so from-- where did the musical, you know, concept come from, if you're motivated by dick gregory? dick gregory was a speaker. he was a man who organized movements. why did you do it through music? well, my earliest recollection of music is always in my household. my mother listened to motown, stax, atlantic, from roberta flack, aretha franklin, stevie wonder, you know. "chuck, do your chores." and you've got music playing, just, you know, seeping into your bloodstream and ear stream. and my father liked jazz here and there. but i was mainly into sports. i was into the organization of sports, and a lot of black folks made strong inroads into sports, and that captivated my interests. and the whole hip-hop thing that hit me in the middle of the 1970s got me into the music, because it was the technical aspect of it. technology. two turntables, a mixer, a microphone. i was totally confused. i was like, "why do they need two turntables? in case the one over there breaks down?" [laughter] "this person is very prepared." but that struck me as being, you know, something to get involved wit

i also want to take a moment to recognize dick gregory who is a person who has fought hard for so manyin our audience. thank you, mr. gregory, for being a part of this hearing today. governor barbour, your state has been through a tremendous amount of difficulty, and i sincerely look forward to your testimony. let me also welcome michael bromwich from the department of interior. mr. bromwich, you agreed to be here with incredibly short notice, so we thank you very much for your testimony and for your expertise. finally, let me welcome the residents of the gulf who have traveled here today to share their views with the committee. earlier this year the national commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill issued a comprehensive report on the causes of the spill. the report found that this disaster was avoidable and that it resulted from clear mistakes made in the first instance by bp, halliburton and transocean. and by government officials. these were extremely difficult lessons to learn. now, more than a year later, officials in both the oil industry and our government appear to be

dick gregory who is here today, he and others brought to my attention some investigative articles written by the washington post. these articles are worrying. those are some who profited from the bp oil spill disaster. these people apparently aimed the system to take so much money inappropriately that they earned the nickname is billionaires'. two of those named in these investigative articles testifying today, as a politician, i know what it is like to read a newspaper article about the issues, i had the experience of reading articles when i cannot recognize the events as they have been described by the reporters. i know how it can be for others in similar circumstances and we don't always have an opportunity to respond to those articles and perhaps set the record straight. therefore i feel duty bound, mr. taffaro and mr. williams, to respond to those articles, what they have alleged about your conduct in the wake of the bp oil spill disaster. >> if you could give me a specific question i will be glad to answer. >> in both articles of the washington post and pro publicthey, they talk abo

i also want to take a moment to recognize dick gregory who is a person who has fought hard for so many people for so long in our audience. thank you, mr. gregory, for being a part of this hearing today. governor barbour, your state has been through a tremendous amount of difficulty, and i sincerely look forward to your testimony. let me also welcome michael bromwich from the department of interior. mr. bromwich, you agreed to be here with incredibly short notice, so we thank you very much for your testimony and for your expertise. finally, let me welcome the residents of the gulf who have traveled here today to share their views with the committee. earlier this year the national commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill issued a comprehensive report on the causes of the spill. the report found that this disaster was avoidable and that it resulted from clear mistakes made in the first instance by bp, halliburton and transocean. and by government officials. these were extremely difficult lessons to learn. now, more than a year later, officials in both the oil industry and our gove

i also want to take a moment to recognize dick gregory who is a person who has fought hard for so manyeople for so long in our audience. thank you, mr. gregory, for being a part of this hearing today. governor barbour, your state has been through a tremendous amount of difficulty, and i sincerely look forward to your testimony. let me also welcome michael bromwich from the department of interior. mr. bromwich, you agreed to be here with incredibly short notice, so we thank you very much for your testimony and for your expertise. finally, let me welcome the residents of the gulf who have traveled here today to share their views with the committee. earlier this year the national commission on the bp deepwater horizon oil spill issued a comprehensive report on the causes of the spill. the report found that this disaster was avoidable and that it resulted from clear mistakes made in the first instance by bp, halliburton and transocean. and by government officials. these were extremely difficult lessons to learn. now, more than a year later, officials in both the oil industry and our govern

dick gregory, who is here today, he and others have brought to my attention some investigative articles written by pro publica and the "washington post". these articles are worrying. they allege there are who profited from the bp oil spill cast -- oil spill disaster. they apparently gamed the system to take so much money inappropriately that they earned the nickname spillionaires. those are here on the panel. as a politician, i know what it is like to read a newspaper article about issues with which i am involved, i've had the experience of reading articles where i cannot recognize the events as they have been described by the reporters. so i know how it can be sometimes for others in similar circumstances and we don't always have an opportunity to respond to those articles. perhaps set the record straight. therefore, i feel duty bound mr. taffaro and mr. williams to give you the opportunity here today to respond to those articles and to what they have alleged about your conduct in the wake of the bp oil spill disaster. mr. taffaro, would you like to take a stab at it? >> sure, congress