More Live Coverage From The Gulf

Hi everyone. Once again, the 360 kids are coming at us from the Gulf. Man, at this point they should just rent an apartment down there. I smell a sitcom! Anyway. When last we met our heroes, the oil had stopped leaking. Thankfully, that continues to be where we are. Now BP is talking about doing a "static kill" operation. Okey-dokey. I think it's time for the bullet points:

• It is the top of the broadcast, so that means it's time for Anderson Cooper's nightly berating of BP over their lack of transparency. You keep 'em honest, Silver Fox!

• Nice use of the Bob Dudley clip from three weeks ago. I always gotta give a shout out when 360 goes Daily Show-esque on us.
  

• Anderson: "After so many days, after more than 90 days, it is clear that BP views us and you as a nuisance, as an inconvenience, small people who have to be dealt with, but who should be content being kept in the dark." Pssst. We didn't need 90 days for that to be clear. Hell, we didn't even need a friggin oil spill for that to be clear.

• Chad Myers vigorously drew us pictures on the Magic Wall, which was kinda amusing to watch whether you care about mechanical-y things or not. Also, it's good for a chuckle if you have a dirty mind. (I know you're out there!)
  

• We also heard from geologist Don Van Nieuwenhuise. Scientists represent! (First block of the show is below.)
  

• Then we were joined by Congressman Ed Markey to talk about how much oil actually leaked, and the fact that BP doesn't give a damn whether or not they keep the public informed. Also, the whole "seepage" thing is freaking me out. Oh, BP says it's okay? Obviously it's all good then. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 1327 times...

• Annoyed by the ever-present train crossing bell? Guess what? Train! I'm calling it: in the epic train noise vs. 360 match-up, I believe the train has emerged victorious.
  

• Our anchor's not one to let a little (okay big) distraction get in the way of his news duties, so he proceeds to inform us about financial claims in the Gulf and the man--Kenneth Feinberg--who will take over the job next month.

• This sets us up for some discussion with Billy Nungesser and Douglas Brinkley, during which our anchor hacks up a lung. Yikes! That sounds bad. Get the man a cough drop (and perhaps a Z-pak) stat! At the end of the segment he assures us that he didn't get it in the Gulf; probably Haiti. Anderson really does not want you to cancel those hotel reservations, people.

• Joe Johns gave us a little info about the testimony of Transocean's chief engineer for the Deepwater Horizon, Stephen Bertone, as well as the news that two BP officials who were on the rig will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights.
  

• Jeffrey Toobin then joined us to discuss the latter. Kinda ironic listening to them talk about proving people are sick, all the while our anchor can't even make it through the segment without coughing.

• Randi Kaye had a good report about BP recruiting scientists. And why not, right? They already have their own journalists. It's BP's world and apparently we just live in it.

• Finally, Anderson interviewed Scott Russell, Mark Mead and Bradley Shivers, three fishermen who were among the first responders after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Even 17 miles from the rig, they still felt the sonic boom. Truly a harrowing story. Good on Mead for seeking help. The interview is in the video below after Randi's piece.

• I thought the show was okay, with the strongest piece being the fishermen interview. Speaking strictly as a viewer and not a news snob/critic, my interest waned during the first half of the broadcast. My first instinct is that they need to break up the coverage more, but that might just be me. Anyway. As for Anderson, what a trooper. I felt pretty terrible for him tonight. That cough sounded nasty even with him clearly trying to cover his mic. See, this is why I never want to be on live TV, like, ever. I would cough, or not be able to stop sneezing, or my nose would spontaneously bleed--it wouldn't be pretty.

• This bullet point contains an antibiotic for our anchor. And a lollipop. But only if he's good.
  

Week Five Of Live Coverage From The Gulf Of The BP Oil Disaster

Hi everybody. And so it continues. I can't quite believe we're now in the fifth straight week of the 360 kids reporting live from the Gulf. You gotta admire their dedication. It must be getting harder to come up with new angles. BP lies. Things are oily. And so it continues. I hope the public doesn't start tuning out due to feeling of helplessness. But that point is surely around the corner. For now, read producer Ismael Estrada's blog post on where we've been, and then take a jump on down to the bullet points. As always, they have been awesomeness tested:

• Tony Hayward went to a yacht race over the weekend. And here I thought he might do something arrogant and out-of-touch.

• Not only was the race yet another BP PR blunder, as Anderson Cooper points out, it was also a broken promise since the CEO had promised to stay in the Gulf until the leak was fixed. Of course BP promises are worth about as much as Monopoly money these days, so there's that.

• Tonight we were presented with the 857th piece of evidence that BP should not be trusted: an internal memo showing they knew the leak could be as high as 100,000 barrels per day. As you might recall, they started out telling us oil was flowing at a rate of only 1,000 barrels per day. But hey, let's cut them some slack. They were only 99,000 barrels off (of a worst case scenario)! Could happen to anyone. Our anchor's interview with Congressman Ed Markey on the BP memo is below:

• Chris Lawrence's piece on BP low-balling claims was obviously frustrating, though not shocking. I hope Stu Scheer gets the money he's owed. Watch the story below:
  

• Billy Nungesser was looking spiffy tonight. Happier too. It's great to hear that at least some things are starting to come together.
  

• Oh 360 and your obsession with celebrities. Will you ever not make me eye roll? That being said, I like a lot of what Robert Redford had to say. Some of it is below (er, ignore the weird edit with Anderson's picture):

• Our anchor: "What surprises you about the way BP has handled this so far?" Redford: "Nothing." Finally someone who is rightly not shocked by BP's behavior. And he wants to look at the bigger picture? Can I get a woo hoo?

• Redford: "Look, I think one of the reasons we're in this problem is because we have not only have a failed energy policy, but we have an energy policy -- because of the way it was designed by who it was designed by, Cheney -- it's sick and it's dangerous." It's about time somebody went there. By the way, am I the only one who has noticed that Darth Vader has gone quiet? Suddenly he's not too eager to phone up his faithful Politico transcribers. Funny that.

• Redford didn't really sell his support of the moratorium. Anderson brought up its unpopularity in the Gulf and all the actor could say was that he was "sympathetic" to the concerns over job loss. He's coming at this from a perspective of an ideal world (which I support), but the people in the Gulf have to live in the real one. Someday we have got to learn how to mesh the two.

• Anderson: "And in terms of oversight by the government, clearly the government both under the Bush administration and even under the Obama administration, have not done as much in terms of reforming MMS." Word. If there's one thing I'm mad at Obama about regarding this disaster, it's that. He had almost a year and a half to clean up Bush's mess in that department. He didn't make the mess, but he promised us better government under his watch.
  

• Redford: "Look, all that stuff has come out, and it's painfully obvious what's happened -- the corruption that came with MMS as a result of Dick Cheney and how he engineered this whole thing. You got to get rid of Cheney and all the horses he came in with. You got to get rid of his energy policy. It's bad for our health. It's bad for our economy. It's bad for our future." Pretty much. But I think his failure to include Obama's culpability here dilutes his argument.

• Jeffrey Toobin doesn't think the moratorium will be overturned, despite the current lawsuits. I guess I'm glad, though I'm still not sure why they all have to be offline for six months.
  

• I thought Shane Guidry of Harvey Gulf was a much better guest to argue the anti-moratorium side than Julia Reed. I don't agree with all that he said, but a good perspective.
  

• Rob Marciano's piece on releasing the pelicans was awesome. So great to see them flying away safe and clean. I love how adorably excited he was to release some himself. Watch below:

• We also got Rob live with some turtles, which was pretty cool as well. I love turtles. In honor of the occasion, I think this calls for the "I like turtles" kid:

• Oh hey, so the train crossing dinging is back. Yay?
  

• That'll do it. The show just keeps chugging on, keeping 'em honest.
  

• This bullet point contains a cookie, because the 360 kids deserve one.
  

Live From Louisiana With A Trashcan, Calliope Music, And More Oil (Now In HD!)

Hi everyone. Well, let's not waste any time. To the bullet points!

• We are now at day 50 of perhaps the largest environment disaster of our time. Day 50, and only now BP is like, "hey, you know that video of the oil coming out? Would you possibly like to see that in high definition?" Kidding! BP would never ask us if we want to see anything (congresscritters got it for us). But the fact that we've gone almost 50 days without said video is sadly totally true.

• Christopher Jones (testifying on Capitol Hill), brother of rig explosion victim Gordon Jones, on BP CEO Tony Hayward's comments: "...he publicly stated he wants his life back. Well, Mr. Hayward, I want my brother's life back. And I know the families of the other 10 men want their lives back. We will never get Gordon's life back, and his wife will live a life without a husband and her two children a life without a father." No commentary needed.

• Anderson Cooper to Ira Leifer (of the government's flow rate panel) regarding BP's apparent reluctance to make images available: "Does that make any sense to you? This is a company which has said they want to be transparent. And you guys are tasked by the U.S. government to try to figure out the flow rate. Why would they be throwing up obstacles in your way? Why would they not be giving you the best video as soon as possible?" Okay fellas, what about 'they are evil liars' do you not understand? BP is out to save BP. Period. But that doesn't mean they're good at that either. Incompetents with poor intentions. Yay for us, huh?

• The interview with Congressman Ed Markey was good, but...that music! The 360 kids do not have the best track record (or luck) with background noises on this field trip (train crossing dinging, anyone?). I have to say, calliope music sets a rather surreal tone for an interview about a massive disaster. It sounded like they were standing in the middle of a carnival. At this rate, I can't imagine what background noise we'll have tomorrow. (The Markey interview is the first portion of the below video.)

• Markey: "I assumed that, by this late date, that BP would finally decide that honesty was the best policy." Well, there's your first mistake. They are never going to decide that.

• Paging The Daily Show. I was wondering when someone was going to show up with a hilariously ridiculous prop. Enter: Tom Foreman with a trashcan. I don't know, maybe it actually helped people understand. But I was too busy laughing to really take it all in. (The trashcan segment can be found in the last half of the below video.)

• Anderson Cooper, did you attempt to flick us off tonight? Okay, no, he did not. But I am amused when the TV peeps get caught on camera doing their little frantic hand gestures that we're not supposed to see. (And if you're wondering, sadly no, no intense snapping.)

• Plumes are scary.

• Oil researcher Dr. Jeffrey Short on NOAA: "I think they have made all the right calls. They have done all the right things. I'm disappointed in how they have been -- their ability to communicate the results of what they're doing with the public has been so limited. But part of that, at least, is due to the fact that they're just overwhelmed with putting studies in the field, and they're getting massive information back. And they have been undergoing budget cuts for the last eight years in the people who do this stuff. So, their staff to deal with it has eroded substantially (emphasis mine). Why?

• Anderson's piece on rescuing wildlife was rather infuriating. Federal wildlife officials won't let them film because they're afraid it will upset the birds? Please. There's probably both bureaucracy and over-caution at play here, but it still smells like a CYA operation. Though I loath Katrina comparisons, during that disaster, the government began blocking the media from filming the bodies. CNN sued for the right, and won. If this continues, they should sue again. And that's no joke.
  

• So hey, it turns out there was an election tonight. No, really! What a difference a news cycle makes! Last time, you would have thought we were electing the president. CNN had their pundit-palooza going on in the Election Center and everything. Tonight they were like, "oh yeah, that." Personally, I like this way much better. It really goes to show you just how absolutely meaningless all their political analysis is, doesn't it? I mean, when you heard the results, were you really thinking to yourself, "if only I had first heard 10 minutes of Paul Begala's thoughts on this"?
  

• Gary Tuchman had our headlines tonight. Mixing it up! When he popped up on screen, one of my chat buddies had this to say: "Ohhhh Gary. I think I have a crush on him. Is that OK?" Don't worry, the rest of us assured her that not only was it okay, it was very much encouraged, and perhaps even required. I mean, really, who doesn't love Gary?

• Oil rig survivor Doug Brown explaining how BP cut corners to save money at the expense of safety:

• Anderson's interview with Steve Gordon, attorney of the five oil rig survivors who talked to 360:
  

• The broadcast flew by tonight. I usually keep track of the time when watching, but our anchor's sign off caught me off guard. I guess that'll happen when they cover what's important, and cover it well.

• This bullet point contains the iPhone 4. Perhaps it'd be more realistic if I said it contained a unicorn?
  

More Live Coverage From Louisiana Of The BP Oil Leak Disaster

Hi everyone. The bullet points are not at all happy to hear that 37 percent of the Gulf is now off limits to fishing. Awesomeness is becoming harder and harder to obtain, but they shall try. Let's do this thing:

• Our anchor's piece is below:
  

• Poor Billy Nungesser has had enough. And I can't believe Anderson Cooper stuck his bare hand in the oil. Well, actually, yes I can (there's a history here, people), but still, ew. Don't do that! Also? Extreme Silver Fox close up! Sorry, it had to be said. I respect a man who doesn't fear HD.

• Mary Matalin was sans her husband tonight. I've talked a fair amount about Carville in these bullet-pointed posts, but haven't really touched on her. Given that she was Dick Cheney's adviser, and given his super-seekret meetings with the oil industry (remote-control shut-off switch too expensive!), I'm having a real hard time viewing her as just a concerned Gulf resident. In fact, it makes me feel like CNN thinks we're all chumps. Maybe Anderson should ask her a question or two.

• I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Matalin is defending deep water drilling. You'd think she'd at least be okay with a temporary shut down. Whatever.

• I got excited when I heard CNN would be interviewing Obama. Then I heard it was going to be Larry King. I'm sure there'll be lots of feet-to-the-fire holding in that one. *Sigh* I mean, Anderson Cooper is right there. C'mon!

• Our anchor on the importance of the wetlands: "It's not some sort of tree-hugger, touchy-feely thing that you're saying, gosh, it's just important to keep these wetlands. This is serious money." Dude, why you gotta be downing the tree-huggers like that?

• The campaign to get BP on the show continues: "As always, we invited executives from BP to come on the program tonight. They once again declined. As always, the invitation stands. Again, I will wake up early. Tony Hayward loves to appear apparently on morning shows. I will happily wake up very early in the morning just to talk to him." Anderson Cooper will give up sleep for you, Tony! Why must you hide? As noted before, a Facebook group has been created to urge BP to appear on the show. Join!

• Sanjay Gupta's piece:
  

• Acy Cooper? Seriously, what are the odds?

• Gary Tuchman's piece:
  
  

• Good for Mike Ellis for coming forward. More people should do so. They can't fire them all for talking.
  

• Our anchor: "You know, I understand a company like BP wanting people to sign confidentiality agreements, workers who were working for them so that they don't talk to any reporter that comes by. You know, fine. That's their right. But there's something infuriating about people living in the United States of America afraid to talk, because they are in such a vulnerable position from a foreign company that their livelihoods can be destroyed if they actually just say what is actually happening to them. I mean, that is a situation that is deeply unfair. And I mean, this guy is incredibly brave for coming forward. He's risking his entire livelihood." Amen. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter, Anderson Cooper.

• Gary: "Captain Mike told me, 'Maybe tomorrow I won't have a job.' I said, 'Captain Mike, because you're on CNN and we're talking about you, if they get rid of you, let us know. We'll do another story.' And I doubt they're going to get rid of Captain Mike after this story." I don't think even BP would be that dumb. Well, maybe. Anyway, the Internets would not be having any of that. We got your back, Captain Mike.

• Good interview with Congressman Ed Markey. He says BP stands for "blind to plumes." Funny. Except, sorta not.

• The bullet points have run out of steam. Here's an interview with Anderson for the road. Still a master of the pose, I see. Oh, Silver Fox...