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CNN Sunday Morning

Top Kill Fails

Aired May 30, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, there. Good morning, everybody. From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

In Atlanta, Georgia, where I am, it's 8:00 in the morning; 7:00 a.m. in New Orleans; 5:00 a.m. in San Diego, wherever you maybe -- I am glad you are here with me, T.J. Holmes, this morning.

And I had hoped that I was going to be able to report to you much different news this morning. But instead, I have to report to you that, in fact, the latest and best attempt to stop that oil leak in the Gulf has failed.

We got that news last night, that, in fact, the top kill that you have been hearing so much about has ended. It's in failure.

Now, the reality everybody is having to deal with right now is that the best option now to stop the leak is not going to be until August. So, we could be seeing this live picture of oil gushing for the next couple of months. A whole lot more on that in just a moment.

Also, some disturbing video we are seeing out of Virginia. An abduction is caught on tape. This is in broad daylight outside a Target store. A woman is put into a van by three other people. A lot of other people around in the parking lot, nobody helps. Someone did eventually call 911.

We're going to show you this whole video in just a bit and explain to you what was going on there.

But, first, let me give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines.

First, at least a dozen people dead after the first named tropical storm of the Pacific hurricane season roared through Guatemala yesterday. This was tropical storm Agatha. It's blamed now for killing four children as well in a mudslide.

And the storm has since been downgraded to a tropical depression. That doesn't mean things are all good now. It's still a dangerous storm.

Our Bonnie Schneider is going to be along to explain this in just a bit.

Also, thousands of people are marching in Phoenix yesterday to protest Arizona's new controversial law that cracks down on illegal immigrants. Another protest, a counter-protest, held a little later in the day, yesterday as well, near Tempe, Arizona. Enforcement of Arizona's new law is set to begin at the end of July.

And Hollywood mourning the loss of one of its bad boys, known as bad boy -- Dennis Hopper died yesterday after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. He was best known for starring and directing in "Easy Rider" back in 1969. He was 74 years old.

We'll have more looks at your top stories throughout the morning.

We turn back, though, to the Gulf of Mexico with this latest effort to stop that oil leak has failed. Again, a live picture -- we still have access to what's happening 5,000 feet below the surface of the water. Oil, every minute of every day for the past 40 days, has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.

B.P. is confirming to us last night that, in fact, top kill did not work. They were unable to plug the geyser that is gushing all that oil.

The company says its crews are already at work on a new method with a new name. This one is called the Lower Marine Riser Package. In short, they are essentially just putting a cap over the ruptured well. That attempt, though, not expected until the next four to seven days.

Even if this thing is a resounding success, it's still not going to capture all of the oil that is leaking out. The only permanent solution we have been told from the very beginning is for a relief well to be drilled to choke off the flow. Right now, two relief wells are being done but they can't be completed before August. So, that means we could see that picture and that oil gushing for the next couple of months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SUTTLES, COO, B.P.: We continue work on our relief wells. The DD3 rig drilling of the first relief well is now just over 12,000 feet as measured from just above the surface of the sea. It's about to run its next string of casing. And this job is going well. It's ahead of plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. But still, there have been at least three, four, five now different type of methods tried. So, a lot of people don't have a whole lot of faith. Even B.P. is saying not a whole lot of faith in this latest method they're going to try.

And each failure just increases the frustration. And also, it makes what is now the worst disaster, the worst oil spill disaster in this country's history continues to get worse every single moment of every single day.

Some people saying, we're dying a slow death. That is coming from one official down in the Gulf Coast region. Another person from B.P., a chief operating officer, a high up, says that the fact that the top kill failed, quote, "scares everybody."

Our Reynolds Wolf is there for us in New Orleans today.

Reynolds, good morning to you again, buddy. Again, your third trip down. You have seen the situation change and the frustration change. But here we are waking up to now a new day and a new frustration.

What are they talking about this morning?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's a mixture of fear and anger. It really is. I mean, that's the beginning.

You know, as you mentioned, this is the third trip down here. Each time as we've been making these trips down there, the subsequent trips, the oil has begun to expand and the anger and frustration has been growing. And this morning, it's really reached its zenith. It's insane.

We've been showing you again this view, of this picture all morning long. It's the headline of "The Times Picayune," "Top Kill Fails," plain and simple. There it is for you.

And, again, the next step that we're going to see is, again, we've been talking about the Lower Marine Riser Package cap. Now, the lower marine riser is a structure that actually fits right on top of the blowout preventer. This cap -- it is going to be lowered some 5,000 feet to the very top of the vent where the oil has been coming out. It's going to be connected with a pipe going all the way to the surface to the Discoverer Enterprise, the ship that's going to be collecting the oil, hopefully, if this works. And then it will be transferring to other tanker ships and bringing it to shore where they will move the oil onward.

But, again, it's not 100 percent guaranteed this is going to work either. And keep in mind, T.J., that if they're able to put this cap on top of this, it's not going to be a solid fit. It's not like putting a snug cap on your head. It's going to take some of the oil, not all of it.

And the question is, though: how much is that going be? Are we talking, say, it's going to take most of the oil -- does that mean 51 percent, does that mean 70 percent, does that mean 99 percent? Well, again, it's a temporary measure that they're going to use. They're still waiting for those relief wells.

As you've mentioned, there are two that they are going to drill. But it's not something you can do overnight either. It's a long-term plan. And that is going to be possibly, at the earliest, August.

But what we're going to do with the caps, what we'll do with the emergency booms and shoreline, all of these are temporary measures. But what they need to have this thing is just stop, there's no easy answer. It's certainly not going to come today. Hopefully, it will come in August. But even then, it is not a sure thing, T.J.

HOLMES: You know, at this point, no one would -- and you could understand -- would believe anything we're being told. We have been told, yes, like you said, these relief wells, 90 days. This is the best way to do it. But a lot of people probably don't have faith, Reynolds, even in 90 days when the relief well is supposed to be done.

Do we have doubts even then?

WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, I think we're going to. I mean, we've had our hopes raised and lowered each time. This last one was certainly crushing.

You know, you start off the show talking about the need for some good news. Why don't I give you a little bit of good news? I think we could all use a little bit of it.

Let's talk about the good news that although we got a quarter of the federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, although you got a quarter that is shut off, there are still three-quarters that are open. At the same time, many of the birds, many of the sea life that's actually been found trapped in the oil, the 1/5 of them have been able to make it alive to the rehabilitation centers. And numbers are very high at their survival rate.

And today, in fact, they're going to re-release some of these birds, some of these animals back into the wild -- not over the slick, but some are going to be a bit further to the east, some back to the west. But that is certainly some good news.

Something else that's good to mention is that although we have the issue out deep in the Gulf, many of the beaches are still in wonderful shape in parts of Alabama, Florida, certainly Mississippi. So, again, you have to find your sunshine where you can.

HOLMES: Absolutely. I have been asking for some good news all morning because really, everybody's heart kind of sunk and we had all put a lot of faith quite frankly and really hoping they can stop this.

So, the good news there -- yes. And, Reynolds, you and I have been making this point all weekend: folks, the Gulf is open. Only three beaches in the entire Gulf Coast are closed. Those three are in Louisiana.

So, please, if you want to help out, get down there to the Gulf to take a vacation.

Reynolds, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.

At this hour, we're going to be looking a little closer inside this disaster. We're talking to two people who are very close to this situation. One, you've probably seen his face and heard his name and heard his words as well, Billy Nungesser, he's the president of Plaquemines Parish. He has been an outspoken critic of this whole oil spill and the response to it. He's going to join us live here shortly. Also, Casi Callaway is the head of an important environmental group that's been doing work from the very beginning, and a month ago when the spill first happened, gave us some warnings about what we were going to see down the road. She's going to be with us.

Also, our Josh Levs is going to tackle the question about exactly what B.P. is going to do next.

You will want to be around for all of that.

The president, of course, is in Chicago this weekend for this Memorial Day weekend with his family. But he is, of course, keeping an eye on what's happening in the Gulf Coast region. He was there Friday seeing for himself the latest in the response efforts.

He was talking about this latest setback with this top kill method, and he wrote, quote, "As enraging as it is heartbreaking," is how he describes it. The president also called the oil spill, an assault on the people of the Gulf Coast and vowed that the victims will be made whole begun.

Many of those victims down there, of course, are the shrimpers, a lot of the fishermen, a lot of those folks who depend on the Gulf Coast, depend on those waters for their very livelihood.

We have been talking to a number of boaters who say they have, in one way, form or fashion, they either told they can't go fish at a particular place or some of them, some of those boaters, those boat captains who take people out on fishing charters, people are canceling on them left and right because people just believe all the waters are tainted and soiled right now. But that's certainly not the case.

At the same time, some people -- I mean, a lot of areas, a lot of shrimp, a lot of wildlife, a lot is being affected. In particular, the Louisiana Shrimpers' Association is upset and in particular over the cleanup failures that we have seen up to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINT GUIDRY, ACTING PRES., LOUISIANA SHRIMP ASSN.: On any job in this country that I've been on, if I'd have nine accidents in a 36- day period, I wouldn't be on the job very long. And probably, if I had 11 killed to go along with that, I'd be behind bars. That's where these people need to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: A lot of outrage -- a lot of it directed at B.P. right now. Understandably so.

The shrimpers association claimed that the oil dispersants are making some of the cleanup workers ill. Some of the cleanup crews want better air quality monitors. B.P. says it's been providing recovery workers with the necessary equipment while conducting the daily air quality tests. What we do know that at least nine different workers have been sick. Some had to go to the hospital because they got sick after breathing in some of the fumes out there and toxic air.

One of Louisiana's most outspoken critics of B.P. has more to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: This guy is no leader. All he's done is critique and criticize everything we've recommended. But he's offered no solutions in return. A leader has a plan, executes the plan. He's executed nothing but excuses. He's done absolutely nothing. He is -- he is an embarrassment to this country and he ought to resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We will tell you exactly who Billy Nungesser was talking about. He, of course, is the president of Plaquemines Parish. And his frustration is getting to a boiling point right now. He is going to be live with us in just a moment.

Stay here. It's 11 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING, about a quarter past the hour now.

We want to talk to someone who's been very vocal critic of what's been happening in the Gulf Coast, critical of the government, critical of B.P. and the whole response to this oil disaster.

Billy Nungesser is the president of Plaquemines Parish, first part of the Gulf to get hit with this slick. He joins us now live from the phone, from Venice, Louisiana.

Mr. Nungesser, sir, I appreciate you giving us some time this morning. A lot of people are putting a lot of faith in this top kill method. Hoping it would work. I don't know how much faith you put into it.

But what is your reaction now this morning after hearing, in fact, that it did not work?

NUNGESSER (via telephone): I'm devastated. You know, I was going on the stage at the Plaquemines seafood festival. I was just introduced by the fair chairman. And I look out into the crowd and Chris Roberts of Jefferson Parish showed me on his BlackBerry that it failed. And my knees got weak. I looked out into the crowd and I forgot what I was going to tell them.

And I didn't have the heart to tell those people it failed. I just -- I didn't know what to tell them. HOLMES: So, here we are, the next morning, the day after. Again, I don't know how much faith you put in the top kill. But from what we're told, this new method they're going to try now, they don't seem to have a lot of faith in that either. How much stock are you putting in this next effort to try to cap?

NUNGESSER: I don't give much stock in any of these attempts until the relief well is drilled. And that's why I'm in Venice this morning and I'll be meeting with B.P. officials here. And I've tried to call the president of B.P. and I have urged everyone, it's time for B.P. to step up to the plate. Don't wait for the president.

I had a good meeting with the president. We have made a lot of changes the last few days. I'm down here. We're going to have some teams that are going to attack the oil as soon as it hits the marsh, something we didn't have before.

But today, B.P. needs to announce that they will pay for the barrier islands. Don't wait for the president's decision and the cabinet and the Coast Guard to make them do it. Do the right thing. That's the only thing that's going to stop the oil from coming in.

We are dying a slow death. Every time oil takes out a piece of the marsh, a piece of Louisiana is gone forever.

HOLMES: Mr. Nungesser, you understand what's going on, the bureaucracy of it all, more than anybody right now. So, you help us, tell us what you need because you're saying that B.P., your telling them, don't wait on the president. The president has come out forcefully last week and saying he is in charge, the federal government is in charge, directing B.P.

So, how do you see this kind of playing out? Is it the federal government telling B.P. what to do and is B.P. waiting too long? Would you -- would you like B.P. to just ignore the federal government and just do what you're asking them to do?

NUNGESSER: Well, I think -- you know what? Just like I told President Obama, I said, Mr. President, I have to look at people in Plaquemines Parish tonight and say we're doing everything physical possible to save our coastline.

You need to do the same thing for the American people and B.P. needs to do the same thing. And B.P. is not doing it.

Now, the president has promised me by Wednesday, they will make a decision whether they feel they can force B.P. to pay for these barrier islands that have been approved, six of the permits, have been approved by the Corps of Engineers.

There's not one environmental group in the country that said don't do this. Now, I've never seen them all agree on something. They know, if we don't do this, that we will lose coastal Louisiana forever. It's the only thing that will keep the oil out of these marshes. And you've seen the pictures of what happens. Imagine a small storm -- hurricane season starts next week -- picking up this oil, rolling it into the marshes, across all of Louisiana and dropping it like a blanket. We will be wiped out forever.

We are playing Russian roulette with our lives, with our community, and with the wetlands that supply all the nutrients for all the fish in the whole Gulf of Mexico. And it's absurd that B.P. has not stepped up to the plate and said, we're going to do the right thing -- especially since this last thing failed and we are pumping all this oil is continuing to flow. And we got hurricane season next week.

HOLMES: Well, Mr. Nungesser, it sounds like that you're still putting a lot of this, and we heard you say it plenty of times, B.P. needs to step up to the plate. The last thing here before we let you go -- you made some comments about Thad Allen, about -- I mean, you actually used the word disgraced. You're certainly upset at that time.

But do you still think he is -- has he stepped up to the plate as well? Do you feel any differently about him this morning than you did?

NUNGESSER: Well, I'm going to tell you -- I sat next to him and the president in the meeting and I shook his hand and I apologized to him. I said, we've got to do a better job.

I'm going to give them the opportunity. They have put a senior person on the ground here in Plaquemines that has decision-making ability. That is a huge step and we really appreciate that. That's what we need.

We need somebody on the ground that can touch and feel it. We put a plan together which we will present to B.P. this morning -- an aggressive strike team like we did the first time the president was here. Those jack-up boats are out there because President Obama made it happen. We need these other things to keep moving forward.

And I've got to give them the benefit of the doubt. And I know the president cares. I can look in his eye and see it. We've just got to make it happen on the ground here in south Louisiana.

HOLMES: Mr. Nungesser, our heart and our thoughts are absolutely with you guys in the Gulf Coast reason, especially in Louisiana, just an area, quite frankly, everybody believes just needs a break right now and certainly needs some good news.

Mr. Nungesser, we will continue to check in with you. We appreciate your time this morning. And you try to enjoy the rest of your weekend with all the work ahead. Thanks so much, sir.

NUNGESSER: Thank you. Have a good day.

HOLMES: All right. Well, the wildlife, as we know, has been affected there by this whole disaster. And our next guest is part of a group that's working to preserve and protect the beauty and the heritage of the Mobile Bay watershed. Coming up next with this. You want to hear from her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, everyone. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, tracking extreme weather in the CNN weather center.

We are monitoring tropical depression Agatha. While this storm really continues to batter Central America, 30 inches of rain.

You know, it's incredible because Guatemala also faced the eruption of a volcano just days ago. So, the streets many of them in Guatemala City are covered with ash and the water on top of that is clogging the drain so it has nowhere to go. That's where we're seeing tremendous amounts of water on the roads and also mudslides because this is a very mountainous area. So, that's something that we're monitoring here as well.

We have been tracking what would happen with hurricanes mixing with oil as we heard in our last interview. We'll talk more about that throughout the hour. And I'll have more on how each can interact with the other since hurricane season for the Atlantic begins on June 1st.

Stay tuned. We have a lot more to come on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. It's 24 minutes past the hour here on this Sunday morning.

We're talking a lot about the oil spill and the next option now to try to stop this leak. Josh Levs is looking at this for us -- and tell us about this latest -- this latest in another line of options, really.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another day, another effort, right?

And we keep hearing all these terms that are being thrown around a lot, the specifics of how their work can get really complicated. The first thing to know is that, in general, all these different ideas that you're getting operate on the same basic principle. That there's oil gushing forward and what you want to do is get something to cap it off.

Well, the newest thing that B.P. is talking about after saying, top kill did not work is this -- this is the new thing: the Lower Marine Riser cap. And we have some video that represents what it's about. And the idea here is -- again, it's similar.

Here's how this would work and I'll sound a little bit like a mechanic for about 15 seconds using some terms you don't know. But the basic idea is that they need to go in and slice off a little piece of the damage damaged riser from the blowout preventer. And what this does is it brings down this cap. It puts a cap on top of it.

And what they're hoping will be able to happen -- there's actually an image here from B.P. Let's go over this for a second. What they're hoping will be able to happen from this is that this cap will go on top here and ultimately will be able to prevent enough of the oil from seeping out that it won't be a huge problem. They are saying, it will not be 100 percent. They're saying it won't be a complete tight mechanical seal.

But also what happens along this line which is important to understand is that this line will be pumping in a gas that's called methane. Why does that matter?

Let's go to the next video. One of the first things you heard about in all of this was called the containment, right? You were hearing about this effort to block it from the top of the containment dome.

Well, what happened with that containment dome, when they put it on weeks ago, was that these ice crystals formed inside. And the reason they formed is that when water mixes with gas, it forms this ice, and that prevented the whole thing from working. So, the idea behind this Lower Marine Riser cap is that they'll be able to get a cap on, get enough of that methane gas going in, you won't have the crystals, you'll ultimately be able to seal off enough of it.

And I'll just mention to you, this is one thing they're trying. They also got work going on another blowout preventer and they are working on relief wells. And those wells would basically be giant wells that hold on to a lot of oil so the oil isn't there to keep pushing out and trying to gush. So, you're seeing what the rest of what they're doing now -- these efforts for a blowout preventer and more relief wells.

So, T.J., They have these multiple fronts operating at once. But for now, the focus is on this Lower Marine Riser cap and they're hoping that will do it. But, you know, it won't even be able to ready to go for four to seven days. So, we'll keep an eye on how that works once it starts and what's needed past there.

HOLMES: Even if it does work perfectly, they're still saying it's not going to catch a whole lot of the oil, don't know how much exactly. So, we will wait and watch as we have been for the past month or so.

LEVS: Unbelievable.

HOLMES: Josh, thank you so much.

LEVS: You got it. Thanks.

HOLMES: Of course, the economy has been in a downturn for quite some time. When it goes bad, it can change the course of your life. You have to think of something else to do. Well, what if you're just getting started in your life? I'll ask a high school senior who's thinking about college.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLLMES: A lot of students out there are planning for the upcoming summer. But some also need to be thinking a whole lot further ahead than that. They need to be thinking about college.

CNN Student News anchor, Carl Azuz, a friend of our show here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING is here with us. Good to see you.

We always talk about college students getting out into the workforce. And now, they have to change things up. High school students having to go to college, they need to be thinking about this economy as well.

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: They do, too. And they are talking to us constantly about how this is affecting them.

And I didn't necessarily expect that this many students would be affected by the recession because there are a number who are saying, no matter what your economic conditions are, you need to go to college. That education is important. But we asked students on our blog at CNNStudentNews.com, how many of you are having your college plans affected by this recession.

HOLMES: All right.

AZUZ: And the results came in, two-thirds of them, 66 percent of students were tell, as you see from this graphic here, the recession had hit their college plans; 34 percent saying, no, that had not happened.

HOLMES: OK. It affects them. How does it affect them? How are they changing their plans looking ahead to college, going to cheaper places, maybe somewhere closer to home, maybe not the big school?

AZUZ: That's how it's affecting them. The first comment I have for you is from a student named Jessica.

HOLMES: All right.

AZUZ: And she wrote us at CNNStudentNews.com that are right now she is trying to earn money, she is trying to do the best she can in school. Because she realizes if she doesn't get a scholarship, she might not have her choice of what college she goes to. She was afraid she'd have to go to a school that wouldn't give her the best education.

Other students have been talking to us about, as I said, no matter what, you need to save the money, if you have to take out a loan you have to do what you have to do to get to that college that you want to go to. You have to -- your education comes first, in other words, it's not always about what might be preventing you from school but the last comment I have for you I thought was particularly poignant.

HOLMES: Right.

AZUZ: And that's from a student named Garry and listen to what Gary says. He's saying recession made him choose community college. He says it saved him nearly $85,000.

HOLMES: Wow.

AZUZ: And if you want to question his reasoning about going to a community college, all he has to say is compare my debt with yours.

HOLMES: He makes a very good point. You can get a good education in a lot of those local schools. And you know, if kids want to go often to one of those big schools, and the big stadiums even a lot of that stuffs --

AZUZ: But some of them just want to get far from home.

HOLMES: Far from home -- but are kids also getting it in that they can't expect their parents to pay for their education. Like -- oftentimes some parents are able to that but are the kids making that point as well that their parents can't do it.

AZUZ: They are. I mean, in many cases, you have parents who might have planned to send their students to a certain school but because of hard times, because of possibly job losses in some cases, the parents don't have the means to send their students to the schools that the students might want to go to.

So a lot of these kids are kind of looking at alternative decision like community college or many of them were saying, man, I just need to get a scholarship. It's made -- in some cases the silver lining is it's made a lot more students study a lot harder in school.

HOLMES: And step up, always a silver lining. We appreciate the perspective. It's always good to hear.

AZUZ: My pleasure.

HOLMES: You've got some smart kids --

AZUZ: Thank you T.J.

HOLMES: -- that keep up with you guys.

AZUZ: I'm bringing the best of the best.

HOLMES: All right, thank you so much Carl. Good to see you as always.

Well of course, BP is out there and they're trying yet another option to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Exactly how is this all affecting the wildlife? How has the wildlife have been able to hold on so far. How are they're holding up? The next guest is part of a group working to preserve and protect part of that wildlife. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, for millions of people of course, living along the Gulf Coast, this disaster remains really out in the water right now but certainly it is inching closer and closer. It's made it to the shore in some areas as well.

Our next guest has been virtually working around the clock to try to protect Alabama's shorelines and water ways. Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, she has been joining us for the past several weeks since this whole disaster started. Joins us -- joins us now by phone from Mobile.

Casi good to have you with us once again. You gave us some of the sternest warnings about what could possibly come down the road when we first talked to you after the disaster. Now, would you say your worst fears have come true or are they even worse than you could have imagined?

CASI CALLAWAY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MOBILE BAYKEEPER (via telephone): Well, I think that's a hard call. Because there's still -- hurricane season starts in two days. So I'm -- I think my worst fears are probably yet to be realized but I think we're facing it. It's here and it's even here on coastal Alabama as well. Friends are seeing it on shore lines at the beach now.

HOLMES: Give us an idea on that point. Because there's so much has been focused on, you know, the state of course, the shoreline that's closest to where this is all happening. So much is focused on Louisiana. But right there in Alabama as well. Give us an idea of what you are starting to see.

CALLAWAY: And -- and when I spoke to my Louisiana colleagues, they said, this is how it started for them as well. But I've got friends who are taking full advantage of the last -- potential last big beach weekend which should have been our first big beach weekend, who are finding their feet covered with oil.

And you can't see it as well. It's not something visible. But when you get back in, you can see it all over your feet. Also, so many more dead animals, dead sea life that's being washed ashore that people are finding.

We are not getting results back from BP quickly that say why these -- in this case it's hermit crabs. We've heard so many stories of turtles and starting to see oiled birds in our areas as well and not understanding what -- not getting the information we need back out that says, this is why this is happening.

HOLMES: You -- help me understand as well. We talk to so many officials. And we hear that so often that nobody is getting answers they need or the equipment they need. They're not getting something quickly enough.

So, are you running into that same problem? And where is the hang-up for you guys and the delay in getting whether it's information or its equipment to battle this? Where is the holdup for you guys?

CALLAWAY: We -- I think it might be the first thing I said to you the first time I was on CNN frankly. We don't have enough information about what they are monitoring for. We don't have information about what the oil is going to look like when it comes on shore.

We are still fighting the dispersants. We can't believe they are still using it even after EPA told them that they shouldn't. What we need is we -- we finally developed our own volunteer plan and created it and said we're doing this.

So we've been shoving some things down there for a little bit. But frankly, there is very little, easily accessible data on everything from air monitoring to water monitoring to what is affecting or how sea life is being impacted.

HOLMES: Well, Casi last thing here to wrap up with you. Are you -- I know you're battling down there. It absolutely is a battle, it's fair to call it that. The President calls it an assault on our shores. But -- are you feeling any better after hearing the President say that the federal government is directing BP? Do you get a sense that that is happening and that that is going to make things possibly go a little smoother?

Because -- even after hearing the federal government say they're in charge, I hear so many people down the coast like yourself talk about, BP is still the problem for them.

You are trying to deal with BP and BP is not giving you something quickly enough. Where -- I guess, where do you see the problem, is it with the federal government or with BP?

CALLAWAY: I have to say both. BP -- listening to your story earlier that BP's next plan will be implemented in four to seven days and isn't ready to go on the ground today is crazy. But then secondarily when the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, gives a directive to BP not to use the dispersant they are using and then still allows them to continue using it, the Environmental Protection Agency isn't protecting our environment.

Same goes for public health agencies. So frankly, the story we keep hearing from or the line we keep hearing from you all is too little too late. I am with too little but it is not too late.

We need more and we need it now. We need transparency. We need better ability to protect our shoreline. We need no more dispersant, we need no more toxic anything put out to add to what's already a huge toxic problem.

HOLMES: All right, Casi Callaway, I absolutely appreciate you this morning. And we appreciate you being with us throughout. Again, you've been with us for the past month or so since this started. We appreciate being able to check in with you. But if it is all right, we'll continue to do so.

CALLAWAY: Please do. Thanks so much for having me.

HOLMES: Yes, thanks so much. And some things she said, yes, too little too late. She said, it may be too little but it's not too late.

And also, another point she made that this should be the first big weekend for the Gulf Coast in Alabama with the holiday. But she said this is actually for some people the last big weekend because they fear this oil is on the way. This will be the last time they might get a big weekend to enjoy -- enjoy that shoreline.

All right, Casi Callaway thanks as always.

We're going to turn now to our "Faces of Faith". A segment we do here every weekend, every Sunday talking about religion, talking about faith.

Now, this weekend I talked to a gospel singer, a gospel star. Grammy winner Kurt Franklin. We had a conversation and the conversation went into a direction I certainly didn't think it was going to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KURT FRANKLIN, AUTHOR, "THE BLUEPRINT": You can line up all your jump offs, you can line up all your booty calls, but that soul mate, when you love it and you feel me, T.J., I see it in your eyes T.J. You know where I am going, T.J.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: First in our "Faces of Faith" segment is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, in this morning's "Faces of Faith", a man who never knew his father was abandoned by his mother as a child. He was a father himself by the time he was a teenager and went through so many other ups and downs in his life.

He turned to God and music. And today, he is a Grammy-winning artist. He has a new book out for you with a message for you as well, a blueprint for how you can make it through some of those rough areas.

Today, my conversation with Kirk Franklin, part of our conversation is today's "Faces of Faith".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: The book called "The Blueprint", what age were you when you got a blueprint?

FRANKLIN: I was in my late 20s. HOLMES: What do you say -- for most people is that about the time you should get one. Is it different for everybody? Did you have one earlier?

FRANKLIN: You should have one straight out the womb.

HOLMES: Really?

FRANKLIN: Yes, sir. As soon as you land on planet earth, there should be certain lessons that you were taught on how to survive. There should be a survival guide given to you.

HOLMES: The blueprint you speak of, is it possible to have a blueprint that does not have a foundation in God? Is that an absolute must in your opinion?

FRANKLIN: I believe that it is very extremely difficult, yes, I do. And you must understand that when I say God, I am very strongly saying that that is not a religious statement because it cannot be found in religion.

That is the problem with society, is because religion is man's pursuit of God. It is man's definition of God. It is man defining what God is.

And because everybody has their own definition, we have chaos and disorder. When you find religion, you find rules and you find laws and whatnot to do. You have weights upon people's shoulders. People can't keep those weights upon their shoulders because they were not built with all these laws and rules to try to live by.

What I'm saying is that I have found through a loving relationship found in the grace of God, not a church, not a pastor, not a preacher, not a building; something that has changed my life.

HOLMES: Help people reconcile what they might be hearing from you and what they would hear from another religious leader out there. Someone who would come in you say you need to ignore what you have heard from Kirk Franklin. We have rules in the church. You need to do this, this, and this and if you don't do it God is going to punish you?

FRANKLIN: When you go and when you find the real deal, they're not going to sell you on what you can or can't do. What you have to have to not buy. What you have to have to not wear. What you have to have to not give. When you get the real deal, something inside of you is going to let you know, it's the real deal.

Just like, when you find your wife. You can line up all your girlfriends. You can line up all your jump-offs. You can line up all your booty calls but that soulmate, when you learn it -- and you feel me, T.J.

I can see it in your eyes, T.J. You know where I am going, T.J. I can feel you. Get the camera on him. You see him turning red. I saw the light by my lighter-skinned when you started turning red, you know you've got him.

HOLMES: It's clear from what you're saying. Somebody can find God but skip church on Sunday?

FRANKLIN: They could, yes.

HOLMES: Would there ever be a time where you would recommend to somebody, do this on your own and you might want to skip church on Sunday?

FRANKLIN: Just like you can work out at home. Just like you can buy videotapes and you can sit in your living room with your head band on and your tennis shoes on and your tights and you can all the exercise in the house. You can even say, "I'm tired." And you can put it on pause.

Yes, you can do that but will you get the best work-out or will you get a better work-out if you are going into an environment where everybody just came from Krispy Kream, everybody just came from Thanksgiving, everybody's belly is hanging over the spandex. And you got a trainer in there who has been looking at you, who's been taking your weight, who's been training you for a long time. And he's like, come on, we need to go an extra ten more minutes.

I say I can't. Yes you can. Yes, you can go a little bit more because I've been watching you. I'm your trainer. I've got your back.

You get a better work-out when you are in an environment that loves and cares for you and everybody's in the same position than doing it at your house.

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: Kirk Franklin, again, a couple of firsts, I believe, in our "Faces of Faith" segment here but his book, "The Blueprint out in stores now. Again, giving a blueprint for how you can make it through some of the trials in your life.

On Sunday nights on HBO, you see Wendell Pierce -- the man on the video here. He's telling the stories of the trials and triumphs in New Orleans after the storm. This Sunday morning he is telling us about one challenge, another challenge for the area, the oil that's gushing.

That oil is devastating his hometown, yes, of New Orleans. He also is telling us who he thinks is really at least partly responsible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Have you seen this yet -- the HBO original series "Treme"? You see that actor in there. You see him there playing the trombone. You'll see him again in a second. But it is Wendell Pierce. He plays, in a band -- he's kind of a struggling musician there in New Orleans with so many others. He's struggling for gigs in the early days after Hurricane Katrina. It is not all just an act for him. He is actually a New Orleans native; and the oil disaster giving people in the Big Easy new reasons to worry.

I talked to him about it and he includes Louisiana on the list of those to blame. Here is our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: "Treme", what has that experience been like for you to tell that story back in your native New Orleans? And of course, I know you are entertaining. You certainly hope to entertain. But certainly I assume there is another message that you want to continue to -- for people to see and to get out there.

WENDELL PIERCE, ACTOR, "TREME": It is really wonderful on Sunday nights to see the city of New Orleans and hopefully the country, to sit back and reflect on what the human spirit can do in its darkest hours and how the human spirit is a triumphant thing. That's what's happening with the people since Katrina.

That's what "Treme" is all about, to celebrate the human spirit. That's what the blues idiom is about. In spite of losing everything, people will overcome. That's an American aesthetic.

With little, I will create something great. That spirit is evident in New Orleans and we are trying to depict that in "Treme" because we are five years down the road. And while it has been hard and tough. We have made great strides.

HOLMES: What is it like for you now who have been a part of trying to rebuild after Katrina to now have to -- it seems like we are going in the wrong direction. You just -- you're finally starting to get into a good rebuilding place after Katrina and now there is a new mess?

PIERCE: We are seeing another disaster destroy our lifestyles, destroy families, destroy livelihoods. Part of it is heartbreaking. It is angering. It is horrific but it is a lesson not just for us, it's a lesson for America that we have to -- we really have to rethink where we are when it comes to our addiction to oil, because is it really worth destroying everyone's lives like this?

I mean we have to understand that everyone is complicit in this. That we are all contributing to this horrific disaster. We have been in bed with the oil companies for 50 years in Louisiana, taking a risk that no one on the coast of California or New York -- two places where I also live -- wouldn't take, because we know the dangers of it.

We took that risk. We are just like -- it's horrific for me, because it's like a cancer patient. Someone who has been smoking for 50 years being told, you know, they have lung cancer; understanding that you have to look at our complicity in that.

And you know, the reactions and the frustrations at the federal government, I understand the response could be better. But we also have to realize that we have to go to something else, another alternative.

HOLMES: Yes.

PIERCE: What we have to do is realize that this is a teachable moment, a wakeup call. To change our ways; alternative energy is the way.

HOLMES: Is this really stretching the bounds of that human nature and that resiliency to have to go through this again? At some point, are people there in New Orleans just being stretched a little thin with all the disasters and the rebuilding?

PIERCE: I am not worried about whether or not we will survive this. I am worried about if we are going to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.

We have been in a working relationship with oil companies for 50 years. Our legislators have said, that's fine, that's good, but ultimately what have we benefited from it? Those who have lost their shrimping and fishing; the oyster men and women who have lost their businesses, really, is that really worth being in bed with the oil companies?

Some would say we should share in the revenues more. Even if we were sharing in the revenues now, it wouldn't stop the leak that's happening off the coast of Louisiana.

HOLMES: And "Treme" the show airs Sunday nights on HBO. And HBO is owned by Time Warner, the parent company of CNN.