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Adm. Allen Holds Press Conference; National Intelligence Chief Nominee
Aired June 05, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Just -- just folks I want to let you know what you're looking at, Thad Allen right now giving a press conference. He's taking questions by phone. He had to pick it up because he couldn't hear.
So you see him there, he's having a few technical difficulties in answering the questions. Let's go ahead and listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Now, what is discharged out that's not being recovered, will we make that public? The answer is, of course, we'll make it public. We've got a flow rates technical group established that came up with the revised estimate as you know a while back that said there are two models that show us that that well was leaking between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels a day, or 12,000 and 25,000 barrels a day.
What we're going to do is once we establish a full rate production, we're going to go back and understand the oil that was released while we had to cut the pipe and put the containment cap in place and then make an estimate of the oil that was lost during that total period of time, and we will make that available to the public and it will be completely transparent.
Next question?
HOLMES: And again, folks, Admiral Allen taking some questions at a press conference. Some live reporters in the room, but also some on the conference. And he wasn't able to -- conference in there and he wasn't able to let everybody hear the question.
So that's what you're looking at. We want to let you know why you're he's just standing there and watching Thad Allen on the telephone. But he's getting the questions, let's hear the answer.
ALLEN: ... data from the ship. We will get that and make it public. Yes, sir we will. Does that answer your question?
Next question? Let's see if we can get it back on speaker. So we get a better line there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Operator, next question?
(INAUDIBLE) ALLEN: The vents remain open. We will get an update from British Petroleum and pass that later on. They're going to -- they're going to remain open until they can stabilize the pressure and rate at the production level.
They are adjusting -- making adjustments to the systems. And making sure they don't increase the production rate until it's safe to do so. But we will make an announcement when we know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Operator, next question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your next question comes from (INAUDIBLE)
QUESTION: Hi, thank you very much for having this press and I'd like to ask, there's been some kind -- some confusion about the estimate range for the amount of oil that has flown.
And that rate of 12,000 to 19,000 according to some scientist they're saying that that's the lower end estimate, and that there is no higher end estimate. Can you help clear that up?
ALLEN: I'd be glad to. The two flow rates were developed by the Flow Rate Technical group headed by Marshall McNutt who's head of the U.S. Geological Survey. There were two different models used that produced two different ranges; the low end is the same on both models, it's 12,000 barrels a day.
The two different models produced 12,000 to 19,000 a day. And the other model produced 12,000 to 25,000 barrels a day. I don't think it's a bad idea to have competing models because it gives you a higher fidelity answer as we move forward.
Hopefully we'll start moving those ranges into a more acceptable representation on what's actually flowing and the best way to do that is get a good flow rate in production, because once you know what you're producing every day, that's a known quantity you can take off the table and then your estimate that you're trying to base on -- on other data starts to narrow.
Next question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your next question comes from (INAUDIBLE) from "Los Angeles Times".
QUESTION: Yes, I had another question on the vents. If they -- if they remain open, I mean, it's safe to say that we haven't really come that far since we heard about -- about this yesterday, 24 hours ago.
I mean, how -- I guess I'm wondering how successful can we -- can we say this has been so far if it seems like we've only seen 6,000 -- 6,000 gallons taken up and the vent, which we were told yesterday should be getting closed and they're still open.
Is the rate of flow -- is the rate of spillage decreased that anybody can detect? ALLEN: First of all, let me -- let me just correct you. It was 6,000 barrels yesterday. And what's happening is, they are increasing the production rate, but they're doing it in a manner so they don't introduce hydrates in the container cap which will cause us problem.
The overall goal is to reach the maximum production at the production -- floating production vessel overhead and when we get to the point, slowly close off the valves. That will happen based on conditions that are present on the flow rates. And it could happen very shortly.
But it's going to be based on the conditions. And what they're able to achieve in the production rate.
Next question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) from the Associated Press.
QUESTION: Admiral, Ray Henry AP, when you're talking about the conditions, what sort of conditions do you need to see before you start closing off those vents? I mean, it's just a matter of decreasing the oil? So you don't have water in the containment cap. Is that the primary concern?
ALLEN: That is, what we want to do is take as much pressure coming from the well bore as possible and put that into production. Once you've optimized that pressure, there is a little, there is a smaller chance that whatever oil cannot be accommodated up to that pipe for production will go down and out those rubber seals. And that will be the final, what I would call the residual leakage we're going to have to manage over the long term.
And so they're going to try and get this right and don't want to introduce any factors that might disturb that seal or the production capacity until they do that.
And again, they'll move forward, we have set it the next day but I -- if that's confusing people, I will just say, it needs to be conditions based -- based on the flow rate they're achieving. And they want to optimize that because they want the most pressure taken out of that pipe through production as they can. Next question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're next question comes from Donna (INAUDIBLE) from Sun Herald.
QUESTION: Right, I'm kind of curious, we're here in Gulfport, Mississippi, and we've seen all and we've heard everything. What is the worst case scenario at this point?
(INAUDIBLE)
ALLEN: The question is, is what is the worst case scenario? Well, obviously the worst case scenario is you don't contain flow, and the only way we're ever going to cap this well is through the drilling of a relief well. That is under way right now. The first relief well is currently about 7,000 feet below the seafloor. They're going to have to achieve somewhere between 16,000 and 18,000 feet to intercept the well. The goal then once they intercept the well will be to pump mud down the well to reduce the pressure of the oil coming up to the reservoir to the point where they can actually put a cement plug in.
At that point the well will be killed. You heard of the "top kill" exercise we went through last week. I would call this the bottom kill exercise. In the long term the threat from this well will not -- not go away until a relief well has been drilled, the pressure has been taken off and the well has been plugged. In the meantime we need to optimize our containment efforts which is going on right now with the containment cap.
And so the worst case that I could see is that the this -- the discharge related to what we can't contain goes forward until we have the relief wells drilled, which will be sometime in early August.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Operator, last question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your last question comes from Chris (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: Yes, I'm from (INAUDIBLE). My question is, based on that 6,000-barrel estimate, if you look at the low estimated rate that could be anywhere -- that could be deemed that you're capturing half the oil or if you look at the high end it could be a quarter of the oil.
I mean, am I -- am I interpreting that the right way? Or do you have caveats there? I mean, it seems like your -- it's more than you said yesterday was at 1,000-barrel estimate is being captured it appears now.
ALLEN: What -- what I said earlier was that after the initial production was established, they were able to at that point in the day -- and I said this would change throughout the day and it will continue to change, at that point they had captured 1,000 barrels.
They tend to measure their production from midnight to midnight. So from midnight last night -- from midnight the night before until midnight last night, they were able to actually produce 6,000 barrels. They start at a lower rate and go to a higher rate.
Hopefully the production capacity of that -- that rig out there is 15,000 barrels a day. And that is the upper limit of what they can achieve with their production capability. So we'd like to push it clear to the limits that we could, and that's what they're trying to do at this time. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a quick play for everybody. BP has been providing a twice daily updates on the technical update on the containment, and they're committed to providing an update every morning on what the actual rate of production is from the containment method. So you'll be getting that from them in the morning. ALLEN: Thank you, folks.
HOLMES: All right. You've been listening to Admiral Thad Allen, yes, retired, but still, this is his last assignment. He is in charge of the response to this oil disaster. He's in Theodore, Alabama.
Just giving us an update and a couple of things that jump out, one of the highlights, certainly that a lot of people take interest in fact that he says this cap that's on top now, you're looking at a live picture, there's plenty of oil still coming out, but he says now that the cap is in place, still some work to be done, but they were able to in the first 24 hours of putting that cap on, capture 6,000 barrels of oil.
If you'll remember the estimate is that anywhere between 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil have been escaping every single day from this ruptured well. So if you do the math, it sounds like a good percentage, or the first time we're hearing a good percentage of oil from this leaking well is being captured and instead of going out into the Gulf of Mexico, it is instead being taken up to a ship.
So we have been told that in fact this lower marine riser cap package, that's the name of this new option they're trying to try to cap this well. This new option now appears to be working to some degree. They do have some vents, four vents on top of this cap that they need to close. Those are still open at the time.
They are being very slow and very meticulous about going about this to not make any mistakes. But once those are closed, we're told they'll be able to capture even more of and possibly the majority of that oil.
But again, Suzanne, a big number, and a big update in that we're hearing for the first time, in fact a significant amount of oil, at least in the first 24 hours, who knows what this 24 hours might bring, but significant in that first 24 hours, 6,000 barrels were captured. That's good news.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: That's good news. And one of the things I found interesting as well, I had a chance earlier in the week to talk to Carol Browner (ph) the environmental adviser to the President, and asked her, you know, what can people do around the country to help out. And she said pray.
Well, Admiral Thad Allen gave some solutions here today, he said if you have a boat, go ahead and volunteer, get out there. We will go ahead through a process and allow to use your boat to help in the cleanup effort.
He said if you're unemployed, if you're somebody in those three states, we will train you. Come to the center. We will give you the kind of equipment that's necessary, the safety gear to get out there and to help clean up this mess, whether it's the beaches, whether it's out on a boat, that there are things that people in the community can do to make this situation better. And that has been something that people have been starved for, to go and actually try to help out. He says there is a way to get certified and to become a part of this effort.
HOLMES: He talked about at least 443 vessels have been out there, as part of this effort. And they want thousands. Some 4,000 people at least. He said if you're unemployed, he's trying to get those folks in and get them to work.
Another update we got is that in fact the relief wells we're told about, those are the only real ways to cut this thing off, those are going on right now and are 7,000 feet below the seafloor.
That sounds like a lot of effort has been made. But it needs to get to 16,000 or 18,000 to actually intersect the well and stop this oil from gushing, so some significant updates from Thad Allen.
We're going to get a quick break in, but we'll continue to talk about and continue to break down what we heard the update on this Saturday about what's happening, the relief efforts.
It's about 15 minutes past the hour. We're taking a quick break. We're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. A quarter past the hour.
Here we are on this Day 47 of the oil disaster and we just got an update -- an important one from Thad Allen that in fact some 6,000 barrels of oil collected yesterday, in 24 hours after putting that lower marine riser cap package in place. So that is in fact some good news, that some of this oil is starting now, a significant amount is starting to be taken up and siphoned out onto a ship versus going out into the Gulf of Mexico.
Let's turn to our Rob Marciano who is there -- had been on Pensacola Beach for us today. Rob, we don't know if you were able to hear that update, in fact, that Thad Allen says 6,000 barrels a day collected now. That didn't come in time for a lot of the people on the beaches there in Florida just yet, but in looking behind you, it's getting close to noontime. Looks like people are still coming out.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they are still coming out in markedly lower numbers, that's for sure. But the beach, as you see behind me, is still open for business as the mayor here has pointed out here more than one time.
But for the second day in a row, we've seen tar balls wash up on this beach any where from half-dollar size, quarter size all the way up to something the size of a small or a medium-sized pancake.
Cleanup crews are kind of coming in every day, once the tide reaches high tide and starts to go out so they can roll through the tide line and do cleanup efforts that way. The tourism industry is a little bit down but the beaches are still open, so they're encouraging you to come out for that.
But also, you know, charter fishing, that area of business way down as well. Yesterday right here on the beach we ran into a charter fisher captain and he's pretty frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had multiple -- probably 35 cancellations already and we're getting three to four a day, every day. Nobody's wanting to go out.
My whole family's fished here for three generations. It's destroyed it. We were catching fish, pulling them up, covered in oil, 12 miles out the pass. It's a sad situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Catching fish that are covered in oil. That's not good for business for sure. That particular charter boat captain, he did apply to be a vessel of opportunity. He hasn't gotten a call back yet.
What are they doing to protect the beach? Well, they're not booming it because that does no good. They would rather just clean it up as the oil comes onshore. They are skimming near Pensacola Bay, obviously the bays, the estuaries, that is the main concern.
Yesterday, we caught up with the governor of Florida. He definitely needs some stuff to help battle this oil here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: We hope that we don't have more but the odds are, we probably will. And it breaks my heart. But we want to do everything we can to try to prevent it, keep it off our shore. I met with the President today, and Admiral Thad Allen, asked them for more skimmers, more boom to try to keep it off our coast as much as humanly possible.
MARCIANO: Do you have enough? Are you ready?
CRIST: Well, we have a fair amount, but we need more. You know, we always need more. We've got over 1,300 miles of coastline in Florida, more than any of these other states in order to try to protect. Florida's a giant. We need all the help we can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: 1,300 miles of coastline and this is what they're trying to protect themselves against. Just a couple of miles down the beach here. This was collected yesterday. It was once two softball size tar balls obviously since melted. It's interesting to watch this kind of bubble up in the sun. You see just how dynamic this situation is.
This I found earlier today along with the tar balls here along the beaches. You've got litter that's covered in oil as well. This is all rolling ahead, the main slick, which is at least four or five miles out.
Stronger southwest wind today, that doesn't necessarily spell good news in regards to that oil coming a little bit closer to shore.
So far, the main slick, T.J. and Suzanne, has stayed offshore and residents certainly hope that continues to be the case.
HOLMES: We hope that's the case. It's the big time for the industry down there, tourism. Hopefully the folks, beaches still open, as you can see. Get on down to Florida.
Rob, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much. The whole oil disaster, day 47 we're looking at now. Remember, see those pictures? That was back on April 20th. Can you believe how long it's been now when that explosion rocked the DeepWater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana; 11 crew members killed?
President Obama plans to meet with their families at the White House Thursday. Yesterday, a few of those survivors sat down with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: When you hear BP, Tony Hayward say, he wants his life back, what do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want my life back. I'm sure you want your life back, too. I'm sure -- you know there are 11 guys out there, their wives want them back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And you're going to hear four from those men coming up next hour. And this hour, CNN Exclusive, our Kyra Phillips tags along on just a typical day for the President's point man of this disaster, Admiral Thad Allen. He is the go-to guy right now. So stay tuned for that.
MALVEAUX: Stormy weekend on tap for the Gulf Coast and Ohio valley today, Midwest and north east tomorrow. Our meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf gives all the details about -- it's the CNN Severe Weather Center obviously it's going to affect clean up. It's going to affect a number of people who are really trying to make sense of all of this.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, definitely. We think about the people on the beach that are cleaning this up. But still there are a flotilla of boats out there -- they're trying to really maintain a lot of this with that emergency boom.
Here's a look at the location of the oil slick, we have the Google map. So what we're going to be seeing will be the possibility of a few thunderstorms all across the Gulf. In fact, we already have seen quite a few of those, as a matter of fact, a little bit farther back to the west.
Let's move this map and shrink this thing down and get that out of there. There you go. Let's take a look at radar. You see a line of intense storms, not in the Gulf yet, but give it a few hours, you're going to see this drive its way to the east and then possibly erupt over parts of the Gulf Coast and again near much of the oil- slicked areas. That certainly is going to be a big concern.
Now Suzanne was talking about the Ohio valley. That is another place of concern for us because what we're seeing in that part of the world something a little different. We don't have just a low, like the one right along the coast, we have this area of low pressure and this frontal boundary. And it's going to be the combination of that with high humidity of the daytime heating that will give us a chance for some thunderstorms that may reach severe levels.
But the biggest thing is it could produce quite a bit of rainfall. Training effect, if you will. And what that means if you have showers and storms that form over the same area, the same topography, so the ground gets saturated, the additional rainfall doesn't sink into the earth. What it does is causes runoff, the runoff causes flooding. That could be a big problem across much of the Ohio valley south of the great lakes and into the Midwest.
For the Northeast, some scattered showers, not only that but very muggy conditions too with highs mainly in the 80s.
84 degrees in Raleigh, Atlanta with 85 degrees, but with that high humidity, it's going to feel a lot warmer more like into the 90s. 94 degrees in Dallas. 86 in Houston your high. 97 in Vegas. 100 in Phoenix. And 63 -- not 80 -- 63 in San Francisco. Nice and cool out by pier 39, the breeze coming in off the bay. That's the latest to the forecast for the day. Let's send it back to the news desk.
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks Reynolds.
HOLMES: Appreciate it, buddy.
We just showed you just minutes ago the President announcing a change in the U.S. Intelligence leadership. We'll tell you who this man is, and just how big of a job he has.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
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MALVEAUX: Last hour, President Obama announced his nominee for director of National Intelligence. He is retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, currently undersecretary of defense for intelligence. And our CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve, she is live from Washington with more, covering this story.
Jeanne, tell us first, what do we know about him?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's the Pentagon's top intelligence official currently. He's held a number of intelligence positions over decades including head of the national geospatial intelligence agency, defense intelligence agency.
The President said today that in those positions, he developed a firm grasp on both the human and technical side of intelligence gathering. That he had updated intelligence gathering, improved information sharing, got better intelligence to troops in the field. He says he's the best man for the job and urged the senate to act quickly on this nomination.
Here's part of what the President had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jim also understands the importance of working with our partners in Congress. As he has said not merely to appear when summoned but to keep Congress informed and to seek members' advice and consent.
Not surprisingly, the senate has voted to confirm Jim for senior positions on four separate occasions, and each time it has done so overwhelmingly. Due to the importance of this position, the urgent threats to our nation and Jim's unique experience, I urge the Senate to do so again, and as swiftly as possible.
I've spoken to the appropriate senate leaders, and I've indicated that I expect this nomination to be completed during this work period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: That may be wishful thinking on the part of the president. Already some in Congress are raising concerns about Clapper. Senator Kitt Bond, who's the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a statement last night saying in part, "He lacks the necessary clout with the President, has proven to be less than forthcoming with Congress and has recently blocked our efforts to empower the director of National Intelligence, which at this time I am not inclined to support him."
His Democratic counterpart, the chairman of the committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein has also expressed concerns about Clapper's close ties to the military side of intelligence. But overarching all of this, Suzanne, questions about this job, the director of National Intelligence, and just how effective that position is. Back to you.
MALVEAUX: Now, Jeanne, you've covered this extensively. Just really quickly here, the extent of this job, but why is it we're seeing that obviously Dennis Blair, the former DNI, is resigning under some pressure here? We've had four different directors within five years.
What's going on with this position? Why has it been so difficult to have some stability there?
MESERVE: Well, some pointed to Blair having some specific problems and losing out in some power struggles with both Leon Panetta, the head of the CIA and also John Brennan, the President's chief counterterrorism adviser. But there are broader questions here about this job, and whether it's empowered, whether it has the backing of the President, whether it has the clout financially to get the job done. There's a lot of talk going on about whether in fact legislation needs to be passed to modify the position, or whether in fact what it really needs is the backing of the President, giving the power and the competence to the individual in this job, whoever it is, to truly coordinate the 16 different intelligence agencies across the government -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Tough job. All right. Thank you so much, Jeanne Meserve. Thank you.
HOLMES: Probably at some point in the past week you talked about a baseball game. A baseball game you probably didn't see, or had any idea about, even if you don't like baseball. There's one game that has everybody talking. Why? Because a pitcher was an out away from a perfect game; he actually pitched a perfect game, but it is not in the record books because the umpire made a bad call. The umpire actually apologized. He cried, actually, the next time he came out to actually umpire a game.
So do we move on? Not really. Because you're going to hear from the pitcher himself. Armando Galarraga, he's going to be joining us 3:00 Eastern, noon Pacific right here on CNN.
Also this morning, we have been taking some time to hear from some private citizens who want to help out in the Gulf Coast. They think they have some solutions for actually cleaning up a lot of that oil. They're telling us about it. They're also showing it to us. You'll see it for yourself coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: BP is asking the public for some solutions in helping resolve this oil crisis, and one company says it has the answer to cleaning up the oil spill. It involves freezing the oil so it can be scooped up.
Terry Hester and Will Anderson of EarthGuard Technologies of Alabama. They are joining us. Thank you so much for being here with us this morning.
Terry, I want you to demonstrate for our audience here, people who are watching, how exactly you freeze the oil. What does this process involve?
TERRY HESTER, EARTHGUARD TECHNOLOGIES: Well -- OK, thank you all for the second segment.
This time what we're going to do is the product is so cold that it quickly reduces the temperature of the oil and (INAUDIBLE) body and almost instantly takes a firm countenance (ph). But in a minute or so it becomes completely solid and you can maneuver it any way you want to.
MALVEAUX: Let's see what that's like (ph). HESTER: Now, the earlier segment -- the earlier segment we literally took the oil right off the beach. This time one of the problems out on the water is that there are different sized plumes floating all around out in the water that that's one of the problems with the skimmers, they're scattered out over such a large area they can't get it very easily.
So what we're going to do is just work the outer perimeter here with our product. Now, this is a manual, crude method of doing it, but this will illustrate the ability to freeze the outer edges of where the oil are so we can actually pull it into a tighter formation.
MALVEAUX: So those are globs of oil that are on the surface there of the water, and you are -- you -- and you are pouring that on -- on top.
WILL ANDERSON, EARTHGUARD TECHNOLOGIES: That's correct.
HESTER: And then all we're doing here is just freezing the ones on the outer edge, so it can pull the entire slick in a tighter formation, so it can be handled easier.
MALVEAUX: And how quickly does it take to actually freeze that?
HESTER: Just in that little time.
ANDERSON: It will take probably a minute to two minutes to start freezing. If you'll notice, it's already started freezing it right now. So we're going to move it around so we can -- you actually can contain it and push it around to a containment area.
HESTER: Bring it into an area where it's more easily managed.
ANDERSON: One of the most important things is when oil is -- is a liquid, you can't pick it up, so you've got to turn it into a solid. And once it's turned into a solid, then you just go in and you pick it up. That's the that's the real key to it.
MALVEAUX: And would that also be picking up the sand as well?
ANDERSON: And our product will -- will freeze it.
MALVEAUX: Or -- how does that work, if you're trying to clean this up from the sand?
HESTER: I'm going to show you right here, while this is working on that on the water, the parts that I just covered up on the sand, the sand, like we showed this morning, is completely clean under the oil when it's picked up. There's no residue at all underneath it.
ANDERSON: We're going to pick it up right off the sand.
MALVEAUX: So that's just a clean lift there. The soil comes right off the sand.
ANDERSON: It does. So, notice it's frozen. We've got a rake to kind of do it, but it actually would just pick it right up and makes it a solid. And then we just have a machine that comes right along the beach and picks up the solid and we dispose of it. And then we take that frozen oil and we reclaim it.
So --
MALVEAUX: And how much --
ANDERSON: -- our product not only picks it up but it reclaims it.
MALVEAUX: How much would something like this cost? Is this something that's rather -- rather cheap, cost effective?
ANDERSON: I didn't hear that question.
MALVEAUX: Is this an expensive procedure? Is this something that's relatively minimal cost here to do this?
ANDERSON: It's -- it's not -- it's not as cost -- as costly right now as the way that everybody else is trying to do it with -- with shovels on the beach and putting it in plastic bags. They've got 10 or 12 people, paying them $20 to $30 an hour and then it only covers somewhere around 20, 30 feet an hour. We could probably spread our product down and go up to 10 -- probably 10 miles a day. Well, that's on what they're paying now.
MALVEAUX: And obviously BP is looking for anyone who has a good idea. Is there anyone interested in -- in hiring your company to do this?
ANDERSON: Well --
HESTER: We've getting some real good interest now. We're thinking of (INAUDIBLE) through next week we'll actually get some opportunities to start working on some live areas.
MALVEAUX: OK. Well, I want to thank you both. Terry Hester, Will Anderson of EarthGuard Technologies of Alabama for -- for joining us, and showing us this demonstration. And we'll see if BP oil is interested and what they think of your idea.
But, clearly, it -- it looks like the two of you know what you're doing, and it's -- and it seems to be working there in that demonstration. So thank you so much for joining us this morning.
ANDERSON: Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thanks.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, we're keeping an eye on a story out of Illinois, a developing story this morning where police there say they're following a new lead in the disappearance and possible murder of Stacy Peterson. You may remember her as the fourth wife of former police officer Drew Peterson.
He's already charged with the killing of his third wife. The update. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Top stories now. A ship carrying aid to Gaza will not reach that blockade of territory. This morning, Israeli naval commandos seized the Rachel Corrie, saying the blockade must be maintained to protect Israelis from militant rocket attacks.
The ship is being towed to an Israeli port right now. There was no violence during today's seizure, unlike an Israeli raid five days ago that left nine activists dead.
Today in Arizona, thousands are expected to rally in support of the state's new and controversial immigration enforcement law. Slated speakers include Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.
Oil is still leaking on day 47 of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has collected some 6,000 barrels of the oil in the day since it placed a cap on the gushing well. Now, that's roughly one- third of what's been spewing from the well every day. Along the Florida panhandle, more tar balls washed ashore overnight at the beach in Pensacola.
And police are searching for human remains in downstate Illinois, in Peoria County. TMZ.com reports that they are looking for the remains of Stacy Peterson, a Chicago area woman who disappeared in 2007.
Now, she was the fourth wife of the former suburban Chicago police sergeant Drew Peterson. Peterson is awaiting trial on charges that he murdered his third wif -- third wife, rather, Kathleen Savio.
And they're rallying in Phoenix today in support of Arizona's controversial new immigration law. It's a law that has also has repercussions outside of the state as well.
Here to break it all down for us is deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, and, Paul, tell us first, obviously this is very controversial, but what do most Americans think of this law?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, this is interesting, Suzanne, because critics of this law are very vocal about how they believe it will bring on racial profiling, supporters saying this law is needed to help stem the tide of illegal immigration in the U.S. and they say the crime that comes of it.
Take a look at this, though. This is our most recent poll from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, and a majority, 57 percent, support the law in our poll, and most other national polls from other organizations suggest the same thing, that a majority, a solid majority, support the law.
How about a -- a boycott of -- of Arizona because of the law? You've heard calls for that. You can see, according to our poll numbers at least, only a minority, a small minority, feel that way. The vast majority in our poll do not favor a boycott of Arizona.
The law allows law enforcement in the State of Arizona to ask for proof of citizenship or residency here in the United States if someone is stopped or arrested for another reason, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Paul, we saw this week President Obama with the governor of Arizona, Governor Brewer. Obviously, they don't see eye to eye on this.
But this law is going beyond Arizona's borders, impacting the primaries that you are covering outside of the state.
STEINHAUSER: Exactly. Right next door here in California, that law and the subject of immigration, illegal immigration and border security has become a very big issue in the Republican primaries for the Senate and for the governorship. Those primaries are on Tuesday.
In the last couple of weeks it has become a big issue, especially on that governor's battle on the Republican side between Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner. A lot of money's been spent on ads, and a lot of those ads are on immigration, both candidates saying they're bigger supporters of border security, Poizner saying he supports the Arizona law.
It's also an issue, Suzanne, in the Senate battle here on the Republican side, and also next door in Nevada, which also borders Arizona, in the Nevada gubernatorial contest on the Republican side. The Arizona law has become a big issue, so everybody's talking about it out here, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right, Paul. We're keeping a close on it. Obviously we'll all be watching and following that on Tuesday. Thank you so much, Paul.
Well, after 40 years -- 40 years of marriage, former vice president Al Gore and his wife Tipper Gore announced that they were separating this week.
HOLMES: Yes. A lot of people just sad and shocked to hear this news, and, coming up, we've got an expert who's going to be around to tell us why we're seeing more long-term marriages end in divorce.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Richard Lui, always -- look at all these special guest appearances we have this weekend.
RICHARD LUI, CNN ANCHOR: We love visiting you, T.J. We hear you're in town, and we (INAUDIBLE) -- Suzanne, right? We got the memo and we said we want to hang out with them.
MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE) because you're leaving.
HOLMES: I know I'm lonely.
MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE) got to take over. HOLMES: I'm not going anywhere, really.
MALVEAUX: Too far.
HOLMES: Yes.
LUI: T.J., you're not lonely, you're just fun to hang out with.
HOLMES: OK. Well, that's good. All right, then.
Well, good to see both of you guys, actually. But to hand it over to you (ph), you're in for Fredricka this weekend.
LUI: Yes, and we've got a lot of stuff coming up this afternoon.
HOLMES: Of course. Of course.
LUI: In fact, in CNN NEWSROOM this afternoon, the fact that he was a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway -- I want to start off with that. Now, Joran van der Sloot is a suspect in the death of a Peruvian woman. How will one case affect the other?
And the evidence against him in this now international case in our legal segment, along with federal criminal charges coming from the nation's top cop against BP. Will that happen?
Then, pitcher Armando Galarraga. He sits down with us. Is he outraged after an umpire took away his chance at a place in history? That's a calm face you see on the screen, but it may not be so calm when we speak to him later.
He could have been one of only 20 people to have a perfect game. He was smiling with grace and understanding after that entire incident. What this Detroit man is thinking today, guys.
That's what we got this afternoon. I cannot wait to speak to him, because what a nice, calm person he was.
MALVEAUX: So you're actually -- you're actually going to talk to him?
LUI: Yes. I'm saying the same thing. I'll actually get to talk to the guy.
MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE).
LUI: They pay us to do that sometimes.
HOLMES: What's your first question? What's the first thing you'd ask?
LUI: My first question is how could you remain so calm? Everybody wants to know that. It's an obvious question, but you want to understand, after this close to becoming one of 20, why you're smiling?
MALVEAUX: He was smiling, actually.
LUI: He was smiling.
MALVEAUX: I was so surprised about that. And, you know, I never watched baseball. Everybody is talking about it. I mean, all of my friends, they say, did you see what happened? They explained it and I was like, oh my God.
LUI: And Suzanne, I'm saying, he's from Detroit, too. So, nothing against Detroit. I mean, I was -- I lived there for a while, you know. We're -- we can be a rough bunch once in a while, you know?
HOLMES: You know, the good thing that came out of this, I also want to explain this taught us about a -- a sportsmanship lesson here. The umpire came out, took responsibility, apologized. The guy said, I accept your apology, and at least we got that moment out of it. That's something we don't see often in sports.
So, maybe, at least that we're getting out of it.
LUI: This is the way we should do it?
HOLMES: Yes.
LUI: All right.
HOLMES: We're looking forward -- I really want to see that. All right. Really want to see that.
All right, Richard Lui, coming up in just about nine minutes. We will see you in --
LUI: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Yes. All right.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
HOLMES: Well, Al and Tipper Gore announced their separation this week after 40 years of marriage.
MALVEAUX: I'm going to let you take that (ph) as a married man.
Well, coming up, an expert tells us why more long-term marriages are ending in divorce.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, you saw the news. A lot of people did, were shocked by Al and Tipper Gore separating after 40 years.
This surprised a lot of folks.
MALVEAUX: A lot of people in the -- the press corps, they were saying how -- how could this happen? If this is happening to them after 40 years, you know, what is the hope here? The number of breakups among long-term couples, is it growing?
HOLMES: Let's bring in Dr. Pepper. Yes, Dr. Pepper Schwartz. She's a relationship expert, joining us now from Seattle, Washington.
Are we just all in trouble here? Because a lot of people look to this relationship, 40 years. They seemed happy and no scandal, you know, in a public relationship like this. But are we all in trouble? What hope is there for the rest of us?
DR. PEPPER SCHWARTZ, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Well, there's lots of hope. Remember, even with the high divorce rate, it's actually a little less than 50 percent. So if I told you you had a one in two chance to buy the lottery -- to win the lottery you'd think, huh, that's a really good chance. I'm going to buy a lot of tickets.
So I wouldn't overestimate what's happening with marriage. But I think there are two things going on that are really critical. One is all demography. I'm a sociologist. I also look at the world through my lens as the ARP love and romance ambassador, kind of a strange title. But, nonetheless, I do.
And so I think a lot about the life cycle, and the fact is that at 60, you could have 30 more years of life now. Fifty years ago, you might be thinking about five more years of life. So you make different decisions on thinking should I stay the course for these few years I have left or could I have another whole third of my life and is this the person I want to be with?
The second part of this is we're looking at the Baby Boom generation, and that is basically the population that invented the divorce rate, that sort of changed the rules about why you do or do not stay into a marriage.
So I think what we have to acknowledge is that a marriage is an organic, living thing. It is never on automatic pilot. It is always at risk, but it can always also grow. And what I think we have to do is spend our energies not looking at the statistics but looking at ourselves and saying how do we make this better, and how do we keep it alive, keep it worthwhile?
MALVEAUX: We often hear about, like, you know, the five-year itch, the eight-year itch. Is there something that, you know, decades later, like the 40-year itch, when there is a -- a point when this marriage, you know, a lot of people are going to say, well, this is the logical point where this -- this is going to end now, we're going to start something new?
SCHWARTZ: I think that's an interesting idea and I think you might have something there. I don't know if it has a given number of years, but I do think it's that critical point where you says, if I'm going to get going, this is my moment because I still have a lot of life left, or, no, OK. If I miss that window, you know, I better just turn back into this and -- and deal with it or, you know, accept it.
So I don't know what the exact number of years is, but I do think people have that moment of calculus. Am I staying or am I going? And it's -- it's about, you know, my kids are grown. Their kids are on their way. My life has been well established. Do I want a different third of the life than I had before or not?
HOLMES: OK, Doc, it sounds like -- and do you get the sense a lot of people earlier on in their marriages, maybe you realize you made a mistake. Maybe there's infidelity. Maybe there's some kind of a problem, but it sounds like you're talking about when people after so many decades together, you know, you just want to go a different direction in your life and you don't want to take that person with you. That sounds kind of cold.
SCHWARTZ: Well, no. I think it happens over many years. It isn't like you wake up one morning and, like, I want an adventure, you know? Usually, over time you've been going in different directions. Maybe you want different things out of life. Maybe one person wants to travel, the other person wants to play golf. One person wants to reinvest in the family, the other person wants adventure.
All of you may have been in sync for a long period of time, and then suddenly it's not the right thing for the next part of your life, and I think it's been growing -- what -- what makes me most impressed is not how quickly people leave, but how much they struggle to stay together.
Most people do not take this as trivial matter. They know it will hurt themselves in many ways, as well as their families. So if they are in fact making a decision to leave -- rather, to live differently and to leave, it's not because they're being cold but because they've fought endless, endless amounts of hours, tried lots and lots of things and it just doesn't make sense anymore emotionally, and maybe it doesn't make sense to both people too.
It's not always just one person. Most people know when the thing just has not got liveliness or intensity or emotional reward anymore. But, you know, so it's very hard to leave.
So -- so don't think cold. Think that these people have come through a lot to get where they're going.
MALVEAUX: OK. Why don't we just leave it at that, and good luck to everybody.
HOLMES: That depends on --
MALVEAUX: You're (ph) married as well.
HOLMES: That depends -- well, I'm going to run home and squeeze my wife right now, because --
SCHWARTZ: Good reaction. I could be (ph) OK.
HOLMES: -- some of that is depressing to hear, but a reality nonetheless.
Again, Dr. Pepper Schwartz. Ma'am, we appreciate you being here this Saturday. You have a good day.
SCHWARTZ: You too.
HOLMES: Suzanne, I've got to go.
MALVEAUX: All right. I know you've got to go. I know you've got to go.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with Richard and you can get out of here.
All right. Richard, go ahead.
