obama's return to the gulf coast. it is his fourth visit since the disaster began nearly two months ago. dan lothian is joining us now from alabama. so dan, walk us through the president's next 24 hours. >> reporter: good morning, kira. the president has been criticized for weeks that he has not been as open gauged as he should be, but the administration wanted to show that the president 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. 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 he comes to alabama, florida 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 onto a ferry not far from here, a chance to get an up-close view of the situation