10,000 psi has got to be done gently, or there s a risk where you ll start causing new cracks. the thing exploded, you don t know what happened to the drill string below. it could be cracked in several places. it s very risky business. i s complicated but you helped us understand it. thank you, bill nye. thank you, chris. capping the well is not, if you can believe it, the only major problem facing bp today. a group of u.s. senators want to know if the oil giant made a despicable deal. that the lockerbie bomber was set free so bp could profit from drilling off the libyan coasts. the senators from new york and new jersey are demanding an investigation into bp s dealings with libya. this is the question. was there some sort of deal, quid pro quo? bp signed a $900 million exploration agreement with libya in the same month that britain and libya inked a memorandum of understanding that paved the way
maybe a 60-knot wind. these are enormous rigs, three and two. they re a football field wide by a football field wide, 50,000-ton vessels. they re very stable and waves and winds, they re designed to withstand 100-knot winds and 40, 50, even 60-foot seas so they need to stay drilling as long as is safely possible. if they have to disconnect from the drill string, which is a fixed structure, we understand that, but they shouldn t move off to florida, spend a week getting back on site. if they miss a week of drilling the relief wells, that s equivalent to another exxon valdez or two going into the gulf of mexico. so they need to stay there. 40 knots of wind is a good day in alaska fishermen s life so these huge rigs ought to be able to take it. did the relief wells, this backup plan we re hearing about, if they fail it s to collect oil at the current wellhead through various systems and then direct the oil through a pipeline to
off the site threshold. but i think they ought to push that envelope a little higher to maybe a 60-knot wind. these are enormous rigs, the development dw development rigs, three and two. they re a football field wide by a football field wide, 50,000-ton vessels. they re very stable and waves and winds, they re designed to withstand 100-knot winds and 40, 50, even 60-foot seas so they need to stay drilling as long as is safely possible. if they have to disconnect from the drill string, which is a fixed structure, we understand that, but they shouldn t move off to florida, spend a week getting back on site. if they miss a week of drilling the relief wells, that s equivalent to another exxon valdez or two going into the gulf of mexico. so they need to stay there. 40 knots of wind is a good day in alaska fishermen s life so these huge rigs ought to be able to take it. did the relief wells, this backup plan we re hearing about, if they fail it s to collect oil
off the site threshold. but i think they ought to push that envelope a little higher to maybe a 60-knot wind. these are enormous rigs, three and two. they re a football field wide by a football field wide, 50,000-ton vessels. they re very stable and waves and winds, they re designed to withstand 100-knot winds and 40, 50, even 60-foot seas so they need to stay drilling as long as is safely possible. if they have to disconnect from the drill string, which is a fixed structure, we understand that, but they shouldn t move off to florida, spend a week getting back on site. if they miss a week of drilling the relief wells, that s equivalent to another exxon valdez or two going into the gulf of mexico. so they need to stay there. 40 knots of wind is a good day in alaska fishermen s life so these huge rigs ought to be able to take it. did the relief wells, this backup plan we re hearing about, if they fail it s to collect oil at the current wellhead through various systems and then direct
help seek that pipe. they can turn the drill string towards the well. and there s a good chance they can hit it in the first or second try. hopefully. you have a good sense it s going to work? i feel like it s going to help. reporter: a lot of people are hoping that is the case. maybe in mid-august, maybe earlier. but one last thing, keith, i ought to mention is it stinks out here. the sun is hot, it s evaporating some of the oil. and at times, i ve gotten a little dizzy out here, and that s not from the motion of the ocean, it s very noxious. keith? reporting to us from the gulf. great report. goodness. the resignation of general stanley mcchrystal and why tonight president obama should be thinking of lincoln s civil war general john pope. when rachel joins you at the top of the hour, she ll talk to the reporter at the center of the rolling stone interview with the general and in worse, the sharron angle. she denies she wants privatized social security, she just wants to