[Chetry:] All right. Welcome back. Thirteen minutes past the hour right now. A live look under water from the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles out and a mile down that is a look right now at the whole entire top kill operation that is still under way. When we spoke to BP CEO earlier this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, he said what you're mostly seeing now is the drilling mud coming out. They say that he believes that a lot of the oil and gases are actually not coming out right now. But, still, it could be 48 hours before there's any word on whether this is actually a success. And, of course, the precious seconds are ticking away. The damage is mounting from the worst oil spill that this country has ever seen. President Obama is going to be visiting the Louisiana shore today. And I'm joined now by two men who would certainly like to have a word or two with the president when he gets here. Deano Bonano is the director of homeland security for Jefferson Parish and David Camardelle is the mayor of Grand Isle. Thanks for you guys have been through it all together too, as well Hurricane Katrina, Gustav, Ivan, Rita, and now this. First of all, you had a chance yesterday along with me to go out with Governor Jindal up in the air and see what's going on. What is your assessment right now about what you guys need here in Grand Isle and also in these other coastal areas?
[Mayor David Camardelle, Grand Isle, Louisiana:] Well, you know, after assessing with the governor, like you said, we have five main passes that we have to block, the sand berm at
[Chetry:] A couple of things that you have been talking about Deano, you said you have been screaming about it that they need to get the skimming operations going. We have talked to about three people now including the senior scientist that we just had from the National Wildlife Federation, Doug Inkley, who said they are not skimming. He is seeing oil half an inch thick, and the skimmers are not out there. What is going on with that?
[Deano Bonano, Homeland Security Director, Jefferson Parish:] I don't know. We went out yesterday, 30 miles offshore, it is the heaviest oil I have seen yesterday, just heavy, heavy oil with dead fish in it. Our approach has to stop being an oil spill cleanup. We need to treat it like a war. The Navy and the Coast Guard need to have a fleet of skimmers here. They have skimmers on Grand Isle, not enough; hire more skimmers, let us protect that coast. The enemy is the oil. Let's put a fleet out there and every skimmer we can find and skim off as much as we can before it gets ashore, because here in Louisiana, our marshes are so fragile, once the oil gets there, the battle is over.
[Chetry:] You are saying treat it like a war. Who needs to make this call?
[Camardelle:] The president needs to make the call. There is no reason why we shouldn't have the Navy, every national service right here. Look, you see a big boom right in the corner, coming in. The oil is 35 miles. Like Deano said, it is getting closer and closer. Let's protect it before it gets to the main lands. Because right now, I have oil in the back of my island and nobody is picking it up. Just like Billy screaming, just like we are screaming here. I mean, it is 35 miles away. The weather is beautiful. If a low pressure comes, it will destroy us all. You know, I met with some fishermen this morning, you know, and just talking with them, they are still standing by the docks, the restaurant people, when you talk to Ria this morning, the Marinas are empty. There is no reason behind, there should be 10,000 people. I mean, there is no way we can make it. Hopefully, we can talk to the president and just tell him, this is what we want. You are here on my island. We want to stop the oil from coming to the inside to the five passes.
[Chetry:] It seems that OK, obviously, we need to, you know, the first thing that has to happen is this well has to be stopped or killed. That process is still taking place. But meanwhile, what are you hearing when you have talks with the federal government and the state level about why they are not getting more help out there and more equipment? As we understand it, there have been offers from 14 to 16 other countries to loan equipment, to lend equipment, to bring stuff out here.
[Bonano:] I don't know. It is just a slow process. Since last week and so much oil poured ashore here in Grand Isle, there were very little assets to deal with it, the federal government has been bringing more assets on board. A lot of those assets are still sitting on land as they try to get organized and try to get that effort going. They need to have a sense of urgency. I know the president said yesterday, he is trying to have a sense of urgency. The urgency needs to be today, now. Any offer should be accepted. If somebody calls and says, I have a skimming boat, don't say, let me look at it, or let me see what you got, just send it. Send it here, we'll put it to use. I don't care whether it collects five barrels a day of oil or 50 barrels of oil a day. We need to put every skimmer to use here in Louisiana, today, not tomorrow, today.
[Chetry:] And one of the questions, of course, is money. People need to get paid. BP has said they are going to do that. But the other question is whether or not the Federal Government is on board with the building of the sand berms. They have approved one project. They want to see if it works before they are moving forward. And people like, Billy Nungesser, Parish president say that is unacceptable. Let us go forward with all of it, and give us the money. How successful have those efforts been to convince the Federal Government that they need to go with this?
[Camardelle:] Well, you know, we were talking about it, we talked to the dredge people yesterday. And right now, in the United States, there are ten major dredge companies working all over the United States. They are willing to drop what they have to do to come and protect and work from Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson all the way to Cameron Parish and toward the west. And, nobody we need the president to say, this is what I want, we want to come protect our people in Southeast Louisiana. And that is exactly what we need him to say that and push it.
[Chetry:] So you are going to get a chance to talk to him today. You also might get a chance to talk to him today. Do you think that once he comes down here and sees this firsthand, things will start moving faster?
[Camardelle:] Yes, ma'am I think so.
[Bonano:] I hope so. I think he is going to hear from all our local elected officials, our Parish Presidents, and the governor, just how dire this situation is. And how Federal action needs to take place faster than it is.
[Chetry:] All right, Deano Bonano and as well as Mayor David Camardelle, thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
[Camardelle:] Thank you.
[Bonano:] Thank you so much.
[Chetry:] All right. Time to send it back, John, in New York. And again, as you know, locals here say you have to treat this like a war, not an oil spill.
[Roberts:] Oh yes. Absolutely, and fighting it on all fronts. The CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, told us this morning that he now believes that this represents an environmental catastrophe. It is taking an enormous toll on wildlife. It is very difficult to get accurate numbers on just how much wildlife is being affected and the extent to which it is. We have got that story coming right up for you. It is 19 minutes after the hour.