do you have a question, bill, for anderson cooper? >> anderson, did you engineer this coup?a. >> listen, i'm here in the gulf, been here six weeks, i don't even know what's going on beyond here. >> larry: what's your lead -- thanks for the comments, anderson. what's your lead? >> tonight, we are at the audubon aquatic center outside new orleans where they have a dolphin, they have got sea turtles that have been rescued from the oil, that is the dolphin they have. the sea turtles here have been rescued from the oil, show you how the sea turtles are being treated and saved. tropical storm alex may soon become hurricane alex, certainly bad news for cleanup efforts in the gulf. skim is temporarily stopped. the coast guard says boats will remain in port until the weather comes. live updates of the storms throughout the hour a tropical storm is not the only thing slowing skimming efforts. local paper down here reporting that for every boat out there skimming oil, there are another four available in the united states that are not being used by bp. we have a guest tonight alleging t

do you have a question for anderson cooper? >> due to engineer this? n the gulf, i have been here six weeks. >> larry: thanks for your comments, anderson. what is really. >> we are at audubon aquatics center outside new orleans weather and a dolphin, sea turtles that have been rescued from the oil. the sea turtles here have been rescued from the oil. we will show you how these sea turtles are being saved. hurricane alex, bad news for cleanup efforts in the gulf. skimming has stopped and the coast guard says boats will remain in port until the weather calms. blogger updates throughout the hour and a tropical storm is not the only thing slowing down the efforts. the local paper reporting that for everybody out there skimming a little, there are another format available in the united states not being used by bp. against alleging they are slowing it down on purpose to save money. we are keeping them honest. live from the gulf. on 360. >> larry: joining us on the phone, maybe the most beloved lady in america, the former first lady, nancy reagan. thank you fo

i would say that if you just started by stuffing the hole just with anderson cooper's t-shirts and shirtsit would take about two days. because every night it's a new prada shirt, and they're all very nicely tailored. >> larry: what do you make of that, the t-shirt for anderson cooper? >> first of all he is hot and gorgeous and has a perfect body that is shaped like a v. he's like a superhero. i don't know that he is real either. i think he might be like stedman graham where we think he is real, but he could be a hologram. >> larry: you like his hair? >> he is perfect. of course i do. >> larry: lebron james. the great basketball star. >> what does she do. baseball? here is what i asked of you. >> okay. >> larry: living in the projects, how did you stay out of gangs? >> well, i kept it reals. i found that if i found my homies, jesus, of course is my -- jesus is my homeboy. and after that i kept it reals with the peeps. and then i would -- i would hit -- i would start with my beat box, and i would take to it the bridge. >> larry: gotcha. finally, the question i asked of the american idols. w

anderson cooper host of "ac360" is in louisiana and jean cousteau joins us, and also, we have a video called the "short film that bp doesn't want you to see." here is what president obama and bp executives discussed today. let's watch. >> this $20 billion fund will not be controlled by either bp or by the government. it will be put in a escrow account, administered by an impartial independent third party. so, if you or your business have suffered an economic loss as a result of the spill, you will be eligible to file a claim for part of this $20 billion. >> larry: anderson cooper, is there some optimism down there? >> well, i don't know about optimism, by it is a good development when you talk to people here because they overwhelmingly support the idea of the escrow account. the devil is in the details, larry, how soon will it be set up and how do to payments work and how can people apply for it. there is a criticism of the system in place currently, and a lot of people say they put in claims weeks ago and they are not seeing the claims paid in a timely manner, and bp says they have u

and as anderson cooper reported last march, he's willing to risk his life to prove it. >> cooper: mikeis looking for a great white shark he can swim with-- that's right, swim with. before he gets in the water, he needs to find a great white that is both calm and curious, a shark he refers to as a "player." >> mike rutzen: that's a player. >> cooper: what's a player? >> rutzen: well, a player is basically the shark that's so relaxed, has a nice personality, woke up on the right side of the reef, and it's... >> cooper: "on the right side of the reef." >> rutzen: yeah. ( laughs ) and the animal's willing to interact with us, it's so curious. >> cooper: rutzen says great whites have personalities. they may be the top predator in the sea, but he says they are not the man-eating killers of our nightmares. now, how can you tell that's a player? >> rutzen: look how she's moving? she's checking everything out. check now how slowly she's going to do this. see how she looks at everything? >> cooper: wow, yeah, yeah. moving very slowly around the boat. >> rutzen: she's moving very slowly roundabou

>> larry: anderson cooper stands by in new orleans. what's our lead, anderson?> tonight is day 70 of the disaster. sixth week of our live coverage from louisiana. tropical storm alex could soon become hurricane alex potentially driving oil deeper ashore though the cap of the spill remains in place for now. a live update on that. also more word games from bp. the company's coo telling a local new orleans newspaper that knowing how much oil is gushing out of that well is irrelevant telling the government that bp adapts their plans as learn more about how much oil is pouring out of that well. we're keeping them honest. why won't bp give the state of louisiana money to deal with mental health issues brought on by that spill? >> larry: elizabeth edwards wednesday night. the biological parents of the missing boy, kaine horman and desiree young opened up about their feelings. desiree spoke of a letter she wrote to her missing son. >> it was the first night, and i just had this overwhelming feeling of -- sorry. of guilty for not being there to protect him and so i sat d

. >> larry: before we get back with john and melissa and john's doctor, let's check in with anderson cooper in the gulf naturally. anderson, what's the lead tonight? >> well, breaking news tonight on "360," larry. the president's top man in afghanistan general stanley mcchrystal heading back to washington for a face to face meeting with president obama that could cost the four-star general the job. the stunning interview in "rolling stone" mocking white house officials and ridiculing vice president biden and saying he doesn't see how general mcchrystal can survive this and will resign tomorrow. we're going to talk with the reporter who wrote the article for "rolling stone" and the white house dealt a blow by the courts today when a federal judge here in new orleans blocked a six-month halt in deep water drilling near in the gulf. we'll have an interview with governor jindal at the top of the hour. >> larry: that's 10:00 eastern, 7:00 pacific with anderson. we're back with john metz, his fiancee. almost amputated his arm. dr. scott ellner that finished the job john started joins us. doctor,

. >> larry: we're back with our guests, first let's check in with anderson cooper down in the gulf.s the lead? >> the lead, of course, oil gushing into the gulf on day 56 of this catastrophe. more damning details of the hours and days ahead of the rig explosion released by congress. details we learned today, the bp ceo was warned he will have to answer for when he heads to the hill on thursday. details that show bp put profits before safety, and that fateful decision eventually led to the mess that bp has no plan for dealing with. we'll have a lot more at the top of the hour, larry. >> that's ac 36010:00 eastern, 7:00 p.m. the president will address the nation tomorrow. we have some phone calls, the first is lake mary, california. >> caller: i have a question for tonya. >> larry: go ahead. >> caller: were you harassed by the community based on character assassination or gang stalking? >> actually, to my surprise, the support has been phenomenal, i've had support from all over the world, all over the united states, i've had thousands of e-mails. >> how would they know to support you

anderson cooper, host of "ac 360" is in port jackson, louisiana tonight. phillip cousteau joins us from new orleans and edward james e olmos, the actor returned from the gulf coast, shot a short film bp doesn't want to you see. here is what the president and bp executives discussed today. watch with. >> this $20 billion fund will not be controlled by either bp or by the government. it will be put in an escrow account,ed a minute sfwird an impartial, independent third party. so if you or your business has suffered an economic loss as a result of this spill, you will be eligible to file a claim for part of this $20 billion. >> you talk to people here, they overwhelm leg support this idea of having the escrow account. the devil is in the details, larry. how soon will this be set up? how do payments work? how do people apply for it? a lot of criticism about the system that bp has in place currently. a lot of people saying they put in claims weeks ago, not seeing their claims paid in a timely manner. bp says they have upped the percentage of claims for big comm

. >> larry: before we meet our next guest let's check in with anderson cooper and an update on "360."ry, live in louisiana. startling hearings on capitol hill revealing just what a dog and pony show oil companies not just bp but other drillers as well have put on for regulators, issuing getting approval for spill response plans flawed at best, riddled with factual inaccuracies how did they get away with it? look at the photos taken by the plaquemines parish strike force, a nesting site, see a chick lying dead, nearby eggs crushed. local officials saying clean-up crews sent by bp are responsible for the destruction. we'll talk about that with billy nungesser president of plaquemines parish. and a revision on the oil flooding into the gulf. should anyone believe the numbers? we'll look into it. larry, top of the hour. >> larry: unbelievable. old friend, congressman, ed markey, chairman of the energy and environmental subcommittee, chief executives from five major oil companies including bp testified before his subcommittee earlier today. and from baton rouge, louisiana, keith jones, his

i was out there with anderson cooper the other night. they let him on the ground. when i knew he was coming, they letus send. it is my land. they cannot stop us. they are making up rules that you can take these pelicans and say, we leave them for five days with the also that they calmed down. show me were that as a role. that is not true. you might one believed them overnight if they're really upset, but five days -- >> that is what this mess is. there are hundreds of people waiting to come and help. wildlife expts waiting to come to our shores. why are they not here? >> one group from australia was told to come. they walked up there and they said, don't need you, you can go back home. from australia. and the guy came to see me, a here is what they're doing -- they are expanding because they need to. we asked them to add another bird place because you can transfer the board -- transcript the birds within 40 minutes. i think they're trying to keep their mouths of work spread out. like, we will get an area inundated with 100 birds. if they clean it up with volunteers

i was out there with anderson cooper the other night. they said, "if we knew he was coming, we would not let you in." they're making a paroles like taking theor they do not want tm long hours. they will keep them up for a week, that is on excusable. and that is what they're doing. if that -- you can see the pelicans that have not -- should and covered with goals for -- >> covered with oil for days? who made that decision? that is a bp decision. that is not a wildlife expert. what about the young man on the national show, i cannot remember his name, but he was saying that there were plenty of people waiting. >> there putting the state and federal wildlife over. >> you remember this. we have one of our best experts, they were performing better than most of the state probably put more into their hands when it was mixed at mobilize them. -- miche that mobilized them. >> the problem as. >> bp is controlling it. >> they are not trusting them. and there's nobody on the ground with bp saying, no, that is the wrong way. we're going to do it this

i was out there with anderson cooper the other night. they led him on the grounds. when he i showed up, they said, if we knew he was coming, we would not let you in. but this is my parish. they cannot stop me. >> that is right. they have to let you in. >> you might want to leave the them for overnight, but five days is not -- >> and there are hundreds of people waiting to come and help wildlife experts, all bleeding to come -- all waiting to come help. why are they not here? >> they walked up to venice and they said, we do not need you. go back home. there were from australia. the guy came to see me. we ask them to add another bird place because then you do not have to transport the birds another 40 minutes. i believe they're trying to keep the amount of their work spread out. we might bring in a hundred birds. if they clean them all up with volunteers, which they should be as quickly as possible, and they are out of work for three days or four days. or they do not want to work for long hours. that they leave the pens for pelican's up to a week is unacceptable. you

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

before i go one anderson cooper, i will give him the opportunity to do the right thing.at bp paid for all of these barrier islands to give us a chance of saving the marsh. >> you came up with the concept as you requested and got in a dress that was going to begin to dredge long before this oil leaked happen to try to protect yourself from the next storm surge. >> absolutely. we had three phases of barrier islands that we had planned to build to protect our parish and coastal louisiana. this was the third phase. a lot more expensive. we modified it to get the most bang for our buck. had we started this when we first passed, we would have had this complete and a lot of the areas where you saw the impact, the marshes, would not have happened. we would not have lost those marshes and the wild black but we're losing in greaa numbers now. >> billy, here with us here on the mighty 690. explain to them how long ago he went to the coast guard, when to bp, went to the corps of engineers with this concept and what has been holed up to be able to build these barrier islands back. >>

i was out there with anderson cooper the other night. they let him on the ground. when i knew he was coming, they let us send. it is my land. they cannot stop us. they are making up rules that you can take these pelicans and say, we leave them for five days with the also that they calmed down. show me were that as a role. that is not true. you might one believed them overnight if they're really upset, but five days -- >> that is what this mess is. there are hundreds of people waiting to come and help. wildlife experts waiting to come to our shores. why are they not here? >> one group from australia was told to come. they walked up there and they said, we don't need you, you can go back home. from australia. and the guy came to see me, and here is what they're doing -- they are expanding because they need to. we asked them to add another bird place because you can transfer the board -- transcript the birds within 40 minutes. i think they're trying to keep their mouths of work spread out. like, we will get an area inundated with 100 birds. if they clean it up with vo