you're getting a taste of what we are feeling in south louisiana. now on the program is a coastal scientist from the environmental defense fund, someone who has louisiana ties. your sister lives here, angelina friedman is a coastal sciences for the environmental defense fund. welcome. thank you for being with us. you have had the opportunity to go out into our estuaries and wetlands along the shoreline as a. coastal for those that are watching us on cable and satellite networks on c-span and those listening, and around the country and around the world, describe for the country and for the world what you have seen and how this oil has inundated our louisiana wetlands. >> last weekend, i went out to the grand isle area. the oil had reached the shore already. it was in thick pools in the sand and seeping into the substrate. there were animals that were affected. it was on the rocks and in the water and also i went out a few times this week down to the delta. i saw the wetlands there. the oil had come in. the oil was pulled around the wetlands and i had

there may not be a recovery for south louisiana. it is taking away our homes, our livelihood, taking away our cash. any but it comes to south louisiana or states along the coast is always taken and like you are one of our lifelong friends. you cannot go anywhere in the country and feel like you do when you come to south louisiana. that is our nature. that is the way we are born and raised. we welcome everyone with open arms, just like we welcome the oil. we need to lift that ban on the wall and we need to be drilling. we're going to need that not too far down the road to survive. >> what you think the federal government should do to help? >> of would say. where do we go from here? the federal government needs to help with houses. they came in after the train. we saw what happened there. we've got so much red tape, that people are trying to figure out how to get home loans and get money for that. i never received a penny from that. i never received much from fema. i did not know. the government's issues -- i could see it and you had

all they know is what they have done for generations in south louisiana. there is a possibility that that could be taken away from them. there's a family business and there is no backup plan. >> joining us is of dr. smith from tulane university. thank you so much for being with us. bp has tried the top kill procedure. they try to do that job shot. neither work. they are on their ninth procedure to stop the leak in the deepwater horizon. explain the procedure they are going to put together now. >> they're doing basically two procedures with one bit of cleaning up. they are cutting away the wreckage of the drilling riser that belonged to thehorizon, that was bent over and cracked and linking, most famously were you have been watching the rov footage that has been provided. they are going to cut that away and clean up the edge, and then they're going to install a cap over it. that will then feed into of 6.6 625 inch pipe fitting. this is just something to hold things together until the and then complete the relief well. and that this does not work, they have

if we don't it will be the end of south louisiana as we know it. and i wish that he would have had some kindx-pa ditd process to end the moratorium and get the rigs running. >> larry: sammy is this political or a tragedy both parties have to focus on or do you see politics here? >> i think it needs to be. i see politics. but i see it on both sides. i hate to say that. but i see it on both sides. this is an american problem now. let's forget about democrat, republican for a while. let's get this hole plugged, take care of those people down in southwest, south louisiana. on the gulf. those people are hurting. they're dying down there. i'm telling you those people are starving. they don't know what they're going to do. their stress level is probably so high it has just gone through the roof. but i just think it needs to, to quit being a democrat/republican thing. and become an american thing. this is a disaster. when there is disasters that happen around the world, america is always first to go and help those folks out. i think americans are good, str

not when it was south louisiana. this dispersant would have worked much more effectively.did not have it in the volumes that bp needed because they knew how much oil was coming out. affecting our great coastline. of course, up until now, the beautiful gulf of mexico. we are with you until 3:00 this afternoon. you can listen. we thank you it all of you who are turning and on c-span acrs the country. wanto conclude that your life? this is mini storage on the go. >> when she gets here, we have got a telephone call. [inaudible] take the hassle out of traditional mini storage. on the gulf coast, all of the way to baton rouge, a toll-free. >> authentic mexican cuisine, fresh squeezed margaritas. this is absolutely the best mexican cuisine. everything is made fresh to order. traditional dishes are prepared. filet mignon, fresh fish. >> for those of you watching on c-span, one of the things we have been fighting for is our fair share of revenue. that is in jeopardy now. that we may abandon deepwater drilling. i think any of us that live in louisiana are on pins and needles bause w

you cannot go anywhere and the country and feel like you do when you come to south louisiana. that is our nature. that is the way we are born and raised. we welcome everyone with open arms, just like we welcome the oil. we need to lift the ban on the oil right now. we need to be drilling. louisiana will need that not too far down the road to survive. >> what you think the federal government should do to help? >> let's see. where do we go from here? first, they came in after katrina. we saw what happened there. we got so much red tape, that people are still trying to figure out how to get home loans, how they can receive any money. i never received a penny or very much from fema. i do not know. with the government issues, i could sit and to heads all day long, because they do not live it. i invite any one of them to spend a week in our shoes. i have workers that -- they are quitting because they cannot keep up because of the stress. we have people that are being hired by bp, or whoever is working for bp, and are not getting paid. my husband has been working for over four weeks

you know, you can't go in where in the country and feel like you do when you come to south louisiana. i mean, that's just our nature. that's the way we're born and raised. i mean, we welcome everyone with open arms, just like we welcome the oil. we need to lift this ban on the oil right now. we need to be drilling. we need to be drilling, because louisiana is going to need that not too far down the road to survive. >> what do you think the federal government should do to help? >> after katrina, we what happened there. we got so much red tape that people are still trying to figure out how to get home loans, how they can receive my money. i never received a penny from road home. i never received very much from fema. and i don't know. the government ears are just like i could silt and chew heads all day long when they'll just look at me like i'm crazy, because they don't live it. they're not living it, and i invite any one of them to come spend a week in our shoes. i have workers that are quitting because they can't keep up right now because of the stress. we have people that are being h

so the ability to clean an area particularly on our coastal marshs in south louisiana, knowing that additionaloiling will probably occur as we go through the summer, late fall and even early winter months, the strategy has to be very flexible in order to take advantage of the climate, take advantage of areas that are not oil, protect them once we clean them. and then have a very aggressive strategy of going after oil, areas that are repeatedly oiled. >> ifill: repeatedly oiled, so when admiral allen says things like, i think the words were "adapting to an enemy that's changing", that is what we are talking about, you can clean it today and it will be back tomorrow. >> correct. one of the challenges with alaska, of course, was the sheer amount of real estate that had to be cleaned. but it was one event. it was a single oiling event. here we anticipate oiling for months, really. and so when we have a very fragile ecosystem like the coastal environments of louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida, we have different times of the year fresh insults of fresh oil, of weathered oil coming in. that

lovaasen, jr., writes "i am a postmaster in a small town in south louisiana.eciate hearing your support for the u.s. postal service." the mayor of slater, missouri, says, "i totally agree with you on the fact that people do not correspond through the mail any more, and i am curious if you ever received this letter." let me see. no, mr. mayor, i don't think i ever got your letter. maybe it was lost in the mail. i frequently get a lot of letters about what i look like. this one from dennis ryan in clifton park, new york, says "i notice you wear your wristwatch with the dial facing inward. my dad did the same thing." yes, i wear it that way because it's easy to see what time it is, mr. ryan. didn't your father tell you that? my least favorite mail comes from people who want me to promote something. obviously, they don't know that i don't do that. i guess that's why someone sent me this michael jackson cutout paper doll book. here's a nice letter to the producer of "60 minutes" from someone named m. titus. mr. titus says about me, "he's not funny, he's not clever,

you cannot deal anywhere like you do in south louisiana. that is our nature. that is the way we were born and raised. we welcome everyone would open in arms just like we welcome the oil. we need to be drilling. we need to be drilling because louisiana is going to need that not too far down the road to survive. >> would you think the federal government should do to help? >> let's say. where do we go from here. the federal government to help -- first they can and after katrina -- they came in after katrina. we saw what happened there. we've got so much red tape that people are still trying to figure out how to get home loans, to get money from roads. i never received very much from fema. i did not know. the government issues are like i could sit and chu had all day long and people will look alike i am crazy. they are not living it. i invite anyone to come spend the weekend in our shoes. i've got employees that cannot keep up right now because of the stress. we have people hired on by bp or whoever working for bp or what have you, we're not getting paid. my husba

now, when i was about 18 years old, i worked in south louisiana and the whole ecology and economy of louisiana is directly affected by what they call the marshlands. there are literally thousands of people who make their living because the marshlands in louisiana thrive to be breeding grounds and producing grounds for numerous amounts of seafood products. and in fact, i would venture to say there isn't anybody who eats seafood in the united states and have done it for any length of time in all of their life has eaten seafood that was produced as a result of the overall environment of the louisiana coastal region, which is 99% marsh. . marsh is different from a beach. a beach is bad. if you have the gorgeous white sand beaches in pensacola, or in alabama, mississippi, or florida. tar balls on the beach this nasty sludge coming into the beach is going to bicy and yucky and nasty if you get it on your feet, you have to clean it up with alcohol, it can burn you, tear you up. but if that come into the marsh, it can kill, will kill, plant life, animal life, and ocean life. so when the gover

all they know is what they have done for generations in south louisiana. there is a possibility that that could be taken away from them. there's a family business and there is no backup plan. >> joining us is of dr. smith from tulane university. thank you so much for being with us. bp has tried the to kill procedure. they try to do that job shot. neither work. they are on theirinth procedure to stop the leak in the deepwater horizon. explain the procedure they are going to put together now. >> they're doing basically two procedures with one bit of cleaning up. they are cutting away the wreckage of the drilling riser that belonged to thehorizon, that was bentver and cracked and linking, most famously were you have been watching the rov footage that has been provided. they are going to cut that away and clean up the edge, and then they're going to install a cap over it. that will then feed into of 6.6 625 inch pipe fitting. this is just something to hold things together until the and then complete the relief well. and that this does not work, they have one m

little did i know that the subject of my research, which was the affect of south louisiana crude oil on fish, would come in handy. my research focused on the pathological changes experienced oil and a potential recoverye- once these toxicants were removed. i have worked with marine mammals, specifically dolphins, in the region. the waters of mississippi and the adjacent waters in the gulf of mexico are home to one of the largest dolphin populations in the united states. there also inhabbted by several other endangered, threatened, and protected wildlife species. dolphins are an important part of the ecosystem. being on top of the food chain, they are good biological indicator of the health of their environmental habitat. they're constantly iipacted by a variety of natural and other factors. in the aftermath of the horizon will spill, it is now even more necessary ann important to study the potential changes that may occur in the dolphins and their habitat as a result of the oil spill. the institute for marine mammal studies was established in 1984 as a nonprofii organization. we're d

the south louisiana culture is stock and rooted in fishing and water-related industries. damage to these commercial actiiities could displace people, never to return, and their cultural contribbtion could be lost. a moratorium on deep water drilling will exacerbate the impact to louisiana in that we estimate upwards of 10,000 jobs could be lost if deep water drilling is occur tailed. open 90 identifies bp as the party for response and cleanup. this law has been rigidly executed. state and local governments developed plans to influence their actions to imploment a more current analysis of those critical areas that need protection and implement from a bottom-up approach but have experienced frustration in having plans implemented. they require timely implementation, as stated, like the dredging of the barrier islands but has been frusted by the process. it cannot be overemphasized that they are not only an environmental concern but a snask ecooomic driver for the state of louisiana and station. governor jindal has made several requests from the federal government for assist

the south louisiana culture is strong and rooted in fishing and other water related industries. entire communities have been established around these3 damage to these commercial entities could displace people, never to return, and their ccltural ccntribution could be lost. a moratorium on deepwater drilling will exacerbate the impact to louisiana. we estimate upwards of 10,000 jobs could be lost if people believe if deepwater drilling is curtailed. bp is a part responsible for response and cleanup. state and local governments develop plans to influence the actions of bp and coast guard as to stated. a more current analysis up those critical areas that need protection, and implement from a bottom-up approach, but have having no plans implemented. these response plans require timely implementation. for example, the dragging of barrier islands. implementation has been frustrated by non responsive regulatory process. it cannot be overemphasized that the coastal wetlands are not only an environmental concern but a significant economic driver for the state of louisiana and the nation.

a lot of issues out there in that it is very hot in south louisiana. trying not to get anyone hurt as we pick up these tar balls and pick up beaches. tending and replacing boom, moving boom around. our job here is to support those depoys oit there. we do that by mostly being on the phooe all day long. our job is to find a way to support the people doing the job. it's a difficult battle to fight. most oil spills, you secure the source. everyday, we are fighting a new oil spill. the best people in the orlando are working on this. they are doing amazing things out there. we are doing things never done before. we are burning longer than they have ever incentived boom. we are learning as we go everyday. it's an amazing group of people out there doing this there's n amazing cast working on this 14-15 hours a day. >> this is the controlled burn unit. we have cameras on board all vess ills.3 we are trying to capture the oil in the boum. two fishing boats. the oil builds up and we send that igniting team over >> a measure that they utilized to get how many barr

anybody who is from self louisiana or the post -- south louisiana or the coast, you know, you cannot go anywhere in country and feel like you do here. we welcome everyone with open arms. we need to lift the ban on the oil. we need to be drilling. we are going to need that not too far down the road to survive. >> what do you think the federal government should do to help? >> let's say. where do we go from there? the federal government. first they came in after katrina, and we saw what happened there. we have so much red tape that people are still trying to figure out how to get road home money. i never received a penny from road home. i never received anything from fema. when it comes to the government, i could chew heads all day long. they are not living it. i invite any one of them to come spend a week in our shoes. i have workers who are quitting because they cannot keep up right now because of the stress. there are people being hired on by bp. we are not getting paid. my husband has been working for them for four weeks. he has not gonna pitch again. our bills are piling up. if the

growing up in south louisiana, i heard about the drilling foreman and company guys getting into fistfights. were there anyyinstances to your knowledge or have you discovered that there was a direct order given by bp that says, keep going. i do not care what is going on. >> i have not seen any evidence of that whatsoever. and i believe that the operation on the rig in the days leading day was carried out because everyone agreed on the rig to move forward. >> thank you. >> questions, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. hayward, i would like to start up by expressing the anger and frustration of the hard- working people of my home state of florida at the catastrophe bp has a rendered upon our stay. all the small businesses, the fishermen, the mom and pop hotel owners. we were just coming out of the most severe recession in our lifetimes when this happened. things were getting a lot better. so this is like a sucker punch learn that this tragedy is a result of bp elevating profit considerations over safety. for a decade, many in florida have opposed this drumbeat to bring the oil rigs close

there is no bed rock around south louisiana. it is all sinking sediment. it would be combated by the river. when we hemmed in the river with the levees and the jet the system to make sure de rigueur was constantly deep enough -- make sure the river was constantly deep enough to provide shipping for the nation -- when the oil companies came in, we need to fix it. we need to put the river back into the system. we can do sediment piping into a the dredging into pipelines to directly rebuild the sinking wetlands. it is not cheap, nor easy, but a fast and be done. the nation benefits from what comes from down here. the bill is coming due. >> how did you get involved? >> i have been an environmental organizer for about 15 years. i have worked in d.c. and new orleans. i work to see a better impairment of future for the region. -- a better environmental future for the region. onwe're in grand bayou and our way out to barataria bay. we will look at the oil. >> oil sheen? the heavier packages that you can see there. we have a problem with erosion. this is compoundin

there is no bed rock around south louisiana. it is all sinking sediment. it would be combated by the river. it would be winning the war and building land. when we hemmed in the river with the levees and the jet tty system to make sure de rigueur was constantly deep enough -- make sure the river was constantly deep enough to provide shipping for the nation -- when the oil companies came in, we need to fix it. we need to put the river back into the system. we can do sediment piping into , taking the dredging into pipelines to directly rebuild the sinking wetlands. it is not cheap, nor easy, but a fast and be done. -- it has to be done. the nation benefits from what comes from down here. the bill is coming due. >> how did you get involved? >> i have been an environmental organizer for about 15 years. i have worked in d.c. and new orleans. i work to see a better impairment of future for the region. -- a better environmental future for the region. >> where are we and where are we going? >> we're in grand bayou and on our way out to barataria bay. we will look a

john young is the chairman of jefferson parish, louisiana, which stretches south from new orleans. >> mean, initially i advocate that b.p. should have been concentrating on stopping the flow of oil. and after a week the federal government should have come in and taken control of protecting the shores, the coast, and the wetlands. now i think the federal government ought to come in and take control of the entire operations because b.p. has shown it's just not up to the task. >> woodruff: as the crisis continues, president obama will be back in louisiana tomorrow. his third trip there since the spill began. now a closer look at efforts to cap the well and at that computer model we just saw showing how far the oil may flow we have professor of petroleumy yo science at the university of houston. he spent 20 years in the oil business. and we hope to be joined by nancy keener, an environmental engineer and codirector of the coastal response research center at the university of new hampshire. first, tell us how difficult is this latest cut and cap effort. should work much better than the con

is an natural flow inside the island chain, that when it gets to a point near the louisiana line, turns and goes south between a place called staten island and louisiana marshes, on either side of the chandelier islands and the oil has stayed about 40 miles away from us for weeks now again, there have been a couple of flare ups, but compared to other places we have been very fortunate. host: the congressmen brought a fairly large nautical chart to help demonstrate this. it will not make for pretty tv but it does help demonstrate what he wants you to know. our colleague is bringing it up. what you want us to know? >> what is working in our favor, this is the pearl river, jordan river, wolf river -- other rivers, flowing. the natural flow is mostly from east to west. then somewhere around here it makes a turn and passes between cat island and louisiana marshes, grants pass. and either side of the chandelier islands. that followed -- in my opinion -- what you don't have west of the mississippi river is something like that, which is why grand isle is getting hammered. what you don't have it east of us, pe

south carolina. she will be the second indian- american governor of the united states. i campaigned for bobby jindal in louisiana. and now we have a real opportunity in south carolina. but that runoff is on tuesday and a very capable person is also running. of the focus has been on republican primaries. i respect certainly other people's view of this, but it is wrong. republicans are focused on our primaries and that is why i was so grateful for the huge vote of confidence that i got last week. the largest vote total of any republican congressional primary candidate in the history of south carolina. so, our focus has been fully on republican primaries, not democratic. host: let me follow up on the message voters sent you. this is your first visit since the state of the union. lots of discussion about this. because i know people will call and ask -- tell us about what that experience has been for you and what your political life has changed. guest: it really has. it was the health care speech of 9/9/09, and the next day my son called and i of course called that night to rahm emanuel and i said, i apologize, i wou

louisiana in 1928. [applause] >> senator shaheen. >> i am running for governor because i want to make south carolina go forward again.want to work to create jobs for our state and get back on the offense in public education. i have lived in camden my entire life. i want my kids to be able to return there and be successful once they get out of high school and go through college. i brought the son of a schoolteacher and his son of a small businessman who worked in higher education. i am passionate about higher education. i have enjoyed the debates with these gentlemen. i have known the senator robert ford and i have known dr. rex for a number of years. i believe this is the way the public discussion should be conducted. i believe this is the way a public debate should occur and i am proud of what we have done regardless of the outcome of this election, i have worked hard to become south carolina's next governor. for a democrat to win, you have to work harder it regardless of the outcome, i will continue to work with these two gentlemen and work to better south carolina along with the folks in this audience and many of

louisiana. i can re-relate to them here in south dakota -- i can relate to them in the south dakota because i was born in maryland where i was a clever for years and we lost our population. -- i was a crabber for years and we lost our population. the one topic that nobody has mentioned to geyet, and my main concern islam, we have ... -- and my main concern is, we have all of this waterfowl down there that we will have to clean up. the redheaded ducks are just starting to come back into the population. when they get done with this, if they do not get it cleaned up before fall, it is going to be a big loss. if the waterfowl starts going down there by the fall, it is going to be devastating for the population. it is going to take a toll. host: thanks, eric, let's leave it there. that is the end of that discussion right now on that topic. coming up, i want to show you this from "the politico.com." this is john bresnahan and jonathan alan riding about disclosure act, which was -- and jonathan alan writing about the disclosure act, which was working its way through the house. jonathan hall is in louisi

south on highway 56. this is the end of their road in the parish and the coastal marchland. there are a couple of marinas, and gas service industry companies. and also down here is louisiana university marine consortium facility that is ready for yet to the end of the road down here. >> can you point out the areas that were hardest hit? >> grand isle has been getting oil on the beach. right next to it is the port, and they are starting to get oil showing up on the islands that are out there. of course, we're getting some over the mouth of the river. you can see it is not very far. >> how many miles as that? >> i don't know the exact mileage, probably to the mouth of the river, 12 miles as a guess. >> when you hear about oil trading in the marshes, where is that at? >> >> it is in the bay up toward here. you see that is no longer there. you talk about coastal erosion. they are putting booms out in the interior march where the fish lay their eggs. this is from terrebonne into saint bernard. the lake is still open to fishing, but as you see, that oil is collecting on the island. if it keeps going like that, it will go to the north and, and it will get into lakes from the bac

south of baton rouge. it was built by the flood plain of the mississippi river. the river put fresh water and sediment into that system. there is o bed rock around sap louisiana. it is all sinking sediment. it is naturally combated by the river. when we him in the river with the levees and the jetty system, it was a national benefit, but a local environmental impact. we need to put the river back into the system. we can do that through these controls floodgates and diversions. we can also do it to saddam that piping. -- sediment piping. it is not cheap or easy, but it has to be done. the nation has benefited from what has happened down here. >> what is your background? how did you get involved in this? >> i have been an environmental organizer for 16 years. i have been in louisiana for 10 years working on environmental policy and issues. right now, we are in grand bayou community. we are heading out to the day. we are going to find some of the oil that is out there. >> oil, oil sheen -- you can see it up in there. we have a problem with the russian. this is compounding the problem. the entire coastline is covered in oil as far as you can see. we. -- we have bo

south on highway 56 to the coastal marshlands. there are a couple of irina's and jump off points for oil and gas service industry companies. down here is louisiana university marine consortium facility that is right before you get to the end of the road down here. >> can you just point out areas that have been hardest hit? >> grand isle has been getting oil on the beach. right past grand isle they are+ getting oil on the beach. some oil is starting to show up on the barrier islands. of course we are getting some over in the mouth of the river. as the crow flies, you can see that is not very far. >> how many miles is that? >> i don't know the exact mileage. i would say probably 25 miles to the mouth of the river. that is a guess. >> when you hear about oil getting into the marshes, where is that happening? >> that is happening at the mouth of the river. they are getting some sheen into the inner marsh of to what they call merle grove, which is up here. -- myrtle grove. we are getting erosion of a lot of these wetlands and marshes. they are putting booms out in this interior march, trying to protect the estuaries where shrimp and fish lay their eg

there is no bedrock around south louisiana. it is all sinking sediment. it to be naturally combative by the river. it is action building land. then we hamden the river with the levees. again, and national benefit but a local environmental impact. when the oil countries came in after them, it really set it up. we need to put the river back into the system. we can do it through controls floodgates in divergent. we can do it for seven and piping, and taking of the dread and capping the sediment. it is not cheap. it is not easy. but it has to be done. >> what is your background? >> i have been an informant organizer for about 15 years. i've worked in d.c. and new orleans. i'm working on environmental policies and issues. >> [inaudible] >> rain now we are in the grand by you community. -- right now we are in the grant by you -- grand bayou territory. >> he can see the heavy air passes here. -- you can see the heavier half to is here. this is compounding the problem. the entire coastline is covered in oil as far as you can look. . havebooms -- we have booms. i