day 12. i was thinking exactly the same thing, leyla, the dust in the air reminiscent of the wreckage of ground zero. leyla santiago, thank you so much the. outfront now, a structural engineer and member of the national academy of engineering. thank you so much for taking the time tonight. glad to be with you. good evening. so lots of questions as we begin to look at pictures of this. attention has been drawn to the condo s construction in one particular area. i want to show a photo for our viewers here. this gets to vertical columns. this is in the parking structure. what s visible here, you know this well, i just want to explain to the viewers, is that there are just two to three steel rods coming out from each side of the column to support the surrounding concrete. the original design drawings, though, called for more steel reinforcement. as you look at this picture here given its location, is that a crucial clue to you?
we re paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we ve established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf s wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i m glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i m still here and so is bp. we re committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. time now for the x, y, z. last thursday, the national
as we count down to new hampshire, the economy is still the driving force in the minds of voters in the united states. but is it the driving force in the republican primary? welcome to your money. i m ali velshi. the latest cnn/opinion research corporation poll shows 57% of americans think that the economy is the most important issue facing this country. i want to bring in cnn senior political analyst david gergen. david, the polls say mitt romney has the best chance to beat president obama in the republican field. do conservatives still reluctant to get behind romney feel he lacks what it takes to turn the economy around or is it something else all together? he is actually doing well when people asked is your most important issue the economy in iowa. he won a healthy plurality of those voters who thought the economy was number one. he s having some trouble connecting with voters emotionally. they seem stiff, reserved, can t quite understand him, santorum in the case of i