he will ask bp to set up a fund immediately to help pay at claims. newspapers are reporting this morning on whether the president has the authority to make bp set this up. caller: good morning. and first of all, when obama stopped the drilling i went to the c-span website, and i came along a memorandum that he sent on march 31 to ken salazar. it was a withdrawal of leasing for any wheel a oil or dassgas development. but i saw an interview that the president was still talking about more drilling to get the prices down. if he was still calling for more drilling, but knew he had signed an executive order on march 31, two weeks before i, i hope somebody investigate that. it is a little strange that he would keep calling for more drilling and he has already signed an executive order. you can see it on the white house website. just to let people know the price of gas in cleveland has gone up 22 cents since he stopped drilling. i hate to see by the end of summer what we will be paying. and if they just put more money into natural gas energy -- they have been

asked. a follow up to that is has the government rused to do anything that bp h asked in terms of trying to be helpful to stop this leak? >> i am not aware that the government has refused any request in terms of science from the labs let me respond to the first question. the fact of the matter. the relationship with bp. stoney or andy or lamar, i met with them on multiple times. they will pay for every cent as well as any damages thatccur from this national tragedy. the directed relationship which i character iize we will contin to have that kind of relationship until we get a conclusion of this incident. >> thank you for your hard work. >> thank you. i appreciate your focus and attention on this issue which is, ocourse, extremely important to t people of louisiana and the gulf coast in a very particular and personal and emotional way because of what i happening right o our shore. but it's what's happening on our shore that has me concerned right now. and you know what my question is going be and it is one that everyo in louisiana is asking as well as people from missisppi, texas, and alaba

guard members along the coast to compensate workers and business owners who have been harmed he will ask bp to set up an escrow account and establish a national commission to understand causes of the disaster and offer recommendation. caller: a couple fought off the top of my head. what if bp says no? and it winds up in court? that is the first thing. i think they had a 75 million- dollar cap. second, there are over 30 offshore rigs operating in the u.s. right now. you know? so, it is not the there are not safety precautions in place, they are just not followed. thirdly, the 17,000 national guard troops are not active. he is more concerned about claims and not having unemployment than he is about fenian up. -- cleaning it up. host: here is some history from "the new york times" on oval office president -- presidential address history. "is only underscores the profound impact on his presidency. that at this point in his present -- at this point in previous presidencies his four predecessors had already address from the oval office. "the wall street journal" has this headline on the commissio

your website said safe and reliable operation are integral to bp's success. i want to ask you whether you think bp has met that commitment that you made when you became ceo? >> since i became ceo we have made a lot of progress. we have made it very clear to everyone in the company that -- >> have you met that commitment that you made? >> and, we've made major changes. we made major changes. >> we now see this disaster in the gulf. does that indicate that you didn't keep that kmipt? >> one of the reasons that i am so distraught -- >> can you answer yes or no? >> is that -- >> don't know whether you're distraught. i want to know whether you think you've kept your commitment >> we focused like a laser on safe and reliable operations. that's a fact. every day. >> let me follow up on that. we had an hearing earlier this week with ceos from other oil companies. they were unanimous in their view that you made risky decisions that their companies would not have made. and in particular they criticize your decision to install a long single string of casing from the top of the well t

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 by negligence? 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 region, they are paying a price for those misplaced decisions. bp dan not blame mother nature, or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. their actions have put at risk the livelihoods of communities and businesses that depend on the fwuffle not only for seefed -- seafood and tourism, but other things this area relis own. i mentioned m.m.s. earlier, and the m.m.s. officials approved nad kuwait spill response plans, and -- nad kuwait spill response plans. but what is the most damaging is that the president and senior officials knew on day one that the blowout preventer was not working and knew of the potential spillage. while bp shoulders of -- much of the responsibility for this spill, the lack of effort by the administration to contain the

while our interests are on capping as well, we would never ask bp to tell us how much oil they think has leaked in order for us to determine the compensation and penalties that is to be derived from it. understanding that, buffalo late technical group was stood up and as the admiral -- the flow rate technical group was put up and our response is not dictated on a float mechanism. the technical group was set up, because we had a better idea and could use better equipment from all over the government to get as best estimate we could for any event that is happening 5,000 feet below the surface of the water. the analogy somebody used was, we are trying to measure 5,000 feet below the surface, the amount of material that is coming up if you were to shake a coke can. that is not a perfect analogy because most -- most coke cans are 12 ounces and you know the amount. the flow rate technical group is looking at the information we have now, the information, and whether not come as the admiral said, we could get a closer range as to what happened. >> but was a time you guys were saying and lott

have you -- did you ask other companies for help in cleaning up the bp oil spill? last week for the hearing, we had several different companies. did you approach other companies or other countries and ask for their help and their expertise in plugging that leaked and participating in the cleanup? >> we sought help from both immediate peers and competitors in the gulf of mexico and globally from around the world and across america. there are several hundreds involved in the efforts. all the major operators in this country, major operators from elsewhere in the world, and many of the major academic institutions in this country, some of the greatest minds in the coontry, are involved in trying to do with this problem. >> didn't participate at your invitation or the governments -- did they participate at your invitation or the government's invitation? >> that articipated at our -- they participated at our invitation. the government brought some of the great academic institutions in this country to bear. >> are you currently -- is bp currently working on industrywide eff

bp has confirmed its intention to make good on its obligation. now we ask that bp take financial steps consistent with its assurances. president obama and 54 members of the u.s. senate have called for the establishment of the independently dministered $20 billion escrow fund. mr. mckay, i further call on bp to deposit dividend funds into this escrow account so that the citizens of the gulf and the taxpayers f this country can be a short they your commany will meet its obligation. i yield back the balance of my time. >> we thank the gentleman. the chair recognizes the gentleman from utah. >> bank, mr. chairman, from holding this hearing. -- thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this hearing. i know the way that your company does business and we're also going to hear about the explosion on april 23 you will discuss your safety records and lessons learned from past events. i think it is fair to say that many of your companies are immune from criticism and accidents couldst happen at any place. as has been mentioned already on friday night, the chevron pippline

those are things we are asking bp to whir through. >> the best example -- the president and i met with local leaders and had lunch with them. having maybe 10% of the boat tied up in the marina and all of the associated support for that like food and local businesses being used for meals. that's very complex, but we have to get to the bottom of this and make sure people have access to the claims process. >> >> if you supply food to the bed and breakfast -- [unintelligible] >> you are asking questions we never had to work with in context of an oil spill. we have someone on the national incident command staff looking into that this week. >> when the second platform are rice, they will be able to contain about 20,000 barrels of oil? >> produce about 20,000 barrels. >> when you look at the two models you are expecting, is it gonna be closer to the 25,000 barrels? >> that is a big unknown we're trying to get the exact numbers on. >> so it could end up being higher? >> if that is the case, we will deal with the larger amount of oil and had to have the other platform. >> [inaudible] >> could h

one of the things we have done is ask for specific information from bp, haliburton, transocean, and other people on that drilling rig. one of the things that is frustrating when we ask for information, as i did following our may 12 hearing, and getting back a response only after a second follow-up request was sent that was incomplete and ignored the request that we made at the time of the initial hearing. mr. chairman, it is obvious to me that we will have to continue to pursue answers to the questions. we need to have additional hearings as necessary until the people oo louisiana, mississippi, alabama, florida, and indeed, the entire united staaes know what happened and what we're doinn about it. and i yield the balance of my time. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and good morning. i feel sort of like deja vu all over again. in september f 2005 my staff and i came to hear firsthand the importantly the health needs in the wake of hurricane katrina. it was the first of many visits, and now with this region barely back on its feet frrm that tragedy, we are faced with another one, which, in the w

said he had not actually talked directly to the president of the united states senator earlier asked had bp refused to do anything that the government asked. a follow up to that is has the government refused to do anything that bp has asked in terms of trying to be helpful to stop this leak? >> i am not aware that t government has refused any request in terms of science from the labs let me respond to the first questi. the fact of the matter. the relationship with bp. stoney or andy or lamar, i met with them on multiple times. they will pay for every cent as well as any damages that occur from this national tragedy. the directed relationship which i character iize we will contin to have that kind of relationship until we get a conclusion of this incident. >> thank you for your hard work. >> thank you. i appreciate your focus and attentionn this issue which is, of course, extremely important to the people of louisiana and the gulf coast in a very particular and personal and emotionalay because of what is happening right off of our shore. but it's what's happening on our shore that has me con

bp has been asked for a roster of all workers multiple times. bp has failed to give that information, information that is critical to tracking chemical exposure. a representative from the department of health and human services is outraged about your failure to protect the health of your workers. will you commit to immediately provide the national institute of occupational health and safety and the centers for disease control with all of the information they need to evaluate health impacts and to protect these workers? >> we have been moving to provide all information request as quickly as possible, and we will provide that information as well. >> the head of occupational health and safety testified that you are not doing that. will you provide all of the intermission that they have requested of you? >> we endeavor to provide all the information request that we received. >> the non- -- the equivocation in your answer is not reassuring to the workers to have been exposed to these ways that cann impact their health. bp has dumped 30,000 gallons of

while our interest a line on capping this well, we would never ask bp to tell us how much oil they think has leaked in order for us to determine the compensation and penalty that is to be derived from it. the flow rate technical group was stood up and callous -- our response was not dictated upon a full mechanism. the flow rate technical group was set up, and because we had a better idea and could use better equipment, nasa equipment, equipment from all over the government, together as best an estimate as we could for an event that is happening 5000 below the -- 5,000 feet below the surface of the water. the analogy that someone used is we're trying to measure 5,000 feet below the surface, the amount of material that is coming up if you were to shake a coke can. that is not a perfect analogy because most coke cans are 12 ounces. the flow rate technical root is going back and looking at the information that we have now. the information post the shear cut and whether or not we can get a closer range as to what has happened. >> there was a time when you were saying a lot that the flow rate

perhaps one of the most important questions to bp we asked today is how do you plan to clean up these areas and how much progress has been made in the cleanup to dade? bp has committed to pay individuals harmed by the spill. over 78,000 miles of fishing waters is off limits. in louisiana loan, the seafood industries produces over $2 billion yearly. this means that thousands of americans will have to rely on an approved claim by bp to put fooddon the table. i intend to gain a better understanding of the claims process and ask bp the hardest question to answer. at what point will bp no longer be able to pay? i am glad any colleagues have joined us. there are an infinite number of and answered.. need to be asked we are taking a small but immensely important pieced today. the people of the gumbing are facing a terrible degree of unceetainty. in so many ways their employment and livelihoods are drifting at sea.3 coordinated response is effective. well not allow bp to shortchange the public when their actions have led to such an unimaginable situation. again, i want to thank my colleagues f

everybody studies it and then we've got to go ask bp.e should stop asking bp for resources to get this job done along the shoreline. bp needs to be providing the vessels, but the shoreline defense should be left to the governors and empower them to get the equipment and the man power they need to get the job done. host: sir, there's an editorial in this morning's "wall street journal" that a addresses what's on a lot of folks' mind and that would be suspension of the jones act. tell us your understanding of what the jones act is and the fact that it was actually suspended during hurricane katrina recoverry. guest: it has to do with the preparation and use of american-owned vessels when doing work for the united states host: and they are talking about suspending the jones act so they could bring in foreign flagged vessels so they can do some of the cleanup. guest: i've said before on many occasions. based on the experience with katrina and other disasters we dealt with before that, the number one thing you've got to do when you go into a

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 spill. i mentioned mms earlier and the mms officials approved inadequate spill response plans and field inspectors rubber stamped inspection papers submitted by oil companies. this is another area where we as members of congress in doing our due diligence will ask you all and mms why. but what is the most damaging is that the president and sen

about the executive speech ast night, the president talked about that and what he plans to ask of the bpxecutive. >> tomorrow i will meet with the chairman of bp and inform him that he is the set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners that have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness. in order to make sure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a timely manner, the account must be and will be administered by an independent third party. host: "the wall street journal" says this morning that of setting up this account "legal and corporate finance specialists are debating whether he has the authority to demand restitution or what co. shareholders might require in return." peter baker in "the new york times" this morning writes about the meeting today. "until now he has employed most of the tools of his office, including the moratorium, traveling to the region, firing the agency director and appointing a commission. he used a few more on tuesday night, summoning the cameras to the oval office, of pointing and long term recovery c

you are going to be asking bp a lot of questions. one thing i want to know is why they are not using the oil- eating microbes in the sea. and they have been there for millions of years.+ why not bring in some of these super tankers, like the one that we have in saudi arabia? i also hear that there are oil- soaking fibers. it seems like they want the government to pay for it. it is not going to happen like that. you'd better help those people in louisiana. guest: thank you. from the get go, bp has been slow to respond. on your first question about microbes in the sea that could bring down the oil and petroleum, and i have asked that question directly. typically, if there is an oil spill on the ground war and gas station with an oil spill, and they will use bacteria to break down the site. they do not have the same technology in the ocean. there are some naturally- occurring bacteria that will bring down hydrocarbons over time, but there is no technology to expand that natural process. host: next question comes from riverside, rhode is

many respects, it is virtually indistinguishable from bp's response plan and respond plans of the other major oil companies. at this time, i would askresponse plans be made part of the record. >> without objection, so ordered. >> thank youu there is one major difference between exxon's response plan and bp's response plan. the section dealing with the media. exxon has a 40 page appendix devoted to how to respond to the press. the media section in the exxon plan directs public affairs personnel to, as you can see on display, maintain on-camera proficiency. it also explains that communication should convey care and concern for the situation and provide relevant factual information. it sets up a four-tiered system to respond to media inquiries. the highest level dictate special treatment for questions about global warming and the exxon valdez. this plan contains 13 pre- drafted press releases for -palmost any occasion. [buzzer sounds] >> give it a minute here. >> there is a fully drafted press relief for -- press release for an accident at a in exxon mobil facility. six expressed deep regret, while two or more expressed deep sadness. t

everybody studies it and then wee got to go ask bp.we should stop asking bp for resrc to get this job done along the shoreline. bp needs to be providing the vessels, but the shoreline defense should be left to the governors and empower them to get the equipment and the man power they need to get the job done. host: sir, there's an editorial in this morning's "wall seet journal" that a addresses what's on a lot of folks' mind and that would be suspension of the jones act. tell us your understanding of what the jones act is and the fact that it was actually suspended dung hurricane katrina recoverry. guest: it has to do with the preparation a use of american-owned vessels when doing work for the united states host: and they are talking about suspending the jones act so they could bring in foreign flagged vessels so they can do some of the cleanup. guest: i've said before on many occasions. based on the experience with katrina and other disasters we dealt with before that, the number one thing you've got to do when you go into a disaster

- tony hayward that describes a series of decisions that bp made it that seemed to increase the risk of catastrophic blow out. i would like to ask each of you whether you think mistakes were made by bp. >> in reviewing the letter that you both cent, it appears clear to me that a number of design standards were not followed. >> if i could come quickly, you phink that they made mistakes. the answer you would give it yes.d be west depic >> we would not have drilled a well the way they did. >> we have just had a chance to look at your letter. our experts are taking a look at it. i have read it myself. from what i have seen, it is consistent with what the task force found. we have an opportunity to raise the bar, if you will, on standards in the industry, and it appears from your letter that not all standards that we would recommend or that we would employ were in place. >> do any of you disagree with the statement that bp made mistakes? >> is not a disagreement, it is just a confirmation that we do not have all of the information. from the information in your letter and what we know about the well, i would add a similar statement th

asking. on the issue of the prophets from the oil they are capturing. bp has said they will set aside that money for a wild life fund that will help rebuild the areas down there. thank you for your phone scalls this morning. that does it for today's washington journal. we'll bring you now to the live

hang on, boone, we'll take a break and ask boone if he thinks bp can survive the crisis. credit rating took another hit today. don't go away. ask me. even if you think your mattress is just fine... >>> we're back with legendary t. boone pickens. president obama says there is a big lesson for us all in this disaster. we better pay attention. >> one of the lessons we learned from the spill that's we need better regulations, better safety standards and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. but a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry. drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. after all, oil is a finite resource. we consume more than 20% of the world's oil, but have less than 2% of the world's oil reserves. and that's part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean. because we're running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water. >> larry: t. boone, you agree? >> a lot of it is pretty accurate. but we have got the natural gas. we are number one in the world. and

lisa jackson was in new orleans native and head of the epa asking bp to stand down on the amount of 9500 using. this might have made sense if they were having the heavier type crude. not latest south louisiana sweet crude. . . >> you are attuned to a.m. 690, wist. >> hey, new orleans, want to unclog your life? this is about portable solutions. gomini comes to you. >> when she gets here, we will talk. [radio commercial] >> to those of you watching on c-span, one thing we have been fighting for in south louisiana is our fair share of ocs representation and that is in jeopardy because of the possibility that we may abandon deepwater drilling. any of us who live in louisiana are on pins and needles because when you look at shallow water, we are told that in many cases there are not a lot of oil reserves left in shallow water. the majority of the oil reserves that are on tap to in the gulf of mexico right now are in deep water, they say. louisiana, in many cases, has been asking for our fair share of offshore oil revenue. this is specifically ocs revenue. we are set to get 1/4 of offshore oil

bp has been asked to prepare a new contingency plan. kate amara, wbal-tv 11 news. >> 38 pelicans have been released back into the wild. 192 brown pelicans have been taken from the louisiana coast coated with oil. 80% of those rescued can be saved and reintroduced into the wild. the hope is that the texas habitat will be a safe haven from them from the spill. millions of process raw sewage seeped away into the biscayne bay saturday morning. people were warned to stay out of the water. test results should confirm the severity of the contamination. >> kids are notoriously picky eaters. marketing and commercials can be influencing their tastes. a study found that children overwhelmingly would choose a product if packaging featured a licensed cartoon character, like the explorer.xplora that brings us to our watercooler question of the day. do you think limits should be placed on cartoon characters to market junk food? e-mail your response to watercooler@wbaltv.com. again, that is watercooler@wbaltv.com. that study does not surprise me. ate w

ask you to do. without having been said, this process has been -- this has been dismal. and one week into the oil spill, i approached bp about establishing an account and i received no response. and now that the president is asking this, what would be your response. >> i do not think any decisions have been made on the trust account. we have said that we will pay all legitimate claims and the whole company will stand behind this. the decision for the trust fund has not been made just yet. >> i have hundreds of constituents who say that they are legitimate and you are saying that they are not. how do you respond? >> i do not understand the individual claims. if these have been submitted, have they been rejected? >> they have been delayed, and if their life is on the line, they cannot afford the delay. >> i know that if there are issues, that we should talk about offline, i will be glad to do this. >> i want to ask a question to the panel. the moratorium is affecting louisiana in a very tremendous weight. do you have the technollgy to know where the oil reservoir is? to you have the technology to know this? do you know h

bp. back with carville and kershaw and ask them what they think he should say to them. stay with us. [ female announcer ] right now when you stay two times with comfort suites or any choice hotel, you can feed a family of four. book now at choicehotels.com to start earning your $50 restaurant gift card. hey! [ tires screech ] [ female announcer ] when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge with free high-speed internet and free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. i had a heart problem. i was told to begin my aspirin regimen. i just didn't listen until i awoke with pains in my chest. i almost lost my life. my doctor's again ordered me to take aspirin. and i do. i make sure that he does it. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone, so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ mike ] i encourage everyone to listen to the doctor. and take it seriously. [ male announcer ] learn moret at iamproheart.com. >> larry: we're back, the president implored americans to night to change our ways now. watch. >> as we recover from

we have asked bp to provide us with a plan. we will rrview that today. later today, we will put out a statement regarding our review of that plan and the way to move forward. we have told bp that we need not only increased capacity, but also redundancy. we hope that by the time we have the new system put in, we should be able to store 40,000-50,000 barrels per day. the issue is getting bp to move quickly to establish redundancy. >> if you had had those numbers earlier, would you have been able to address that capacity? >> the tanker has a dynamic positioning system. because of the way they produce oil in the gulf, the water is piped in. we do not use the same type of tanker that they use in the north sea. i say "we," collectively is the industry. is everybody. >> what criteria and requirements are you using to track these essels? >> some of the skimmers are self-contained. other systems are systems that you towed behind a vessel and step away to evacuate it. we are trying to put the skimming equipment into the hands of the vessels of opportunity out there

bp is liable for the degradation. i believe the basis of that will help restore the environmental vitality of that region. >> president obama said that no asking was required at today's sessions. >> i think the president was clear about what he thought bp was responsible for and obligated to do. we came with that in mind and be left with an agreement that is substantive providing the insurance, the independents, the funding. they will go to sleep tonight and people will be doing this independently and transparently. they will sleep quietly. >> was this confrontational? >> this was a business meeting. we did what we thought was appropriate. >> has see expressed his frustration? what the parts of the meeting -- >> the parts of the meeting that i a worwas in work as they were described. we have seen the president over the past weeks. the livelihood of generations interrupted. there was one place such s dauphin island to that was going to recover after katrina. they thought that the economy was getting better. they have rebuilt after watching a hurricane. one of the reasons that you take the ferry is that is two islands. this is to be the season f

two bp came twowyatt's services and one of the two told me he was sorry for my in-laws, asked if he could hug me and did. the man extended his hand, tell me who he was, and sent two plants to the services. that is the center of my conversation and any dealings with bp. that is it. do you feel like you owe something more to those women? in as of expressing something and more? >> as i said, i am devastated by the accident. i am sincerely devastated, and i feel very sorry for the people impacted by it. >> well, they haven't heard anything. >> the people killed in the accident are not bp employees. they are employees of transocean and other contractors. they made it very clear that they wanted to do with the cameras. we have provided support to both transocean and the other. we have made it clear that we will provide all and every need to the families. >> let me ask another question. there were bp personal on the rig. we read that oil workers from the rig held in seclusion on the open water for up to two days after the april 20 explosion while attorneys attempted to convince them to sign the

we ask them to tell us -- in a letter to bp. we ask them to tell us how they are going to handle capacity. we expect to have a response in the next 24 hours. >> what is your impression of the plan? is it adequate? are you pleased with it? >> it meets the redundancy and capacity requirements that we need, we want to make sure we understand how it is going to be executed. this will allow us to create a riser pipe that is basically suspended below the water, held up by of billy at one end and an anger at the other -- a buoy at one end and an anchor at the other. >> what happens when you disconnected? >> there is probably going to be a release, and we are going to have to deal wwth it. is the nature of the response ann the limitations on the production platform down there. having a large hurricane come in at that stage is not going to be good for anyone. the vessels are there. shuttle tankers will be much more seaworthy. it will be an issue of how heavy the weather gets. >> our next question [inaudible] >> can you hear me? >> yes. >>

bp stockholder and i have already been punished. my stock has gone from 60 down to 30. host: we are asking folks what the president should say tonight. and it a hearing, we will hear from the ceo of several of the oil companies including bp and exxonmobil and including several other companies. several hours on the hill today by these oil companies ceo's at a house subcommittee hearing. bridgeport, conn. gerry, independent. what should the president said? caller: let me start with what i hope the president doesn't say. what i hope doesn't do is politicize this tragedy. the way he could politicize this tragedy is to say pass cap-and- trade because of the spill. the reason why i'm against that is because what cap-and-trade basically does -- or i call ration and tax -- is it punishes coal consumption. net net, what the president is saying is because there is a oil spill in the gulf, we have to band coal production. how does it make us less dependent on foreign oil? how does it improve the everyday lives of americans to say let us not consume coal, let us pass cap-and-trade and somehow this wil

reason there was not money in that, you have all of your rights to go right back and ask for the payment from the bp. it is important to understand that the only ones who have limited rights are bp. >> last night the president talked about energy legislation. pricing carbon, cap and trade, etc. will he accept a bill out of the u.s. senate that does not have this? >> you have heard the president' for 3.5 years now tak about his approach to comprehensive energy. i don't think that has been unclear. he reiterated a call last night and said that the greatest price we pay is the price of inaction. this morning, the president spoke with senator kerrey and senator lugar are, each of whom have energy legislation that the senate is likely to take up in the next several weeks. we announced that networknext wy we will have a discussion on moving forward. it is safe to say that the president's direction on energy is similar to the one in the carried bill, and tte president feels strongly that including upon to deal with climate is important. there are a number of proposals. that is why senator lugar and senator

bp and the taxpayer should be footing the bill? was that the same statement? i am asking. i disagree. >> do you think -- is the congressman during in the way by calling officials from the coast guard ndp appear when they should be out in the gulf? -- and bp up here when they shouldn't be out in the gulf? among no. -- >> no. we need to get a thought. people are jumping to conclusions. we cannot act upon this until we know what is happening here. what we learned in that time is that bp representee wrong with what their technology could do. there represented wrongly the amount of oil spewing forth into the gulf. the continued to do so. scientists have an update on that that is much higher than what bp said. again, when ttey start telling you to cut your hair and some golf balls on diapers for the cleanup, you know that is not the technology of the future. unless you are changing diapers, getting a hair cut, or playing golf -- [laughter] i think it is very appropriate that time was given to focus on what the parameters were, what actually happened. monday, halliburton said they

exxonmobil, chevron, conocophillips, shell, and bp america had huge interest in getting it right and preventing it from ever being wrong again. if you ask othem, they would not equal the market cap of some of the zero companies owned by sovereign nations. such as saudi arabia, venezuela, the republic of mexico. so i would stipulate, mr. chairman, that while our major oil companies have calls it -- at least british petroleum is the cause of this particular problem -- also stipulate that the gentleman before us are a big part of the solution. if the president of the united states has a better solution, he can pick up the phone and tell bp exactly what to do. it is a federal issue in terms of the mitigation and cleanup plans. if there is anybody from president obama on down who peally knows the solution and and stop that oil from spelling right now, by golly, all they have to do is pick up the phone and tell them what to do. the fact that they are not is simply because laws of nature and the laws of physics do not respond to 30-second sound bites. yet to know what to do when you have to have the engineering and technology available to do i

this hearing is adjourned, and we would ask that this destruction is taken outside of the room. >> the ceo of bp, tony hayward, will be on capitol hill to talk to the subcommittee. we will have this on c-span and c-span.org. >> television is on this one. >> this is what it along the march to pick up the oil that has been pushed into the near shore. and what else we see, this is to try to protect us from hitting the shore. this has been working fairly well. this is looking like -- i am sing less oil on the shore. you see that this is all white. you see that they are changing this out every way -- every day, and they put the fresh 1 in. >> if the oil touches the grass, this is going to kill it. this is eroding the marshes. >> we should be on the land right now. this is how bad this erodes. this is going to go away that much quicker if we have a storm. we have to move the coastline further in. >> the position -- we see that we are on land. we are 50 feet away from the shoreline. this used to the land here. this is from over the years of the hurricane and the coastal erosion. >> what would you be do

bp.+ last week, after receiving a request, the committee asked each of the five major oil companies for their oil spill response plans. on paper, they are very impressive. each document has more than 500 pages long. i will hold up the documents that is the contingency plan. but what the show is that exxon mobil, chevron, and shell are no better preparrd to deal with a major oil spill than bp. the same company, the response group, wrote the five plans and described them as a cookie cutter plants. much of the text is identical. four of the plans discussed how to protect walruses, but there are no walruses in the gulf of mexico. we analyzed two key parts of the plants -- the provisions for stopping at the blow out, like the one that is spewing oil acrrss the gulf, and at their worst case scenarios. we found that none of the five oil companies has an adequate response plan. it is instructive to compare exxon and mobil's plan for controlling the subsea blow up with bp's plan. here is what bp says. "in the event this bill source cannot be controlled by the facility operator or remotely with a

if they would impose this on bp, which i think was dealing with risky practices, i ask them a series uestions. they disapproved of the techniques that bp use. -- used. bp has been in engaged in a risky pattern of conduct for some time. other executives knew that but did not know what they could do about that. but the judge's opinion makes it clear that you could write a more focused moratorium that set untii you impose these safety requirements, most of what the criticism is about has not been on the recovery plan. most has been on how bp proceeded as it went to cap this well. it was going through the process. eds said this was about cumin, not system failure. -- it was about human, not system failure. that should of been red flag number-one and they should have done something different. it wws -- they should have done a pressure teet of the well. instead of reacting to the problem properly, they took the wrong decision. you could impose a new set of safety provisions. the pressure test show there is resubmit., we submitted there appears to be no basis for the selection of six months.

there are other bp deep wells. what i am askingis the conduct or the way this rig was run so different from all the others that it doesn't warrant a look at a moratorium on this kind of drilling so we learn our lessons on this and prevent it from happening again or are you willing to let this happen again? >> senator what i was saying is that we have had thousands of thessimilar types of wells drilled. there obviously is something very unusual ha happened on this one case. obviously it needs to be fully investigated. but we have through our experience shown that this type of drill something a -- in the scope of, you know, comparable things, is a very safe way of producing energy. >> thank you. >> just to follow up on that thought, i think if you had 3,000 wells out there and a well went down it would be one in 3,000. but your testimony is quite elegant in talking about incentives. it seems to me that the one thing that i have noticed about the way things could happen in our present society is we just don't have disincentives for ba

he was trying to ask -- he heard bp and goldman saches had sold off the day before.ou did not let the representative answer. you went to a side article. host: i was just adding to the question. she was welcome to answer any part of it. caller: you read from an article. you distracted from the question. i wish you'd let the calls go through. any time there's a call about 9/11 or some conspiracy, you never let them answer. i'd like to hear the answer. host: west palm beach, florida. caller: i'd like to see a listing of who, what and when specific ex-entions were given out to all of them so that the people can see and by who, i mean specific individuals and what agencies, government and bp and all the others affiliated. i think there's a lot of people affected. everybody should be held accountable if the government played a role in this, we should eat some of this. i want to know what exchange is had. thank you very much. host: on the democratic line from little rock, arkansas. caller: good morning. good to see you. greta, what i want to say is, the-o i've made since ob

a lot of folks have come to ask questions about cames, so we have bp claims folks to answer those questions. they've been asking about the vessel opportunity program. they are here to get involved in that program. if they get stuck in that program, we try to unstick that for them. we are also demystifying some of those things we're doing. whether the fish are being impacted, what kind of sampling you're doing as well. >> walk us through a typical day for you, if there is such a thing. >> i get up pretty early in the morning. we get a good handle on what the picture of the oil looks like at that point in time. we get to strategizing and set of tactics for how we are going to fight oil for the day. we start moving resources to where the thickest part of the oil is. round about 7:00, we brief the unified area command, which is of ion roberts, and then after 7:00 -- between 7:00 38:00, i am involved in the governor's call with the government to file with his concerns are. it is all about finding the oil spill to make sure we have the right resources in the right places. during these town hall m

i asked for that and we will move forward to correct any problems. the cr >> it turns out bpad better quality video which they released only after pressure from cockers -- pressure from congress. were you aware of this video in can you explain why it was not released earlier? was it has to be put on hard drives and brought off the ships. it cannot be transmitted over the internet or through rf frequent is. the head of the team has been working with bp for high-quality video. you only get that by physically removing it from the ship's air moving it to shore. we made a request it was provided to us. they physically cannot get it real time. >> you are happy with it? >> we have what we need. >> do you think you are turning a corner and turns of more oil being taken in? >> i would certainly hope so. until we get the full production numbers down and we are able to completely capet, we are not going to know. we know a bit more each day. that is why i challenge the flow rate technical group to come back and challenge our assumptions. we will continue to refine the estimates. i will n

yesterday i called bp and i asked them to at least review something that i had been working on. i am even creating a model on how to stop the oil spill. and they are going to send me some information so they can review my invention. but i invented several small things. host: ok, henry. we will move on to katherine on the democratic line. caller: i would like to make a comment about the lady who has three degrees -- because i just got a master's degree. i have been working two jobs for many years and i still have to rent rooms and my house. host: we can hear you. go ahead. you still have to rent rooms at your house. caller: i think people are doing what they need to do to get by. if you look at craig's list, 300 entries where people are renting rooms and our homes. if you go to wal-mart or target or home depot in california, you can get a job. i don't know about the double dip. i just wanted to say that there are ways of getting by. i have been doing it for years and years. host: thanks, catherine. we will go to baltimore. steve is joining us on the republican line. good morning.

host: asked about what impact the bp still hasn't ended to legislation. we want to take a look at some of what he had to say. >> what we need to do is passed and energy comprehensive policy that prices carbon and begins to move america to the future so we can get into the marketplace. we will have less pollution, better health, better national security, better competitiveness, increased ability to provide our own national energy policy and we will create millions of jobs. . especially because there was a new tax or people feared that there was a new tax coming. host: stephen, savannah, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. good to see you, mr. drucker, you are normally on the other side in your studio. i appreciate your input whatever c-span has done. my comment is amazement at the political ineptitude of the democrats. they have no sense of exploiting a situation to their manager even when they have moral superiority. whenever there is a crisis she is always out there with the president. host: you are calling on the democratic line? caller: i am a

yet bp, if they wanted, could say some of these members of congress are being too tough on us and asking questions. so we will spend millions of dollars to elect somebody who will say we're doing the right thing. now, i don't think that's going to happen. but under what the supreme court said, that could han. >> happen. host: you seem to be critical of the court under chief justice roberts. are you trying to paint the conservatives as the activists? >> i think it's hard to define where the liberals have been activist. it wasn't the liberals who said that men could be paid more than women. the same kind of job. whether the 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 republi

administration has said that bp is doing everything asked of it in the effort to combat the spill. we have looked to the company to continue in this and we will do everything that we can to help. the key priority must be stopping the environmental damage. in a telephone conversation, president obama reassured the prime minister that he has no interest in undermining bp's value and the frustrations in america have nothing to do with national identity. hon. members will remember that, in 1998, the also rig in the north sea exploded with 167 fatalities. following that disaster, our own regulatory regime was significantly tightened and we split the functions of licensing and health and safety in the u.k. the u.s. has announced that, in the future, these functions will be held by a separate organization. we hope that we have some experience in operating such a system. my department and the health and safety executive have been discussing this with the u.s. counterparts. it is my responsibility to make sure that the oil industry remains with the highest possible standards. i have thursda

bp. the president is asking the congress to vote on monday before july 4. he says the deficit will take care of itself, but we need the multiplier effect spawned by sitting upon the -- that is a message from twitter concerning the president's request for money from congress. caller: i am from connecticut, so-called, one of the richest states in the country. there have been so many teachers in schools closed -- i don't understand why these people don't understand what the president is doing. as teachers are laid off the students are crowded with up to 40 students in a class. is this how we won the country to go? education is very important for the future. i don't know what people say they don't know what the president is doing. he is trying to help states continue to educate children. host: from "the tallahassee democrat" a preview of the president's trip tomorrow. he will meet with local lawmakers. "of houston chronicle" -- more headlines about the oil spill. this message from twitter. we're joined from cincinnati on the democrats' line. caller: i just got

if they would impose this on bp, was dealing with practices, i ask them a series of questions. they disapproved of the that bp use. -- used. bp has been in engaged in a risky pattern of conduct for time. other executives knew that but what they could do that. but the judge's opinion makes it that you could write a moratorium that set you impose these safety requirements, most of what the criticism is about has not been plan. recovery most has been on how bp as it went to cap this well. it was going through the process. eds said this was about cumin, not system failure. -- it was about human, not system failure. that should of been red flag number-one and they should have something different. it wws -- they should have done pressure teet of the well. instead of reacting to the properly, they took the decision. impose a new set of provisions. the pressure test show there is resubmit. we submitted there appears to be no basis for selection of six months. the comments that say there are that can be done is in agreement with all of the oil executives. things the government could requ

a lot had come to ask questions about claims. we have a bp claims people to answer those questions. so, also, we are de-mystifying some of the things we're doing, like the use of dispeesants and how the fish are being impacted. and what kind of sampling we are doing very . >> walk us through a typical day. >> are reported the incident command post at 6:00 in the morning. i get a briefing of the activities that went on through the night, which is usually surveillance. we get a good handle on what the picture of the oil looks like at that time. we strategizing about how we will fight the oil for the day. we start moving resources to where that is part of the oil is. about 7:00, we brief the unified area command which is up in roberts about our activities, let them know. after 7:00, between 7:00 38:00, i am involved in a called with governor jindal. from 8:30 on, it is doing these town hall meetings, doing press interviews, but most of my time is involved in making sure we are in the fight into doing the right things for the fight. i do get out. i fly around as the tactical commander,

administration has said that bp is doing everything asked of it in the effort to combat the spill. we have looked to the compa to continue in this and we will do everything that we can to help. the k priority muste stopping the environmeal damage. in a telephone conversation, president obama reassured the prime minister that he has no interest i undermining bp's value and the frustrations america have nothing to do with national identity. hon. members willemember that, in 1998, the also rig in the north sea exploded with 167 fatalities. following that disaster, our own regulatory regime was significantly tightened and we split the fctions of licensing and health and safety in the u.k. the u.s. has announced that, in the fute, tseunctions will be held by a separate organization. we hope that we have some experience in operating such a system. my department and the health and safety executive he been discussing thisith the u.s. counterparts its my responsibility to make sure that the oil industry remains with the highest possible standards. i have thursday his review undertaking. the