eastern time with senator mark the baggage of alaska, a democrat. -- senator mark begich of alaska. he along with 22 other senators talked about energy and climate legislation and what is next. the associated press is reporting that west virginia governor does not expect to start searching for a successor for u.s. senator robert byrd until after the longest serving senator in history is laid to rest next week. senator byrd will be lying in the senate beginning on thursday from around 10:15 a.m. eastern time until 3:45 p.m. eastern time. thursday, the capitol ceremony that has not occurred for more than 50 years, will be happening. his relatives will receive members of congress until noon and the public galleries will be open to those who have passes. it prayer will be at 10:30 a.m. he died at age 92. he will be flown to charleston, west virginia, and taken to the robert byrd courthouse. the procession will end at the west virginia capital with a public viewing on thursday and next tuesday a public funeral at memorial baptist church in arlington, west virginia, followed by a private

>> well, fortunately we are not like alaska. we are in a nice warm climate.ideal for the environment to slowly but quickly, more quickly than not, recover. oil is biodegradable, particularly this oil. and so if we manage the microbiology, we manage the approaches to cleanup, i think it's very possible that we'll turn this around quicker rather than longer. >> ifill: what do you mean by particularly this oil. what is it about this kind of oil? >> well, in oil fields we've worked on in the past, we've worked with heavier grades of crude oil. lots of heavy ends, we call it asphalt. this particular oil does not have as much asphaltanic material in it. so that means as a whole most of the oil as it comes to shore, almost all fractions of it can be degraded and that's very important. >> ifill: aaron viles i'm curious if you agree about that with the nature of the kind of oil and how do they begin to clean up a spill like this, how should they be cleaning it up. >> the problem is it is stretching over such a broad expanse. we have so many different habitats being ex

>> wasilla, alaska. it's in alaska. >> larry: we're back.evi johnston shows up on the new season of "life on the d list." actually, kathy shows up in alaska. let's take a look. >> by the state of alaska, you guys are married! >> go ahead, tiger. show me your moves. >> give it a little pop up. let it down. ♪ >> i could really get used to this. after spending the day ice fishing, i actually want to get knocked up. just out of sheer boredom. can we go to the mall? >> sounds good. >> holding levi close, feeling my heart beating against him, i realize this is where i'm meant to be, for three days. and then get me the [ bleep ] out of here. have you been to wasilla? >> larry: no. >> it blows. i'm not going to lie. it blows chunks, yeah. it's not what we want the country to be like. when sarah palin said i would run the country, you know, you betcha', the way i run wasilla, that's not what we want. it's a lot of boredom and then some crystal meth. and go ahead. write your letters. i don't care anymore. go ahead, tweet me about it. >> larry: what is

thats st the whole issue of the uniqueness of aviation in alaska. would it be fai in o conversation that we had that there is some differences but you have to see them as they lay out but in rural alaska, rural states having a full-blown tsa, for example, i'llust u an example i used with you was in a village like chevak, very small that maybe there needs toe not one size fits all but derstanding of rural internal state travel and how tsa can be more custome friendly in that regard. is tt a fair -- >>hat's fa, setor. if confirmed i look forward again in working with and the committee on those issues, on those airports. he resources >> last comment -- i know you've been t palmer for awhile. you went there for a short bit. look forward to try to bring you t alaska and we' go visit on of those villages. >> thanks, senator. i appreciate it. >> thank y very much >> mr. pistole, i warn you that the senho just spoke is obsessed and properly soh alaska and you will see him and hear from him often. senator warner. >> thank you, mr. chrman. i'm not sure my goo

we've got about 600 people in the state of alaska that had planned on going to work right now. and those people are no longer needed in the sense of being able to do the supplying, do the training, be physically out there. but we don't know what our status is. all we know is that we have been put on hold. we don't know if the process to allow for the -- the appels process that is under way with the air quality permits, whether that can be allowed to proceed so that when the pause button is then unhinged, shell will be able to move. there is an uncertainty that is in play in alaska that is o-- it's so indefinite and i think leads to confusion abouthe status. there can be no further movement until some signals have been given fom the administration. we just don't know what our status is. and so to suggest that, well, it's just a pause, what does that pause really mean to us in alaska? >> senator murkowski, you raise a very fair question, and let me just respond with two points. first, we are in a very dnamic situation in the midst of a crisis that no one in this senate and no one

guest: well, i still live in alaska. he was a cub reporter in 1989, sort of got deployed to the oil spill and was fortunate or unfortunate to be the first reporter on the beach when the oil hit shore. and then kind of didn't leave and kept covering that story, and that sort of developed into my career as an author. host: from your experiences in covering the oil spill, are there parallels that you see then that you can parlay now to what's going on currently in the gulf? guest: yeah, without question. a lot of the veermental and techniccl aspects are obviously different, because you're dealing with a much warmer environment and oil that's being released much farther off shore and at the bottom of the ocean. but in terms of the way we're responding to it, unfortunately, it seems just shockingly similar, and a lot. causes seem very similar. the mistakes that are being made, sadly, are really a replay, and people have been through it and feel heart-sick that we seemed to have learned so little in 20 years. host: as far as w

in addition, the alaska statehood act grants the state of alaska the opportunity to select a certain amount of public lands for the state's benefit. normally, legislation is not required to implement these selections. in this case, however, both the state and the native corporation selected some of the same land. after years of negotiations, the parties, along with the united states, arrived at an agreement to resolve this conflict. i want to commend our colleague, mr. young of alaska, for his hard work and dedication to this legislation, and i ask my colleagues to support its passage. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new mexico reserves the balance of hii time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized from washington, mr. hastings. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i support this bill, as sponsored by our colleague from alaska, mr. young. it resolves overlapping parcels pursuant to the alaska stateho

big oil spill in alaska had to do with not proper maintenance on the pipelines. and when you came in you said you were going to focus like a laser beam on safety. and certainly that had to be welcomed news after texas city -- after the north slope accident. so what safety of briefings do you get as your office of chief executive officer and who provides them to you? >> the basis of our management of safety performance is through something that we call our group operating risk committee. ate committee i set up, i chair. it involves the heads of all of the business streams. and we meet on a bimonthly basis to review the safety performance across the company. that process is mirrored down through the company. >> and what type of safety directives then or what type of directives do you issue in terms of safety as a result of those meetings and perhaps would you be willing to share some of that information with the committee as we go forward >> we can share that information. they range in changes to procedure to requirements to have people many where there are issues

for example, in alaska. in alaska oil impacted fishing seasons for about three years, but five or six or seven years after the spill it became a narnte oil had decimated, forever, a herring in prince william's sound. so the impact of oil on creatures and ecosystem sincere a big unknown. its impact on businesses. on fisherman businesses and hotel businesses is an unknown. you don't know how long the oil is going to last or what its impact is going to be on your business. in order to figure that out, you need to wait a number of because the impacts of an oil spill are odd. and it also has odd impacts on communities. if a community is a resource-based community, fishing is a good example, and there is a man-made disaster, like, bp or like exxon. people take it very hard, and they tend not to get over the disaster until they get their full measure of justice. so you see, in coastal commuents in alaska that were subject to the spill, the increased rates of alcoholism, depression. divorce, bankruptcy. tax problems

for example, in alaska. in alaska oil impacted fishing seasons for about three years, but five or six or seven years after the spll it became a narnte oil had decimated, forever, a herring in prince william's sound. so the impact of oil on creatures and ecosystem sincere a big unknown. its pact on businesses. on fisherman businesses and hotel businesses is an unknown. you don't know howong the oil is going to last or what its impact is going to be on your business. in order to figure that out, you need to wait a number of because the impacts of an oil spill are odd. and it also has odd impacts on communities. if a community is a resource-based community, fishing is a good example, and there is a man-made disaster, like, bp or like exxon. people take it very hard, and they tend not to get over the dister unt they get their full measure of justice. so you see, in coastal commuents in alaska that were subject to the spill, the creased rates of alcoholism, depression. divorce, bankruptcy. tax problems. and even

for example, in alaska. in alaska oil impacted fishing seasons for about three years, but five or six or seven years after the spill it became a narnte oil had decimated, forever, a herring in prince william's sound. so the impact of oil on creatures and ecosystem sincere a big unknown. its impact on businesses. onisherman businesses and hotel businesses is an unknown. you don't know how long the oil is going to last or what its impact is going to be on your business. in order to figure that out, you need to wait a number of because the impacts of anil spill are odd. and it also has odd impacts on communities. if a community is a resource-based commuty, fishing is a good example, and there is a man-made disaster, like, bp or like exxon. people take it very hard, and they tend not to get over the disaster until they get their full measure of justice. so you see, in coastal commuents in alaska that were subject tohe spill, the ineased rates of alcoholism, depression. divorce, bankruptcy. tax problems. and even

is the largest oil producer in alaska. it is half owner of the alaska pipeline. it's the largest oil producer in the gulf of mexico. globally b.p. produces over 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day which is about 5% of the total global world oil output. it's the largest supplier of liquid fuels to the u.s. department of defence so we have to be very careful about, you know, doing things to b.p. that will disrupt all of this in a way that can turn an environmental catastrophe into an economic and energy catastrophe, not just for the u.s. but worldwide. >> woodruff: byron king, you just said we have to be careful. but dow believe b.p.'s survival is at stake? >> i didn't think survival was at stake a couple of weeks ago when we were just analyzing things in a rational sense of cash flow, assets, and you know, the ability to, you know, for a very large company to deal with a very bad environmental disaster. in the past week we've seen, i think, a lot of political hysteria kick in. although i also think that this coming week we're going to see some of that poli

safety violations in the past year. >> we took actions in alaska to change both the organization and some of the processes. >> thank you. since the deepwater horizon incident, have you made changes, and would you submit those to the record? >> we have made changes to our testing procedures. we have made changes to the intensity with which well site leaders are aware of it will control procedures and a variety of other interventions. as we learn more, we will make more changes. i would be very happy to submit to the congress, and the changes that we have made. >> did you ask other companies for help in cleaning up the bp oil spill? did you approach the other companies or other countries and ask for their help and expertise in plugging the leak and participating in the cleanup? >> we sought help from both the immediate peers and competitors in the gulf of mexico, as well as from around the world and across america. there are several hundred entities involved in the effort, all of the major operators in this country, a major operators from elsewhere in the world, many of the major acade

company that systically ignored its own safety policies across its north american operations from alaska to the gulf to california. executives were not held accountable. t some were promoted despite them." it's pretty outrageous. pretty outrageous a so my question relates to knowing that this landed in your lap, i mean, i understand with the new administration, whether it was trying to put us back from the edge on the financial crisis or millions of people unemplod that landed in the laps of this administration or whether it's this situation, orhether it is this situation. the reality is that we have got make sure that going forward we are changing the philosophy. the philosophy that got us here does not work in the public so secrety, as we look at going forward, the ethics reform in place, the plan put in place to review and so on, the dismmms, dividing it up. do you see the kinds of things? a company like this will bear traffic coming forward that there will be the new tools in place for you and for mms, the new entities to be able to say no. to be able to stop these kinds of things th

is there a culture that led to disasters like the refinery explosion in texas city, texas and the alaska oil pipeline spill? >> i think we've acknowledged in 2005 and 2006 that we had serious issues and as a consequence set out to implement systematic change in the culture and safety of bp. i set the tone from the top by saying very clearly safe, reliable operations were our number one priority. we invested billions of dollars in the integrity of that plan. we've recruited many thousands of engineers and technologists into our company including many from other industries such as the nuclear industry and other parts of the chemical and oil and gas industry and we have changed fundamentally a whole approach to the management of our operations through the implementation of significant changes to our processes. >> doesn't seem like that. if you look at the reports on what happened on the deep horizon doesn't look like many safety procedures have changed much at all. mr. hayward, do you feel that your safety record compared to other major oil companies is comparable? >> as i said, it's clear

what deeds -- what did you do in alaska? >> i was a daily news reporter. i was there when the oil spill hit in 1989. but was the first reporter on the beat. i did not leave. i kept reporting for that story. >> your experience has been in coverinn up oil spills. >> a lot of the environmental and technical aspects of are obviously different. if you are dealing with eight warmer environment and oil that is being released for other offshore at the bottom of the ocean. in terms of the way we are responding, it seems shockingly similar. a lot of the causes seem very similar. the mistakes being made are, sadly, very similar. people arr heart sick that we seem to have learned so little in 20 years. >> what is thh difference between what you saw then and what you are seeing now? >> the contingency planning, the seeming inability to get organized, the failure in washington to come to grips with how important it was at first. the attempts by the oil company to control the images and information. the focus of response. when you lose this amount of oil in the ocean, it

for example, in alaska. in alaska oil impacted fishing seasons for about three yea, but five or six or seven years after the spill it became a rnte oil had decimated, forever, a herring in prince william'sound. so the impact of l on creatures and ecosystem sincere a big unknown. its impact on businesses. on fisherman businesses and hotel businses is an unknown. you don't know how long the oil is going to last o what its impact isoing to be on your busine. in order to figure that out, a number of ait because the impacts of an oil spill are odd. and it also has odd impacts on communities. if a community is a resource-bas community, fishing is a good example, and there is a man-made dister, like, bp or like exxon. people take it very hard, and they tend not to get over the unt they get their full measure of justice. so you see, in coastal commuents inlaska that were ll, the to the spi increased rates of alcoholism, epression. divorce, bankruptcy. x proble. and even 21 years after the spill today, if you were to

big oil spill in alaska had to do with not proper maintenance on the pipelines. and when you came in you said you were going to focus like a laser beam on safety. and certainly that had to be welcomed news after texas city -- after the north slope accident. so what safety of briefings do you get as your office of chief executive officer and who provides them to you? >> the basis of our management of safety performance is through something that we call our group operating risk committee. ate committee i set up, i chair. it involves the heads of all of the business streams. and we meet on a bimonthly basis to review the safety performance across the company. that process is mirrored down through the company. >> and what type of safety directives then or what type of directives do you issue in terms of safety as a result of those meetings and perhaps would you be willing to share some of that information with the committee as we go forward >> we can share that information. they range in changes to procedure to requirements to have people many where there are issues

was responsible for the greatest onshore oil spill in alaska in 2005 that was near prudhoe bay.o going into the npra is very, very risky. and instead of trying to increase the amount of oil we produce, which we'll never be able to do to satisfy our needs, we use about a quarter that we really need to put the focus on dramatically reducing our oil use. that is what will help our legislation that the senate will take up in june and july. it's for oil production safety and oil production. that will be essential to adjusting both ends of this problem. host: go ahead. you're on the democratic line. caller: i would like this gentleman -- yes, if he were to be the leader and get vice president, former president, go down there and straighten this mess out. president o'bama needs to keep his eye on the war and keep these kids from getting killed. guest: thank you, sir. well, the o'bama administration mobilized from day one in response to this spill. they have sent thousands of people now down in the gulf to focus on working with b.p. to cut off the flood of oil and working on a response

this was theenumber 1 fish port in north america, including alaska.ight here is viewed -- is used for chicken feed. this is one reason why american chicken is so cheap because fisherman can put their neck down and catch hundreds of millions of tons of this fish. they go to northwestern arkansas and southwestern missouri and they pass on that low-cost to our because they are getting this fish. this can affect all of us. if this population grasses -- crashes, like the herring population did after exxon valdez, the price of chicken could skyrocket. >> the guys are on their way out. what would you tell people around the country about why it is so important to be able to build these sand berms? to be able to treat with microorganisms this area and that we have a plant that will be resilience to hold these islands in place. >> everyone needs to realize this is not a state problem, this is a national problem. this is the largest disaster that you will see, probably in history, i will say, especially if the oil keeps pumping into late august or longer. we nee

what we saw in alaska after the exxon valdez spill gives us a small case for what this will be like but it's really much smaller scale event than what we're seeing in the gulf. >> lehrer: professor hester, president obama has already made a big thing of the fact that the u.s.... the federal government has already presented a bill to bp for several million dollars. is that just as simple as it appears? the united states government sends them a statement and says you now owe us $65 billion or million or whatever it is and the federal government pays? >> or bp pays. >> lehrer: i mean bp pays, yes, right, sorry. >> absolutely. the idea is that the federal government has already designated bp as the responsible party for this spill as a leaseholder for, you know, underneath the spill. frankly their presentation of that bill , the hope is that bp will voluntarily pay it. if bp chose not to, the federal government would have to go to court and pursue that claim. given the circumstances though, it would not be a good tactical call on bp's part to fight over the legality of that presentation. >>

caller: talking about the ice melted up there in alaska. it a true -- in the winter months, the price is 42 inches thick -- the ice is 42 inches thick in the arctic ocean. host: charles holliday, do you believe in global warming? guest: i went up there to look, william, with a group of people. clearly there is some ice melted. but there are cycles. this year the ice might build. it might build up next year. so i would not argue over any one year. . . when i see the internet, the human genome project, whatever, and not seeing any patent control or any return on the made prior to, and also, when i see this misallocation by these big corporations and businesses that had invested in creating debt for us to profit of a -- off of, let alone the economy, and pretty much being the patrons of the elected officials, i wonder why they are not appropriating their only -- their own capital into these things and why is this made off the backs of our country? guest: i think she makes some very valid points and there. there is a tremendous amount of money

the 2007 update which was a survey of 400 workers in alaska's north slope found that in more than half the cases b.p. had yet to catch up on its maintenance backlogs or rectify the situations that they considered so dire in 2001. >> ifill: jim glantz, let's talk about the government's role in this. i was struck by a line where you quoted david hayes as saying that the government had a false sense of security about what these companies were willing to do or were doing to protect against this kind of eventuality. >> our investigation found a little more nuanced picture of the interior department and its minerals management service in charge of this kind of regulation than we've seen before. on the one hand, they are commissioning studies that are finding real problems with these blind sheer rams whether they can cut the steel and operate in the conditions that are so harsh in the bottom of the sea for example. they're doing the right thing you might say on the one hand. on the other hand they're very slow to enact regulations to take into account the problems they find. then when it come

it was seen in texas and alaska.n the days after i was terminated, i tried to file a complaint with the ombudsman, the department of the interior inspector general, the department of justice, and mms. i received a written response from the bp ombudsmen a year later. he found that my complaint about the lack of proper engineering documents was a valid. in conclusion, from my experience in working with the industry for over 30 years, i have never seen these kinds of problems with other companies. i have never seen another company with this kind of widespread disregard for proper engineering and safety procedures. itself investigation of by former secretary of state jim baker found that bp has a culture that does not regard safety regulations. from what i saw, that culture has not changed. mms was unwilling to enforce a law against a culture of repeated violations. thank you. >> we will begin the questions, and i will start. you stated in your testimony that the documents were incomplete. do you have any evidence that d

pushes to deep water drilling that don't have nothing to do -- we've got things in california and alaska. we do not need to be out there. but we are. >> i've been here my entire life. i am bound and determined to stay. >> i noticed that you have a bunch of signs out on the side of your restaurant. >> their frustration. you wake up, you go to bed tonight, you go to sleep and wake up, you see the same exact thing on the news. no progress whatsoever. they tried to say things to make you feel better but it is not working. >> president obama s giving a speech tonight about the oil spill. him? >> let's say. what could obama say that what impressed me or make my opinion of him changed at this point? i don't think there s much he can say except he needs to stand up to bp and any one that tries to step on us, because in my opinion, this is why we're fighting an invasion from another country. it is noo just the gulf coast. it is our entire country. and as one of my signs show, we have obama surrounded by black representing the oil, and bp surrounded by a dollar signs. it is not just the pelicans a

every week we are getting what that spill was in alaska. i don't know how to gauge such a disaster as this, but to me, when people talk about three mile island, i think if there is any kind of comparison of global environmental catastrophe, one ought to think something more like chernobyl. two more points -- if i lived in the gulf, and actually all americans, but especially those living in the gulf who are directly affected by this horrible disaster, my next car would be a nissan -- the first fully electric car with a range of 100 miles plus, put out by nissan. i am going to get on the waiting list. to send a message to toyota, honda, and ford -- if americans get serious about getting off of oil. i would not by another drop of oil if i could help it from any of those companies. host: he mentioned the exxon valdez spill, which happened. about 11 million gallons of oil were spilled by the exxon valdez when that happened. now, but bp oil leak or spill -- and the bp oil leak or spill, the coast guard estimates to hundred and 10,000 gallons of o

an no and not only in the gulf coast but places like alaska. it brings me to the topic you asked us to he speak about today, america's energy future. at shell we believe the population and economic growth will drive global energy command to potentially double today's use by 2050. even more strong efficiency gains. energy supply from all sources, nuclear and others will struggle to keep up with this demand. environmental stresses will grow making the transition to lower carbon economies even more urgent. with this as a backdrop, it's clear the world needs a more sustainable energy system. alternative and renewable energies could be 30% of the new energy mix by 20/50. the global energy system does mean it takes time. at shell we believe our industry can contribute by making more energy available by reducing emissions and increasing our lower carbon energy share in generating jobs and doing so safely and responsibly. natural gas is not a renewable but it is abundant to the u.s. and a lower co 2 energy source. increased natural gas for electricity

whether the liberals said exxon mobil hould not have to pay the amount the jury gave the people of alaska for their oil spill commo, and it was not activist liberals who said that for the first time since the time of teddy roosevelt, you could allow corporations to get political action, and it was not a liberal activist court decided the presidential race between president bush and al gore. >> i want to ask a question that jeff sessions has been critical of elena kagan's position regarding military recruitment relating to discrimination against gays when she was dean of harvard, and saying she was being hypocritical by criticizing that policy but not criticizing harvard from mexican money from members of the saudi royal family for a center. what do you think of that? >> if i was on the board of overseers of harvard, i am not sure i would be that eager to except saudi money, even though i think the idea of having real studies of islamic life, islamic religion, islamic society is a good one to have in this country. that was not a decision she made. i think that is a bit of stretch. are they

have been before this committee on safety problems, and most recently as the texas city 2005 and alaska incidents which revealed insufficient protocols in bp's management and safety hierarchy, there was a statement from bp that you all would quote, unquote focus like a lizzer on safety. and it is concerning to us that the appearance is, mr. hayward that bp has not learned from previous mistakes, so it leaves us asking the questions of you and of bp, was this accident caused bnegligence? was it caused by risk taking? was it caused by cost cutting measures? by bp decision makers and unfortunately for citizens, beaches and wildlife all along the coastal gion, they are paying a price for those misplaced decisions. bp cannot blame mother nature or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. their actions have put at risk the livelihood of communities and businesses that depend on the gulf, not only for seafood and tourism,ut also energy production that this nation as a whole relies upon. in addition, the current administration also shares a significant portion of the blame for the oil sp

liberals that said that exxon mobile shouldn't have to pay the amount that a jury gave the people of alaska for their oil spill. and it wasn't a liberal activist liberals who said that for the first time since the time of deady roosevelt you could allow corporations to get involved in political action. and it wasn't a liberal activist court that decided the presidential race between president bush and al gore. >> if i could ask a question. jeff sessions, the top republican on the committee, has been critical owea kagen's position against gays when she was dean at harvard and tried to link that saying she was hip crlcal but by not criticizing harvard from accepting money from members of the saudi royal family. what do you make of that? >> first, it it wasn't vell as co. if i i was on the board of overseers of harvard, i'm not sure i would be that eager to accept saudi money even though i think the idea of having real studies of islamic life islamic religion, islamic society is a good one to be having in this country. but that wasn't a decision that she made. i think that's a bit of a stretch

remember -- the district of columbia and alaska are very different. make sure you build in some flexibility. the conditions are different throughout this country. do not take regulation out. it needs to be there to protect consumers. >> the work you do for the national organizations of regulators -- is this a big worry you have, being cut out of the process? >> yes. at the end of the day, the federal government -- one side does not get all. the federal government is slower to act on consumer issues and state regulators. we do not want 50 states doing this. my personal view is we need federal leadership on this and then have flexibility to allow the standards to be changed to fit the growing concerns that consumers have. we want to make sure everyone has the same consumer rights, whether they live in the district of columbia, alaskaa oregon, iowaa or hawaii. this is an interstate, global service. that should be good quality wherever we go. internet is going to perform all of the functions from beginning to day-to-day -- dated downloads, but it is also

to her about future oil development in alaska and to look in the eye and said," do you know who runs industry in this state?" i said i think you do. she said, "you are right, we will get along just fine." you need a permit granted. is not incumbent on the company to force the government to meet its terms. that is dead wrong. i did not see the cozy relationship. if it;/ú existed, it was wrong. not be that way. host: savannah, ga., on our independent line. caller: is only a matter of time before this is off the shores of savannah. we are watching and the oil is coming our way it has hit pensacola and it will get to savannah and go up the east coast. can to call the president and give him some great ideas on what to do? why can't somebody that has great ideas show up and get the federal government to do the right thing. bp does not know what to do. bp, shell, chevron, exxon, but then come together and do what is right. work together for the good of the people. you only need to get together for this one time. you all have the money. we don't have the money so we are watching. there shoul

-- mistreat the people in alaska so bad. in alaska there was a small oil spill -- they are having problems with the salmon and the fisheries. the poison coming from the earth, they are not telling you about that. i know for a fact, i watched a program about that specifically. the materials that far deep down in the earth is a lot worse, 5,000 feet down drilling into the earth. i am -- i just think we are grateful for the $20 billion fund but i do not think it will come close to cover the cost of the damage it would do to the gulf -- texas, all along the gulf, even mexico. host: jeff, democrats line. you are on. caller: good morning. this -- this bill down there -- this spill down there is devastating, i know. i believe in god, but i am not the type of person who goes around and lays my religion on my sleeve. but the evil that has been going on in this country, i think people should stop and think. those people down there, those southern states, they hate obama, i don't care what he does, he will never get credit for anything

that is up in alaska, murkowski is a republican there.he former governor palin endorsed little-known -- "competition makes everybody worker, be more efficient, debate clear, and produce more. the the media has tried to trace some sort of feud or bad blood between lisa and myself, such as the case. it is my firm belief we need a bold reformer. chris, democrats line in new haven connecticut. what do you think? caller: i definitely believe in electing newd an candidates. i am 59 years old. my entire life i have voted in every election except for what i was disqualified for. but i have never been able to vote in a primary because, until now, i have never been registered with the political party that had a primary. i was briefly in the greens, and we did not have the primary. in honor of senator kennedy, i joined the democrats to push for health care change. and we do have a primary in connecticut, at least for our governor's race, which is something that you are not paying much attention to, but i am proud to be able to cast a vote in that el

the trails that brought european settlers to the fron tiers and other sites from american sam wa to alaskare significant and continue to grow. our hearing today brings together a distinguished group of witnesses who will share with us their ideas regarding what lies ahead for our national parks. the last hundred years have set a course and built a tremendous foundation. but as we move into the second century, we are moving into a different world and our national parks and the park service will be tested as never before. i am pleased to welcome the director john jarvis to our hearing. your years of service to the national parks as a ranger, superintendent, and regional director are well known and greatly appreciated. and for those who do not know, director jarvis has been serving as the incident commander down in the gulf for the last three weeks helping to coordinate the government's response to the oil spill. director jarvis, we realize how difficult it has -- it was for you to get away from those duties and we very mush preach your presence and the time you afforded us. the stewardship o

. >> we have a nephew that live in alaska. my brother and sister lived in alaska with some of her children at the time of the exxon valdez. they had damaged to their property. my sister-in-law has been dead 25 years. her son ggt the check a couple of months ago. it was interesting, and i did not get to stay in the council meeting. i was too worried about watching -- we had so many different issues going. i was watching to others at the same time. you said put it in escrow before was fashionable. >> we had a meeting last week with a member of the council and we stood up and ask questions. i said, how are we guaranteeing with all the liability of claims and the shareholder value of bp going down, how are going to protect that we need to put money into an escrow account. all told, they are doing that, but we all agree, $20 billion in escrow and $100 million for the moratorium is also nothing. that is how the cover any of the vessels and the offshore supplies, in the of that. >> greater thannungesser -- president nungesser can tel

. >> we have a nephew that live in alaska. my brother and sister lived in alaska with some of her children at the time of the exxon valdez. they had damaged to their property. my sister-in-law has been dead 25 years. her son ggt the check a couple of months ago. it was interesting, and i did not get to stay in the council meeting. i was too worried about watching -- we had so many different issues going. i was watching to others at the same time. you said put it in escrow before was fashionable. >> we had a meeting last week with a member of the council and we stood up and ask questions. i said, how are we guaranteeing with all the liability of claims and the shareholder value of bp going down, how are going to protect that we need to put money into an escrow account. all told, they are doing that, but we all agree, $20 billion in escrow and $100 million for the moratorium is also nothing. that is how the cover any of the vessels and the offshore supplies, in the of that. >> greater thannungesser -- president nungesser can tel

in alaska, it takes longer. the colder climate. >> what would you like to tell the rest of the nation that is watching on c-span right now as a scientist about what you have seen? alert them on where we are going forward in terms of not only trying to clean this up but to protect our wetlands and the wildlife that in a lot of cases is living there during this time? >> this is an amazing ecosystem. we must restore it and restore the process is and make it more resilience. >> why is it important? we have been told that this is the fisheries for the entire gulf of mexico. many species start off in the wetlands of louisiana. some of the great fishing that we see in the gulf itself all starts in the release and a wetlands. >> exactly. it is vitally important economically for the entire nation for the fisheries production, for oil and gas, and economically, and also for the animals. flyways for birds from all over. >> no doubt about it. thank you so much for being with us. from the environmental defense fund. we take

in alaska, on the pipeline program, whistle-blowers have been addressed.host: nnp ever make this right? guest: i almost answered the second one already. i think we need to think about how we can make it right. one of the wise people after the exxon valdez spill said getting restoration money from the oil company, instead of spending it on projects that will not be that effective in the environment, we should spend it on science education for kids, because an oil spill like this is not a unique incident that is happening all by itself. we are spilling oil from areent. coileour cars all the time. climate change is always going on. now we get to see it in its full ugliness. what are going to do about it? or going to fat repass a few in criminal laws, or start thinking about the way we live and how we relate to the environment? host: we are discussing an energy bill in congress. will this hange how that bill might shake out? guest: the mood of the country right now is very strong. people are extraordinarily angry. i would hope that that kind of message can get

whole process of debating offshore il drilling, i bet you, if i may sound like a former governor of alaska, i bet you, i bet you that the pubic with as the oil company, are you ready with a worst-case e-mail? and many experts who have come together, and we might not be we are today. so expertise and democracy are not at odds. good government is not at odds with participation. another one very popular now, the free market versus socialism. socialism is under so much attack, i am inclined to endorse it periodically. [laughter] >> but i think most americans believe, in fact, in reward for creativity, for hard work, and for entrepreneurship and i'm paraphrasing a letter writer recently to the "washington post." but they also believe in rules and regulations to protect consumers and workers and the environment. they also believe in social insurance probe trams, to protect individuals and families from bad luck and hard times. now, does this make and capitalist or socialist? think we're all capitalist into capitalism stops working, and then we sound a little bit like socialists that never admit

carefully. >> and you made a brief reference to that comment to what we are planning to build in alaska, and i believe that references to the plans to build eight spare silos of there, and does that not make it clear, even more clear than i think it already is, that there is no constraint on our ability to build those missile defense silos or even more if needed? >> yes, we're not only building out the second site in -- at the fort, but there will be eight spares those ones that work is complete. >> let me ask you a question about the verification issues, admiral. you do not yet have a national intelligence estimate on verification. but is it your judgment that this treaty is verifiable? was the intelligence community involved during the negotiations? >> yes, sir, the intelligence community was involved throughout. obviously internally in our discussions as well as with our negotiations with the russians. it is my judgment that this treaty provides the necessary means to adequately verify, consistent with the previous treaty, that even though some of the verification means are different

and finally, the third case involved an alaska state legislator, bruce why rock. he hasn't been convicted. he's scheduled to go on trial. a lower court said his trial could go forward on a charge of honest services fraud because he failed to disclose the government charges that he was looking for work from an oil company that at the same time was lobbying him in the state legislature on tax policy. >> brown: all right. now you used the key phrase there three times "honest services fraud." now, we're going to put up the... it's a short law and it says "for the purposes of this term, scheme, or artifice to defraud includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the spwapbgable right of honest services." what does that mean or is that what the supreme court had to decide here? >> actually, that's part of what the court had to decide. justice ginsburg wrote the main opinion and it came in the skilling case and i think she gave perhaps the best way to explain honest services fraud. she read a summary from the bench and she said here's an example. a mayor takes a br

. >> coming up this hour, we will talk to the alaska senator about legislation and a bp oil project off his coast. after

host: jacob is joining us from alaska, up arly. caller: howdy. i like to comment on the earlier comment about republicans being hypocritical. state rights in the sense of the classical, libertarian view has to do with limited government intervention. but this ruling has more to do with the 14th amendment and incorporating the second amendment to apply to the stage just as the first and fourth, etc., have already been. one of my concerns is if you read the heller decision there is a huge hole in it. they say any right does not unlimited and they can make restrictions on dangers or unusual weapons. they did not really define which type of weapons were protected, just that you cannot absolutely ban everything. my concern is, if areas like chicago want to have a restrictive gun control laws, are not able to enforce them on their own cities, as people will be forced to enact federal legislation that will affect everyone. host: let's return to the editorial, in conclusion -- elena kagan may soon replace john paul stevens on the court. david is joining