♪ "money with melissa francis" is next. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this is a special edition of "money". my in depth report on oil's dire straits. extreme violence and anti-american hostilities in north africa are creating further inexact in the middle east. attacks on u.s. embassies in libya, egypt and yemen rand protests elsewhere are threatening the state of security in the arab world. also hanging in the balance, much of the world's supply of oil. i just returned from bahrain and a stay on board the uss enterprise. we examine the security of the strait of hormuz and i got a first-hand look how

the u.s. navy protects this important passageway for 20% of the world's oil. tonight my exclusive sit down with sheikh mubarak. bahrain is the regional home for the u.s. navy's fifth fleet. the small gulf country is grappling with its own citizens arab spring aspirations and there has been violence. the sheikh defends the family's crackdown on protesters. my rear interview with ted, slap shot carter. commander of the strike group twelt. he is on the uss enterprise and is in charge of making sure millions of barrels of oil get you there the straight every day despite threats from iran to close it down. we talk about what is takes to keep the commercial waterway flowing. and how cuts in washington could affect the navy's mission in the entire persian gulf region. my interview with an

outspoken critic of opec and a billionaire who made billions betting across the energy sector from natural gas to oil. pickens thinks the u.s. should spend less time patrolling the strait of hormuz and back more efforts to become energy self-reliant. his plan? invest in the development of north american shale and natural gas resources. i spoke exclusively with sheikh mubarak, the government spokesman and a member of the royal family. i asked him about the importance of keeping the strait open and whether his government's crackdown on protests is inkpatable withs u.s.'s position on upholding democracy, a pillar of american foreign policy. how essential do you think the navy is to keeping the strait open? >> it's critical to keeping the strait open. melissa: are they essential? if they left would there be others to fill in the gap do you think? >> i think it's pretty clear that they are essential to be here and it would be very different to fill in the

shoes of the american fifth fleet here in bahrain or in the region. the whole world could come to a standstill if this energy is not delivered to their doorstep. so i think everyone is pretty much on the same boat that it is critical to keep the straits open. if anybody has an objection to the u.s. presence it is either the iranians or their supporters. now their supporters could be on either side of the gulf but we want to stick, thick and thin with the u.s. on this. melissa: the impression on the other side of the world is that tensions are rising and building to a i will boing point. is that your perspective here? >> have we got a long way to go? yes, sure. are we the same as capitol hill or western style democracy? no, we're not. what took hundreds of years to take place in the west we started 10 years ago. so we're nearly there. we have a two chamber

parliament. can it be a developed? yes, for sure. but, let's not bring religion into this. let's not bring ideologies into this. let's talk about a civilian state that benefits the people of bahrain for a better standard of living. melissa: so how do you deal with the protests in the meantime? because certainly nothing else it would dampen the impression of bahrain around the world. >> i think there is no compromises on security and stability. and therefore, we can't allow protesters who have an opinion to blockade roads or use petrol bombs or use ieds, installing fear in normal citizens lives. we made mistakes in the past and in how to control the riots, the violence. but we're rectifying it. melissa: with mounting criticism from the u.n. and

other human rights observers the sheikh and the government of the kingdom of bahrain will be scrutinized as they continue to host the fifth fleet and deal with thousands of shia protesters in the streets of manma. ambassador nick burns knows a great deal of the challenges of diplomacy in the middle east. he worked at u.s. state department for 27 years and was a lead negotiator on iran's nuclear program. he has directly advised three u.s. presidents on intersection of nuclear security and global politics. here is what he told me in our exclusive interview. >> since the outbreak of the arab revolutions 18 months ago one of the most dramatic places has been pearl square in bahrain where shia majority, elements have been protesting against government rule and as you know there have been lots of people arrested and now the sentences. one of the difficult issues for the united states how do we react to this? because we've got our fifth fleet stationed in bahrain. bahrain has been a friend of

the united states for the last several, many decade and there is a tension between our commitment to human rights, our commitment to our democratic principles on the one hand which are vitally important for us but our real world concrete interests insuring the flow of oil through the straits of hormuz which you covered and insuring we have stable relations and influence with governments in the region. melissa: i want to quickly characterize the video we're looking at here. he is trying to make the case, and he said this repeatedly and very open about it during the interview, he did not shy away from the question, when you have people in the streets throwing molotov cocktails you are putting in jeopdy the safety of the rest of our citizens. he makes it sounds like you have a few people who are causing trouble. the other side would say these are a few people who are standing up for democracy that want to have a voice. this a monarchy cracking down on them. which do you think is closer to the truth? >> oh, i think the latter. my view is since the beginning of the crisis the

vast majority of people protest having been protesting peacefully. and certainly in the beginning months, way back in the spring of 2011, these were peaceful protests. there has been some violence and any government has an obligation to maintain security in their societies but i think it is a stretch to say that the people that they have been arresting and putting on trial are somehow threats to the physical security of bahrain. melissa: so given that, what does that mean for our position and our relationship with them? because it's, you know, somewhat essential to us being stationed there. we need a base and a place to call home to station from and go out. you know, i mean does this, can we hold our headses high and stationing in this country where they're cracking down on democracy? >> it makes bahrain one of the most difficult countries for the united states in the middle east and during these revolutions because we have an obligation to object and to tell the bahrainies when we disagree about the

treatment of their own people inside their country. the united states has always stood up for the human rights of other people in very difficult situations but here's the problem. we also have an obligation to retain influence with the ruling family and to make sure that the united states has enough influence to protect our own interests. melissa: right. >> the flow of oil through the persian gulf and keeping bahrain and saudi arabia and the united arab emirates on our side with the struggle in iran. therefore you see this tension between our ideals and our self-interests. melissa: yeah. >> it has been part of the problem of american foreign policy, one of the challenges for 200 years but particularly important during these middle east revolution. >> you're absolutely right. you have to ask yourself who is the greatest enemy in the region and who do we need to partner with? to that end i would play for you, i talked to rear admiral carter in the region about the threat from iran developing nuclear weapons. set oil aside and let's talk about nuclear weapons. here is what he had to say.

international security is your life. what does it mean if they have a nuclear weapon? >> i don't want to speak on national policy because that is outside my lane but it would be a concern. melissa: what you do i this about that? >> oh i think if iran develops, acquire as nuclear weapons capability it is a disaster for the united states and our interests in the region. the past two american presidents have seen this exactly in the same terms. president bush and now president obama. we're trying to do everything we can and we should try to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. here is where we go back to your story. saudi arabia, bahrain, kuwait, and the u.a.e., united arab emirates have all been partners in the united states trying to isolate and sanction the iranians. melissa: no doubt it will be challenging for the u.s. to keep the fifth fleet based in bahrain if the king's crackdown on protesters worsens. the security of the strait's shipping lanes can become a pawn when iran and israel

say per rattle. amid tensions of the crew of the uss enterprise as they patrol some of the most contentious waterways in the world. up next more of our special edition of "money". i will speak to the head of the aircraft carrier and how the u.s. will react if iran attempts to close the strait of hormuz and what is his biggest concern is as he patrol's oil's

[ male announcer ] wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less expensive option than a traditional lawyer? at legalzoom you get personalized services for your family and your business that's 100% guaranteed. so go to legalzoom.com today for personalized, affordable legal protection.

melissa: welcome back to this special edition of "money". "oil's dire strait". on my recent trip to the middle east i spent a night aboard the uss enterprise with the fifth fleet to get a first-hand look at what goes into protecting the strait of hormuz and the 17 million barrels of oil that pass through each day. iran has been threatening to close the straight because of crippling western sanctions. i spoke with the enterprise's commanding officer specifically about how exactly they would respond as well as about what potential defense department budget cuts would mean for the flist fleet in care -- fifth fleet in carrying out their mission. what would happen if they began attacking boats in that area? >> of course the presence, we hope, with, would deter that. i mean, you know, the things we're looking for in the region, we want to, we want to security, which, if you

have security then that comes stability. with the two of those we get prosperity in the region. so we operate in these international waters and through these internation straits and do it on a routine basis as much as anything to clarify they are international operations in accordance with international law. so we uphold that. some of why we're here. melissa: do you think they're able to based on what you've seen? they're constantly threatening to do that. do you think they have the physical capability? >> i don't know. we go back and forth through the straight. i think we've been through eight times. it is very professional. they come out and look at us and we look at them. and so whether they really would have the capability to do that, i don't know. maybe for a short period of time. melissa: one thing we're mind fu of as we're out here, sitting against the backdrop of sequestration across the board funding cuts. and i know that is not what

you do but, what is the impact, how valuable is the money spent here? let me ask it that way. >> well, it is really, i think it all goes back to the global economy and global bill village we live in. it is an investment to keep this global commerce going. and so. without that investment we can only speculate what might happen if we weren't here. melissa: i think it is fair to say without the strength of the u.s. navy patrolling these vital commercial sea lanes we would be seeing even more dramatic swings in price flush wages -- fluctuation in the oil market. how crucial are the u.s. efforts in protecting the strait of hormuz for the world's oil supply? i spoke to fadel gheit who knows every aspect of the oil industry from his work as an engineer with mobile oil. he is now one of the most respects oil analysts on

wall street and here is what he has to say. fadel, thanks so much for joining us. if the iranians followed through on the threat to close the strait what is your bet would happen to the price of oil that instant. >> think can try but they can't actually do it. the answer is no, the probability would be very low. and basically if we have any military action in this part of the world one would expect that crude oil prices would rise very sharply but it will be very short-lived because supply demand fundamentals still say that oil prices should be closer to 80, not close to a 100. melissa: let's flesh out a couple things you said there. when i was talking to the commanding officer as well as everybody out in the strait they had different answers how long they thought the iranians would be able to shut down that little 13-mile route there in the strait of hormuz. i think they would be able to do it for some short period of time but the conflict as you know would

roil oil markets. traders just need the smallest excuse to bid up the price of the oy oil, you know that. >> yeah but at the end of the day they can probably make some background noise for some hours, not some days or weeks or months. and this is a global business and, any action would be taken will be very harsh. i mean if they try, they will be asking for deep, deep trouble. melissa: there is a ton of commerce and cargo that goes through there as i saw. how important do you think it is that our military is there in the strait making sure that it is open? >> it he is very important. in this part of the world they have probably 50% of the their food comes through this waterway. so blockading the waterway, this is the a global situation. it is not regional. it is not country that has some, you know, tension with some other country. this is a global business. russians, chinese, everybody

else, it is in their best interest to have it open. melissa: if sequestration or automatic cuts impacted our forces in this area obviously that would be a huge problem? >> very unlikely. this is a part of the world we are not going to abdicaate. this is a very critical part for us. national security depends on this part of the world to be open for oil flow. it is absolutely essential. melissa: fadel gheit and many other top experts agree that any type of supply disruption in the strait of hormuz could become a global nightmare. well you think you know the definition of multitasking. i can tell you it takes a lot of leadership and organization to keep 4,000 sailors and marines in sync on an aircraft carrier. tail hooks, catapult, helicopters hovering up ahead is all directed from the ship's tower. next is the one-on-one with the uss enterprise boss, the

melissa: welcome back to the special edition of morn any, "oil's dire strait". i was one of few journalists given unique opportunity to stay overnight on the uss enterprise in the persian gulf. i was able to get perspectives of men and women serving on the front line in the region and high above deck in the ship's tower i spoke to commander or mini boss as he is known, doug keane about iranian threats to close the strait. these threats put the u.s. military and our crucial oil supply in danger on a daily basis. you are right here in the heart of all of the tension.

you hear constantly from iran and they're threatening to close the strait. is that something in your mind that is possible with your presence here? >> it is always possible. something we're always thinking about, every time we go through the strait, we get visited and it is almost like the old cold war days. there will be some ships that come out. there will be airplanes that come out to see what we're doing. looking at us, testing to see what we'll do. there is lot of commerce that flows through the area and we're out there showing that commerce can get through. melissa: so much oil flows through this region it is essential but what us did feel like when they come over to check you out? >> it actually pretty neat to see what that is. we have had the russians out here as well visiting us. it is always interesting to see, you know, you hear the stories of always the big bad wolf. when you see the people up close and in person, we had the ships right alongside. it is just normal sailors like yourself a lot of times,

sailing alongside looking across, you know, looking across the water from each other. actually it brings it closer to home. melissa: what's the impression? what kind of impact do you make on them? >> i imagine we bother them a little bet. that we go through each time and we get on the radio and or make their announcements in their news and about how they dislike it. no country likes that with so much american presence or any other coalition presence going through here. melissa: what do you think the impression this gives off? it is a message. if you close it will you reopen it? what do you think is the message? >> if it was closed, it would take a while to reopen. it would be painful. i think the world knows that. and i think iran knows that. as well. that would hurt them just as much with anything. so, yes, that's a threat. it may happen, it may not

but we're here to make sure it will be reopened again. melissa: it would take a while? >> depending on how it was closed it might take a while. melissa: i really appreciated that commander thien gave me such a candid assessment the way the navy is treated as they navigate through the strait every day. he also delivered the very realistic and reassuring message even if the iranians manage to carry out the threat and he will up the strait the sailors and marines of the fifth fleet would be able to get tankers moving through. we're spending billions of dollars to keep the fifth fleet in the persian gulf but should we be? more than 3/4 of the oil exported through the strait of hormuz goes to asian markets. some critics are asking why is u.s. investing our money protecting the gulf when instead we could put money in efforts to make america self-sufficient, producing domestic oil and energy? one of those critics is t. boone pickens, chairman and

ceo of bp capital. here is what he told me in my ex-exclusive interview. melissa: do you think this is money well-spent? >> no, i don't. i'm very much against it. the 85% of the oil goes to asia. we only get 2 1/2 million barrels a day out of, out of the persian gulf. i don't see why we do it. why doesn't somebody else peck up the tab? and we have plenty of resources in america. we don't, we actually don't even have to have the 2 1/2 million barrels that comes out of the saudis and qatar. melissa: but boone, you know as well as anyone oil is fungible. so it doesn't really matter if that oil is going directly to us. it may be going to asia and that is displacing other oil coming to us. so it doesn't really matter exactly who it is going to. it is going to the world market and we're a part of that. >> well, having said that, why do we, we spent now, in

iraq and afghanistan, we spent trillion 500 billion dollars and we've had over, we've had over 30,000 casualties and, the people over there hate us. i don't understand it because we have plenty of resources in america to offset the oil from there. so it's, a make a huge difference in what we did. what i want is to give us options to change things if they're not working. and we've been doing this a long time. it cost us a lot of money and it cost us a lot of lives. melissa: but part of the reason why we're there is to try and also stop iran from you know, overrunning the whole region and from getting a nuclear weapon. it has to do with oil but it has to do with keeping them from dominating the region.

do you think that's a worthwhile goal? >> well, to me, that, sure, i know we've got friend there. the israelis are friends of ours and all but, i, i somehow, you know, other people are getting, you know, we said 85% of the oil is going to asia and it just, to me it is just, somehow it just doesn't look very smart. we keep doing the same thing over and over again and we expect different results and we still have the same results. we have spent a lot of money, getting people killed. when we leave everybody hates us. melissa: yeah. i have to give you credit. i have known you for a long time and it was many years ago you said that we need to use natural gas for transportation. that we have abundant natural gas in this country and at the time i thought it sounded kind of whacky. now time has gone by and we have this fracking boom. the price of natural gas has

plummeted, if everyone had listened to you we would be using the cheap natural gas for transportation. are you frustrated? is that still a possibility, and have we gotten off track with other forms of transportation fuels, you know, especially when we talk about biofuels? >> well, it's, it's interesting to me because, the heavy-duty trucking is going to natural gas because it is $2 a gallon cheaper. it will happen. see, we did this in 1972 when we went from gasoline to diesel. it took five years to make the change. you're going through the same dynamics again now. you're going to go to alternative fuel which is natural gas. it's cleaner by 30%. it's domestic and it's, it saves you, 2/3 of our trade deficit is the purchase of foreign oil. melissa: yeah. >> and we need to have a

north american energy alliance which would be canada and mexico and the united states. work with those people and have the keystone pipeline and, but, the missing link in this whole thing is that we've never had an energy plan in america. melissa: both president obama and republican presidential candidate mitt romney have ruled rolled out energy plans and romney's would allow the u.s. to be self-sufficient in just eight years. t. boone pickens certainly see as future where opec oil is replaced by domestically generated oil. that would be from shale and wider use of natural gas but that is a long-term plan and that still pose as lot of challenges for today's energy sector. up next, on "oil's dire strait", mead meet the commander in charge to make sure his ships are quote, ready to the end. as the uss enterprise finishes her final

deployment through the persian gulf and prepares to make her very last journey home. stay with us.

melissa: welcome back to this special edition of "money", "oil's dire strait". he is in charge of carrier strike group 12 which includes the flagship uss enterprise as well as two destroyers and 61 aircraft. rear admiral ted, slap shot,

carter says the military is doing more with fewer jets and fewer bombs and missiles because today's equipment is more precise and digitally advanced than it used to be. for all the hardware sophistication, carter says it is ability of men and women in uniform that make the u.s. military the best in the world. is the face of the military changing at all in terms of as you see this tremendous ship retired? and we hear more and more about droneses and about unmanned missions and hear more and more about technological attacks? is the face of the military changing? >> i've been doing this a long time, 30 years. in fact, my first deployment was on the uss midway right where we are right here. so and i was flying in a f-4 phantom. now you look at the f 18 super hornets. it is a an interesting parallel to your question

because the technology really increased. we have things that fly around don't necessarily have a man or woman in it. as the technology is improved we have be very cautious to not say everything is being run by technology because the man in the loop is the still the ultimate decision-maker. that is still true today. the we'll go with more things flying in the air that don't have people in them. you will see aircraft flying off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier that doesn't have a pilot in it. it doesn't take anything away from the man in the loop, whether the person is inside the cockpit, outside the cockpit the man is still the decisionmaker. melissa: does it save more american lives that way and put less american lives at risk? >> it depends. there may be risk higher we just want to put the machine in place. there is something to be said about the human resolve of putting man into armed conflict when directed. so i think for those of us that are out here on the

cutting-edge we don't have that prespective. melissa: think of your kids playing videos and computer games listen up. carter attributes the multitasking ability of his officers to a generation of playing videogames. he says it gives an edge to pilots in the cockpit and sailors navigating the sea by gps. you might want to, parent, reconsidering the merits of more xbox time. to get insight how operations on the uss enterprise are planned and executed, i spoke to chris harmer, senior naval analyst at the institute of the study of war. he also served in the u.s. navy as deputy director of future operations for the fifth fleet. and he is an expert on the storied history of the uss enterprise. it was percent used in 1962 in the cuban missile crisis blockading cuba. since then it has traveled to conflict regions around the world. the uss enterprise has also

become a movie star in its own right. i asked harmer, just how special this aircraft carrier is. >> the enterprise is the oldest aircraft carrier in the navy and the oldest combat vessel of any navy in the world. it is a special ship. a lot of us are sad to see the enterprise go but she served the nation well. as an economist i think you appreciate the fact we've gotten 50 years of use out of this ship. so whatever the taxpayers paid for it in 1961 it was commissioned in 1962 and it served faithfully for 50 years. so i think it is a great ship. i'm glad you have the opportunity to go aboard. melissa: it was really amazing. of course you know, cost billions. i think at time there were plans for many, many more but the overruns on this one were so high that they didn't do many exactly like this? isn't that true? it is run by nuclear power. it has eight reactors on board. it is a one of a kind.

>> it is a one-of-a-kind, melissa. that is why the ship cost so much. it was first nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the world t was built with eight nuclear reactors. because the technology was so new and shipyard workers were not sure how to build it was a one of a kind ship. after the enterprise was built, the navy went back to building steam powered ships and oil fired ship. so the next three or four aircraft carriers are were conventionally powered. it took about 10 years for the navy to do nuclear power it aircraft carriers of the since that time all of them have been built with nuclear power plants. all the aircraft carriers are nuclear powered. we will not see a conventionally sized ship powered like that. melissa: we didn't realize it was really "top gun." we went to the place where tom cruise threw the dog tags overboard. it was in the hunt for red

october. it historic but now out of date. what is different about the newer aircraft carriers? >> newer air krast carriers save a lot of money with streamlined power production. you have a longer lifespan out of aircraft carriers in terms of their nuclear core. the greatest expense the navy incurs is manpower cost. as economist i'm sure you've seen plenty of industry that got more efficient and more productive. the navy is trying to follow that. the newest aircraft carriers will have 15 to 20% fewer sailors on board. the increased in automated technology makes new ships more efficient and requires less manpower which saves the taxpayer money. melissa: how much could it possibly save? we were trying to put together the numbers what exactly this cost. and it was hard to sort of get them. we had our brain room working on it. the best we could come up with the cost of maintaining carrier strike group, the whole group, was $2.2

billion. what, does that sound right to you? of course that was in 2004. what does it cost to keep something like this going? >> you know, melissa almost impossible to get a very specific number because you're amortizing that cost over 50 years. for example, the enterprise is very expensive when it was built. melissa: this is the cost of maintaining though is 2.2 billion. i know the fixed cost what you put into build it is one thing. but i'm talking about keeping the group going. you're talking about there are 15% fewer people on board. that is some kind of a savings but not that much of a savings. what does this cost us annually, do you think? >> i think 2.2 dal billion per carrier strike group is probably a reasonable figure for what each of the 11 carrier strike groups that the navy has costs the taxpayer. >> do you think it is worth it when you look at what they're doing? hard to put a price tag on freedom, you have to say that up front. at the same time we have limited military resources. it is not endless.

you have to decide where it is going to go. this particular group was number one, keeping the strait of hormuz open. they're keeping iranians in check whether they want to say it that way or not. while i was there they were going out and flying missions over afghanistan. they would tack off every hour and 1/2 and these groups fly over afghanistan to support our troops from the ground. whether that was verbally through the air or firing to the ground or whether, you know they were setting off bombs, they were supporting people on the ground in afghanistan and then coming back to this aircraft carrier. how essential is this and is it worth the money? >> well, melissa you toughed on a couple of great points there and i would like to give you an historic reference which was henry kissinger used to say the first question in a crisis is, where are the aircraft carriers. the reason that question is asked, aircraft carriers are sovereign american territory. we have forces stationed throughout the middle east in many of the countries there but we always have to coordinate with those governments what military

actions we take. the real advantage of an aircraft carrier is it is able to move wherever it wants and able to do whatever it wants without permission from a third country. so the president and the national command authority love having aircraft carriers because they are flexible and they can respond to emerging crises without coordination with countries that may not support our foreign policy and security goals. melissa: up next, it really was a once in a lifetime experience to tail hook onto the aircraft carrier and to get the rare chance to get a chance to spend the night on board the uss enterprise with the outstanding crew. i will tell it what it took for me to get my sea legs, when we come back with more of our "money" special, "oil's dire strait"

melissa: welcome back to our "money" special, oil's dire straits. i had incredible exclusive access to the officers, sailors and marines of the uss enterprise during my recent visit to the middle east. we stayed on board as the ship was patrolling in the north arabian sea south of the strait of hormuz. the fifth fleet's regional base is the capital of bahrain. for the last year-and-a-half there have been active protests by shia majority in bahrain leading to arrests and violence. fox business was the first u.s. television network allowed to broadcast live

from bahrain in over a year. here's one of those reports, immediately after getting back onshore. so the mission of the fifth fleet out there is twofold. one is to keep commerce flowing through the sea of arabia. that includes the strait of hormuz that the iranians have been threatening to shut down. that is a 13 mile wide passage way. so many commerce flows you there the area, 20% of the world's oil and tons of goods and cargo goes to all the gulf's nations. second operation is the operation enduring freedom. we met loot colonel smith. she is one of the only few women that is in the strike group that fly over afghanistan. what is that like. >> my mom and dad are scared. my brothers in the navy are. ma'am, i go, yeah, thanks for talking to me. it was great hearing a female voice.

to me it is us being overhead, being noisy dropping a bomb, whatever solution you're talking about keeps them safe and i do my job. that's what it is about. everybody says, oh you sacrifice, away from home. we're away from home a long time. everybody in the strike group has spent a last year-and-a-half. those guys on the ground living in less than optimal conditions every day. i'm here to keep them safe. and that's what i believe in. [inaudible] that's what i believe in and that's why i'm still in it and do what i do. melissa: being on live television however i did have to admit to my 1:00 coanchor lori rothman i had certain shall i say challenges when i first got on board. >> you know, intrepid museum here in new york city, the aircraft carrier i got seasick taking my kids for a haves it. the space shuttle is there now. how are you doing, spending these nights on the aircraft carrier. how do you feel? what is your experience

like? melissa: well, okay, let's start with the good part. so we flew on board. we were trapped. when the rope catches you underneath your tail hook. that was awesome. when we catapulted off the end, i love that. i could do that 1,000 times. i did get a little bit seasick when we got on the first day. i'm embarrassed to tell you that. i got seasick and i put on the patch and i was ready to go. >> we in main street had a better understanding what goes on in the middle east to get the oil supply from there to here we would be little more accommodating with all the fluctuations in the price of oil and gasoline at the pump? melissa: well, you know, i think this is definitely an area that the public should be focused on. the navy is out there making sure that that strait is open without question but it would make a huge difference and we would immediately feel it at the pump if something happened in the area but every single naval officer or seaman or sailor

we talked to said they were prepared to act immediately if something happened in that strait. so on one hand it means a lot of focus. on the other hand you can feel confident our troops are there keeping it open. melissa: when we come back i will introduce you to the voice of the uss enterprise. he is called the handler because he happened else all of the traffic on the flight deck. that means everything from moving awacs and super hornets into position all the way to getting the deck swabbed. more of "oil's dire

melissa: there always has to be one character in a crowd that sticks out especially onboard a ship of more than 4,000 sailors and marines and i found him.

meet lieutenant commander charlie artinger the aircraft handling officer or the handler. his job is incredibly complicated as he juggles the flight deck operations for dozens of aircraft coming and going off the uss enterprise. he keeps track with a board full of miniature planes. he has a nickname for just about everything. >> pots and pans are the scrubbing team. they scrub the bla, latter lines, center lines and out there with brooms and the wand, pressure washer to keep it all up. melissa: what is tune-up white jellybean? >> that is the crew switch. different areas on the flight deck. that is the crack where the angle and bow meet. corral between l-1s and l-2. sneak spot is in front of the island. melissa: what do you love

about this. >> it is in my blood. all the men are pounding it out here 16, 18 hours a day. everybody has a can-do attitude. our job is protecting troops on the ground. we instilled that and letting them importance of getting these aircraft off the deck safely and back on. melissa: he has been in the navy for 28 years. there is only one handler on every aircraft carrier. he has seen everything, including jets crashing on deck. he had to jettison aircraft overboard to prevent disaster. like other sailors and marines we met on the ship, he emphasized it is a team effort all designed to support the troops on the ground in afghanistan as well as to be a powerful presence on the sea. well stay tuned for more of our special, "oil's dire strait". i will show you a behind-the-scenes look in my visit to the uss enterprise and you will hear directly from those serving on board. that's next.

melissa: welcome back to our special. from cuba, 60 plummets off of vietnam from strategic reports in the gulf war, and now operation freedom, and intimidating presence to stop

iran, the u.s. has been a centerpiece of u.s. naval strength. truly was an honor to stand board and have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear directly from the crew and officers. i'd like to leave you tonight with a behind the scenes glimpse of my time aboard the uss enterprise as we transited the north arabian sea. let them stay with uss enterprise means those who are serving on her final deployment before she is decommissioned later this year. i am melissa francis, thank you for watching our "money" special. have a good night. >> it has been around for so long, i get to decommission it.

>> sometimes she is kind of hard to work with. >> this ship is pretty much the workhorse. speakers are pretty honored, it is an opportunity to come out and do what we are doing. >> deployments to running good, i am sure if they really wanted to, they could send it out another deployment.