gentlemen. they will lead the national commission on the bp oil spill in the gulf. it is now think it is internment of disaster of its kind in our history. their job, along with other members of the commission, will be to thoroughly examine this bill and its causes and that we make -- and to ensure we never face such a catastrophe again. we are continuing our efforts on all fronts to contain the damage from this disaster and extend to the people of the gulf the help they need to confront this ordeal. we have mounted the largest in the effort in the nation's history and continue to monitor, minute to minute, the efforts to halt or captured the flow of oil from the wrecked well. until the well is stopped, the multiplied -- we will multiplied our efforts to meet the growing threat. . .

i've also directed janet napolitano and thad allen to triple the manpower in those places where oil has hit shore or is within 24 hours of impact. the economic response continues as well. we have ordered bp to pay

economic injury claims and we will make sure they deliver. the small business administration has stepped in to help businesses by approving loans and allowing deferrals of existing loan payments. we have stationed doctors and scientists across their region to look out for people's health and monitor any ill effects felt by cleanup workers and residents. and we will absolutely continue to hold bp and any other responsible parties accountable for financial losses borne by the people in the region. but our responsibility does not end there. we have an obligation to investigate what went wrong and to determine what reforms are needed so that we never have to experience a crisis like this again. if the laws on our books are insufficient to prevent such a spill, though laws must change. if oversight was inadequate to enforce these laws, oversight has to be reformed. if our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction,

my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the gulf region. when interior secretary ken salazar took office, he found the minerals and management services agency that had been plagued by corruption for years , underscored by a recent inspector general report that uncovered appalling activity that took place before last year. secretary salazar immediately took steps to clean up that corruption. but this oil spill has made clear that more reforms are needed. for years there has been far too cozy relationship between oil companies in the agencies that regulate them. that is why we have decided to separate the persons -- the people who permit offshore leases, who collect revenues, and who regulate the safety of drilling. we have placed a six-month moratorium on drilling new deepwater oil and gas wells and

the are, shall. and now that a 30-day safety and environmental review is complete, we are making a series of changing. there are aggressive new operating standards which we will put in place. i have also called on congress to pass a bill to provide critical resources to respond to this spill and better prepare us for any spills in the future. now all that has to do with dealing with the crisis at hand. but it is critical that we take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how our government oversees those operations. that is why i signed an executive order establishing this national commission, and i am extraordinary pleased that bob graham and bill reilly have agreed to be as cochairs. bob turner -- bob served two terms as florida's governor, represented florida in the senate for almost two decades. he earned reputation as a champion of the environment, leading the most extensive environmental protection effort in the state's history.

bill is chairman emeritus of the board of the world wildlife fund, and is also deeply knowledgeable of the oil and gas industry. he was also epa administrator during the first bush administrator, serving during the exxon valdez disaster. i cannot think of two people who will bring greater experience or judgment to this task. i personally want to thank both of them for taking on this arduous assignment, for demonstrating a great sense of duty to this country. very soon i will appoint five other distinguished americans, including leaders in science and engineering, to join them. and the war -- and they will work alongside other ongoing reviews, including an independent examination by the national academy of engineers. i have authorized the commission to hold public hearings and to request information from government, from not-for-profit organizations, and from experts in the oil and gas industry both

at home and abroad, including bp, transocean, halliburton, and others. in doing this work, they have my full support to follow the facts wherever they may lead without fear or favor. i directing them -- i am directing them to report back in six months with options for how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling. as a result of this disaster, lives have been lost. businesses have been decimated. communities that have already known great hardship now face the specter of sudden and painful economic dislocations. untold damage is deep -- being done to the environment that last for decades. we all off -- we owe all those who have been haamed as well as future generations all full and vigorous accounting of the events that led to what has now become the worst oil spill in u.s. history. only then can we be assured that deepwater drilling can take

place safely. only then can we accept further development of these resources as we transition to a clean energy economy. olly then can we be confident that we have done what is necessary to prevent history from repeating itself. thank you very much, everybody. >> attorney general eric ober confirmed that a criminal investigation into the gulf oil spill has been ongoing for several weeks. he spoke with reporters following a tour of the gulf region. from new orleans, this is about 10 minutes. >> the afternoon. this morning i survey just one small portion of the damage caused by what is now largest oil spill in the history of the united states. i was briefed by coast guard officers involved in the

massive response effort, and also surveyed the louisiana delta were the early signs of oil in treating entity at the system are all too evident. it is heartbreaking to see. our team from washington met with the attorney general and u.s. attorneys for the state whose citizens have been impacted by this disaster, to discuss how we can work together to respond to this bill. as you know, the president on friday reiterated that the first and foremost goal of the government is stopping the leak, containing and cleaning up the oil. helping the people in this region get back on their feet and to return to their normal lives. but as we have said all along, we must also ensure that anyone found responsible for this bill is held accountable. that means in forcing the

appropriate civil and if warranted criminal authorities to the full extent all balal. what we saw this morning was oil for miles and miles and miles. oil that has already affected land and animal life along the coast, and has impacted the lives and livelihood of all too many in this region. this disaster is nothing less than a tragedy. there is one thing that i will not let it be forgotten in this incident -- this must not be forgotten. in addition to the extensive costs being borne by our environment and the communities along the gulf coast, the initial explosion and fire also took the lives of 11 rate workers. 11 lives were lost. this we must never forget. as we examine the causes of the explosion and the subsequent spill, i want to assure the american people that we will not

forget the price that those workers paid. during the early stages of the response efforts, i sent a team of attorneys including the head of the anbar mall and natural resources division, and the head of our civil division, tony west, to new orleans to protect not only the people who work and reside here at the gulf but also the american taxpayers, the environment, and the abundant wildlife in this region. they have been working diligently ever since we got here to coordinate the the government's response. as we move forward, we will be guided by relatively sense of -- simple principle. we will ensure that every cent -- every sense of taxpayer money -- will be repaid and that damages to the environment will be reimbursed. we will make sure that those responsible clean up the mess that they have made it and restore or replace the natural

resources that were lost or injured in this tragedy. and we will prosecute to the fullest extent of balal anyone who has violated -- of the law. among the many statutes the attorney general's are reviewing all our the clean water act as well as civil penalties, the oil pollution act of 1990 which can be used to hold parties liable for cleanup costs and reimbursement for government efforts. the migratory bird act and endangered species act which provide penalties for injuries and death to wildlife and bird species and other traditional criminal statutes. there are a wide range of possible violations under the statutes and we will closely examine the actions of those involved in this bill myriad if we find evidence of illegal

behavior, we will be extremely forceful and our response. we've already instructed all development parties to preserve any documents that may shed light on the facts surrounding this disaster, and our review will expand in the days ahead. we will be meticulous. we will be comprehensive. we will be aggressive. we will not rest until justice is done. now while the federal government continues to focus on stopping the leak and responding to the environmental disaster, the department of justice will insure that the american people do not fit the bill for this disaster -- for what the bill for this disaster. that is our responsibility, and we will do nothing less. we would be more than glad to respond to any of your question. >> is this an official criminal investigation that you are announcing today? >> yes, we have begun both a

criminal and civil investigation, as is our obligation under the law our responsibility is clear to enforce them and we will do so. at the same time, we are mindful of the government's first priority, to stop the spill and to clean up the oil. we're taking the steps necessary to enforce our laws while ensuring that we do nothing to jeopardize that response efforts. but we have begun both a criminal and civil investigation. [inaudible] we have what we think is a sufficient basis to have begun a criminal investigation. [inaudible] that is a part of the necks that we will be considering. there are federal charges that can include a wide range of things that have happened, both

with regard to everything from birds who have been harmed, killed, the spill itself, and then with regard to the timely and tragic deaths of the r loewsig 11 workers. -- those 11 rig workers. [inaudible] >> that will plan was approved by mms. howdy reconcile that conflict there? -- how do you reconcile that conflict there? >> we will look at the suits what action is a program. the thing i want to emphasize to date that the focus of our effort is on making sure that we act in a way that is consistent

with the cleanup and that we are responsible in doing what we can to make sure that we hold accountable the people who are responsible for this bill. -- for the spill. [inaudible] i would not describe exactly is under investigation. it has been going on for some time. i do not want to specify at this point who would be targets or subjects of that investigation. we're not in a position yet where in our own minds we have come to conclusions as to who should be all tamale held liable. i do not want to cast aspersions unnecessarily. the investigation has been ongoing but we're not near the end of that investigation. we began some weeks ago. [inaudible] we certainly have these two

deficience, lawyers working on that. we have investigation agencies from a variety of places that are including the fbi. we are taking the full weight of our investigative capabilities to look at this matter so that we can resolve this as quickly as we can, hold people accountable, and do so in a way that does not in any way have a negative impact on the clinic -- cleanup effort. >> going after bp for misleading the public as to the extent of this bill vote -- of this bill both before and after? >> i would not differentiate at this point is this -- except to say that this is a comprehensive investigation, looking at a wide range of things from all statements to the way in which

certain entities conducted themselves. there's really nothing that is off the table at this point. >> [inaudible] >> we have begun a criminal investigation. we have to feel that there is a sufficient factual predicate for us to open a criminal investigation, and as i said, that threshold has been passed. [inaudible] these are all u.s. attorneys as well as people from washington. we just met with the state attorney general from mississippi, alabama, and the state attorney general from texas as well and a louisiana. we just met with them. i think we can safely say thht we are all on the same page and we're dedicated to pursuing this

action in all the things that we do in concert with one another. we tried to form a working plan so that we can be protecting the people who work -- who we are sworn to serve. i would simply say that there are actions that the states have been taking, actions we have been taking, and we have been coordinating the and we will be courting -- coordinating them to a greater degree for future interaction. >> coastguard admiral thad allen said it could be three days before bp is able to install a new pipe for collecting will from his broken l at the bottom of the gulf of mexico. admiral allen is the top government official in theegulf. he also talks about new areas where oil is being discovered and the efforts to prevent it from coming onshore. this is about half an hour.

>> we had our leadership transition in louisiana. mary landry has been coordinating the response so far. she has returned to our duty as the eighth district commander here in new orleans. it is the start of hurricane season and she needs to be focused on threats that she is responsible for. i want to thank her for the outstanding job that she did in leading a remarkable and unprecedented response. the interagency folks have been involved in staten local post as well.

the person to relieve me as commandant of the coast guard is going to want her there. she will be replaced by someone working with her for the past few weeks. he has been right beside her, helping in assisting her, and we will be in good hands moving forward. the goal is to have me to speak to you on a daily basis. many times that will be down here in the region, and in washington, we will make that available for you. that goal was to create a broader picture of the response, what is going on, and i will speak frankly and answer your questions. i would be glad to many -- answer any questions when we go to question and answer. a couple of days to talk about today. we're in the port authority building down on the water three this afternoon we will be in a meeting of state and local representatives and federal partners and representatives of

academia. we are going to talk about the proposals by the state of louisiana to discuss it -- to construct barrier islands or berms both to the west of the mississippi and east toward the chandeleur islands. this is a topic of intense discussion with the president last week. he conveyed me to develop information, on the pros and cons, is this an effective way to approach this? what should we be concerned about and the critical elements of information that we need moving forward? that will happen this afternoon 3 we will have that meeting and then we will report that back to the president. with my recommendations. we're in the first process of moving into the ability to control the oil leakage. during this last weekend, we

tried the top kill exercise. there were three different attempts on three separate days. unsuccessful in overcoming the pressure of the hydrocarbons coming up. we're going to oil containment+ rather than capping the well. that involves a couple of things this afternoon for one is cutting the riser pipe. and then going and what the sec it cut and we will attempt to get that as close to the top of a lower marine riser package as we can. hopefully get it as perpendicular to the pipe as we can. we want to do that with two options. we have a top cap, a much tighter siegel, a large rubber gasket that goes over the top to ensure minimum amount of oil leaks out. if we do not get that, we will get another defies over it. we want that first option if we can do it.

that would depend on the results of that second cut, that time and wire cut. -- the diamond wire cut. after that, we want to take the oil to the surface, and ticket to the shore by tanker or barge. as we move to containment, we introduced risk factors that we need to be aware of. what we cuts -- once we cut the pipe this afternoon, the technical group that works with me estimates that we could see during that period before the cap goes on a 20% increase in oil flow. we've discussed with british petroleum mitigation measures as we move forward to try to mitigate the impact. the fact of the matter is that there will be a period of time

will there will be hydrocarbons coming out of the wealth while we cut the pipe, remove it, and put the cap or the top half in place. the second point is that we're moving to a hurricane season. we're going to be producing oil to relieve the pressure. we have to consider hurricane weather and what to do about that. there are a couple of options under way right now that would include all floating production facility that is easy to be separated and moved all until we get the violent weather and hurricane season pass. those plans are being finalized right now. i would be glad to give you more information on that. our concern right now is that we do nnt have the well capped. therefore there is a possibility during hurricane season that will have to go off station. we need to understand the conditions. and do we have a way to do things like treat the oil what

dispersants? those plans have been requested and are being developed by bp right now. finally, the weather has moved to the south. as i've stated many times, this is not a huge monolithic oil slick. a bunch of small or oil slicks, some very large, 15 miles in length and a couple of miles in with scattered over 200-mile radius. the reason we have this aggregation of small or spills is that the oil comes to the surface, with different conditions regarding current, when it, and tied moving themmin different directions. is starting to move up toward mississippi and alabama. we have reports of contacts in mississippi of tar balls on dauphin island. to the extent that it is required, with or removed -- we will move resources that

direction. any questions for me? >> the white house expressed frustration over inaccurate information coming from bp. there is a representative from the coast guard standing with them at every single press conference. if they were giving bad information, why did not somebody from the government column on the spot? >> i am not sure about the specific reformation. there may been disagreement on the flow rate after the riser pipe was cut. that was a technical group. >> can you explain what bp is not here? thlaw will there be no more joit press conferences? >> are people in rochester are breast of what is going on. i think we need to be

communicating with the american people through my voice as national incident commander. that does not mean that we're not talking with bp. we need to understand what they're doing with both the coast guard and the national incident command. >> we have yet to see or hear a timeline for what is happening with the operation starting this afternoon. can you help us out with a time frame of what you expect in the next days or weeks? >> what is going happen is your -- as soon as the shear cut is made, and theydiamo aimn -- then they will use a diamond wire saw for a second cut.

the top hat and gives a greater integrity of the sealed. if they cannot do that, then the top hat will be applied. there will be a period of time to move those in the place. once those caps are on, whichever is determined, then it will put that to the enterprise festivals' -- vessels on the service. the time line between when that cut is made and the cap is in place it could be anywhere from 24 to 36 hours, it could be up to 72 hours to start production. we will be refining those numbers. [inaudible]

>> it was much larger than what bp had said. what discussions with you have this afternoon about how much of barrier island will be used? >> you can talk about how much is all right now, but if you look at the extremities', it's clear in places to the west and up by the chandeleur islands. that is an area within which is the proposal for the berms. i think the extremities' had bracketed the area and to find a proposal by the state of louisiana. -- and to find -- defined the proposal by the state of louisiana. that is what the discussion will be about today. the truth.

we're trying to make -- this is a very complicated proposal, something never contemplated before. a lot of pros and cons associated with a time to build it. everyone understands that a physical barrier will have some positive affect on preventing the oil from getting to the marshlands. environmentally sensitive area. the construction site might see or what is going on. those of the discussions where it would have this afternoon. -- those are the discussions we are going to have this afternoon. >> do you have any estimates on the barrier island? >> we can get into a conversation that best thing for

us to do is to sit down and come up with a common metric. a model of the shoreline does not equate to the impact that we're looking into the marsh. i understand the difference there and we will reconcile the baseline. >> [inaudible] people are still very fearful of the dispersants 3. can you give us an update on public health concerns and what is being done? >> i had a discussion with the deputy secretary of labor. he and i agreed that we need to integrate. we had people down here from labor during occupational health issues.

what i felt we ought to do, because of the enormity of this bill in the anomalous nature, we're in the process of negotiating and it will be done in the next 24 hours, bringing them into the command staff. there will be a formal way to look at protocol, how to deal with safety violations, how to team together with public safety. when we pulled the fishermen off the water last week because of the narva and the dizziness, we had to pull a lot of people together. is there will be a more formal, integrated way for this issue. we of ongoing negotiations, and we will approach it as a team. >> a couple of issues here. talking about occupational health and safety or the dispersants? the issue of the dispersants has

been raised. i'm not sure we understand if there is a connection between the dispersants and incidents of people being impacted by that on land. to that end, epa is doing air sampling around the coastline and water sampling. i don't know if there is a cause between. you want to keep this moving forward so epa will continue to monitor. we need to add understand exactly what the implications are for the dispersants. the protocol of the dispersants, certain conditions have to be met and we will continue to fall on it. >> [inaudible]

>> is not the same one. it is a different containment device. they are smaller and met up that right over the riser package. it actually puts the rubber seal around it. it depends on the gasket and how well it is sealed. cat is the tighter seal. -- cap is the tighter still. if you think of the riser, that is what both of these devices are intended to do. there's the issue of simultaneous operations, on a lot of rov's being staged. >> [inaudible]

>> sure, the first thing to understand is that we're not talking about capping the well but containing the well. there's a difference between of sorting the pressure and being able to hold that until the relief wells is completed. we are containing the well. we're taking the hydrocarbons coming up and ashley bringing them to the service and producing oil and siphoning off national -- natural gas. i don't think we know the condition of it, given the result of the top kill data that we got back we want to get that oil and produce it. we have production going on along the surface. it involves interaction with the weather and we're going into hurricane season. we need to have plans on how to suspend operations if we have

to. and once we get this thing stabilize, bring in larger platforms that the west and heavier whether, knowing that nothing is failsafe with hurricane season coming. there may yet time and we have to disconnect and accept the fact that there will be oil flowing until we can reconnect. the solution will be in august when the relief well is done. i think there's a good level of confidence that one of them will be allowed to contain some oil, larger extent than we could with the riser insertion tube. we continue to break new ground here. >> [unintelligible] >> president, said that a second

relief well should be drilled. could not be secured from another rig now that all other drilling is suspended for six months? >> that is a good point. the second rig was deployed in the second relief well, it was an opportunity to bring a blowout preventer out to the site and case that is the way we wanted to cap the well. that was on the driller -- deep driller two. it takes a large apparatus to deploy this. they put a set that blowout

preventer to be the backup in case the first one was the solution. as they moved into top kill, they thought -- a move it over ready to put it down and that would have been the solution to control the pressure. actually putting the plug into it. that did not happen for their redeployed back and continue drilling. the blowout preventer remaineddd on2 -- remains on dd2. >> another question from telephone. >> [unintelligible]

the u.s. coast guard has blessed the equipment be shipped over. >> we are looking at offers of foreign assistance, reaching out a form a government. we're looking at skimming equipment, and some of those inventories are present and other countries. we're reaching out to the netherlands, canada, and mexico. we also have some aviation access from canada assisting us as well. with the potential of a containment scenario through the end of the drilling of the relief well and into hurricane season, we want to make sure that the type of resources to skim and burn our what we need. and so we're looking at every source of equipment, and that is the type of equipment we will be bringing in.

>> i wanted to ask about a live video feed. is it possible that it is providing too much and not enough information? does it distorts the true picture of what is going on? >> i think he met a great point did we are not horns of a dilemma. everyone wants information about this. they're frustrated, angry, and mad. i think a graphic illustrations of that are clear to everyone through the problem we're dealing with an want something done about it. on the other hand, we're looking at two dimensional video and it is hard to understand what you're seeing. we put people together to put together flow rate estimates, and we had to go beyond the

video to get an estimate that we thought was more accurate and reliable. on the other hand, i think we understand that that is one picture of what is going on down there. this country needs to make sure that while we are frustrated and angry, we have to keep our heads in the game and our shoulder to the wheel, and the american public has to understand that we have to bring this to retreat be apt to contain this wealth and >> the call quality for me has been extraordinary wretched. you mentioned at some point something about -- could you go through that again and what has

gone on with that? >> reports the received as i walked in, and i wanted that to be verified with more accurate we understand that there is oil in contact with the western portion of mississippi sound, and tar balls on dauphin island offshore. and we're going to investigate the right now. i do not have any more information on that when i came into the press conference. >> can you categorize the actual chance of success? it could've been wishful thinking. has the coast guard and taken in

the efforts to make direct estimates of the oil output? >> could you repeat the first question? >> what is the percentage of chance of success of the relief well? >> i will tell you this. when it was known the relief wells being drilled, we directed us that that will be started as a risk mitigation. you have to understand that the current well as about 18,000 feet deep, and we're trying to intercept a pipe from a long distance away. we thought it was prudent to have a backup will -- well dug. if you have to use the second, we will. i not -- i am not sure i want to associate a percentage with that because we're dealing with long distances here. we not that far into the drilling operation. with regard to the amount of

all, there was talk about whether 1000 or 5000 was the right number. it came to be the case that this is a catastrophic spill, and our resources were constrained that that estimate. however, for natural resources damage his assessment, trying to understand the physical impact on the interim pact -- and firemen, we needed a better model for that. to that end, we set up a trajectory group and we revise those estimates significantly higher. while we have better numbers, they are still on a range of 12,000-19,000, and i would caution everybody that we're still dealing with information that is derived from remotely 3 5,000 feet were there is no human access. when we have much better fidelity of information, we're still working with a range here.

>> what specifically will hurricane season mean for your operation? >> there is a standard readiness level that everyone goes through for hurricane season down i'm sure that admiral path is getting his people set up at a higher readiness level. that is why rabble landry has returned to her duties. -- rather admiral -- rear admiral landry has returned to her duties. as i mentioned earlier, we want to bring in equipment that is more seaworthy so that we don't have to work in extreme weather. thank you, folks. [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> i want to understand the installation of this second blow out for better. that option is now off the table? >> yes. >> what the top cap and a top hat and not work? >> what happens is you get a larger domes that are less effective. we may be dealing with this issue until august and we get the relief well the. >> what happened with a jump shot? >> they did that in all three top kill efforts. it did not seem to clog up the top and forced the pressure down. it was not substantial and helping to reduce that threat to the extent that they tried it, it did not create impedance.

>> between the time was cut was completed handicap was placed on? >> about 24 or 36 hours, but that is rock and it will have to be conditions based. >> we cannot physically cap the well. you build up pressure in it which would rupture and come up through the sea floor. thank you. >> tonight on c-span, we continue our look at the gulf oil spill. up next, a talk radio show inside new orleans with eric asher books at the effect this bill is had on the region. after that a couple of republican primary debates, a south carolina gov. debate followed by a debate in nevada

with the candidates vying to replace harry reid. on tomorrow morning's "washington journal," daniel weiss from american progress on the response to the bp oil spill. paul light on ways to streamline the federal government. later, an update on a tax package that congress has been working on. "washington journal" each morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. on c-span2, warren buffett testifies before the financial crisis inquiry commission. live coverage at 8:30 a.m. eastern. >> we've got three new c-span books for you. abraham lincoln, the supreme court, and whose it is buried in grant's tomb."

-- and who is buried in grant's tomb? to order, the two c-span.org -- go to c-span.org/books. >> this weekend bp announced the failure of their top kill effort to stanch the flow of crude oil into the gulf of mexico. the radio program of inside new orleans" has spent much of the last few weeks discussing the rules be -- spill. here's a portion of monday's show hosted by eric asher. >> welcome back. for those of you watching around the nation on c-span, i don't have to introduce you to our

next guest. he is a true louisiana hero. a hero cents katrina, and has proved to be a hero and trying to you say his parish. he joins us on the station across the nation on c-span. how are you? >> we are on our way over to the barrier island/burn meeting that the administration is putting on to decide whether they will let he appealed the barrier island. >> tell the folks around the island your proposal for trying to be able to stop this will with about and 80-mile land berm along the louisiana coast line and your frustration on the inability of the corps of engineers and the united states coast guard to make a quick decision and now we're finding out that we will only deal to a small portion to begin with? >> my frustration is growing as

we have across the river. there appears to me that this is a stacked deck against those from the beginning, with no one that has been on our team putting it together on the panel. i am liable to go to jail before this hearing is over because this is absolutely ridiculous. the president requested a roundtable discussion to discuss the pros and cons. now what was like a roundtable discussion, a dog and pony show. if it turns out that way, i will be on the phone complaining to the white house promising the president that before i go on of a goat anderson cooper" i will give him the opportunity to do the right time -- right thing, to demand that bait -- that bp pay for all these barrier island. >> the concept was almost in

place that you had read requested and got no dreads that would begin to dredge outside the parish long before the oil leak was happening to protect unit -- protected from the next form surge. >> we had three barrier islands that we had planned to protect the coast of louisiana. this was the third thing, a lot more expensive. we modified it to get the most bang for our buck and we felt we had to do it to give ourselves adequate protection. had we started this when we first asked, it would almost be complete. the marshes impact would not have happened. we will not have lost the pelicans and the wildlife in great numbers now. >> what does, the audience

watching us around the nation on c-span, explain to them how long ago if you went to the coast guard, bp, the corps of engineers with this concept, and what has been the hold up to be helped build a barrier island to protect our precious wetlands and actuaries? >> we heard everything from you cannot do it to if you can have a normal impact, too expensive, all the excuses. everyone has excuses. show me a better plan. the blooms are not working. they're throwing band-aids it is. and we're sitting here watching this oil piece by piece destroy our livelihood and our wetlands, and that is unacceptable. chev>> when you look at the plat

for the sand berms, this is something that had been vetted by the corps of engineers, so why the holdup? >> it is easy to point the fingee and say it is bp is fault, the coast guard's fault. you know what? i cannot even understand, especially since the last, that bp has not stepped up to the plate and said we're going to do the right thing. we see that it cannot be cleaned up by tomorrow. that had 20 crews out ttere to clean it up and it is still not clean up. like we said from the beginning, is impossible to clean this sticky cute out of the march. it is destroying the marsh piece by piece. if we do not build this barrier island, we will see more loss from this oil and katrina, christoph, and i combined.

-- gustav and ike combined. they got their numbers together. there are 3,000 acres of land lost already. what is it going to take for somebody to quit playing around and allow these burns to be built? >> the president of the paris joins us on the radio. -- of the parish joins us. you've been out so many times into the louisiana wet lines with but gov. bobby jindal and others. for those that have never been to one of our wet ones, explain what it would normally be like this time of year, and what you have seen as you've gone through on airboats. >> you have thousands of people out there fishing. these are degrading fishing grounds in the world.

-- the greatest fishing grounds in the world. many species start their life cycle here in the marshlands of louisiana. the plants are dying. all the fish, all the while light is dead. we will of lost hundreds of birds, the pelican's just got off the endangered species list. i bet when this is over it will be back on it. we've lost hundreds of pelican, their eggs are covered with young -- with oil. someone needs to step up and do absolutely everything physically possible to keep this oil from destroying our eye. it is unthinkable. >> billy, when you start talking about the problems that we're dealing with, you've been very articulate in expressing to not just those in louisiana but

around the country. we are truly fighting an enemy that we cannot see because of the dispersants sprayed in the gulf of mexico. normally the blooms would be of a texas oil for reaches are estuaries and wetlands. but because the dispersants have been sprayed, the oil is coming under the boom and it hits the land. and that that is one of the reasons why we need this sand berm belt now. >> absolutely. bp said it would not come ashore. we knew that that was not true. the president of bp yesterday visited and said he does not believe the large firm underneath the water would do anything. we would like to take him off shore, duncan down, and see what

these days. there are large ones of oil under the surface. for him to say that it does not exist is the nile and he is an embarrassment. >> i do not believe a word out of anybody from bp. all they are doing is cya at this point. talk about your conversation with president obama and ultimately the response to the biggest ecological disaster in the history of this country. >> this meeting is because of that meeting. i thank the president for that. the panel that i am looking at the start represent the people -- though not represent the people and hopefully we can comment in this meeting, because the panel was handpicked. we will see the arguments and

the outcomes. but anything less is unacceptable. we will wage war on whoever we have an -- have to to protect the wetlands. that is what is happening as we speak. >> whose specifically do you not like on this panel that will again that when the louisiana can build these sand berms, 80 miles with a sand berms, that were there, that nature intended to be there before we cut a path to allow the oil companies to go again and build the pipeline canals so that we could refined petrochemicals for the rest of the country? >> absolutely. there was supposed to be a roundtable discussion to present our case. that's what i was told in a meeting with the president.

i've got an invitation late last night. we will see what happens. it is shaping up to be a dog and pony show, and if it is, god help them. we need truth, honesty, transparency. we did in need -- we do not need cover-up and smoke and mirrors to make it appear that we took everybody's opinion. we're going in with our guns loaded and we will see what happens. but the truth needs to be told, the whole truth. .

let the whole system is broke. somebody has to take charge that has the passage -- the passion to sip his wetlands and quit playing games with our future. >> thank you so much for your time. a true louisiana hero. we go to the phone lines. to the state of massachusetts. welcome. >> hello. i agree fully with billy and just so you know, before i go on my shelf, mass. is behind new orleans. you guys have been through.

i was an army that -- vet. i was an engineer. the money was not spent the way it could have been. i believe all of this is because of money. the dispersant thing they used. that is money. no doubt about it. i used that because they had it and it was saving money. i think what we really need is somebody to step up point that person is to be our president. i voted for him. i think he should show what he's got. he can sign an executive order. bp is out of here. >> i agree. the federal government needs to take control. if bp has the expertise, which is doubtful. we were sold a bill of goods. how can you drill in deep water if you did not have a

contingency plan in case something goes wrong? because of the incestuous relationship between mms and they will companies and lobbyists role they state and country, the people of the analysis of america were not told the truth. there were not told about the ability to drill safely and deep water. bottom line is at this point, the federal government needs to take control of this response. they should have from day one. we should have learned a lesson from katrina and 9/11. this is an assault on our people and way of life. when you start talking about what louisiana meese to this country, we are, in many cases, tied into the oil companies and exploration. we want to do it safely. we went to protect our way of life and death to savannah, georgia. welcome. >> are you getting any feedback?

i had a question. you were talking about the 9500. according to the coast guard, i read an article where one of their notices where they were spraying to different was. the bad one was allowed to be sprayed. when i went on the website, i am retired so i have nothing else to do, i found out that is a bad boy. the stuff being sprayed. course i was not aware of that product. what i have been able to find out is that the 9500 is made by exxon, was originally made by exxon. when you start talking about louisiana sweet crude, there is

a dispersant which 100% effective on our south louisiana crude and not as toxic as what is being used. it is incredulous to all of us in south louisiana on why the more toxic dispersant was used. the head of the epa is a louisiana native asking them to stand down on the amount of this person they're using. this might have made sense if we were in turtle bay and have the heavier crude. not when it was south louisiana. this dispersant would have worked much more effectively. we did not have it in the volumes that bp needed because they knew how much oil was coming out. affecting our great coastline. of course, up until now, the beautiful gulf of mexico. we are with you until 3:00 this

afternoon. you can listen. we thank you it all of you who are turning and on c-span across the country. >> want to conclude that your life? [inaudible]

>> to those of you watching you

on c-span, one thing we have been fighting for is our fair share of zero c.s. revenue. that is in jeopardy. because of the possibility now that we may abandon deepwater drilling. i think any of us that live in louisiana are on pins and needles because when you look oil exploration in shallow water, we are told that in many cases, there are now a lot of oil reserves left in shallow water. the majority of the oil reserves that are untapped and the gulf of mexico right now or in deep water. louisiana in several cases -- have been asking for our fair share of offshore oil revenue and 0 c yes revenue. we are set to be able to get on+ quarter, up 37.5% in 2017 of offshore oil revenue derived from the outer continental

shelf. when you talk about where we cms is, we give more money to the united states treasury in terms of money derived from the extraction of minerals than any other state in the union. right now, when you talk about louisiana, we are getting a pittance of money that is coming in from oil exploration and terms of the royalties. states that are landlocked in many cases, those in your -- wyoming, utah and wyoming, you derive more money from the extraction of minerals and oil and gas on federal land, you get 50%. and to your state treasury. in 2007, wyoming that 925 million. the mexico got five and $52 million.

colorado, $122 million. california, $61 million. montana, 39 million. louisiana, with more pipeline than any other state, with the exploration of oil offshore, with the amount of refineries we have up and down the mississippi river, only got $24 million from the minerals and royalties from the drilling on federal land. anything outside of 3 miles. the senator has pushed the federal government's to give us 40% of those revenues now. here is the key going forward. in louisiana, what we have done as soon as there was an opportunity for us to be able to get our portion of offshore outer continental shelf revenue, we immediately

dedicated goes to post a restoration, to the restoration of the barrier islands and the restoration of our wetlands. this was immediately after katrina. any money derived from minerals and royalties from the federal government on the drilling of federal land immediately goes into rebuilding what had been lost because of salt water intrusion on drilling off our shores and the pipeline that have been cut through our marshes and what plans and barry are islands. the united states army corps of engineers trying to harness the mississippi river in terms of navigation which stopped the nutrients that would each spring feet those wetlands so they could be vibrant. we put our money where our mouth is. any money derived from this offshore oil from killing -- drilling in federal waters,

would go into our wetlands. right now, we get a pittance. in many cases, we have to share one quarter or with louisiana, texas, mississippi. louisiana and the rest of the gulf coast cannot wait that long. we need to those dollars now. it is in limbo because we did not know if we will be drilling off the continental shelf anymore because we did not know how safe it is. >> our number 2 of inside new orleans. you can listen live at wist.com. we would like to welcome those

of you who are watching on c- span across the nation. thank you for coming in and getting a taste of what we are feeling down here. joining us now on the program is a coastal scientist from the environmental defense fund. somebody who has louisiana ties. angelina friedman is a coastal scientist for the environmental defense fund. welcome. >> thank you. >> there have had the opportunity to go out and to our estuaries and wetlands and along the shoreline as a coastal scientist. for those watching along the cable and satellite networks on c-span and those that are listening around the world, describe for the country and the world what you have seen how this oil has inundated our wetlands. >> i went out to the grand isle

area and the oil had reached the shore already. it was in pools on the sand and going into the substrate. and unfortunately, there were animals that were affected. it was on the rocks and in the water. i also went out a few times this week down the delta and saw the wetlands. the oil had come in and coated bottom of the wetlands and was pulled around them. i have seen some oil off the coast to. >> as a scientist, when you see the oil on the wetlands, what is your first thought? >> it is never good. it can cause chemical and

physical damage to the wetlands. some of them have a certain amount of resilience to them but now that they will has not been capped, something continuous and potentially is something we have not seen before. the impacts are not even known. >> if you have been involved and looking at what lines -- wetlands. you have seen oil. talk about this from the habitat for a lot of our migrating birds. this is the migrating season. birds are coming in from all over the world through louisiana before they had to south america. we have a lot of nesting birds that are here. when you talk about the wetlands in terms of the fisheries, the very young fish from shrimp to oysters to those involved in our ecosystem, this is the breeding ground for a lot of our

fisheries. explain to the audience that is listening or around the world and watching on c-span, the impact on wildlife and fisheries. >> like you said, this is the nursing grounds for the fish basket of the u.s. having that oil and the wetlands where the breeding grounds are are very detrimental. it is nesting season. d.c. of the pelicans and shore birds where the oil reaches the shore. those effects, like the toxicity of the oil and the dispersant, can have long-range the fact that we did not know about. >> that is what scary. if there is an unknown. the dispersant has been sprayed in large amounts into the gulf of mexico. we are being told that it breaks it up into small droplets. those are subsurface.

we are being told that we have these large oil plumes. bp denies that. this could really be detrimental to our wildlife and fisheries all the way up and down the food chain, especially when you talk about the possibility of this oil on the golf bottom. for these people that do not understand how detrimental this can be, talk about how this affects the entire food chain from plankton up. >> some of the smaller organisms are affected first. but increases up the food chain. the bigger animals eat the smaller animals. the larger species and the ocean each species did not produce as 10% to kill off of them is a really big effect. >> we saw in alaska after the exxon valdez, the hearing did

not come back. they are still trying today to make sure that there could one day be a harvest of herring. we have a lot of species that have just been discovered and some that have had longevity and as part of the world. they are now on the brink of possible extinction but at the very least, we can see those species affected 4 may be the next 10 or so years. for the audience that may be funding this unbelievable, explain to them how this affects for fisheries long term. >> it is an unknown. it depends on hopefully when the well is capped, but also with the dispersant. some of the dispersants have shown on oysters to reduce their productivity. something like that can cause it

really long-term effects. >> angelina freeman is a coastal scientist with the environmental defense fund and went to louisiaaa state university. tell us about your background. >> i went to lsu. i just graduated with my ph.d. last week. >> you have been out on so many ships. how many times have you been to the wetlands on the coast itself? >> since the oil spill cost of our -- since the oil spill? with five times. >> what are you hearing from the science -- from the fishermen? >> that is it really tough time for them. the people are canceling their trips. that could be long term. >> in terms of building that the

wetlands, we know that it is possible down the line to build back wetlands but it will be a difficult and arduous process. we are told once oil reaches the rosa can, that it could be between five and seven days before that the carrier rates. a lot of the plant life that holds together the land of berms that are there. once that starts to die off, that has the possibility of turning into open water. talk about that process. we have seen that over the life of our wetlands. >> those wetlands are at the mouth of the mississippi and are already very stressed. this is on top of a lot of planned loss -- land loss and

additional stress. >> is there a remedy out there? there has been a lot of talk about the possibility of going in there with their boats and cleaning up this oil once it hits the louisiana wetlands. we are also being told that our wetlands are so fragile that they will not be able to stand up to a man to win out there and doing a clean-up operation. they are so fragile and delicate. >> they are very fragile. there has been research done on some of the cleanup. cleaning up on sand is easier. >> that is one of the reasons why we have been begging for the opportunity to build a sand bar to fill in the 40 passes which were cut in many casses for -- cases for oil exploration.

to stop this from inundating our wetlands. it is easier to plan oil that comes up on a sandy beach rather than when it comes up to the wetlands. you would agree with that? >> it is easier to clean it off the sand. >> as far as how this would affect our wildlife going forward, has there ever been a case where we have seen the in addition of an estuary like this and if so, how long does it take after the cleanup for wildlife to come back? >> it all depends on the type of oil and how long the innovation is. takes more ors it less time. in alaska, it takes longer. the colder climate. >> what would you like to tell the rest of the nation that is watching on c-span right now as a scientist about what you have

seen? alert them on where we are going forward in terms of not only trying to clean this up but to protect our wetlands and the wildlife that in a lot of cases is living there during this time? >> this is an amazing ecosystem. we must restore it and restore the process is and make it more resilience. >> why is it important? we have been told that this is the fisheries for the entire gulf of mexico. many species start off in the wetlands of louisiana. some of the great fishing that we see in the gulf itself all starts in the release and a wetlands. >> exactly. it is vitally important economically for the entire nation for the fisheries production, for oil and gas, and economically, and also for the animals.

flyways for birds from all over. >> no doubt about it. thank you so much for being with us. from the environmental defense fund. we take a break. when we come back, we go to the phone lines. for those of you that are listening online and watching us on c-span. >> i have these gentlemen in a couple weeks ago. in the aftermath of katrina, we were trying to look for options to try to rebuild our wetlands and rebuild our barrier islands.

taught introduced me to a man named don samples. don samples introduced us to a grass called veterigrass. this has been used in third world countries that can be used in the woods yet to try to fight this oil intrusion. over the next few minutes, we are going to talk about it. we will talk about its use is and how we can rebuild the wetlands and how we can build these barrier islands and hold them in place. we will we will also -- todd has come up with a website called

dredgebabydredge.com we are trying to get the message out of why it is so important to protect our very fragile estuaries and we have an answer on how we can keep those barrier islands in place and more importantly how we can rebuild the wetlands because of the innovation of hydra chemicals. this grass could beat the -- this grass could be the answer to that.

>> welcome back. welcome. joining us now is a wetlands ecologist. he is on the board of the new orleans audubon society and tim colt who is it an environmental developer. welcome. thank you for coming back. you were with me a couple weeks ago. i wanted to introduce you grass to the rest of the country. your expertise not just in marsh grass but the marshlands and knowing a bit about what is happening with the wildlife being affected by this. welcome.

>> good to be back. >> you can all take it from here. we have been talking a lot about the building of the barrier islands, filling in those 40 passes. you guys have been all over this. let's talk about why it is important to build this sand barrier to protect the very fragile louisiana estuaries and wetlands. >> the oil is going to be so much easier to kick it off the face and substrate rather than have it in a day the marsh grasses. as in telling just said, once that oil is adhered to by that marsh grass, it will literally suffocate the entire plant and the plant cannot breathe. literally. we are breathing and oxygen.

plants are breeding co2 that we breathe out. they use that to make food. if the oil is coated over their route and leaves and stem, they cannot take in that co2 and they literally starve to death. >> we had a conversation on what it is important to be able to build this sand berm. one of the things that the corps of engineers was concerned about the sediment that could be used to build this continuous chain of islands that would protect the gulf coast and wetlands, that some of the soil could be contaminated with oil. talk a bit about how we can overcome this. there are products out there that can be used to be able to mixed with the spoil that can allow us to not compound the

problem down the line of building a land berm that can be toxic because of the oil and that may be settling on the bottom of the gulf right now. >> once you do recover the land and pump in the sediment, he will be pumping from the bottom of the gulf of mexico. there is a tremendous amount of oil down there with hydrocarbons. you are going to have to treat it with microorganisms, oil eating microorganisms. they will eat it. they will work for about 21 days and get rid of the hydrocarbon. you want to hedge your bet because you have to plant vegetation on this land you are recovering. >> we get high tide, we have hurricanes, those lands we are building stay in place. >> exactly. you need vegetation there with a good root system. if you get rid of the hydrocarbons to the microorganisms, you are hedging your bets.

>> it takes 21 days for them to turn it into an cents. >> which really, we can take the spoil which is the segment that we get from the bottom of the gulf and we can mix it with microorganisms and the microorganisms will start the process of eating the hydrocarbons which will at that point make the sand berm at least nontoxic. >> more suitable. >> a company in alabama manufactures these microorganisms. >> i met with a company here. they are producing these micro organisms. the harvested these microorganisms from the exxon valdez. these companies have been in business for quite some time. what they said they could do is in check it into the soil.

you can treat 24 inches. it will work 21 days. you can also and checked it up to 20 feet under wheee you really get a massive amount of the micro organisms eating the hydrocarbon. after 21 days, when the soil is suitable, you come back in plant. it is a propagation process. you plant it where you wanted and planted 8 inches apart from each other. when these plants mature, they will interlock each other with the root system. i've got a picture of a healthy root system. that picture there, this plant is approximately 10 years old. it is a very fibrous root system. it is about 14 or 15 feet in depth. >> this route system grows horizontal it. it will not harm any of the natural plants that are and our

wetlands or that we would proliferate on a sand berm. >> correct. it grows straight down. it does not have runners. it will not be an invasive species. it is being used in over 100 countries. >> what is it being used for? it is being used by third world countries to make sure the banks of the river stay in place. talk about the uses and we will kick into why this would work -- get into why this would work. >> it is planted where every to have coastal erosion and a problem with keeping the soil together. they are using it in hawaii. there is using it all over africa. they have used it in south -- in central louisiana. >> once this is planted, it grows very rapidly. within three months, you could

not pull out of the ground. the root system would be about 7 feet and three months. what happens is it maintains itself where it is very resilient. it stands up well against flooding come up against drought. it can go for long periods of time in water, without water. you can burn it. but it will grow back. it takes the nitrates and phosphates out of the soil and water. it takes the heavy metals out of the water. >> in this case, with our weapons being inundated with heavy crude, this would be ideal to not just plant on the sand berms we want to build but as we build back our wetlands, this would be the perfect plant species to put into the wetlands because of its ability to be able to take in those hydrocarbons to almost clean the area. >> we are not sure how much of the hydrocarbons that could clean at this point. that is an unknown. we know it can withstand some.

that is why we put like to treat the settlement before planting it. that is just the head to the bet to make sure we are not putting it into an undesirable atmosphere. what is nice about it is it can take the water. when the current comes in and washes out, it traps the sentiment in these areas. as it is buried, it just grows taller. it is not -- as the settlement covers it up, it will not smother it. >> i guess the main thing is, it is resilient. it can hold land in place know better what the toxicity of the area. >> without a doubt. " it is one of the most resilient plants i have ever seen. i have done studies with it for about five years. we met, todd teaches an excellent college course on what

plants. we started working together quite a bit on this. talk about how you became acquainted with his grasp. why don't you show the audience about what it looks like? it looks similar to the rosacane. >> it gets mistaken for, progress. >> but it is not and they said. >> it is not. >> very benign. >> i met don about 10 years ago. he started a nonprofit i 1981n . we back when he was starting to be compassionate about the wetlands, he knew back then we were losing our coastline at an alarming rate. we are losing about an acre every 38 minutes. don samples stumbled upon this grass and researched it.

he found out that this could be a short-term answer. we do not have enough time to open up the mississippi river and allow the natural hydraulics. we have less than 10 years to build a plant and plant this crest to hold the soil together. we need a fast-growing plant. right after katrina, don samples was a champion for this grass. >> from what i understand, you have been in contact with the parish president. he is aware of the grass and the uses and its ability to withstand the hydrocarbons and the inundation of oil and the ability for this grass to grow very quickly to hold a land mass that we would build along louisiana coastline in place. >> i met with billy a couple times. if the first time i met with him was about three months ago.

it was about two months before this incident. billy knew about it. he is on top of things. he is really doing his homework. we were talking about putting the root system down to preserve the levies for the hurricanes. it had nothing to do with oil. as of last week, we met again. i will tell you, i have a whole new found respect for billy. it is amazing. he was conducting five meetings at one time. he was still fielding phone calls. this guy has the tenacity. he is a worker. people in the busy and it should be proud of this that. >> he is aware of the uses? " yes, he is. he knew more about that then i would have thought. we started talking. he asked what i knew and we went into detail. >> why this and not some of the

natural species that are on our barrier islands or in our wetlands? with time is of essence. we need a fast-growing plant. it makes an excellent nurse plant. you plant it, it will hold the soil together. you then come in and plant the native vegetation. you then let that flourished after a few months. if you want to get rid of it, all you have to do is put a few rounds of roundup on it and it will kill it. it is very sensitive to round up. >> why would you want to? >> exactly. we have to deal with hurricanes on a yearly basis. if we have a plan with a boisterous rich system, why would you want to be pulling that out? why would you want to taae it out when it will ultimately hold that land in place?

one thing we are worried about as the natural grass is involved in the wetlands begins to deteriorate, we will start to lose landmass very quickly. with the mississippi river not allowing the natural flow to feed the wetlands with its nutrients and sediment. it is a no-brainer. it will not compete with the native vegetation. it is non invasive. it will stay put. the number one argument in planting this, according to the army corps of engineers, the whiz at department of public fisheries, is the fact that it is not a native species. they are worried that it might become invasive and takeover like the water hyacinth which is an aquatics vegetation that grows in fresh water that has taken over a lot of areas.

>> the science is there that shows it is not an interesting plan. >> exactly. we are so frustrated. if the science says it will not take over. it will hold the soil. it will not compete with the native vegetation. it will actually help the native education -- vegetation. a nutria is basically a swamp rat. it was brought here 100 years ago from argentina. it has taken over. you will not see native muskrat anymore. they key to the native vegetation but they will not eat this. that is another advantage. >> talk about why this plant is used in third world countries. there are third world countries that use this to be able to keep the banks of the rivers in place to protect their coast

from demise. why is this being used but here where it is needed, especially if we spent $350 million in building a land berm, we wanted to stay in place. we want to have a species that will hold the wetlands in place. >> there have been cases where it will stop sediment runoff which was killing wreaths and killing shellfish. it was used in cases like that. in 10 years, the reefs are healthy again and shellfish are flourishing. they're using it in 100 countries right now. >> literally. >> scientists are using microorganisms to treat the sediment. if we know there is grass out there that would be resilient to hydrocarbons and be able to hold the islands in place, what is

the holdup? the science is there. you guys are involved in this. what is the problem? >> what is the holdup with the dredging of those terms? same thing. politics. what is the holdup? politics. we have good science on our side to say we can start doing this today. and planting this today. building a plant, holding the sediment, trapping the oil, " to the beach and mechanically scoop it up which is much easier. the science is there. >> it is a question that many people are asking. i think that the federal government is distracted. they did not take the initiative to realize what was going on. that has been the biggest downfall to route this entire scenario. tell people about dredgebaby

dredge.com and how they can get involved. >> we were driving around the parish. we started seeing signs in the window. billy, you for the man. billy, we love you. i saw that and thought that seem so long. we needed a rallying cry. my wife just said not drill, baby, a drill, stretch, baby, stretch. i said that is it. a few minutes later, she said dredge dat. i looked better and said that is great. we went home and created a website. you go to dredgebabydredge.com

and you can donate an part of the proceeds will go to the united commercial fishermen's association which was the association that was helped by gulf aid. part of the aids by t-shirts and bumper stickers urging part of the proceeds -- part of the proceeds could to t-shirts and bumper stickers so people can see the image and feel an emotion about what is going on. just an image and emotion. i thought about the the we see in that state bird which is the brown pelican which is affected right now. the we stand is referred to as the pelican state. imagine a mother pelican with her red wings outstretched protecting her babies and having loyal falling down.

-- having will come down. >> this is what we came up with. a good friend of mine is in our -- and artist. he drew this from my id on the phone within a few hours. at the top, it says prevent the oil, preserve. the mother has its wings outstretched. one drop of oil can kill a pelican, sea turtle, and an alligator egg. one drop will kill the egg. you can see the oil. the baby is right here. notice the oil spill is in the shape of the state of louisiana. we're in the process of creating another t-shirt that includes the rest of the gulf coast. with a heavy heart, it kills me to realize that dauphin island is going to -- dolphin island is

going to be affected. we love to bird watch their. -- there. >> you are part of the new orleans audubon society. tell us about the fate of four birds and how this will spill is affecting them. >> i already mentioned the brown pelican which is the state bird. they had just been taken off the endangered species list. in the 1960's, they were totally wiped out in the state of louisiana. when a species that lives in one area becomes exxinct, we call that extirpated because they are not really extinct. some live in florida. cannot1960's, and you find and in louisiana. in the 1970's, they imported some from florida and they started testing at the national wildlife refuge which is where

the oil is going. after katrina, 12,000 counted nests went down to about 2000. i have not seen the latest data about nests being affected. it is a significant amount. the national wildlife refuge is the largest turn nesting colony in north america. before hurricane katrina, there were 50,000 nesting ternes. after katrina, their nests went down to about 7000. they were hit hard. the national wildlife refuge is about 7,000 acres. about half of that was destroyed during the hurricanes. we are reaching critical mass. >> you have seen the video of birds and fish kills. you have seen the video of the

oil the the thing as roof where a lot of our estuaries are. talk a little bit about how this is affecting as going forward for our national audience and those listening. >> even though we are a small state, because of our position at the terminus of the mississippi flyway, it is part of an aerial highway. 100 species of birds migrate from central and south america will come through louisiana and stop on the coast to refuel. some fly thousands of miles. because of this position and because we have 40% of the coastal marshes,. not only seabirds but the sandpipers. other species, as well. even your raptors like eagles.

bald eagles have nested on the coastline of louisiana. i brought this poster because it shows you all of the animals that can be affected by the oil spill. you can see the brown shrimp. this is the most profitable of all of our seafood items. you can see the american oyster which will be affected the most out of all the animals because they are filter feeders. they're bringing in the oil right now. we supply about 35% of the american oyster. the blue crabs. alligators. i do not know if you eat alligator meat, it is delicious. speaking of chicken, i want your viewers to notice this species of fish. this is called the manhattan. they are related to sardines.

2004, right before hurricane katrina, we pulled in 400 million pounds and most of that with these manhattan pogies. that had just topped anchorage is the number-one seafood tonnage in the nation. right before katrina between venice and empire, that was the number one fish port in north america including alaska. the reason i talked about this, this fish is used for chicken mail and feeds catfish. this is one of the reasons why american chicken is so cheap. literally, the fisherman can put their nest down and catch millions of tons of these fish. they go straight up to northwestern arkansas and southwestern missouri which is the epicenter of the poultry industry and that is low cost to

us.. this can affect all of us as far as eating chicken. at this population crashes like the herring after the exxon valdez, chicken will skyrocket. >> on the way out, what would you say to the people around the country that are watching about why it is so important to build the science is there to treat the soil. you can treated with microbes so it will be safe. more importantly, we have a plant that will be resilient that can hold those islands in place and rebuild louisiana's wetlands. >> everybody needs to realize this is not a state problem. this is a national problem. this is by far the largest disaster that you are going to see in history i would say. especially if the oil keeps pumping like it is until late

august or even longer. we need to do something to try and secure the coastline of louisiana. we already lost most of our first line of protection against her recants for new orleans. it is all to win to go away. once a tropical storm comes and washes that oil up into the marshes, we are going to lose miles of marsh that we will have protection. we will lose the estuaries of all of the seafood. if you cannot even begin to think about the problems we have. >> todd? >> we are just given to have to take it day by day. i cannot wait until august. >> dedge, baby, dredge.

we have to protect the esterase and wildlife but also protect us as well from the next hurricane. it is imperative we dredge those barrier islands. the cost is a drop in the bucket when you talk about the destruction that can happen. thank you so much for coming down. >> thank you for being with us. we are with you until 3:00 this afternoon. we thank those of you watching on c-span. we will be back after this.

>> separating the truth from the fiction. welcome to all of you listening and watching on c-span. those of you in new orleans and listening, to not forget, we podcast all of our shows. i want to thank our earlier guests. churning is now is the vice president of communications for the louisiana restaurant association. welcome. i wanted to bring you on the program because i have expressed that new orleans is

open for business. this is a tragedy that is happening. but the louisiana department of wildlife and fisheries, when you look at our hospitals division, they are making sure that louisiana seafood is safe to eat and being very proactive and closing areas that may even have the slightest opportunity to have i will throw it to you now. talk about louisiana seafood. talk about how safe it is and why people should not fear eating louisiana seafood. >> this time around with this situation louisiana faces, on very impressed at the state's response, the wildlife of fisheries and the environmental quality have been on it from day one. they have been communicating with all the affected partners

from day one, so i am pretty impressed him. that makes me as a consumer feel even more safe eating louisiana seafood and telling the rest of the world it is safe to eat. >> we have an extensive testing process going on right now with the department of environmental policy, with the wildlife and fisheries. there is nothing harvested that has not been tested. >> absolutely. they are testing as we speak. they are testing an hour early. this is a case where duplication seafood product.pay off for our >> when you look at the majority of seafood is harvested, a lot of cases are not affected by where the oil inundated our coast.

>> the west side of the mississippi river is an open. we had opening and closing of different arees. the majority of our seafood production comes from the west side of the river in unaffected areas. that means we still have quality seafood in the restaurants. >> for those processing seafood from louisiana that could be shipped anywhere in the world. i mentioned it to the audience that we had to overcome a public-relations nightmare after katrina, people thinking louisiana seafood was tainted. one of the message we wanted to get out was that new orleans is not inundated with oil. our great restaurants are open for business. we are still here. you can enjoy a great time in your lens, but because of what

the governor has done, because of what the departments have been so proactive, we are also needing to overcome the bad policing leahy -- bad publicity that seafood is not safe. there is not one fish or byrd harvested and put out on the market unless it has been tested. >> we have been working closely with the louisiana seafood marketing board, with the mayor's office. this is a collective effort by a number of partners to ensure we don't lose a valuable tourism revenue. this is a lot more than a safety of seafood issue, this is jobs, this is livelihood's. in addition to the lives and jobs we are talking about in the affected areas, the publicity we

are ssying over the world -- this is something we are diligently trying to get ahead of him and we are working with the national restaurant association and the many other partners who are affected, because those other rest, and if they want to help us and understand a lot of their products come from this area. >> wendy is with us. let's talk about restaurants. we have more restaurants open then we had before katrina. we have more open post katrina then we did before. talked about the vibrancy of our restaurant industry, especially in new orleans. >> the restaurant industry led the recovery. it was mandatory restaurants

open because we had so many first responders in this city. many of the restaurants came back right away. they cleaned out their restaurants and got back to business. this could not have happened at a worse time because we are on pace -- out of 25 destination markets in the u.s., we are number 3. we are doing a booming business in the tourism industry, which is booming business for the restaurants. we see people who come here for conventions, we sure travelers -- leisure travelers. it connects our culture, there is business down here all the time. there are reunions and celebrations. restaurants are critical to our

culture. >> wendy is with us. we want to get the word out that we are open for business. we are open for you to enjoy your lance, to enjoy it bourbon street, -- enjoy your self. we are open for business. he walked outside and you are not smelling oil. -- you walk outside. this is about 40 miles away from the city of new orleans. >> it is a be a full day, about 87 degrees. we have -- it is a beautiful day. next weekend we have three festivals in one weekend. the cajun festival and the creole tomato festival. we just came off of the new orleans won and food experience.

in the superdome we had it 75 -- new orleans wine and food experience. >> a lot of people involved in the tourist industry, we are finally rebounding. a lot of that had to do with the saints great run in the super bowl. they got engaged in the world and sculpture once again. now we are fighting this battle once again. we need to get the message out that we need your business here in new orleans. >> we are a great dining deal. you can eat out expensively and can stay here and expense of late. -- inexpensively. we are very walkable. we had segues. we have all sorts of nifty

transportation. there are a lot of cultural assets. >> you can still have a fantastic time. on the way out tell the folks again why it's important not just to eat seafood but to come back to new orleans. >> new orleans is an authentic united states destination, from the food to the cultural aspects, to the mississippi river, him to all the architecture and music. we have to come here. >> thanks for being here. vice-president of communication of restaurant associations. we will break and will come straight back to the phone lines. can watch us you on c-span right now until 3:00,

but you can listen live. all of our great programming here. it is podcast also. ♪ those listening and watching us on c-span, this has affected us on three fronts. right now new orleans is finally coming back from the perception we were under water and new orleans was not the same city pre-katrina. the lot of you saw the celebration in the streets and

felt of five of what this nfl team did and how it lifted us as a community. it is like it changed overnight from the saints' victory in miami. people started coming to new orleans again, not just for mardi gras, but because, we have had to overcome a lot of the bad publicity from katrina. we are fighting on this front to try to make sure people understand not one bit of seafood is being released unless it has been tested. we have been very proactive on that. the final front we are fighting is to fight for the existence of our culture and coastline. the inundation of saltwater because of oil production on our wetlands, they are the first and

second lines of defense long before it hits our levee system which is being rebuilt now. all i am asking for is give new orleans a chance. keep us in your prayers, but if you have the opportunity to come down, come on down because we are tied to the oil and gas industry, the seafood industry and the tourism industry. these are the three big industries in louisiana and we are being strangled on all three fronts. we are trying to send a message to the people of this country about what we are dealing with in south louisiana, what we can do to combat the problem. i will also let you know we know that this will be a fight for our very existence. all we want is the people to stand with us as you did in the

aftermath of katrina, because five years later the gulf coast is on its knees. we need everybody to pull together as americans, as we have done with every crisis that has affected this country. the assault on our shores does not from a foreign army, but which it is is the intrusion of oil. oil that we don't know how this will affect us long term. then when you throw and 9500, we don't know how this will affect our fisheries, the gulf, those who live along the coast long term. >> we will get to some of these callers. >> yes. no doubt.

we can do that. we will go at 2:40 got it. ♪ >> now back to inside new orleans. >> it brings different perspectives. >> welcome back, we are here until 3:00. i want to thank those of you that had been watching us on c- span all afternoon. i want to thank the folks from c-span for coming into our studios. to the phone lines we go. jack is in tennessee. we thank you for holding. welcome.

>> you are doing a great job. sitting here on this beautiful lake and i can't imagine what it would be like with oil coming up from the side. it is hard to believe. i have been to new orleans a few times and it is your livelihood, if it is your duty and the people you cannot depend on what you're hearing from bp or the government. if your people have the knowledge and ability to get out, i really believe they need to do it, because i don't think they are getting -- we don't need weeks of studies to know what is going on. >> the problem is all of this has been vetted. the opportunity we have always

had a plan to rebuild our islands back. this had been vetted by the corps of engineers. we are frustrated by the foot dragging of the coast guard and more importantly, the fact that bp seems to be more worried about public relations nightmares than protecting the coastline from an oil spill of at proportions. >> that is true the history of our great country, sometimes the people have to take over to get things done. you have the volunteers and equipment, get this done because we don't have time to wait for approval for all of this. >> we are americans. it is nothing about being radical. we want what's best for america. thanks for joining us from tennessee. to connecticut and stephen.

are you with me? let's go to bob in arkansas. are you in arkansas? >> yeah. i have some time on the ocean down there and i worked as an engineer offshore for several years. the big thing i think you are missing about this disbursement -- i worked on a platform for about a year and we carried two 55 gallon drums on that? . -- on deck. my job was to turn the pumps on if there was a spill. by that time the deckhand would have a 55 gallon drum.

the skipper would put one engine forward and one in reverse, drive into the spill and churn it up. that -- i don't want to name me rig but they just had a big fire. according to the rigman, that there'll would get rid of several hundred barrels of oil. the reason -- my theory, and i don't have a card in the game, my theory is you have a company that makes their own disbursement, ships and on their own boats and injects it into their own well. when you are hauling a product the those land to the reaig

only solid handled in bulk monitored is normally just helicopter fuel. when you go to the dock they will fill your tank in bulk. they will tell you how many gallons you are carrying. they will pump it out. you don't measure it. they measure it when it goes in and when it goes out. it is hired by the company, so a company that cannot tell they are leaking 26 gallons in minute or 550 gallons a minute, that is --do you follow me? >> i followed you. i appreciate the phone call. the problem is there is a disbursement that is less toxic

that could have been used. the one we are using now corrects at 9500, developed by exxon. another company is the manufacturer of that disbursement. the effectiveness on the louisiana sweet crude, is less toxic. that is what we are worried about here. terry in washington. welcome. >> i just wanted to comment that i think you guys are doing real good down there. i would hope that you would stay on task with this. i went to mount saying helens 30 years ago -- mount st. helens. there were hundreds of people that went to sandbag. what i saw coming down that river was not water.

we realized we didn't know how to handle this. that is what an unprecedented the event is. that is what this is. i encourage you to take your anchor and pain which i do feel because this is not -- this is a global catastrophe. just take that and channel it into let's move on. what do we need to do? let's think outside the box. we never dealt with this before. it is up to us. we cannot sit around and point fingers at people. we have to get people out there. we have to coordinate people from across the country. if someone will coordinate that i can guarantee there would be all kinds of volunteers on the beaches.

>> we thank you from the call from washington. one thing we have been able to do is we have been able to pull up out of our bootstraps penthouse inhibit a lot of people came down and saw our pain in the aftermath of the biggest man-made disaster. all we want is the federal government to help or get out of the way. bp we don't raham -- we don't need bp calling the shots. unfortunately the federal government is very slow in this process allowing a major corporation to call the shots. let's bp try to stop the oil leek. let's picture of the federal government protects the united states coastline from demise. we have a lot of great ideas. you would be surprised how many people called this show here and talk about their ideas on how to combat this oil intrusion.

one way is to build this sandbur to detect -- protect the coast line. the corps of engineers and coast guard and government has dragged their feet for weeks. we cannot wait one more minute. we need to build these now. the signs is there to build them and hold them in place with visitation -- with vegetation. if it's not done since you will see a bunch of people on the coastline doing it ourselves. there is no time to wait when we see our culture washing into the gulf. to kevin who is a commercial fisherman. how are you? >> how are you doing? >> i am probably doing better than you are. for people listening, explain how your life has changed. >> this will bring -- shed some

light to the rest of the world about how bp is handling their cleanup. the contract at a company -- they are a company taht bp hired to give a hazmat class two will be licensed fishermen in louisiana. -- to the licensed fishermen. they had been offering these classes for three weeks. i took the class three weeks ago. i have two home ports. one is safe and i also have one somewhere else. they offered us a contract after this -- i showed it to my attorney and he said i would not sign that because they will make

you give up your future rights. our attorney general nicked that in the blood -- nipped that in the bud. we never heard a thing from bp. let me try to figure out what the hell is going on. i went to the command center and went down -- where is it at? they had a deal set up in one of the churches. i went over there and said nobody knows a thing that is going on. there is a sheriff sitting there and said did you see anyone helping to clean this up? he said yes, you have to go talk to the parish officials because now they have made it that the politicians are involved of who gets to go to clean up.

now it has become a political thing. whereas my party gets to work, but if we don't know you we don't get to work. is not about the money. you ought to see what is going on down there. >> i appreciate the phone call from one of our great fishing communities. over 1200 commercial louisiana fishermen are out of work and stepped up to the plate shortly after the deep water horizon collapsed and we realized what type of oil was coming our way. less than 300 were hired for the cleanup. this was in the early stages when we could have protected our wetlands, when we could have gotten this started. less than 300 were hired. we have fishermen that are affected by the [unintelligible] we have been told by those

involved in the valdez spill, you will see those working on the shore line with hazmat suits. we have fishermen out there had had nothing more than a t-shirt and shorts on. are they protecting? -- are they protected? that is the problem when you let a corporation take the lead cut on the inundation -- take the lead on the inundation of oil on our coastline. all they are worried about is making sure from a public- relations standpoint, the oil is not on the surface so the whole world sees how much oil is coming out. you have not told us the truth since day one. it is time for the president to step up and get involved in this

crisis, not from the white house, but right here on land in louisiana. give us the chance to save ourselves. to brownsville, texas. >> good afternoon. i am appalled at what is happening. get out of the way. america is in a terrible situation, but it's happening to louisiana but maybe it will happen to the whole gulf coast. it is a tragedy. people need to move. the president has to give the power to someone who knows what they are doing. obviously bp is not cutting it. it has been over a month. how long will louisiana have to wait for something to be done

correctly? the animals are dying. it is creating a tremendous tragedy for those who live in louisiana and his livelihood is at stake. if louisiana goes down and mississippi and all the coastline, including all the way up, if a hurricane comes it will take everything. doesn't that mean anything to anyone in washington? we need to get calling. i already called my congressman. we have to band together. we have to get washington involved. perhaps the president will make a right decision in saying this is to has to take care of the situation. everything is going downhill. louisiana and will move everything -- will lose everything. people have worked so hard. look at what happened with katrina. it is happening because of the

lack of federal intervention. >> i could have not -- could not have said it better myself. thanks so much. let's go to dael in california. -- dale in california. good afternoon. we have technology out here we have been trying to promote. i spoke with at rock allen last week. we contacted the epa. -- i spoke with alan. that was $160 million to clean up this 59,000 gallon spill. we are talking into the billions of dollars for a potential cleanup costs, not to mention the loss of the very brazilian people in your state in the states along the coast. our sympathy goes out to them.

this biomethod -- i don't want people contacting our company. we need people to contact their legislators to let them know this is an epa-certified -- the numbers b59 on the contingency plan list. we have paid our dues. we did the formalities of going through the process. . .

we are ready to go and jump on this thing. we will take any assistance that we can get. we need to contact the people to get placement of an order for this technology. >> all website that our viewers and listeners can go to? >> bioworldusa.com. adbio.com >> thankkyou so much for your call. to las vegas. hey, rikki. -- ricky. >> in our middle people have been telling alicea not to drill these orwell's because this kind

of thing could happen. they've wanted to stop the shrimpers and oysterman from harvesting in the way that they do. and then for this to happen, this is what they told you was going to happen, and now everybody in louisiana all of the sudden loves their motion, when you have been talking about drill, baby, drill. well the chickens have come home to roost. >> de you like driving your car? do you enjoy having the opportunity to be able to drive around las vegas? without louisiana and without the opportunity for oil exploration, you would not be able to do that. we energize this country. we need this country with our crops and our estuaries. i feel your pain but let me tell

you, no one wants the land and water more than the louisiana and. we have a culture from all nationalities that lived in louisiana for decades. they make their living off of the land and the water poured the last thing they want to do is break it, believe me. they nurture it. politicians have sold as down the river and we have been too stupid and louisiana to figure it out. we allowed politicians and a lot of cases to tell us one thing and do another, and we've given up our air, our land, in our waters. whether it would be cutting pipeline canals to our wetlands so that we can bring the imported oil to refineries said that we can refine those petrochemicals, so that you have a chance to drive your car so that people in new york had a chance to have heating oil and be warm in the winter. our louisiana fishermen, our

louisiana farmers, they are not reaping the land. they are not reaping the water. they aren't nurturing it. we were lied to by corporations and by the federal government. it was the federal government's job through the mms to make sure that there was a safe way to drill for oil in deep water. we were told that we had it down. obviously we did not. it is not on louisiana. it is on bp, that is on the other oil companies, and more importantly, it is on the mms and the federal government for not doing what they were supposed to do -- protect the citizens of this great country. mike is in arkansas. >> i am a first-time caller. you hit it right on the head. that i was off base. i will take this step further. after the first couple of weeks , someone saw an opportunity to

impoverished the whole southern part of the united states. that might sound like a paranoid statement, but the more i have thought of it, i see no results and no action by our government. this almost seems like it is done on purpose. and bp stock has gone down 17%. who is going the end up paying for this? you're talking billions and billions of dollars. and everyone from louisiana to florida will become impoverished. it is almost like it is a step- by-step systematic taking of the money of the middle class. that is what i believe. for that guy to call and to say something like that to the people of louisiana, i don't know where he is coming from. >> he is not educated on the facts of what is going on. it knew about the people of louisiana, how much we love the land and water and are estuaries, joked, you come from

the bayou. you know as well as i'd do it that the people on the bayou understand what they have in terms of the natural estuary. they do not rape it. >> they make their living off the land. and a lot of those folks, you grow up with them, all they know was fishing. all they know is what they have done for generations in south louisiana. and there is a possibility that that could be taken away from them. there's a family business and there is no backup plan. >> joining us is of dr. smith from tulane university. thank you so much for being with us. bp has tried the top kill procedure. they try to do that job shot. neither work. they are on their ninth procedure to stop the leak in the deepwater horizon.

explain the procedure they are going to put together now. >> they're doing basically two procedures with one bit of cleaning up. they are cutting away the wreckage of the drilling riser that belonged to thehorizon, that was bent over and cracked and linking, most famously were you have been watching the rov footage that has been provided. they are going to cut that away and clean up the edge, and then they're going to install a cap over it. that will then feed into of 6.6

625 inch pipe fitting. this is just something to hold things together until the and then complete the relief well. and that this does not work, they have one more trick up their sleeve, which is to move this cap and install on new blowout preventer using that same type stomp. basically putting out on damage blowout preventer on the flow of the oil and gas so that they enclose the ball and stop the flow. >> there was a problem before when they tried the top hat scenario with hydrants -- hydrates freezing three how did they stop that are smart >> first there is a lot less salt water available. secondly, this is a lot closer to the source.

the oil is going to be naturally warmer than it was at the end of the pipe. >> from what i understand in the industry right now, there are different -- each blowout preventer is different. there is not a uniform a blowout preventer out there. how do we know -- and i know that there are a couple of scenarios that bp is looking at to look -- stop this leak -- how do we know that the cap that they are going to use will fit directly on the source right now? >> they have not told me, but i will tell you what i am thinking. in terms of the cap, it is in manufactured specifically for that application. if it does not fit, shame on whoever measured it. as far as the blowout preventer stack, there are different models but they use a lot parts in common particularly when they come from the same manufacturer.

i think they will use the bop from the second relief well, stop drilling that well, and use that as a piggyback unit. there is already one on the drop ship. >> eric smith of tulane university joining us on the program. dr. smith, talk about the two relief wells being drilled right now and how they are approaching the source of the leak and how they are expected, maybe by august, to completely set this off? we hope that this scenario words. right now with the cap that they are putting on, but that it -- but if that does not work, what is bp doing to drill two relief wells to stop this leak? >> the relief wells are the only permanent solution and that has always been the case. no matter what is done over the next -- the last 20 days or so,

we were always going to drill a relief well. the idea is to drill -- start about 1,000 feet away from the offending well bore, drill down 5,000 feet into the surface, and then make a 45 degree turn in intercept the bottom of the original well for about 18,000 feet. this the same sort of thing you -psaw them pumpiig on the top kl it him. it should float into the well bore and produce pressure to eliminate the oil and gas coming out of the reservoir going up the well bore. then they will use cement just as in the top kill.

that fills up not only the bottom of the well bore but the formation around the base of the well, so that there is the physical blockage that prevents oil from migrating into the well bore in the future. >> the procedure that bp is using right now to stop the leak, because of the cutting of the riser, before they can fit that custom-made cap back into place, obviously more oil leak into the gulf of mexico. can you talk about that scenario and why they did not use it previous? >> i can answer both of those. the riser was never intended for the drilling rig. when the drilling rig lost power, it became a flexed as the vessel moved around and

eventually site. it went from vertical to horizontal on the seafloor. a big crimp developed at the top of the blowout preventer stack, and then broken several places. anyone that has been watching the live feed has scenes that pike leaking and spewing oil and mud into the gulf. ironically, it reduce the cross sectional area of the drilling riser. the government thinks about 20% is reduced. that is what you are going to lose when you cut off the drawing riser. that restriction. you turn the ball two or three turns to a sprinkler, that is

the analogy. that was included as an option by the government, as i understand it, one of the earlier purchase three try everything else you can before you allow any additional oil to get into the call. >> that is why they are using this an area. professor smith, thank yoo so much for being with your the best scenario that we've seen so far in terms of stopping this leak is the one they're doing now? >> it is an exceptional one. my personal favorite is the blowout preventer stack. you don't end up with any more spillage and now you have the permanent valve you can close. i am going to defer to the government and the crew of not only bp but all hole drilling squad working on this thing. >> preferred eric smith, thank you so much for being with us. from tulane university. we want to thank everyone who has been with us today, too many

to go ahead and talk about it on the way out, our friends watching on c-span and for those of you listening on wist, along the gulf coast all the way to the texas coast, we want the opportunity here in louisiana to help ourselves. give us the opportunity to save our estuaries. give us the opportunity to protect ourselves from the next form, from the inundation of oil on our very precious and fragile wetlands. please contact your congressman, your senator, the president of the united states, allowing us to build this 80-mile san firm that and protect louisiana once and for all, that can protect our estuaries, and protect the culture in this great state of louisiana. for those who live along the gulf coast and have been affected by this already, just know that the need the american people to stand by us as once again we are on our knees.

we finally rebound from the aftermath of the biggest man- made disaster of this country, theelead the failing in the katrina. we are strong and we will come back stronger than before. all we need is the opportunity for government to get out of the way and allow us to help ourselves. we can do it. just give us the opportunity to do it. i want that our friends from c- span for being with us to nine. they'd still all to listen on wist. i will not think the best producer on the planet and all of you in the united states from listing today and feeling the plight of us in louisiana. i'll see you tomorrow, straight up, at 12:00. they have all got to go. ♪ >> next, the republican candidates running in south carolina participate in the debate. that is followed by gop senate

primary debate with the candidates hoping to replace senate majority leader harry reid. then president obama on the bp oil spill. >> new british prime minister and conservative party leader david cameron fields questions from members of parliament in his first prime minister's question as the head of the coalition government, live from the british house of commons wednesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> after prime minister's question, former bush administration attorney general john ashcroft will discuss the legal rights of terrorism suspects at guantanamo bay. you could watch it live at 11:00 a.m. eastern. >> next, a debate between the four republican candidates running for governor of south carolina. the primary takes place june 8. the candidates hope to replace

current gov. mark sanford predict candidates are congressman gresham barrett, andrea bauer, nikki haley, and henry mcmaster. this one-hour debate is curtis wp curtis whobtw -- this one hour debate is courtesy of wptw. >> i won i thank our viewers tonight. in this first of two gubernatorial debates for south carolina sponsored by frances

marion it universities. we're joined by the four gubernatorial hopefuls that hope to be south carolina's governor for the primary is one week from tonight three are candidates include andrea bauer -- andre powebauer and others. please give the candidates all warm south carolina welcome. it tonight's debate also features of panel from throughout the state. harry is also the immediate past president of the south carolina press association for joining

him is his former colleague, the current editor of the morning news, and my colleague, rusty rate. please welcome the panel as well this debate is coming up one week before the primary and will focus on job growth across all of south carolina purred par one involves questions from our media panel. each will have a one minute and 30 seconds to answer the question when it is their time to go first the other three candidates than half 30 seconds for a bottle. we of a series of coin tosses earlier tonight to determine the order in which the candidates will answer it the questions. lt. gov. andre bauer will answer the first set of questions.

>> a recent poll by the morning news and frances marion universe is among registered voters found that jobs in the economy were the top priority with little or no concern about welfare. it is your attention on the welfare question on my hot- button issue to appeal to voters in the gop primary? >> absolutely not. next year we have a direct drop in the amount of revenue we have in the state. not only do we have to create new opportunities, we have to make up shortfalls and tough decisions. i do not have any political bosses. i decide what is important by being out in the street like out was this morning at 7:00 a.m. where people can ask me anything. we have to make some tough cuts next year. we have to decide what is effective and not. we know there are programs right now -- the fastest-growing segment in the budget right now is the welfare rolls. it is bigger than what we spend when you look at military

spending, the fastest-growing segment is welfare. nobody wants to talk about it. we have no way to pay for it anymore. more than that, we also have to talk about ways to bring this to south carolina. i am the only one still running a business. none of these other folks are running a business. i deal with it every day. i see how difficult it is to pay the taxes that are continually placed on us, the way to get business performance -- more government bureaucrats making it harder to run my business. every time i turn around, the things that made me successful as a young man and an older person and business is becoming more and more difficult for private business owners to make a living in the state. >> you have 30 seconds. >> there are three important issues three jobs, jobs, jobs. we got a plan called putting south carolina back to work. it is a common-sense plan on turning this around.

how do we empower people, not government? if includes a questionnaire about infrastructure. we talk about restructuring and i hope we get a chance to deal with this so that i can share those talks with you. >> jobs is number one, no doubt about it. we are at the crossroads. if we do not make the right choices now, we will be sunk. we have been a drug for 12 years because we do not have a plan did i have a strategic plan that will work. i know how to get things done. i am not a politician. i am a prosecutor. but prosecutor has brought the party in the state and after leading this state and getting things done for the people, i want to lead us to that path to prosperity. and i have the expense and credibility to get it done. >> it is important a look that we do have a job policy, but we do not have the skilled work force for south carolina

businesses now. have a lot of jobs in south carolina that have to go out of state and out of country it at 3 we after we knowledge that. we have one of the most -- we need to make sure that we eliminate the corporate income tax. when you give them profit margins, the first thing they do is hire things -- hire people. it is about the quality of companies that come in, not quantity. we need to make sure that we have technical schools so that we can get the steel workers for the companies that need them. >> congressman barrett, you have expressed the desire to create economic conditions for jobs across the street and not across the nation. what specific plan to you have to enhance the infrastructure needed, broadband internet access, for the state? >> a great question. i was hoping someone would ask

that. as i sat in my opening statement, we have a plan call putting south carolina back to work. it is a common-sense plan on how we turn this economy around and through the private sector, not the government sector comprehensive tax reform. we need a tax system that is fair and ladder. look at the system that we have got. we need a system where every option is on the table. we need a system that is fair and flat encourages business and industry to come and help position this infrastructure. road, bridges, how we're going to pay for them. and that includes a $40 billion multiplier on the ships coming in, extremely important, and we need a governor that is going to roll the sleeves and be ready for it education -- i don't think there is a silver bullet but no child -- we need to get

dollars to the classroom. only forty-four cents of every dollar makes it to the classroom three we need to -- we need to make sure that they get to educational class and prepare and restructuring. all love to see the hand of the governor strengthened. so we have a government not only the responsibility but the authority to make a difference. bringing south carolina into the 21st century, not the 18th century. that is how we change a thing. >> i've never served in legislature. i've -- this is the only office i've held in state government. i know how to get things done. you need to use the assets that you have an awful thing. we have not been doing that for 12 years. are we encouraging industry that is here to grow? we need to support agriculture,

tourism, technical colleges, and the tax system -- we need to overhaul it to make it fairer, flatter, and lower. we need to put that on the table every time. >> the question was about economic conditions in light of rural areas. first we have a tax shelter that words. we've got to look at our educational system. we're spending $12,000 a year. it is going to what thousand people and the department of education before never touches a teacher in a classroom. one out of every two kids and four years. we need to set up vocational programs in the ninth grade, that a writer for technical schools, so that in these rural areas, we get a skilled work force to bring these companies and and now we can build up those areas. >> when the four regional offices in the department, spirited and not just the columbia. they need to work to find out what they need.

you need a governor that and sells south carolina, whether manufacturing in this area, and i have visited in taiwan. we need to plan for the future. i've met with the shipping companies and the panama six canal. we need an intermodal port plan for our future and we have to do something about our tax structure. we do everything we can to discourage people from investing in south carolina, what you look at what we chart now on property owned by businesses -- we discourage anyone from buying property, we're putting the burden on the businesses. >> thank you. the next question will be to attorney general mcmaster. >> he made the fight against internet crime and children, and more recently against the federal health care bill and its impact on south carolina. what can you do to make economic

development for all south carolina of hallmark of your time as governor? >> as i began to explain a minute ago, i was ronald reagan's first attorney general in the company. -- in the country. my first elected position was attorney general. we have to have a team working together that know all the areas did know about problem you're trying to solve. what i would do is economic development, do something that has not been done before. we need to reform and change the way that we do it. we had -- in this to be a strategic and i have one on how to get there are you need to have all these assets. we have one of the best ports in the country, a deep water port. our agricultural proposal -- potential is second to none but