Pres. Obama's Oil Disaster Strategy; Search for Arkansas Flood Victims
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. I'm Kara Phillips. Here's what we're working on for you right now. Clean it up and do it faster. The White House is telling BP it's crunch time to fix the mess in the Gulf. Nearly two months in, we could soon find out how much oil is really spilling. Arkansas turned upside down by vicious the floods. Nineteen people dead, more missing. Rescuers are still not giving up. Plus $50 billion please. President Obama asking Congress for a new spending package. Taxpayers, you want to listen up to this one. But first, day 56 of the oil disaster in the Gulf. And today marks the beginning of another busy week. BP presenting a plan that it says could capture 50 barrels of oil each day. According to the letter obtained by CNN, the plan could be in place by the end of the month. At any moment, President Obama begins making his way to the region. His two-day trip will take him to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Tomorrow he'll return to the White House for an address to the nation. He'll discuss the growing crisis as the environmental damage spreads and the economic impact worsens. Then on Wednesday the president will hold his first meeting with BP executives. He's ordering the oil giant to set aside millions of dollars for the people and businesses suffering right now through financial hardships. Meantime, the company has installed new sensors on the underwater geyser with hopes of better assessing just how much oil is really gushing into the sea. It could take several days before those sensors can even provide some useful information. Let's begin with President Obama's return to the Gulf Coast. It's his fourth visit since the disaster began nearly two months ago. CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian joining us now from Alabama. So, Dan, walk us through the president's next 24 hours.</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. As you know, the president has been criticized now for weeks that he hasn't been as engaged as he should be. Well, the administration really wanted to show that the president, by coming here, is on top of the situation, getting a firsthand assessment of this operation to contain the oil spill, but also the president will hear and have some tough words for BP, trying to hold BP accountable. Now we'll see some firsts from this particular trip while the president is making his fourth trip to the Gulf. When the president comes here, it will be the first time that he's been to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi since the oil spill back in April. In addition to that, the president will also go out on the water for the first time. He'll hop on to a ferry not far from here, a chance for him to get an up-close view of the situation out in the water. And then the third first is that the president will actually be spending the night on the ground in Pensacola, Florida. In the past three visits that the president made to the Gulf, he jetted in and out. Some have said that the president needed to spend more time on the ground, perhaps even overnight, so he will be doing that in Pensacola. People here anxious, ready to hear what the president has to say, what the administration plans to do. But one man we spoke to said that he wants the administration to do less talking and do more action. Take a listen.</s>JIM HALL, GULF COAST RESIDENT: Looking at the overall picture, I wish he would take more assertive power in what's going on as far as protection of our environment. My property values have probably dropped 30 or 40 percent in the last 50 days. And I know all about the claims, and I know all about the payment back, but I just wish the government would become a little bit more active in taking care of we the voters. These visits are somewhat of a photo-op, and I don't see any real action taken as a result of the visit.</s>LOTHIAN: So when the president arrives in Mississippi later this morning, he will be briefed by Admiral Thad Allen, who obviously is the government's point-person for this major disaster. And then he'll sit down for a roundtable with some local business leaders, some officials, and also residents. A chance for the president to hear firsthand some of their concerns -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: Do we have any idea what the president will say in his address tomorrow night, Dan? As you pointed out there with the gentleman that you talked to, that there's a lot of criticism that these are just photo-ops.</s>LOTHIAN: That's right. Well, the president, first of all, the reason they wanted to do the address so soon after the president's visit is because he's able to go back with sort of some evidence of what he just saw. It's a, listen, this is what I saw, this is the progress that's being made, but this is where we still have to go. And a senior administration official pointing out that those are some of the themes that you'll from the president. Certainly he will address the overall crisis. He'll also talk about some changes that have to be -- regulatory changes that have to be made going forward so another crisis like this won't happen again -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Dan Lothian, live for us there from the region. CNN will have live coverage of President Obama's address to the nation. That's scheduled for Tuesday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. Tune in to CNN for that speech and of course analysis from the best political team on television. Now the search is still on for at least one person following deadly flash floods in Arkansas, but Governor Mike Beebe says on -- or actually said on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING"" that there could still be others. That death toll now stands at 19. Searchers found the body of another victim yesterday nearly a mile downstream from the campsite. The search and rescue continues today. Catherine Callaway has more now from the campsite near the Little Missouri River.</s>LEE WILLIAMS, ARKANSAS FORESTRY COMMISSION: It's going to be dangerous, take your time.</s>CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lee Williams of the State Forestry Commission prepares his team of volunteers for the difficult work ahead. Driving as far as the terrain allows, searchers aided by two canine units, hike in 90-degree weather to some of the largest debris piles along the Little Missouri River looking for victims. (</s>On camera): It's quite a hike from where they were able to get their vehicle. The river is about 40 feet from us. We've still got quite a hike ahead of us. (</s>Voice-over): It's a struggle to make your way through the rugged forest, and often lying quietly in the path, deadly snakes. The magnitude of the debris is overwhelming, but the crew must find a way to thoroughly search the piles in dense vegetation for any sign of the missing.</s>WILLIAMS: We are going to let the search dogs go in, sniff around. When they get through, we'll go in with the saws, same thing as before. Everybody be careful.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bear, this way. Come on.</s>CALLAWAY: It's risky work, even for the dogs that jump right in undaunted when they pick up on something. Once the canines finish searching, volunteers begin cutting away debris, and that's not without risk.</s>WILLIAMS: Any time you have trees leaped over, they have a lot of pressure against them, you have to know what you're doing with a saw.</s>CALLAWAY: This kind of work can take an emotional toll on the volunteers. But they feel a strong motivation to keep going.</s>NICK ELROD, TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS POLICE: The biggest concern is keeping everybody safe while searching. And then, you know, hopefully been able to find the one miracle like you said, but if not, you know, to help bring some closure to some families.</s>PHILLIPS: Catherine is now joining us live from the rescue command center there near Langley. Catherine, how is the day looking right now and when can we expect an update on the search?</s>CALLAWAY: Well, they have just had their briefing this morning behind me in the Langley Volunteer Fire Department office there. About 100 volunteers have gathered. They have been given their assignment for the day. There are usually, Kyra, only out about two hours at a time because of the conditions here -- the heat and just the work itself. And we're hoping to get an update about 11:00 local time, noon Eastern Time, and find out exactly where they are and what the plan is for the future in this search.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, we'll check in with you then. Catherine, thanks so much. Nearly all of the 19 victims so far have been identified. Their ages ranges from a 2-year-old toddler to a 69-year-old senior citizen. Funerals for two of the victims are set for tomorrow. Fifty-three- year-old grandmother Julie Freeman and her 7-year-old granddaughter Kylee Sullivan, Kylee's great grandmother still in a state of shock.</s>BARBARA SULLIVAN, GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF KYLEE SULLIVAN: How can I ever move these things because I was sitting here with her when she put them here? And she would, you know, say, Barbara, will you come and play with me? That's -- she always called me Barbara. That's all she's ever called me. And I -- this is just where she loved to be when she was here, and I loved it for her to be here.</s>PHILLIPS: More rain is on the way as well. Heat advisories in place for much of the south today. Let's check in with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras to see how that weather could impact that search in Arkansas. No doubt it will, right, Jacqui?</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it will. I mean certainly it's going to be extremely uncomfortable with heat indices well into the 90s, probably in the upper 90s across parts of Arkansas. Northern parts of the state are what's dealing with showers and thunderstorms. And you know it was a complex of thunderstorms, not all that different from this is what caused that flooding there. And we've been waking up to the series of complexes bringing all this heavy rain. The ground is very saturated. We've got flashflood watches and warnings in effect across much of the plain states, so it's very widespread. In the last week we've seen as much as four to eight inches of rainfall. And we're looking at one to three on top of that. Today we've got new video just coming from Kansas City, Missouri. And I want to show you those pictures now where heavy rainfall, about five inches in less than 12 hours, have fell. Mostly the south side of town and the west side of town have been hit the hardest, including Overland Park. We've seen many small rivers and creeks come out of their banks in widespread flooding, and a lot of roads have been closed and a lot of cars have gotten stuck in some of these flooding. Now flooding is one of the top weather-related killers. In the last couple of years, we've seen those numbers continue to go up. Heat is number one, and we're dealing with that heat today as well. We'll get all the advisories that we have across the southeast where it's going to be feeling like 100 to 110 degrees at times. And last but not least, Kyra, I want to mention the tropics because we have an area of disturbed weather in the middle of the Atlantic. This is a very unusual thing to see something develop this time of the year in the middle of the water. And you can see the models bring it towards the Caribbean. It could develop into TD1 later on today, but unfavorable wind conditions down the line, hopefully would tear that back apart -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui, thanks. 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