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CNN Saturday Morning News

BP's Top Kill Method: Will It Work?; Criticism of President Obama's Visit to Louisiana; Drug-Related Riots and Clashes With Police in Jamaica; Honoring Troops This Memorial Day Weekend

Aired May 29, 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: Good morning, everybody. Good Saturday morning from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm T.J. Holmes with you on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Hope you're having a good Memorial Day weekend, a good kickoff so far. It's 8:00 where I am here in Georgia, 7:00 in New Orleans where a lot of news is coming out of. Wherever you may be this morning, we're glad you could start your day, your weekend here with us and it is, in fact, Memorial Day weekend.

This is supposed to be a big weekend for the Gulf Coast. Instead we're talking about this mess instead. The Gulf Coast, a big holiday weekend. We're already seeing reports of some 30 to 50 percent decrease in occupancy in some hotels in Florida, people not going because of that.

What would constitute success now on this Memorial Day weekend if that was able to be stopped? It's possible this weekend BP will know if their latest attempt to try to cap that oil well that's still spewing oil, they should know this weekend, they say, whether or not the latest attempt is working. We'll get into the so-called top kill method in just a moment.

Also the president in Chicago right now there with this family, enjoying the holidays weekend as well. But he was as you see in these pictures, in the Gulf yesterday. He was there getting a look first hand at what's happening, his second trip to the region since this whole disaster started. His administration has been getting a lot of criticism for how they've been handling the whole crisis, also some criticism of his very trip yesterday. We'll explain that coming up. We'll be live from the Gulf as well as live in Chicago.

But first, let me give you an update here on some of the stories that are making headlines. Turn to Ecuador first. Look at these pictures, a volcano, yes, in Ecuador causing some problems now. You see that ash going up into the air. It actually closed the airport in that country's largest city. Several towns in the central part of the country had to be evacuated. There are some injuries to report, but still no deaths to report. The volcano has erupted periodically since 1999.

We turn to the Korean peninsula now where the tensions continue between the north and the south. North Korea still using some inflammatory language saying that confrontation will be met with confrontation. This of course comes after the sinking of that South Korean warship that killed some 46. The north and south still butting heads, over exactly who was responsible. China, who was considered really the only true ally to the north has not accepted the South Korean claim that it was a North Korean warship that torpedoed its boat, again, killing some 46.

Of course it is Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget what this weekend is all about. Yes. You'll get to spend family time. People have longer weekends, but this is the point here. The nation stops to remember those who serve, who are serving, who have served and those, in fact who have died in America's wars.

You see this tradition. You see it every year, flags placed in front of each grave at the Arlington National Cemetery, which of course is the home of the tomb of the unknown soldier. We'll be talking about Memorial Day throughout the morning here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Let's head back to the Gulf now where we are 40 days into this thing now, 40 days into this Gulf oil crisis. And BP hopes that we could be hours away from knowing something definitive, that maybe they've gotten this thing to stop. Live picture you're seeing there, that live picture is what's going on still 5,000 feet below the surface of the water. The so-called top kill operation continues to happen.

What this top kill means, they're taking this heavy drilling mud and they're forcing it into that well head. They're trying to plug it up. Then they're going to put cement on top of it, hope to lock it up for good. What you're seeing in that picture, the pictures we've been seeing, we used to see when we first had access to these, it was clearly black oil that was coming out of that well, coming out of those broken pipes.

Well, it has changed a bit, the consistency, the color as you see there and BP says that's a good sign because that (sic) believes and they believe that they're pushing that mud down into that well, that the result is that mud is only coming out now and not the oil. So they believe this is a good sign.

Now, 19,000 barrels a day is the new official estimate from the government, possibly, that is coming out of that well. Originally we were told by BP that 5,000 barrels a day were leaking. BP says we could know as soon as tomorrow if this top kill is in fact a success. We could know at any moment. They think tomorrow will be the time.

If not, the company has some other backup plans, some other ways they want to go about plugging this ruptured well, a couple of versions of what they call a lower marine riser package. They have that waiting in the wings but hopefully they won't have to use it and hopefully top kill is working.

A lot of people in the Gulf Coast want this top kill, no doubt, to work. They want something to work. We're talking about an estimated 19,000 barrels of crude oil a day contaminating the Gulf, the fisheries, the wildlife. A way of life for so many right now being disrupted and threatened. Our Reynolds Wolf is now back in the Gulf. He's in New Orleans. This is his third trip down to the region.

Reynolds, if you can, to begin, kind of give us an idea of when you first made it down to the Gulf after the disaster to now. I know several weeks have passed, but how -- certainly the situation has changed, but the people and their attitudes, their moods have changed a bit as well.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No question about it, T.J.. The first time I went down to the Gulf was down into Venice, Louisiana and there was a sense of bewilderment. People just trying to wrap their minds around this event, this catastrophe unfolding out in the Gulf. You had bewilderment in the beginning.

The second phase, I was actually in Gulfport, Mississippi. When I was in Gulfport, you had a little bit of frustration, but now when I landed yesterday, there's definitely a sense of anger here. The anger is really divided. There are people that are angry at BP. There are some that are angry at the president. There are some that are angry at both those entities and then you have really just the overwhelming anger, they want this stopped. They want and end to it. Hopefully that end will come today or perhaps tomorrow or whenever. This just want it over and done with.

But you have to think of it though as being almost like a severe wound on a body. Once you stop the bleeding, that's part of the issue, but then you have the recovery. So even if we're able to stop that oil today or tomorrow or maybe sometime next week, then we have the recovery. To recover you have to deal with of course the waters of the Gulf. You've got the beaches, you got the bayous but also you have the rehab centers where they've been rehabilitating much of the wildlife.

We had a chance to visit one of those sensors (sic) just yesterday. T.J., the work they do is amazing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very tiny little (INAUDIBLE), little heron.

WOLF (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) rescue center in (INAUDIBLE), Louisiana is a 24-hour emergency room. It may seem odd to be adding more oil to an already oiled bird, but it's exactly what the doctor has ordered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. This helps loosen it up a little bit. So it kind of loosens the oil. You can see it starts to come off. He's kind of this brown color is what his normal color is, but he's got oil under there. I think he got this from walking through the reeds. These little guys eat little minnow and frogs and things and they're in the shallow areas in the grass and of course he got oil in the grass.

WOLF: This small bird is actually one of the lucky ones. U.S. Fish and Wildlife says at least 437 birds have died since the spill began. Only 55 have been found oiled and alive and taken to centers like this one for rehabilitation. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trying to move in through pretty quick, because he is a little bird and he has a very low tolerance. (INAUDIBLE) making sure that oil around his eyes and his feet go up so the poor little bird can eat.

WOLF: Habitats resembling this one we visited off the Louisiana coast provide a nesting ground for all kinds of wildlife. Scenes of broken boom (ph) and encroaching oil leave environmental groups furious.

JILL MASTROTOTARO, SIERRA CLUB: People should be outraged, not just throughout the Gulf Coast but nationwide that our Federal government has a responsibility, give that this is a public resource. This is not BP's Gulf of Mexico. This is America's Gulf of Mexico and we need to come together as a people, as a nation, to ensure that our resource is number one cleaned up, but number two protected.

WOLF: Many of the birds brought into (INAUDIBLE) rehab center are brown pelicans which were removed from the endangered species list only six months ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shy little group. They like to sit in the corner. One of the things that these birds experience when they come here is they're exhausted from struggling in the oil. This is their rest day. They have to sleep, eat fish.

WOLF: Each bird will stay here seven to 10 days for plenty of rest, some testing and blood work and each one is Federally tagged before release to track their progress.

JAY HOLCOMB, DIR., INTL BIRD RESCUE RESEARCH CTR: This was caused by humans so at the very base level, we are responsible for cleaning up the oil. Cleaning up these animals is part of the responsibility. They live out there. It's their home. Anything beyond that is not acceptable to me. It's just about our responsibility.

WOLF: And thanks to Holcomb's efforts, this small (INAUDIBLE) is finally free of oil and will have a second chance.

HOLCOMB: Feel good? OK. That's it. He doesn't look so wonderful, but he'll dry off good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF: Now, when these birds are returned to the wild they weren't just put right back over the same oil plume. What they do is they move a little bit farther to the east or to the west over the open clean water so they'll have a chance of survival.

Speaking of that water, the latest that we have is that there is a quarter of the water, Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, now closed to fishing, but, T.J., as you've been saying all day long, you've been hammering this point home, that means that three quarters of the Gulf of Mexico in terms of Federal waters for fishing are open and many of the beaches are in pristine shape. HOLMES: And that was an important point. Every captain of every fishing boat down there wanted to make sure, they made that point. They are losing business left and right because just people think there is nowhere to fish, there are no fish and also the president making the point that only three beaches are closed in the entire Gulf Coast, just three beaches in Louisiana.

One closed is bad, but still the entire region is open. Folks, you can still go down and visit. Reynolds, again always good to make that point. We appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you plenty this morning and you should stick around with us folks because at the top of the next hour, we break down the efforts in the Gulf Coast to stop that flow of oil and the massive undertaking to mitigate the damage to wildlife.

We're also going to talk live to some folks who think they have some solutions. They think they can help. They have an organic nontoxic answer to the oil spill. We'll be talking about that. We're taking that half hour and talk about some solutions this weekend and, of course, the latest on the top kill. Again, that is going to be in our 9:00 Eastern half hour.

Now, the oil spill not only an ecological disaster. It is becoming, according to some, a political debacle for the president. Let's head to our White House correspondent Dan Lothian live in Chicago where the first family is spending this Memorial Day weekend. Dan, good to have you with us this weekend.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to be here, T.J..

HOLMES: First, has there been any reaction from the White House to the reaction, quite frankly, that the president got after his visit yesterday -- some criticism about his very visit.

LOTHIAN: No reaction yet from the White House on that, T.J., but I'll tell you, the president really wanted to come here for several reasons. First of all, he wanted to show that not only he, but the entire administration really are on top of this situation. He also wanted to take full responsibility for what's going on, that the buck stops with him.

But also wanted to reassure the people, the residents here in the region that they will not be abandoned, long after the cameras leave and these pictures are not being broadcast around the world, that the government will still be here to make sure that they are restored, that they get all the money that they need and that BP will do what it is supposed to do.

Now, normally, I went along with the president yesterday as he took a tour of a beach in Grand Isle. And normally we have to be some distance away from the president, but he waved us over and he bent down and put his hand into the sand and brought up some of the tar balls. He wanted to show what was washing up there on this beach, about seven miles of beach in that area to show how the boom operation was working. From there the president had a briefing with governors from the region, also parish presidents, a chance for them to raise any concerns that they might have. Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said that it was a very productive meeting. That they asked about a number of issues, including what will happen if this top kill operation is not successful. I also asked the president about his sense of optimism.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Mr. President, how confident are you that it will be, that the leak will be closed soon?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I can say is, that we've got the best minds working on it and we're going to keep on at it until we get it plugged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: That is something you hear time and time again, T.J., from this administration, that they're not going to give up on this. One interesting thing though that I saw yesterday was that while the president was meeting with all of the regional governors and also the parish presidents, we did not see him meeting with anyone from BP.

We asked the White House about that. They said this was not a time for the president to meet with those officials, that he has others in this administration who are meeting on a daily basis. You have Secretary Chu. You also have Secretary Salazar meeting with those officials, relaying any problems or any concerns to the president.

This was really a chance for him to sit down and hear the concerns of the people who are really being impacted by this oil spill and one of the things that the president says that he will do is he's tripling the number of resources, people who are coming to this region to help in the cleanup effort. T.J.

HOLMES: On that point about the people he met with, we saw him meet with certainly the governors and some parish presidents and others down there, officials, but some questions, at least didn't see him, meeting openly with maybe some of those fish boat captains, the people who own local restaurants, the people being affected like that. Is that the case? Do we know why or did we not see it and he did it?

LOTHIAN: No. It wasn't that you didn't see it and he did it. He really didn't do it. Last time he came here, remember, this is the second time that he's been here. The first time he did meet with some local fishermen. This time he did not. That was something that a lot of people were talking about yesterday.

Why didn't the president, you know, pull over at the side of a road, perhaps meet with some restaurant owners and just some people along the side of the road? Why wasn't anything specifically set up where he could actually meet with one of the real people, those who are being directly impacted, losing jobs and are concerned about their future?

The administration really just saying that this was a chance for the president to hear about how the operation is going and concerns from the officials who are trying to really make sure that this cleanup effort is successful, also a chance for him to get a first hand look, but yeah, definitely, criticism coming that the president did not take the time to actually get out, shake hands and talk to people on a one-on-one basis or even as a group, those who are being directly impacted, losing jobs and so forth.

HOLMES: You got to run here, but quickly, he's going to keep a pretty low profile in Chicago this weekend with the family?

LOTHIAN: Well -- you know, it's hard to tell whether he will stick to that plan. No public events from what we're told, happening today. Expected to spend time with friends, having a cook out, that kind of thing. But you never know. If for some reason there's something big that breaks on that top kill operation, perhaps we'll see the president come out before the microphones. But right now, supposed to be keeping a low profile on this Memorial Day weekend.

HOLMES: All right, Dan Lothian in Chicago, good to have you, appreciate the update on it all. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you again this morning buddy. Thanks so much.

Also employees of Transocean, that's the company that owns the deep water Horizon rig, they're back in the hot seat today explaining the boat the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. mineral management service what led up to the drowning, downing, I should say, of that rig and that resulting spill? Day four of public hearings begin within the hour. This is happening in nearby Kennard (ph), Louisiana. We're going to be monitoring those hearings, bringing you any developments that pop out of there right here on CNN.

Of course, the president, his trip, to the Gulf Coast. We just saw that yesterday. Criticism of the president, but also some criticism of BP now and a public relations challenge. See all of those folks out there working? Well, some are saying that these were just staged workers, accusing BP of just planting some beach cleanup workers. We'll get into this controversy coming up in a moment.

Also, the streets of Jamaica, empty in some areas after five days of fighting. Police say they still haven't found a drug lord.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A lot of people thinking about what they're going to do for their summer vacation. A lot of people head down to the beautiful island of Jamaica. But some are wondering, is it still safe to go there, after a three-day manhunt that has left 76 people dead. Jamaican police have been unable to find a reputed drug lord that goes by the name of Christopher Coke. Gangs loyal to this Christopher Coke battled police in the Kingston slum that Coke reportedly calls home.

Rafael Romo now reports say police say they are now in control. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the middle of downtown Kingston, a scene of desolation and destruction. Empty streets littered with trash and debris are patrolled by police forces and the military. Only a few residents there to venture out in the open. Kevin Bailey used to have a stand in the middle of the commercial district. What is the situation here right now?

KEVIN BAILEY, STREET VENDOR: It's bad, bad. I haven't been able to sell nothing.

ROMO: How long has it been since you haven't been able to sell anything?

BAILEY: From Sunday till now.

ROMO: Police and military forces have regained control of some streets, but the threat of violence is ever present. Normally on a weekday in the middle of the afternoon you would see many people here shopping and going around their businesses, but as you can see all you can find right now are barricades and the remnants of fires that were burning here just a few days ago.

Even for the state of emergency in place, several police stations have been attacked by heavily armed gangs believed to be tied to drug trafficking. The volatile situation is terrorizing residents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No business is open. Everybody is still indoors.

ROMO: Police say they have arrested more than 500 people, mostly males, in connection with the wave of violence that started on Sunday. Violence broke out in Kingston when Jamaican officials announced they would comply with a U.S. extradition request for alleged drug kingpin Christopher Coke who remains at large. Violent gangs loyal to Coke have been attacking police in an effort to block his extradition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much of the gang activity in Jamaica has been built on 30 years of links between politics and crime and many politicians now are trying to divorce themselves from that position, but clearly there are links.

ROMO: Until recently, the government of Prime Minister Bruce Golding (ph) had been supported by the drug gangs protecting Christopher Coke and had hired a Los Angeles-based lobbying firm in an effort to block this extradition. But a high government official says the only link between the prime minister and the drug lord is that both come from an area deeply loyal to the Jamaica labor party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This area is and has always been a very strong role for the governing party and Mr. Coke's family, leading back even from his father's days, has always been in support of the party.

ROMO: Police in Kingston searched door to door for Coke Wednesday, didn't find him, but arrested several other gang leaders.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Kingston, Jamaica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Like I mentioned before Rafael's piece, a lot of people go down to Jamaica, a lot of people love to go and people are wondering right now, should they still go to Jamaica? Is it safe?

Let's give you an idea. You make up your mind for yourself here, but travel experts say you're more than likely not going to encounter any kind of issues, any kind of violence and this map will help you understand why. Most tourists will fly into Montego Bay. You see it there on the western portion of the island there. They fly into there. Kingston, though, is some 80 miles from Montego Bay where people fly into. Most people you go to Montego Bay, you're going to hit Negril or Ocho Rios.

So Negril is 103 miles away from Kingston. You see it there to the south. Ocho Rios is just 35 miles from Kingston as well. Even if you do go to Kingston we're told most of the violence centered around one particular area, one neighborhood, which is not a tourist hot spot. That gives you an idea, perspective, if you are thinking about a trip to Jamaica.

Well, he is the child actor who burst on to the scene with a catch phrase that you know, oh, so well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY COLEMAN: What you talking about Willis?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: It still makes you laugh. That "what you talking about Willis?" But a lot of people not laughing this morning though because family and friends are remembering Gary Coleman. We're going to be taking a look back in the highs and lows of his life and career, the actor who is now dead at the age of 42. Stay with us for that.

Also dozens of workers help with the cleanup of Louisiana marshes. That's great to the see this taking place, but were they just put there for the president's visit? Some new allegations against BP from some people who live on the coast. It's 24 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: You'll want to stick with us. For the top of our next hour we're going to be breaking down some of these efforts in the Gulf to stop the flow of oil and of course that massive undertaking to mitigate the damage to wildlife.

And we are going to take a peek at a couple of solutions. People think that they can help out. They see this oil. They say they have some ideas. They have some solutions that could help out. We are looking into a couple of solutions, a couple of guys will be here and they will talk to us live and even demonstrate some of their solutions that could help soak up they say, some of this oil. That, plus, of course, the latest on this top kill effort that's going on right now. That's happening right here in our next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

We know now, it's been about 40 days, more than a month and we are still counting to see if we'll be able to see if this BP oil slick spread in the Gulf of Mexico will be able to be contained in any way. Unless you're in the Gulf area you've had to watch this, just had to see it on TV.

But some people who get to see it, smell it. They get to see it up close. There's new technology that will actually allow them to use their phone to become what's called a mobile oil reporter. Who else but our tech guru Mario Armstrong joining us to help explain this. Mario, good morning to you my friend. Good to see you, as always.

MARIO ARMSTRONG, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT: Good morning.

HOLMES: This was kind of cool when I heard about it and it could be quite useful, frankly, to the government officials and also BP possibly. So you go just initially at the top here. Who is this for, first of all? Can anybody do this?

ARMSTRONG: Yeah. Anybody can do this. It's available on multiple phones. You can use your iPhone or you could use an Android phone. And what you can do is basically you download the application. And it's called oil reporter is the name of the application, oil reporter and it enables you T.J. to basically take a photo or upload a video or just type up text about stuff that you're seeing as it relates to oil or impacting your particular area.

You can also answer three other quick questions. How much oil do you see? Zero means it's pretty clear or ten means very thick. And what's the impact to wildlife? Are there animals there? Are they dead? Are they distressed? And third, how is the impact to the wetland? And all of that information gets compiled in your phone and then gets sent out.

HOLMES: Now Mario, who's idea was this in the first place, to come up with this application?

ARMSTRONG: Yes three people are involved in this. The bigger effort is called "Crisis Commons". This is the same group of people that were doing what's called "Crisis Camps" ...

HOLMES: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: ... a group of techies and innovators and people that care have a common issue about service all came together for the Haiti relief effort and started developing technology solutions.

So now we have Intrideo (ph) which is the company that developed the app and then AppCellorator, which is the company that helped make the app available in multiple phones and "Crisis Commons" is the group or the body that helps to get people corralled around publicizing it and using the applications.

HOLMES: Ok, so you become an oil reporter.

ARMSTRONG: Right.

HOLMES: And you report what you're seeing. Put that information on this app.

ARMSTRONG: Right.

HOLMES: Where is that information actually going?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, great question, because if we can't get to the data what good is it? So they actually took a step further and made it publicly accessible data. So once you capture this information and you send it to the Web site, basically it goes to crime -- I mean, I'm sorry OilReporter.org is the Web site, OilReporter.org. And this means any organization can use that data for their own need.

So one organization that's involved is the National Wildlife Federation and they are using that data to understand what impact has happened to wildlife and where.

HOLMES: Ok, any indication if the government as well, and BP, could use this information because as massive as this effort is, they can't be all places at all times?

ARMSTRONG: No, they can't.

HOLMES: A lot of people could be reporters, like we say and they could be somewhere and snap something that could be useful?

ARMSTRONG: You better believe they ought to be using this. And that's one of the things that I'm hoping that you know, with you're bringing this issue out and about, that we make this known. And I think a lot of times people overlook the technology impact, or the techie's impact to -- to what can happen out there.

So I want you to take a look at a couple of these screen shots here of what the actual application looks like on the phone. But you're absolutely right. Government agencies can use this data and also contribute to the data as well as BP could also be doing this.

You're looking at a screen shot now that shows you how can you actually volunteer if you're an individual and you want to actually volunteer and you live in those areas. You can you do all of this right from the mobile application.

So to have this type of data, to have this type of power in your hands, here's what the app looks like exactly when you want to fill out some information. I mean, it's critical.

The thing that's really neat about this is that they developed this application, T.J. in three days. Three days. It normally does not take -- you could not normally develop an application for mobile devices that fast. And to me, that proves that there might be a future framework for a future crisis and natural disasters that happen and that we can rely on technology developers to come up with some solutions.

HOLMES: You know, these are very much -- it's all reporters, but that is very much like our iReporters who help us so often ...

ARMSTRONG: That's right.

HOLMES: ... tell stories. We can't be all places. No matter how wide our reach is. Now, these applications often cost something. This one costs, what?

ARMSTRONG: Yes this one is zero, this one is free.

HOLMES: Zero, this is a free one?

ARMSTRONG: It's a free one. This is all about really giving people the power to have the tools. And you made a good point about how CNN has the iReporters out on the field. We -- we have our traditional reporters, our news reporters that go out, but then, the network understand, hey we could benefit from other eyes and ears that are out there.

And I hope companies like BP and the federal government decide -- you know what -- its better servicing the whole picture if we enable and use this data that other people's eyes and ears can see on the ground for us and help us with information.

HOLMES: Just wrap it up for me one more time. Just tell people again ...

ARMSTRONG: Yes.

HOLMES: ... the name of the app and then also what the Web site was where people can go ...

ARMSTRONG: Ok.

HOLMES: ... and look at all this information. Just give that to everybody so that they can hear it one more time.

ARMSTRONG: Ok, real quick the name of the app is called Oil Reporter. The Web site, OilReporter.org. And I actually have a list on my blog of the four steps that every individual can take to help out. So go to MarioArmstrong.com. MarioArmstrong.com because there's -- there's an upcoming Web conference call happening Tuesday for anyone that wants to find out how they can participate in this effort. That will be happening June 1st.

HOLMES: All right, we need to make sure we get all of that stuff off and I'll tweet that stuff out.

ARMSTRONG: It's cool.

HOLMES: And get it on Facebook and all of that because I know a lot of people ...

ARMSTRONG: Excellent.

HOLMES: ... are going to be interested in some of those like.

Mario, some great, great information that could be useful this morning. We absolutely appreciate it, Mario. Good to see you.

ARMSTRONG: Likewise.

HOLMES: And to our viewers again, you can join us every Saturday around this time. You can see our tech guru, Mario Armstrong giving us the latest scoop on the latest technology.

Again to our Mario Armstrong, thank you, as always.

ARMSTRONG: Have a great Memorial Holiday weekend.

HOLMES: Well, hey thanks so much. Thanks so much, you do the same there, Mario.

Well, this weekend we are remembering so many of the men and women who have served and who are currently serving this country's military. More than 6,000 coalition troops have been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have a new Web site that's paying tribute to them and giving you a chance to send messages to their families.

Josh Levs showed me this a little earlier this morning.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HOLMES: This is a very -- I mean, it's fair to call it -- cool, quite frankly, that you can go through and you can see -- you can find your hometown, your state and actually see people from your hometown, your state, who have been affected by war. But this and by all means, I know you're going to be getting into it in a little while.

LEVS: Yes.

HOLMES: Give us a preview.

LEVS: A preview? Ok. Let me tell you guys all about them. Basically, as you all know, the idea here is that we want to let you know who these troops are that have given their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the Internet has come to play a whole different role in the world in the years since those wars began.

So we have now created this Web site that is called CNN.com/HomeAndAway. And this is it right here. And I'll talk to you a little bit about what it does. Basically, you can click on any region in the country or any region in one of those countries and learn about troops who have fallen there.

Let's look at the U.S. map right here. For example click on any region that you live in, and then you can get even closer. And once you are there, you can learn about each individual fallen troop from that region. How he or she gave his or her life, what happened out there, background, a little more about them.

You're looking at the Afghanistan page there. You can also look at an Iraq page and you can also see it this way, listed chronologically or listed by hometowns or listed alphabetically. You can search. If there's some soldier that you knew or want to find out what happened, you can search by name. All of that is right here.

Let me do this. We're always getting some of this really heart wrenching video from families out there about loved ones who are lost in the wars. Let's take a little clip of that and then I'm going to show you how you can learn more about one soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROLAND GARWOOD, STEPFATHER: He died so the rest of us could have a life here. He gave everything. Everything he had for his family and his kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very good person. Give you the shirt off his back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And the soldier -- the soldier that they're talking about there is Robert Michael Rykoff (ph). So I wanted to learn a little bit more about him, I just went to this, at CNN.com/homeandaway and it's right here, I just typed in his name. And you can learn all about him where he's from, Kenosha, Wisconsin. A little bit more about his background, how he died. How all this came about?

And what this also does is to remind you of the big picture of all this. In fact as I go back here and kind of refresh the screen. What you'll see at the very beginning is this counter that pops up and this for each of the war.

So you have one for Afghanistan right here. This over here is the Afghanistan map and it shows you where troops have fallen. Where you see these big circles that shows you where there's been a lot of violence, where unfortunately you're going to see large numbers of casualties in those areas.

And we have something very similar for Iraq, if you're at the Iraq section right here. It does the same thing. It gives you this counter at the top. We're talking more than 4,000 coalition soldiers who have died in that war there.

You have the map of the United States here. The map of Iraq right here and you can learn about what's been going on, where these troops are. And again, when you see one of these big circles, that's where there's been a lot of violence and you're going to see larger numbers of casualties in these areas.

So it's all up there for you at CNN.com/homeandaway and we certainly hope that you'll spend time taking a look at that this Memorial Day weekend. That's what it's all about.

So, T.J., I'll be talking to you more about this throughout the weekend. I've been interacting with people online as you've been on the air here, and we're hearing from a lot of people telling us they're checking this out and it means something to them. And it is the new era for the way to learn about the troops giving their lives.

HOLMES: I'm so happy we put that together.

LEVS: Yes.

HOLMES: Just the way it's been put together and that interactive. And it's really and it gives you some perspective of just how many, quite frankly, dots that are on that map that represents so many who have been killed in war in the past, just several years, actually.

But I'm so glad we put that together and like you say it'll be up -- it's up now.

LEVS: Right.

HOLMES: It's up and running and it's not going away.

LEVS: Not going away. And we're going to keep updating it every time there's more casualties. It updates every day.

HOLMES: All right, Josh, we appreciate you. Thanks so much this morning.

BP, of course -- no, there were a lot of cameras there yesterday when the President went to visit the Gulf Coast region and some saying BP took advantage of the President's visit and all those cameras for a photo op.

You'll hear the accusations coming from a Grand Isle official.

It's 40 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's now 42 minutes past the hour now on the CNN SATURDAY MORNING. And we're now some 40 days and counting on this Gulf oil crisis. BP still working on its "top kill" method this weekend trying to get the oil to stop.

But an accusation that has now been leveled against the company by an official in Grand Isle, Louisiana, could be potentially damaging, even more damaging for the company, if you could believe that.

He says BP has workers shipped in -- had been shipped in to make things look good for the cameras that were following President Obama around on his visit yesterday.

Scott Satchfield from our affiliate WWL in Louisiana with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT SATCHFIELD, WWL REPORTER (voice-over): Early Friday morning, hundreds of workers showed up to clean the beach at Grand Isle. Now some including two Jefferson Parish Council members accuse BP of staging the work in advance of President Obama's visit.

Grand Isle resident Jerry LaFont says that's what he was told by one of the crew's supervisors.

JERRY LAFONT, GRAND ISLE RESIDENT: I went and talk to the guy. He says, he says no, I was just here for the day. They just came for the President. And I'm like, are you serious? He's like, yes. He said I'm not supposed to tell you that, but that's what it is.

SATCHFIELD: Officials have repeatedly criticized BP in recent days over the amount of people working on the cleanup effort. JP Councilman Chris Roberts called Friday's mobilization of workers a dog and pony show.

CHRIS ROBERTS, COUNCILMAN, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: And it's just a total shame that they would stoop to that level to try and lead people to believe that they have that many assets on the ground, because it's just simply not true.

SATCHFIELD: BP officials responded by saying the influx of workers was all part of the plan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not associated with the president arriving.

SATCHFIELD: It's a point echoed by Donald Nalty the contractor who hired the workers.

DONALD NALTY, CONTRACTOR: We've had 250 people in Grand Isle for the past couple of weeks. Being that we're starting to see some more oil come in, we're thinking ahead, actually developing a western movement plan right now which would entail some more people.

SATCHFIELD: But Councilman Roberts says emergency response workers in Grand Isle also talked to some of the workers who said they were hired just yesterday and were told to report for cleanup today. Nalty denied that.

NALTY: They have at least got to go through a 24- or 40-hour training in order to be out there on the beach. Now, I don't buy it.

SATCHFIELD: So none of those workers who were out there today were hired yesterday?

NALTY: As far as I know, no.

SATCHFIELD: Either way, Roberts is suspicious of the timing.

ROBERTS: When you have people here that are struggling and then you put on a show because you know the President of United States is in town, it's just totally unacceptable, it's shameful and in no way compares to the efforts that they've had in the last few weeks. And I'd like to know who made the decision to do this and why.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, that's criticism of BP and a lot has been directed their way, but a lot of criticism for President Obama as well.

Let's bring in our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser from Washington; A friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING. Paul, good to have you.

The President and the administration, are they clearly aware of all this criticism -- this drumbeat of criticism and what are they trying to do about it?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: They're very aware of it T.J. and it's been growing louder and louder the last couple of weeks. Not only from Republicans -- you can expect that -- but also from fellow Democrats.

And what is the criticism? The administration was too slow and not strong enough in the initial reaction to this oil spill; instead they were letting BP call the shots, that they weren't in charge.

This week you saw the President do two things to try to dispel this. First, he gave a news conference on Thursday. And then yesterday, as you and Dan Lothian were talking about, he visited down in the region.

And you heard him trying to push back on a couple of things. That A, the administration was calling the shots right off the bat; that they have been in charge; that they've been telling BP what to do. And the President was trying to dispel the rumors or the accusations he did not have his eye on the ball right off the top, that this wasn't priority number one.

T.J. this administration, they remember what happened to the previous administration, the Bush administration, and what was perceived to be a really slow and weak response to Hurricane Katrina. That was politically damaging to Bush and to his party. They don't want that to happen to them -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes and it's something we're talking about the exact same region with this crisis as well.

That's one thing, Democrats and Republicans criticizing the President. But what do the people think about how the President is handling his job and in particular this situation right now?

STEINHAUSER: We have a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll over the last couple of days. Take a look at this. First off, this crisis is impacting people not just in the region but everywhere in the country. We asked -- and you can see right there -- 31 percent said the crisis impacted them directly. Another 53 percent say indirectly. So you have most of Americans saying one way or another, this oil spill is affecting them and their family.

How do they feel about the President? Check out the next number. A slight majority are giving the President a thumbs down. They say they do not approve of how he's handling the spill in the Gulf. Other polls from other organizations also show the President in negative numbers on this question.

We're going to keep looking at this. We're going to keep asking this question over the next couple of months. This crisis will continue, obviously.

HOLMES: Yes, it obviously will. But hopefully we get some good news this weekend that possibly this "top kill" is working. Paul Steinhauser, good to see you, as always my friend. Thanks so much.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you T.J.

HOLMES: Tennis star Venus Williams, she is rolling through the French Open right now, but a lot of people are saying that there's a whole lot more than just her tennis skills that are on display.

Oh, Lord, have mercy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.

We are tracking the tropics. It may not be hurricane season yet on the Atlantic side but it is hurricane time on the Pacific side. In fact, we have a brand new first tropical depression of the year in the Eastern Pacific and this storm located right here, if you zoom into this area here, you see that big burst of clouds. The location is 490 miles west of Managua, Nicaragua.

This is not a tropical storm. It's a tropical depression 1E; we're monitoring it for very heavy rain across extreme southern parts of Mexico, Guatemala and you can see Honduras, Nicaragua all affected by this tropical system. So already we're getting off to a pretty fast start with tropical weather across much of the region.

Just to let you know, we are monitoring, of course, the weather in the Gulf of Mexico, T.J. We have scattered showers and thunderstorms. I'll talk more coming up in the next hour about the loop currents and some eddies that have formed and how that will affect the spread or keeping the concentration more in the same position of the oil. That's all coming up in the next hour.

HOLMES: Yes. Everybody's worried about that loop current ...

SCHNEIDER: Right.

HOLMES: And if it's going to will make its way over to Florida, around Florida even ...

SCHNEIDER: Well, we have some new developments and I'll ...

HOLMES: Ok. Bonnie. Thank you. We'll talk to you here in just a second.

Well, the Super Bowl coming up in -- the one that's coming up in four years, in 2014. It's already got some controversy. Why? Well, because people are saying it's going to be played in a cold weather city.

Usually you've got the Super Bowl in Florida. You've got it in California. You got it in somewhere warm. Well, that's not going to be the point. It's going to be in New York-New Jersey in 2014.

So that has us thinking, how many times has the Super Bowl been played in a cold weather city? One time? Three times or four times? The answer -- and also our Rick Horrow coming up after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Before we went to the commercial break we asked you how many times that the Super Bowl has been played in a cold weather city; one time, three times or four times. If you said three -- congratulations; you are correct. Those three places were Detroit, Pontiac, Michigan and Minneapolis. So, congratulations if you got those right.

Well, it's going to be four cold weather places coming up in 2014, because the NFL has decided in fact they will have it in the New York-New Jersey, really, area coming up in 2014.

Let's bring in our business sports analyst Rick Horrow to talk about this. This cold topic, but then the other hot topic of Venus Williams and her outfit over at the French. Good morning to you, kind sir. Why New York?

It's -- the average temperature 30-something degrees in February? Why? You're not supposed to have the weather impact the big game.

RICK HORROW, CNN BUSINESS SPORTS ANALYST: Well, first, it's the center of the sports universe and a big game like this to the international audience from New York is destined to be for the NFL given their media and the juggernaut that's a $9 billion entity.

The other issue is the $1.6 billion, $2 billion for the stadium itself. Maybe a naming opportunity is there that's bigger than before. Finally, the economic impact is over $500 million and especially if the parties and entertainment events, or corporate sponsors, focus on Manhattan and the game itself goes to Jersey.

Minus 2 degrees is the lowest it has been there. I know where you're going.

HOLMES: Yes. Where I'm going, this is all about money. They know people are going to watch the game and don't care if the conditions impact the game. This is a money move?

HORROW: Well, but let's not be so cynical about that. Remember ...

HOLMES: Why not?

HORROW: ... here's the thing. The playoff games are played in cold weather conditions potentially as well. And frankly, this is a game they're risking blizzard and snow conditions. It happened before. Those other three Super Bowls in domed stadiums, by the way, put a dome on, you have conventions and final fours and other things.

So they get a Super Bowl. The question is, if this happens, what about Chicago and Boston and Philly and all of those other big markets with no dome on their stadium? We'll just have to see.

HOLMES: You know -- you know what some say about it. This is the big game. Yes, you have to play playoff games in some cold weather places but this is the one where the athletes do not want the weather to determine the winner of that game. There's a potential for some disaster here, but we've seen blizzards and whatnot. We'll see. It's a few years down the road.

Let me leave this topic so we can get to this other topics and these pictures as well. Can you believe how big a deal this has become? The French Open, we're not talking about tennis, we're not talking about Williams sisters; we're talking about the outfit of one of the Williams sisters.

HORROW: And the outfit of one of the Williams sisters is referred to by Reuters as a black lace corset that's worn in a cabaret, and she's debuted this at the Sony tournament in Miami a couple of months ago.

The interesting thing is the Wednesday when she rolled this out was the day that French school children are given priority tickets, and the teachers were saying what are we doing? Well, obviously, she is promoting her clothing line, which is important. And as you know, it hasn't affected her tennis.

By the way, 30 million tennis players in America now for first time in 30 years, I suspect after this uniform, this outfit, there may a few more that be going to take up the game.

HOLMES: And in fairness, she's been known for some -- I mean both sisters -- kind of some risque stuff, pushing the limits of fashion in the tennis world.

But in some of those pictures people thought they were looking at her bare bottom. And that was supposed to be -- just to give the illusion. It was just skin-colored thing. So you're not seeing what you think you're seeing.

HORROW: A skin-colored thing; that's very appropriate.

Here's the issue. If she continues to play well, Wimbledon, all white. So we're not going to see that no matter what there.

HOLMES: Ok. Any chance in the world she would have worn this anywhere but at the French?

HORROW: You know, she'll wear risque stuff but the French is the place you push the envelope for fashion as well as everything else. And obviously, as we said before, she's playing very, very well. The French needed some extra sizzle, and it has it.

HOLMES: Rick, you and I have talked about a lot and done a lot over the years but I don't think you and I have ever sat up and did a whole segment or half of a segment about a corset -- is that what it's called -- from a cabaret?

HORROW: Yes. Corset -- especially what it means to tennis. How does that sound?

HOLMES: How is that? Rick Horrow. Good to see you as always, buddy. You enjoy the rest of your weekend. All right.

HORROW: Yes, man. See you next week. Bye.

HOLMES: And everybody, you want to stay right here. We have a special coming up in just a couple of minutes. We are focusing on solutions to that Gulf oil spill.

We're not talking about just the "top kill" method thing that BP is trying. We're talking about real people out there who have real ideas. The squid, the smart sponge just a couple. Also an actor's idea for a fix as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president needs to come down to New Orleans and actually help us and do his job. We're tired of him talking like John Wayne and acting like Peewee Herman.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The day that the rig collapsed and fell to the bottom of the ocean, I had my team in the Oval Office that first day. Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the very best people in the world working on this today. We have the very best expertise, we're sparing no resources, we're doing everything we can to bring it to closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everybody, to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. This time every Saturday we take this half hour and focus in on one topic and dig a little deeper. Yes, we're going to be talking about the oil this half hour, however, we're taking a different take on it today. In this half hour we're going to look at possible solutions. Things people have come up with to help, to help stop this oil spill. A lot of people have ideas, they have sent them into BP, they are waiting to hear back. They have heard back in some cases as well, but a range of ideas. We're going to let you hear some of them and maybe BP and maybe the White House listening this morning and grab some of these ideas.

But still, I want to give you the latest on the spill itself. All eyes are on that well head and its so-called top kill solution. BP says we could know today or tomorrow if it's working. Now, the Coast Guard hearings also in Kenner, Louisiana, they continue today as well.

The public wants to know why we've been past 40 days and still the oil is leaking. They have a lot of questions and they want a lot of answers down there. We're monitoring the hearing that's going on this morning.

And also President Obama calling this crisis an assault on our shores. He certainly wants more manpower but still at the same time he is taking responsibility for this whole mess at this point. A lot of people venting their frustration, even BP's top guy, sounding a bit frustrated as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HAYWARD, BP, CEO: I understand perfectly why everyone is angry and frustrated that this leak has not been stopped. I am angry and frustrated. I want this -- thing stopped as fast as I can, as we can. You know, we want it stopped. And we're doing everything we can to stop the damn leak, and we're going to continue to do everything we can to stop the damn leak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, on the gulf coast now, everybody has their fingers crossed that maybe this top kill method will work. BP officials tell us there's a 60 percent or 70 percent chance that it will work. We should know. Again, they're telling us sometime this weekend, possibly tomorrow, whether or not they have found a solution in this top kill is working.

Let's turn now to New Orleans. Our Reynolds Wolf is making his third trip back down to the area in New Orleans this time around. Reynolds, you are our meteorologist by trade, you have been covering this story, of course, but now let's go to some of your meteorology. That background.

We were told this could be one of the toughest, one of the worst hurricane seasons now on record. What does that mean for us going forward?

WOLF: Yes. Well, it could be interesting to say the least especially what we have in the Gulf of Mexico. I mean, even if we are able to cap it or rather the top kill method ends up being effective, we still have the massive oil out there and what may be a very busy hurricane season, seeing a storm roll through there and hitting with that oil will be amazing to see it interact and the possible effects on land.

Now first and foremost, very quickly, the reason why we may have a busy season. There are two big reasons. One, minimal shear. Very weak upper level winds at the part of the Atlantic where these storms would form. That's one thing because we don't have a lot of shear, the storms are actually a pretty good incubator for those to form.

The second thing, sea surface temperatures. Some of the highest, the highest we've ever had on record. So the combination of both of those could mean a very busy hurricane season. Now when those move into, the storms, the big hurricanes, move into the Gulf of Mexico, if they interact with the oil, a lot of people are wondering what kind affect would it have on the storms?

The latest we have from NOAA is they said that the direct effect on the storm, itself, in terms of the intensity would be minimal. You have to think of it as being like a semi-truck going down i-20 or any freeway doing 80 miles an hour running into a giant puddle. The puddle being the oil. The semi truck being the hurricane. It would have a minimal affect.

However, you have to remember, T.J., the storm surge, the water that is pushed by the strong winds, the hurricane, could indeed pick up a lot of that oil and push it inland. So certainly, a very detrimental effect. You can have widespread oil contamination in places that haven't been affected as of yet.

So even though for the time being, Mississippi is in pretty good shape, Alabama's in good shape. You have a big hurricane out there, it could certainly be a transferring mechanism, pushing much of that oil in places where we haven't had any yet.

HOLMES: That is a sobering assessment but an accurate one, as we know. That is the scariest thing. It's not just about whipping winds and whatnot. It's about that storm surge that comes on to make this thing even worse. Reynolds, we appreciate that explanation there.

Of course, Reynolds for us in New Orleans. We'll be checking with him the rest of the morning, as we have all morning long. And the big question still right now -- how exactly did you stop this thing? How do you stop this spill? Well, BP hoping this top kill might work but they've also set up a tip center to take some ideas, they've already taken more than 70,000 of these things, add another 20,000 e-mails to the 70,000 calls, a wide variety of responses.

Let's give you a few now. That BP, in fact, is taking a closer look at. This is one we reported on a while back. A hairstylist suggested stuffing panty hose with human hair. The stylist say that will help soak up the oil in the water. And says the idea was actually tested by NASA and in fact, it worked. Another idea, a Texas Tech professor created non-woven cotton. It says the cotton booms remain strong when wet.

A single gram of the cotton can absorb 40 grams of oil. Also, another idea coming from Kevin Costner. You may have seen this one. Yes, the actor we're talking about here. Actually demonstrated his group's idea in front of BP officials in New Orleans last week, and he's with a company called Ocean Therapy Solutions.

They said they have a machine that spins the water quickly to separate the oil and can process 210,000 gallons of water per day. Also, a man named Tim Johnson has come up with an idea that he calls the squid. It involves a heavy ring attached to a reinforced tube that collects oil as it floats to the ocean's surface.

One more to share with you. From Alan Peterson of Florida, he says that he has a fabric that he calls X-Tex. And that it absorbs 20 times its own weight in oil. I want to take another look at another idea that's giving some attention. This one is called the smart sponge. Now, the inventor is joining me now from Mountain View, California, to explain how this works.

This is an interesting one. Smart Sponge. Now, I think you have a demonstration for us as well, but first of all, just tell me what this thing is.

GORDON BROWN, V.P., ABTECH INDUSTRIES: Well, actually, I'm not the inventor of the (inaudible), but this is Smart Sponge Technology. It was developed in the mid-1990s and we brought it to the industry. It's a patented polymer that absorbs hydrocarbons out of water. We originally brought it to market under the acronym OARS, Oil Aquatic Recovery System. And the oil industry didn't pick up on it.

We spent a couple years trying to crack into the industry. They have their own proven traditional methods that they just didn't want to break away from. This is a little more expensive product but highly more effective. It absorbs hydrocarbons at a molecular level out of water.

HOLMES: What affect, Mr. Brown, is this going to have? Because we're talking oil here. You think you have something that could work and could help, but could you produce this, and have it have an affect on this large of a scale with a spill this large?

BROWN: Absolutely. We got a unique presence in the marketplace there. We're redirected our factories and everything in the last four weeks to be producing full time. We could create booms and filtration boxes.

HOLMES: How quickly would you do that? How quickly?

BROWN: We're producing them now. Actually, we've got warehouse in Phoenix, Arizona that's full of material and quite frankly just waiting for an order. We've been waiting for BP, and we've been working with them and talking to them regularly. And they just haven't pulled the trigger for whatever reason yet ...

HOLMES: They haven't pulled the trigger, but you are in touch with BP. I guess, you have gotten at least some good feedback from BP? Correct? BROWN: We certainly haven't gotten any negative feedback. Haven't said no. We're in contact with their Deep Horizon Command Center. We've registered with every state. We've done all the forms and brought our products to their attention. We're quite certain they're aware of it.

HOLMES: And you're ready to go, it sounds like.

BROWN: We're ready to go. We want to get our products down in the water to get them deployed.

HOLMES: How wide of an area? And again, we're going to have a demonstration here, for our viewers, we're going to let them show us in a second, but how wide of an area could you cover with this stuff that you're producing? I know you're still producing some but give us an idea, so massive area out there of this oil. How much could you have an affect on?

BROWN: Well, it is a massive area, and our, really, we're not the first line of defense. We aren't the containment booms. But we are, what we call the last line of defense. Our absorbent booms can absorb oily sheen water and prevent it.

When I saw these oils sheens going into the marshlands in Louisiana last week, it just sickened me because I believe we can prevent that from occurring and the pristine beaches in Florida, we can lay these booms out across those areas and actually absorb the oil. It's not just moving it.

HOLMES: All right.

BROWN: Then it can be removed and the water will not leech out of this product as you're pulling it out of the water. It's permanently bonded to the product.

HOLMES: Last thing here. I think you have a demonstration. You can give us?

BROWN: Yes.

HOLMES: Kind of talk us through it and quickly we'll show our viewers what's happening here and you tell them what's happening.

BROWN: Yes. This is our Smart Sponge product and this is just some regular tap water. I'm going to take a vial full of oil and diesel fuel here. And I'm going to mix it into the tap water. And you'll see I'm going to shake it up here. And then I'm going to take this oily water mixture and this is at much higher levels than storm water runoff but probably comparable to some of that very oily water that you're seeing along the Gulf coast.

HOLMES: All right.

BROWN: And I'm going to pour it through our Smart Sponge media here and you see the water actually flows through the media, but the oil is retained in the, in the media and it's permanently bonded. And so as the water flows through, the oil is retained. This material can actually be taken to a landfill. It will not leech out. This is non- hazardous, or better it can be burned at a waste energy facility at about 18,000 but and it can create about 350 pounds of Spence Smart Sponge fully absorbable will create about one kilowatt of energy.

HOLMES: So it stuck to that sponge, the oil is not going anywhere, it's not going to seep out and it looks like all you have that came out in the tube is the water.

BROWN: Clear water. The oil's in the sponge.

HOLMES: Mr. Brown, I guess, a lot of people might be saying get that guy down to the gulf after seeing that demonstration, but this is what this half hour is all about. You are one of again, tens of thousands now who have these ideas. And quite frankly trying to help. I know you got a product and you're leaping to sell as well. But still a lot of people have good intentions and certainly would want to help down there.

Mr. Brown, we appreciate you being with us today.

BROWN: OK. Thank you.

HOLMES: Well, we hope to follow up with him at some point and maybe BP will be using that product. Just one of a number that we're sharing with you in this half hour. So stay with us.

Another solution coming up a little later, another demonstration as well, coming your way.

But first, hurricane season just a couple of days away. Bonnie Schneider is keeping an eye on a tropical depression. We got one to tell you about in what's supposed to be a really hectic and tough hurricane season.

You'll find out where this one is. It's 15 minutes past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHNEIDER: Good morning, everyone. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. We are tracking the tropics. It may not be hurricane season in the Atlantic, that will begin Tuesday, June 1st. But already we have a tropical depression in the Eastern pacific. Take a look at this. Tropical depression 1E has formed and is well offshore, 1490 miles west of Managua in Nicaragua.

However, tropical storm warnings are in effect for most of extreme southern Mexico here. Guatemala, Honduras, we'll also be watching for heavy rain in El Salvador with this system. Maximum winds with tropical depression at 1E were at 34 miles per hour. So we're tracking that.

Now speaking of the tropics, another thing we're monitoring, of course, is the Gulf of Mexico. We talked a lot about the loop current during hurricane season because it can ignite the intensity of storms.

Well, something interesting has occurred in the past week. And Eddy has formed. Imagine that, Eddy almost like a circular whirlpool of a current. And what's happening is since that has kind of formed just to the north of the loop current, it cut off the potential for the oil to flow into the loop current, at least the majority of it, for the time being. So this is a positive thing right now.

There are a lot of factors. This is a changing situation. So T.J., we're monitoring it very closely, I just want to mention that Eddys aren't always a positive thing. If a hurricane were to come into the Gulf of Mexico, something like an Eddy would actually ignite the intensity of the storm as well. So it it's positives and negatives.

But right now positively affecting the oil spill.

HOLMES: OK. That's great to hear. I want to hear more about that. Actually we hope to get to that a little more this morning but thank you, Bonnie. We'll check back in with you.

Again, we are focusing this half hour on solutions to that oil spill. Thousands of people have been submitting ideas. Tens of thousands to BP. We just talked to one guy, had something called the Smart Sponge, you saw the demonstration, he put the oil on the, with the water, poured it through, clean water came out. The sponge soaked up the oil.

Well, coming up next, the man who says BP can help clean up the oil with peat moss. He has a demonstration he's putting together right behind me, and you're going to see that right after the break.

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HOLMES: Now again, this half hour we are focusing on private citizens who are trying to help. They believe they have some viable solutions that can help that oil situation, stop, at least, some of that oil from getting to the shore.

We have Ed Kapur, who is here with us from American Product Enterprises Corporation. You have a whole demonstration here set up for us. Tell us first though what exactly is your idea?

ED KAPUR, AMERICAN PRODUCT ENTERPRISES CORPORATION: Well T.J., it's an organic product that's derived from a stagnum dehydrated peat moss, and then we process it to a certain consistency like this one you see here.

HOLMES: It's organic? So that helps.

KAPUR: Yes, 100 percent organic. It's also microbial, which means it has microbes in it that will actually at the oil that's absorbed in the product over a period of time.

HOLMES: And we know you contacted BP as well. We'll tell people in a second the reaction you got from BP. But show us first of all. We have the water here. You got some oil. So just go ahead and walk us through it.

KAPUR: OK. Well, I'm going to demonstrate here a little bit of motor oil. Just get this out of the way.

HOLMES: Just throwing some oil in there. All right.

KAPUR: A little transmission fluid. Get a little dark color. Got some vinegar, we'll get some lettuce and tomato -- just kidding. Just throw a little bit down on there, on the spill.

HOLMES: And so what's it doing? What is it supposed to be doing? Suppose this was the Gulf and you threw this on top of it?

KAPUR: You see this dark color. I don't know if your audience can see it, but it's dark in color. That means it already came in contact with a petroleum product, At this point, it's already out of the water, believe it or not. It's not in the water anymore.

In fact I want to simulate a feather duster. A duck floating in the spill area. No oil.

HOLMES: And no oil comes out on it. Just a little of that -- moss.

KAPUR: (INAUDIBLE) the product, not in the water (INAUDIBLE)

HOLMES: And so would you go back and then scoop it -- you would skim?

KAPUR: You skim it out. It's much easier to do it that way. There's no need for backtrack to a vacuum.

HOLMES: So this will work and you use a little motor oil and some things here. But you're saying this will work on the ...

KAPUR: Crude oil, no oil on my hands.

HOLMES: Now, tell us, we know you got ahold of BP and put your idea out there as well. I think you said, you got ahold of them almost immediately after the disaster?

KAPUR: About three days after I called and he gave me a number. They e-mailed me a form, I filled out the form. I'm putting them, doing another demonstration for you while we're talking.

HOLMES: Go ahead.

KAPUR: Fill out the form and about a week later they just say that they don't think it would be appropriate, or the type of product they would need with the type of spill that they have.

HOLMES: Do you buy what they're saying?

KAPUR: No.

HOLMES: Do you think they have reasons for it? Or do you disagree and think could you help out?

KAPUR: No, I think that I don't have "the" solution. No one does. I don't have one product that will take care of it. No one does, but I think that my product could definitely be helpful, on water spills, especially in wetlands and marshlands, because it's microbial and encapsulates on contact.

HOLMES: And one more time, what this stuff is? This is ...

KAPUR: Spagnum dehydrated peat moss, and if you try it out and then we process it, as I said to this consistency.

HOLMES: Well, Ed Kapur, we appreciate the demonstration. And again BP watching, and maybe anybody else out there, watching we just want to share some ideas and biting a couple of folks in.

This is among tens of thousands really of ideas that people have. Just trying to help out.

Ed Kapur, we appreciate the demonstration.

KAPUR: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: All right. Quick break here, folks. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We'll be back on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING at the top of the hour with more live news. Want to hand it over to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" right now.