Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama Meets With BP Officials; Louisiana Starts its own Cleanup; Refugees in Uzbek Camps; CNN Roundtable Analysis of Obama's Primetime Address

Aired June 16, 2010 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Fred!

Good morning, everyone.

Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big story for us here, Wednesday, June 16th.

Of course we're counting the days, 58 days, into the gushing oil disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Getting a little agitated. It's getting harder to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The devastating pollution and BP's difficult claims process really taking a serious toll on everyday people who live along the Gulf Coast. Hope fading fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology. And in the coming weeks and days, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: President Obama holding BP executives' feet to the fire. The president following up to that speech last night with a face-to-face to those calling the shots at the oil giant, BP, today at the White House. We'll hear from the president coming up next hour.

Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going to get Osama. He's going to get him and he's going to bring him back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What a story that is. A neighbor voicing support for a one-man mission to capture Osama bin Laden.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, in today for Tony Harris.

Those stories and your comments, right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here we go. Day 58 of the Gulf oil catastrophe, and the president now officially taking on, face-to-face here, BP officials. And estimates on the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf, guess what? They keep rising.

Government scientists now say somewhere in the ballpark between 35,000 and 65,000 barrels of oil a day may be spewing from that busted well. The estimate, by the way, last week, well, it was right around 20,000 to 40,000 barrels.

Now, a Senate panel examines health concerns stemming also from this oil disaster. And a CDC doctor has testified about the risks for people involved day to day in that recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN HOWARD, CDC: The response issue brings up hazards to the public, primarily skin and respiratory irritation to various chemicals contained in crude oil and the oil dispersants. Skin contact should be avoided. Any area that has come into contact with oil should be thoroughly washed. Eye, nose and throat irritation can occur from close contact with crude oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And we're also all watching the White House today. President Obama meeting with these BP executives. As they were heading in to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue today, a closed-door meting in the Roosevelt Room, the president demanding that BP set up that escrow fund to pay damage claims.

And we will be hearing from the president live next hour about his meeting with all those BP executives. But last night, if you watched, in his Oval Office address on the Gulf disaster, the president promised a couple things. But he said, "We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused."

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us more with today's high-stakes meeting.

And, Suzanne, I know we're getting new guidance. We had heard perhaps this meeting would be 20 minutes. And now we're hearing, what, that the president will be popping in and out of something that will last two hours, right?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, you're absolutely right.

We're getting guidance from White House officials who are telling me this is a meeting that's probably going to go about two hours. The president was originally scheduled to participate in about 20 minutes, the first 20 minutes of the meeting, stop by, along with the vice president.

We are now told that he's going to take part in at least two different times within this meeting. We're also being told, Brooke, that t here was going to be a Rose Garden statement by the president filling us in on what happens coming out of the this meeting around 12:15. Just learning that that's probably going to be pushed back a bit, that that's really just a place marker, because they think that these discussion will continue throughout the morning, perhaps spill into the afternoon.

So, what's taking place behind closed doors? We saw BP officials enter on the west side of the White House there. There are about a half-dozen on that side. All together, more than a dozen people inside of that room.

The president is not a part of the negotiations The nitty-gritty is what White House officials are calling it, nitty-gritty negotiations over a primary focus. That is the escrow account, creating this separate account that BP would put aside to be administered by a separate third party that would put aside money that would help pay for damages for people who are impacted -- the fisherman, the shrimpers, the hotel managers, everybody who's losing their livelihood there on the Gulf Coast region, that that money would be set aside.

The White House is trying to force the issue, Brooke. They're trying to say, look, you need to do this, you must do this, this is a requirement.

Is BP pushing back? Here's how one of the president's top advisers, David Axelrod, put it this morning --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, WHITE HOUSE SR. ADVISER: We've obviously had discussions with them. Nothing has been finalized. That will happen today.

But it's fair to say that they understand our position and they understand the position they're in. And we expect them to meet their responsibilities, their legal and moral responsibilities, to people in the Gulf. And we're going to make sure that that happens today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Brooke, how is this all going to turn out? We have been told that negotiations will continue, that they've got lawyers. We know, looking at the list of people who are participating, the White House Counsel's Office. We've got the BP lawyers on one side. They're going to be sitting.

The president is not going to be mediating this but, rather, he's going to be coming in and checking on how the negotiations are going forward.

Is this going to turn into some sort of big legal battle? Likely not. David Axelrod saying that, for the most part, BP officials seem to be cooperating and erring on the side of the White House in terms of making this thing happen.

How big is this thing going to be? We don't know yet, but it could be in the tune of $20 billion set aside. These are some of the questions, obviously, that we'll be asking later when the president makes his statement in the Rose Garden, and obviously some of the things that they are working out behind closed doors as we speak -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And if I may, Suzanne, I just want to make a basic point and remind our viewers, we're day 58 into this thing. This is the first time that the president has met face to face with these BP execs.

Is that right, Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Oh, it's absolutely right. He has come under a lot of fire, a lot of criticism for it.

This is a chance, and this is probably why you hear kind of a lot of the tough talk coming from the president, from his top advisers, when they say, look, by any means necessary, legal means, we're going to make sure that they do this. There's been a lot of this kind of bluster, if you will. We're going to find out what's behind that after this meeting is over.

BALDWIN: We will, indeed.

Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House.

Again, want to remind you, we'll be hearing from the president live, next hour. Again, he will be making that statement from the Rose Garden following that meeting, that nitty-gritty negotiation, as Suzanne was referring to, among those BP execs. And we'll bring that to you live here on CNN.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Fifty-eight days now into the BP oil disaster, and businesses that weathered Hurricanes Ivan, Katrina, they're not really struggling here just simply to survive this manmade catastrophe.

Case and point -- let me tell you about this bed and breakfast just like the Romar House in Orange Beach, Alabama. Now, the owner, Darrell Finley, says tar balls -- seen them in his hand -- tar balls washing up on the shore have driven customers and wildlife totally away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DARRELL FINLEY, ROMAR HOUSE INN: Look at the people you see. Where are they all at? Usually in June, I mean, you've got people walking all up and down the beach.

You only see a couple -- two or three birds. You know, and that's it. It used to be they flocked everywhere out here, but you don't see them now. They have nothing to feed on, nothing but oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It's been just about two months since BP's well blowout began pushing oil toward fragile Gulf coastlines.

And CNN's Ed Lavandera reports, Louisiana now taking action on its own, fed up with waiting on the company and wading through all kinds of red tape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the edge of this oil-stained marsh grass, vacuum trucks sit on barges. Crews, using a plastic hose, suck oil out of the water. But this isn't an idea brought to you by BP or the federal government. It's what Governor Bobby Jindal likes to call "Cajun ingenuity."

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: What was frustrating was, before we did this, they were simply letting that oil sit there. We said that's not acceptable. You don't win this war by waiting for the oil to go away. You win this war by attacking that oil wherever it is away from our coast.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Here in Barataria Bay, the urgency of this oil disaster continues to heighten. We're about 15 miles north- northeast of the city of Grand Isle and officials say this is where they've seen the deepest reaches of this oil into the Louisiana marshland.

JINDAL: So we're here in Barataria Bay. We're actually going to go see some of this heavy oil.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): On a boat tour of the bay with the Louisiana governor, patches of thick oil are spread across this state's richest fishing waters. Oil this far north is nothing short of a disaster.

But Grand Isle's mayor says red tape is still bogging down the clean-up efforts. He's fighting the federal government to get permits to build oil containment systems between barrier islands.

MAYOR DAVID CAMARDELLE, GRAND ISLE, LOUISIANA: So we're asking new agencies out there to work with us, work with us and listen to us. And I guarantee you're going to be happy. It's going to come back after hurricane season. I can promise you that we're going to protect the estuaries, but we have to act now.

LAVANDERA: Governor Jindal says booms and skimmers didn't make it to this part of Louisiana before the oil crept into the bay. He says it's proof BP's clean-up plan simply wasn't adequate.

(on camera): When you hear BP say we're doing everything we can, we're being as proactive as we can, nobody wants this cleaned up more than us --

JINDAL: Nonsense. Nonsense. And they didn't intensify this effort, fight this oil 15 to 20 miles out on the coast. Don't fight it in the wetlands where the shrimps, the fish, the crabs, the oysters are. Once the oil gets in here, the damage is already done.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Almost two months into this oil disaster, BP has been told to step up its clean-up efforts. But, out here, the fishermen who live off these waters aren't waiting around.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Barataria Bay, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, the president's speech last night not only laid out the administration's strategy for the oil disaster, but it also aimed at reassuring you, the nation, that he's doing all he can.

So, the question we're asking is, did it reassure you?

Our Josh Levs was live tweeting last night during the whole address.

And Josh, you say you got a bunch of good responses?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, it was interesting.

Like you just said, as he was speaking, I was live tweeting, I was live Facebooking, and seeing what kinds of things people are saying. And I haven't done a total scientific examination of hundreds of messages, but I am seeing about 50/50. Some people saying, hey, he's taken way too long to even do this, too little, too late. Others saying they feel really good about his leadership.

Let's just look at a few examples of what we've gotten right here. This is from our blog here.

"I think we have heard enough from President Obama on the BP oil spill. To me, his words and lack of action speak for itself. In my opinion, he's taken a passive/aggressive approach which has been ineffective."

That's from Flo.

Let's jump over to Facebook.

"This is closing the barn after the horse ran off."

Another complainer, "It's a little late for him to address this disaster in the country in primetime."

Now some supporters.

"The emotion emanating from Obama felt real. His speech was effective. I now trust that he will do all he can to get the job done."

And this one is interesting, Cassandra, who is complaining about the complainers. She says, "It amazes me how the same people who are adamant about keeping the government out of their lives can be so critical of that same government's inability to immediate correct a disaster of unprecedented complexity."

All right. Two things to tell you.

One, here's how you can weigh in. We've got the conversations going right now at the blog, CNN.com/Josh, also Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. That's where you can reach me.

Also letting you know, if you want to put your response on video, go ahead and send us an iReport to ireport.com. And we will share some of those next hour -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's so nice, no matter what the reaction, it seems, Josh, that people really watch. They really care about what's going on.

LEVS: And, you know what? There's a lot that they want to hear. You're right, more and more people are really concerned about this all over the country.

BALDWIN: I really respect that.

Josh, thank you.

LEVS: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Also, at the half-hour, really looking forward to this conversation. We're going to talk to three people sort of all differently impacted by this oil spill to get their reaction, to get grades on the president's speech and the government's response.

Also, remember to watch "LARRY KING LIVE" next week. He'll be hosting this all-star relief effort to help rebuild the coast. He's doing a special two-hour show. It will take place Monday night, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, aid is arriving to thousands of refugees from Kyrgyzstan. In fact, the first United Nations relief plane landed in neighboring Uzbekistan, delivering tents and other supplies.

Six days now of ethnic clashes have left at least 179 people dead, and an estimated 100,000 others have just totally fled.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance is in a refugee camp right there on the border. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, walking through this refugee camp, you get an overwhelming sense that the people who have managed to get here, mainly women and children, are just happy to be safe at last.

They've got food, they've got blankets, they've got shelter, they've got security. But there's also a deep sense of concern amongst everybody I have spoken to about what is still happening across the border in southern Kyrgyzstan. Remember, they have left their men folk, their husbands, their fathers, their brothers, their sons, back in southern Kyrgyzstan to try and protect their property, or what's left of it after the days of violence that have ravaged that region.

Lakusa (ph) thank you very much for speaking to us.

Did you see any of the violence that took place in (INAUDIBLE) over the past few days?

LAKUSA (ph), REFUGEE: Yes.

CHANCE: What did you see?

LAKUSA: I see -- I saw the Kyrgyz people conquer our region, and they are beginning to -- begin to kill our people.

CHANCE: With guns?

LAKUSA: Yes, of course. Yes. They have many arms. I am afraid of coming to Kyrgyzstan.

CHANCE: Are you afraid of the Kyrgyz army, the Kyrgyz government?

LAKUSA: Yes, the Kyrgyz people. All of them.

CHANCE: Did we get that? Yes?

They're all shouting, you know, "Thank you! Thank you President Karimov," who is the President of Uzbekistan, because these camps have been inundated here in Uzbekistan with refugees from southern Kyrgyzstan. More than 100,000 now have come across. But the flow has been so great, the Uzbek authorities have actually, at times, closed the border, leading to some panicking, desperate scenes across the other side of the barbed wire.

Well, what's happening here is these Uzbek officials are delivering bread to the thousands of starving ethnic Uzbeks just across this border fence here. This is the barbed wire fence.

They're not permitting them in, but they are providing them with food and water. There are still lots of reports of violence just across the border fence here. We are being moved back now.

The situation is still very desperate, indeed, for a great many people who haven't made it to the refugee camps here in Uzbekistan.

Matthew Chance, CNN, on the Uzbek/Kyrgyz border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: And some of those affected most by this crisis in the Gulf, the big blue blob that Jacqui was just showing us, you know, they're really reacting to President Obama's speech. And our roundtable discussion coming to you in just a couple of minutes.

And right now, though, here is what some of you are actually saying about last night's presidential address.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president did do a great job. Yes, he did bring in about fossil fuels and all of that, but he went right back to what happened in Louisiana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The same old rhetoric. We already knew about the (INAUDIBLE) cap. We already knew it was going to be August before it finally stopped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think he's doing a terrific job, and I think he has got a handle on it. And I'm going to vote for him when he comes up re-election, because he's doing a good job, a lot better than a lot of the other presidents has done for us.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A lot of you are weighing in on President Obama's Oval Office address, all 18 minutes of it, from last night regarding the Gulf oil disaster. But we also wanted to take this a little further. We wanted to hear from people representing specific interests like tourism, the environment, and the fishing industry. So we have assembled a roundtable for you.

Let me introduce you. Baker Clark owns a hotel in Navarra Beach, Florida; he is with us from Pensacola. We have Casi Calloway, there in the middle; she's an environmentalist and executive director of Mobile Baykeeper. She is with us via Skype, from Mobile, Alabama. And Clint Guidry; he is a third generation shrimp fisherman joining us this morning from beautiful New Orleans.

Good morning to all of you.

Let me get going here. Baker, I want to begin with you. Specifically in President Obama's speech last night, he emphasized the long-term nature of the disaster.

Here's what the President said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short term, it's also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique bounty and beauty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. And the region still hasn't recovered from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That's why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis at the moment. I make that commitment tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, baker, so my question is this: You, yourself, have lived through the impact of the hurricanes in the Gulf. One of your hotels was destroyed, right, in '04? And now we have this oil disaster. And the government is doing what is needed to get you help.

Have they done what is needed to get you help in the short term? I mean, is your hotel phone -- has it stopped ringing?

BAKER CLARK, OWNER, NAVARRA BEACH BEST WESTERN HOTEL: It did. It stopped ringing about mid-May. What he says is great, but that's the future. What he should have been out talking about this two months ago. And we need action down here. It's pretty much too late now to do anything.

H: What can he do? What can we offer up, in terms of words -- or perhaps more specifically in terms of action to help you, not right now, but this thing is going to go for a long-term here.

CLARK: Right. I've got a friend, Captain Jerry Andrews (ph) has a 60-foot fishing boat. He currently has it hired out with BP. He's working 80 miles offshore out of Alabama. And he sent an e-mail yesterday and said that you know there was just not enough equipment out there and most of the oil was getting by him. He said they need to have 10,000 ships out there, not just a few hundred.

H: We'll talk a little bit about the Jones Act here in a minute. Let me -- stand by for a second.

Casi, I want to get to you. If you remember, I met you last month when I was down there. I remember you spoke very emotionally, sort of about the environment. And last night the President acknowledged that there was most definitely this immediate environmental impact. I believe the word he used was tragedy. But he is also looking long term.

Let's hear what the President said regarding that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: Today has we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude. We cannot consign this tragedy to our children. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America's innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Casi, I want to ask you about the energy policy point in a minute. Bur first let's talk environment. We've all seen those oily pelican pictures. We've all been touched by those images. You have a bumper sticker apparently on your car, it says, "Hope for Better Future."

Casi, did the speech last night leave you hopeful?

CASI CALLAWAY, MOBILE BAYKEEPER: I guess the address was a good one on a bigger picture scale. But the problem is there's not enough substance. We love a great energy policy. We want that. We think the President missed an opportunity to say what we as individuals can do. We can reduce our footprints. We can do more --

BALDWIN: Oh, we lost her. Casi, stand by, we're going to try to get to you.

Let me move on for now as we work that out.

Clint, the President spoke of fishermen he's spoken to. He's been down on the Gulf four times now. People who don't know how they'll make it, don't know how they'll support their families. But he also talked about how he's going to push BP for help.

Here's the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The sadness and the anger they feel is not just about the money they've lost. It's about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost. I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of this recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, Clint, you know, I know, right now in the White House they're meeting, talking about that very issue, this escrow fund to help people like you, like many others in the fishing industry.

Do you feel better knowing that? CLINT GUIDRY, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN: You know, he's saying all of the right things. It sounds like he is running for re-election or election. Back when they were fighting the battle for the health care plan, he tried to embarrass a really true American hero, John McCain. And when he said that the election is over, I'm the boss, I won. I think it's time for him to are a true commander in chief.

We are over 50 days into this, and we just now starting to talking about things that should have been done up front. You know, the response from the federal government has been, let's send the U.S. Coast Guard down to be armed guards for BP. And if you don't believe me, there is some filed footage down here where our Senator Vitter was blocked from seeing birds that were being cleaned at Fort Jackson in Plaquemines Parish.

The next thing he did was tell my adopted niece, Lisa Jackson to OK the use of chemicals -- dispersants, Agent Orange. He not only sprayed them on my beautiful Gulf, he sprayed them on my people. We sent nine people to the hospital with chemical poisoning. And this third party, if he is intends to send Freidman out here to finish this off, I've news for him.

BALDWIN: What's that?

GUIDRY: We're not going to stand for it. I'd rather see my money from my shrimpers go to the Department of Agriculture. I have a good friend and commissioner Mike Strain (ph) out here and he knows how to take care of people. He takes care of his farmers and ranchers and cowboys. That's where we want my money to go.

BALDWIN: Clint, Casi -- hopefully we can get Casi back -- and Baker, we're listening to everything you are saying specific to your industry.

But, I also though, want you to stand by, as well. We're asking now what's really the bottom line here on the reaction to the President's primetime speech. We went ahead and asked our panelists as they were watching to grade the President. We will have their grades when our discussion continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to take you back now to our roundtable discussion of this oil disaster, President Obama's speech last night. I've been talking with hotel owner Baker Clark, environmentalist Casi Calloway, who, by the way, we got back on Skype. She's with Mobile Baykeeper. And commercial fisherman Clint Guidry.

I want to talk to each of you real quickly about your grade for the President's overall speech. And first want to begin with Baker.

What was your grade?

CLAKR: F.

BALDWIN: F? Why? CLARK: Yes. Well, the President waited 60 days. He should have been on television two days after. He should have dropped the Jones Act and brought the world in on this thing -- with the Dutch and the Norwegians have massive skimmer ships. And they weren't aloud to come in because of the Jones Act. That should have been weighed two days into it.

BALDWIN: Baker -- let me jump in because people may be saying, what is the world is the Jones Act? That essential helps regulate U.S. maritime commerce. For a ship to go from a U.S. port to another U.S. port, it needs to be built in the U.S., needs to be a U.S. ship. And now they're asking for foreign aid to come in.

Baker, thank you.

Want to go to Casi. Casi, what was your grade? We got an F.

What was yours?

CALLAWAY: I gave the President a C.

He really hit the high marks for us. He talked about cleanup. The cleanup is not an A, not a C, frankly. But the restoration projects, his goals. We are happy to sign up with the Navy admiral who's going to help us with restoration. We're hoping he gets involved in the work we already established and created. But the energy policy, good but no substance. We really need to know details on that.

BALDWIN: I'm sure more details will come forward. Casi, thank you.

Clint, what was your grade of the President?

GUIDRY: D minus. At least he is he the word shrimper.

BALDWIN: That made you feel good?

(CROSSTALK)

GUIDRY: Well, how about American presidents talk about my boat blessing that I go to every year. But still, he has to come a long way. It's too much has gone on that he should have been involved with.

My first priority has been for the last 30 days is trying to stop BP or whoever is in charge. If he wants to claim responsibility for being in charge, I'll give it to him. We still don't have a safe work environment. I've got a lot of refinery experience. I know what chemicals do and I know what you need to protect yourself and that's not happening.

Until my shrimpers start telling me that BP is going to take responsibility and say that it is an unsafe work environment and give them the right protection, I'm not going to like anything he says. It's all promises that are empty. He's not in control of the situation until my shrimpers tell me they have the right equipment to work with and the right safety protection.

BALDWIN: Well, we're all thinking about every one of you out there on the Gulf Coast. I want to thank Clint Guidry, Casi Calloway, Baker Clark. Thank all of you for coming on and speaking with us.

By the way, yes, we heard from the President hast night, all 18 minutes of it. By the way, we'll be hearing from the President again in the next hour. He'll be stepping outside to the meeting of the Roosevelt Room. He'll be stepping outside into the Rose Garden following that meeting with the BP executives. We will, of course, bring you his comments live, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: People all along the Gulf Coast whose lives really have been just upended by the oil disaster, including three I just talked to, they watched, they listened last night as President Obama addressed the nation. And when it was all said and done, CNN's chief business correspondent Ali Velshi really got an earful from folks at this one particular town hall meeting in Lafitte, Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't like what the President said about stopping our drilling because we have a lot of family. I'm a fisherman. My son went into the oil business because the price of shrimp was so bad and we worried about stopping drilling.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENR: This gentleman right here, you are a prime example of somebody telling me, you don't think anybody outside of this place has a good picture of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't let the fox watch the hen house. I mean, you know, hey, BP is watching the hen house. You can't do that. You got to bring people in that know.

VELSHI: What would you like to see happen now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the leak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the leak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop the leak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clean up the oil.

VELSHI: Anybody here complaining about stopping the leak?

CROWD: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But if they don't stop the oil, the houses are going to be over with. There won't be no more houses here. All the ladies are here and all the men are out there. But if they don't stop the oil from coming in them passes, there will be no houses. Because once the storm hits, it puts all the oil in it, instead of jacking them up there. They'll all be full of oil. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you sleep at night when you know you lost your livelihood. I have got kids to feed. I don't know what I'm going to do next.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are plenty of women here because all the guys is working, trying to clean this area right now. And we need to get it stopped. Block it off at the pass, get it cleaned it up. That way we can get our Louisiana (INAUDIBLE) and tell us we can work again in five years, ten years, six months, or whatever.

VELSHI: What happens if they tell you it's 10 years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 47 years old. Who is hire me? Yesterday was the first time I ever took a physical to get a job. Yesterday. I'm going to work for BP. The first time in my life since 1981 when I graduated from high school. Always made a living. I have two kids, and I have a family and I fed my family every year since then. Never had another job. And it's everybody in here, that's the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Great to hear from those people, isn't it? That was with Ali Velshi last night. Lafitte, Louisiana. We want to remind you President Obama still meeting with BP executives, including CEO Tony Hayward. He is expected to tell us what exactly what happened.

We'll bring you that live during the next hour here of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, of course, the best spot, right, to check all your money headlines and the latest numbers on Wall Street. Go to CNNMoney.com. Headline here, Stocks Slide on the Bleak Economic Outlook.

And if you walk with me, let's take a look at some of the numbers. Nasdaq is down .20. Checking the Dow, sitting at 10,376. Down about 28 points right now.

And now iPhone demands. Did you hear about this story? It all happened yesterday was the first day that people could place orders for the new apple iPhone. I think it's the iPhone 4. But customers really excited to buy this new iPhone got this unexpected surprise.

Alison Kosik is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with all these details.

Alison, I saw all this crazy e-mail traffic here just at CNN trying to chase the story. What's happened?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, if you tried to preorder this iPhone yesterday, it was really the ultimate exercise in frustration. It didn't matter how or where you tried to order it, or where you tried to order it, it was really a challenge to say the least. Just to give you an idea, Apple stores here in Manhattan are saying that salespeople had to take orders by pen and paper, the old fashioned way, and this for a high-tech device. Even if you went to Apple's web site, you got an error message. Same on AT&T's web site. AT&T customer service line, if you called it, you got a preordered message saying the company was facing heavy call volumes.

Listen to this. Even a new iPhone app created specifically for preordering the new iPhone from the old iPhones was offline by mid afternoon. AT&T is saying this is really the busiest online sales day in its history and it's telling customers, Brooke, that if you preorder now if you order now you'll get the phone by June 25th or later. And that is, by the way, one day after these phones are going to be the stores. So much for the preorder -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alison, you still had me on the app on the old iPhone for the new iPhone.

But anyway, let's talk about the fact, this isn't the first time that AT&T has really struggled, right, to meet demand. I mean, is this generating possibly more anger at AT&T, putting the strain between apple, AT&T, even further strain?

KOSIK: Yes, the whole Apple/AT&T relationship has been strained to say the least for the last three years.

Everyone was excited that this new iPhone has 100 new applications and features, but there's no new network. A lot of people were hoping that Apple was going to hook up with Verizon. That not happening. AT&T has really been known for having spotty coverage with its 3G of coverage, especially in New York and San Francisco. So everyone was hoping that Verizon was going to jump into the picture.

There is, in fact, a recent survey, Brooke, that shows that the number one reason why people pass up on getting the iPhone is because they are connected to AT&T. But, I'll tell you what. People are still clamoring and will still line up for the phone at the end of the month, even with all the complaints -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Amazing. Alison Kosik, thank you.

President Obama, as we've been telling you all morning faces off with BP right now at the White House. And after that meeting, he will be making a statement outside from the Rose Garden. CNN taking that live in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, trying to save the birds. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on rescue efforts for these birds caught in this muck and mess along Louisiana's oil-stained marsh lands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)