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BP's Disaster Oversight; 'Vessels of Opportunity'; From Tips to Teachers

Aired June 18, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

PEDRO PINTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I agree with that. The United States team is good enough to make it into the knockout round. And they could even make it to the quarterfinals at least.

So, they got a draw, they got a tie, so to speak. So, a win in their last game means they sailed through and anything can happen.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And that's one point for a draw. And, boy, coming from 2-0, that's something.

Pedro, good to see you. Thank you my friend.

Pedro Pinto in Johannesburg, covering the World Cup for us.

I'm Ali Velshi, and I'm in Lafitte, Louisiana. Here's what's we've got "On the Rundown" this hour.

Oil disaster, day 60. The Coast Guard says it's siphoning as much as 25,000 barrels of oil out of the Gulf every day now. But more still rolling ashore.

If you love Gulf oysters, better get them quick before the restaurants run out. I have got a great, great story to tell you about oysters down here. And I've had a few.

Today's mission possible, in Boston, a low-cost gym helping people get fit without going broke.

But first, I want to tell you about a big story we've been reporting about some changes in the way BP is running its oil response.

I want to go right to Jim Boulden in New York.

Jim, we've got some new information, some changes in the information that we had an hour ago. Tell us about it.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ali. BP wants to make it clear that in their mind, even though the chairman said on British television a few hours ago that Bob Dudley from BP would now take over the operations in the Gulf, BP says, in fact, that's not necessarily what they're trying to say.

They're saying that Bob Dudley, who was brought in a few weeks to go to take over the long-term operations like political relations and community relations, that that hasn't changed. And so, they want to make it clear that, as of now, Tony Hayward, the CEO, will continue to deal with the initial response.

So, though the chairman said on British television that he was handing it over now, now is not necessarily correct. It is about a long-term transition to Bob Dudley. But it goes back to what we were saying before about this does put an American face and an American person into this response as they announced a few weeks ago -- Ali.

VELSHI: And it continues to underscore the continued issues that Tony Hayward faces every time he does have to either deal with the press or Congress or things like that. BP is really, really struggling to have an effective face.

And I have to tell you, here in the Gulf of Mexico, arguably, the effectiveness of BP is greater and is felt to be greater than it is on a national scale, because when it comes to their -- the way they're getting that message out -- and Tony Hayward has to have some part in this whole thing -- it does not seem as effective as the actual stuff that's getting done on the ground.

BOULDEN: Yes, it's interesting, because Tony Hayward, of course, is an engineer. He's from the oil background. You know, the chairman, Svanberg, is not. He used to run Ericsson, as chairman of Ericsson, so he's a very different person.

And you don't normally see the chairman of British companies getting involved in these kind of things, but clearly the chairman himself wanted to get on British TV and make a few comments. But just like when he said small people at the White House, it seems like some of the wording issues are confusing the issue. But right now, Tony Hayward stays where he is.

VELSHI: OK. Very good, Jim. Thanks very much.

Jim Boulden in London for us.

We'll continue to follow that story and give you everything we know on it.

All right. Let's talk a little about what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico right now. I don't know if we've got that picture that we so commonly see of the oil that's gushing out.

Thad Allen, the incident commander, says that they're now getting 70 percent of the oil that's coming out of there, 25,000 barrels siphoned in the last 24 hours. Now, that's between the riser cap, the LMRP, the riser cap, the top hat, whatever you want to call it, and the Q4000, which is a system that siphons more oil out using a different methodology, and then burns it, it flares it. In fact, that flare is so bright, we were able to see it from about 10 miles out when I was out on the Gulf of Mexico. So far, 204,000 barrels siphoned since June 3rd.

Ironically, Tony Hayward was having the worst possible day yesterday before a House Senate energy subcommittee at Congress. You saw the reaction there, even though they were doing pretty well siphoning oil.

Let's take a look at the reaction in the press in London to Tony Hayward's grilling at Congress.

The London "Daily Telegraph" said, "Hayward has the communication skills of a tax inspector, dry and arrogant." "The London Times" said Hayward resembled "a weary registrar in a south London crematorium. Americans say he looked like Mr. Bean. Make that Mr. Has Bean."

Tony Hayward does have his defenders, however. "The London Daily Mail" said, "BP's chief executive was subjected to a grilling so savage, it was more like ancient Rome than Capitol Hill."

All right. You make your own decision about what you thought Tony Hayward did yesterday.

One thing I want to tell you a little bit about when we come back is, I talked earlier to a gentleman from the Coast Guard, a lieutenant commander, about the Vessels of Opportunity Program. It's an opportunity for people who can't use their vessels for either tourism or fishing to actually try to help out in this spill and recover some of the money that they're not making.

I'll talk to Josh about that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Hey. I'm Ali Velshi in Lafitte, Louisiana, on the CNN Express.

Josh Levs with me.

Josh, are you there?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'm right here, Ali.

VELSHI: Josh, have you ever been on this bus, by the way? Have you ever been on this bus?

LEVS: You know, I haven't ever been on that bus. And I want to go on that bus. I'm flying out there.

VELSHI: All right. We're going to talk about what you're going to talk about, and then afterwards, I'm going to give you and our viewers a little tour of the CNN Express.

But what you're going to take us on a tour of is something very, very important around here. It's the Vessel of Opportunity program.

I was just talking to the Coast Guard about it a little while ago. This is an area in the bayou. It's full of people. Everybody has got a boat around here, and they use it to make a living, either shrimping or charters or fishing of some sort. And now, with the waters, with the dispersant and the oil, there's no work for them other than what they might be doing with the Vessel of Opportunity program.

Tell us about it.

LEVS: Yes, that's right.

So, BP and the government have set up this program in which they can use their boats. And actually, these are some pictures here from BP's Web site, just symbolizing (ph) what it's all about.

As you're saying, there's all kinds of ships that are out there. And people who want to, who want to help, can use these boats for various things -- for skimming, for transporting booms, for trying to help wildlife. And BP has pictures here of people turning out to these classes, these huge gatherings, to try to learn how they can take part.

Well, today we learned from Admiral Thad Allen that more than 2,000 Vessels of Opportunity have been registered. And the real task right now is to organize them, because just setting them out there won't do much good. They need to get organized about it.

Here's what he said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: We're organizing these Vessels of Opportunity in groups, establishing a leader with the capability to communicate. A lot of these boats are very, very small and may or may not have radio systems.

We are also putting automated identification system tracking devices on the larger vessels so we can bring those into our common operating picture and have them actually displayed on a computer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And here's how this fits into the bigger picture.

We've been hearing all week, really, and for several weeks, but especially this week, that one thing that really needs to happen is that there are a lot of boats out there, there's a lot of help out there, but that it's not being adequately organized.

And our own contributor, retired General Russel Honore, has been talking about how they need to have a general, overall arching system to use these Vessels of Opportunity and other vessels.

Here's what he's been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We need the Navy and Marine-type forces working with the Coast Guard to be able to go out and find the oil, and then call in skimmers to skim that oil before it hits the shoreline. And that's the level of frustration that the states are having. You hear Billy Nungesser every night talking about the oil getting closer and closer and it's not being skimmed. What we need is what we call in the military command and control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So, Ali, that's what they're talking about right now, using command and control systems to operate all of these different ships that are out there to give them overall guidance. That they're not just out there desperately trying to help, but so that they each have a specific task and hopefully can keep that oil farther away from the shore -- Ali.

VELSHI: And I found it very efficient when I was out there watching that oil burn because they were using Vessels of Opportunity out there, a lot of the shrimpers. Hardworking folks. They want to work hard.

They'd rather be working hard doing the work that they actually do for a living than being Vessels of Opportunity, and they also know that that program is not going to last forever. But they are a very, very, very big part of the mission here.

Hey, Josh, I promised you a tour of the bus. This has been my home for many, many weeks over the last two and a half, three years I've driven all around the country on this.

The CNN Express, not my bus. It's our bus. It's as big a bus as you can get.

I want to show you a picture of Dale.

Dale is our driver. Dale is the boss of the bus. This man has logged over a million miles in his life driving around the place.

He's our ambassador. He's the nicest guy in the world.

Dale, welcome to our audience.

LEVS: Hey there, Dale.

VELSHI: I know they've seen you a couple of times.

Stewart Clark (ph) has got the camera. He's the man behind the camera, and he's taking a tour. This is a beautiful workstation.

LEVS: Look how comfortable you are.

VELSHI: Oh, this is great. It's very comfortable.

Jeremy Moorhead (ph) is operating the camera that you're all seeing me on right there. We've got monitors on top there.

And then as you go to the back, there's an edit station where we can edit anything that goes on TV. And then as you go beyond the editing station, there's a dining area, where I think you'll see Hussein Sadik (ph), who is my producer, momentarily.

Hussein (ph), give the camera a big smile.

And that's a galley where you can eat.

Beyond that, that's James Meech (ph). He's our engineer, and all of his gear.

And there's a little -- not a kitchen, but there's a sink and a microwave and a fridge. And it's a full-service operation here.

LEVS: That is palatial there.

First of all, that spot you have anchoring the show today is way more comfortable than anything we have in all of CNN headquarters.

VELSHI: This is as comfortable and air-conditioned as I have been in a very, very long time. And as soon as this show is over, the best part about this thing, is I just kick back and throw it over to --

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: I'm just going to let our viewers know, you were waiting for the show to be over. I had a live feed of you during the commercial break just now. Those feet were up.

VELSHI: Yes, we're good.

But the great thing about the CNN Express, Josh, is that we don't have to stay in one place. We can ride into towns.

So, ,if somebody tells us, oh, you guys are here covering the oil spill, you know, over in this town over here, there's this great story, or there's this great restaurant, or there's something that you need to report. And we have the mobility to be able to drive in and set up -- this is a full studio, we can interview people in here.

Today, when that bad weather started to come in, it was a matter of a few moments. The great guys here organized it all.

And, by the way, every presidential candidate was interviewed on this sofa in the bus. We can do entire shows. It's a lot of fun to be here.

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: The people that you meet help us, too. I remember when you were doing something really similar during the health care debate, and you were going out there and talking to all these people.

They would send questions, you would toss them at me. We would get you the answers. I mean, hearing directly from you, having these relationships, is ultimately what we're about. So, I love that we do that. VELSHI: And you know the neat thing about that, Josh? It's whenever we pull into a town, often people will say to us as soon as we get off -- I mean, this is a big billboard. People walk in and say, "Hey, what's the news? What's happening?"

And then we tell them, we're not here for some piece of breaking news.

LEVS: You're the news.

VELSHI: And then they wonder whether we're here to cover some politician, because that's what a lot of the media does. And we finally tell them, no, we're actually here to just hear your stories or your opinion. And health care was a great example of that.

The other night in Lafitte, Louisiana, when the president gave his Oval Office speech, I sat with people here to get their views. And that was just great because we're not here for officialdom. We're here actually to talk to people.

So, it's a lot of fun. Come out one day and join us on the bus.

LEVS: Seriously. I want to go there right now. I've got to call the boss.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Good to see you, Josh.

LEVS: See you, Ali. Thanks.

VELSHI: Thanks very much for making everything clear for us.

Josh Levs at home base. I'll be back there at some point next week.

Listen, a few cents can make a big, big difference, particularly when you're trying to control your weight and your health. One woman is using her tip money to transform an entire country.

Meet our CNN Hero of the Week right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: A tour guide from Cambodia wanted to make a difference, so she started using her tip money to transform the lives of rural children. Ponheary Ly, a survivor of the oppressive and ruthless Khmer Rouge regime, has made it her mission to educate Cambodia's poor people by giving them what they need to go to school.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PONHEARY LY, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: In the countryside in Cambodia, some children may come to school, but not very regular, because the family needs to have them in the farm.

The school is free, but they don't have any money. How can they have the money for uniforms and supplies?

My name is Ponheary Ly. I help the children to go to school.

The education is important to me because my father was a teacher. During the Khmer Rouge time, my father was killed. If we tried to study, we could be killed. My soul always go to school.

At the beginning, I got only one girl. After that, 40 children, and now 2,000.

After several years, I see a change because they know how to read and write, and they borrow the books from our library to read for their parents. I need them to have a good education to build their own family as well as to build their own country. My father, he has to be proud of me here in heaven and in my heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: Ponheary Ly and her organization have helped more than 2,000 people children get an education.

To see how this work unexpectedly changed one woman's life forever, or to nominate your person, your hero, go to CNNHeroes.com.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I'm in Lafitte, Louisiana. I spend a lot of time in the Gulf states. Sometimes it's for disasters, sometimes it's for stories, hurricanes, things like that. But one thing you always know when you come down to Louisiana and these Gulf states if you eat well.

The food is great. The cooking is great. You come here for the seafood.

Well, around here these days, you hear a lot of things on the seafood -- is it safe to eat, is it even there? They can't get a lot of it. It's certainly not easy to come by.

But we went to one restaurant, an 82-year-old restaurant. It's called Bozos. It's here in Louisiana just up the road outside of New Orleans.

Earlier this week, they got their last shipment of oysters. And we were there as the locals came in before the oysters run out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shucking oysters at Bozo's restaurant in Metairie, Louisiana, right outside of New Orleans. The restaurant's been in business for 82 years.

I've been shucking oysters for nine years. I don't care how hard it gets. You just have to get it going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're really good right now. They've got a good, meaty taste. A little bit of salt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My shucker here, boy, he's trying to kill me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're put hot sauce in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You put that on there like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good, fresh flavor, man. They're the best.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I don't know how long it's going to be before we see any more oysters. We haven't been able to get any fresh ones in the last couple of days.

This is the oyster cooler, the front cooler, area 4. Twenty-five sacks that we have left right now might be it.

Everything's cut up into areas 1 through 27 all across the bottom of the state. And area 1 through 7 are on the east side of the river. And then you have 8 through 27 on the west side, which runs all the way -- almost to the Texas state line. And everything on the west side is closed down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just hope we don't lose them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got great oysters at the moment. We're still getting really nice shrimp. You know they opened the shrimp season in the lake (ph) last week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People think there's something wrong with the seafood. Well, the stuff that we have that we're serving is fine. You know, we've still got a lot of good seafood down here, and we've got to get that out and let the people know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right. Shifting to central Asia now, where the ethnic killing is over for now but survivors of the violence in Kyrgyzstan are in a kind of a no man's land, desperately in need of help and food.

I'm going to go "Globe Trekking" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Time now for "Globe Trekking."

First stop is Kyrgyzstan, a nation gripped by fear after days of recent attacks on ethnic Uzbeks. The acting president today is quoted saying that nearly 2,000 people were killed. That's a number about 10 times the official count.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of refugees are stranded by fear at the border with Uzbekistan.

Our Nic Robertson is there with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This tiny hole in the razor wire border with Uzbekistan is becoming the new lifeline for the displaced people here inside Kyrgyzstan. The food's coming across the border, over this bridge, and into the van here. But it's only the beginning.

The U.N. says some 400,000 people were displaced in Kyrgyzstan, some 100,000 fled across the border. That means 300,000 still here.

The problem is, in this particular village they say they're getting no aid at all from the international community. The only help they say they're getting is coming across the border from Uzbekistan.

And what we're seeing as well is not just food coming across, but people. Some of the first people coming back, some of the first 100,000 refugees coming back into Kyrgyzstan. But they're coming back into a very uncertain future.

The people we've been talking to in the village earlier on tell us that life here is tough. They're not getting the help that they need. But their other problem -- their other big problem -- they say is, once they get here, they have nowhere else to go. It's not safe for them to go back into the towns. It's not safe for them, they say, to go back to their homes. They still fear the army.

So for all the people that are beginning to flood back across, there seems to be no help for them in the very short term here on the Kyrgyzstan side of the border.

Nic Robertson, CNN, on the Kyrgyzstan's Uzbek border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: OK. Our next stop on our globe trek is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Today is the eve of the 65th birthday of Nobel Peace Prize winner and key opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She's seen in these pictures meeting with a U.S. government official in May at a Myanmar government guest house.

The United Nations and the British government this week called for Myanmar's release -- leaders to release Suu Kyi from house arrest. She's been in prison or under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. She was first jailed back in 1990. That's when her party won in national landslide elections. The government has never recognized the results.

All right. Three years can make a huge difference in a person's career. Just ask BP's Tony Hayward.

Our Randi Kaye filed this piece before yesterday's hearing. It takes a look at the amazing rise to the position of CEO and the promises that he made along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As BP execs entered the White House, cameras were drawn especially to this man, CEO Tony Hayward, a lightning rod for all of the anger at BP. For Hayward, it's a long fall from where he was in 2007. He'd just been named BP's new CEO and he promised to make safety his top priority.

At the time, the oil giant's reputation was in tatters over accidents, safety violations and employee deaths. BP's Texas City refinery had just exploded, killing 15. Investigators found BP had violated its own safety protocols. Hayward promised to do away with what he called the "more for less" cost-cutting strategy that had become the norm at BP.

STEVEN LEVINE, FOREIGN POLICY MAGAZINE: He wasn't going to put them in danger. They were not going to be BP employees who died on his watch.

KAYE: Fast-forward three years to the Gulf of Mexico and the Deepwater Horizon rig, what happened to Hayward's promises? We asked "Foreign Policy" magazine's Steve Levine.

LEVINE: If he really wanted to change that culture, he needed to change the culture of profit first, of cost-cutting. And I have no evidence -- I've seen nothing to suggest that that culture changed.

KAYE (on camera): Perhaps it has now. In his testimony to Congress, Tony Hayward promised to do everything in BP's power to address the economic and environmental consequence of the spill and to ensure that BP uses its lessons learned to make energy exploration and production safer and more reliable for everyone.

(voice-over): Yes, well, that is pretty much what Hayward vowed three years ago after BP's fatal Texas refinery explosion. The fact is, with Deepwater Horizon, congressional investigations show BP was still trying to penny-pinch to save millions.

LEVINE: There were very serious shortcuts taken in the last hours, in the last days, before the explosion that were made specifically to save money. And this is something that points at management from the very top.

KAYE (on camera): Critics compare Hayward's strategy to a Hail Mary approach to drilling: go deep and let's hope nothing goes wrong. But on April 20th in the Gulf, something went horribly wrong. And in the weeks that followed, Hayward's comments made the catastrophe even more catastrophic for BP.

(voice-over): Early on, he took heat for calling the amount of oil lost relatively tiny compared with the very big ocean. And he reportedly asked fellow executives, "What the hell did we do to deserve this?" -- as if BP was somehow the victim.

Then this, the remark that struck deepest:

TONY HAYWARD, BP CEO: There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do. You know, I'd like my life back.

KAYE: He later apologized on BP's Facebook page: "I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment. I apologize especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident."

In response to this story, BP told us, quote, "One of the first things Hayward said was that he was going to make operational safety the heart of BP." The company said Hayward brought more professional engineers into the company and established a new maintenance and operating technique that is uniform at all their plants.

But in terms of stopping the leak, Hayward told the "Financial Times," quote, "We did not have the tools you would want in your tool kit."

LEVINE: Tony Hayward knew what the weaknesses of BP were, meaning that over the last few years, there had been very high-profile accidents. It was incumbent upon him to put in place the measures to make sure that something like this did not happen. He did not do that.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: OK. I want to talk about a gym with a bigger purpose than just fitness. No profits here, just people getting healthy at a price that they can afford. I'm going to tell you more about this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: "Mission Possible" time today. We look at inspiring people and ideas. Two nonprofit gyms in Boston are catering to women in a low-income neighborhood. Gym fees there are based on income. They range depending on how much you make and it's a way to help people better afford to be healthy which, of course, we know is better for you financially.

It's a women-only gym. So, it offers a safe place for women to work out with no judgments.

Joining us now is Lauren Broadhurst. She's the executive director of the Healthworks Foundation, which run the facility.

Lauren, thank you for being with us. First of all, how do you -- how do you afford to run gyms for $10 to $30 a month.

LAUREN BROADHURST, EXEC. DIR., HEALTHWORKS FOUNDATION: You know, we're really fortunate. We are the product of generosity of the Healthworks Company. And the Healthworks Company runs five for-profit gyms for women in the Boston area. And a portion of the membership dues from those gyms supports our operating costs right now.

VELSHI: All right. So, you've got these two gyms. How does it work? People come in to join up and they know that they can pay a lower fee if they can't afford what a gym would normally cost?

BROADHURST: Absolutely. There are actually two separate gyms. We have Healthworks at St. Mary's and Healthworks at Codman. And they run at two different models. Healthworks at St. Mary's actually, we, women below a certain income are not charged. So, that gym is actually 100 percent free.

Healthworks at Codman was created through a partnership with the Codman Square Health Center which is a model community health center in the country actually and the Healthworks Foundation. And that is the gym that charges between $10 and $30, unless patients are prescribed exercises by their provider at the Codman Square Health Center. And to those patients, we provide free three-month memberships.

VELSHI: All right. Three-month membership. They have to get -- I read something about needing a prescription from somewhere to get that. How does that work?

BROADHURST: Yes, exactly. So, you would get a prescription from your doctor at the Codman Square Health Center or the Dorchester House, which is another partner community health center with us, and the doctor can actually give you a prescription and we will accept that prescription and provide you with a free three-month membership for exercise which is --

VELSHI: Now, what is the sort -- what's the saving off of what somebody might pay if they didn't have this ability to get to a gym in a subsidized facility like Healthworks?

BROADHURST: Oh, well, we are certainly the most affordable -- regardless of the free prescription that we -- that we accept from doctors, we're the most affordable fitness opportunity for women in the area, in the Dorchester area. The rates range between $10 and $30 a month and the savings is just incredible -- when you think that competing organizations charge roughly around $50 a month or more, depending on the quality of the service.

And that's one thing we pride ourselves -- regardless of the community where we serve, we want to provide the highest quality possible to our members.

VELSHI: One of the things, obviously, that go hand-in-hand with trying to be healthier, being able to afford to go to a gym and eating a little better. And you've also got programs that help people to try and make better cooking and eating decisions?

BROADHURST: Yes, we're actually in a process -- we are hoping to open our teaching kitchen this year. The idea, of course, is being to teach healthy eating and healthy cooking to the Dorchester community, which, as you know, the best prevention and treatment of chronic disease is exercise and proper nutrition. So, we will be able to offer both to our members and to the community which we're really, really excited about.

VELSHI: Lauren, great idea. Thanks very much for joining us to tell us a little about it.

Lauren Broadhurst is the executive director of Healthworks Foundation, joining me from Boston.

Well, President Obama was trying to focus on jobs again as he made his eighth trip to Ohio today. But the oil spill is still the story captivating the nation. I'm going to discuss the balancing act the president is under with our own Ed Henry who's standing by at the stakeout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Every day at this time, about the only thing we get done at the same time, but we do it because we're committed to our man Ed Henry and the stakeout. Ed is the guy. He's our senior White House correspondent. He's on the road a lot with the president.

I think you're on the road right now. Are you in Ohio?

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, I'm back actually. My colleague Dan Lothian was in Ohio, in Columbus, with the president today.

VELSHI: Oh, you're at the White -- you're at the White House?

HENRY: I'm here at the White House. I'm at the stakeout.

VELSHI: Oh. The president went to Ohio. But I guess he goes there so often, you don't have to join him anymore. This is his eighth trip since he became president to Ohio, which, Ed, is emblematic of a lot of the issues in this country. It's got a big population, it's a very varied population, it's got a manufacturing base that's been dwindling for many years. If you're going to tell the story of economic upheaval and recovery in America, you want to do it with Ohio or states like that as your backdrop.

HENRY: Absolutely. And this is the kickoff of a whole summer- long tour. The president as well as Vice President Biden who is here in the briefing room yesterday to tout the economic recovery plan. And this project the president was touting today was 10,000th stimulus project launch. It was some construction around a hospital there in Columbus.

I asked the vice president though when he was in the briefing room yesterday why if this is working so well has unemployment now gone up to 9.7 percent when you look at the administration's projections a year ago or so, it was supposed to be about 7.5 percent right now. The vice president's answer was: look, everything was a lot worse than the projections a year, year and a half ago, in terms of how bad the recession has been. And so, they believe the stimulus is working, just not fast enough to get those jobs back.

Other problem, of course, as the president tries to talk about jobs again, all everyone else seems to be talking about is oil.

VELSHI: Ed, speaking about oil, the testimony yesterday, the congressional testimony where Tony Hayward from BP was there, I think, you know, these congressional hearings are weird, a lot of grandstanding.

But I have to tell you, one of the weirdest things I've heard in a long time was what Texas Representative Joe Barton says about apologies and about how BP was held up for a shakedown in the White House. He said that the president basically shook BP down for this $20 billion slush fund -- this $20 billion fund to compensate people, and that the government was going to tap into that as a slush fund.

I have to say, I just think the whole thing was just strange. It just seemed weird. What's the fallout from this?

HENRY: It was. And it's -- the fallout is it's sort of the gift that keeps on giving to this White House because it allows them to shift the focus a little bit from all the heat being on the president's leadership on the oil spill and the recovery efforts to now what's going on on the Hill with the Republicans.

Now, my colleague Dana Bash is now reporting and breaking some news that Joe Bonner, a Republican in the House, is now calling on Jo Barton to step aside from the top spot on the energy committee. And Robert Gibbs has been pushing that along. He sent out some tweets last night saying the Republicans are going to want to think about whether they want Barton in that top spot, whether or not he's really the right person because if the Republicans take control of the Congress in November, come January 2011, the person who would be the new chairman of the energy committee overseeing the oil industry would be none other than Barton who apologized to BP yesterday.

Now, he apologized for the apology -- as you said, it gets a little weird sometimes with this back and forth. But I think, clearly, the White House love this story and wants to keep it alive as long as they can.

VELSHI: Yes. There are lots of ways to skin this cat, lots of ways to look at it. And I've often pointed out that we want to look at what BP's responsibility was, what the oil industry's responsibility was, what the regulators like MMS and the Department of the Interior, what their responsibility was, where everybody failed, what our responsibility as a society is as we keep on using oil. I have not heard in 60 days someone apologizing to BP. That one was an entirely new one to me.

Hey, listen to this, Ray Mabus, the guy who's supposed to be in charge of the recovery here, President Obama talked about a recovery czar, someone to deal with recovery in the Gulf of Mexico. Where does that stand?

HENRY: Well, it's interesting because it's becoming a little bit of a controversy now, because on Tuesday night, you're right, the president made kind of a big deal about how Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, as he called him, a son of the Gulf, was going to be leading the long-term, not the short-term but the long-term Gulf recovery efforts.

And so, I asked Robert Gibbs yesterday in the briefing -- is he going to be stepping down as secretary of the Navy now to focus on this pretty job. And Gibbs said, no, that he spoke to the president, Ray Mabus did, and they decided that he can basically juggle both these jobs.

Well, the secretary of the Navy was already a full-time job.

VELSHI: Sure.

HENRY: While the Navy's not necessarily in the middle of those hot wars, but they're always, you know, moving troops around, moving equipment around, they're always playing a critical role even if they're not necessarily the lead troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq. That's an important job obviously.

Now, this Gulf recovery job is supposed to be a big job as well. I think this may raise more questions about the administration's efforts if it looks like he's not, you know, devoting all of his energy to it. He's got two jobs now essentially.

VELSHI: It's an interesting one because down here where I am in the bayou, there's a lot of concern that there are things going on and machinations about long-term and plan and whether it's a discussion about more alternative energy or recovery and there does seem to be less focus at least in the minds of some of the people I'm around immediately on the fact that oil continues to spill out of those hole and is moving towards shore and they need things done in these independent communities to try and fix that. So, a lot of it feels like a lot of politics in Washington. I don't know how well that's going to go over, that the recovery czar is going to be what essentially becomes a part-time job.

Hey, Ed, I want to ask you something: Is this your last day with us for a while?

HENRY: Hey. I'm taking a couple of weeks off. I hope you're not going to be upset about it. I've got a good excuse.

VELSHI: Am I going to see you next week on TV?

HENRY: No. This is my last day. I'm getting married, man. I'm out of here for a couple of weeks.

VELSHI: There's your beautiful bride to be, Shirley Hung, one of our colleagues. You're getting married a week, just over a week. You're getting married next week. So, we wish you the best of luck.

HENRY: In a week. But I'm going to take a few days off before, a few days after. But, Ali, the key is, I want to make sure that you're not upset, that Shirley doesn't come in between you and I and the romance. And I just want to make sure you're OK with this.

VELSHI: No, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'm a little upset because, you know, I'm going to be working somewhere you would have been working because --

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: I was supposed to go to the G-20 with President Obama, now you're going there. And this is your excuse for --

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: I'm going to go to G-20, but if you recall -- and I'm happy to do the favor for you because I think this is a great occasion. I wish I could be with you. But I do recall that the last time I asked you to sub in for me, that was kind of a dangerous experience for you. An airplane flipped over. So, I'm just hoping that my G-20 is uneventful as I sub in for you.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: We've got a project going on behind me right now and it sort of feels like one of these trucks is about to drive into me, but I don't think it's as dangerous as that last assignment you put me on.

By the way, one quick question, in terms of your -- I notice Anderson's always got the T-shirt when he's out in the field, it's kind of his disaster wear. You're doing a twist on that. You've got the T-shirt but then you got a pink shirt, a button-down pink shirt on top of it. It's kind of a twist on the disaster wear.

VELSHI: Yes. Yes, Anderson's T-shirt comes in a slightly smaller size than mine. So, it's looking a little -- it's looking like I was wearing something from baby GAP. So, I decided I put a looser T-shirt on top of it. If I took this off, I'd look like a muscle builder.

HENRY: You look good though. You look good.

VELSHI: Ed, good to see you. Congratulations to you and Shirley. We'll miss you while you're away. But we'll see you when you get back.

And if you got any pointers while up at G-20 covering for you, just e-mail me in the middle of the reception or something and tell me how I need to do it a little better.

Ed Henry on the stakeout, we all wish him very well. Hey, send him a tweet, add EdHenryCNN to congratulate him.

We're taking a quick break. I'll be back with my "XYZ" when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Hey, a few minutes ago, we were just talking -- Ed and I were talking about the very strange comment that Representative Joe Barton from Texas made yesterday, starting with an apology to BP for what he called a $20 billion shakedown in the White House.

Let's go to Dana Bash. She's got more on this story breaking right now -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi there, Ali.

Well, we have learned that Jo Bonner, who is a Republican congressman from Alabama, appears to be the first of Joe Barton's Republican colleagues who does not think that his apology was good enough. And he still believes that Joe Barton should step down from his very important post as the top Republican on the energy and commerce committee. In fact, we just got a statement from Republican Congressman Jo Bonner who said that he actually spoke with Congressman Barton this morning. Congressman Barton called him to offer his apologies. But what Barton, what -- excuse me -- what Jo Bonner told him was: look, the damage is done. And it is -- in his words, his, quote, "comments are beyond repair." And that is why he is calling for his fellow Republican to, quote, "do the right thing for our conference and immediately step down as ranking member of the energy and commerce committee."

This is a Republican, Jo Bonner, whose district is on the Gulf Coast, where you are, Ali. So, he understands the -- how important not just the politics are but the reality is in terms of the anger that people have at BP and the concept of apologizing to BP in any way, shape or form --

VELSHI: Well --

BASH: -- is just, you know, not possible, not OK.

VELSHI: I have to tell you, Dana, being down here, I don't know how that kind of stuff -- what Joe Barton, he thought that was going to play in Washington. But it certainly wouldn't play around here.

There was an explanation from Barton yesterday. He sort of apologized for it. Did he -- did he offer some kind of valid explanation as to why he would have said such a thing? I mean, he just seems so out of sync, no matter what side of the aisle you're on, to have offered an apology to BP.

BASH: No. I mean, you know, he -- well, the answer, let me rephrase that. The answer is that he is actually not alone. There are some Republicans who actually do believe that when you look at the substance of it, that perhaps it was not the smartest thing from their perspective for the White House to be negotiating with a company like BP on an escrow fund. So, that's -- that is something that it is true that Joe Barton is not alone on.

VELSHI: OK.

BASH: But what is very interesting and important politically for this -- for what we have right now and sort of the headline here is that a Gulf Coast Republican is not only saying that doesn't fly, but he's also saying, as I'm reading the statement we just got, Ali, that he believes that Joe Barton's apology doesn't reflect the position of the vast majority of the House Republicans.

So, bottom line is that this is not over at all for Joe Barton. That's what this statement reflects in a big way.

VELSHI: All right. Dana, thanks very much for that. We'll keep on top of that story. Dana Bash keeping us up-to-date on the calls for Joe Barton to leave his committee post.

OK. Time now for the "XYZ" of it. All this week, I've been touring the Gulf of Mexico on the CNN Express. It's our mobile coach that allows us to move from town to town following the story.

The story I've sought is the one of families and their passions in this part of the nation. In many other venues, the environment and business are loggerheads. But here in the Gulf of Mexico, the economy defends on the environment. If the mix of salt and freshwater is affected as it was by the damage to the reefs that were caused by Hurricane Katrina, the oysters die in their beds.

The dispersant used to deal with the oil spilling from the site of the Deepwater Horizon has killed some shrimps; it's caused oysters to idea.

The irony is that after having their livelihoods quite possibly destroyed by the BP oil disaster, the oysterman, the crabbers, the fishermen, well now depend on BP for work by using their vessels to help mitigate the damage of the spill.

I spent time down here before, through three hurricanes, lived through one hurricane, Gustav, with seafood workers. These are tough folks. All along this region, yesterday or a couple of days ago, going out far into the Gulf, seeing that fleet of boats that have come together for that other worldly task of gathering and burning oil on the surface of the water, it was admirable. Warm welcoming people, some of them Vietnamese immigrants who were hard to understand, some of them old salty Cajuns who at times are equally hard for me to understand.

Accents, expressions from across this country, across the world, all of these people generous to a fault, hard-working people of the Gulf, they know nothing is going to be normal again for a long time. But that doesn't keep them from fighting to get their Gulf back for themselves, for their economy, for their wildlife. And let's not stop supporting them in that fight.

That's the "XYZ" of it.

Time now for "RICK'S LIST." T.J. Holmes sitting in for Rick Sanchez.