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Mosque Debate; Passports for Sex Offenders; Food Stockpiled in Haiti: Kids Go Hungry; Salaries for College Grads; BP Exec One-On-One with CNN; Obama Meets Warren Buffett, Possible Explosive Device in Newark

Aired July 14, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's top stories.

Tempers flare as the idea of building a mosque near 9/11 Ground Zero is discussed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have we forgotten what happened at 9/11?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All you people here yelling at me don't even know. And maybe if a mosque were built, then you guys would know what Islam was about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Our Special Investigations Unit has found that thousands of sex offenders have been issued U.S. passports and may be taking part in so-called sex tourism.

You're online right now, we are, too. Josh Levs is following the top stories trending on the Internet -- Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, a secret love involving two people in the public eye that even a high-profile mom didn't know anything about.

Plus, I love this. You can explore Mars like you never have before from your computer.

All coming up in seconds.

HARRIS: Mars? I'm trying to explore Marietta.

Let's get started with our lead story.

Raw emotions boil. Allegations of racism fly. All this ugliness over a plan to build a mosque blocks from New York's Ground Zero, where terrorists struck America on September 11, 2001.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick begins this hour's coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIA DARWISH, MOSQUE SUPPORTER: My family died that day!

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a meeting filled with pain, sorrow and outright anger. Many came to say "no" to building a mosque near Ground Zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have we forgotten what happened at 9/11?

FEYERICK (voice-over): Others, like Dania Darwish, who lost an aunt and two friends on 9/11, came to say it's the right thing to do.

DARWISH: And all you people here yelling at me don't even know. And maybe if a mosque were built, then you guys would know what Islam was about.

FEYERICK (voice-over): For three hours, tempers flared on both sides.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very carefully planned effort on the part of radical Islamists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's called Islamophobia, pure and simple.

FEYERICK (voice-over): New York City's Landmark Preservation Commission took it all in as it considers the fate of this 19th century building, two blocks from Ground Zero. If designated a landmark, the original building will remain. If not, American-Muslim groups will tear it down and move ahead with plans to build an interfaith community center and mosque.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do feel that it would be a terrible mistake to destroy a 154-year-old building in order to build a monument to terrorism.

FEYERICK: The meeting wasn't pretty as emotions boiled over.

RAFIQ KATHWARI, MOSQUE ADVOCATE: That I'm ashamed to be an American today.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Rafiq Kathwari, a Muslim-American, reminded the crowd people from many countries and religions died on 9/11.

KATHWARI: Anyone has a doubt, this is my American passport.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Rosaline Talon (ph), heckled for opposing the mosque, spoke on behalf of her brother, a firefighter who gave his life saves lives in the towers.

TALON (ph): And I'm not racist, thank you!

FEYERICK (voice-over): some were suspicious of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, whose Cordoba Initiative is behind the group project, with one gubernatorial candidate even calling for an investigation into the $100 million center's funding.

JOHN FASO, NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I would ask again in the context of this decision that you give people the time to have these questions answered.

FEYERICK (voice-over): New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg rejects that.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK CITY: Government should never, never be in the business of telling people how they should pray or where they can pray.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Imam Feisal was out of the country and unavailable for comment, but a spokeswoman said the center would counter extremism by giving moderate Muslims a voice.

(on camera): To give you a sense of location, the landing gear assembly of one of the 9/11 planes ended up right where the proposed mosque would be built. New York is not alone in this. Around the country, in places like Tennessee, Georgia, Wisconsin and Ohio, proposed mosques have also been met with great resistance.

At Ground Zero, the mosque is supposed to stand at a symbol of religious diversity and tolerance sponsored by moderate Muslims. That may be overshadowed by the extremists who brought down the towers in the first place.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: I have to tell you, the debate over the mosque generated a huge discussion on CNN this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA GELLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STOP ISLAMIZATION OF AMERICA: First they said it was a mosque. And then they said it was a prayer center, which is a mosque.

They've been very shady about the funding. We don't know where the funding is coming from.

The imam has advocating for tolerance, and yet in his book he advocates for the Sharia Islamic law, which is radically intolerant. They say it's for outreach.

Why there?

IBRAHIM RAMEY, MUSLIM-AMERICAN SOCIETY: I think there is a great deal of pain still, residually, as a result of the criminal attacks on 9/11. But it was not an Islamic attack. It was a criminal attack.

There are two things I would like to mention. The first is that Muslims, like other people in America, have First Amendment rights in terms of freedom of religion. But the second more important thing is that we reject the notion of collective guilt. We are not collectively guilty for actions that are taken by some people in the name of Islam.

Further, I think it is very clear that the Cordoba Institute and a number of Muslims in the United States are really seeking to take a different way of establishing new relationships with America and a new set of relationships with the people of the United States. And this is an ideal way to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Let's do this -- take a look here at the area we're talking about.

Josh, you can help us zoom in on this particular area that is under dispute right now.

LEVS: Yes, Tony, I'm going to use Google Earth here. Let's just take that full. I want everyone to see what we're talking about.

We're going to start with the building itself. And this is where the proposed mosque is.

For those of you familiar with Manhattan, the address there is 45-47 Park Place. And the whole building -- let's stay on this for a second -- the whole building is 45-51 Park Place.

Now, it's about two miles from Ground Zero, so let's go ahead and zoom over to Ground Zero. So, you can see the proximity right there. And when you're seeing it, obviously we all know the significance of Ground Zero.

What has been happening in the area, there's a few things you should understand about what's been going on in this area.

First of all, as we all know, there have been various efforts to create a permanent memorial in that area for victims of 9/11 and for victims of terrorism. There is also, simultaneously, an effort to rebuild this section of Manhattan to improve the economy always beyond what's going on.

Actually, yes, let's zoom out a little bit, and zoom back to that proposed mosque. There you go, right there. Because when we're hearing about what's happening with buildings in the area, we need to understand that there are changes going on as part of this effort to build a new economy.

And I know we have some video of the mosque as well.

Let me tell you something that I find very interesting. "The New York Times" pointing this out. The Cordoba House is the name, and this is what we keep hearing, and we will be hearing this term a lot more.

It was supposed to be -- and this is words straight out of "The New York Times" -- a monument to religious tolerance, an homage to the city in Spain, Cordoba, where Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together centuries ago in the midst of religious foment. So, significant name there for what has been discussed.

Now, ultimately, what this building would be as planned, according to the people who want to use it, 15 stories. Inside, you would have some recreation areas, you would have a pool. There would also be a mosque as part of it and Islamic education.

And when we see what we were seeing before with this map, Tony, what you understand is the proximity is so significant. It's just a matter of blocks away. And I've got it right here on the map behind me as well.

When you think about what's going on in this area, about the significance of this area, about the emotions contained in this area, and all the efforts to make sure that this area becomes -- and this is a key part of it -- a memorial to those victims of 9/11, you can understand why it's so emotional and such a big concern, and why there are so many things that are moving to now. Because up until right now, it continues.

There are changes going on in those buildings and that area, Tony, as they decide what's going to happen with it and try to improve that economy in that section of Manhattan.

HARRIS: Well, let's do this -- let's get some folks at home, wherever you are right now, to weigh in on this at the blog, CNN.com/Tony.

And Josh, help us work through some of these blog comments a little later on.

LEVS: You got it. Absolutely.

All right, Josh. Thank you.

Day 86 of the Gulf oil disaster, and BP plans to test a new cap on the busted oil well. Well, that plan is on hold right now.

Officials say they need to review the testing procedures before they move forward. The hope is that the massive custom-designed cap might contain the flow of oil or allow most of it to be captured, but tests could also reveal more damage to the well.

Lots of questions for BP about the delay in testing the cap, and several operations overall, really, complaints about the claims process and other issues.

Chief operating officer Doug Suttles is taking questions at a media roundtable in Destin, Florida, right now. We hope to speak to him later in the hour. Fingers crossed on that one.

Sex offenders traveling overseas to take advantage of the sex tourism trade. It is a CNN special investigation.

First though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, guys, do we have live pictures?

All right. There he is, Doug Suttles, Destin, Florida. Doug Suttles, of course, is the chief operating officer for BP. He is in a reporter roundtable answering questions.

Let's just hear a little bit of his answer.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DOUG SUTTLES, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, BP: And we're getting very close on the well.

It's literally four feet laterally away from the original well, and it's only about 150 feet vertically away from the point of intercept. But this is the point of the operation which is very precise.

HARRIS: OK. He's talking about progress on the relief wells, probably one in particular that's closing in on the busted well.

Here's the thing -- we believe we're going to get an opportunity to talk to Doug Suttles later this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. Looking forward to that.

A new government report finds that thousands of registered sex offenders are being issued passports, and some of them are traveling to foreign countries known for sex tourism.

Abbie Boudreau of CNN's Special Investigations Unit is joining me now.

And Abbie, you've been looking into this. Give us some of the details in this story.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: All right.

Well, Tony, the Government Accountability Office was asked by Senators Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus to find out the number of registered sex offenders who were issued U.S. passports, and then to come up with case studies of some of those people.

According to the report, out of the 16 million U.S. passports issued during the fiscal year 2008, about 4,500 were issued to registered sex offenders. The report also uncovered that at least 30 of them were federal employees -- government workers from the Department of the Treasury, NASA, the U.S. Postal Service, and from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

HARRIS: Well, wait a minute here. The State Department is responsible for issuing U.S. passports. So how is the State Department responding to the GAO report? BOUDREAU: Well, it's calling the report very misleading. A State Department spokesperson tells CNN that there are no legal grounds to deny a sex offender a passport, and "rigorously adheres to U.S. law in issuing passports." But in the report, the State Department did indicate to GAO that it is interested in looking at any proposed legislation that could give it the authority to deny passports to sex offenders.

But, Tony, we also learned that there is a law that requires the State Department to deny passports to people convicted under the sex tourism statute, which is a law that was put into effect in December 2008 that focuses on sex offenders who travel to foreign countries for the explicit reason of committing sex crimes overseas. But here's the deal -- when we asked GAO -- when GAO asked the State Department about the sex tourism law, the department said it was not aware of that statute.

So, I mean, very -- quite a bit of time had passed when they weren't aware of that actual statute.

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. So, are there other circumstances where the State Department can deny a passport?

BOUDREAU: Yes, there are some circumstances. For example, if you're behind in child support, or if you have an outstanding felony warrant, or if you're convicted of certain drug trafficking crimes, the State Department could deny you a passport. But otherwise, it doesn't seem too difficult to get a passport if you have a criminal history.

There was even a case, Tony, where a sex offender was issued a passport by the State Department while he was in prison, and all of that is perfectly legal. Perfectly legal.

HARRIS: Did the GAO report indicate where some of these sex offenders might be traveling?

BOUDREAU: Yes, they did name a bunch of the locations. It found several cases where they traveled to locations known for sex tourism. Many of the offenders that we read about in the report traveling to Mexico, which the GAO says is considered a destination for known sex tourism.

And here's what makes all this so dangerous, is in cases like that, according to the GAO, Mexico does not have a sex offender registry, so there is no real way to track the offenders. And we talked to Senator Grassley today. And he tells us, "It's inexcusable that the sex tourism law" that he sponsored "was not enforced." Now, for 14 months, he says, since someone who is late on their child support payments can't get a passport, then people convicted of sex tourism should not be allowed to travel overseas.

I mean, you can understand why so many people are talking about this story online. I mean, the --

HARRIS: Yes. It's pretty outrageous. BOUDREAU: Yes. I mean, but there are a lot of people who say, well, what about people who are convicted of statutory rape?

HARRIS: Yes.

BOUDREAU: You know? Should I all of a sudden not have the right to travel overseas? So there's definitely a debate here. But if you read the GAO report, there are some very scathing examples, serious examples of people who have offended multiple, multiple times.

HARRIS: The GAO report sounds pretty compelling.

BOUDREAU: It's worth reading about it. And let us know what you think. Everything's online.

HARRIS: Absolutely. OK, Abbie. Good stuff. Appreciate it.

BOUDREAU: Thank you.

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, six months after Haiti's terrible earthquake, some of the lifesaving drugs and vital supplies are just sitting in warehouses while people are desperate for them.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's see here. On day 86 of the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has delayed a crucial integrity test on the new containment cap on the leaking oil well. The company is reviewing its testing procedures. BP has also suspended the drilling of two relief wells, saying it wants to be sure any pressure buildup doesn't blow out one of those wells.

Other top stories for you.

The international coalition takes more deadly hits in Afghanistan. Eight American soldiers and four British troops have been killed in the last two days, and 11 civilians have lost their lives in bombings by the Taliban.

Retail sales drop for the second straight month. The decline after seven months of increases. A big part of the blame, weak auto sales.

More top stories coming in 20 minutes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: You know, a story we ran last hour may have gotten you pretty angry. It certainly upset me. Not that that matters, but it did. It was about food stuck in warehouses in Haiti while children and some orphanages go hungry.

Here's part of my discussion with Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta about his reporting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What is standing between the supplies in as many as 50 warehouses already cleared by Customs? What is standing in the way of those supplies getting to the people, the children who need them?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, as you might imagine, Tony, I've thought about this a lot over the past couple of days since we started shooting that. And there's a few things that really came to my mind.

One is that a lot of times, these supplies arrive in country with no specific distribution plan. It's this idea that, get it there as quickly as possible. That's the mandate. Get it there, get it into the country of Haiti, get it into the city of Port-au-Prince, we'll deal with it from there. So without a clear-cut distribution plan, this is one of the consequences.

Also, Tony, you might take for granted that there is just good communication between those who have supplies and those who have needs. Pick up the phone, call them, you can come get the supplies over there. It just doesn't work that easily here.

First of all, sometimes very hard to communicate. People just don't have the means by which to do it. The roads, as you've seen, Tony, the images, still filled with a lot of rubble. So, simply getting around can sometimes poses challenges, especially for big trucks. And the NGOs among themselves don't even communicate.

And finally, you know, it's a little bit, Tony, what I think you're alluding to -- this idea of what's the definition of success? Now, people will say, well, we donated a bunch of supplies. They're in Haiti. But as you know, and you saw there, unless it gets into the hands of people who need it and actually could use it, it's not successful. It doesn't make a darned bit of difference.

HARRIS: Wow. Look, Sanjay, my mind works pretty simply here. I've been asked by these NGOs in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake to send donations, to send food, also to send cash. If I have responded, and now these supplies are in country, is it unreasonable for me to expect that the NGO that has asked me to send donations now be responsible for getting the food, the money, the assistance, to the people?

You asked me for it. I followed through. I need you to follow through and distribute the goods.

GUPTA: It's an excellent point, Tony. And I think the best way that I can answer that is to say that sometimes it works, and sometimes the whole plan, from nuts to bolts, from Tony Harris' dollar, or whatever amount of money you've donated, to some needy person's stomach, or in the medicine, or whatever, it works, the whole process. And sometimes it doesn't.

So it's not consistent. It is not 100 percent reliable. And I think donors should always demand account a bit of accountability here, saying that not only am I giving with the hopes that the supplies get to a certain place, I'm giving with the hopes that this is going to help real people, not simply sit in warehousing.

Some of it expiring, Tony, going bad. You know, spoiled food, ineffective medication. So, yes, I think the accountability has to be higher at all levels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Just makes you want to --

Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM , you see that man there. He is the chief operating officer for BP, Doug Suttles. We believe we'll get an opportunity to speak with him, ask him some questions coming up in just a couple of minutes.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, the popular drug Avandia has given hope to millions of Americans with diabetes. Now it might be yanked off the market.

An FDA panel is holding a second day of hearings right now. An FDA report has accused the drug's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, of repeatedly submitting sloppy data and failing to follow up on reports of problems among patients, including deaths. Glaxo says Avandia is safe. The panel could vote today on whether to recommend that Avandia be pulled off the market.

"Made in the USA." You won't find that label on a lot of drugs you might be taking right now. In fact, a lot of the medicine you will find in your local pharmacy comes from China, and a lot of the drug plants there are under-regulated.

Here's CNN's Lisa Sylvester.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every time you pop a pill for a headache, there is a good chance the key ingredients came from China. Sixty-one percent of all ibuprofen sold in the U.S. and 94 percent of the tetracycline used in most antibiotics in the United States are made in China, according to a recent report by an independent congressional commission.

MIKE WESSEL, U.S. CHINA ECONOMIC & SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION: The regulatory authorities are rife with corruption. The production at local provinces, they're gauged on how well their economy does, not how safe the products are that they supply to us.

SYLVESTER: In 2008, 81 Americans were killed after being given a tainted blood thinning medicine called Heparin that came from China.

Colleen Hubley says her husband was one of them.

COLLEEN HUBLEY, LOST HUSBAND: I watched my husband and best friend slip away before my eyes.

SYLVESTER: Two years later, what's changed? Very little.

In recent congressional testimony, the FDA admitted it does not have adequate resources to prevent another Heparin crisis. It doesn't have the ability to control the safety of imported pharmaceuticals, and it doesn't have adequate authority to keep out unsafe drug shipments at the border.

WESSEL: Because of the risks in the system, it's really a ticking time bomb.

SYLVESTER: U.S. drug factories are rigorously inspected by the FDA, but the same is not true in China, where there are language barriers and lax quality standards. The report found from 2002 to 2006, an average of only 15 of the 714 drug factories that shipped to the U.S. were actually inspected by the FDA, and the ones that were received advance notice that inspectors were coming.

JOSHUA SHARFSTEIN, FDA PRINCIPAL DEPUTY COMM.: These foreign inspections are challenging and expensive and ultimately we do need to do more of them. And, in fact, the numbers are going up but not, you know, we're not going to be able to get to every plant every year.

SYLVESTER: The FDA is working on a system where countries, like Australia and those in the European Union, share inspection information since they say it's impossible for one country to do it alone. The FDA has added two regional offices in China and new ones in five other countries.

But part of the problem is the FDA lacks some key authority. It can't force a recall of pharmaceutical drugs. And even if they catch tainted drugs at the border, they can't seize or impound or destroy the drugs. So ultimately it falls on the U.S. drug company to be the last resort. PhRMA, which represents the large American drug firms, says they follow good manufacturing practices.

LORI REILLY, V.P. POLICY AND RESEARCH, PHRMA: They're required to test the products that they receive, be it from China or anywhere else, both before they put them in their product, as well as during and after.

SYLVESTER: That system relies on U.S. manufacturers to catch problems. Most of the time they do. But Heparin slipped through the cracks and the results were deadly.

SYLVESTER (on camera): In the case of Heparin, that is a case that has never been solved. U.S. investigators know someone deliberately tainted the Heparin, but who were the individuals responsible, how they did it, we still don't know.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: OK. Let's look at the big board now. New York Stock Exchange. Better than three hours into the trading day. Here we go. We're in positive territory. Not by much, but it's good. We're buying, not selling. Stocks are up 20 points. We'll follow - almost 21. We'll follow these number -- bang, almost on cue to 21 points. We'll follow the numbers throughout the day for you.

A new survey offers more bad news for recent college graduates. On average, they are making less money than last year's grads. Alison Kosik has more from the New York Stock Exchange.

Good to see you Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.

You know, if you're a recent college grad who's lucky enough to have a job right now, you're actually making an average of about $1,300 less this year compared with the class of '09.

All right, here's the kind of fun part. Who got hit the hardest? Actually it's psychology majors. Their average salary for psyche majors is down more than 5 percent. Business administration majors are also taking a hit, too. The National Association of Colleges and Employers says that's because they're taking different kinds of jobs, like sales and management positions, instead of some of those high- paying positions right here on Wall Street.

We're even seeing a slight drop in salaries for engineers. Who would have thought that? Because engineering had been largely immune to the economic downturn with salaries soaring in 2008 and 2009. And even with this year's drop though, engineers remain among the best paid college grads.

OK. Let me get to the good news here. English majors, they got a big boost, up more than 7 percent for salaries, but they're still averaging well under the $40,000 mark there. Information sciences is up more than 5 percent. And economics majors are getting a little bit more, too. So that's kind of a hint on where we should kind of look, if you're looking for a new job, Tony.

HARRIS: OK, that makes sense. All right, Alison, good to see you. Thank you.

KOSIK: You got it.

HARRIS: We're going to get a quick break in, but I think we're just minutes away from having an opportunity to talk to the chief operating officer for BP, Doug Suttles.

So let's do this. Let's work in a quick break. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK, lots of questions for BP about the delay in testing the integrity of the new cap on its busted well. Joining us now from Destin, Florida, is BP's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles.

Doug, appreciate it. We know that you're out of a roundtable with reporters. We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us live.

Got to ask you, first of all, you know there was a -

DOUG SUTTLES, COO, BP: You bet, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, my pleasure.

There was a tremendous feeling, a build-up leading up to these integrity tests. If you could, tell us what happened. What happened yesterday? Why didn't the test move forward?

SUTTLES: Well, while we were doing the final preparations, getting all the equipment in place, going through the plans one last time, in parallel with that, the government scientific group was also reviewing the plans and they raised a couple of issues which the National Instant Commander Admiral Allen felt it was worth putting the test on hold for 24 hours while we address those concerns. That's actually happening as we speak. And, in fact, here, in about 20 minutes' time, they'll be meeting to review those concerns and see whether we should go ahead or whether we need to do further analysis.

HARRIS: Doug, if you would, talk us through the concerns.

SUTTLES: Well, I think they're all in the -- from the original concerns. This integrity test -- the reason it's called an integrity test is to make sure that the casing, the well bore itself, has got integrity to hold the pressure in this well when we close it in. So the test is designed to close it in and monitor the pressure. And if we get a high pressure, that's good news. It would indicate that we have complete integrity. If we get a low pressure, that's an indication that potentially some flow is escaping someplace. Clearly we don't want that to occur so and that's the purpose of doing the test. So there were a couple of other concerns around ways flow could escape and we needed to go examine those before we proceeded.

HARRIS: I'm going to get really specific here and a bit in the weeds because I just think at this point I'm really curious, and I suspect a lot of people out there watching us are curious as well, can you describe what the test is? What is it and are there any dangers from the test -- from the testing process itself?

SUTTLES: So what we're trying to do is, when we actually close the well in through this new cap, the pressure will rise. Because when the well's flowing, it's at a lower pressure. When it's closed in, it's at a higher pressure. So what's important here is to monitor that pressure both as we close it in and once we get closed in very, very carefully. And that's, I think, Admiral Allen's described this. The test will last anywhere from six hours to 48 hours depending on how it responds. Then at that point we'll analyze the results and determine, do we leave the well closed in or actually do we need to open it back up, try to contain the flow, and some of it potentially could still escape into the Gulf of Mexico. The risk through all this process is that somehow flow escapes outside of the casing. That's something we don't want to occur because we never want to take any action which could make things worse. So that's why it's so important to get this test right.

HARRIS: OK. And is there any danger to the casing from the testing itself is what I'm driving at?

SUTTLES: Right. And that's what we're analyzing. That was one of the concerns raised yesterday, is that somehow through this testing process could the casing be damaged. And that's what we're examining with the experts right now to make sure that we don't believe that's the case and to confirm that. If we did think it could happen, we might not proceed with the test. So that's what the teams are studying as we speak.

HARRIS: How long before you expect to have some results of the testing on the test?

SUTTLES: Well, the analysis I just described is ongoing. The experts are meeting here in just a few minutes to check in on their work to see if everyone's aligned on whether we should go forward or not. So we need to see what they find.

HARRIS: OK.

SUTTLES: And that we hopefully will know early this afternoon.

HARRIS: OK. I don't have to tell you how anxiously everyone is awaiting the results of the test and hopefully the day when you can close these valves and shut that thing down. Here's my question. If you knew at approximately what we're getting, 4:30 p.m. yesterday, that you were going to delay the integrity test, you know how anxiously every news operation is waiting for anything, any nugget of information on progress here. Why did it take another five, five and a half hours to inform anyone?

SUTTLES: Well, I think what -- there are a lot of people involved in the decisions and in the process. And, of course, everyone needed to get informed in a line and make the announcement. But I actually agree with you. Everyone -- absolutely everybody - and I can assure you all of BP -- want to move on with this as quickly as we can and get this flow stopped. And we need to make sure we get you guys information as quickly as we can. And hopefully we can get it faster next time.

HARRIS: So you'll give us a more timely update on how the analysis is going today?

SUTTLES: Yes. The next press briefing is at 2:30, which hopefully the meeting will have finished. But at a minimum you'll get a very good update at 2:30 this afternoon.

HARRIS: Doug, we still get all kinds of complaints here. And this won't come as a surprise to you from folks in that region who are complaining about the claims process and, you know, no notification that the claim has either been rejected, no updates on how the claims process is moving along once you file a claim with BP. Is there anything more you'd like to see happen here, anything more you can do as the chief operating officer to get this process moving more quickly for folks?

SUTTLES: Well, I think, Tony, the biggest challenge in the claims process is actually the documentation. Because once someone gets all their documentation together, the claim gets paid very, very quickly. In other words, if you come in to one of our offices today or use the phone number or the website and have your documentation, you will get paid either that day or within five days.

The places where we're struggling to get the claims paid is where we're struggling to get the documentation together. And we're working through various techniques with various groups to figure out how to do that better. And, of course, very soon Ken Feinberg will run the claims facility and undoubtedly his experience will improve the process as well.

HARRIS: Doug, has that - has the $20 billion fund -- you mentioned Ken Feinberg -- has that escrow account been set up? Is there money in that account?

SUTTLES: I'd have to see whether the first funding has been placed or not. If you recall, the first funds are $3 billion we put in this quarter and then $2 billion in the fourth quarter. I don't know the exact status of funding, but it will be funded per the schedule we agreed.

HARRIS: OK. Doug, I'm going to turn you over to our chief meteorologist, Chad Myers, here. While we've got you, we're going to work you over pretty good here, OK.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, this is not working over. This is just - this is just for our understanding about the word "unabated" of this oil going into the Gulf of Mexico now. Are the Q4000 and the Helix Producer still pumping oil - or sucking oil out of the BOP or are they shut down now as well?

SUTTLES: No, they're capturing oil. So the Q4000, on a typical day, will actually capture about 8,000 barrels. As of late this morning, the Helix Producer was up to a rate of about 12,000 barrels a day. And, of course, we also have the drill ship Enterprise we can bring back in if necessary and put back over the top of the cap.

MYERS: Sure.

SUTTLES: And it's demonstrated it can effectively capture about 15,000.

I should also say the Helix Producer is still ramping up.

MYERS: Yes.

SUTTLES: It should ultimately be able to capture between 20,000 and 25,000. MYERS: During this testing process, will those two operations ever cease? Will they have to stop because you have to build the pressure up?

SUTTLES: Yes. In fact, the first step in the closing in process to do the test will be to stop production or the containment operations on the Q4000 and the Helix Producer. That's the very first step in the process because we'll stop all flow out of the well as part of that test.

MYERS: During this whole process, would you ever consider waiting for the relief well to get closer before you stopped the well, before you literally got to that 8,000 PSI number, so that you were ready to do the bottom kill just in case something really did go wrong?

SUTTLES: Well, we -- obviously if we felt that that was a risk, we wouldn't do the test now. The relief well is going very well. We're very close. We're within 30 feet of running the last string of casing. We're only about four feet laterally from the well.

MYERS: Yes.

SUTTLES: Running the casing will take about a week. And then we have about another 100 feet to go, which we'll be measuring very precisely as we go. Then we'll start the kill operation.

MYERS: We kind of analyze this almost like trying to get an IV. And you're trying to find some kind of vein that you can't find with a very small needle. And that's what you guys are doing at 5,000 feet below the bottom of the ocean. Is that right?

SUTTLES: Well, in fact, we're almost 18,000 feet from where the floor of the drillship is where we're starting the operation.

MYERS: Sure. Right.

SUTTLES: And -- but what we're doing is right now we drill about 30 feet at a time, run our measurement tools in to know precisely where we are. So most of the time right now we're doing measuring work and not drilling because we want to know exactly where we are. And that operation's gone very well. We have the world's best experts helping us here and we have a lot of confidence we're going to succeed with that relief well.

MYERS: Thank you, Doug.

Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, I got one more for you. Doug, we're 86 days into this at this point. The minute you knew you had a blowout of catastrophic proportions, once you settled on the idea that you needed to contain it with some kind of a cap, my question is, could the cap that is clearly custom-fitted, could that have been in place any earlier than what we're seeing right now?

SUTTLES: Tony, I don't believe so. I think if you go all the way back to the very beginning, we've parallel-pathed numerous options because we were never certain which path would ultimately be successful. See, we had to prepare for these contingencies. We've build these things, engineered them, designed them, fabricated them, taken them offshore, putting them on the seabed as absolutely as fast as we can. So I don't believe so. But I can tell you what we'll -- this will be studied very closely in the future and see what did we learn from this and what could be done better if there is another event, which I hope there never is.

HARRIS: OK, BP's Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles with us.

Doug, appreciate the time. Thank you.

SUTTLES: All right.

HARRIS: Let's get to a break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: We tell you on this program anything can happen and it usually does. Let's get to our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry is with us.

And, Ed, tell us about this meeting between the Oracle of Omaha and the president. Was this on the president's schedule today?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was not. It was something we had to dig out. I got a tip saying that Warren Buffett was here quietly meeting with the president. It turns out we confirmed it, it's true. About 11:15 this morning, about an hour-long meeting in the Oval Office.

I understand the White House has just put out on their website an official photo of this. But, you're right, it was not on their schedule. They had not promoted this at all. Interesting because a lot of big stories bubbling up beyond just the economic crisis itself, the Senate on the verge of passing major Wall Street reform, that Warren Buffett and many others on Wall Street and the financial community very interested in and what kind of impact that's going to have on the markets.

But also the president's been taking a lot of hits lately from business leaders saying and accusing him of not being friendly enough to corporate America. That perhaps some of his policies, too much regulations, potentially too much increases in taxes down the road, that they believe is going to stunt economic growth. The president also facing criticism from Republicans that the stimulus has not worked enough. Vice President Biden trying to push back on that this very hour, saying and putting out a new report saying the administration claims they have now saved or created about 3 million jobs, close to the 3.5 million they said the stimulus would do.

I think what's significant is that Warren Buffett is someone who gave the president enormous credibility in the 2008 campaign when he endorsed him. And right now, when the president is taking all these hits over the stimulus, over the broader economic crisis, and from the business community saying he's not friendly enough to them, having a Warren Buffett, a guru like that come in just underlines how critical this economic crisis is to the whole mid-term election environment, which, as you know, is not friendly to Democrats right now.

Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, you're right. All right, our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry for us.

Ed, as always, good to see you.

Let's take a break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Very quickly now let's get to our Allan Chernoff. He is in Newark, New Jersey, following a developing story.

Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. I'm about a mile away from Newark Penn Station. You see behind me an overpass. Just beyond that overpass is a vehicle that the Newark bomb squad is looking into right now. Inside they say there are two canisters, gasoline canisters. They do not know whether those canisters are actually filled with gasoline. Also some loose wires inside, not connected, they say, and some detergent.

Now let's note, the vehicle is not parked immediately underneath this rail track. And, by the way, this track does serve Amtrak trains and also New Jersey Transit trains. The vehicle is packed. It's about, I'd say, at least 60 feet past this overpass. So theoretically if someone were actually targeting this rail line, it would not be ideally parked. It is actually parked right next to a vacant lot.

But there you have it. The bomb squad at work. And right now a robot is taking x-rays of the interior of the vehicle to see what exactly is inside there, further detail beyond what I've just shared with you.

HARRIS: OK. All right, Allan, appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's take a break and when we come back, T.J. Holmes is in for Ali Velshi right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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