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Day 49: Capturing Oil

Aired June 07, 2010 - 13:00   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 I'm going to be with you for the next two hours today and every day, taking every important story that we cover a step further just like Tony did. I'm going to try and give you a level of detail that's going to help you make important decisions about your world and hopefully you'll come away with something you didn't have before. Let's get started right now.

Here's what I've got on the rundown. Day 49 of the disaster in the gulf. More oil is being collected, but that's just the start of a very long process. Plus, the gulf coast disaster is the biggest offshore disaster in American history, offshore. There's once that have been bigger spill, this one on American soil. We're going to take you back in time and show you about that also.

The most popular sport on earth. Its audience dwarfs the Super Bowl. Just a few days to go before the world takes the field. I'll tell you about that.

But, back to the big story, day 49 of the oil spill. Michael, let's bring up a picture here of what's going on under the sea right now. This is what we're also concerned about. Here's a picture. Guess what, oil continues to spew from that riser platform underneath the sea.

There is less oil spewing right now than there has been in the last few days. On Sunday, we're told 11,100 barrels of oil were captured by this top hat program. This thing that went on top of the riser with a pipe that goes up to the surface. That would mean that there have been 27,700 barrels of oil captured since the hat was installed on Thursday night.

Remember, there are 42 gallons of oil to a barrel. Now, the reason there's still oil spilling out of this thing is because there are vents so not all the oil gets sealed up. There's a lot of pressure there. They've been closing some of those vents to try to get more oil to go up.

But they don't want to close them all, because the pressure will be too big and it will blow that cap off. The other thing is, there's a tanker on the top that's collecting the oil on the top of the ocean. It can only collect so much oil at a time.

Now, BP is building a bigger top hat, basically one that has a -- supposedly a complete seal. They'll take off the one that's there. They're going to put another hat on top. And this one, if it works, if it works, it will have a complete seal. And you won't see oil escaping. Again, I don't know what they're going to do to deal with the pressure issue, but that's what they say they're doing.

Now, the next steps in this containment issue are as follows. If you recall, there was that top kill system, it's on the right side of this. That was the system that was supposed to collect the pump mud in, and then stop the oil from coming out.

Well, what they're going to do is they're going to try and use that to -- they're going to reconfigure to try and see if they can't help siphon off some more oil. Also over here on the left, take a look at this, they want to put a new riser on the top of this well, so that in the event of a hurricane, it can be easily disconnected.

Because they can't keep these ships in the ocean collecting oil if there's a hurricane so those are the two things they're working on right now in the Gulf of Mexico. This morning, National Incident Commander Thad Allen of the Coast Guard joined White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for the morning briefing. Listen to Robert Gibbs and then Thad Allen, what they had to say about it this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is a delicate cap. And we want to ramp this thing up so that this is a solution that we can work with for weeks and months, and don't do something too rapidly to cause something tragic to happen.

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: I would tell you, several weeks ago they started converting a much larger production platform in anticipation they would replace this one with a higher capacity platform. That's being done right now. But it's a very large ship, and some are coming from as far away as the North Sea to bring the platforms that are floating to do this at a much larger rate. And that have already been in progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Let me tell you what's going on in parts of the gulf coast, there are oil globs in Pensacola. There have been booms deployed in Destin, Florida. We're not understanding that there's actually stuff on the beach yet in Destin, although we have seen some evidence of tar balls.

Because of the winds and the currents, though, this is one good piece of news. The no-fishing zone is now smaller than it was on Friday. On Friday, it was 37 percent of the gulf, off-limits to fishing. It's now down to 32 percent. So that will help some people like the gentleman that Tony was talking to, just at the top of the hour.

Let's go to Destin, Florida to get a real picture of what's going on. As you'll see in a moment from the pictures on the beach, it does look like folks are there. They're still enjoying it. Samantha Hayes, CNN's Samantha Hayes is in Destin, Florida, where oil has not appeared onshore. Samantha, what's it looking like?

SAMANTHA HAYES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, that's the good news right now. When this whole thing got started, the major concerns or one of the big concerns is going to be these beautiful white sand beaches along the panhandle in Florida.

We're going to be marred by oil. Now, that started to happen about 40 to 50 miles west of here in Pensacola and it can be as small as little bits like this. This oil sort of attached itself to a piece of drift wood and floated up onshore. There are bigger globs in other areas. But on this beach, and this tends to be how this has gone, as we've watched this and observed this the last few weeks.

It can be kind of hit-or-miss. You really kind of have to check your own beach to see if oil has showed up yet. On this particular beach in Destin, I'm seeing lots of families, people are enjoying the sun, they're enjoying the water, they're getting in the water.

So there doesn't seem to be, you know, any kind of fear about the approaching oil and the beach is clear. A lot of people here have been visiting this area for many, many years. Just like this couple I want to introduce you to, Bob and Sandy (Swank).

You guys are from Salem, South Carolina. You've been coming here 26 years. Now, this year, did you pause and think maybe we should go somewhere else?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.

BOB SWANK, FAITHFUL DESTIN VISITOR: To the contrary we decided we wanted to come and make sure we got to see it in case it was hit with oil later on, see it before it happened again so one more time, so to speak.

HAYES: It must have hit you on an emotional level when you heard about the spill?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. We brought our children down here, now they're grown, they have children, and our grandchildren are now teenagers. We've enjoyed this beautiful beach for many, many years and we hope to continue to do so.

HAYES: Thank you both very much for your time. I appreciate your time. So folks I've talked to on the beach today say they have not noticed a significant drop in tourism that the hotels are filled and the parking lots are filled. That's really good news for now for Florida authorities who are concerned that even just the news of the oil spill, like what happened in Mississippi would cause a dramatic decline in people canceling their vacations, and picking somewhere else to go besides spending their money here.

VELSHI: OK, so for now, the word from the tourism people and from the hotels is that it's all open for business?

HAYES: Exactly. Yes, Florida authorities say that the water's safe. The beaches are open. And as you can see, at least from here, people are enjoying it.

VELSHI: All right. Samantha, good to see you. Thanks very much. Samantha Hayes in Destin Florida.

We've heard a lot about oil plumes lately. Especially some people saying they're the real threat behind the disaster on the gulf coast. What do the plumes mean? Why are they better or worse than the oil slicks that we can see when we're looking at the ocean?

We're going to take a closer look at what is lurking beneath the surface of the sea when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: University of South Florida experts have said that they have discovered a second plume in the Gulf of Mexico. Second plume of oil. The first one was identified by University of Mississippi. The University of South Florida experts have used fingerprinting technology to confirm that the oil in the plume is from BP's massive oil leak.

Now, BP has denied the existence of the first plume. No comment yet on this plume. I want to talk to two fluid dynamic experts, Richard (inaudible) and Roberto (Kamasa). They're with the university. They are both professors at the University of North Carolina. They've created an experiment to show how oil plumes are created.

But I want to start - Richard, let me start with you. What are we talking about? When we're talking about oil plumes, what do we mean?

RICHARD MCLAUGHLIN, FLUID DYNAMICS EXPERT: Well, we want to first emphasize oil is lighter than the water in the gulf. So how it gets trapped below the surface is something that requires some explanation. And so these videos we put together we try to show how when the oil coming out rapidly --

VELSHI: Let's show those videos while we're talking about them.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, it can make some kind of emulsion, where it mixes -- effectively mixes with the bottom sea water, which is very dense, the conglomerate can become somehow less -- more densed than the top layer. So it can get trapped. Especially trapped if there's a strong variation in the density of the water such as you find on a thermacline or (inaudible) in the oceans.

VELSHI: All right, Roberto, so bottom line. You didn't put anything dispersant. You can't do anything to the oil. If it's leaking from the bottom of the ocean, it should come to the top and it should be a slick. Maybe it will disperse or evaporate. Basically you'll see the oil and it would gather on the top. The plume means it's not hanging around on the top, is that correct?

ROBERTO CAMASSA, FLUID DYNAMICS EXPERT: Well, it's a bit more complicated than that probably. I mean, the dispersants certainly do help in the mixing that Rich just mentioned and so that makes the mixture heavy and doesn't rise all the way to the top. But it's not clear given the pressure this thing is coming out at, and the mixture of gas, plus oil, plus -- well, crude is a complex mixture of things. And the fact that it's probably at a high temperature, and so on, it's not clear that it wouldn't form the plumes if you just removed the dispersants. It probably would form some sort of plume still.

VELSHI: Why do we care -- I guess we don't like the fact that oil is going into the water, Richard. Why do we care whether it's a plume or it's a slick sick or some other fashion? Does it make a difference?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, it's a lot harder to figure out where it is if it's hundreds of meters below the surface of the water and it might be better for beaches. But it could be more damaging to the subsurface oceans. And just basically it is very difficult to know what the currents are below the surface, and it's difficult to track and figure out where it's going to go.

VELSHI: Does that mean that -- would it be -- as guys who understand fluid dynamics, would this be simpler if it was all coming to the top and be able to see it and gather it in some fashion, or not necessarily so?

MCLAUGHLIN: It's hard to say. You can see thing a lot better on the surface. Probably has more dramatic impact on the beaches. When it sub-surfaces, it's pretty difficult track. So it's perhaps less visible -- visibly impacting, but much more difficult to figure out where it's going to go.

VELSHI: Roberto, any reason why BP would have said there isn't a plume? You're clear there's at least one plume and now a second plume. Why would that even be a dispute?

CAMASSA: Well, it's hard for me to say. For one thing, the chemistry that goes on with the dispersants and the oil might be a bit hard to figure out under the extreme pressures that they're on. At the bottom, where the gusher is located, I have no idea, quite frankly.

But one thing I wanted to maybe add to what rick just mentioned, once it's underwater, it doesn't mean that it's going to stay there. I mean, it could very well go to the bottom, or it could abrogate back in, big drops, and rise to the top. I mean, that adds a lot of uncertainty to the whole process of what will eventually happen to the oil.

VELSHI: Adding uncertainty to an already uncertain situation. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Two fluid dynamic experts PhDs from the University of North Carolina. Two professors, Richard McLaughlin and Roberto Camassa trying to help us once again understand a little bit more about oil. Boy, we know so much more about this 49 days later than most of us thought we ever would know. Gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us.

Airlines are digging themselves out of their hole. Their profits are way up. They're expected to be high for 2010. But you and every other traveler are still paying fees for bags, meals, some cases even bathrooms. We're going to talk about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK, airlines, they're looking like they might make some money this year. In fact, their profits might be way up. But you know over the last few years, with the oil prices and all sorts of things, you've had all these extra charges tacked on. So what's the future of those, let's go right to my buddy, Christine Romans standing by in New York.

So, Christine, what's the story with the airlines?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the airlines look like, Ali, they're going to return to profitability for the first time since 2007. This is according to the International Air Transport Association.

And globally, a return to the black for airlines, why? Because of higher passenger traffic and also cargo traffic. Things seem to be improving a little bit. They're expecting $2.5 billion in earnings for the year. How does that compare with last year?

Well, last year the airlines worldwide, Ali, lost $10 billion. They haven't made money since 2007. And as you know, over the past 15 years, on average, you take it all together, they've lost money pretty consistently, which is why they're trying to so often find ways to get revenues.

VELSHI: We've been talking to Rick (Sini) from Fare Compare. The fact is last couple years have been very cheap for air travel. Fares have been very low. They're starting to edge up, but consistently the airlines are able to add fees to give them a certain amount of money for each transaction. If you're not sort of a premium member, and you're traveling coach, you're going to pay for bags.

ROMANS: Yes, you're going to pay for bags no matter what. You look at checked bag fees, $15 to $25 for the first bag, beyond that, it's going to be more. Spirit Airlines charging for a carry-on as you know, meals and snacks, $3 to $10.

You know, you pay for everything from a seat assignment. You can pay to actually sit on a window or aisle. You can pay for boarding a little bit earlier. As we know, you mentioned Rick Sini (ph) from farecompare.com, you know, he said all but one day this summer, you will pay a peak fee, every day except for July 4th, $10 to $40 a ticket. You know, just to fly. Can there be a peak and valley?

VELSHI: Ever since I've been doing this show here in Atlanta, I'm on planes every weekend. So I have to be nicer now about the airlines because they're like family, I see them more than family. There's definitely some school of thought that they say some things they charge for is value. Like internet access on the plane. Some people don't want it. Some things seem a little gratuitous. A lot of people say why don't you just put it in my airfare and let me pay one fee. There's definitely two schools of thought on this. Should everything be broken up and piecemealed or should the fare just go up?

ROMANS: I'll be honest with you. I think the fees are baked into the business model now. This is the way it is. I don't think they're going to reel these in. You could see global profits for airlines. But the international airline transportation said they've had swine flu, a volcano, terrorist attacks and terrorist threats and new rules against terrorism, a global recession.

You know now with the first whiff of profitability, they're probably not going to jump and say we're going to give you those fees back. Also, I want to point, Ali, that the Europe, they're not looking for profit gains in Europe for obvious reasons. That's the one part of the global picture that's still pretty soft for airlines.

VELSHI: Christine, great to see you as always. Christine Romans, my co-host on "Your Money." You can see us seven days a week because you can also watch us on "Your Money" Saturdays at 1:00 p.m., and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern always a good time on that show.

All right, our top stories begin with an update, day 49 of the gulf coast oil disaster. BP says the amount of oil being siphoned to the surface is growing. It's a good sign. The company plans to bring a second ship in to increase the capacity of all that oil that's coming up.

Veteran journalist Helen Thomas is retiring after a firestorm over her recent remarks about Israel. A long time White House correspondent was videotaped saying Israel "should get the hell out of Palestine." She later apologized, but today her employer, the Hearst Corporation, has announced that Thomas is retiring effective immediately.

Tomorrow is primary election day in dozen several states. They include California where former eBay CEO Meg (Whitman) is running in the Republican gubernatorial primary and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly (Theorina) is running in the Republican Senate primary. A runoff primary in Arkansas will determine whether incumbent Democrat Senator Blanche Lincoln can keep her seat.

If you have any doubt that soccer also know as football is the world's most popular sport, I'm going to clear up those doubts right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: All right. You might have seen me with this ball. Let's have the ball. All right, it's a pretty cool one, soccer ball or football ball, whatever you want to call it. It's the 2010 World Cup soccer ball, official one for the final, it t-minus four days until the World Cup. The world is waiting. The World Cup is the biggest soccer tournament in the world. Held every four years, kind of like the Olympics and like getting the gold, the champions in the World Cup are deemed the best team in the world. This year the month of matches are in South Africa. The games start on Friday.

Soccer's the most popular sport on earth. It's played in over 200 countries. When I say popular, I mean popular. In the last World Cup, over 26 billion TVs tuned in over the month of grueling matches in countless stations in over 200 countries.

Listen closely, because the next fact really brings it home, 715 million people watched the World Cup's final match last time around, just the final match. That's more than six times the number of people who watched the Super Bowl this year. The most-watched U.S. broadcast ever? How does the whole World Cup thing work?

Countries from around the globe have been competing for two years to qualify, 32 national teams make the cut. We colored them in orange. The big ones you've heard about, Brazil, France, England, Argentina, then there are some you might not have seen, like Ghana.

Now to figure out who advances, they divide up into teams, into groups of four. They play each other. The winner from those teams advances and plays the winner from another group of four.

Let's look at Team USA for instance. They're playing England this Saturday and there are two other countries in their group, Slovenia and Algeria. So that's the squad that plays. They still need to play Slovenia and Algeria. So basically every team plays every other team in their group of four.

Then the top two from that group, let's say the U.S. and England if that's how it works out, will go on to the next level. That level will have the top 16 teams from all over. From there, it's a basic elimination system to determine the winner, the World Cup champion. The championship game is being played on July 11th in Johannesburg.

The athletes' vigor will be tested. Their futures will be decided while millions of viewers bite their nails and cheer on their favorite teams. Soccer, or again what other countries call the real football, has to be one of the most unifying and divisive sports out there. The whole world will be watching in the next month and so will we.

All right. So much oil, so many ideas for capping and containing and collecting it. In a minute, we'll show you how one idea is working out. It might actually surprise you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIALBREAK)

VELSHI: Let's catch you up on the headlines. BP says the amount of oil it's been able to collect from the Gulf of Mexico has grown. It's also moving another ship to the area to help collect that oil. We've heard from national incident commander Thad Allen just a couple of hours ago, he says it's still too early to call the cleanup effort a success. I'm going to give you more details about that in just a moment.

In New York, New Jersey,--Newark New Jersey two men accused of being would-be terrorists have made their first appearance in federal court. Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte allegedly tried to fly to Somalia to join an Al Qaeda linked militant group and wage holy war on Americans. They face a bail hearing on Thursday, they could face life behind bars if they're convicted.

And parts of Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, are facing a major cleanup after a string of severe tornadoes and storms this weekend. Seven people are dead in northwest Ohio. Including a 5-year-old child.

Also, a high school was destroyed a day before graduation. In southeast Michigan, storms damaged the wall of a nuclear power plant prompting an automatic shutdown.

And a new player jumps into the crisis over Israel's blockade of Gaza vowing to break it on land and at sea.

Plus the Israeli Navy reportedly kills Palestinian divers. We're going globe trekking right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Time now to trek around the globe. As we do every day. I want to bring you up to speed with what is going on in Israel. A new threat today to try to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. And this times it comes from Iran. Matthew Chance is on top of this and other developments. And he joins us now from Jerusalem. Hello, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ali, that's right. The Iranian Red Crescent, the humanitarian organization is saying that it is now preparing to send two ships loaded with food and medical supplies, other humanitarian supplies as well. And will send as part of a larger, wider international flotilla - it says is being assembled to try and once again to challenge that Israeli naval blockade of the, of the Gaza strip.

It hasn't set out yet, but obviously it's putting a lot of pressure on Israel, already having international condemnation for it's actions on the high seas. It's of course intercepted a number of ships attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies into Gaza where (ph) 1.5 million Palestinians are running very short of supplies according to human rights workers.

But, Israel says it needs to continue to enforce that blockade, because if it didn't, it means that Palestinian militants would bring in weapons and use them against Israeli civilians. So this is the latest twist in this ongoing saga Ali.

VELSHI: Matthew, the issue here is, of course, is that people dispute whether some of this aid can possibly be used for terrorist purposes. In fact what we've been hearing is that Israel maintains a blockade of things that, for instance, regular printing paper and things like that that--it doesn't seem clear what exactly they're trying to keep out and let in.

CHANCE: Yes, it's really random stuff. Coriander is allowed in, cinnamon is banned, or the other way around. Chocolate has been banned. The fact is Israel doesn't have a definitive list of banned items.

You know human rights groups here in Israel have compiled a list of the kind of things that aren't allowed to go in. Building materials, cement was carried by this recent ship the Rachel Corrie because of all the building that needs to be done after the military campaigns there.

The hospitals, the schools, the houses. Israel says that that cement can also be used to build bunkers, and therefore, they're not going to let it in. There's all sort of things like that. The pressure now is on Israel, not necessarily to lift its blockade it says won't do that, but to look again at the list that it has, a secret list and to basically make it easier so that you know (ph) people in Gaza can get what they need to eat.

VELSHI: Meanwhile, Matthew, what's the development with Iran and how is that going to affect tensions?

CHANCE: Well, we'll see what happens. Obviously it's potentially a big escalation. It's not just some human rights group we're talking about here, some independent pro-Palestinian group that that's organizing a flotilla.

This is the Iranian Red Crescent. There's even been a suggestion ,this is totally unconfirmed, but it would be escorted by Iranian ships when it's in international waters. The potential is there for a much, much bigger conflict. We don't know what the Israeli response will be.

But presumably they would also intercept these ships as well. They've done that in the past. They're so (ph) to do it in the future. So it could be potentially be a big point of conflict in the weeks ahead when this the aid flotilla finally sets out, if it ever does.

VELSHI (INAUDIBLE) so just to picture that in our minds. You may see an Iranian flotilla floating in international waters with Israeli ships next to it, and you've got to imagine at that point you've got a potential for a tinder box, so the world's going to be very concerned about that.

CHANCE: Yes, that's the nightmare scenario. It hasn't been confirmed, of course, by the Iranian Navy, that they would do that. But that is the big concern here.

VELSHI: All right. And this you mentioned the Rachel Corrie. That has been intercepted, no more happening with that? That's the ship that set out from Ireland?

CHANCE: Yes its been intercepted, its been impounded by the Israelis. The passengers and crew, 19 of them, they've all been evicted, you know, taken out of the country, sent out of the country kicked out . They have to come back and pick up the ship at a later date.

The humanitarian supplies onboard, including 550 tons of cement, as I mentioned earlier, that's been taken by Israel. They've loaded much of the other supplies they've tried to send it into Gaza. But there's another complication, Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, says it won't accept any of this this aid

VELSHI: Wow.

CHANCE: Because they say Israel illegally seized it. And so the people of Gaza strip aren't getting the aid anyway.

VELSHI: All right so this thing isn't going to get solved anytime soon, but you're on top of it. Matthew, thanks very much for being with us. Matthew Chance, our Senior International correspondent joining us from Jerusalem.

All right more domestic terrorism arrests. Americans allegedly pledging allegiance to extremists, and plotting murder on their behalf. Crime and consequence coming up next right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI Checking your top stories now. Oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for 49 days. We're covering every angle of this disaster.

A bleak assessment from today form the government's point man Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen says it will take years to clean up the damage. But according to Allen and BP the total amount of crude collected form the ruptured under sea well has been rising.

On the financial front, Bank Of America will fork out $108 million to settle federal charges over Countrywide. The company it acquired about two years ago. The charges say Countrywide collected huge fees from borrowers facing foreclosure the settlement seeks to refund money to about 200,000 people.

And overseas, a judge has ordered murder suspect Joran van der Sloot to remain in a Peruvian jail cell for one more week. The Dutch citizen is accused of killing a women in Lima, Peru van der Sloot was twice arrested and released in connection with the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years ago.

OK crime and consequence, every day we tell you something about it. Today two more domestic terror arrests. A pair of New Jersey men nabbed at JFK airport over the weekend.

FBI agents also raided their homes in New Jersey. Here's what they say. The feds say, that these two guys were headed to Somalia via Egypt. They allegedly wanted to join Al-Shabaab an extremist group that shares Al Qaeda's outlook.

Both men appeared in court today in Newark, New Jersey. They got lawyers and future court dates. This case goes back into the past of it. These guys have apparently been under investigation since 2006. After the FBI got a tip online.

Let me tell you a little bit about Al-Shabaab, this terror group it's based in Somalia believed to have sheltered Al Qaeda operatives who are wanted in the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, you remember those.

They're believed to actively recruit young Somali American men to come overseas and train. And they're actively trying to topple the shaky transitional government in Somalia.

All right. Let's go back to oil for a second. So much oil out there. So many ideas. We're solution oriented on this show you know that. So we're going to keep checking out some of the solutions that people are offering to sop up the oily disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

By the way BP says they have received tens of thousands of suggestions. We'll tell you about some of them stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I hope you don't get tired of me saying it, because we're going to say it every day, because it's fascinating. This is day 49 of this Gulf Coast oil disaster. It's the largest offshore oil spill in history. I want to tell a bit about one that happened a while ago. But first let me bring you up to seed what is going on in the Gulf Coast right now. Day 49 as I said.

Let's take a look if we can-there we are we're looking at it right now. This is the undersea camera. Appears to be a lot of oil spewing out of there. But they're actually capturing quite a bit. On Sunday they captured 11, 100 barrels. That's 40-some thousand -- 45,000 gallons of oil. 27, 700 barrels in total have been collected since this new top hat that collects the oil went into position on Thursday night.

The reason there's still oil escaping is because it's not a perfect seal and this top hat has vents on it. Because the pressure of the oil coming out of the sea is so great that if they sealed all the vents they're worried it will just blow that hat off.

So they're not actually going to close all of the vents. Also, the Enterprise tanker, which is on the surface, is not able to collect more oil. OK so they're going to replace the top hat. This is the thing that went over. They're going to put a new one on there. They're working on the new one and they're going to put on this bigger hat that has a better seal supposedly.

Hopefully that happens sometime this month. Now BP says it's getting a lot of ideas. We're getting a lot of ideas, by the way. People are putting them on my facebook page, they're sending us e- mails. They say they're sifting through 40,000 ideas from the public on how to re-mediate the spill how to close the well. 247 out of the 45-- 40,000, 247 BP says are in the advanced assessment stage. So please, continue to send those ideas to us. We are going to continue to bring those forward. Now I told you about how this is the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history. But there was actually a bigger spill on the U.S. mainland. Casey Wian reports on the Kern county, California oil spill of 1910.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 100 years ago this was the site of what remains to this day the largest oil spill in U.S. history. We are in Kern county, California, the heart of the state's oil country. In March of 1910, the oil industry here was still in its infancy. Workers for the union oil company were drilling on this site, and when they reached a depth of more than 2200 feet, they hit what would come to be known as the Lake View gusher.

BRUCE HOLMES: The well blew out in this crater you look around here.

WIAN: Bruce Holmes' family has been in the oil business here for three generations.

HOLMES: OF course in those days it was rather primitive They punching a hole in the ground. No blowout preventers, nothing. When that came, you just had to run for your life.

WIAN : Here at the West Kern Oil Museum there's a replica of the wood and oil derrick in use a century ago. Now when the Lakeview gusher hit, it was so powerful it completely obliterated an oil derrick just like this one.

It's more than 100 feet high. But the oil was spewing more than 200 feet into the air. In fact, locals say on a calm day, you could see black columns of oil mist one-half mile in the sky. Back on the ground you can still see remnants of the Lakeview gusher today. The oil turned the soil here basically into asphalt.

At its peak, the Lakeview gusher spewed out 100,000 barrels of oil per day. And that's more than five times the rate of the current Gulf oil disaster. Although the Lakeview gusher eventually slowed down, it last for a year and a half.

HOLMES: It happened 100 years ago. And we're all still here. We're living, and we're breathing, we're still driving automobiles, we're driving on the biggest oil slick in the world. That highway you drove on is a bigger oil slick than what's down there in Louisiana.

WIAN: Back then oil field drilling and safety technology was rudimentary at best. Workers scrambled to try to contain the gusher. You can still see the boards that they used, the sand bags, stuck in the oil. They even used sagebrush to build this 20-foot-high berm to try to contain the oil, but nothing worked.

By the time the Lakeview gusher died out 544 days later, it had spilled more than 9 million barrels of oil throughout this area. Less than half of that was eventually recovered. There was so much oil, people were actually floating in boats on pools of oil. This land isn't usable for much now except as a state historical monument and a reminder of the destructive power of out-of-control oil. Casey Wian CNN Kern county California.

VELSHI: Wow what a story we don't want to get to that many barrels. So much oil out there, so many ideas. We're solutions oriented on this show, so we're going to keep checking out some of the solutions that people are offering up to sop up the oily disaster in the Gulf. Stay with us.

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VELSHI: Okay. While we're covering the oil that's coming out into the Gulf of mexico, the clean-up efforts, what we really have to do is talk about some of the real people affected by this. The issue of this oil spill is that there are real people, real families, real businesses being affected by this oil that is coming on shore.

Here is Rob Marciano in the Florida pan handle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera) So nobody wants to charter a boat?

CAPT. JOSH FORSYTHE "BONE COLLECTOR" CHARTERS: No, we've had multiple, probably 35 cancellations already, and we're getting three to four a day, every day.

MARCIANO(voice over) : Reporter: Josh Forsythe and crewman Kevin Rosh showed up around our cameras over the weekend with signs begging BP or anyone to hire them. We decided to find out who they were, and what their story was.

(on camera) What's up, guys? good to see you again.

FORSYTHE: Definitely. How are you doing?

MARCIANO: Josh, Kevin. Good to have the boat back in the water?

FORSYTHE: Hope so.

MARCIANO (voice over): This 22-year-old has grown up on these Gulf waters.

(on camera): When did your father first take you out fishing?

FORSYTHE:: Oh, probably still in the womb. But I've been on the water since I was 1 or 2 years old, on a boat.

MARCIANO(voice over) : Now Captain Forsythe owns the Bone Collector, but the boat and the family business has been out of the water since their first try at red snapper on the first day of the season.

FORSYTHE: First thing we saw, we were actually looking in the prop wash and it all turned brown.

MARCIANO: These pictures were taken by the crew.

FORSYTHE: We were about 13 miles southeast of the pass, is where we first started noticing oil on the lines. Of and we started picking up some snapper in about 120 foot of water that actually had oil on them.

MARCIANO: Oil on the lines and oil on the fish. Not good for the family business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My grandfather is a mullet fisherman. We started three generations ago with my father, he was First Chief Of Police in Gulf Paraiso (ph), and then he ran a charter boat as well.

MARCIANO: But right now, the only business is cleaning up the oil, and BP is in charge. Josh's father, Ted Forsythe, feels commercial vessels should be the first ones hired. .

TED FORSYTHE: You've got a licensed captain sitting here begging, begging to go to work. And we can't get anywhere.

MARCIANO (on camera): And you know the waters better than anybody.

FORSYTHE: Absolutely. Fished these waters all my life.

MARCIANO: Frustrating just sitting on your hands?

FORSYTHE: Absolutely frustrating. There's many emotions. Frustration, anger, despair, uncertainty of the future.

MARCIANO (voice over): But it's his son's future that worries him most.

FORSYTHE: My son was, you know, smart enough and good enough to earn his captain's license at 18 years old. He's been running this boat for -- this is his fourth year.

MARCIANO: And it's been a bad year. After weeks of calling, with no response, finally BP took the bait.

(on camera) So shortly after we put your son on the air, BP called to hire you.

FORSYTHE : Absolutely. 5:30 last night.

MARCIANO: Do you think that was a coincidence?

FORSYTHE: I don't believe in coincidences.

MARCIANO: If CNN had any role in helping them get a job, we're happy about that, but these guys are still waiting for the BP schedulers to call them, hopefully today or tomorrow.

We've made several attempts at contacting BP to get their policy as to how they go about the hiring these vessels of opportunity, but it's been impossible to get through. Rob Marciano CNN, Pensacola Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right we'll of course continue to cover exactly what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico really there are three things we're covering. One is the oil that's coming out of the ground and effort to drill the relief wells and try and cap that with a new top hat, a new device that BP is devising to try and contain a lot more of the oil coming out.

As you can see, this top hat was put in on Thursday, and there's still a lot of oil coming out. Now there are vents around this top of this top hat. This is on top of the riser, the blow out preventer that's been leaking.

They don't want to close all the vents, that would of course prevent a lot of this oil from coming out. But if they close all of the vents, the pressure of the oil coming out might blow cap that off. Anyway, they're developing a couple of new caps, one to go on top of it and seal a little better.

One that can be used during hurricanes, because weather is going to be coming up, and you'll see that -- you'll see the ability of the ship to move out of the way. Obviously, Bonnie Schneider is joining me now. Obviously, that's a concern by the way if there are hurricanes while there are these ships collecting oil. But you've got some weather for us.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I want to talk about the pattern that we're in right now in terms of where the winds are blowing the oil spread. We've been talking about the winds coming from the south-southwest.

We do have a front that's working its way farther off to the east. Now behind it, once we get high pressure to build in, in the next few days Ali, we may see changes with the winds.

And even going beyond that, eight days beyond that, some of the computer models are forecasting the winds to come back up from the southwest, and that could change everything, because that could change the wind direction.

We may see more of a shift, and eventually, unfortunately, bringing some oil back towards Louisiana. So right now, the situation remains the same from the weekend, but it could change again.

VELSHI: Right. OK now here's what I'm trying to piece together. People have been asking me a lot about this. There's the weather and the winds and then the currents. So we are still discussing the currents possibly taking this oil spill which is around here around this loop current.

SCHNEIDER: Right. VELSHI: The determination as to whether it hits the east coast is going to be a combination of how much oil is in that current, and what the local weather situation is, right?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, and also To note the loop current runs like this, so further, right along the parallel to the coastline. But you're right. If a hurricane were to come through, it could steer any oil that got caught up in the loop current further inland. But it also could push it away. Depends on the direction of the wind.

VELSHI: So no way to really guess as to whether oil is going to start hitting shores on the east coast.

SCHNEIDER: You know, if (ph) we did have a hurricane that was like right over here in the Atlantic, we would have a better idea. But right now, luckily, we don't. So it's just something to keep a watch on.

One thing we know, that if the oil does get caught up in the look current and work its way around, this would actually accelerate. Right now, when we're talking about the Eddy, that's in the Gulf right now. The oil is moving at about 40 miles per day. If it gets caught up in the loop current, it suddenly rapidly accelerates.

And the loop current would speed it up and then eventually speed it out into the Atlantic and disperse it even more.

VELSHI: All right which I guess might be good if it's dispersed, more dispersed the issue here is it's all concentrated. here.

SCHNEIDER: It is concentrated, but it's sitting here in this Eddy that's right now in the loop---right now in the Gulf of Mexico.

VELSHI: All right. So as of now, we haven't had a change in the weather pattern, but there is some danger that it could start going back to where it is.

SCHNEIDER : Yes, I would say within about a week, we' may see those changes.

VELSHI: All right, well hopefully they'll be containing more of it within about week so we've got less oil to worry about. But boy there is still a whole lot of oil in there. Bonnie, thanks very much for staying on top of it for us.

We'll of course continue to stay on top of it on day 49 of the disaster. We'll bring you up to speed about everything that's going on Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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