we made that determination during exxon valdez. bp should hire the fishermen down there and use their boats to go out and skim the oil and do a whole host of other things, lay boom. on so that can help the economy and also help bp. don't put the military doing that. there is certain aspects that the military can help. you are spot on when you say it as different problem because we knew exactly where the exxon valdez, where the oil was coming from and were able to seal that and stop that pretty quick. here you have a problem that is right now beyond our technology as i see it and so we going to have to get lucky to kind of stop that. what we can could do is help them to determine where that oil spill is going and that is very important to minimize the ecological conditions to both the shoreline and to the fisherys. >> bottom line, do you think this will eventually obviously somehow be cleaned up and they will eventually get back to normal? >> yeah, they eventually do that but this one is going take months. unless they can get it tur

it doesn't look like the iconic images from the exxon valdez. do we expect we'll see a tide of oil all over the beach? >> reporter: in some places, dan, they say that is likely, but not everywhere. keep in mind, the analogy with the exxon valdez has been faulty from the beginning. this is leaking 5,000 feet under the ocean. there are currents at every single level. so, this stuff will likely show up in a lot of different places in different levels at each spot, dan. >> so it is certainly going to be tricky in that area for awhile to come. i want to quote you something we heard from one expert. he said, i'm afraid we're seeing just the beginning of what is going to be a long and ugly summer. >> reporter: not just months, dan, maybe for years. and in many ways, it's far more complicated than the exxon vald valdez. that doesn't mean more isn't on the way as far as places like alabama and florida. >> a long, ugly summer potentially. ryan owens, thank you. >>> we're going to have much more on this story tomorrow night when diane sawyer reports live f

if he is right, it's roughly equivalent to an exxon valdez happening every four days. we will speak with that very professor live inside fox report. but, first, officials do admit some uncertainty about the size of the leak but argue that doesn't affect how they will handle it. >> whether the flow is one, five, 10 or 15,000 barrels per day, the mobilization of resources has been since day one to prepare for a worst case scenario. >> shepard: as some work to contain the spill and keep it away from the gulf coast. others are trying to cut it off at the source. the newest plan underway right now. we have team fox coverage. major garrett at the white house. first, david lee miller on the coast live in venice, louisiana. david lee, they are trying to install a giant siphon tube, they say. >> that's exactly right, shepard. the oil experts would say that what they are trying to do now is take a 6-inch tube and insert it into this 21-inch pipe that is losing thousands and thousands of oil every day. this is a difficult process it has to be done 5,000 feet under the sea. bp exp

. >> chris: if it goes on, 60 or 90 days, we are talking about a situation worse than the exxon valdez. >> that is absolutely the case, we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario here and need to be sure we are protecting those precious resources along the coast, coastline as well as the economies that are dependent upon these -- >> worse than exxon valdez, 11 million gallons. >> there are scenarios it could be worse than the exxon valdez, we are not sugar coating this and we need to be prepared for worst-case scenario and have been doing it since day one. >> chris: secretary on friday you called on bp, the oil company responsible for the spill, to step up its efforts. specifically what would you like to see them do they haven't so far . >> bp needs to get the spill stopped. we need to do more and be working on the surface of the ocean, and make sure we're doing everything to keep the spill from reaching shore and then, they need to be doing more in terms of protecting shore loin, hiring local workers. to help with that shoreline response. doing all they can to be out there, in the

. >> chris: if it goes on, 60 or 90 days, we are talking about a situation worse than the exxon valdez. >> that is absolutely the case, we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario here and need to be sure we are protecting those precious resources along the coast, coastline as well as the economies that are dependent upon these -- >> worse than exxon valdez, 11 million gallons. >> there are scenarios it could be worse than the exxon valdez, we are not sugar coating this and we need to be prepared for worst-case scenario and have been doing it since day one. >> chris: secretary on friday you called on bp, the oil company responsible for the spill, to step up its efforts. specifically what would you like to see them do they haven't so far . >> bp needs to get the spill stopped. we need to do more and be working on the surface of the ocean, and make sure we're doing everything to keep the spill from reaching shore and then, they need to be doing more in terms of protecting shore loin, hiring local workers. to help with that shoreline response. doing all they can to be out there, in the

i am talking about things that were part of the exxon valdez. what i am saying is that i think the american people are most anxious about this. let me go back. they sd in to frame a process of liability. we obviously only have so much money in that. i know my colleagues are not going to waive that. to make the rich reactive -to make that retroactive is probably impossible. you have the best buys that money can hide but -- by behind you, so i want to make sure that we really understand what you're saying you're going to be committed to today, because a long-term impact of this is going to be for 20 years. we cannot sustain this kind of behavior or cost, and i want to make sure that we're getting full answers to the coverage that you are really signing up for today. >> i am trying to give you a clear answer as i possibly can. we're trying to be extremely responsive, expeditious, meet every responsibility we have as a responsible party, and that means pay all legitimate claims. that is our intent, and i cannot speculate on every individual case, bu

valdez actually gets his fingers under it. off of his legs, just before it it touches the pitcher's mound, he makes the catch like a millimeter above the dirt. never touched. that's a nice save, and that catch is legal. best use of a dormant sporting venue. this guy in germany who decided that the bobsled course welcome back a perfect place to go skateboarding now that all the snow and ice has melted, i'm sure his skateboard was designed to go 70 miles per hour, because that's how fast he was going. i'm not sure what happens if he falls, but he didn't. at least not this time. let's go to the bad. worst misjudged fly ball maybe ever. the braves nate mclouth what appears to be under this one but actually is not even close. i believe his internal map quest failed him on that endeavor by about 100 feet. most inexplicable move by a manager. white sox skipper ozzie gee he yen who goes to the mound to remove freddy garcia and sticks his gum on freddy's chest. i'm not sure if he mistook freddy fore an ashtray or something. maybe he ju

scientists believe the spill has already surpassed the 11 million gallons that leaked from the exxon "valdez" in alaska. heavy crude has washed up along 6-5 miles of louisiana coastline. the marshes could begin dying within a week. marine wildlife is already dying including more than 300 birds, nearly 200 turtles, and 19 dolphins. under federal law, b.p. is in charge of the disaster response. so far, 22,000 people and 1,100 vessels have been deployed to remove the oil. along with 2.5 million feet of boom. so far, the company's used 785 gallons of chemicals on the surface and at the site of the leak to break up the oil. but late today, the e.p.a. ordered that scaled back because the disperse zants are toxic. whatever b.p. is doing about the leak, government officials made it clear it's not enough. the sun rose over the gulf today as tempers reached the boiling point. >> b.p. in my mind no longer stands for british petroleum, it stands for "beyond patience." >> they will be held accountable we keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done. >> reporter: meanwhile, b.p.'s c.e.o. tony haywa

>> well, the exxon valdez effort, someone said this is going to be another 20 or 30 years before thething is totally done right, but a great effort was made i'm sure by those folks. a lot was learned from the oil spill, just as was said about this spill here. we all depend on oil. we have 22 boilers at the soothe that keeps some of the most endangered animals in the world alive. until we find another source, we all have to work together to figure out what happened here, correct it and then we're going to have to use the oil to keep life sustained here alive in situations like this. what else is the answer? i don't know until we don't have to depend on oil. but right now we do. as far as the oil spill -- i know we're short on time. we lost 200,000 animals there. but many, many animals are saved thanks to folks at the zoological parks up there, the aquariums up there. the columbus zoo in ohio. we're here saving manatee. we're going to release back in

i am talking about things that were part of the exxon valdez. what i am saying is that i think the american people are most anxious about this. let me go back. they said in to frame a process of liability. we obviously only have so much money in that. i know my colleagues are not going to waive that. to make the rich reactive -- to make that retroactive is probably impossible. you have the best buys that money can hide but -- by behind you, so i want to make sure that we really understand what you're saying you're going to be committed to today, because a long-term impact of this is going to be for 20 years. we cannot sustain this kind of behavior or cost, and i want to make sure that we're getting full answers to the coverage that you are really signing up for today. >> i am trying to give you a clear answer as i possibly can. we're trying to be extremely responsive, expeditious, meet every responsibility we have as a responsible party, and that means pay all legitimate claims. that is our intent, and i cannot speculate on every individual case

a typical tanker spill like the valdez was a limited finite amount.t was limited on three sides by mountains and we knew how much oil it was and it was on the surface. the problem with this oil spill is that it is at a mile down, and it's gushing in this three dimensional environment, and we don't know what the effects are of oil suspended in the water column as well as ultimately where the oil is going to end up on the surface. >> jeff: phillipe, if the estimates -- if the higher estimates are true, that it's up to 70,000 gallons a day, is that -- what difference will that make environmentally? how dramatic a difference will that make? >> well, even if we're able to cap the oil today, this is a crisis of epic proportions. and i think that's important to remember. and, you know, if it indeed is 70,000 barrels a day, then i mean i think, again, the problem is the due diligence was not done. the science wasn't done. and we ultimately don't know what the effect of that oil is going to be on the ecosystem of the gulf. it's a very complex ecosystem. but wh

to equal the volume of exxon valdez based on estimate of 5,000 barrels a day we're probably 35 days out from that. but it is still major. the biggest problem is what you alluded to, there is no clear end in sight to when the flow will be stopped. >> brian: what are the needs -- you have at times been very critical of how it's going in saying the changes need to be made. as you look at the situation today, based on all the briefings you have had, are there changes? are we doing the right things? are we doing everything we should be doing? >> i'm not sure of that. i'm not convinced. first of all, i think there is no clear compelling plan in terms of coastal and marsh protection. and i think having b.p. operationally in charge of everything, having to make every decision is slowing that process down. the second point is exactly what i expressed to secretary napolitano two days ago. basically saying b.p. should be taken out of the loop with regard to that coastal protection marsh land protection piece. not to change their responsibility or liability, but to make sure that the operational te

the exxon valdez spill and the impact is still not fully known. many key species still have not recovered from it. others were smaller but resulted in millions of dollars of economic damage. we still do not know the full extent of this current spell. because the gulf functions as a major engine of ecological importance it is important for us to do what we can to take care of it. thanks. >> we have a retired member of the united states air force. he worked as a coordinator during the exxon of these oil spill. >> it is a privilege to appear to testify. [unintelligible] a quick reflection may be useful. the unseen co-starred coordination was provided by a group called oasis. in addition to the u.s. navy providing ships, they used other resources and to house 11,000 workers on barges that were to be constructive. northern command should be part of this. the joined -- [unintelligible] they need to the knowledge to provide systems and technology such as imagery from satellite to aid them. these new technologies should be deployed to give the appropriate

the "exxon valdez" case went on 20 years because they were in federal court. as a result of some of the tobacco litigation, there were amendments made here in congress that have allowed corporations to draw in states and to multidistrict -- totate litigation and that is a problem for the states, you see, even though you may have put good language in osha, for example, that says there can be a concurrent state action and the state actis will b recognized, well, that doesn't mean a federal judge is going to follow what you said. and, in fact, a federal judge in the state of louisianaas said that under opa, that your case can be removed from state court to federal court. and the problem with that is is that my colleagues here at the table, british petroleum and transocean have already started a sucking sound coming out of houston, texas, by two action that is they filed before friendly federal judges in houston, texas. e of those was filed by transocean, a limiting action in which they tried to pull in everybody to a judge in houston, texas. bp has done the same

the were you there during the exxon valdez spill? guest: i was there, yes.ost: did you have experience with this? guest: part of my job was to help analyze clausthe laws and e litigation that would ensue and what kind of options the government had in terms of liability of the time. host: and what did you find? guest: there were a large number of laws and that is one of the reasons that this bill lead to one of the pollution? of 1990, there was consolidating these are from liability laws into one. we have a different set of rules than we did for the exxon valdez. guest: if i could? host: sure. guest: the company is liable for the entire cleanup costs. there is no limitation on that. the whatever it cost to do that and to try to prevent the oil from getting into the marshes, all of those costs are from -- or by the company and they will have to be paid. in addition, $75 million on top of that is what they have to pay. paul host: 4 loss of -- host: 4 loss of income -- for loss of income. guest: and that is not just the limit because there is no special response

some believe it is more than the 11 million that spilled from the exxon valdez. it now stretches across 150 miles. bp says their costs have gone to about $760 million so far. >> members of congress went to west virginia today to hear from relatives of the 29 miners killed in the upper big branch mine explosion. family members testified. one father allegedly set that massey energy put out alerts when inspectors arrived at minds. he called on congress to protect minors. >> they should pass laws to ensure that miners do not have to work in an unsafe place. >> the governor of west virginia made his own recommendations to the committee. the u.s. justice department is investigating the explosion. >>> the u.s. and south korea are planning joint military exercises off the korean peninsula and at deterring aggression by northern career. -- by north korea. south korea responded by cutting off trade with p'yongyang and banning merchant ships from south korean waters. >>> for the first time since the iraq war began, there are more troops in afghanistan than iraq. there are n

. >> reporter: and this could be worse than the exxon valdez more than 20 years. they fear it could spread to the florida keys an up the east coast. the coast guard is finished planting booms in alabama, mississippi and parts of florida. the oil is not expected to reach the states for the next 72 hours. >> so please enjoy your weekends, mississippi and alabama and florida are open for business. >> reporter: crews will inject fluids into the well-known as top kill. that could get underway on tuesday. joel brown, wjz eyewitness news. >> now the proceed that bp is going to attempt is unusual. in fact it has never been tried before at that depth of the ocean. about 5,000 feet below the surface. >>> encouraging report for maryland. the unemployment rate drops to 7.5%. that's the first monthly decline. the fashional rate is nearly 10%. >>> it's the end of an era for a catholic school. wjz is live. gigi barnett is following the emotional final days at the school. >> reporter: the days of cardinal gibons is almost over and as students, parents, teachers and alumni move cl

it was really back to the exxon-valdez 21 years ago.we had a spill of this consequence going on in any u.s. waters. yeah, and as far as the retail operations. we see bp's logo, sometimes we go to a gas station to fill up or gas. do you think at that level, do you think it can make people think twice and say, 'wait a minute maybe i don't want to go to bp's gas station and fill up'? absolutely, and i think there's any number of people who are going to do react that way. there's also a number of people who are hopefully paying attention to what the company is doing. and that they're trying to do the right thing in terms of addressing the problems. and even going a bit above and beyond what one would think would be their normal responsibilities. and they might actually win some converts that way. so, they're gonna lose some from people who frankly don't like big oil companies to begin with. and may not like the way the company is handling it. but, they'll probably pick up some supporters as well. and i think by and large, they've really don

that law was passed after the 1989 "exxon valdez" spill.75 million limit on what companies are required to pay for economic damages. with the potential for huge economic costs in the gulf, new jersey senator robert menendez wants that cap pushed to $10 billion. >> i don't think $75 million is going to help the shrimp fisherman in louisiana. i don't think it's going to help the commercial fishermen. i don't think it's going to help the tourism industry. i don't think it's going to be enough to help the coastal communities. i don't think it's going to be enough to help restore estuaries that are incredibly important to our way of life. >> reporter: there is other money available to cover damages. the oil industry pays into a government-run oil spill liability trust fund that can pay out a billion dollars each year for each incident. the $75 million cap can also be lifted if b.p. violated any federal laws or acted negligently. still, senator bill nelson says waiting for that determination could be costly. >> but is it not a logical conclusion

the law says that we have faced this before after exxon fell does -- exxon valdez. it says that the president shall insure that the oil spill is cleaned up and he has personnel and equipment to do it. that is the president's responsibility. i think it is my responsibility as a member of congress to ask the question with the president's plan was and where is the personnel necessary to implement this? >> eu charged that the obama administration's energy policy is a "when the milk policy -- "windmill policy." >> it was a national windmill policy. they went to make 20% of our energy from these wind turbines which is preposterous. particularly with the work of the energy secretary, dr. chu, the administration has broadened their policy. they have taken good steps to try and encourage, for example, nuclear power which produces 70% of our curbing free energy. i commend the president for that. even though this is a difficult time to do offshore exploration, off the gulf we have 30,000 wells. if we did not have it, gasoline would be $6, $8, $12 per gallon. >> you were one of

tapping former florida senator bob graham, and william reilly, who ran the epa during the "exxon valdez" spill to lead it. >> the purpose of this commission is to consider both the root causes of the disaster, and offer options on what safety and environmental precautions we need to take to prevent a similar disaster from happening again. >> reporter: but that report won't come for six months. meanwhile, after repeated failures by bp to stop the leak -- >> you have every piece of information. >> reporter: -- the white house is on the defensive. >> there is nothing that we think can and should be done that isn't being done. nothing. absolutely nothing. >> reporter: critics are demanding the government take operational control away from bp. but this morning on "today," the president's point man in the gulf backed the oil giant. >> no, i think we understand where they're going. >> reporter: and there is mounting political fallout as well. >> i call this the obama oil spill timeline. >> reporter: republicans have sharpened their attacks. now after ten congressional hearings in the last two

laws that were passed after the exxon valdez ensured that a tax payer doesn't get a bill for this. bp will pay for every bit of this. we have to figure out and make sure that the relationship that is had with government in oil companies is not a cozy relationship as the president said. we have to regulate this industry. we have to make sure that there are safety standards are up to the very latest and highest standards whenever they do something like this, drilling in such a precious eco-system tass gulf of mexico. >> schieffer: sarah palin, speaking of close and cozy relationships, said this morning on fox that one reason the administration was slow off the mark here was because of president obama's cozy relationship with the oil companies and the support that they gave him in they hex. >> well, sarah palin was involved in that election but i don't think it apparently was paying a whole lot of attention. i'm almost sure that the oil companies don't consider the obama administration a huge ally. we proposed a windfall profits tax when they jacked their oil prices up to charge more

and what the law says is that we have faced this before after exxon valdez in 1990 congress passed something called the oil pollution control act. and this is what it says. it says the president shall ensure that the oil spill is cleaned up and that he has personnel and equipment to do it. so that's the president's responsibility. so i think now it's my responsibility as a member of congress to ask the question, what was the president's plan? and where are the personnel and the equipment necessary to implement that plan? >> now in this book, you are charging that the obama administration's energy policy is, in your words, a wind mill policy. >> that's exactly. but to the administration's credit, when i started writing that book, that was right. i started about two years ago and it was a national mind mill policy. the whole thing was to make 20% of our electricity from these wind turbines which is fairly preposterous. it's an amount of unreliable electricity. but particularly with the work of dr. chew, the administration has broadened its policy and they now have taken some very good steps to

. >> well, if you look at exxon valdez it took 20. so that's an idea. >> thank you all three for your testimony. it has been helpful to us. we appreciate it and we'll conclude the hearing with that. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the house natural resources committee continues the congressional investigation into the gulf of mexico oil spill tomorrow morning. witnesses include interior secretary ken salazar and the head of the minerals management service. live on c-span 3 at 10:00 eastern. in a few moments, senate republicans speak with reporters about their meeting with president obama. in about 20 minutes, president obama tonight at a fundraiser for california senator barbara boxer. after that a briefing by house republicans on an initiative for public input into their congressional agenda. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio and online and you can also connect with us on twitter, facebook and youtube and sign up

exxon said many of these same things during the exxon valdez. then a litigated it all away through the supreme court. is unlimited liability allowed through state law? it seems to allow state liability beyond federal caps for oil discharges. within such state. what a spill like that in federal waters be considered a discharge within a state, allowing increased state liability? >> i think certainly a significant amount of damage to state coast lines would be damage to that state. i think there will be -- i think the rules may be different. there would be significant damages that a state might be able to pursue. >> there is no question that this is a discharge not with any state, but in its territorial waters of the united states. is that correct? >> that is where the initial discharge cut -- occurred. >> when we go to state liability, it pays -- there are no guarantees. if we believe that either between the exceptions that you stated may exist, we do not know whether they are pertinent to this particular incident, or bp statement that they are go

but as of right now, the only data that you actually have are the ones tham the "exxon valdez" and none other? >> other information is available. it isot available to me as i speak here, but the -- the role of dispersants across the board is to break the oil up into smaller pieces. some of the chemicals used for this are more toxic than others. but ne of them are exactly a recipe for good health for creatures who live in the sea. >> you mention that we have to invest in creating, inventing new deep water submersibles. how far are we if we were to invest money to develop such a vehicle that it can go down to the deepest part of the ocean floor. >> the technology exists. the oceanographic institution deployed this past year in 2009 a remotely operated system that went to full ocean depth seven miles down on nine differe occasions. the cost of deploying it is expensive. and it is the only one in the world that exists. so the technology is there. there are no human occupied systems that can go to full ocean depth, although the technology exists. it did exist 50 years ago. consider where we

in two-days it could be the exxon valdez all over again. >> a lot of legitimate fear and concern about this. this is occurring without proper regulations and proper over sight and measures in place to make sure this doesn't happen. >> exactly. >> we are going to have in studio with craig and i special guest senior staff attorney who reviewed the documents that blue the wri whistle on the other bp rigging crisis craig just told us about zac via satellite. welcome to the program. tell us about the allegations that are made. >> yes. well a whistleblower came to us in this summer, summer of last year actually and told us that a large percentage of documents, critical drawings were abc se a. they were not engineer approved for atlantis platform at that time he brought forward an internal e-mail that revealed management itself was aware the failure to have these documents could leader to catastrophic operator or. >> compare for us atlantis to the horizon? how do the two compare? >> sure. so -- this is not to diminish the serious catastrophe unfolding right now in the gulf of mexico with the

. >> reporter: scientists say the spill is larger than the valdez disaster in alaska 20 years ago. they think it could get to the keys and up the east coast. the coast guard is finished in alabama, mississippi and florida. the oil is not expected to reach the states for the next 72 hours. >> so, please enjoy your weekends, mississippi and alabama and florida are open for business. >> reporter: next, crews will inject fluid into the spill. and that will start late next week. >>> 6 million-gallons of oil spilled into the gulf and a growing number of scientists show that number is too low. >>> a water main break is startling traffic in north baltimore and we were over the scene as it happened. the road buckled. the 12-inch main broke in cold spring lane and shut down the road. that's making the traffic heavy as we begin the evening rush hour. wjz traffic control and sharon gibala will be back in a few minutes on the rush hour. >>> and a harford county political candidate's life is cut short when his car slams into a utility pole. >> reporter: well, the republican, steven wright won't

in the case of exxon valdez it took a number of days to negotiate how dispersants would be used.heat lost the opportunity to optimize their use. what has happened in the past 20 years is we have had a number of pre-approved protocols in certain parts of the countries where certain conditions exist. in this case, british petroleum and the contractors are working out there using dispersants letter on the epa approved schedule less. they started using them. what happened is the use of dispersants has gone way beyond we have done everythin-- what hd is the use of dispersants has gone way beyond what we have ever done in history. it is logical to look at the agricultural impact of those. bp was asked to provide information on alternative dispersants and their effect but the availability and logistics and the issues with shifting to a different dispersant. a number of issues were raised. there will be a decision forthcoming. host: union grove, alabama. jim on the democratic line. i have a short question for you. host: go ahead. caller: how big was the dispersant tube? why can't we inse

correction last night we said exxon had not paid one cent of compensation until 19 years after the valdez spill in 1989. instead, they appealed a punitive damage award to the supreme court. the process took 19 years shortly after the spill, they did pay $300 million in compensation to 11,000 businesses affected by the spill. we regret the error. >>> still ahead, the time square bomber in custody, talking his head off. who is this guy, faisal shahzad and how did investigators track him down? >>> alarming portrait of a homegrown altar boy, who morphed into a full-grown terrorist. what our investigation has turned up will stun you. to enhance the technology and safety of our vehicles. and we've also made our comprehensive star safety system standard on every vehicle we make. ♪ at toyota, your safety will continue to be a top priority in any and all of our decisions. ♪ every minute congress doesn't pass in any and all of our decisions. a clean energy climate plan, our enemies get stronger. every day, iran gets 100 million dollars richer selling oil around the world and peddling hate -- no mor

kevin costner had unvested in the company after the 1989 exxon valdez accident.think his brother was spearheading this. coming up with a huge centrifuge that picks up the water and spits out 97% cleaner water. i'm told several of those will be deployed here as soon as possible. >> thank you so much. it seems like they're going from bad to worse. >> it is really disturbing to take a look at the pictures. it is really sad. at 8:30, hope you all stay tuned. i have some dear friends would have a place down there and we will talk with them to see what they are seeing. >> we'll have a little bit of moisture here and there in the form of rain. here is your satellite-radar composite. some loud have pushed in from the east. that will be the pattern today as there is a storm system off the coast that will keep us kind of socked in with cloudy skies for the most part and moist conditions. current temperatures around the region, right now, 67 degrees in the nation's capital. 65 in baltimore. dulles at 65 degrees. ocean city is at 60. plenty of clouds around. a few scattered

gas have not reported a drop in business, unlike consumer backlash at the pump following the exxon valdez as spilled 20 years ago. then, like now, independent operators argue they should not be punished for the oil companies action. >> really, the stores may celebrant of liquid, but that is the extent of the relationship. >> a bp spokesman says the company no longer owns or operates the vast majority of bp branded sites, even though it supplies fuel to regional distributors and an independent franchise owners. for the most part, it is business as usual for consumers who agreed this bill is awful, but continue to buy gas based on convenience and price. >> i am not sure whose fault it was, so i cannot hold it against the company for trying to fix it. >> if the boycott succeeds -- >> a tough situation. still ahead, we will recap the day's top stories. >> including rising tension in north and south korea over the sunken vessel. the warning from north korea that could lead to more violence. >> the line up for your world- class soccer match in baltimore, plus what it mor -thanks for coming back

. >> reporter: scientists say that the spill is probably larger than the exxon valdez spill in alaska more than 20 years ago. they fear it could spread to the florida keys and up the east coast. the coast guard is finished deploying booms in alabama, mississippi and parts of florida. the oil is not expected to reach those states for at least the next 72 hours. >> soaplessen -- so please enjoy your weekends. >> reporter: the next effort to stop the flow is call aid top kill. crews will inject mud and cement into the well and that could get underway on tuesday. joel brown, wjz eyewitness news. >> a month's worth of leaking oil could fill enough gallons of milk jugs for 11300 miles. that's the distance from new york to ben os eyes, argentina and back. >>> and temperatures reaching the mid-80s today. wjz is live with first warning weather bob turk and meteorologist bob williams. and we're going to start with bob. >> it's still there. except close to the water. we do have a few clouds drifting from the region from the front to the west and to the east. those indications to the west, very l

. >> worse than exxon valdez. >> temperatures mid to upper 80s in many cases. holding off all chance of rain. light winds. almost an early summer like day. officially in the middle of spring but let's go to the next three days first and a chance of storms coming in. for saturday, i think sunday is the better chance. now, temperature forecast this weekend, i will fully admit got a huge span. i will show you why coming up. the momslikeme.com bus stop forecast this morning. it is definitely a light jacket. it is a little cool in some areas. mid to upper 50s right now. by the time we go to the bus and in many cases toward the 60- degree mark but it will be shorts and t-shirts by this afternoon with temperatures back up to the mid-80s and maybe upper 80s in some cases. 84 to 87. a light south breeze today. five to ten miles an hour. no chance of rain at all. holding that off. show you where it is right now. as we go to saturday afternoon, there's a chance of an isolated storm coming in. most of it will be west, a better chance in to sunday. current readings mid to u

a day as opposed to 5000, and it is nearly seven times as that which was killed during the exxon valdez acrisis. the ambiguities and wide discrepancy is a serious issue, and how to grapple with a question we believe it is important to get a good estimate of what the rate is and what the total amount of oil is and what the rate is. that is not an easy thing to do, which is why he has set up a new team to bring the best possible minds together to try to nail this down. it is important. it is just difficult to do. >> what i find confounding about this crisis is the fact that these are fundamentals that should have been established -- having a response plan for the worst-case scenario, but the worst-case scenario was not established in the exploration can land. it was sidestepped, understanding to the high estimates we have potentially have today. in the response plan, you require a vessel. can you give us some idea as to what you would have been done differently? would you consider this adequate in a worst-case scenario? >> for a vessel response plan, we have several solutions. if we will

they're saying this was the country's response to the "exxon xs valdez." >> nothing.an't get permission to build barrier islands. >> the president ran against oil -- the oil industry when he ran for president. what's going on? >> he also ran on transparency and accountability. >> i don't know. maybe the commission will find out. in mast regulatory problems, one of the reasons is they play with the people that regulate and after they leave with a government pension they then get a good job for good salaries for the companies they have ln been regulated. >>> i want to touch on the president of mexico. he came to the white house and congress. he krit krized the arizona immigration law. here he is. >> i strongly disagree with the recently adocumented law in arizona. it is a law that not only ignores the reality that cannot be erased. but also introduces a terrible idea such as racial profiling. >> i'm the spring chicken at the table. i cannot remember a head of state from another country coming to congress and krit sighing american laws. >> while he was lecturing america

many people have been haunted by the pictures we remember so well from the spill in alaska, exxon valdez, the pictures of whales, sea lions, et cetera. i know you had said you had seen, especially from ireual -- aerial photography, whales in the gulf of mexico slimming through the slick? >> that's correct. the gulf of mexico is a breeding ground for whales, it's a habitate for -- habitat for numerous species of dolphin and whales and we have conducted aerial surveys, we have seen pneum species of dolphins swimming in the slick, as well as whales in the slick. jane: blair, you said a lot of this is uncharted territory for people in your line of work. even though there have been other spills. what do you mean? >> as far as impacting the magnitude of this event, and the way the oil is just covering so much of the ocean in the gulf of mexico right now, and the fact that this is a hot spot for marine ma'am mals, dolphin, whales. we have over 29 different species of whales and dolphins in the gulf of mexico. so there could be a major impact. however, we don't know what to expect, because it's

. >> there are scenarios it could be worst than the exxon valdez. we need to make sure we are prepared for the worst case scenario. >> the key fact of the matter is this has been all hands, all deck across the federal government, with the states, with bp from the day of this incident. >> reporter: federal government has a large rainy day fund to help deal with the expanding damage on the gulf coast. it's generated by a tax on oil. that of that money can be used to come pen state damage to fisheries and wildlife. obama administration officials repeated the position that bp is the responsible party here for both cutting off the oil leak and paying for the cleanup. the federal government will be reimbursed. for any natural disaster the spot slight on president. public reaction to that, we saw that with president bush during katrina. the obama administration is hard at work today demonstrating what the president is doing and what the federal government will continue to do with little hope that the spill will be contained anytime soon. >> juliet: julie,

but the reports on the dispersants ud for the exxon valdez suggest tt it's not good for contact with humans, it's not good for conctith the creatures that live in the sea. >> at the briefing in the command center, we were told that the -- it takes roughly four hours from the -- for the oil to make the journey from the bottom, from the mud bottom of the sea floor to the surface. the dispersants are being injected at thepewing point of the well. but the dispersants take oy two hours to get to the surface. and there was speculaon by adral landry and others in the command center whether the dispersants really are having an effect upon the oil column as it rises to the top if it's getting up there faster than the oil. >> i think the problem is that we're dealing with speculation. we need some real answers. and not to know is not acceptable. we need to be able to access the water column, to go out and see for ourselves both with remote systems, with cameras if you will, and ideally to be able to go in small submersibles go out to where the action is, go into the water column, observe what'

"exxon valdez."ears, the number of wells, the amount of oil we've pumped out of the ground, these things don't come along very often. >> look what three-mile island did for nuclear reactors for 30 years. >> stopped it dead in its tracks and we still haven't gotten it started again. >> jack, thank you. >>> all eyes and hopes are on a giant concrete and steel dome designed to cap the leak from a sunken rig that's spewing some 200,000 gallons of crude each day. cnn's brooke baldwin is on the coast watching it all unfold for us. brooke, what is this containment dome? how does it work? >> reporter: wolf, think of this containment dome as a big, massive, metal, concrete funnel. and the best way i can sort of explain it is by demonstrating. imagine you have a funnel just like this, this funnel, this concrete dome, is being taken right now from what i'm hearing it's just now exiting port buchon in louisiana and entering the big waters here on the gulf. it will continue for about 50 miles offshore to the leak

in the case of exxon valdez it took a number of days to negotiate how dispersants would be used. wheat lost the opportunity to optimize their use. what has haened in the past 20 years is we have had a number of pre-approved procols in certain parts of the countries where certain coitions exist. in this case, british petroleum and the contracts are working ou there using dispersants letter on the epa approved schedule less. they started using them. what happened is the use of dispersants has gone way beyond we have done everythin-- what hd is the use of dispersants has gone way beyond what we have ever done in history. it is logical to look at the agricultural impact of those. bpas asked to provide information on alternative dispersants and their effect but the availability and logistics and the issues with shifting to a different dispersant. a number of issues were raised. there will be a decision forthcoming. host: union grove, alabama. jim on the democratic line. i have a short question for you. host: go ahead. caller: how big was the dispersa tube? why can't we insert other tu

all the comparisons made to valdez in alaska. is that the same type of substance we experience then or are there differences? with what is coming from the ground, below the gulf today? >> we'll let the experts tell us and this is no -- noaa and others what they expect it to look like when it reaches the beach or shoreline is tar balls or tar patties, what they are telling us to expect and what we need to see is what it actually is. that is what they say to expect and we have cleanup teams standing by ready to go to the sites, as soon as it is found. bill: hopefully we won't get to that. i know the dispersents are used near the source and that is somewhat successful and that is an engineering feat, the first time they've used it. and, doug suttles, the chief operating officer and coo of bp, my guest in louisiana, sir, if you would tomorrow, come back and we'll have more questions, okay. >> thanks for the opportunity. bill: looking forward to that. thank you and here's uma with more. uma: the water rises in the south, massive flood

the "exxon valdez" case went on 20 years because they were in federal court. as a result of some of the tobacco litigation, there were amendments made here in congress that have allowed corporations to draw in states and to multidistrict -- to state litigation and that is a problem for the states, you see, even though you may have put good language in osha, for example, that says there can be a concurrent state action and the state actions will be recognized, well, that doesn't mean a federal judge is going to follow what you said. and, in fact, a federal judge in the state of louisiana has said that under opa, that your case can be removed from state court to federal court. and the problem with tt is is that my colleagues here at the table, british petroleum and transocean have already started a sucking sound coming out of hoton, texas, by two action that is they filed before friendly federal judges in houston, texas. one of those was filed by transocean, a limiting action in which they tried to pull in everybody to a judge in houston, texas. bp has done the

. >> one of the things i have told people is that when you look at the exxon valdez in alaska, insteadof saying that they would not halt oil by ships and more, they analyze the problem and move forward for you to -- you do not shut down oil and gas without trying to figure out what it is we need to do and do a better so that going forward, we should not have to expect this to ever happen again. that can be done. %hqpwe want to make sure that management is doing what it is post doing and not just allowing things to move forward with a wink and a nod and making sure the oil companies have a responsibility and obligation to do it safely for their employees and the environment they are operating in. that is what i hope we will get done starting with hearings next week. >> we will begin a comprehensive set of hearings beginning next week. we intend on ensuring that the american paul -- public and those who live in the gulf know everything that happened. they need to know what happened in the future. lives have been lost. laws have been ruined. -- lives have been ruined. we have a responsib