race has managed to screw up the natural order of things again. He goes on to talk about the fishermen who were impacted, the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and he sums up this is an example of a lose, lose, lose situation. "
WHITFIELD: Wow, they are smart kids, very insightful, strong thoughts. They always share.
AZUZ: Cnnstudentnews.com.
WHITFIELD: Thank you, Carl.
AZUZ: Thank you, Fredricka.
