marsha mcnutt, the director of the usgs is in charge of that. there are seven independe scientists that are on tha group, a couple of weeks ago, they -- they -- before the riser was cut, t looked at variety of data streams to do an estimate of how much might be leaking out of at that time there were some leaks in the kink of the riser and then at the end of the riser and also at that time there was a tool tt was bringing some of the material uprom the end of the riser, youl recall and collecting some of that material. what they did is they had several different work streams. they had -- they had video that they ordered. the governmentequired bp to provide the video so they could look at the video age attempt to calculate how much might be coming outment they also did a mass balance based on aerial work and subsea work to try to estimate how much had -- was on the surface, how much had evaporated and sort of back calculate how much might be coming out. and those were the primary apoaches. what they ce up with was a range, a kind of aange of two o

and it is the president's direction that you have people like the secretary and tom and marsha and a wle host of others oversea. >> he is one of the group of the best thinkers brought together to try to figure out what do we do here. if i have just another moment ane just say that you look like you could use 10, 15 hours of sleep. i know the hours that you are likely working and we thank you for that. let me ask, a hurrica enters the gul of mexico, wells, rigs and production platform platforms is is there a written plan for this circumstance? >> the answer to that is yes. >>hen they happen in the past, there is down ocrs within the g mexico. the answer, also, with respect to this particular leak is that it is is one of the issues which secretary and i have insisted there be the capacit it is part of the program. >> let me say that i don't mean that the three of you look awful. when i said that you need sleep. this has been a long period. you have not had a day off. good for you. i think this congress wants to do everything ssiblet can do to be supportive. >> thank you. the folks in t

marsha mcnutt, the director of the usgs is in charge of that.are seven independent scientists that are on that group, a couple of weeks ago, they -- they -- before the riser was cut, looked at variety of data streams to do an estimate of how much might be leaking out of at that time there were some leaks in the kink of the riser and then a the end of the riser and also at that time there was a tool that was bringing some of the material up from the end of the riser, you'll recall and collecting some of that material. what they did is they had several different workstreams. they had -- they had video that they ordered. the government required bp t provide the video so they could look at the video age attempt to calculate how much might be coming outment they also did a mass balance based on aerial work and subsea work to try to estimate how much had -- was on the surface, how much had evaporated and sort of back calculate how muchight be coming out. and those were the primary approaches. what they came up with was a range, kind of aange of two of

marsha, ur troops are performing exceptionally, but it appears that we and our afghan partners have not been able to provide durable, consistent security to the population. not surprisingly, governance and development seems to be lagging. general mcchrystal recently referred to marsha american samoa and "bleeding ulcer," and questionnwhether we have enough troops there. rather than serving as proof that nato and the afghan government will succeed, which was the intention, i feel that marjah, at the moment, is sending a much more troubling signal. condor wassa successful war itself and could be determined, i agree with general mcchrystal's recent comment that "it is more important that we get it right then we get it fast." that said, the delay in our operation is not projecting an air of confidence and success. to get kaadahar right, we all political military strategy.ted as far as i can tell, the political part of that strategy still is not there. i hear a lot about the number of civilians who are deploying in kandahar, but i still have not heard a convincing explanaaion for how we will

. >> i'm marsha smith with the space and technology group. i'm curious as to why you think space is going to become militarized. what is the motivation for militarizing space? why do you think a space war would last two years? i would think it would all be over in 10 minutes. [laughter] >> space is under militarization today. yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow will be militarization. then, two years from the first space war, it is not so easy to liquidate space infrastructure. on earth, to liquidate thousands of space objects in mirror -- mere operational zone. even 10 minutes, you cannot find game -- find aim even. not less than two years. >> the gentleman in the tie. >> i'm from the state department. i wonder if academician chertok 's book talks about the very important factor in space exploration that is the fluctuation and differences in public support for various models, various types of space exploration. for instance, in the united states, the support for manned human flight seems to be going down, while in russia, it seems t

marsha on the line for drepublicans, what do you think? caller: i do not think general mcchrystal should be fired. this is nothing but a witch huntt pt is awfully funny that he is making these kind of comments about the war when his own fiancee was murdered by al-qaeda insurgenns. none of the quotations else was directly related to general petraeus. -- i am sorry, general mcchrystal. they were all mentioned by unnamed advisers. i would think that in this day and age of reputable journalism, someone would want to mention those names. host: what do you think should happen to general mcchrystal's team? according to the "rolling stone" article -- here is a copy of it. by the way, it is on our web site, c-span.org, if you're interested in reading the whole thing. the inner circle has dubbed themselves team america. what do you think should be done? i think caller: they should be reprimanded for their comments. -- caller: i think they should be reprimanded for their comments. as far as you are mentioned that i cakenberry will be in that meeting

i think it is totally monotonous the way we have a republican down here by the way of marsha blackburn who is against everything. i feel like she is putting of cramp on a the state of tennessee in memphis. some states should be provided aid, and i love nancy pelosi and i want to send it a shoout out. host: jason on the independent lines. good morning. so what do think this morning? caller: i think the stimulus is a very good idea. i think the president is using the right approach in trying to mediate a pro -- immediate a problem with the economy. it will be uphill battle regarding recovery. the nation is starting to recover from the recession, starting last september, according to alan greenspan. i remember observing that report. and it came out of it -- the state came out of the recession back in january. the recovery phase will be awhile for us, but president obama did warn the nation that 2009 will be the year we commence recovery proceedings with a stimulus at. the first few months will be painful, the second six months will be very painful, then there will be six months to a year

host: marsha, did you hear from your friends and neighbors there were also motivated to get out and votehat day? caller: honestly, i have just caller: honestly, i have just recently moved. it was the 27th that i moved and the primary was the 18th of may. i saw a lot of signs. i did not see a lot of specter signs, and this is a republican area. host: we will speak with an associated press reporter ben evans, the reporter who has been writing about the number of folks running for congress this year. tell us about this surge in the number of people who are running this year. what is the interpretation of that? guest: we kept noticing in these primaries, the ballots were really long. we saw a lot of races with eight to 10 candidates. we asked the federal election commission for their historical records, and there are about -- this cycle there are 23 under people running for congress. that is the most since the mid- 1970s when the fec started keeping records. it is 700 more than the 2008 election. and so, it is an interesting indicator. i think it is another sign that there is a lot of unrest

that oil spill sits in the marsha, and every day more and more pelicans dive into that stuff, not knowing what it is, get coated and die. thousands and thousands more birds will die. hundreds and hundreds of turtles and sea life will leave that out in the marsh. we came up the next day with a vacuum plan and have been begging to get it approved. we have to suck it up. there are overseas ships, and some in this country -- we have had people from all over the world see me was bp won't see them with a pipe that will go down 500 feet to get that oil. why aren't those shims deployed? we could get most of ittout phere. the. had to approve the jack-up plan. we begged for the berman plan. although we don't want to see it on the florida beaches, it is easier to clean off a bench than out of the marsh. we told them from day one you'll never clean it out of the marsh. they said it will never get there. well, it is there. please don't take fly overs of plaquemines parish. you can't see it from the air. you have to touch it. you have to pull into that marsh and see there is absolutely no life. everyth