"ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES
BP Close to Solution For Oil Leak?; NAACP Targets Tea Party
Aired July 14, 2010 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news tonight: a high- pressure, high-stakes underwater operation that could -- could change everything for people here in the Gulf. We're talking about the work going on right now right there on your screen, engineers preparing to shut the valves on that new cap on top of BP's leaking well -- in so many words, testing the plumbing in the cap and, crucially, in the thousands of feet of pipe below ground, the well casing.
If it holds, they will shut down the well. If it leaks, they will send oil to ships on the surface. But, if it -- if it doesn't work, there could be an underwater volcano of oil, with almost no way of stopping it. Everyone wants this operation to work.
But yet again, I'm sorry to report that BP isn't being as open and transparent as they promised to be. And, tonight, as always, we're "Keeping Them Honest."
Yesterday afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., the government ordered a 24-hour delay in this operation. BP didn't put out a statement about the delay until just before 10:00 p.m. The most crucial do-or-die moment so far, and radio silence from BP. It hasn't been the first time.
And, look, maybe it's a minor point, but it's happened before at critical moments. When BP decided to end an earlier attempt to stop the leak -- Remember the so-called top kill? -- 16 hours went by before BP told the public. Even Thad Allen was unaware of it for more than about 12 hours. And when it comes to vital information about whether the well can take the pressure tonight, according to some members of Congress, BP still is not coming clean.
This is a letter to BP from Massachusetts congressman Ed Markey. In it, he asks for just that information. Can the drill casing take it? Are there cracks on the seafloor? He sent the letter June 23. He's heard nothing since from BP about these issues.
And these are critical issues happening tonight.
When asked about announcing last night's delay, CEO Doug Suttles said it was simply a matter of sending the information down through the organization and promised to do better next time. Fine. Everyone makes mistakes.
But BP keeps promising more transparency and then not living up to it. For months, we have suggested on this program that BP narrate in real time what is happening on the video that you're seeing during major operations. There's no reason we or you should have to wait 16 hours or even six hours for information to trickle out.
When a space shuttle launches, a guy with the microphone explain what is going on in real time. Why can't someone do that on nights like tonight, when the future of the Gulf is hanging in the balance?
Two weeks ago, it sounded like BP had heard our calls. Listen to what managing director Bob Dudley said two weeks ago on YouTube. (see link for video transcript and more of this article....)
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