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American Morning

BP "Top Kill" Procedure Underway; Government and White House Facing Criticism for Oil Spill Response; Apple Dethrones Microsoft; "This is Really Ugly"; Oil Spill Forever Changed Business; Homosexuals and Blood Donation; Will the Fix Work?

Aired May 27, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Thursday morning to you. It's the 27th of May. Thanks for joining us for a very special edition of the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts in New York.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, John. I'm Kiran Chetry live here at Grand Isle, Louisiana for a second day where people are still watching and waiting word just like the millions across the country about whether or not the risky effort to kill the well that's been spewing millions of gallons of oil worked. Here basically, the main sentiments are anger, disgust and also fear of what's to come and a lot of questions about how this community will survive.

But meanwhile, those are live pictures right now. We're beginning with the latest from a mile down on the ocean floor. You're looking at these live pictures 5,000 feet under water where the efforts to stop the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico continue this morning. The top kill, BP's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak is now well underway.

Thirty days into the catastrophe and the oil company is asking for more time this morning. Officials say it is still too soon to say whether "top kill" is working, but we could know as early as this afternoon. They started pumping mud into the well yesterday afternoon. It began around 2:00 in hopes of choking it off. Sixty- five barrels of mud a minute being pumped into the well. That's 7,000 barrels as of 8:00 p.m. Eastern last night.

And back here on shore, it just keeps coming, staining 100 miles now of Louisiana coastline and 30 acres of crucial and delicate marshlands. Slowly but surely it's eating away at these wetlands. It's destroying the heartbeat of this region and, of course, its fishing and shrimping industry.

Well, with the commander-in-chief scheduled to come tomorrow, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida is calling on the military now to take over this mess if "top kill" fails. And around here there are a lot of people who would like to know who is giving the orders. Is it big oil or is the federal government?

David Mattingly is live in New Orleans this morning and he is following the latest developments to kill the leak. And, David, BP hasn't said anything new this morning. They did talk last night, though. How would you describe their confidence level right now on this top kill endeavor?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, 15 hours into this "top kill" and the best they've been able to say so far is that everything is going according to plan. That's a very strong statement considering how little has been said about the success or failure of this. And again, at this point, they still haven't been willing to say if they think this is going to work. They did say that after they performed all those intense diagnostics before they carried this out they said that would give them the confidence to go forward.

So, obviously they had that and now we're waiting to find out if all those plans they've been making since this rig burned and sank to the bottom of the ocean over a month ago, if those are really now going to work and stop this leak.

CHETRY: You know -- and, David, I wanted to ask you -- I wanted to ask you a question about -- they're not giving a lot of information obviously because they don't necessarily know. But it's almost like no news is good news. And that there was a chance, right, that the pressure of this mud could actually damage some of the parts down there and could actually make the leak worse. That hasn't happened and we've been talking about the thousands of barrels already in there. Is that any indication of a good sign?

MATTINGLY: Well, possibly, yes. Any no bad news is good news I suppose at this point. And they've been very careful to say that you cannot judge how this is going by looking at those pictures down below of the oil that's coming out. At times, we've seen what appears to be that drilling mud that they're injecting to the system, coming out in the place where some of the oil has been coming out. But they say you can't look at that and judge this operation's success or failure.

They say it's going to take about a day for themselves to evaluate how this is going. But the plan is to flood that system, to essentially drown this leak with heavy fluids under pressure to push that oil back down and then cap it with cement so that they can hold that at bay until they finish off that relief well that they've been drilling.

CHETRY: Right.

MATTINGLY: That that's going to be done probably sometime in August.

CHETRY: And, David, just a quick question. I mean, we're all watching this live. Will we be able to see with our own eyes? Will that sort of start to that, you know, bubbling, bubbling mud and oil and all of that gases? Will we start to see that wane? I mean, will we be able to visually know or is this what we're seeing right now not really an indication of success?

MATTINGLY: If they shut that oil off, it stands to reason that we'll be able to look on those cameras down there and see that plume of oil gone. But at this point, they have been able to -- they have been telling us do not make any judgments based on what we see coming out of that pipe at this time. So -- but we do know that there is no magic moment where they're just going to flip a switch and that oil is going to go off. It's a gradual process and we're just going to have to see how this works.

CHETRY: David Mattingly for us in New Orleans with the latest on this. Thanks -- John.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.

In Washington, meantime, President Obama is feeling the heat from both sides of the political aisle for his handling of the gulf oil disaster. One prominent Democrat who happens to call Louisiana home offering this advice on how the president should deal with BP.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: BP is not the equal of the United States government. And this president needs to tell BP, I'm the daddy, I'm in charge. You're going to do what we say. You're a multinational company that is greedy and you may be guilty of criminal activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Before heading to the Gulf Coast tomorrow, President Obama will announce tough new regulations aimed at preventing future spills.

Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House this morning. And, Suzanne, the White House very vehemently disputing accusations that they're not doing enough here with the spill.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, you know, you listen to what James Carville says. Obviously the White House they're listening to that. They're hearing to that and they're quite frustrated and worried about this. And what they're saying, you talk to folks here and they're saying, look, you know what, we are calling the shots here. We're the ones who are giving the green light on some things and we're pushing back on other things.

Here I'll give you two examples, two recent examples. You see that gusher cam, that camera where we see all that oil just spewing. Well, these BP officials just a day ago, John, who wanted to cut the plug on that video feed while they're trying to figure out how to plug off this big leak. And it was the president himself who jumped in and said, look, no, we want you to keep that camera on. You will keep that camera on so we can see what's going on. That was a source of frustration from the administration that they didn't have a clear sense of what was happening under water.

The second thing, John, is that the Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen yesterday said I'm giving the go ahead here for this "top kill" very risky procedure to move forward. BP officials decided that's the way they were going to go. Why is this not federalized? Why isn't the federal government saying, we're ahead of this thing? They don't have to be. They essentially feel that, look, they are already calling the shots here. They don't need to get out ahead of this. They certainly don't want the blame or the credit when it comes to this big mess and they don't want the bill -- John.

ROBERTS: So what's the White House doing then, Suzanne, to change the perception that they're not doing enough? You know and the urgent (ph) has just crossed the wires and says that the White House is going to continue the moratorium on deep water drilling for another six months. Besides that, what else do they do?

MALVEAUX: Well, that's right, John. They certainly are continuing the moratorium. They're also going to be announcing the president today in the East Room some other recommendations when it comes to stricter regulations and drilling. Not allowing drilling to continue to move forward until they can figure out whether or not it can be done in a safe way. The president is going to be taking some questions today. So he'll be grilled about, you know, what his administration is doing. And then tomorrow, he's going to be headed back out there to the Gulf Coast region to try to convince and show the American people that, yes, this administration a, cares about this and b, is on top of it.

ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks.

And just a little more detail on what Suzanne was just alluding to. At 12:45 Eastern today, the president will hold a news conference delivering remarks, taking questions on the crisis in the gulf. CNN, of course, will carry that live. You can also watch it on your computer at CNN.com/live.

Let's go back to Grand Isle and here's Kiran.

CHETRY: You know, there was a lot of talk about whether or not there are environmental risks and risks to people that were working to try to help with this cleanup. And now, 125 commercial boats that were involved in those clean-up operation have been called back to shore. This happened after four crew members in three of those fishing vessels complained of illness, nausea, chest pains, as well as headaches. Some of them actually were taken to hospitals.

Louisiana congressman Charlie Melancon is calling on Washington now to set up temporary clinics to help in case this happens again along the gulf. We're going to be talking more about this with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta coming up at 7:50 Eastern Time.

But, John, it's really interesting because when we out on the bayou yesterday, and you could see the oil and it does overcome you, even being out there for a short amount of time. So for people that are working not only around the dispersants but also the oil fumes day in day out trying to lay boom, you can understand why in some phases it could possibly pose health risks. So we are going to talk with Sanjay about that. Also, coming up in five minutes, I'm going to be talking more about the government's response. You heard the calls. You've heard from James Carville as well as others. And we're going to be speaking with CNN contributor and author Lieutenant General Russel Honore. You may remember he headed up the military response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and he's going to be joining me here live in Grand Isle, Louisiana in just about five minutes, John.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that, Kiran. Thanks so much.

Let's check a quick check of this morning's weather headlines right now. Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center. And, Reynolds, before we go down to the forecast today, not a great forecast for the gulf area, potentially from NOAA yesterday with the start of hurricane season coming up on Tuesday.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Today, we're waiting for some big announcement. This could be a record-setting year at least in terms of forecasts. And, of course, everything -- it's going to be interesting to see how things pan out. But everything looks favorable for a very busy season, to say the least, not just in the Atlantic but also in the Pacific.

It's going to be active today weather-wise around parts of the nation, too. Let's go right to the weather map. As we do so, northeast we could see some scattered showers and storms. Same deal, John, though, up in the northern Rockies and into the northern plains also.

High temperatures today above normal for Raleigh and Washington, D.C. Highs in the 90s, 84 in Kansas City, 76 in Salt Lake City, 52 in San Francisco, and 88 in Miami.

A quick look at your forecast again shows that we could see some delays rather in places like San Francisco. Also in Miami, Denver and JFK. You've got to watch out for these delays.

Also, John, they can be tricky. Let's send it back to you.

ROBERTS: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us this morning. Reynolds, thanks. We'll check back with you very shortly.

WOLF: You bet.

ROBERTS: Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, this Thursday. Should the president bring in the military to take care of the oil spill? Lieutenant General Russel Honore says yes, he should. We'll talk to him coming up next.

It's 10 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. There's a look under water. A live look at the leaking oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The "top kill" procedure that's to pump a high pressure -- gallons and gallons of mud, drilling mud into that well is under way. But it could still be hours -- in fact, maybe even later this afternoon before we get any word on whether or not they think it's going to work.

And welcome back to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're live here on Grand Isle in Louisiana. Again, today, this morning, the weekend is Memorial Day coming up. This is supposed to be packed with tourists and all of the beaches are closed right now. Some 100 miles of Louisiana coastline affected by the oil spill.

And right now, BP's "top kill" operation, of course, trying to plug the gushing leak in the gulf. It will be hours before we know whether or not it worked. But the cleanup efforts still continue, of course, because of the millions of gallons already in these waters.

The federal government and the president are starting to take a lot of heat, though, for letting BP call a lot of the shots. And I'm joined right now by author and CNN contributor Lieutenant General Russel Honore.

Thanks for being with us this morning. You headed up the response after -- the military response after Hurricane Katrina. There are a lot of comparisons being made this morning about the federal response. What in your mind could the federal government and should the federal government be doing at this point to step up the efforts of the cleanup?

LT. GEN RUSSEL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET): Yes, you know, time is not on our side. So I think the federal government needs to unleash all of the capabilities we have to include bringing in more National Guard and regular troops that could reinforce the Coast Guard effort and give the Coast Guard a full reign to deal with this thing as it come in to control element as the incident commander and use more National Guard and active duty troops with capabilities to add to command and control.

Time and again, we hearing the parish president and the governor say the people who know this, the fishermen out here, that we need to protect the marsh. We are one month from hurricane season -- less than a month. They know what's going to happen if that oil starts coming ashore and we don't protect those fragile marsh areas. So we need to help them.

CHETRY: And they want to know -- I mean, yesterday when we're talking to local fishermen, they're disgusted by this because we went out there on a boat and we're seeing what looks like a little bit of disorganization, I guess is the best way to put it.

There's commercial fishing boats that have been, you know, they're being paid to go out there and lay boom. Some of the boats didn't have any. Some of the boom we saw was over the top of the marshlands and that's not helping absorb the oil anymore, and it seemed, and Plaquemines parish president as well as many others have said, who's in charge here? If I want to get something done I got to, you know, go through several levels and ask for permission to do this, that and the other thing, and meanwhile, the oil hit our shore. HONORE: Right. I think that's why we ought to use the (INAUDIBLE). That's the -- what we used (ph) after a national disaster, empower the governors, bring in some FEMA teams to get the resources that the parish president and the governor is asking for, work with the local fishermen and break this thing down into grids where the soldiers on the ground get the no D (ph) area. They've got a command and control they can call in hot spots and they can attack this oil before it gets in the marsh.

That's what needs to be done, and it needs to be done now.

CHETRY: And it -- it hasn't been done, as we've talked about. This is now day 37.

One of the other things that people are saying, in fact, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge said that the federal government, the Obama administration needs to give the Coast Guard carte blanche to handle this situation and use all the resources at hand, private industry, the Navy, if need be.

Is that something realistic? Could that be -- could that order be given, and could that happen in the next day or so?

HONORE: In a heartbeat. It could be given and it will happen. We need more command and control. We need more assets in and we need to manage the assets on where the boom's going in, what is the best protection level, and we need to start running some on-site experiments with some of the other dispersants and chemicals that are available to try to deal with this oil because once it gets in to the marsh it's going to destroy it.

So we need action and we need it now. And you hear it in the voice of the local people. This is not just their way of life. This is their culture.

CHETRY: And a lot of them are really -- and we talked about the Brazilians and people along the Gulf Coast. They've dealt with a lot, as you know, Hurricane Katrina, Gustav, on and on. But they're saying that they think that this way of life could disappear.

How -- how do you sort of get that urgency? What's the tipping point to get, you know, more mobilization soon?

HONORE: Well, I think the sunlight is being put on this through the media and multiple political leaders in the Congress, you got to understand that BP's job should be to cut the oil off and let the people on the land deal with the oil to protect the shoreline as best they can and -- and no idea is overlooked.

Let them get out there. Let the fishermen go in, along with federal forces and the National Guard. We got about 1,500 National Guard. We're authorized to have 6,000. Bring as many as we can because people are looking for action.

They can understand if we try and we fail, but the absence of not having equipment at the right place and the right time to protect those marshes will be one we'll look back on regrettably in the future if we don't protect the marshes.

CHETRY: General Honore, thanks for being with us. You'll be joining us a later throughout the morning as well. We appreciate it.

And coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, we're "Minding Your Business". This is an interesting one, Apple dethrones Microsoft now as the top tech company. Stephanie Elam is along to talk more about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Just in to CNN as we look at pictures of the top kill operation at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reporting that the president is making some news today. Not only is he announcing new standards to strengthen oversight of the oil industry and then trying to enhance safety but there are also some direct repercussions of this oil spill that will be felt in the oil industry in terms of these oil leases.

First of all, the moratorium on permits to drill new deep water will -- wells, which in place now, will continue for six months. We told you about that a second ago. But, in addition, planned exploration off the coast of Alaska and in the Beaufort Seas is going to be delayed pending the commission's review. This is the commission that the president has struck. Also, the August lease sale in the western Gulf of Mexico is going to be cancelled and the lease sale off of the coast of Virginia will also be cancelled.

So the president with that press conference this afternoon, 12:45. Of course we'll carry that here live on CNN.

Twenty-two minutes after the hour. Stephanie Elam with us this morning, "Minding Your Business", and I'm kind of wishing that back in 1977, I think it was --

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's about right.

ROBERTS: -- when I bought my first Apple IIe computer that I had bought a few shares of Apple stock.

ELAM: I have to agree with you.

ROBERTS: Because the company's flying high.

ELAM: That would -- we had an Apple IIe in our household, too. That was the thing. I -- I grew up in Silicon Valley, I grew up down the street, basically, a town over from Cupertino, California, where Apple is and if a lot of us had known.

But a lot of people were counting Apple out just a decade ago. A decade ago, people are like, Apple's just not going to be able to do anything.

Well, take a look at this. Funny how things change, because, as of yesterday, Apple is now the most valuable tech company in the world, shooting past Microsoft, and this is a big deal here. Take a look at this chart here that you're looking at, iDominance, which I really think is very cute. Producer Adam came up with that. But looking at the stock price from 2005 to 2010 you see what Microsoft is doing, take a look at what Apple has been doing. It has been soaring, and the difference here between these two companies really is that Microsoft has been all about business. They've been all about making sure that people are using their Windows, and the truth of the matter is 9 out of 10 computers do use Windows software. So that is really still very strong.

But where Apple has taken over is the consumer. They have come through so strong and making it so easy and intuitive for people to go ahead and just use their fingers, swipe and use their iPhone, use their iPad, and also music sales, and that's what's really been helping out Apple here.

So it's basically left for a challenge where you see people basically say that now Microsoft is trying to play catch-up on the consumer part were Apple is leading here. So Microsoft valued at $219 billion, but Apple now valued at $222 billion. Still very close, but it's a huge change here in the tech world.

ROBERTS: You know, you always -- you like to root for an underdog. It took Apple a long, long time to do this.

ELAM: It did.

ROBERTS: So they're a combination of hardware, software and delivery systems, whereas Microsoft is still pretty much software, right?

ELAM: It's really about the software for them. They tried the Zune, they tried to compete with the iPod and it didn't go as well for them when it came to that. A lot of people just said it wasn't as easy. A lot of people just were enamored with all the colors and the -- and the gizmo and the -- the advertising that Apple has, too.

They make it just look so easy and just so accessible that people are like, you know what? That's what I want. That's what I need. And that's where they really, really made their strides.

Now people say it's going to be Apple and Google and not Apple and Microsoft anymore.

ROBERTS: Well, we'll see. Well, I was the proud owner of one of the original Buzzers back in the early '80s.

ELAM: Wow.

ROBERTS: Only an Apple geek would know what a Buzzer is.

ELAM: Yes, that's true. That is very true. I -- I have to say, I've been kind of an Apple person for a long time.

ROBERTS: A Buzzer is one of the first MacIntoshes.

ELAM: The Mac. The early Mac.

ROBERTS: The little disk drive went bzz, bzz. That's why they called it a Buzzer.

ELAM: Now you're showing your age, John.

ROBERTS: I'm showing my age every day. It's not the --

Stephanie, thanks so much.

ELAM: Sure.

ROBERTS: Still to come in the Most News in the Morning, Rob Marciano goes out into the Gulf of Mexico to give us a first-hand look at the thick sludge in the ocean and what it's doing to marine life. Stay with us.

Twenty-five minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Eight in the morning in New York City, but this is Grand Isle, Louisiana, 5:28 this morning. We're along the beach this morning as the sun is starting to rise, a beautiful picture but a desolate one. It is supposed to be packed, the height of tourist season kicking off Memorial Day and instead these beaches are closed because of oil.

And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're also showing you pictures this morning of the leaking oil well thousands of feet below the waters as BP is trying to stop this flow. We're going to be showing you the pictures of the top kill operation underway as it has been since yesterday afternoon throughout the morning.

And again, welcome back. We still don't know whether or not BP's top kill operation will actually be able to cap the gushing oil well at the bottom of the ocean, but it is for now the best hope. And it's still perfectly clear that vast stretches of the Louisiana coast are covered in crude oil and the impact on sea life is devastating.

Rob Marciano had a chance to go out on a boat for a first-hand look at what exactly is going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst is right in that (INAUDIBLE). It's super thick, man. I've never seen anything like it. It just rolled in on (ph). Unreal.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, man, look at that streak. Boom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the hulls on all the boats. Look at that. It's thick, thick, thick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like mud. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unreal.

MARCIANO: This is ugly. This is really ugly.

MARCIANO (voice-over): "Ugly" is definitely an understatement, and we're only 12 miles from shore.

MARCIANO (on camera): By far the thickest oil we've seen yet. This is just disturbing. Check it out. I mean, the oil, layers of oil actually building on each other in a -- in a putty-like form.

This definitely is not dispersed. It's barely weathered at all. it almost looks like it's fresh, fresh from the pipe.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Some areas of the oil are thicker than others. This is only the western edge of the slick.

MARCIANO (on camera): We are still not even 50 miles from the site of the spill. Unbelievable.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Our little armada pauses.

MARCIANO (on camera): We're out with five other boats and all of them have this nasty oil stuck to the hull. That's going to be a chore getting off. This boat just across the way, those guys are lowering a submersible camera to take a look at what the water and oil mixture looks like below the surface.

(voice-over): Boats are carrying scientists peering into and under the oil.

Dr. Ian Macdonald takes samples back to his lab in Florida, while Dr. Doug Inkley patrols for the National Wildlife Federation.

A dead eel points toward the boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a jar large enough to put this in?

MARCIANO: It, too, is taken as a sample, now headed to the lab for a closer look. Minutes later, something else is in the water. This one is alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That animal might be in a lot of trouble. You normally don't see sharks like this running around on the surface. But this animal looks like it's in distress.

MARCIANO: The shark dives as we approach. Along the way, we see other sea creatures struggling in the oil like this baby crab. What's on the surface is easy to see.

DR. IAN MACDONALD, OCEANOGRAPHER, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: Animals in the open ocean, we don't see them washed up, how do you assess that? If you have a shark that dies in the water here and sinks to the bottom, where's the assessment on that? How do you assess that?

MARCIANO (on camera): You can't count it.

(voice-over): Much like the oil spewing from the well, the amount of wildlife lost here may never be known.

Rob Marciano, Venice, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: And that's part of the uncertainty as well as Rob showed us there. If they're out in a boat and they're out in the open waters and they can see that happen, it happened. But as to whether or not they'll be able to get a full accounting of the environmental devastation on the marine life, of course, is still a big question.

But it really is heart-breaking to see, John. And we saw something similar when we were out not nearly as far as Rob, but some marshlands in the bayou that oil had clearly also already gotten to.

ROBERTS: So, disturbing to see all that oil on the surface of the water.

We're crossing the half hour and we've got our top stories for you. Breaking news this morning: A White House aide says President Obama will continue a moratorium on deep water offshore drilling for six months while a presidential commission investigates the Gulf of Mexico disaster. The president is also expected to announce delays in drilling off the coast of Alaska and cancelling planned lease sales in the western Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia.

Efforts are still under way right now to stop the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf. B.P. says we will know today whether that top kill operation was a success.

Despite hope that the spill would not reach the coastline, the Coast Guard now confirms that a 100-mile-long stretch of Louisiana shore is covered in crude, that include pristine beaches and 30 acres of sensitive marshlands that may never recover.

And there are new reports this morning that cleanup crews are getting ill. One hospital near New Orleans has treated at least seven people. Officials had to pull back 125 commercial boats because some workers were complaining of nausea, dizziness, headaches and chest pains. One Louisiana congressman is calling on Washington to set up temporary medical clinics on the shore -- Kiran.

CHETRY: John, thanks.

You know, we had a chance actually yesterday to head out on the waters off of Grand Isle to see firsthand what's going on and especially the impact on the shrimping industry. We went out with Dean Blanchard who owns the largest shrimp distributorship out here, supplying some 40 percent that these waters of shrimp to the entire United States. And they're virtually shut down as well.

They took us on their boat to see what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN BLANCHARD, LOUISIANA SHRIMP DISTRIBUTOR: I got all this adrenaline in me because my body knows this is time of the year to have it. And I got nothing to do. I'm going crazy.

CHETRY (voice-over): We've met Dean Blanchard before. He's one of the largest shrimp distributors in the country and he's become the voice of frustration for many here in the bayou who make their living off the water.

BLANCHARD: When this is all said and done, they're going back home. We got to live with this for the rest of our life.

CHETRY: He took us out with his brother-in-law Barataria Bay to show us what he fears is the end of the Gulf Coast shrimping -- at least in his lifetime.

He says his once bustling loading docks typically brought in half a million dollars worth of shrimp a day. Today, one lone boat, machines sitting idle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything's shut down. We're dead in the water right now.

CHETRY: Workers like dock foreman George Danos (ph) wonder how much longer that they'll have a job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No work, no job. Pretty soon, there won't be a place to live. I'm not a happy camper right now.

CHETRY (on camera): So, bottom line, did this oil spill happen at the worst possible time?

BLANCHARD: The worst possible time in the worst possible year. This is a year we've been waiting for for 10 years. Last year we had like this with a cold winter was in the year 2000. Every 10 years, you get one like this and that's what keeps you going in the bad years.

CHETRY (voice-over): But it's not just the money, the men and women on these waters are mourning a way of life they see slowly dying before their eyes.

BLANCHARD: A lot of people don't think fishermen and environmentalist -- we make our living off of the environment. We want the environment as pristine as it can be. We live out here.

CHETRY: Dean and other locals are critical of how the cleanup is being handled.

BLANCHARD: I blame the people who just come here to make a buck and don't care about this. And they're hindering the people that have a great passion for saving this. And the sad part is that, about it is that, that the people that don't care are the people that B.P. are putting in charge.

CHETRY (on camera): Right.

BLANCHARD: That's the problem. All they're here is to get a paycheck.

CHETRY: This is -- what we're looking at over here is Queen Bess Bird Sanctuary off of Grand Isle. They're obviously trying to lay this boom and protect the birds as best they can. So far, you see them still flying around. But this is where they found some oiled eggs and the locals also say that the sound these birds are making indicates that they are in distress.

And he's pointing out that some of this boom that's meant to be in the water absorbing oil is instead washed ashore. When it's washed ashore, it's doing no good protecting the delicate lands here from the oil.

Look at these dolphins.

BLANCHARD: They're panicking right now.

CHETRY: Are they -- are they going to die?

BLANCHARD: Yes. They're going to die.

CHETRY: Are they going to die?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the oil comes in, they're going to die.

BLANCHARD: Yes.

CHETRY: Yes.

BLANCHARD: Next week, they'll all die because they won't be able to breathe. They're going to come up to breathe and come up right in the middle of a big patch of oil.

CHETRY: We just got back taking a tour of this waterway which is called Bayou Rego (ph). It's a very popular shrimping area and fishing area. And the smell of oil is thick in the air. You can smell it. Actually, we were only out on the water for about an hour and you can feel it in your throat and you really can feel it everywhere.

And this is the situation for the fishermen, for those who are out on the waters trying to lay boom and trying to keep the oil spill at bay in this area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: And, of course, earlier today, we're learning about -- they turned around about 125 of those boats because of fears that some of the oil workers were sickened, some of them complaining of various symptoms related to possibly inhaling the fumes or perhaps the dispersants.

But the other interesting that the local fishermen and the local people who make their living up the water are very critical of is that the people that are being contracted, the companies that are being contracted to help clean up the oil spill -- as you heard Dean's allegation -- is that they're just -- they don't necessarily know the waters. They don't necessarily know what they're doing. In some cases, they're not even equipped on the boats to handle or to even have the equipment to lay the boom and to do it the right way.

So, we put that question to B.P. We asked them, you know, are you sure the contractors on the waters are doing the best job possible.

And this is the statement that Andrew Gowers gave us. He said that, "We are employing thousands of people in this cleanup and providing work to many who've have lost their income as a result of the disaster. I cannot comment on allegations made by one shrimper as I'm not aware of the specific circumstances, but nobody should be in any doubt about B.P.'s long-term commitment to cleaning up the mess and addressing the economic damage."

And so, there you have it, John. You know, he actually wasn't as critical of B.P. He says that the people that he's spoken to at B.P. are good people and they are trying to make good for what happened. But he's highly critical of what he says are the contractors that don't necessarily know the waters, and he feels and some of the others feel that local fishermen would have a much better handle on exactly how to solve this problem.

ROBERTS: Like you said, the whole thing comes at the worst time of year, in the worst possible year. You got to feel for those people.

A great look at what's going on there on the surface of the water. Thanks, Kiran.

Still to come on the Most News in the Morning: new calls to lift the controversial ban on gays donating blood. We'll talk with one doctor who says he has the data to prove that the practice should end.

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ROBERTS: Forty-two minutes after the hour. We're going to be monitoring these pictures live from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as B.P. tries to stop the flow of oil from that well.

What you're seeing there according to officials is a lot of drilling mud coming out of that pipe. So, they obviously still have a problem with it blowing back out. It hasn't stopped the leak at this point. They should know later on today whether or not the attempt was a success.

A controversial ban that prevents gay men from donating blood is coming under fire. It's a lifetime ban and our next guest says the time has come to rethink it. Dr. Mark Wainberg is the director of the HIV research program of Jewish General Hospital. For years, he's been at the forefront in the fight against the disease. And he joins us now from Montreal.

Dr. Wainberg, great to talk to you this morning.

This is a ban that's been in place since 1983 here in the United States. Why is it time to rethink it?

DR. MARK WAINBERG, DIRECTOR, MCGILL UNIVERSITY AIDS CENTER: Well, it's not serving its intended purpose. And the fact is that it's probably causing us to have far fewer donations of blood than would otherwise be the case.

Let me illustrate for you. You know, at university campuses across North America, there are often boycotts of blood drives because people object to the policy of total discrimination against gay men. And if we were to only permit, as we are suggesting in our article, gay men who are in committed, monogamous relationships to become blood donors, we would at one fell swoop increase the numbers of donors and also end the discriminatory policy that's been in place now for so long.

ROBERTS: You know, the big -- the big concern is that blood that's donated by a gay man may be tainted with HIV. The FDA reviewed this most recently in 2006 and decided to continue the ban. What has changed, in your mind, in the past four years?

WAINBERG: Well, one thing that's changed is that our ability to screen the blood supply for HIV and other viruses has improved over the last decade or so by 10,000-fold or so. And yet, in spite of all the improvements in technology, we remain in a time warp in regards to this discriminatory policy that, as I said, is not serving a useful purpose and is causing, you know, blood shortages to continue.

We know that from time to time, a couple times a year at least, the blood agencies put out calls for blood donors to please come forward because we're experiencing massive shortages. And if we permitted gay men who are in lifelong monogamous relationships, very often, we would completely circumvent these problems.

ROBERTS: Now, the FDA is going to be taking a look at this. This is why your article in the "Canadian Medical Journal" is particularly -- you know, particularly powerful at this time is because the FDA is going to be taking a look at this on June 10th and 11th in a special hearing.

But there are dissenting opinions to this though. Ron Vezina from the Canadian Blood Services says, quote, "As far as we're concerned, there's no evidence that's been introduced that suggests that change in policy wouldn't introduce an incremental risk."

What do you say to that?

WAINBERG: Well, the fact is that we're not asking for the United States and Canada to be leaders on this issue. We're asking them to be followers because the fact is that other countries around the world such as Australia and Sweden, as an example, have introduced a policy that permits gay men in monogamous relationships to become blood donors. And since the introduction of the change in policy in those areas, there are no cases on record of HIV having been transmitted through a blood transfusion.

You know, and the policies are so inconsistent right now. As an example, if I had experimented even once for five minutes when I was 20 years old, wanting to know what homosexuality was all about and decided that I really didn't like this and now I'm married, I got five kids and I've been with the same woman faithfully for 35 years, I would be excluded as a blood donor. That doesn't make any sense.

ROBERTS: It's probably safe to say, Doctor, that there will be some concerns amongst some members of the public if the policy is to change. What would you say to those people? Would there need to be an outreach program if the policy changes?

WAINBERG: I think we certainly have to do education, but to make the point further, people should be concerned perhaps about the fact that the blood agencies continue to accept blood from heterosexuals who may be enormously promiscuous. Young college students, for example, who may have frequent sex with people they don't know much about are not excluded from being blood donors whereas gay men in lifelong monogamous relationships are excluded. That's something that's inconsistent and does not make sense and probably does not serve the public interest.

ROBERTS: This is something we'll certainly be hearing a lot about over the next three weeks or so. Dr. Mark Wainberg, thanks for joining us this morning. I appreciate your time.

WAINBERG: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Coming up now at 47 minutes after the hour, Reynolds Wolf got your travel forecast as we look ahead to the Memorial Day weekend coming up right after the break. Stay with us.

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ROBERTS: Well, the top kill is under way. It has been since about 2:00 yesterday afternoon. BP hoping that this method of clogging the leaking well is going to stop the flow of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. We'll keep monitoring these live pictures throughout the morning. We'll also be talking with an official from BP in about 20 minute's time.

Right now, though, let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf in Atlanta for us, and how do we look in today, Reynolds, we had an extraordinarily warm day here in New York yesterday.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, felt like August in parts of the northeast. Some places giving up into the 90s today. It could be fairly close the nation's capital and can get up in that point. Also, look for chances of some strong storms power by some of the daytime heating, and we could have also this area of low pressure in the frontal boundary. In the Pacific Northwest, some scattered showers and snow showers. In the highs of elevations, very breezy across parts of the central plains, and a mix of scattered showers and sunshine for parts of the Midwest and along parts of the Gulf Coast.

You know, in terms of your high temperature, we're going to take a look at the next 30 seconds or so where you can anticipate, highs going to 84 degrees in St. Louis, 94 in Washington D.C., 79 in New York, 89 in Tampa, New Orleans with 90 degrees, 84 in Las Vegas, and 66 in Los Angeles. Now, that is a quick look at your forecast. Only look for delays in parts of the Pacific Northwest and parts of the northeast. No delays expected in places like New Orleans, not far from Grand Isle, Louisiana, where Kiran Chetry happens to be at this time. Kiran, let's send it over to you.

CHETRY: Thanks, Reynolds. And our top stories are coming up just minutes away including a lot of questions involving the Gulf oil spill, the latest from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico as the top kill operation continues. We're going to be getting a live update from BP's managing director on how the operation is going so far. Started yesterday afternoon, we're going to get an update on whether or not they think it's working.

Also, a lot of questions this morning about whose spill is it? BP versus the White House, Democrats versus Republicans. Why there may be more than enough blame for everyone and a lot of calls to say, somebody needs to be in charge, somebody perhaps like the United States military? We're going to have those stories and much more at the top of the hour.

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ROBERTS: Live pictures again from the Gulf of Mexico of the drill riser with what we're told is drilling mud now pouring out of it as opposed to oil. We could know sometime today if BP's latest effort to stop the flow of crude, the so-called top kill operation is working. We're keeping an eye on these live pictures from the well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. We'll be speaking with the managing director of BP coming up in about 15 minutes.

Right now though, we want to introduce you to a new interactive feature on CNN.com. It's called home and away. It's the Web site that's dedicated to honoring the brave men and women who have given their lives for this country. I want you to see here now, on the right-hand side is a map of Afghanistan and the map of the United States. There are dots all over each map. The dots on the map of Afghanistan are places where service members have been killed. And over here, on the United States map, the dots represent their hometowns.

Now, if you just back up a little bit there, do you know we can change this to as well to Iraq, and you'll see the data build here. So many casualties in Iraq. More than 4,700 people have died. And again, you can see that the majority of these have been in the Baghdad area out here in the western part of Fallujah. Today, we want to introduce you to Sergeant John Kyle Daggett. He was an army ranger. Kyle, as he was known to his family and friends, is from Phoenix, Arizona. Only 21 years old when he lost his life after an attack on his striker vehicle in southern city (ph) Iraq.

You know, what's great about this Web site is family and friends can go to the web page. They can upload photos of Kyle here, and they can share their memories with people. And there's one particularly poignant memory we wanted to share with you this morning from Kyle's sister, Tanya. She writes here in our report, "we miss Kyle every day. It's been two years since his death yet it feels like yesterday. Kyle's spirit truly lives on in all of his family and friends. We continue to tell stories and share our memories of Kyle. He was such a good-hearted, funny, crazy guy who respected each and every person he came across.

"I thank God for having met his great friends with whom he served, and they like my brothers. I'm sure Kyle would have wanted it that way." So, log on and check out your hometown and pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. It's CNN.com/homeandaway. It's a great thing to do.

Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.

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