>> chris: we'll get a report from scene, and the latest on efforts to contain the damage. from janet napolitano, secretary of homeland security. and, ken salazar, secretary of the interior and thad allen, the coast guard commandant live only on fox news sunday and charlie crist, then... >> i'm running as a republican... >> chris: and now. >> my decision to run for the united states senate. and they -- as a candidate without party affiliation. >> chris: what is the fallout in 2010's most closely watched senate race?

we'll ask marco rubio, florida's republican candidate and also with reaction, building to arizona's tough im grace law, we'll ask our sunday regulars, how this will play out in november. and, our power player of the week. reach for the stars, and now, is helping young women blaze new trails. all, right now, on fox news sunday. >> chris: hello from fox news in washington. we're following two big stories, at this hour. last night in times square, new york city police defused a bomb starting to detonate in a parked suv. it was described as amateurish and powerful and streets and hotels were evacuated ten hours and we'll have more in a moment. along the gulf coast there is growing concern about the massive oil spill, that threatened the entire region, let's bring in correspondent phil keating whos in venice, louisiana. >> reporter: good morning, today

promises to be another frustrating day for all efforts to collect, contain and disperse the estimated 2 million gallons of oil spilled in the gulf of mexico. and, the oil that continues to spill, from bp's fractured in three places pipeline and the high winds, in the gulf today, are hampering the efforts and having problems with the orange boon lines strewn across the coastline to protect louisiana's precious westland coastline and the wind is preventing the c-130 from flying over the oil slick and dropping out the chemicals from the air and according to everyone involved, what we have here is unprecedented. a spill dpugushing uncontrollab 5,000 feet below the surface and the reliance on remotely operated vehicles and robotics so far failed to pinch the pipeline and cap the well and

stop the flow and the unknown volume of oil threatening wildlife, the environment, and the economy. and, however, a couple of promising developments, bp's testsfied, pouring the chemicals on' 5,000 -- from a ship above the oil seemed to work and the gulf where the deep water horizon, blew up and burned and sank a new platform is anchored down to build a relief pipeline and the new pipeline will drill into the same oil reserves, that the currents cracked pipeline is now pillage from, and that will relief the cracks and postal reduce the spill and the timetable on get this operational, 60 to 90 days from now and the wind from the south, pushing to north, and threatening the coastlines of louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. >> chris: phil keating reporting from venice, thanks for that report. for more we bring in the three top officials working the crisis for president obama. homeland security secretary

janet napolitano. interior secretary ken salazar and from new orleans the commandant of the coast guard, thad allen. i want to ask you about the car bomb, overnight, in times square, in new york city. new york governor david patterson is calling this an act of terrorism. >> we are considering it, it could be an act of terrorism, o-it was intended to be. and, so, everything in terms of investigation is being done, all the forensics are being done and all the leads are being pursued. and it is the city of washington, the fbi, the department of homeland security. looking at the vehicle and tracing fingerprints and it is looking at video, because there are a lot of cameras in that area. a lot of activity today in terms of investigation. >> chris: from what you have heard and we understand it is early, very early hours of the investigation, can you tell anything about fingerprints, in

terms of techniques, the bomb, explosive device inside that suv? >> nothing that was not already said in the intro piece. it was a rather amateurish type of bomb, it was propane tanks, with a can with -- to be a starter, linked to a -- alarm clock timer and beyond that, i think we'll have to let the investigatory process move... >> chris: and do you have any evidence, as to whether this is homegrown or has links to foreign groups. >> it is too soon to tell. but, again we're not ruling anything out. >> chris: admiral allen, let's turn to the oil spill and i'd like to ask you, what is this latest on the spill? some experts say it is leaking more than the 5,000 gallons a day that we had been told and, secondly, is there any quick solution left or at this point,

are you looking only at ideas that will take weeks or months? >> chris, this morning, the oil is about 9 miles off the southeast coast of louisiana near venice and we're watching it very, very closely, and as was noted some of the problems have to do with mother nature and the weather. high surf conditions and wind make the deployment of boon problematic and we'll fight the battle throughout this day and make sure we can do everything we can and in regards to the release of the oil from the bottom we need to understand. it is and in exact science and we are trying to make estimations from videos from remotely operated vehicles at 5,000 feet, but whether it's 1,000 or 5,000 barrels the catastrophic loss of the well head has us planning far from that and we have been pre-deploying equipment end the assumption we'll have a worst-case scenario here and we hope it doesn't happen but prudence dictates we be prepared to deal with that and you want to stop the leak at its source

and if you can't you attack it on the surface and we have done that with mechanical means of skimming and a in situ% and dispersents but it is difficult for the surface ships to operate in the current weather. >> chris: and at this point does it looks like the blowout preventer is not going to work and if they'll have to find a solution that will take weeks or months? >> it will take heavy duty forensics and i'll ask secretary salazar to comment but there are four or five different devices that can actuate inside the blowout preventer and one can sheer the pipe and one can crimp the pipe and a rubber ring that you can enclose around it and we have to find out why it didn't actuate and it is supposed to be fail safe and there will be a joint investigation conducted between minerals management service and the u.s. coast guard at the direction of secretary salazar and secretary janet napolitano. >> chris: secretary salazar, what is the damage to the gulf coast so far and fit goes on for

weeks or months what is the potential scenario? >> it is a massive oil spill and our campaign here has got to be to move forward and do everything we can to restore and protect the gulf coast, and, all of its environment, within the gulf coast area we have 20 wildlife refuges, some soft best in the country and, what admiral allen said was correct. every effort is being made to stop the source, right now. there has not been a minute of rest, since this started. and home the source will get stopped, if, ultimately it requires what the ultimate solution is, that is the relief well, you are looking at 60 to 90 days and having the preparation to do everything we can for the worst-case scenario is an ongoing effort and the president directed that not a single effort be spared, to make sure we are protecting the american people and environment. >> chris: if it goes on, 60 or 90 days, we are talking about a situation worse than the exxon valdez. >> that is absolutely the case,

we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario here and need to be sure we are protecting those precious resources along the coast, coastline as well as the economies that are dependent upon these -- >> worse than exxon valdez, 11 million gallons. >> there are scenarios it could be worse than the exxon valdez, we are not sugar coating this and we need to be prepared for worst-case scenario and have been doing it since day one. >> chris: secretary on friday you called on bp, the oil company responsible for the spill, to step up its efforts. specifically what would you like to see them do they haven't so far . >> bp needs to get the spill stopped. we need to do more and be working on the surface of the ocean, and make sure we're doing everything to keep the spill from reaching shore and then, they need to be doing more in terms of protecting shore loin, hiring local workers. to help with that shoreline response. doing all they can to be out there, in the communities,

because they are ultimately responsible. we on the other hand, and -- the commandant actually, on scene are making sure the federal resources are being brought to bear in a coordinated way with the states that are involved, and, so, all of that work has been stood up, since the first day of the incident. >> chris: admiral, the government can at any point federalize the operation. handling it yourselves, and let bp pay the bill at the end of the process. why not do that right now? >> chris, i think the term federalizing a spill is an antiquated term. surrounding the exxon valdez and by statute and regulation they are the responsible party and will bear the costs and we need an effective integrated response and that is our goal and we don't want to relief them of the responsibility or cost burdens associated with that and we have recourse to -- we have a trust fund and can use it but back

passenger bp for that and by statute and law, bp is the responsible party, but as i said, repeatedly, we are the accountable federal entity for oversight and intend to do that. >> couldn't you take over? i understand they'll have to pay for it under any circumstances, but couldn't you -- the federal government run the operation instead of letting bp run the operation? >> chris, we could, but they are -- there are resources in place and have a structure in place to do this and it's a metro of how to do it most effective and is a combination of bp and the federal government and there are resources including the sophisticated rovs that are not in the government inventory and include reaching out and getting the best practices from private sector all over the world and the balance is correct and we both have to execute our responsibilities. >> chris: a number of louisiana officials say the obama administration was slow to respond to the crisis. i want to review the timeline of what happened here. on april 20th, the explosion of the drilling platform, for days bp and the coast guard say there is no local.

on april 24, we are told it is leaking a thousand barrels a day. april 28, the estimate is raised to 5,000 barrels a day. not until april 29, 9 days after the accident, the president makes his first statement about what is now called an incident of national significance. secretary, should the administration respond -- have responded faster. >> the administration responded all hands on deck from day one. what happened is this situation itself evolved. the situation evolved from an explosion and search and rescue mission, to several days later the actual sinking of the rig. and at that point in time the oil was being burned off on the surface. to the next phase, was that the oil began to spread. and could not -- was not burned off on the surface. and then, we had assets in place, already, pre-deployed, 70 vessels, hundreds of thousands of feet of boon, the integrated

command center was stood up with the states involved from day one. >> chris: you know, some critics say this could be obama's katrina. >> i think that is a total mischaracterization. i think we'll be happy when all is said and done to be very transparent with all of the activity that has happened, really from the first hours of the explosion. and those questions will be asked and answered but the key fact of the matter is, that this has been all hands on deck, across the federal government, with the state, and with bp, from the day of the incident. >> if i may, from day one the president has been involved and informed and has been directing us to do everything we can and not to spare any effort, your timeline that you had up there, frankly you can go back and put april 22nd on there, where we were stepping on the -- doing everything bp can do, a letter from them saying, what their resources were and how they were moving forward to implement the

vast oil spill response plan and from day one we have been on top of this. every minute, 24 hours a day, trying to get the situation -- >> secretary salazar you developed the plan the president announced at the end of march to expand exploration of oil and natural gas along several areas of the coastline. not just the gulf but also along the east coast and parts of the eastern gulf and also, up -- parts of the alaska coast. after the accident, have you changed your mind about the wisdom of that policy? >> there were 30,000 wells, oil and gas wells drilled in the gulf of mexico alone and currently today, 30% of our oil and gas resources come from the gulf of mexico. a huge economic infusion, euro economy depends on it. it has been an industry that has been conducted in a safe manner and, these things occur but the safety mechanisms have been in place and why it failed is something we are investigating. and we have a joint

investigation to give us answers, now until we find out more information it will be something that will be evolving and if we have to revisit, we have allowed in the deep water we'll do. but that will be based on the best facts and science moving forward. >> chris: secretary, before you go i want to ask you about two other issues. first, this week, you told congress the southern border is as secure now as it is -- has ever been. but from 2000 to 2008 arizona's population of illegals grew 70% and nationally our population of illegals grew 37%. is that the kind of security you are bragging about. >> no, what i was -- obviously, it's always continuing work but i've worked the border as years as the u.s. attorney, attorney general, governor of arizona. i have ridden it, walked it, flown it. i know that border and in terms of all statistical measure there are more resources placed on that border and fewer attempts at illegal immigration in the

last year than has been the historical record. everything is in decline. we are getting and gaining control of that southwest earn border. more needs to be done, and more is being done, in arizona. which has become a particular corridor and i understand the frustration of arizona, with that. and we are continuing to look at arizona but i'll tell you this: in the end, every resource can be put at that border is being put there. every security being made, but we still need comprehensive immigration reform. >> chris: have you been interviewed by the president about the new open job on the supreme court. >> i have not talked to the president in the recent weeks about that, no. >> chris: have you been told whether or not you are a candidate or whether the president wants you to stay on as secretary of homeland security. >>you know, let me say, i am flattered to have those questions answered as you can tell from the interview. i think i'm focused on a few

other issues, right now, section terry napolitano, secretary salazar, admiral allen thanks for coming in today and talking with us. we wish you the best as you continue dealing with the terrible oil spill. >> thank you, chris. >> chris: up next... gordon charlie crist shakes up the race to become florida's next senator and announcing he'll run as an independent. we hear from the republican

>> i'm running as a republican, i'm proud to be from the party of teddy roosevelts and ronald reagan. >> i could have chosen to stay in the primary and frankly, for me it is your decision. it's not one club's decision or another.

>> chris: well, what a difference a month makes! charlie crist in a debate on this program, and -- in late march declared five times he'd run for the senate as a republican and not an independent, and, a commitment he took back, this week. joining us from miami is the republican candidate, in the race, marco rubio, and first of all, what does charlie crist's change tell you about him as a person, and politician? >> well, i'm not going to comments on the part about' person, this is really not personalities, or anything of that nature but it does, look the critical issue here is, what accountability and one thing missing in politics today is people that will run on a platform and go to washington, d.c., and actually carry it out. and i think with charlie crist we don't know what the platform is and you will never hold him accountable to anything, his opinions will change, based upon the polling -- what his political convenience tells him and we have learned the lesson in florida over the last few years, why his decision is not surprising to anybody. who work with him here in

florida. but, that is why the decision this week shouldn't be surprising to the audience, either. >> chris: the dynamics of the race, now changed dramatically because it has become a three-person race. according to the latest quinnipiac poll, running against crist and democratic congressman kendrick meek you get 64% of the republican note. but only 5% from the democrats. and 29% from independents. so, question: how do you reach out to the 2/3 of florida voters who are not registered republicans? >> i have been here before and a year ago when i got in the primary i was down 30 points and we spent the year traveling the state telling people we believed them and those numbered changed and now we'll have a chance to talk to a broader audience of floridians about our mainstream positions, not the positions these other candidates have, which quite frankly put our country on a path most floridians don't want us on and i'm confident that at the end of

the process, in six months those numbers will be different because i believe we're the only candidate in the race that will go to washington and stand up to the washington, d.c. agenda, and that is taking our country in the wrong direction and offer a clear alternative. >> chris: wait, you said wayne stream positions, i thought you were a conservative. >> conservative is the mainstream position in america. what is not mainstream in america is the belief that we should spend money we don't have and what is not mainstream in america is the belief we should take the complicated tax code and make it crazier and more complicated and what is not mainstream is a belief, somehow if america weakens its position in the world the world will be a safer place and these positions, the policies coming out of washington would create, that is outside the mainstream of american political thought. i believe that what political pundits describe as conservativism and i embrace as conservativism is mainstream thought in america. >> chris: it has been suggested though on some positions you are moving a little bit from right into the center and let me give

you one example. you have been quite critical since arizona passed its new immigration law look at what you said this week is not really something americans are comfortable with the notion of a police 125i67state. is that how you read the law. >> since that statement was made, arizona improved the law but my point is this law in arizona is not the ideal way to deal with a serious public safety and immigration situation, that that state is confronting. and my point was, that these kind of laws, what is happening in arizona, though you understand why folks in arizona are doing it, because they are scared and tired of a very serious public safety crisis, from a national perspective, is not the ideal way to deal with it. the best way to deal with it is for the federal government to do its job not just because of immigration but because of public safety, you have and all-out drug war happening in mexico and it is spilling ever to american cities, and the

federal government has failed to secure that border adequately. >> chris: you're a big supporter of offshore drilling and after the gulf spill in the last ten days you said we should be concerned with what led to the disaster. until that question is answered, i don't think we can move forward on anything else. >> well, again, what i'm pointing out, first of all, point out three things, what happened in the gulf of mexico. and number one, our priority is to be to control the situation and it is shaping up to be an ecological and financial disaster, people in florida, louisiana and other gulf states make their living off the fishing industry and shipping industry and the shrimping industry. whose livelihoods could be wiped out and that is why, first order of business, has got to be to get it under control, as soon as possible. the second order of business is to figure out why it happened. human error? a technological break down? something this company, british petroleum is doing other companies do not do? ultimately, america still has an

energy independence problem and goal and energy dependence problem and it has to have all of the energy resources, added -- at its disposal and safety is this first caveat to any measure we take, whether energy, transportation, or any initiative, america pursues and energy independence is still a very important goal for america, and i believe having all of our energy resources, that our disposal is at the forefront of that. >> chris: just to quickly follow up, you are saying that until we know exactly what caused this, all plans for more drilling offshore should be put on hold? >> quite frankly i don't think there is any imminent plans to drill offshore anyways and so that is a moot point. the important point is, what do you do with the existing rigs out there now, i don't think anyone and rightfully so is suggesting we shut dome down but are they using the same technology? is it likely it could happen somewhere else or is it an isolated incident due to human error or a technological medical function or inadequacy? order number one, get the spill

under control and step number 2, figure out why it happened, so it will never happen again. >> chris: it has been reported the irs is investigating your tax records to see if you misused a republican party credit card for your own personal expenses. is that true? >> well, i don't know, i'm not aware of any investigation. quite frankly the only one who talked about it is an anonymous source through a newspaper and here's what they'll find, i had an american express charge card we used for political purposes and i'd review the bill every month and if i saw anything on there personal i paid it back and the next month, directly to american express, out of my pocket. and, that is -- it will not take anyone long to figure that out and i wish we would have been careful and we learned lessons, no doubt i wish we would have been more cautious but at the end of the day every personal expense was paid for out of my pocket, i want to follow-up. quick question, and answers, have you or your office had any contact with the irs or any

federal authorities. >> no. >> chris: now -- >> absolutely not. >> chris: have you paid the party back for all charges that you admit you billed to them improperly? >> well, there was only one that was talked about and it was an error, the chairman of the party called it inadvertent and that is proper legal state travel that also was paid for on the party credit card, and we have reimbursed that weeks ago. >> chris: and, why not release your income tax returns as well as your credit card statements to clear up any questions about this? >> well, the credit card statements are public, they were leaked to the media and we will release our income tax statements the next couple of weeks. >> chris: for how long a time, sir? >> well, we are talking to our accountants and we'll comply with the standard and whatever is necessary for full disclosure and here's what i'm comfortable saying, people will know more about my finances than anti-other candidate in the race the next couple of weeks, a minute left. during the debate lear, a month ago, you surprised a lot of

people when you said that changing the retirement age and also the cost of living adjustments for social security and you talked only about people now under the age of 55, should be on the table. after that governor crist called that idea cruel and unfair to seniors living on fixed next. do you stand by that? will you consider benefit cuts to social security for people who are now under age 55? >> i think the systems have to change and i don't think any serious osher of the process believes we can get away without doing that. social security, medicare, medicaid, are programs that will bankrupt themselves and our country. and, people of my generation, folks under 55, i think are starting to grow -- growing in their understanding, unless we reform the changes, with serious proposals to reform them, not the status quo, they will bankrupt our country. these have to be dealt with and i stand by it squarely and almost any serious observer, of what is happening in this country and the growing debt,

maple leafs that as well. >> chris: mr. rubio, thank you, thank you for joining us today and we'll be watching the race right into november. >> thank you. >> chris: coming up, arizona's new immigration law has been amended, sued, praised and bashed in the last few days, our panel's take on the crack dowoww

>> this country -- has given a lot to us and we have to developed what the country stood for, which is freedom. >> chris: singer gloria estefan, taking parts in protests with the arizona immigration law and it's time for our sunday group, brit hume, fox news senior political analyst, and contributors mara liasson of national public radio, bill kristol of the weekly standard and juan williams also from

national public radio. is the furor about the arizona law, is it much ado about nothing. >> it is much ado about not much and i sat here and made comments based on my reading of news stories about the arizona immigration law and big mistake and turns out a lot of the stories simply had it wrong and the critics of the bill have also got it wrong. it does not authorize the singling out at random of individuals to have their papers checked by skin color and even as it was originally written and amended, it requires that there be a law enforcement incident, legitimate incident, a stop, detention or arrest, and requires the presence of reasonable suspicion and interment law understood by authorities and further requires

a reasonable effort be made, where practicable to determine the person's immigration status if there is reasonable suspicion and that is a totally sensible and reasonable step. and all the hysteria about it is grossly overdone in my judgment. >> chris: mara? >> no, i think regardless of what the law says, there is an incredible reaction which is a political reality, in and of itself. the out pouring and demonstrations show the kind of project that is really on the democratic party and white house to do something, about the promise that president obama made, which is he was going to do something about immigration his first year and that was probably an overly ambitious promise but when he appeared to back away from it this week in his commence on air force one which were musings about the political difficulty of getting it pass and he was right. instead reiterating his support for this, he said, well, i don't know if the congress is ready for it. we need republican partners.

of course they lost their only, one and only republican partner in lindsey graham. i think it puts both parties in a tough spot. republicans are in danger of going back to the 2007 image they had of being anti-hispanic and democrats in danger of really disappointing an extremely important part of the base. >> chris: to go back to the substance of what was passed, it is not just as we saw with marco rubio, conservative texas governor rick perry said this week, it would not be the right direction for texas. former florida governor jeb bush said, i don't think this is the proper approach. >> we have a federal system and conservatives believe in federalism and, the situation in arizona is different from texas or florida. but i think brit is right. the arizona law is well within the bounds of a reasonable effort to deal with something that is a real problem in arizona. phoenix now has one of the highest kidnapping ratios, in

the world. and this has something to do with gangs, that smuggle illegal immigrants across the border and traffic in human beings, a terrible situation and the relaxed attitude, come on, grow up, we are a big country and we'll have tons of illegal immigrants, doesn't speak to the facts on the ground i don't think in arizona and the idea that you are supposed to tell the citizens, wait for us to deal with it at the federal level. they have been waiting and there is no federal bill. and the obama administration's position is they have to be comprehensive reform. why? secure the borders. you can have -- >> that is the first step -- >> forget. why not propose secretary janet napolitano said here, there is more to do, fine, do more to secure the borders and next year look at other reforms. there is no proposal from the obama administration to do more to secure the borders. >> we are securing the borders and what janet napolitano said this morning is absolutely true. they are safer and more secure now than they've ever been in american history. i think this bill is not going to make arizona safer. it is not the case there is a

crime wave caused by illegal immigration, there is a drug war but that really has not penetrated the border it is not making arizona safer and what we have is to me a political explosion. people who are angry at the rate and size of the illegal immigration and people who don't like the law and that is what is going on. the polls show that james brewer, the governor, her ratings went up, and, close to 70% of americans -- arizonans like the bill and majority of americans do. but i think it is shore term. look at the politics of it, and think back to pete wilson and the efforts the -- former republican governor of california. and what he did was proposition 187, trying to crack down on illegal immigration and his career ended in flames and republicans in california never recovered and that is what we're on the verge here and sarah palin said, president obama,

this is just en intensifying the democratic base and it is back firing on republicans. >> chris: and one other thing. senate democrats this week came up with not an actual bill but the outline of a comprehensive reform policy and they said benchmarks for border security before dealing with legal status, in creases the number of border patrol agents and creates a biometric social security card for all workers and creates a path years down the road, to permanent resident status. brit is this new emphasis on border security first smart politics. >> very smart politics and will attract republican support. and, raises the possibility that at some point, probably not this year, we could have another go at immigration reform. a lot of things become possible once everybody is satisfied a major effort is under way, has been underway and is succeeding

at securing the border. for all janet napolitano said, and i'm not disputing it, i'm not there and hatch looked at the situation down there. no doubt, more could and should be done, arizona has 460,000 illegal immigrants there. that is a lot. maybe the flow is decreased but they are still coming and until they are not coming, i think the public is going to be -- look with a jaundiced view at efforts to legalize those that are here. >> chris: if immigration a big campaign issue between now and november, which party does it favor. >> between now and november, it is tough. i think it helps in this case, the republican party base, in the short-term. i think if it becomes a big issue, and nothing is done and looks like the administration is backing away, it hurts the democrats because they will not be able to motivate hispanics, however over the medium term, i think... >> what is that. >> 2012 the next cycle, i think is an issue that is over the --

time goes on and hur ts republicans more, hispanics are the fastest growing electoral bloc in the u.s. and what you saw, the outline of the bill is not that much different than what george w. bush wanted to do, and there is a consensus, on the policy, what you have to do first, the fact there has to be a task for -- path for legalization and it is one thing to do the border and now there are 10.5 illegal immigrants and they cannot run in a national election without solving the problem. >> chris: all right. we have to take a break. when we come back. the oil spill in the gulf is a disaster. for folks who live there. and could be a big problem for politicians. our panel tackles both, in a moment.

>> promote i continue to believe domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security but i've always said it must be done responsibly. >> remember, energy in america is the journey for america. and so, yeah, let's drill, baby, drill! >> chris: with the oil spill in the gulf, do the president and sarah palin now find themselves on the same side of a tough issue? we're back now with the panel. before we get to the politics, brit, does the accident in the gulf change your mind about the wisdom of offshore drilling and especially more offshore drilling. >> new york it doesn't but i think this: the environmentalists always said it's not a matter of if there will be a disaster resulting in offshore drilling, it is a matter of when. this is -- verifies the argument.

and becomes a powerful factor in the debate over what to do next. i don't see any way around the political reality that this will set back the cause of offshore drilling, in the u.s. and set back the cause of making us less dependent on oil bought from overseas, out of which we pay our national treasure, to foreign countries. >> and there was a national con sense we should do everything and have every possible kind of energy generated here and yeah, we want to be sure it is safe and, these new oil drilling will not go forward until they can be sure it is. i think that the kind of cavalier drill, baby, drill, go right forward, that is definitely going to be put on ice for a while. but i don't think it will disappear completely. >> chris: it's interesting, bill, i looked into it. there is no question that oil drilling safety has improved dramatically over the years, look at these figures. between 1973 and 1990, and

average of 11.8 million gallons of oil spilled each year, in the u.s., from a variety of reasons and since in the the average has dropped to 1.5 million gallons a year. but the plan for -- exploration plan for this well, bp said in a filing to the government, last year, bill said a spill was unlikely and even if it happened, quote, no significant adverse impact was expected. turned out to be wrong. >> and bp as and the mineral management service, which supervises the rig, and, it was going to give it a -- it was a bad accident and the fact is, i think we get 1/3 of our domestic oil from the gulf, offshore drilling in the gulf and we need it and can't cut back on it and we hadn't stopped closer into drilling and 40 years ago we had

congressional restriction, until '08, for 40 years and, we have drilling closer in, than doing it miles from the coast and there is anwr, in alaska, which is there, and there are no waves and social, it is there, perfectly easy to drill, a lot of oil there. i'm a drill, baby drill person and i think the public will be sensible enough to say, fine, let's make sure oil companies have appropriate emergency things in place, to stop the thing from exploding further but i don't think the public will react in horror. >> chris: when the fal safe mechanism doesn't -- fails... isn't that a little bit of a concern. >> it is a bit of a concern, but haven't built a nuclear power plant since three mile island and everyone agrees that was a wild overreaction and the idea that you shut it all down, and

though this will cause environmental damage we can deal with that in a serious way and not panic. >> it is incredible to me you wants drilling closer to the shore and on the land, you have no sensitive to the fact animals are in anwr and environmental things to be protected as part of america's legacy and you want it closer to shore and that means when the accident inevitably happens as brit said it would ruin, not only tourism, commercial fishing recreational fishing, you know, tourism is a big business in the gulf of mexico. >> anwr. >> and anwr, it is not tourism but it boys america's natural hire taj in terms of those animals and in terms of what we have out there, go drill in national parks. we don't need them. we need oil. i'm all for drilling and i don't think there is a problem with drilling to some extent but you have to be cautious and take the necessary steps to make sure it doesn't happen and, it did happen, the president under

pressure from people from the left, senator nelson and saying we don't want this up here and the president would be wise to simply wait for the salazar report and i say go ahead with the idea of continuing to seek natural resources and here's where i differ, go forward on batteries and hydrogen internally, it's not about oil, let's move towards new ways of getting energy for america that would make us less dependent on foreign oil. >> chris: a month ago, i don't think there was any question the president and the democrats would really have gone after the republicans now, and their chance of drill, baby, drill. but at the end of march the president said, that he was announcing a new program to expand exploration of oil, and natural gas, exploration, not drilling, but along the east coast and eastern gulf coast and the atlantic, alaska coast, rather. have they lost drilling as a political weapon as a result of the president's -- >> it makes it more bipartisan

but, i think the critical question is, will the president move forward as he suggested, friday, with this concept, obviously everything is suspended now and well be for some time and where does he go in the aftermath of that and will he then move forward and i'd applaud him if he did and would be wise and courageous for him to do so, because you know the left wing of his party will be against this, no matter what, and let's see if he's willing to go forward and whether he runs away like a scared rabbit. >> chris: go ahead. >> i think so drilling along the east coast, virginia, your home state, they said we are interested and it will be an economic boon and people will not take a second look and drilling in places maybe that are more distant -- >> that is pretty distant, this one was pretty distant. 50 miles out. >> louisiana. >> there are 3500 oil drilling platforms offshore of the u.s., over a third of our oil comes from offshore drilling and it is going ahead, and he's not going

ahead with request for permits for drilling two or three years from now and we are dependent on it, and as we speak, people are drilling on wells, throughout the gulf coast and elsewhere, and it would be safer and better if there were more drilling on land and closer to shore. >> chris: as a political reality, whether right or wrong, as a political reality, is offshore drilling new offshore drilling, you are certainly right, thousands of wells are around the country. offshore. is new drilling dead? >> i don't think it is dead. i think it will be delayed until people are absolutely confident that the proper security measures are in place. >> chris: and... you talked about midmidterm, long term -- >> i don't know how long. i don't think years, that would be a big mistake. there is a real consensus, it is a national security problem we are so dependent on foreign oil and i don't think that it will wait years. >> chris: all right, thank you all, panel. see you next week. don't forget, check out the

latest edition of "panel plus" and our group continues the discussion on our web site, foxnews.com and we promise we'll post the video before noon eastern time. up next, the return of our power player of the week.

>> she blazed a trail into space for american women and wants young girls to discover that studying science is cool. here is our power player of the week. >> there's no achievement gap between girls and boys, but there is an attitude gap. >> sally ride was the first american woman in space. now, she wants to make sure other girls are leaders in science and technology. >> and already, looks like you're ready. >> she has started the sally ride science academy with exxon-mobile to keep kids interested in this area, especially krung women. >> what we're seeing now around the world is that other countries in asia, in europe,

are putting much more focus on science and technology than we a are. >> ride works with kids and teachers to fiend ways to make science interesting. >> we tend to lose their hearts even if not their minds in 5, 6th, 7th grade and don't get them back and greater problem with girls. >> might not be cool to be the best one in the math class and they have a stereo type after scientist as a geeky looking guy that looks like einstein at that wears a lab coat and a pocket protector. if you're 11 it's not something you aspire to. >> it could be as simple as girl who makes a scientific break through. >> just seeing the looks in the eyes of the girls who may have studied me in school. >> what was the fascination of science for you? >> i just absolutely moved the idea of learning something that nobody knew and i still remember the day when i had

been working on a physics problem and got to the end of a calculation and just realized that i had just done something no one else had done. i knew something that no one else knew. >> after seeing an ad from nasa in the stanford student paper, sally ride applied to be an astronaut. 1983, she flew on the shuttle challenger. >> it was an unbelievable honor to be chosen to be the first american woman to go into space and the thing that's given me the ability to do is to try to make a difference now in young girl's lives and try to give a little bit of it back. >> within months the shuttle program will end. the u.s. won't be able to put people back in space for years. >> i'm depressed, frankly, by the gap in our ability to launch people. >> and what of the split among astronauts whether to return to the moon or aim for mars? >> astronauts have always held their own opinions and not

been shy about stating their opinions. >> a bunch of scientists, right. >> a bunch of scientists and engineers. >> while the launch pad stands empty, ride says the focus should be on other areas. >> do we need to have the next generation of rocket scientists and environmental engineers and they're in school today. >> sally ride announced that women makes up half the work force and only a quarter of the jobs and technology, with eight of the ten fastest growing careers in those areas, she doesn't want girls to lose out. you can see more of our interview with sally ride at fox news sunday.com and that's it for today, have a great week and we'll see you next week and we'll see you next fox news sunday. captioned by closed captioning services, inc.