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BP Continues Efforts to Cap Oil Spill in Gulf Coast; Seafood Industry Severely Affected By Spreading Oil in Gulf; Natalee Holloway Prime Suspect Wanted for Murder in Peru; Friendlier Skies for Travelers; Adm. Thad Allen Weighs in on Gulf Spill Operation; Robots in the Abyss; Senator Nelson Calling on the Military
Aired June 03, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: An overnight gusher in the Gulf. Oil, gas, dispersant spewing from the underwater well where at day 45 of this environmental catastrophe. And this morning, oil creeps coast into Florida as it calls for the military to get involved.
Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning.
Lots to tell you about in this Thursday, the 3rd of June. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry.
Glad you're with us, and we start with the very latest on the oil disaster. And another setback in stopping the flow of crude. You could call it cut-and-cap part two. BP is getting ready once again to try to slice a leaking oil riser in half at the bottom of the Gulf so that they can try to cap it. A diamond wire cutter that got jammed in the pipe yesterday is now out, and a less precise way, more like a large scissor, is back in, and that could compromise BP's ability to contain the gushing crude.
ROBERTS: Call in the military, that request comes to President Obama from Senator Bill Nelson. He's calling on the White House to beef up the response to the spill right now. We'll talk to him live coming up later this hour.
CHETRY: An apology from the CEO of BP. Tony Hayward appearing in a one-minute TV ad starting today apologizing for the spill, promising that his company will, quote, "make it right." He also took it to Facebook to apologize for the comment he made, saying I just want my life back.
But is this the appropriate time to be spending big bucks on PR?
ROBERTS: And no PR campaign were mitigate this, heartbreaking new video from CNN's "A.C. 360." Anderson Cooper touring the marshes of Louisiana, uncovering long stretches of thick crude, snuffing out life in those once vibrant wetlands.
CHETRY: Is that was the big fear. Unfortunately, we're seeing that happen. The top hat, by the ways is back, BP preparing once again to try to slice through a gushing oil riser on the floor of the Gulf. And once that's done, engineers will try to captain riser with a redesigned top hat containment dome.
David Mattingly joins us live from New Orleans this morning. And as we talk about the cut-and-cap procedure part two, the more precise cut failed. So what's next?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the failure of that precise cut with the diamond saw means that we're going to be looking at more oil being spilled out into the Gulf of Mexico throughout the summer because now, with the less precise cut, they're going to have to use a containment cap that does not have a very tight kind of seal.
It will not be able to collect all or even -- or a vast majority, as BP had promised, a vast majority of that oil that is leak ought. So they're going to siphon some of that oil out to a containment vessel on the surface. The rest is going to leak out into the Gulf of Mexico.
At this point, no one knows exactly how much oil we're talking about -- 1,000 barrels a day, 5,000 barrels a day, we just don't know. But this procedure was attempting to capture a vast amount of this oil and now we're finding ought that will not work.
And now Admiral Thad Allen yesterday saying, to be honest, we have to prepare everyone for the idea that we're going have to prepared for the crude oil to be leaking into the gulf for the rest of the summer. That relief well that's supposed to end all of this will not be finished until August.
CHETRY: You know, David, this is the first time they've done anything like this. We had Rob Marciano showing how difficult it is to operate the robots, all of this untested as deep, as much as we're dealing with right now. Have you gotten anything from them as to how this new procedure will work?
MATTINGLY: So far, everything that BP has done, has either fallen short or failed. So at this point for anyone to hazard any odds of success, everyone in any position to do is that backing off. No one wants to raise expectations right now. They want everyone to know, this is serious, it is difficult, and there are no guarantees.
CHETRY: David Mattingly this morning in New Orleans. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Four minutes after the hour. We're committed to bringing you every angle of this story as only CNN can. So this morning, we're going in-depth to each state along the Gulf shores, first to Florida, to tell you what's going on there. We've got a little video to show you.
The state is scrambling right now to get more protective booms into the waters of its western-most counties. The oil sheen spotted seven miles off the coast Pensacola. So that's what's going none the state of Florida.
As we move farther west to the state of Alabama, they've got problems along the beaches here. Cleanup crews hitting the white, sandy beaches of Dauphin Island. This morning, those beaches are open, but last night, tempers heating up. At a community meeting, one business owner described BP's characterization of the oil saying "It's not a sheen, it's lily pads of brown oil. There is no area of uncertainty. There is certainty when it comes to oil hitting the beaches."
Further west in the state of Mississippi, we're hearing from Governor Haley Barbour yesterday and again today asking the White House and BP this morning to put more skimmer boats off the coast of Mississippi.
He says that the oil that has washed on his shores on Tuesday, thankfully, was washed away by storms that came through. Though, he's calling it a wake-up call for state workers to be more vigilant before more oil reaches Mississippi shores.
And finally, to Louisiana, which has been in the crosshairs from the very beginning. A barrier plan has been OK'd here, the White House giving its blessing to dredge up walls of sand offshore. The plan would be to construct six sections of sand barrier islands to fend off the oil.
You can see behind the barrier islands are very sensitive wetlands with the grass that die almost instantly when the oil gets in there. Even after day or two, you can see how the grass is dying from the water up. BP has estimated that's going to cost some $360 million.
So that's what's going on across the gulf coast.
Folks in New Orleans getting ready for the first ever oyster festival this weekend taking place in the French quarter. But with the oil disaster shutting down five of 16 oil beds in Louisiana and all of the oyster beds in Alabama, a lot of people in the seafood industry are worried about their future.
Our Carol Costello is live in New Orleans with that side of the story. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, when I was listening to David Mattingly say that oil would be leaking all through the summer, my heart sank for the business owners here in New Orleans. You want people to come down here and you want them to eat seafood. But they're afraid that seafood is going to quickly dry up because of this oil.
And you said it, big oyster festival this weekend, just in time for the oil spill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: There ain't anything better than this, oysters, New Orleans-style. Acme Oyster House has been shucking for 100 years and hopes to keep on keeping on for 100 more. But there is a sense, especially among locals, oysters will slowly die an oily death. COSTELLO (on camera): So people are actually coming into your restaurant and eating as many oysters as they can because they fear there won't be any.
LUCIAN GUNTER, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ACME OYSTER HOUSE: Is not exactly the marketing boom that I was hoping for.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Gunter runs Acme. He also buys 80,000 oysters a year all from the Gulf of Mexico. It's unclear how much longer he'll be able to do that. Only five of 16 oyster beds remain completely open in Louisiana. Alabama has closed its oyster beds. Only Texas is up and running.
Some customers are worried that the oysters may be tainted with oil, but the oysters served up here are completely safe. Acme says it does its own testing to make doubly sure, and customers appreciate that even though they're paying more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just going to have to get used to the higher prices on seafood. Unfortunately, but we've got to support our fishermen. We've got to support our local restaurants.
COSTELLO: It's music to Gunter's ears, always worried about something around the corner.
GUNTER: This weekend, we have our inaugural New Orleans oyster festival. I have a tendency to plan things at the most remarkable time.
COSTELLO: Gunter, and he hopes hundreds of others, will shuck oysters at that festival. And if they don't have enough to shuck, as Gunter told me, they'll eat something else, maybe chicken.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And that was just a joke. They think they'll have more oysters than they'll need at the first annual oyster festival in New Orleans. Big names are going to be there, Paula Deen is going to be there, David Vitter is going to be there, all to show support for the restaurants here and those who sell sea seafood, John.
ROBERTS: Shucking chicken is not the same as shucking oysters.
COSTELLO: No, it's not.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Carol.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the Maytag repairman is going to need a lot of help. The company is recalling more than 1.7 million dishwashers. There's concern about a fire hazard. Maytag says it has reports of 12 kitchen fires, including one that caused extensive damage.
The machines were ones sold between February 2006 and April of this year. The company is offering a free repair or rebate on a new dishwasher. To check in your appliance is affected head to our blog CNN.com/amfix.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROBERTS: A manhunt underway today for Joran Van Der Sloot. He was a suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance five years ago. Now, he's wanted in the killing of a woman in Peru. We'll have the very latest on that coming up for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: An international manhunt under way this morning for Joran Van Der Sloot. He is the main suspect arrested twice in the Natalee Holloway disappearance case five years ago.
CHETRY: Yes, and now he's the prime suspect in the murder of a 21-year-old woman found dead in a hotel room in Peru, a hotel room that was registered in his name. Our Alina Cho has been working the story for us. She joins us live this morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys, good morning. This latest murder, incidentally, happened exactly five years to the day after Natalee Holloway disappeared. And the similarities to the Holloway case are striking.
Authorities believe that 22-year-old Van Der Sloot is in Chile, possibly, though, in Argentina, after crossing over from Peru. Police believe he has been in Chile possibly, again, he may have moved to Argentina since about Monday.
Just about a day before on Sunday, Van Der Sloot allegedly killed 21-year-old Stefany Flores in a hotel in Lima in a room registered to Van Der Sloot. Authorities say she was found face down on the floor, wrapped in a blanket with multiple stab wounds.
Van Der Sloot and the victim apparently met just hours before at a casino. Again, you see her there, Stefany Flores. Police say a hotel worker saw them entering the hotel room at 5:00 Sunday morning and Van Der Sloot left alone four hours later. Just yesterday, the young woman's father, Ricardo Flores spoke directly to the family of Natalee Holloway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to tell the family of the girl who died in Aruba, who was murdered, that this time he won't be able to walk away because we'll make every effort to make him pay. It's the same MO, such a coincident. He saw her in the casino. He took her from the casino. He took her and killed her -- too much coincidence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: You may recall that Van Der Sloot was arrested twice in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. She went missing during a high school graduation trip to Aruba back in 2005. Prosecutors even tried to arrest him a third time unsuccessfully. To this day, Holloway's body has never been recovered, so that case remains unsolved. But the key difference is in this latest case, there is a body. If Van der Sloot is taken into custody, of course, that could be very, very strong evidence against him.
CHETRY: They have many more forensics at their fingertips this time. Also possibly a video?
CHO: That's absolutely right. Now that video, we should mention, guys, has not been released. But there is apparently a tape of van der Sloot and Flores, the victim, together at this Peruvian casino late Saturday night. The police chief has said that he has, quote, "incriminating evidence." That could be a reference to that videotape.
We should mention, guys, that van der Sloot was in Lima for a poker tournament. Apparently, he plays, is an avid player. He arrived there in the country on May 14th, about 2 1/2 weeks ago, apparently flew in from Colombia. An international arrest warrant could come in the next 48 hours. His attorney says, let's take a step back. Let's not rush to judgment. I have not been -- I've not heard from the family and he has not been asked to surrender yet. So we'll have to wait and see.
CHETRY: The Chilean police say that they will extradite him if he's found in the country?
CHO: They do say that they will extradite him to Peru and that he will face charges there if he's found.
CHETRY: All right. Alina Cho for us this morning, thank you.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Delays, fees, getting bumped from your flight, no wonder flying frustrates so many people. But there could be some very welcome changes on the horizon. Our Christine Romans is here with the preview.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, we've all been there. Your flight is oversold. There's not another flight for a few more hours. Suddenly, you are bumped involuntary. How would you like $1,300 to ease the pain? The Department of Transportation considering some pretty strong new rules. We'll have that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour right now. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." Sometimes you're just so frustrated when you get bumped from a flight. What could make you feel better? How about a grand more?
ROMANS: Yes. Remember in the old days you'd get bumped from a flight. You can go and volunteer, right?
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: Or you were involuntary bumped, you knew there was a flight in the next hour or two hours. It wasn't that big of a deal. But they have smaller planes, fewer flights, you can get involuntary bumped from a flight and it can be four or five hours and tell you to get moving. And it can be a real --
ROBERTS: In a holiday it could be days.
ROMANS: It can be a real problem. So, look, the Department of Transportation is asking for your comments about new protections and new rules that they want to put in to protect you against this. If you are bumped from a flight against your will, you are bumped, they take you off a flight because it's overbooked. It used to be about 400 bucks.
Now, they want to raise it to 650. That's if you can get another flight in the next couple of hours. If you can't get another flight in the next couple of hours, right now, you get $800 if you're bumped. They want to raise it to $1,300. They're also considering some other new protections. It's easier time having a reservation changed within 24 hours. Full disclosure of the baggage fees, every time they change. Refunds for delay of lost bags. More timely notice of flights status changes. I mean, how many times have you been standing there at the airport and it says delayed, or you see that there is no plane?
You see that there is no plane. And you know that the plane is somewhere over Cleveland. And you're still getting an e-mail saying your flight will be boarding in 15 minutes. You know, I mean, it's just maddening.
So they're also considering right down to whether there can be peanuts on flights and how to regulate peanuts. So Ray LaHood at the Department of Transportation really saying that consumers need to be protected. And they are looking at a raft of ways to protect consumers. 1,300 bucks, I mean, I don't know.
ROBERTS: That's not bad.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: I don't know how they can make any money. If I pay 250 --
ROBERTS: Well, they're not, right? (INAUDIBLE) tell us that they're not making money.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: No, they're not making any.
But if I pay 250 bucks for the flight and they give me 1,300, all I worry about is that they're going to start raising fares, you know.
ROBERTS: Well, it's like going to the casino. What are you going to do in the airport anyway?
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning, thanks.
Oil hitting the shore in three states and moving closer to Florida. Efforts to slow down the leak in the gulf hit another major snag. We're talking to the man in charge for the government, Admiral Thad Allen, coming up next.
It's 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-three minutes past the hour now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
BP's latest effort to slow down the oil spill -- the oil that's spilling into the gulf is hitting another snag this morning. The company now says it's getting ready to once again try to shear off the leaking oil riser. They want to cut it in half, after the diamond- edged saw did not work yesterday. They still want to be able to try to cap it and they're trying again today.
Well, as they continue to do all of this, oil is now washed ashore in three different states and it's edging ever closer to Florida.
Joining us now from New Orleans is the Coast Guard's national incident commander Admiral Thad Allen.
Admiral, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
ADM. THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Good morning.
CHETRY: Bring us up to date, first of all, on the saw getting stuck and what plan "B" is now for cutting that riser pipe in half?
ALLEN: Kiran, yesterday, they attempted what we call a fine cut with a diamond wire saw. If you can imagine a very, very fine saw that makes a very, very smooth cut. They got through the riser pipe and encountered some problems with the drill pipe that's in there. They didn't have any pressure back when the pipe kept wobbling around. They ultimately had to stop that. And they knew that they had cut the riser pipe at the other end yesterday with these big hydraulic shears. So they shifted to that plan. It's been horizontally deployed. They're going to try and do that cut sometime this morning.
The difference is it won't be as fine, as smooth a cut. They're going to have a different device to go over the top to make sure they capture as much oil as they can and bring it to the surface.
CHETRY: Right. So they say, instead of being able to use that cap that would have been made its own seal, they're going to use the top hat, which is something that we heard about, you know, several weeks ago, a smaller version of the containment dome, I guess you could say. What are the chances of this impacting the overall effectiveness of capping the well or at least collecting as much oil as possible?
ALLEN: Well, it increases the chance that some oil under pressure will go up through the pipe. And if not all the oil can be accommodated, it will go back down around the seal and somehow get out because it's not a tight flange where you can bolt it together and make sure you have a complete seal. So in addition to what they're doing with the top hat device, they're going to also have the ability to apply subsea dispersants to minimize that should it occur. But they'll make that attempt later on this morning. The top hat device is suspended over the top. They're cutting device right now from the ship above, and we'll wait to see what happens.
CHETRY: So while all of that is happening, it appears that the word is that the American people are really pretty much have to brace for the possibility that this isn't going to be taken care of, that the oil is actually not going to stop leaking until August. What is your assessment today of when we will actually see the oil stop flowing?
ALLEN: Well, Kiran, we've always said that the real fix to this thing is going to be a relief well that's going to be drilled to relieve the pressure and to be able to cap it. And that won't happen until sometime in August. That said, there's no reason why we can't contain this oil in the meantime when we're using all means available to do that. And we're exhausting all the methods that we have out there. There are some other tools that are available should this one not be successful. But we're being relentless with British Petroleum to make this happen because we shouldn't tolerate oil being discharged until August.
CHETRY: You say that you're being relentless with BP. What is your assessment of BP right now? Do you trust that they're doing the best that they can? Do you trust the company is doing the right thing?
ALLEN: Kiran, we use the word "trust" and "confidence" and "partner" and all kinds of words. The fact of the matter is that it only means the production at the bottom of the sea to stop this leak and they need to do it. It's in their best interests. It's in our best interests, and they are responsible. But we've been relentless in our oversight, including my own personal involvement with the CEO. And we need to continue to be relentless and they need to continue and try and contain this leak because we shouldn't have to wait until August.
CHETRY: But you know, is there -- are you in a tough position and that you have to work with BP, as you said. They have the equipment, they have the engineering, the know-how to actually try to stop it. At the same time, there were a lot of questions as to whether or not it was negligence or whether or not they did all they could to prevent this in the first place. Does that put you in a tough spot?
ALLEN: Well, Kiran, you kind of have to isolate what's going on here. We need to focus on the response. If there's any accountability issues to be associated with this, that will come out in the Marine Board of investigation that's being conducted right now and other inquiries. If you start thinking about that and what the causes where while you're trying to do the response, you're not going to do an effective job as you can. So I tend to focus on what it is we need to get done. And BP needs to be focused on that, too. We'll let the chips fall where they may regarding accountability. We've got to get this thing fixed.
CHETRY: You talked about response. And one of the things that a lot of the governors in the gulf states were saying is we cannot have this get in the marshes. Bobby Jindal, when we went up with him in the helicopter, he was showing that they were trying everything they could to make sure it stayed out of the marshes. They pretty much called that the nursery that nurtures all of the sea life, the marine life in the gulf.
And we saw a video which we're going to show right now. This was shot by "AC 360" last night, showing up close on a boat, oil getting into these marshes. It looks like chocolate. It basically means these marshes are destroyed. That was one thing they were really trying to prevent, it didn't happen. Was this unavoidable? Or could more have been done at the outset to prevent this oil from getting into some of those sensitive coastal marshlands?
ALLEN: Well, Kiran, when you have a spill of this size, it's almost impossible to block it all. We're trying to do most of the oil reduction, if you will, right over the wellhead because that's where it's massing when it comes up through in situ burning, skimming and some judicious use of dispersants. As it gets closer to shore, it breaks up into smaller pieces, becomes very difficult to deal with. And there's a massive amount of wetlands and barrier islands around Louisiana as everybody understands. It's almost impossible to cover 100 percent of it.
We need to protect the most sensitive areas, and those are the areas as you've noted that are associated with the seafood industry and so forth. But it's in the marshes, it's almost impossible to do anything about, other than in situ burn and actually go in and try to physically remove it. You can actually do more harm to the marshes by actually creating a physical presence. So we have to try and stop this as far offshore as possible.
CHETRY: There have been some calls, including from Senator Bill Nelson of Florida to get the military involved more. Is that something you support, bringing in other branches?
ALLEN: Well, if you look at capabilities and capacities and competencies, there are certain things that DOD can help us with. I'm not sure at the point end of the spear on oil spill recovery that they're more qualified than the contractors that do this for a living every day. There are reasons to use the DOD forces that we have, including C-130s to apply dispersants, using cargo planes to move boom, maybe supervisor of salvage helping us with some of the more technical issues associated with it. When we need something from DOD and I ask for it, I get it. I'm not sure that overall DOD controlling this thing has indicated nor do they need to be at the point end of the spear on this. We have people that are very well trained on oil spill recovery. They're the ones that need to be doing this.
CHETRY: All right. Admiral Thad Allen, thanks for your time this morning to talk about the latest. We appreciate it.
ALLEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour now, it means it's time for this morning's top stories.
Vice President Joe Biden is backing Israel's right to board and inspect ships bound for Gaza to stop weapons smugglers. Nine activists died earlier this week when Israeli commandos boarded six aid vessels headed for Gaza. Biden is still calling for an independent investigation of the incident.
CHETRY: A Colorado Democrat claims that the White House dangled potential job opportunities for him if he decided not to challenge Senator Michael Bennett in the August democratic primary. Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff insists that a firm job offer was never tendered. And says that he informed deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina that he intended to stay in the race.
At 8:10 Eastern we'll be joined by Melanie Sloan. She's the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington. We're going to talk to her about whether or not the White House is acting unethically by trying to clear the field for them.
ROBERTS: And demonstrations against BP are planned for 50 cities starting today. Organizers are calling their grassroots campaign "Seize BP." They want the federal government to seize the assets of the oil giant to pay for the disaster's oil spill in the Gulf.
Well, it's a tragedy, a comedy, if you heard some of the news conferences and a science fiction movie all wrapped into one. For the past 45 days, we've been relying on underwater robots, robots with eyes, hands and saws to fix this man-made disaster deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Our Rob Marciano is live in New Orleans this morning. And he's been to a company that supplies some of these remotely operated vehicles. And actually got a chance to sit at the driver's seat. What was it like, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it was pretty cool, but at the same time, very frustrating. It is not an easy task for sure. I kind of liken it to flying an airplane or even worse or even harder, trying to fly the space shuttle and do some outer space type of fix- its.
Well, for weeks now you've been watching the BP live cam and robotic arms and bright lights kind of going back and forth. Well, these are ROVs. There's a place just up the road that specializes in these unmanned subs. And we went to check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a camera here, a camera here and a couple of lights.
MARCIANO (voice-over): There's been lots of lights and cameras catching the action at the site of the leaking well.
(on camera): This is what they're using to saw that pipe to hopefully put that cap on successfully?
BOB CHRIST, PRESIDENT, SEATREPID: Correct. What you have in these vehicles that are operating right now are two manipulators and what's called a power pack. A two in one pack.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Submersible ROVs or remotely operated vehicles, are doing the grunt work at the bottom of the Deep Water Horizon site. Not far away in Robert, Louisiana Seatrepid Enterprises services unmanned subs.
Bob Christ gives me a quick lesson as a small ROV is dropped into his test pool.
CHRIST: This turns left. This turns right. This goes forward. This goes backwards.
MARCIANO (on camera): All right.
CHRIST: You have the rotation of the camera here. See, it goes 360 degrees. OK. Have a seat and have a test drive.
MARCIANO: All right. Is it in the middle of the pool because this could get ugly.
(voice-over): It's remarkably difficult, like driving a car on ice.
CHRIST: Yes. Up against the wall.
MARCIANO (on camera): Up against the wall so don't go backwards.
(voice-over): Yes, let's move forward to a bigger sub, similar to the ones working the BP well. Michael Bryan guides me through the more advanced gadgets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're heading - which is what this on-screen is, the compass rows, with the numeric as well as the standard and your pitch and roll are underneath it.
MARCIANO: And I get a chance to see how the robotic arms work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the hardest part about doing the manipulator work. You're looking at a 2-D screen in a 3-D world.
MARCIANO (on camera): Yes, I really don't know how close to the bottom I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Typically, three men work this ROV, in the deep ocean. One driving. One working the arms and the navigator. My simple task is position the sub, to grab on to an anchor at the bottom of the pool.
(on camera): All right. I close the manipulator. See, I'm too low. A little bit. No, I'm too high.
(voice-over): This ROV costs about two billion bucks. One wrong move could be a costly mistake. Mike's advice to the guys trying to cut and cap the well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just get the job done. One at a time. Small steps, baby steps. Think too much, you're going to have trouble.
MARCIANO (on camera): Don't mastermind plugging the well?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it's not your job. Your job is to fly the sub.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: And as we've seen time and time again, as I saw yesterday, easier said than done. Very, very difficult stuff. The subs that they're using out there in the gulf at any one time, from eight to 16 of them. And the larger ones could cost up to $4 million apiece. I asked them, you know, what drives your technology, without a doubt, they said unquestionably, it's the oil.
And gas industry is their bread and butter. And the technology, as you've seen is pretty amazing stuff. One other point, John and Kiran, as we pointed out last hour. They'd rather be down at 5,000 feet. It's colder so that keeps the vehicles from overheating and there's no current down there, very little current. So they don't have to battle that. But even so it's got to be difficult stuff and as we've seen it's not easy to cap that well.
ROBERTS: There are some pretty skilled operators working these ROVs. You among them, Rob. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
CHETRY: Coming up. Call in the military. Florida Senator Bill Nelson wants the White House to beef up the federal response to the gulf spill as the oil moves ever closer to his state. We're going to be talking with Senator Nelson next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Oil from BP's blown-out well is staining beaches all along the gulf coast. And scenes like this one in Alabama are all too familiar. More tar balls on the beach than tourists. With the slick closing in on his state, Florida Senator Bill Nelson wants a stronger military response to fight this. Senator Nelson joins us now from Orlando.
Senator, good to talk to you this morning.
As the oil slick inches ever closer to those sugary white sand beaches of your state and BP suffers another setback trying to cut that riser, do you have any faith at all that they're going to be able to contain the flow of oil out of that blow-out preventer?
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Personally, I don't. I think we're looking at this until August. And at the very earliest, we've seen what happened back in 1979, when the well off of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche, it went on for an entire year.
And with the gushing rate that this is going, it's already three times the Exxon Valdez. By August, it will be over 10 times Exxon Valdez. It's going to fill up the gulf and we've got an emergency situation that we need to keep this oil away from the coast. Don't let to us what has happened already in Louisiana.
ROBERTS: So you have sent a letter to the president in recent days asking for broader involvement of the military in this response. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff said that he doesn't think that there's "anything obvious for the military to do beyond its supportive role." What do you know, senator, that he doesn't?
NELSON: Admiral Mullen was referring to the cutting off of the oil flow at the wellhead which, of course, we don't have in the military that kind of expertise. The oil industry has that. I'm talking about - I think the Coast Guard has done a great job. But what we have is the Gulf of Mexico is going to be filled up. And you're going to limit the damage, if you limit the flow of oil onto the Coast, onto the wetlands, onto the beaches.
All right. That means you've got to have a lot of skimmers. You've got to have a lot of booms out there rounding up the oil and burning it. You've got to employ a flotilla of ships. The Department of Defense is unique in its command and control capability. It's ability to bring assets that others don't have.
For example, undersea mapping. You know, John, there's a dispute going on whether or not there's this undersea plumes going on. Well, we need to know, are there or aren't there?
ROBERTS: Right.
NELSON: Our scientists at our universities are saying there are. Other people are saying they're not. We need to know what to expect.
ROBERTS: Well, let me ask you this, senator, if the president thought that the DOD could do the best job at mopping up this oil spill and protecting the beaches, do you not think that he would have already called them in? NELSON: Well, I just don't understand it. For example, General Colin Powell said on the Sunday talk shows that the military is uniquely qualified, just for the reasons I just said. And as long as the present structure has the confidence of the president, then that's what we're going to have.
But they didn't stop the oil going in to the wetlands in Louisiana. And now, the winds have shifted and that oil is drifting to the east and it's coming up on Perrito Key and Pensacola Beach and by the way, to the south. It's getting into the loop current now. The loop current has reformed and that's going to take it down to the Florida keys and the east coast.
ROBERTS: I mean, that would be a tremendous tragedy if it got into the coral reefs and the keys. But you just said prompts the question, senator, is the president just not getting it?
NELSON: I think he gets it. And I think he's right on when it comes to using this tragedy to say, are we ready now to cut our addiction to oil.
ROBERTS: OK. But on the more immediate point, though, of what you just said, that, you know, the plan hasn't stopped the oil from getting into the marshes. It hasn't stopped it from showing up in the barrier islands of Alabama and Mississippi.
So, obviously, you perceive some disconnect here. You support the president, but at the same time, you suggests that he's not doing enough. I'm just trying to find out exactly where you come down on this.
NELSON: There is a disconnect somewhere, John. You've heard the president of Plaquemines Parish on your network every day pleading, get these booms out there, get the sand berms built, to stop it going in. And you've heard, day after day, him saying why haven't they approved this?
And then the approvals come later. There's some disconnect somewhere. Personally, I think the president is as agonized and on top of this as anybody. But between the president and those down there on the gulf, there's a disconnect somewhere.
ROBERTS: But could the president solve it, just by calling in the military?
NELSON: Well, that's one step, John. And what I'm saying is if you're looking at this all the way to August, and maybe beyond, we better get ready because it is now bearing down on our beaches and that's where I'm going today.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we look forward to talking to you more about that. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida.
Good to spend time with you this morning, sir. Thanks.
NELSON: Thanks, John. CHETRY: And the weather, of course, is going to have a big impact on exactly where the oil goes from here. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
When we come back, Jacqui Jeras is going to have a look at the forecast right after the break.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Pittsburgh!
CHETRY: Is that morning?
ROBERTS: Is that Pittsburgh? My goodness, that's a lovely, lovely shot. Right now, it's 65 degrees. As you can probably surmise, by looking at this picture this morning, from our friends at WPXI, it's not going to be a very nice day in Pittsburgh. Later on today it will be warm, but plenty of storms as well.
CHETRY: When you can go swimming, you don't even need to jump in the pool. Well, let's a check at the morning's weather headlines for us, Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN weather center this morning. As you said, it is going to be a bit stormy in some parts of the country.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You guys are so happy and excited about it. Oh, you can go swimming outside.
CHETRY: Well, you got to laugh about, it's Pittsburgh. They're used to some not so pleasant weather sometimes.
JERAS: I know and they're going to be used to it for a while, unfortunately. More showers and thunderstorms, really the eastern half of the country, seeing a lot of action and that's going to continue really well into the weekend.
We have a very active pattern and we've got a lot of moisture in place. You see that in Pittsburgh and that moisture is kind of locked in and trapped in a lot of places dealing with fog, high humidity. And then you get a little sunshine out and pop things just really go.
Today, we're watching a big complex of thunderstorms that are moving across the Gulf Coast and this is going to continue to move slowly with an upper level disturbance right through the weekend. So this is going to be moving over the oil spill later on this morning and this afternoon. This will mix things up a little bit.
The latest forecast from NOAA is bringing some of that oil potentially a little further east very close to the Florida panhandle. We think that's going to be happening probably sometime tomorrow or the day after. There is that fog. Expect a lot of travel delays. We will have more on that the next hour. "American Morning" continues right after this break.
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CHETRY: Time for our A.M. house call. Stories about your health this morning. It's BP's mess, but across the gulf, fishermen and shrimpers cannot work because of it.
Here is Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta live in New Orleans this morning with more.
Hey, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. They were having symptoms like nausea, vomiting, respiratory problems. It was being suggested that perhaps it was food poisoning causing some of these problems, which didn't make a lot of sense.
A lot of fishermen turned cleanup workers simply were not talking about this. They signed these forms, but you know, they are starting to get fed up and Acy Cooper, one particular fisherman, a third generation shrimper, decided to break his silence. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Acy Cooper is a third-generation shrimper. Of more than a month now, he has been on the water cleaning up oil.
(on camera): Tell me, again, like if someone breaths in some of this stuff, even if at the time they're breathing in, what does that feel like and what are they experience?
ACY COOPER, LOUISIANA SHRIMP ASSOCIATION: Right away, you are going to get a severe headache and then rather had rapid heart rate because everything you breathe --
GUPTA (voice-over): Acy didn't want to have this interview, but he felt compelled to break his silence.
(on camera): You're maybe the first actually speaking on this. Why are you talking to us?
COOPER: We need a voice. Somebody needs to speak out and if it has to be me, it has to be me.
GUPTA (voice-over): BP required all these cleanup workers, fishermen and others who mainly make a living from the gulf, sign a nondisclosure form. Acy could lose this cleanup job, his only source of income, but he doesn't care anymore. He is worried.
COOPER: We don't want to lose anybody. This is our friends and family.
GUPTA (on camera): What he is talking about is breathing in crude oil or petroleum. It is a hydrocarbon. Carbon is the energy source surrounded by a bunch of hydrogen molecules. It gets refined in things you may know better, gasoline for example, diesel fuel down here, propane.
And when you breathe it in, all sorts of things can happen. Someone may feel nauseated, then they have vomiting, then they have headache. What this does is suppress the nervous system for a period of time. Someone can feel drunk, sort of anaesthetized. But here's the thing, take a deep breath in of fresh air, simply get off the boat, a lot of those symptoms should go away.
(on camera): Does the oil, the dispersant combination, everything that we've been talking about for the last month does it pose a problem to human health?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely, yes. Unconditionally yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): Riki Ott is a PhD, oil pollution expert who's worked with families affected by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
(on camera): You breath the stuff in and it can cause, you know, even suppress your central nervous system for a period of time. What they tell me then is you literally turn your head to take a breath of fresh air, you get off the boat and it goes away. It should be fine. The short-term is all there is? Was that true?
RIKI OTT, OIL POLLUTION EXPERT: What happened was people went home and thought they would get better. At the end of the cleanup in September, they didn't. I am still dealing with workers now, 21 years later who have this persistent immune system suppression so they are sick all the time. Respiratory problem, brain fog, dizziness.
GUPTA (voice-over): I checked myself. The National Institute of Occupational Safety Health did report an increase in respiratory problems among Valdez cleanup workers. In a 2003 survey done by a Yale grad student found Valdez cleanup workers who had the most exposure to oil and chemicals reported conditions such as chronic airway disease and neurological impairment over a decade later.
(on camera): How bad does this get? I mean, what's the worst case scenario? I mean, you have all these friends of yours breathing the stuff in and you're reading the papers right here with me.
Let me read you this. It says, we are talking about just the oil now. The volatile organic compounds are among the most toxic components. Many of them are associated with long-term health effects, some of them are carcinogens meaning they cause cancer.
COOPER: Correct. Why - why we don't have the right adequate (protection)? That's what I want to know.
GUPTA: I could see in this -- you are really personally affected by this I can tell. Are you sleeping well? How has your life been?
COOPER: I want to see my son grow up. It sure was personal. It's very personal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: That's worth pointing out that Acy told me he's well that he hasn't been paid at all yet. It has been over a month he has been working and he hasn't seen a check from BP. He's really banking on that.
We did contact BP. They did give us a statement specifically about this issue that reads, there has been a great deal of attention in the press about whether BP was providing respiratory protection with particular emphasis on boat crews.
The data shows that airborne contaminants are well within safe limits. They also said that, you know, with regard to this nondisclosure form, there was such a form. People did sign it, but they seem to say that they are not going to enforce it if people speak out.
CHETRY: Wow, just seems to be a no-brainer that they would provide respiratory equipment for these guys that are out there, especially if it is a long-term cleanup, which it is shaping up to be.
GUPTA: Well, what Riki told me is that the part of the reason they don't do this is because if they do this, it acknowledges that there may be health risk out there, may potentially cause them to have to pay for sicknesses later on down the road. So it is a very tangled web, but as you point out, a simple problem to solve, just providing these.
CHETRY: There were whispers of that when we were down there as well so it is a tough situation. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.
And also be sure to join Sanjay tonight for part two of a special CNN investigation, "Toxic America" tonight 8:00 Eastern only on CNN. Your top stories coming your way after a quick break.
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