already happened. that to me doesn t feel like a great advance that would justify the type of rash issuing of permit that is you have just done over the last 33 days. these haven t been the rash issuance of permits. as i said, we issued none until the latter part of february. we were strongly criticized for dragging our heels on not issuing any permits for several months after the lifting of theç deepwater drilling moratorium, which actually lifted in october, not in february. and the reason we didn t is because the containment capabilities were not yet ready. you re right, 17 days is not fabulous. but 17 days is a lot better than 87 days, which is what it took to contain mccondo well. wow. 17 days. not fabulous but not being able to stop an underwater oil gusher for two and a half weeks. that was good enough? full steam ahead. today that same regulatory
ready for take-off.org. yule smith, thank you for joining us today. my pleasure. glad to be here so. that tell us about the new organization. it sounds like different entities and states and people coming together. what is the idea? ready to take off.org is organization with louisiana, mississippi, florida, alabama. if you think about it, we have been through hurricane katrina, rita, gustav and ike. say it like it rolls off our tongue and now dealing with the b.p. oil gusher crisis going on for four months. the economic impact is devastating to the region time and time again. but one thing we understand in louisiana coming from a crisis of katrina we can come out strong on the other side. pulling four states together for the ready for take-off coalition is a way for us to help do that.
shep. shepard: they were in a pretty remote area of afghanistan and, really, that particular area wasn t considered to be all that dangerous. right. they were operating about 160 miles or so north of kabul in a remote area doing an eye clinic for people who had probably never seen an eye doctor in their lives. they decided to go to this area called badakhshan province to the north. thinking that would be the safest route to the kabul. their bodies were flown back on sunday. shepard: just a few dozen feet, perhaps the distance from your couch to the bedroom is all that stands in the way of permanently sealing the oil gusher in the gulf of mexico. so reports bp which says the relief well is drilling. it s closing in on the damaged well under the sea. engineers say they expect the two to meet sometime this week. and once they do, crews plan to pump more mud and cement into
we just received new word in an effort to permanently plug that oil gusher in the gulf, hearing now that that will be delayed. bp says it will push back the start of the so-called static killum tomorrow, this comes as bp launches a major offensive to stem the flow of lawsuits. the company will offer one-off combination pay payouts to gulf residents waiving the right to sue and the bp is looking at dispersants in the water, lawmakers want to know why bp continued to use chemicals despite concerns about impact on march enlife. kris gutierrez has the latest from slidell, louisiana. reporter: you mentioned the delay. there is that final push to make sure the equipment is all set and ready to go because tomorrow is a big day if they re going to start pumping that drilling mud that could potentially end this disaster. they want to make sure
[ bank associate ] welcome to the greater offshore bank and trust. [ bank associate ] right now, we re offering you $500 just to open an account. [ bank associate ] we just need your most intimate personal information. driver s license number. do you have any credit cards on you? just put both of those numbers right here. we re doing a dna scan. we just need a hair sample. great, will you put that in there? [ bank associate ] your first boyfriend. just a yes or a no whether or not he broke your heart. from america s news headquarters, hello. i m julie banderas. major push to close the oil gusher for good. as early as tuesday, crews could pump heavy mud in the blown-out well. if successful, it could potentially stop the leak.