Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Top Kill Method Fails
Aired May 29, 2010 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. We're following breaking news. As you saw live on CNN in our 6:00 o'clock Eastern hour, BP announced the top kill method to contain that massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has not worked.
So now it's onto the next option. CNN has team coverage of this breaking news tonight. David Mattingly is in Robert, Louisiana. Carol Costello is in Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Dan Lothian with the president in Chicago. Jacqui Jeras, you just her with me in the weather center. Brooke Baldwin has been with us as well all afternoon.
We have experts along with us to explain to us what's happened. News that the top kill method failed, came after a long afternoon of waiting, for word from BP officials on the status of plugging this oil leak. They've been at it for three days. They made the announcement around 6:00 tonight and they said they're moving on.
Let's go to David Mattingly. He's in Robert, Louisiana. He was right there when that announcement came in.
David, there was a good chance that this is what we were going to hear, but it seemed so many of the people that we're talking to are so disappointed. There was so much hanging on this working, tell me what happened in that room.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in that room, it was pretty much the same status that we've had and every time there's a press release -- or a news announcement in the there, they come out, they all take their turns in talking about it, and there was never any promise that this was going to succeed.
They were telling us 60 percent to 70 percent chance that it was going to be successful. But as the days went on, the questions became harder and it was getting pretty clear that they were running into problems that they hadn't anticipated.
And we're finding out now that they really took several different steps to try and make this work. They pumped 30,000 barrels of this heavy mud, this heavy liquid down into that well that they were trying to just essentially drown this well with that heavy liquid under heavy pressure to push that oil back down so they could cover it with cement.
They never got to that point where they could even try the cement because they figured out they just couldn't keep that oil from coming out of there. They don't know why. They just know that they weren't successful and we heard about the junk shot.
We found out that they tried 16 different times to insert that solid material into that heavy liquid. Sixteen times to try and get some sort of beach head, sort of speak, so they could push more pressure in there, but all 16 times, all 30,000 barrels of this mud, it just didn't work, Ali.
VELSHI: David, the next effort, they were kind of hedging. The gentleman from BP said, within four days they'll know if this LMRP, the lower marine riser package, this containment effort might work.
The admiral kept on saying maybe it's seven days. They're really trying to deal with the public's expectations at this point because people are getting very, very anxious about the damage of this oil as it approaches the coast.
MATTINGLY: Right and the admiral openly was saying we need do a better job of managing expectations. She was saying -- she actually jumped in and said that four days was the low end of the estimate. It's four to seven.
Because throughout this entire thing -- first of all we heard that the junk shot was going to take about 10 hours, and then it was going to take a couple of days and then a couple of more days after that and then all of that anticipation, all of that waiting ended in failure.
I think they're going to try very hard to make sure that that anticipation doesn't buildup this time, so again they use the phrase "managing expectations" so all part of the learning process here. They talk about all of the new things that they're trying down below, how they've never had to do this before, well they've never a disaster to deal with something like this before.
And so they're actually learning with how to deal with the public and everything else as they go along as well, but at this point managing expectations you may want to read into that, possibly lowering expectations of a quick fix to this.
VELSHI: All right and as Jacqui Jeras told us a few minutes ago, we are not looking now at an immediate plan to actually kill that well. They're now looking at containing it and getting as much as possible into a ship, a rig, on the surface.
David, clarify for something that you talked about earlier. If this new containment effort works in four to seven days, this lower marine riser package, if that works, is that going to deal with all of oil coming out of the -- out of bottom the ocean, or is it going to deal with most of it?
MATTINGLY: It is not going to get all of the oil and that's how we're taking a step back from the failure of the top kill. The top kill was this temporary plan to stop the flow of oil.
Well, this containment strategy that they're using is not going to catch all of the oil. What they're going to do, every time you look on the screen you see that -- that -- that cloud of material billowing out of the pipe. What they're going to do, they're going to slice that pipe off. Make a clean cut there and then they're going to put a containment device on top of that to siphon that material up to the surface and we've heard this strategy before.
They did it with one of the leaks that was down there. It had a marginal -- it was marginally successful, they were able to siphon some the oil out of there but not all of it. This time they're talking about putting some sort of modified dome there to collect that oil, they've learned from their mistakes in the past when they had other failed domes, and now what they're talking of doing is having sort of a loose seal down there, and it will stop -- it won't collect all of the oil, but they say most of it.
And when they say most of the oil, this is -- this is what we need to keep into perspective here. It was just a couple of days ago that the independent analysis of that flow, that government committee that was put together, finally came out and said, OK, it's not 5,000 barrels a day, it's probably 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day.
So now if they take most of that, how much oil are we talking about getting into the Gulf of Mexico every day until August? If that's - if that's what we're going to be stuck with, a couple thousand of barrels, 10,000 barrel, 5,000 barrels.
At this point a lot of unanswered questions, but this is not the answer to stop the oil. It's just the containment of most of it.
VELSHI: All right, David, thank you. We will check in with you constantly as we continue to cover this story. A little later in the hour we're also -- pardon me, going to be speaking to an engineer to describe the next effort in some detail.
We'll also be speaking to a gentleman who runs a business on Grand Isle, Louisiana. Very, very worried about what this new development means for his future and those of his workers and his clients.
Also, this press conference that was held earlier that David was at, that he's talking about, it was -- it really was fascinating. It was full of lots of information. We're going to be bringing you extended portions of that news conference when it was announced that the top kill method had actually failed.
The coast guard and BP talked about what went wrong, what went right and more importantly, what happens next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG SUTTLES, BP CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: So after three full days of attempting "Top Kill," we have been unable to overcome the flow from the well. So we now believe it's time to move on to the next of our options, which is the LMRP, lower marine riser package, cap.
Over the last three days, we've pumped a total of over 30,000 barrels of mud. We've made numerous attempts to overcome the flow. We've monitored this situation after each attempt. We've also used our junk shot technique and other materials to try to divert more of the flow down the well.
But we have not been able to stop the flow and after significant review with a -- what can only be called a brain trust of engineers and scientists from BP, the industry, the Minerals Management Service, the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and further reviews by Secretary Salazar and Secretary Chu, we have made the decision to move on to the next option.
These repeated pumping we don't believe will likely achieve success so that the point it's time to move to the next option. So what I would like to do is briefly describe what that is and the poster's over here to my right provides some visual context of what we'll be describing.
The first thing we'll need to do is a very complex operation because once again we're doing this in 5,000 feet of water and we're having to do all of these activities with these robotic submarines, remote operated vehicles as we call them.
The first job will be to cut and remove the existing riser from the top of the LMRP. At that point, once we've made a clean cut, we will be installing the cap, which is also shown in the diagram to my right. That cap will then be connected via a riser and drill pipe to the drill ship enterprise.
The same rig we used for the riser insertion tool and this operation should be able to capture most of the oil. I want to stress the word "most" because it's not a tight mechanical seal. but it should be time capture most of the oil. This job should take approximately four days, but it could take longer. As you've seen many times, these operations at this depth and without the ability to use human beings at depth, are quite complex and they've never been done before in this environment.
We're confident the job will work, but obviously we cannot guarantee success at this time. In parallel, we continue to work on our relief wells, the DD3 rig drilling. The first rig oil well is now just over 12,000 feet as mentioned from just above the surface of the sea. It's about to run its next string of casing and this job is going well. It's ahead of plan. The DD2 rig is also standing there, and prepared to continue drilling its next well.
I'd also like to briefly talk about our activities offshore and onshore, as I previously described today, I took an extensive flyover predominantly over the western area of our activity. I'm very pleased to say the amount of oil in the surface of the sea continues to be reduced. This is a credit to the men and women who are fighting this offshore in the amount of equipment and resources were all deploying to that activity.
In addition, the use of subsidy dispersants burning and skimming is making a difference. I also met with beach cleanup crews at Fourchon this afternoon, who were cleaning one of the more heavily area beaches which was oiled almost two weeks ago. And I can report that they're making great progress, they're doing a tremendous job and anyone's been outside in the Louisiana sunshine knows how difficult that work can be. We continue work on our forward-operating basis and as I've described previously our focus at moment is to bring the people closer to the front so we minimize travel time and increase the timeliness and effectiveness of our cleaning activities. We're putting floatelles in place, tent cities and other things trying to move a total of 2,200 people closer to the front lines so that we can increase our effectiveness and timeliness of our cleanup.
I would also mention we've been working on tools with the government agencies on how we can better spot this oil that's offshore that's moved away from the well area and in it's small patches where it's much more difficult for our tools like skimming to actually achieve success.
The poster to my left here is a good example of this. We've been doing aerial photography over the area and using the national geospatial agency to process that data. We can now locate these small patches of oil, find them on a map, and dispatch our skimming equipment to these.
This is -- should be a significant breakthrough for us. These photographs also give you some sense of what is looks like offshore where we don't have continuous oil, but we have these bands or patches, which widely dispersed and have been very difficult to locate. With this new equipment and technique, we believe, will be more effective in locating this oil offshore and we can attack it. With that I'll hand it over to Admiral Landry.
REAR ADMIRAL MARY LANDRY, U.S. COAST GUARD: Thank you, Doug. Obviously, we're very disappointed in today's announcement and I -- I know all of you are anxious to see this well secured. It's been our number one goal since day one.
But we've also want to assure you that we've had a very, very aggressive response posture and we're going to continue do that. We have positioned resources all around the Gulf Coast, we're obviously right on the front lines in Louisiana, fighting as the oil reaches the shore.
But it is a tribute to everybody who's been working on this since day one that we only have 107 miles of shoreline oil right now and we have approximately 30 acres of marsh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: OK, that's BP and coast guard officials. That was the press conference that happened around 6:00 Eastern. We'll be bringing you much more of that, giving you information about what this new development means.
But when we come back I'm going to talk to Billy Nungesser. He was the president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. That is the parish most in danger with this oil that has come onshore and the oil that may continue to come onshore because of BP's failed efforts to contain this well.
We'll continue this discussion and our live coverage of this new development in the oil spill on the other side of this. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Continuing our live coverage of the news that the top kill method to kill the leak in the Gulf of Mexico has failed. BP announced that about three hours ago.
Let's go live now to Billy Nungesser. He is the president of Plaquemines Parish. This is an area that has already been affected by the oil that has washed onshore and is preparing now for a lot more. Unfortunately, because this oil spill is not contained, they can expect a lot more oil to come onshore.
Billy Nungesser, you've seen him on TV, you've heard him before. He is very, very frustrated by the official response to what is going on.
Mr. Nunn guesser, thanks for being with us again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
VELSHI: All right, he's standing by. We're going to get to him in a moment. Let me just show you if we can put up the map.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here.
VELSHI: -- where he is. Billy, are you with us again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I am.
VELSHI: All right, good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here.
VELSHI: Thanks for being with us.
Listen, for our viewers who are - you know, you've been tuning in and out of this thing, over the last 40 days, tell me -- for those in the rest of the country the relevance of Plaquemines Parish with respect to this oil that continues to leak and is headed onshore?
BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: Well, Plaquemines Parish has more land -- coastal land than any other parish that's affected, double. We run 100 miles long both sides of river, and both sides of that is all marshland and it's actually 7,000 miles of intertangled waterways that you cannot protect. If we don't stop this from coming into the marshlands, you'll never clean it up.
VELSHI: All right, what is your -- what is your request? What needs to happen to protect this oil? Now that we know that that well is not being capped today and may not -- may continue to spew oil -- at best case scenario for the next four or five days, worst-case scenario for two or three months. What needs to happen to protect your parish, the workers there, the business people there, the fishermen there?
NUNGESSER: BP needs to step up to the plate. I'm begging them to start today and start moving these barges -- these dredges and pumping the sediment and build a barrier wall. There's absolutely nothing else that will keep the oil out of the marshlands.
We've lost a couple of the battles. If we don't do that we'll lose the war and these marshlands will be lost forever and BP could do that tonight. We could start moving in the morning and every day we wait, we get closer to hurricane season, starts next week. We might not ever have an opportunity to save them. BP needs to step up to the plate today and start dredging. All six permits that we issued by the corps of engineers, they can make it happen, do it today.
VELSHI: Has any dredging started? Any dredging of this sediment begun already?
NUNGESSER: Governor Jindal has removed a couple of coastal projects we were doing and altered them to give us a front line of protection, but we need to have dredges on all six of these reaches at the same time to do it quickly as possible and we urge the corps of engineers to issue the permits for the rest of the reaches because without completing the project, you're leaving yourself wide open.
We saw at what happened at Red Fish Bay and Pass Calusa, it destroyed that marsh and we need to move quickly and I'm very confident that Tuesday when the president's people get together, meet, that they will force BP do this.
And I really believe that'll happen, but BP doesn't have to wait for that. They could step up to the plate tonight, say we're going to do it, they can do it quicker than government. They can start tonight.
We've got the experts willing to go to work for BP that will make this happen. They've been doing it for 30 years. They know what they're doing. Let's get this done and save coastal Louisiana.
VELSHI: All right, before the president came down there, you expressed some frustration in the speed at which the president and the administration were working. Are you satisfied that at least the president is hearing this and understands the gravity of this situation?
NUNGESSER: Well, let me tell you this, I was frustrated, very frustrated with BP and the coast guard, but I realize that the president has the final word. I think he fully understands now our frustration.
And that's why he's demanded by Tuesday, the county get together, make a decision whether they feel they can get BP to pay for this and this will stop the oil and I think we're going to see that happen.
But in lieu of what happened today my parish -- they've got people calling me crying because today they know that oil is still pumping. BP could at least put them on at rest and go on TV and say we're doing absolutely everything physically possible to protect those wetlands.
Without moving those dredges, they can't say that. They need to say that tonight on TV and put the people of south of Louisiana at rest that they are stepping up to the plate and doing everything possible. I'm calling on BP to do the right thing and then we can work as a team to keep this all out.
VELSHI: Billy Nungesser, thanks for coming on to tell us about this and we'll stay in very, very close touch with you and the folks of Plaquemines Parish. Billy Nungesser is the parish president at Plaquemines. One the concerns, of course, with the oil coming on land is not just the damage to the fisheries, not just the damage to the marine life, but damage to people's health.
Elizabeth Cohen is standing by on the other side of this break. She's going to tell us about some increased health concerns, what you need to be looking out for if you're in that part of the country. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Our coverage of the BP announcement this afternoon that their top kill method to contain the oil spill has failed continues now with our entire team across the Gulf Coast.
Carol Costello has been following the spill response for us. She's been with crews who are trying to clean up the oily mess that's washing up on the coastline.
Carol, what have you got?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, the battle cry out here is like we are to protect the coast. People are certainly ready to do that and BP appears more than ever ready to do that right now, before they made the announcement that the top kill process wasn't working, they held an earlier news conference and they talked about how they're ratcheting up their efforts to protect the coast.
And there are a couple of ways they say they're doing that. They believe they have too many people close to this spill, which is miles and miles out into the gulf so they're building these floating camps, flotillas they call them, and they will have people closer to the shore ready to stop any oil that may be creeping up to this point.
They're also building tent cities on the shore. They're going to hire hundreds of workers. Those workers are going to come out and clean the beach of those tar balls we've been seeing. You know they're all over the place here in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
And they're also working with the Louisiana National Guard. In fact, we got the chance to talk to a lieutenant, who's overseeing the special operation. They're building this big tiger dam. In essence what it is, they're laying this inflatable pipe, they're filling it with water from the gulf.
And it's creating this barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and the shoreline and hopefully that'll keep any of that oily mess, if it comes to that, from washing into the sand on shore because you don't want do that. I think we have some sound from the lieutenant right now. Let's listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. KELLY HUDSON, LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD: The tiger name is used specifically for this purpose, where you're going to try to protect the beaches from hurricane-forced winds and waves or whether you're going try to keep containment from coming on shore. This is what this was designed to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: They have a big task in front of them, Ali. They've been working at this a couple of days now. Seven miles of pipe they're going to lay down. They plan to do a mile per day. They're working in three shifts, 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. Hopefully we'll have this thing all done in a total of seven days.
Some of the other things we saw today, there were lots of workers onboard those big yellow school buses heading out to the beaches. They were dressed in the red, in the blue t-shirts, they were in their protective pants and they were cleaning the beach of those tar balls, hundreds of them, and they were sent out by BP.
BP is training those workers, they've hired an outsight company to train these workers to clean up hazardous materials, and they seem to be out in force today.
VELSHI: Carol, can you smell oil from where you are?
COSTELLO: No.
VELSHI: OK.
COSTELLO: No, we can't smell it at all. We just see the tar balls on beach and if you look out in the water, Ali, you see a sheen, but you really don't know what it is. It look sort of like someone dropped some salad dressing in it, but we don't know exactly what that is.
But, of course, it's disturbing people and when you pick up shells on the beach, they do have an oily residue on them so that's making people very, very --
VELSHI: For folks who don't know all of the - you know, a lot of the oil that comes in from all of the offshore drilling in the gulf gets pumped right into Port Fourchon right where you are. That is ground zero if you will for oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico so a lot of oil all around where you are.
I'm only asking if you can smell it because we have heard of a situation, Carol, we'll get back to you in a second. We've heard of at least two more oil cleanup workers being hospitalized after falling ill on the job. Obviously, there's exposure to all sorts of things, exposure to oil, exposure to the dispersant.
This comes just a few days after seven others had to be treated for the same symptoms, nausea, headaches, dizziness. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us live now with more on this.
Elizabeth, this is petroleum, anybody who has been around crude oil knows this is much stronger than the smell of gasoline at the gas station. This is something that's nauseous and toxic if you're up close to it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDEND: That's right and I want you to take a look at something that I have right here, Ali. These are folks who are cleaning up this spill and you'll notice something they are not wearing masks. They're not wearing masks in this picture, in this picture or in many others that I could show you.
And as you said they're breathing in the fumes from this from this oily sludge, which is in the water. Now there's an irony here because a lot of these cleanup workers, you know, folks like these men here, they are former fishermen -- well they're still fishermen, but they're not making a living fishing right now for obvious reasons, they're not allowed to fish in these waters.
And we've talked earlier with Clint Guidry who is the acting president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, and he expressed some real concern to us. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINT GUIDRY, LOUISIANA SHRIMP ASSOCIATION: My shrimpers can't do this job. They just need -- need the air quality monitored and they need the proper protective equipment which is not being done.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Now, Ali, BP has been very clear about this. They put out a press release a couple of days ago that said these workers do not need masks. They said we're monitoring the air quality and we don't see a problem. They do not need masks -- Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I want to ask you about two things. I mentioned earlier, there's the oil. And again, if you're not near it you may not smell it. If it's -- if you're upon it, it may affect you, but there's also these dispersants, this detergent, basically, that they've put in to try and break up the oil so that it can either be eaten up by microbes or it can evaporate or just disperse. There's a -- there's a toxicity to those as well.
COHEN: That's right. And, Ali, actually the experts -- some of them that I have been talking to are much more concerned about breathing in vapors from the dispersants than from the oil.
As a matter of fact, we went and looked at label that's on the dispersants that actually the company that makes the dispersants, the label they wrote, and they say, very clearly on the label, "Avoid breathing vapor."
So you're not only worried, as you said, about breathing in the vapor from the oil, but from these chemicals from these dispersants.
VELSHI: All right, Elizabeth, thanks very much for that.
When we come back we've heard from the president of the United States. He has reacted to today's announcement and made some announcements about what administration is going to do about the failure to cap this well.
We'll be back with that right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: President Obama has issued a statement reacting to the breaking news that we're following tonight, and that is the failure of the top kill operation to stop the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
This is an operation that's been under way for three days now. It was the best hope at this point.
CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian is in Chicago where the president is spending the weekend.
Dan, what did the president have to say?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know the president is spending the holiday weekend here balancing, trying to have a little fun, playing basketball this morning, spending time with some close friends, but also getting continued updates on the situation on the gulf.
And hours after it was announced that the top kill was a failure the president putting out a statement which read in part, quote, "While we were hopeful that the top kill would succeed we were also mindful that there was a significant chance that it would not and we will continue to pursue any and all responsible means of stopping this leak until the completion of the two relief wells currently being drilled."
And then in a show of frustration not only for the people here in -- or there in the gulf but also for the administration as it tries to deal with this crisis, the president concluding, it is as enraging -- it is as enraging as it is heartbreaking and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the water and shores are cleaned up, and also the people unjustly victimized by this man-made disaster are made whole.
Now, shortly before we got this statement we also learned that Secretary Salazar as well as some other administration officials will be headed back to the gulf next week. A chance for them to continuing to meet with BP officials, other government scientists as well, other parish presidents as well as they deal with this crisis there in the gulf -- Ali.
VELSHI: Dan, let's just talk about this for a second. There's sort of a mixed feeling and I've been getting a lot of tweets and messages on Facebook about this. To some people, particularly to those who live in those parishes where the arrival of more oil and getting into the estuary, and getting into the Mississippi Delta, this is now crucial.
Their one hope that this was going to end quickly was dashed tonight. To others, they're wondering why this sudden panic. Why, for that matter, are we in breaking news about this?
What's the sense from the administration about how urgent this matter has just become tonight?
LOTHIAN: Well, it's certain -- they certainly believe that this is urgent but not only tonight but in the last few days. You know, that's why you saw the president come to the gulf. It is supposed to be a chance for the president to just come here to Chicago for the holiday weekend but he felt that it was important for him to go there and not only to hear firsthand from the regional governors as well as those parish presidents about some of their concerns but to let them know that, number one, that the buck stops with him.
Now, you know, what can you take beyond that -- you know, other than the president's acknowledging that he's responsible for this, that BP will pay for it, but that he is in charge of this and that the buck stops with him.
Now beyond that, the president also wanted to make clear that this administration will do everything that it can to make sure that everyone is made whole and that this problem is mitigated. But beyond any of this, what has to be done is that that oil has to stop flowing from under the ocean.
And there is still a lot of concern in this administration. Yes, they were hopeful that the top kill would work, but they also realized that it was difficult because it had not been done especially at 5,000 feet. And so they're hoping now that the next procedure will be successful, but as the president pointed out yesterday, that these scientists, the best minds in the business, will continue working until they're able to stop that oil from flowing.
VELSHI: All right, although we do know that at this point the next effort that is actually going to be about stopping that leak is the drilling of the relief wells. That's the information now.
LOTHIAN: That's right. And that's still --
VELSHI: That's --
LOTHIAN: That's right. And that's still until August.
VELSHI: That's right.
LOTHIAN: And as we heard -- you know, several days ago the president said that, you know, he didn't want it to get to that. Obviously that was sort of the -- the worst-case scenario where you had to wait and all of this oil would be pouring out over all that period of time, and so it was hoped that all these various other steps would be successful, but ultimately, that is what may -- that is what it may take to stop the oil from flowing into the gulf, which a lot of people say will just be a catastrophe beyond anything that anyone has seen.
VELSHI: All right, Dan, if you hear anything more from the administration let us know, we'll get did on TV as soon as you have it. Dan Lothian in Chicago where the president is spending the weekend.
Well, if image is everything, BP has a big problem -- a problem almost as big as the Gulf of Mexico. Damage control is needed more than ever. We're going to hear from some experts on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, BP -- the initials once stood for British Petroleum -- might be boiling point now. That's where a lot of people are.
Susan Candiotti looks at the damage BP has done to its own brand with its failed response to the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: BP, by the slack. You can have your oil back.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): BP's crumbling environmentally friendly image is taking yet another pounding. Demonstrators in New York mocking the company by covering themselves in fake oil.
BRIAN DOBSON, PRESIDENT, DOBSON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.: The foreign oil company on our shore's doing damage to our coast, to our nation. That's the image that they've got try to correct.
CANDIOTTI: PR crisis expert Brian Dobson says BP dug its own hole early on, in part, by calling the spill, quote, "relatively tiny," compared to a big ocean.
DOBSON: To call the spill tiny relative to the oceans is ridiculous. That's -- it's totally irrelevant. This is -- this is the CEO of a company who's spewing oil off of the biggest customer on the globe, off the coast of the U.S. The number one consumer of energy.
CANDIOTTI: Time and again, BP's boss has been asked to defend earlier statements downplaying the spill.
TONY HAYWARD, CEO, BP: At the time that I made the statement, we clearly had not had any oil on the shore and we were doing everything we could to contain the oil offshore and defend the shoreline.
A cup of oil on the shore is failure. And in that regard we have failed to defend the shoreline to the degree and extent that we believe we could.
CANDIOTTI: BP also came under fire for not telling anyone that top kill procedure was temporarily stopped on its first night. And for its performance at town hall meetings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been permitted by EP?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That I need to check on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they pre-testing the soil, the current condition of soils in that area before they start doing the decontamination process?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm going to have to look -- get back to you on that one as well.
CANDIOTTI: CNN affiliate WEAR reports that BP spokesperson now has been let go and the latest blow up, BP is being accused of bussing in cleanup workers in time for President Obama's Friday visit and who left when the president did.
One Louisiana politician called it a, quote, "dog and pony show." A BP spokesman downplayed the claim saying the workers were following a normal schedule.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: Susan Candiotti joins us now live from New York.
Susan, any -- any new response given that they've just announced top kill has failed? Are they doing any better or worse with their PR at this point?
CANDIOTTI: Well I wondered that, too, Ali, and so I reached out to the very same PR crisis expert that we interviewed for the story and I said OK, latest information, what's your take on this?
And he said you know what I found interesting about at what the COO said. He said look at words that he chose. He chose what he said very carefully -- the words. Specifically, you remember, that the COO said simply that we're moving on to the next option.
But the crisis expert said, why didn't he simply say, we failed and we're sorry. And he actually pointed out that it was the Coast Guard admiral who said we failed. Not BP.
VELSHI: Very interesting. Yes.
CANDIOTTI: So -- yes, exactly. He said that in his opinion he thinks that, really, the company at this point can't say we're sorry enough times.
VELSHI: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: In order to win back the public's confidence.
VELSHI: What everybody seems to agree -- the scientists, BP, and the government -- is that once they get these relief -- these two relief wells drilled, that should be enough to stop this well from -- from spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, but that could be August.
So I guess they all know that there's a result three months out. The issue is, that's just not going to be acceptable for them to say. They can't come out and say, yes, we'll get this thing done in three months.
CANDIOTTI: They sure have a rough road ahead, there's no doubt about it. And as this expert pointed out as well, at this point, what BP needs to do is to be as open and as transparent as it possibly can. And, he added, to spend as much money as it takes to -- not only cleanup this mess, this environmental mess, but also to try to re- instill confidence in the public to win back their customer base because clearly that may take years. It just might take years.
VELSHI: They did make many references in the press conference -- by the way we're going to be bringing our viewers portions of that. It was a very interesting conference. They did make many references, subtles, from BP about getting better, about communicating to the media.
And there were definitely some anger on the part of some reporters about feeling a little bit messed around. So it does seem that they are acknowledging they've got a fairly serious image problem.
Susan, thanks so much for that story and for staying on top of this for us.
Susan Candiotti in New York.
CANDIOTTI: You bet.
LOTHIAN: Many of you have a lot to say about tonight's announcement by BP. We are listening, by the way. I'll bring you some of that on the other side of this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I want to let you know our coverage of the news that BP's top kill option, the top kill method, did not work to stem that oil -- oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico continues tonight. We're going to be staying on top of it.
When the announcement came through Brooke Baldwin was anchoring here. She has now turned her attention to getting responses from all of you out there. She joins me now with that.
Brooke, what are you hearing?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Ali. I'm sure your Twitter account is exploding as mine has been really since we were on, you know, for multiple hours when the news broke about the top kill.
And I just want to share some of our viewers' tweets because it's so important hearing from them. They were educated, very opinionated so here we go.
Tweet number one. "Do you think it's bad enough to get the government to stop offshore drilling altogether?"
Tweet number two, "I won't be happy until I see someone from BP breaks down and start crying because they're destroying the earth."
Got another one, says, "Why doesn't someone get BP to admit that they don't have a clue."
And, "Almost makes one feel sorry for BP. I said almost. I think fear is the most appropriate sentiment widespread amongst us all."
One more for you. "Are they going to a new top hat, seems like they just keep changing names," referring to, remember, Ali, that containment dome and this whole idea is kind of similar to that.
But, you know, it's interesting and it's interesting your conversation with Susan Candiotti. I was kind of glued to that because she was right, you know, from a PR standpoint, we haven't necessarily heard like a mea culpa from BP directly.
VELSHI: Yes. There's a lot of -- a lot of frustration out there. I'm getting a lot of it. I'll tell you something else that's been moving around on my Twitter board.
BALDWIN: Yes.
VELSHI: And that is tone. Is this -- is this new -- is this breaking news, is this a reason to be panic, and yet I hear from other people they are really fearful. I have to say I was watching you this afternoon, Brooke, when this -- when this happened. I felt sad.
I mean, I really -- I feel sort of sad for the earth. This isn't a blame issue. This is a, wow, I can't believe this is still happening. You know we have both spent time down in the gulf region where you see how some of these people work really hard to make a living and some of that is being taken away and the environmental damage.
It is -- it is sad. And I wonder whether there is something justified about it being serious breaking news when something very dangerous is happening to the earth.
BALDWIN: Yes, I think it just like you said. It gets you in the gut. I think when I was talking to Billy Nungesser earlier he got weak in the knees.
VELSHI: That's what he said, yes.
BALDWIN: And I think that it's not necessarily taking sides. I think that we're all, though, kind of the side of the gulf. We want good things for the gulf.
VELSHI: Yes.
BALDWIN: We're concerned about the environment. We're not necessarily -- I'm not pointing fingers, and certainly I know you aren't either, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes.
BALDWIN: Some of these people might be, but it's tough to watch.
VELSHI: Well, BP is going to have to pay for a lot of this. And the BP executive in the press conference stated -- he said, the motivation for BP to see this thing end is as great as anybody else. I don't think anybody wants to see this oil flowing out there --
BALDWIN: Absolutely.
VELSHI: -- for one more day. It costs everybody --
BALDWIN: They don't either.
VELSHI: -- money. It costs the earth.
Brooke, thanks very much.
BALDWIN: Sure.
VELSHI: You'll stay with me through our coverage of all of this. Exploring the options, now that BP's top kill method has failed. There aren't as many options left but we will explore them for you in detail when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Jacqui Jeras has been looking at the next option for BP to deal with this oil leak.
Jacqui, the issue here that's important is that the next option is not about actually capping the well.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.
VELSHI: It's about trying to contain the oil that's coming out of it.
JERAS: Yes. Getting as much as they can.
VELSHI: Yes.
JERAS: So this isn't going to seal the deal, this doesn't solve the problem. At this point they're just trying to get as much as they can, you know, until they can finally drill that relief well.
OK. So this is the LMRP. What that stands for is lower marine riser package. And basically, this is what it does. Remember the BOP? This is the thing that failed in the beginning. It's sitting on the ocean floor right on top of the well.
Let's put this animation into motion. We're going to take you up to the top of the BOP, and sitting at the top is that riser or basically, you know, just that tube that is broken where the main leak is.
VELSHI: The video we're seeing is from there. Right there --
JERAS: That's right. This is the main leak where everything is gushing out. What they're going to do is they're going to take these remote operated vehicles, Ali, and they're going to come in here and they're going to snip it off. They're going to try and do a clean cut, as clean as they possibly can.
When they do it gush happens.
VELSHI: Sure. JERAS: Now we heard from the press conference earlier today, they are not that worried that it's going to release any more oil that's been already coming out. So they're going to take this new little top hat sort of type thing, and cap the top of it putting another riser in the top which is going to lead up to the ocean's surface into a vessel and collect as much as they can.
They says if this work, and they think that it will, and they've learned a lot from the top hat scenario that didn't work.
VELSHI: Right.
JERAS: They say if this works this should collect most -- but not all -- of the oil.
VELSHI: Because it's not a mechanical seal. They're really putting something on top of it. Some will get out. That pipe that -- that's coming off from the top of that riser, that's going to go to the surface so it'll be a vessel on top that is collecting all of that oil.
JERAS: Yes. Absolutely.
VELSHI: And one of the things that he was saying about the pipe is that 6 1/2 inches in diameter but it's -- there's a pipe inside a pipe. They're going to be having hot water there so that if any of this ice -- because the first time they tried this ice formed --
JERAS: They collected it and then it made it buoyant.
VELSHI: Right.
JERAS: And so they couldn't get it down far enough.
VELSHI: So they're going to try and put hot water in there so that it does that. Now, if that works and they start collecting oil, they've still got to close that well off and that is not going to happen until August.
JERAS: Months. Yes. Absolutely. And they've been working on this for a while already. This is called the relief well. And they've got two of them that they've been drilling. One a lot further into the game than the other one.
This is, I think, 12,000 feet down already. It's got to go down 18,000 feet altogether. Sounds like an easy job. Not so much. And a lot of that has to do with all of this rock material that they have to get through. So they're going to drill two of these things, come down to the main well, and then they're going to plug that up with concrete.
This should relieve pressure. This should plug the whole thing off. And they say this is the ticket to make it stop --
VELSHI: Yes.
JERAS: -- altogether.
VELSHI: That's the one thing everybody agrees upon. That if they do that, that's actually going to work, but that is three months away so they're going to have these inroad (ph) solutions.
We're not going to know if that top hat -- that the LMRP works for a few days.
JERAS: Right.
VELSHI: Jacqui, you'll stay with me through the rest of the evening.
We're covering this for you right here and we're going to tell you everything you need to know about this oil spill in just a moment.
Jacqui Jeras, thank you.
