a short time ago, i spoke with admiral thad allen, the commandant of the u.s. coast guard. he's overseeing the federal response on the oil spill, and spoke to us from biloxi, mississippi. admiral alep, thanks for joining us. what can you tell us about the latest efforts to contain oil, are there any signs of progress today? >> first i'll talk about the method we are taking to mitigate the leaks currently in progress. one is the installation of the top hat device which will collect the oil and pump it to the surface. second, we'll be attempting to drill directly into the marine riser pipe, and the third will be the application of subsee disperseants on the discharge itself. that requires to us agree on protocols before we move ahead with that. >> brown: are we days, weeks, months from some kind of resolution? what do you think right now? >> the original plan was to drill a relief well, release the pressure and cap the existing well. that will take until some time in august to do. in the meantime we have to mitigate and stop the leaks so we don't have to deal with the oil on

as well as admiral thad allen, the national incident commander. he gave us an update on both the efforts to plug the well, as well as giving us an update on arrangements and coordination being made with respect to mitigating damage that's been done. he updated us to stop the leak to the great beaches in gulf coast. i had the chance to visit with charlotte, the they give you a sense of what extraordinary efforts are being made at the local level. but also the damage we're starting to see is the consequence of this spill. now our mission remains the same since this disaster began. since the day i visited louisiana nearly four weeks ago. we want to stop the leak, contain and clean up the oil and we want to help the people return to their lives and their livelihoods as soon as possible. i treat this event for what it is. an assault on our shores, on our people, on the regional economy, and on communities like this one. parents are worried about the implications for their children's health. every resident of this community has watched this nightmare th

a short time ago i talked about that and more with coast guard admiral thad allen, national incident commander for the oil spill. admiral allen, thanks for joining us again. there seems to be mixed messages from the government in recent days. secretary salazar said the government would, quote, keep its boot on b.p.'s neck for results. and if necessary, we would push them out of the way. now what does that mean? what would it take to push b.p. out of the way? >> first of all, let me tell you i have the highest regard for secretary salazar, we're great friends and he is a great mentor to me. as far as stepping on the neck, obviously that is a met o for moving forward. there probably is a legal precedence to remove b.p. from this operation. but as a federal on scene coordinator and national incident commander i would not recommend it. >> brown: why not? >> well, first of all, what is unique about this problem on the ocean floor is that all the capability and capacity to bring to bear on the solution is owned by the private sector. there is a role for government here in terms of oversight

host: admiral thad allen, thank you for talking to the public.e will turn our attention to medical next. first, an update from c-span radio. >> in the headlines, space shuttle atlantis and its six crew members are set to land soon in florida. in this will end the third to last shuttle flight. there were concerns the rain could interfere, but mr. control says it is looking favorable for a touchdown at 8:48 a.m.. north korea threatened to block crossed border traffic and blow up any south korean speakers blasting propaganda. as tensions continue to increase over the attention of the south korean warship. meanwhile, in seoul, after meeting with south korean leaders, secretary of state hillary clinton says the world has a duty to respond to the sinking of the south korean ship. president obama has ordered 12 hudgens national guard troops to be security -- prison obama has ordered 1200 national guard troops to boost security along the border. according to lawmakers. finally, a new census figures say the growth of interracial marriages is blowing acros

he has met with the admiral thad allen and speaking with us for a few moments. >> gregg: he is goingo make remarks pretty soon. he met with federal, state and local officials, fema and local management. officials from department of homeland security and the coastguard and some push by environmentalists, especially for the government which has the authority to federalize the oversight of the cleanup efforts to do precisely that. the government has said we're allowing bp a central role since they have the expertise and the equipment. although, the military has been lending a hand. let's listen to the president. >> good afternoon everybody. first, let me say a few words about the incident in new york city. i want to commend the work of the nypd, the new york fire department and the f.b.i. which responded swiftly and aggressively to a dangerous situation. i also want to commend the individual citizens who noticed the activity and reported it to the authorities. i just got off the phone on the way down here with mayor bloomberg to make sure that state and federal officials are coordinatin

host: thad allen. caller: yes, he pretty much said we are here to enforce. it is under water. what are they supposed to do? a bomb gets enough flak just trying to fix health care, let alone natural disasters. there are two entirely different entities, but at the same time, you cannot blame him. if government infringement care about a fellow human being -- how can they even take care of a natural disaster? i think his response is similar to the former president bush's response to hurricane katrina. what else can government do? this is a free-market economy. those are simply the rules that have been given to follow. i think the u.s. government is doing its job, but i do feel that bp needs to step up a little bit. like another caller said earlier, the government does not have that kind of technology. it is the simple matter of bp finding some way or another to fix it. for the help of the environment, i really hope to get something worked out. have a good evening. host: mike, from dover, pennsylvania. this message from twitter -- it is hemorrhaging. we're asking, is enough being d

coast guard station by his point man on the government's response, admiral thad allen, the president got on board a helicopter and flew east over some of the fragile bayou wetlands full of 400 species of wild life with the body of sweet crude nine miles from the shoreline and president obama met with a group of louisianaens, impacted by the oil spill. fishermen out of work and fearing their plight will be long-term, that's because 5,000 feet below the surface where the deepwater horizon burst and sank and killing 11 workers, the aisle continu aisle-- oil continues into the gulf. if the mile deep wellhead will not be capped, oil will be polluting and spreading for possibly two or three months. >> every american affected by this spill should know this, your government will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to stop this crisis. this is one of the richest and most beautiful eco systems on the planet. >> what plan now, just about six or eight days from being implemented is what bp calls its dome correction, they drop a box, 40 feet tall, 20 feet deep, capped by a dome which is

and, ken salazar, secretary of the interior and thad allen, the coast guard commandant live only on fox news sunday and charlie crist, then... >> i'm running as a republican... >> chris: and now. >> my decision to run for the united states senate. and they -- as a candidate without party affiliation. >> chris: what is the fallout in 2010's most closely watched senate race? we'll ask marco rubio, florida's republican candidate and also with reaction, building to arizona's tough im grace law, we'll ask our sunday regulars, how this will play out in november. and, our power player of the week. reach for the stars, and now, is helping young women blaze new trails. all, right now, on fox news sunday. >> chris: hello from fox news in washington. we're following two big stories, at this hour. last night in times square, new york city police defused a bomb starting to detonate in a parked suv. it was described as amateurish and powerful and streets and hotels were evacuated ten hours and we'll have more in a moment. along the gulf coast there is growing concern about the massive oil spill, that

interior secretary ken salazar and from new orleans the commandant of the coast guard, thad allen. i want to ask you about the car bomb, overnight, in times square, in new york city. new york governor david patterson is calling this an act of terrorism. >> we are considering it, it could be an act of terrorism, o-it was intended to be. and, so, everything in terms of investigation is being done, all the forensics are being done and all the leads are being pursued. and it is the city of washington, the fbi, the department of homeland security. looking at the vehicle and tracing fingerprints and it is looking at video, because there are a lot of cameras in that area. a lot of activity today in terms of investigation. >> chris: from what you have heard and we understand it is early, very early hours of the investigation, can you tell anything about fingerprints, in terms of techniques, the bomb, explosive device inside that suv? >> nothing that was not already said in the intro piece. it was a rather amateurish type of bomb, it was propane tanks, with a can with -- to be a starter, li

cabinet secretaries to the gulf to releasing a photo of the president on the phone to bringi bringing thad allen to briefing, the white house has one message. we are on the case. >> we're going to be tireless to support the community. >> we are going to stay on this and stay on bp until this gets done and gets done the right way. >> reporter: but the white house is walking a fine and at times contradictory line. in recent days, some of the president's supporters have questioned his leadership. >> one of the problems i have is the administration is not tough enough. >> they're risking everything by the go along with bp strategy they have. >> reporter: the administration threatening to commandeer the work. >> if we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately. >> reporter: that's not the position of admiral allen. >> i would say that's more of a metaphor. >> reporter: it makes no sense to get rid of their personnel. >> to push them out of the way raises the question, to replace them with what. >> reporter: bobby jindal is not focused on who

during his visit, he also spoke with the coast guard admiral and thad allen. about five minutes, we will have his remarks to reporters. -- in about five minutes, we will have his remarks to reporters. >> what i just heard from thad allen was that this parish has been as effective as any in responding quickly. >> i just had meetings with admiral thad allen who is in charge of response efforts. we have been looking at mitigating the efforts that are being done. the admiral gave us an update with the latest information on the efforts to plug the well as well as giving us an update on arrangements and coordination that is being made with respect to mitigating this damage that has been done. he updated us on these efforts to mitigate the damage to the great beaches of the gulf coast. i had a chance to visit with authorities and it gives you a sense of what extraordinary efforts are being made at the local level and also the damage that we are starting to see as a consequence of the spill. our mission remains the same as when the disaster began nearly four weeks ago

thad allen is directing our response as the national incident commander. there are people on the ground. there are thousands of people working even as we speak, bob, to figure out a way to plug this hole and to deal with the spread of this oil. >> schieffer: let me shift this a bit because, well, you're getting hammered from one side for not doing enough. there are those out there including rand paul who won that blow-out republican primary victory in kentucky who say you're not doing enough. liss tone what he said in response to this. >> what i don't like from the president's administration is this sort of, you know, i'll put my boot heel on the throat of bp. i think that sounds really unamerican and his criticism of business. i've heard nothing from bp about not paying for the spill. i think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault. instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen. >> schieffer: sometimes accidents happen. what's your response to that? >> well, we have to make sure that

but thad allen came out to set people straight and there are still plenty of tough questions out thereto about what the the government is going to have to do if b.p. does not get the job done. but at least for now he gave the white house a bit of breathing room. katie? >> couric: all right, chip reid at the white house, as always, chip, thanks so much. of course, all along the louisiana coast a valiant effort is, in fact, being waged to stop the oil from coming ashore. but some crude is getting around the protective booms and washing up on beaches and when that happens, crews have to dig up the oily sand and then take it away from plastic bags. meanwhile, out on the waters, shrimpers and oystermen have been hired to collect the oil on the water before it even hits the land. mark strassmann is behind me on the beach tonight. mark, you got the a first-hand look today of people taking matters into their own hands. >> reporter: i did, katie. many of these guys were furious just a couple days ago. they felt that b.p. had ignored their suggestions and botched this response. but now they have s

we'll get the latest on the continuing leak and the spreading damage from admiral thad allen. >>> ithe famed route 66 with all it's history and style and food, i should mention. i'll take you for a ride along this american landmark in this half hour. >> in which part, new mexico? >> new mexico. >>> but first the latest on the crash of that air india jet today. kia simmons is following the story from london. >> good morning, lester, we're beginning to hear dramatic eyewitness accounts of the plane skidding across the run way and breaking in half. one survivor says he jumped free within seconds of the crash. but 146 bodies have been found, that's according to officials speaking in the last half an hour. in total, it's thought maybe 160 people are dead with 19 children and four infants on board. the plane was flying from dubai to mangalore in southern india. it appears to have overshot the run way and burst into flames. there are reports now of the pilot overshooting the run way by 2,000 feet. firefighters and even local villagers rushed to help pulling people from the wreckage, incredi

obviously, thad allen as a result of the declaration is the national incident commander and -- >> right i'm talking about the federal government. all those entities together, regardless of their distinctions and what they're junctions are -- jurisdictions are, who is calling the shots in terms of the deployment of the resources and the technology of -- the government doesn't have submersibles, bp has the submersibles. so does anyone -- or any one of those agencies dictate when the submersible goes down when does that go there? >> those submersibles by bp have been in the water, the robotics -- look, they are doing what they can do safely at the site in order to try to fix the paulson to get as accurate picture as they can as what is happening under water. you have some i think some pretty specific diagrams and explanations of where the breaches are which is governing the engineering has the instrumentation to put on top of the leak, so but

i have designated thad allen as the national incident commander. if the ordinance bp to do something to respond to this disaster, they are legally bound to do it. when they said they would drill one relief well, we demanded a back up and ordered them to drill two. they are really the process of drilling two. as we devise strategies to stop the leak, we are relying on the brightest minds and most advanced technology of the world. we're relying on scientists and engineers from our own laboratories and from many other nations, a team led by our energy -- energy secretary. we are relying on experts who have dealt with oil spills from across the gulf. the federal government is also directing the effort to contain and clean up the damage, which is now the largest effort of its time in u.s. history. the federal, state, and local governments have the resources and expertise to play an even more direct role in the response of that. i will be discussing this when i make my second trip to louisiana tomorrow. so far, we have 20,000 people in the region working

but just yesterday, the coast guard commandant thad allen said that to push them out of the way would mean to replace them with what proved -- with what? the response seems delayed. we have tried many things from the top hat to the jump shot. in testimony just last week to this committee, secreta salazar promised that last saturday or sunday, triggers would be polled to trigger the dynamic killed. saturday past -- triggers would be pulled. still no solution. turday passed. sunday past. -- passed. the american people are angry, angry at b.p. and angry at the administration. it is time to use the other boot. b.p. is responsible for paying all of the cleanup, regardless of costs. .the white house administration has some responsibility. there arelapses in regulatory enforcement. officials of bypass laws. -- officials have bypass laws. >> thad allen is the national incident commander operating on behalf of the government under the laws that this congress passed. there are the cleanup responsibilities. >> can you talk about the upcoming plan, if there is one for this dynamic kill? >> the se

. >> reporter: the former coast guard common tkapbltover seeing things, admiral thad allen, appraise it had situation in venice, louisiana. >> they're pumping mud into the well bore. as long as the mud is going down, the hydrocarbons are not going up. the goal is to put enough mud into the well bore to produce zero pressure so they can put a cement plug over it. they are still in the process of doing that. so while i said the hydrocarbons have been stopped, that does not mean the exercise was over. >> reporter: b.p. said it wanted to wait another 24 to 48 hours before rendering its own judgment. there was also word the spill now exceeds the 1989 exxon "valdez" disaster in alaska as the worst in american history. the u.s. geological survey said scientific teams calculated the oil flow in the gulf was two to five times more than estimates by b.p. and the coast guard. that means as much as 39 million gallons of oil may have spilled. >> the federal government has been in charge... >> suarez: in washington, president obama defended his administration's response to the gulf disaster. the p

coast guard admiral thad allen said there were signs that what's called a "top kill" procedure has had some success. >> they've been able to push the hydrocarbons of the oil down with the mud. the real challenge is to put enough mud into the well to keep the pressure where they can put a cement plug over the top. >> suarez: as robot subs labored on the sea floor, b.p. officials said the procedure was moving according to plan, despite an 18-hour delay yesterday. c.e.o. tony hayward urged patience. >> i think it's probably at least another 48 hours away before we could have confidence that we've succeeded. we've said all along that we rated this at 60% to 70%. that has not changed. >> suarez: hayward said engineers also fired debris into the wellhead at one point, including bits of shredded tires and golf balls. the idea was to give a new layer of mud something to stick to. >> that's a combination of materials of various sizes to attempt to create a bridging material. and, indeed, it is-- the non- technical term for it is "junk," the "junk shot." >> suarez: but later, there was word the

today, he is also going to be meeting again with thad allen and other officials. he will make a statement. he will also again be talking to local people about how they are dealing with the impact. host: one of the moments that have been getting a lot of attention in cable chatter has been the president saying that he just found out yesterday morning that elizabeth birnbaum has resigned as head of mms. your reaction to what the president said and the commentary since. guest: the president was a little bit unclear about whether she was out right fired or she resigned. my take on it, it does not seem to be the president's style to want to publicly humiliate somebody by saying, yes, i fired them. but i think the administration was pretty clear in putting out the message that she was forced out of the job. in fact, the president himself said he wants to make it clear that excuse making at the highest levels will not be tolerated and he did make it clear that he was unhappy with the pace of progress at mms in dealing with corruption. host: what do you think the story wi

but just yesterday, the coast guard commandant thad allen said that to push them out of the way would mean to replace them with what proved -- with what? the response seems delayed. we have tried many things from the top hat to the jump shot. in testimony just last week to this committee, secretary salazar promised that last saturday or sunday, triggers would be polled to trigger the dynamic killed. saturday past -- triggers would be pulled. still no solution. saturday passed. sunday past. -- passed. the american people are angry, angry at b.p. and angry at the administration. it is time to use the other boot. b.p. is responsible for paying all of the cleanup, regardless of costs. .the white house administration has some responsibility. there are lapses in regulatory enforcement. officials of bypass laws. -- officials have bypass laws. >> thad allen is the national incident commander operating on behalf of the government under the laws that this congress passed. there are the cleanup responsibilities. >> can you talk about the upcoming plan, if there is one for this dynamic kill? >> t

you'll see thad allen at the press briefing with robert gibbs because they want to make sure that the american people know what the government is doing. there are more than 1,000 ships down here, 24,000 people working on this effort. but of course the big problem is if they can't plug the leak, what good does it do. so everybody is working towards wednesday, now, when i think they'll try the top kill procedure. but it's a very iffy proposition. >> thank you very much for getting up this morning and giving us your expertise. and of course we'll look for more in-depth coverage from you tonight on the evening news. have a good day. >>> joining us from robert, louisiana is bp's chief operating officer, doug suttles. good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to start with what the obama administration said about bp over the weekend. they said they've had enough of bp missing deadlines and not nipping this in the bud and that if you can't handle it, that should you get out of the way. will you will be to cede control to the federal government? >> maggie, the federal government does have ulti

if something is not going right down here, then they need to talk to thad allen, and if they are not getting satisfaction with him, they can talk to me. if there is an idea, a suggestion or a problem that needs to be dealt with, we are in this together. it is going to be a difficult time and the folks down here are going to be feeling the brunt of it. we will get this resolved as quickly as possible. i want to thank everybody here for the extraordinary work that they are putting in. you should not underestimate how hard these people are working day in and day out on behalf of their constituents. thank you very much. thank you, everybody. [applause] >> is everything going all right? >> is one down here. -- it is warm up down here. -- warm down here. >> mr. president, how confident are you that the leak will be deployed soon? >> all i can say is that we have the best minds working on at. -- working on it. >> send me that picture, later. >> coming up, a campaign rally for arkansas senator blanche lincoln with former president bill clinton. also, rep daryl issa says that the white house

we're just learning at this moment, this just coming into our newsroom, the coast guard admiral, thad allen, in charge of the cleanup spill in the gulf or i should say in charge of the efforts down there, he will say it will take now three-months at least to effectively stop the flow of oil that is rushing through that well and is leaking oil into the gulf. he says this three-month window is the best case scenario. more details on what he has just said, coming up. jon: this just into fox news room, the new york police department is now speaking to the registered owner of the suv used in that times square bombing attempt. as police look to speak with a man seen near the vehicle, shortly before a homemade bottom inside the car began smoking and making popping noises. it ultimately did not go off. the guy in the video, seen here, is described as a white male, in his 40s, he's seen stopping to take off a sweatshirt, and he's looking back in the direction of the suv. so where does this investigation stand right now? let's bring in terrorism analyst neil livingston, chairman and chief executive o

. >> the commander has been thad allen. i am apparently not being clear.had allen has postponed his retirement from the coast guard to stay on. and you, and don will be put in -- a new commandant will be put in as allen focuses as is required by law. >> are you confident that secretary the paula tonneau is not being taking away -- secretary napolitano is not being taken away from her job? >> napolitano as equities in this. secretary salazar has equities in this. the department of the crown -- the department of commerce is where noa sits. the environmental protection agency has equities in this. >> is there concern that she should be taken away based on the enormous time she has to stand here? is she being taking away from any of her duties? >> i have not heard anyone say that. >> is there any talking about restructuring the job. -- is there any talking about restructuring the job? >> i have not heard any discussion about greater intelligence reform. >> are you confident the structure -- >> i think the government continues to work through the challenges tha

commander, who was a confidante of the coast guard, fat allen, and he is responsible for making sure -- thad allen, is ultimately responsible for making sure of making projections on where this will move. they're good for about 72 hours is when noaa would say they have scientific confidence in the projections. as those projections of where the oil is going well moot, that means adjustments along the entire gulf. we're working with state and local governments to make sure they have smoothes connectivity with bp. we're making sure that they have the authority to use the national guard. those authorities have been swiftly turned around and given to the governor to have their back pockets, and we're making sure at the national incident command level that we are able to flex their response depended on where the oil actually goes. >> would you say that your level of confidence in that contraption that they're putting down on the floor will actually worked to contain the oil? >> i hope it works. it has not been used at that depth before perry -- before. but we're still proceeding as if it won't. if it do

. >> congressman, i would only say that admiral that alan -- thad allen is probably the most experienced person in the country in terms of responding to these types of crisis. we're on the phone with them every day. deputy secretary, david hayes, the white house, and i get an update on what is going on in when problems are discovered, we take action to address them and we will continue to do that. and part of what you describe, being able to make quick and responsible decisions that would fall under rubric of what he described directly as adaptive management. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, secretary, for being here today. it is hard to overstate the scope and dimensions of this disaster. i was just saying to my colleague, i think we're on the one-yard line in terms of understanding of how much the damage this will do our long- term. i wanted to return to the chairman's question at the outset of the hearing. he-to whether this was a game changer -- he asked you whether this was a game changer and i guess you could look at that from a variety of angles. i'm focused on whether it is

after that, we will hear from third thad allen who is directing the government's operation toss contain the spill. later, marks from lawrence summers, who heads the white house national economic council. on tomorrow morning's "washington journal," a conversation on national security with a texas congressman. after that, a look at how the curent economic situation is affecting school budgets. and later, maryland center ben cardin will talk about the government's response to the gulf oil spill. "washington journal," each morning at 7:00 eastern. louisiana government bobby jindal accused the federal government of moving too slowly to approve a plan aimed at preventing more oil from hitting the shores of louisiana. he joined homeland security security janet naacp -- napolitano and others at this conference. >> good morning, i am janet napolitano, the secretary of homeland security. i am here with six members of the united states senate, my fellow secretary, secretary ken salazar. we came to fly over the site of the spill. we came to see for ourselves what bp has done and not done. >> it is

host: admiral thad allen is the outgoing commandant of the u.s. coast guard. taking over officially with a new title yesterday as the national incident commander for the deep water rise in oilpill response. thank you so much for being here. we appreciate it. we want to set aside the four gulf coast residents. 202-608-0184. the admiral will answer ur questions momentarily. binning with the front time -- front of "the times picayune." if this does not work it could make the situation worse. what wil happen today? when will you know if it will work? i know that that camera down below for viewers to see what is coming out of there is going to stay on. will . ated vehicles. one of the most maddening sports of -- maddening parts of this response. they will see portions of a sequence of events. there are two vessels on the surface. they are pumping this blood--- mud-like substance down to the bottom. putting into a metal frame, there are two lines. slowly they will bring pressure down to the frame and it will be brought through the hoses in the choke and kill lions.

and i particularly want to compliment and commend admiral thad allen, who the president appointed on saturday, to be the federal coordinator of this effort. i think he recognized, at my urging and many others, that having all of that planning and execution flow through b.p. was a problem and a mistake, so that has been corrected. again, mr. president, as of friday, detailed planning in terms of coastal and marsh protection efforts was not getting done by b.p. and, quite frankly, it was not getting done by the federal authorities, the coast guard or anyone else. but local and state leaders stepped in the folks who know that coastline and that marsh area the best stepped in, and they have provided those detailed plans over the last several days. and so over that time period, in particular from friday on, individual parishes in coordination with the state, in coordination with many experts have developed pair issu pirishe arab -- parish-by-parish plans. that pulse together many -- that pulls together many levels of leadership. the people know the mash like the back of their hands. that