Video captured by the webcam on top of Faith Christian Church at the corner of Norris and Llano Estacado in Clovis, New Mexico. How dumb is this guy?!

Aerial footage of the Estuary and the Port of Oakland. Large barges and cargo ships hauling in various materials, ie cargo bins and gravel. Shots of arena and Coliseum adjacent to one another. Outfield bleachers of Coliseum prior to renovations. CU of empty ticket booth. Aerial shots of the Bay Bridge with light traffic from the morning. Footage of BART, its trains and stations. Shots of people using turnstiles. BART near neighborhoods. People filing on and off trains. Many CU's of trains in motion. Outdoor shots of BART at MacArthur and near freeway ramps. Passengers awaiting the train at a station. Shots of ticket machines. MS of folded BART train seats outdoors, uninstalled and in piles. CU of a row of seats inside a BART train. Shots of people entering a crowded train and holding overhead handrails. Shots of the platform of the Daly City station at a crowded hour. Shots of a BART train outdoors coming over slopes. MacArthur station; a woman inserting coins into a pay machine; surveillance screens of the enter/exit gates. Trains moving through stations. The Lake Merritt Station. An Agent taking calls from passengers at a remote location; a sign that explains to call for assistance with provided phones; no agent on duty. Shots of outdoor rails. Aerial shots of Lake Merrit and West Oakland. Shots of the boats docked at the lake. Shots down major streets (telegraph ave., broadway). Aerials of the Oakland hills, the mormon cathedral. Overhead shots of Grand Ave and Lake Merritt. Downtown Oakland. Daytime. Aerial shot of the Oakland switching yard. Many rails overlapping; freight and passenger trains. Direct aerial of freight boxes. MS of a near-complete public building project with cranes and a man in a hard hat in frame. Aerial shot of Downtown Oakland and the top of the Tribune Building. Shots of pedestrians. Retail street signs. CU of a cop watching people walk through Downtown Oakland. MS of a woman in front of an upholstery store. Zoom on a sign "Oakland: We're getting it together." MS of front of Providence Hospital. MS of Peralta Hospital. Woman on the street entering a pharmacy. Chinese children play in the street. Cop watches people walking by. CU on his gun. Cop arguing with old man; speaks into his radio. Shots of a reporter interviewing a clothing store employee (or owner). Shots of the store from outside. MS of people convening and talking outside a convenience store. LS of the Oakland Coliseum from the parking lot. MS of the marina. CU of some boats in the harbor. CU of sign that describes Jack London Square. MS of roundabout in Jack London Square with a large white Christmas tree. MS of signage at Jack London square: street signs, the "Boatel Motor Lodge" and the "Bow Bell Restaurant." MS of KTVU 2 building. MS of JC Penny in Downtown Oakland. MS of a demolished structure in a lot, backgrounded by Tribune Building. MS of Lake Merrit BART. Shots of buildings. Shots of a sign that reads "City Center" at 12th Street BART. CU's of a tractor and construction work in a downtown lot. Exterior of JC Penny, shown adjacent to lot. CU (and pan out) of men in an unfinished structure, doing work on the scaffolding. Shots of an outdoor (construction) elevator; Washington and 13th. CU of a sign proposing a community center adjacent to Downtown Oakland. Shots of a building and a "For Lease" sign. Shots of a large condominium complex next to Lake Merritt. Aerials of large Piedmont homes; downtown Oakland. Aerials of freeways near Coliseum and Arena. CU's of baseball diamond. Shots of the Oakland Air Museum. Construction near the Tribune building. Pedestrians downtown. CU's of construction machines and men. LS of pedestrians from a tall building. CU of a map-proposal for "preservation park," to surround City Hall and neighboring commercial buildings.

December 24, 2003 AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE CONFERENCE CALL AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle & AMI Foundation President James H. Hodges Tape Two RS TELOS 2/ X82/ Slugged: 1200 AMI CONF X82 Audio only JANET RILEY 12:03:15 About USDA's announcement yesterday 12:03:23 J. Patrick Boyle and AMI foundation president James Hodges 12:03:38 we are going to have Patrick Boyle.and than we are going to have a question and answer period PATRICK BOYLE 12:04:18 from USDA, we were on a conference call 12:04:26 and than a few observations regarding the announcement yesterday 12:04:35 when they pulled the sample, they had conducted the same.twice 12:04:48 on Monday according to routine 12:04:55 the OIE 12:05:10 until the confirmation comes from 12:05:18 however to provide reassurance to the American consumer.a presumptive positive 12:05:31 to share that information as quickly 12:05:39 of the cow that is presumptively positively 12:05:48 four and a half year old animal that is in the risk group for BSE 12:05:59 with the processor show processed that animal 12:06:23 over the last fifteen or twenty years 12:06:33 in our native herds.given the way we survey our herds. 12:07:36 they were confirming as many as 1,000 cows for BSE 12:07:45 single diagnosis in Canada.in the united states announced last night 12:07:56 the animal health issue here and.public health.than we did as recently as 10 years ago 12:08:15 through contaminated animal feed.imposed regulations that make 12:08:35 they have concluded that the compliance rate 12:08:55 most effective they have within the food and drug administration 12:09:06 those brains and spinal cord are routinely removed 12:09:15 those central nervous system material are than.from the central nervous system 12:09:33 that the infective agent.into the muscle meat of the cow 12:09:45 a brief comment on the economic impact of this 12:09:54 domestically we are hopeful that the American consumer will respond to the announcement 12:10:06 demand for beef in Canada remained high it has been at historic highs 12:10:23 and we are hopeful that we will not have adverse effect on the consumption patterns 12:10:35 the futures market.was already down to the maximum amount.continue reductions 12:10:50 internationally we are going to see an economic impact 12:10:59 U.S. exports about 10 percent.the magnitude of the impact on the united states will be somewhat less 12:11:21 some of them rather large exports.including japan, south korea, and mexico 12:11:35 positive development near term QUESTIONS STARK question 12:13:04 Would.fall into what animal experts would characterize as. 12:13:50 physical symptoms that they might have 12:14:17 sample where it is much much follow up question JIM HODGES 12:14:26 particularly in the European Countries where they have tests 12:14:38 for BSE, the 500 sample reference comes from 12:14:52 based on the size of our herd to sample.we have exceeded that 12:15:06 per year, we have a 95 percent 12:15:15 in more than one in one million, we will find it 12:15:24 the program is set up to monitor 12:15:31 it is not a program set up to essentially test. follow up question 12:16:33 no there is the FDA food rules were based on the best available scientific evidence 12:16:53 according to the Harvard Risk assessment 12:17:04 far far less of a problem from. question 12:18:21 back to shortly after. LOG INTERUPTED 12:19:41 That that possibility doesn't seem to be likely 12:19:49 but clearly I think that we will learn more in the coming days about how this animal may have contacted question: USDA policy changes JIM HODGES 12:21:18 regarding the surveillance numbers, all of these policies are clearly going to be under review 12:21:32 the increase in the surveillance numbers depends 12:21:41 to be sure that BSE does not exist in the population 12:21:51 to give you some perspective 12:21:56 they just roughly about 12,00 12:22:02 that gives you a 95 percent statistical 12:22:14 it would be detected 12:22:20 increase those numbers to several fold 12:22:29 and that gives you a statistical confidence.that's a policy call, that's not a science call 12:22:46 work with the government on that 12:23:10 to hold 12:23:36 I adamantly disagree with some of the consumer advocates that consumers have to avoid ground beef 12:23:54 furthermore if they are in ground beef, the product is considered mislabeled 12:24:06 to simply say that you should avoid ground beef, it's not based on science 12:24:33 will be looking about what to do about removing 12:24:41 keep in mind that any.removal is primarily related to the 12:24:54 in an animal resides in the brain and the spinal cord 12:25:04 which would be of an older age.to manifest 12:25:15 but in those older animals, if you want to provide 12:25:22 some precaution or in an abundance 12:25:31 to give consumer confidence, more so than a scientific rationale 12:25:43 at least consider the spinal cord removal from follow up question LOG INTERUPTED 12:29:57 There are other tissues in the animal that can pose, that can have minimal infectivity 12:30:13 but here are other nervous tissues associated directly in conjunction with the 12:30:27 never in naturally infected animals.although as a portion of a total they have been very small 12:30:43 the normal progression of this disease.at a very young age 12:30:56 as the animal gets older 12:31:00 in young animals when they are exposed.than the 12:31:18 again only experimetnatl.but it has been shown t contain the infectivity 12:31:32 they do removed LOG INTERUPTED 12:34:16 it's only in the older animals 12:34:41 although they may be more susceptible.virtually five or six million animals 12:34:58 that are wholesome food supply LOG INTERUPTED 12:36:34 That is defined generally as those that are 12:36:56 so clearly if you're going to discriminate in that category.have definitions of really what 12:37:10 with your general suggestion 12:37:15 and your general suggestions LOG INTERUPTED PATRICK BOYLE 12:43:56 of course the percentage will vary from company to company 12:44:07 in terms of the international trade ramifications 12:44:20 and again earlier today, we think it's important for us to focus 12:44:31 and beef products here in north america 12:44:40 are identical circumstances 12:44:59 and the trade of.between our two countries 12:45:10 restoration of trade on a trilateral basis 12:45:30 that they review and simplify, clarify.the rules for trading animals and products 12:45:47 if we are able to restore the trade here in north america 12:45:56 the U.S department of agriculture 12:46:03 recognizing that it's a minimal risk 12:46:12 probably within our department of agriculture 12:46:19 proposal, dealing with our customers across the ocean 12:46:32 all scientific rationale that would allow us to maintain normal trade with them 12:46:48 seem to satisfy their political concerns 12:46:55 that some of the first country.are japan and south korea, but there's a different reality there 12:47:12 relatively small percentage and realistically speaking 12:47:26 the domestic.could continue to satisfy a very large demand 12:47:42 from the united states, we are very significant supplier of .and there will be a major marketing dislocation 12:47:58 importation of beef from minimal risk countries 12:48:15 and the scientific 12:48:29 That have guided trade and just continue to guide trade Washington Post question-EXPORT MARKET 12:49:27 Some specific information after the call 12:49:38 about 50 or sixty billion dollar a year 12:49:45 so you're looking about a five to six billion dollar overall impact 12:49:55 japan, south korea, mexico 12:50:01 have suspended trade with us as of today JAMES HODGES 12:50:55 on humans because we can't experiment on humans 12:51:18 They were diagnosing.in that one year alone 12:51:34 obviously there was massive, massive exposure 12:51:47 to date there has only been 143 cases 12:51:54 clearly infers that the infective dose 12:52:05 also it is starting to become evident that over the past few years 12:52:17 genetic disposition.so there's many of the complicating factors 12:52:33 roundabout way of say we just really don't know follow up question HODGES 12:52:49 that is a goal, but that is a goal that may be difficult to achieve in all cases 12:53:01 we're not talking about something that is a machinery.that you could separate products 12:54:25 one minute around this time is NOT on xdeck, but it is on tape HODGES 12:54:54 To exclude products from Canada, but it was not an age related issue 12:55:13 the USDA certification programs, there's tens if not hundreds 12:55:26 and anything could be added, the real question is should it be added and I think that will be a subject of discussion between the Japanese and the USDA question-AMI having discussions w/ any other industries, public relations campaign BOYLE 12:56:37 you can often influence the results to that kind of poll the way you ask the question 12:57:13 when you factor in 12:57:30 and the prices.spend a lot of time with the meeting 12:57:54 I think the U.S. consumer.fact based messages that thus far. 12:58:25 but I'm not viewed as the most credible

In Sartell, a new seeing-eye law enforcement tool is coming soon to roadways and intersections there. The city council in September approved a plan to install eight license plate recognition cameras, or LPRs.“We want to be vigilant to the fact that bad things happen in good places sometimes,” declares Sartell Police Chief Brandon Silgjord.The devices scan and record photos of the back of vehicles passing by. The chief says seven of the cameras will likely be mounted on light poles, and that one of them will be portable.Residents and visitors say they’re well aware the LPRs are coming.“I guess I have nothing to hide, so I don’t feel negative towards it at all,” says Jill Schinkel, visiting from Sauk Rapids. “I mean, if it’s easier to catch people who’ve done bad things, I guess I’m all for it.”“I don’t care for that, invasion of privacy kind of thing, I’m not a big fan of it,” adds Kevin Johnson, from St. Cloud. “Just like everything else, big brother is watching.”The idea is part of a two-year pilot program, under an agreement with Flock Safety, an Atlanta vendor.The cameras are expected to cost about $29,000 the first year, and $24,000 the next.Flock Safety will own the cameras, but the city will pay for their operation.Silgjord says there is a specific reason for trying out the system now.“So, we had a rash of crimes in our city that involved vehicle break-ins,” he says.The chief says last summer, there were dozens of smash and grab robberies of vehicles parked outside ball games and other venues. The department issued alerts on social media.Silgjord says witnesses often had only vague information- but with the new cameras, he says, that could change.“We were getting suspect vehicle descriptions without having a plate number. We can only go so far with an investigation when it comes to that,” he notes. “With these cameras in place… we can type in ‘green jeep’. We can go as far- maybe somebody said there was a dent in the corner panel and try to narrow it down.” Silgjord says one motto of his department is ‘reducing fear.’He believes the LPR technology could also play a role in keeping kids safe or helping with crimes involving children.“If you think of an abduction, especially in the heat of the moment, somebody might remember seeing a suspicious vehicle in the area, but maybe didn’t grab a plate,” he says.Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension records show more than forty police agencies in Minnesota are currently using LPRs.A BCA spokesperson says four times a day, the agency provides FBI Hot files to those departments, including national data on stolen vehicles, wanted persons, missing persons, and sex offenders.The BCA says it also shares data on Minnesota warrants, and information on suspended, revoked, and cancelled licenses.But the ACLU is voicing concerns about the LPR devices and their use.“We see this as an expansion of government surveillance and we have privacy concerns about that,” says Munira Mohamed, a policy associate with ACLU’s Minnesota Chapter.The civil rights advocacy group says its biggest worries are about data collection— and how long that information is used and retained. “So not only are you looking up for a stolen car using that license plate recognition technology, but you’re also collecting the data of a ton of innocent people’s license plates on their cars and their location,” Mohamed says. Silgjord says there are safeguards in place.He explains police will compare plate numbers against the hot list of stolen vehicles or those connected with a wanted person- but isn’t searching for records of every vehicle that drives by the camera. The chief says his department is going beyond a state statute requiring LPR data files to be destroyed in sixty days- he says instead, Sartell Police will delete them in thirty days, unless they’re being used as part of a criminal investigation. “We’re not trying to retain this data for a long period of time,” Silgjord explains. “We’re trying to retain it and respond to crimes in their immediacy.”The chief says per state law, there will be an internal third-party audit of the system every two years.He adds that every officer with access to the system must log in— he says the system shows when they do that- and is required to have what he calls a ‘criminal justice reason’ to access or use the data.Police hope to have the system up and running by the end of the year.Silgjord says the city will keep the system in service for two years, and then will assess whether to continue using it. “So, trying to find that perfect little spot where we’re protecting privacy, but also giving ourselves the best leg up to solve these crimes,” he says.

December 24, 2003 AMERICAN MEAT INSTITUTE CONFERENCE CALL AMI President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle & AMI Foundation President James H. Hodges Tape One RS TELOS 2/ X82/ Slugged: 1200 AMI CONF X82 Audio only JANET RILEY 12:03:15 About USDA's announcement yesterday 12:03:23 J. Patrick Boyle and AMI foundation president James Hodges 12:03:38 we are going to have Patrick Boyle.and than we are going to have a question and answer period PATRICK BOYLE 12:04:18 from USDA, we were on a conference call 12:04:26 and than a few observations regarding the announcement yesterday 12:04:35 when they pulled the sample, they had conducted the same.twice 12:04:48 on Monday according to routine 12:04:55 the OIE 12:05:10 until the confirmation comes from 12:05:18 however to provide reassurance to the American consumer.a presumptive positive 12:05:31 to share that information as quickly 12:05:39 of the cow that is presumptively positively 12:05:48 four and a half year old animal that is in the risk group for BSE 12:05:59 with the processor show processed that animal 12:06:23 over the last fifteen or twenty years 12:06:33 in our native herds.given the way we survey our herds. 12:07:36 they were confirming as many as 1,000 cows for BSE 12:07:45 single diagnosis in Canada.in the united states announced last night 12:07:56 the animal health issue here and.public health.than we did as recently as 10 years ago 12:08:15 through contaminated animal feed.imposed regulations that make 12:08:35 they have concluded that the compliance rate 12:08:55 most effective they have within the food and drug administration 12:09:06 those brains and spinal cord are routinely removed 12:09:15 those central nervous system material are than.from the central nervous system 12:09:33 that the infective agent.into the muscle meat of the cow 12:09:45 a brief comment on the economic impact of this 12:09:54 domestically we are hopeful that the American consumer will respond to the announcement 12:10:06 demand for beef in Canada remained high it has been at historic highs 12:10:23 and we are hopeful that we will not have adverse effect on the consumption patterns 12:10:35 the futures market.was already down to the maximum amount.continue reductions 12:10:50 internationally we are going to see an economic impact 12:10:59 U.S. exports about 10 percent.the magnitude of the impact on the united states will be somewhat less 12:11:21 some of them rather large exports.including japan, south korea, and mexico 12:11:35 positive development near term QUESTIONS STARK question 12:13:04 Would.fall into what animal experts would characterize as. 12:13:50 physical symptoms that they might have 12:14:17 sample where it is much much follow up question JIM HODGES 12:14:26 particularly in the European Countries where they have tests 12:14:38 for BSE, the 500 sample reference comes from 12:14:52 based on the size of our herd to sample.we have exceeded that 12:15:06 per year, we have a 95 percent 12:15:15 in more than one in one million, we will find it 12:15:24 the program is set up to monitor 12:15:31 it is not a program set up to essentially test. follow up question 12:16:33 no there is the FDA food rules were based on the best available scientific evidence 12:16:53 according to the Harvard Risk assessment 12:17:04 far far less of a problem from. question 12:18:21 back to shortly after. LOG INTERUPTED 12:19:41 That that possibility doesn't seem to be likely 12:19:49 but clearly I think that we will learn more in the coming days about how this animal may have contacted question: USDA policy changes JIM HODGES 12:21:18 regarding the surveillance numbers, all of these policies are clearly going to be under review 12:21:32 the increase in the surveillance numbers depends 12:21:41 to be sure that BSE does not exist in the population 12:21:51 to give you some perspective 12:21:56 they just roughly about 12,00 12:22:02 that gives you a 95 percent statistical 12:22:14 it would be detected 12:22:20 increase those numbers to several fold 12:22:29 and that gives you a statistical confidence.that's a policy call, that's not a science call 12:22:46 work with the government on that 12:23:10 to hold 12:23:36 I adamantly disagree with some of the consumer advocates that consumers have to avoid ground beef 12:23:54 furthermore if they are in ground beef, the product is considered mislabeled 12:24:06 to simply say that you should avoid ground beef, it's not based on science 12:24:33 will be looking about what to do about removing 12:24:41 keep in mind that any.removal is primarily related to the 12:24:54 in an animal resides in the brain and the spinal cord 12:25:04 which would be of an older age.to manifest 12:25:15 but in those older animals, if you want to provide 12:25:22 some precaution or in an abundance 12:25:31 to give consumer confidence, more so than a scientific rationale 12:25:43 at least consider the spinal cord removal from follow up question LOG INTERUPTED 12:29:57 There are other tissues in the animal that can pose, that can have minimal infectivity 12:30:13 but here are other nervous tissues associated directly in conjunction with the 12:30:27 never in naturally infected animals.although as a portion of a total they have been very small 12:30:43 the normal progression of this disease.at a very young age 12:30:56 as the animal gets older 12:31:00 in young animals when they are exposed.than the 12:31:18 again only experimetnatl.but it has been shown t contain the infectivity 12:31:32 they do removed LOG INTERUPTED 12:34:16 it's only in the older animals 12:34:41 although they may be more susceptible.virtually five or six million animals 12:34:58 that are wholesome food supply LOG INTERUPTED 12:36:34 That is defined generally as those that are 12:36:56 so clearly if you're going to discriminate in that category.have definitions of really what 12:37:10 with your general suggestion 12:37:15 and your general suggestions LOG INTERUPTED PATRICK BOYLE 12:43:56 of course the percentage will vary from company to company 12:44:07 in terms of the international trade ramifications 12:44:20 and again earlier today, we think it's important for us to focus 12:44:31 and beef products here in north america 12:44:40 are identical circumstances 12:44:59 and the trade of.between our two countries 12:45:10 restoration of trade on a trilateral basis 12:45:30 that they review and simplify, clarify.the rules for trading animals and products 12:45:47 if we are able to restore the trade here in north america 12:45:56 the U.S department of agriculture 12:46:03 recognizing that it's a minimal risk 12:46:12 probably within our department of agriculture 12:46:19 proposal, dealing with our customers across the ocean 12:46:32 all scientific rationale that would allow us to maintain normal trade with them 12:46:48 seem to satisfy their political concerns 12:46:55 that some of the first country.are japan and south korea, but there's a different reality there 12:47:12 relatively small percentage and realistically speaking 12:47:26 the domestic.could continue to satisfy a very large demand 12:47:42 from the united states, we are very significant supplier of .and there will be a major marketing dislocation 12:47:58 importation of beef from minimal risk countries 12:48:15 and the scientific 12:48:29 That have guided trade and just continue to guide trade Washington Post question-EXPORT MARKET 12:49:27 Some specific information after the call 12:49:38 about 50 or sixty billion dollar a year 12:49:45 so you're looking about a five to six billion dollar overall impact 12:49:55 japan, south korea, mexico 12:50:01 have suspended trade with us as of today JAMES HODGES 12:50:55 on humans because we can't experiment on humans 12:51:18 They were diagnosing.in that one year alone 12:51:34 obviously there was massive, massive exposure 12:51:47 to date there has only been 143 cases 12:51:54 clearly infers that the infective dose 12:52:05 also it is starting to become evident that over the past few years 12:52:17 genetic disposition.so there's many of the complicating factors 12:52:33 roundabout way of say we just really don't know follow up question HODGES 12:52:49 that is a goal, but that is a goal that may be difficult to achieve in all cases 12:53:01 we're not talking about something that is a machinery.that you could separate products 12:54:25 one minute around this time is NOT on xdeck, but it is on tape HODGES 12:54:54 To exclude products from Canada, but it was not an age related issue 12:55:13 the USDA certification programs, there's tens if not hundreds 12:55:26 and anything could be added, the real question is should it be added and I think that will be a subject of discussion between the Japanese and the USDA question-AMI having discussions w/ any other industries, public relations campaign BOYLE 12:56:37 you can often influence the results to that kind of poll the way you ask the question 12:57:13 when you factor in 12:57:30 and the prices.spend a lot of time with the meeting 12:57:54 I think the U.S. consumer.fact based messages that thus far. 12:58:25 but I'm not viewed as the most credible

NEWSFEED: 10/24-26/05 EXECUTION TOOKIE WILLIAMS, BOMBING IN IRAQ, BORDER PATROL, HURRICANE WILMA, BASEBALL FANS, ANTI-GAY RALLY, ROSA PARKS ;CRIP LEADER EXECUTION protest against Tookie Williams execution ;IRAQ BAGHDAD BLASTS surveillance video of explosion on roundabout, suspicious cement truck height lighted ;Wounded man in hallway, bomb damage. FEDERAL RESERVE SUCCESSOR Ben Bernanke swearing in, Federal Reserve bldg, Bush, Greenspan ;Mark Gertler, Bernanke. IMMIGRATION NX border patrol agent arresting illegal aliens, Int officer taking fingerprints ;Illegal in detention, man being arrested in warehouse, NX little girl watching mother being arrested, men sleeping on floor; Illegal leaving for bus, man arrested in warehouse, seized drugs in warehouse, sad young man boards bus ;HURRICANE WILMA DE BEACH EROSION sand beach overcast day. MA PREPS house on sea cliff with boarded up windows ;House covered with frost & icicles. U.S. MAN ARRESTED IN IRELAND (Frederick Russell) t/h ;TX PROPOSITION 2 NX rock concert benefit, 'Vote No on 2', anti-gay marriage rally. TX EARLY VOTING Pre-dawn students approach ;Int people voting. CA PROTESTERS Aerial protest, creepy Bush & Schwarzenegger masks, 'Vote No' signs ;IL REVEREND WILLIS IN COURT arriving at courthouse & leaving. MS ONE ARMED SUSPECT car wash, black defendant in orange jumpsuit ;Wallace Conerly Hospital for Critical Care, Vicksburg Police Department, suspect put in van ;TN SOLDIERS RETURN family members welcome soldiers. CA BELLS RING old church bell tower, woman tolling bell ;HURRICANE WILMA FL DAMAGED CARS upturned cars tossed about by storm as if they were much lighter than they are ;TALIBAN SUSPECT EXTRADITED HAJI BAZMOHAMMAD stills, press conf, seized heroin, nice courthouse ;CHILE PINOCHET FAMILY ribbon cutting, one of these old men must be Pinochet. MA GOVERNOR SWIFT PORTRAIT ;IN MILITARY FUNERAL LEGISLATION a protest of some sort, very strange (what rude word ends in a 'G'? We're not allowed to see it) ;Newsfeeds show friggin decapitated heads- but somehow they can't show rude words...A T-shirt says GOD HATES AMERICA.COM- is this a joke? This is happening in Indiana. Funeral procession under U.S. flag ;USMC RECRUITS ELDERLY WOMAN Marine corps promo, 70 year old woman called into service. MISSING STUDENT press conf ;TN GUARD RETURN people waving flags, soldiers coming off bus, woman overwhelms her returning mother, couple kissing ;Soldiers taking rucksacks out of truck. OR DOYLE SURRENDERS t/h, led into prison in handcuffs ;HURRICANE WILMA FL Aerial damaged bldgs, trailer park, fallen trees, overturned planes ;WILMA flooding in Everglades City (it isn't quite a city) flooded neighborhood, man w/canoe, activity on high ground ;Flooded houses, storm itself, person knocked down by strong wind, hurricane aftermath fallen trees, rescue workers marking house; Damaged houses & hi-rises, clean-up, crowd going into storm shelter. ROSA PARKS interview, B/W civil rights movement ;Al Gore presenting medal to Parks, at ceremony with Bill Clinton. CIA LEAK split screen George W.Bush, Rove, Harriet Miers ; PRINCE CHARLES & CAMILLA at cocktail party. CUBA EU HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE somber demonstrators march, E.U. flag ;CIA LEAK Fitzgerald leaving courthouse followed by press. These aren't courtroom sketches. They're Hallway Sketches ; TX FANS buying tickets at Minute Maid Park. WHITE SOX FANS banners in train station, fans having pep rally ;BUSH ECONOMIC CLUB excerpts from speech. TN NURSING HOME FIRE ambulance outside, evacuated people in wheelchairs & beds ;

White House Briefing Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen STIX RS37 / 85 SLUGGED: 1330 WH BRIEF STIX RS37 85 DISC # 860 AR: 16X9 13:46:12 enter 13:46:21 GIBBS: Good afternoon. We are lucky to be joined today by our national incident commander -- and I'm sure you all read the press release yesterday -- newly retired Admiral Thad Allen joining us today sans his several decades of uniform, to give us an update on the B.P. oil spill, our response to Deepwater Horizon. And I will give it over to you. ALLEN: Thanks, Robert. GIBBS: Thank you. 13:46:50 ALLEN: Afternoon. As you can see, my wife's taken me to a men's store in the last couple weeks. (LAUGHTER) It was an honor to serve in the United States Coast Guard for 39 years, and today I transition to senior executive on Secretary Napolitano's staff as I carry on my duties as national incident commander. So with that, a quick overview on what's going on. As you know, the hurricane passed by, generated some swells and weather up towards the well site. That required us to delay bringing onboard the third production vessel, the Helix Producer, which we thought we had on-line by today. We will need about three days after the weather calms to less than three to five feet for that vessel to be able to hook up to the flexible coupling that it would be required to do. So we're looking at somewhere around midweek next week to bring the third production vessel on-line. It'll bring our capacity up to 53,000 barrels per day. Last -- in the 24-hour period that ended last night at midnight, we actually recovered 23,000 barrels. The Discoverer Enterprise had to stop operations a couple of times due to lightning in the area. As you remember, we had a situation a few weeks ago where lightning struck the derrick and caused a fire, so there's some safety reasons why they might have to stop from time to time. And the Q4000 actually flared 8,200 barrels. Regarding the relief wells, Development Driller III now is at a distance of 11,641 feet below the sea floor. As you know, they're going through a series of operations which we call ranging; they're into their fourth cycle of this. In ranging they withdraw the drill pipe and put down electrical cable and actually try and sense the magnetic field around the wellbore. They are within around 15 feet of the wellbore at this point. They will continue down 700, 800 more feet, slowly close into the wellbore. And when they know they've got it exactly, in range, know exactly where the drill pipe is in relation to the wellbore, then they will attempt to move in and drill through the wellbore and then the casing as well. That will -- at that point, they'll be in a position to be able to try to bottom kill or to be able to insert the mud and hopefully, after that, put a cement plug in that will kill the well. The Development Driller II is 6,720 below the sea floor and is making progress as well. Our on-shore and near-shore skimming and recovery operations have been significantly hampered by the weather. The small vessels that do the skimming have a difficult time operating out there. We had to pull them back. The same with the vessels operating in and around the well site itself. The drilling rigs were able to continue, but we are now massing our forces to be able to move back right out, once the weather will allow us to get on the water and skim. 13:49:36 In some of the areas, such as Barataria Bay and other places, we were able to have back-bay skimmers and -- and actually make some progress there, but, in general, waiting for the weather to abate so we can move on with recovery operations. GIBBS: All right. Happy to take questions on this or other topics today. QUESTION: I have one for Admiral Allen. Can you talk about this new 20-meter safety zone and if that was done at B.P.'s request, or what's the reason to do this at this stage in the crisis? ALLEN: Can you be more specific? QUESTION: The safety zone for vessels around booms and other oil response. 13:50:13 ALLEN: It's not unusual at all for the Coast Guard to establish either safety or security zones around any number of facilities or activities, for public safety and for the safety of the equipment itself. We would do this for marine events, fireworks demonstrations, cruise ships going in and out of port. QUESTION: Right, but we're so far into this disaster now, why do it now? And why the new... (CROSSTALK) ALLEN: Because I actually had some personal complaints from some county commissioners in Florida and some other local mayors that thought that there was a chance that somebody would get hurt or they would have a problem with the boom itself. Had not presented itself before, but once presented with it, logical thing to do. QUESTION: So it wasn't a B.P. request? ALLEN: Not at all. QUESTION: And one, very quickly, for Robert -- the climate bill, is it -- I think some environmentalists are under the impression that the administration is now asking for a vote before August and limiting any kind of, you know, cap or pricing to the electric utilities. Is that accurate? 13:51:06 GIBBS: Well, look, we have -- we have said that, and the Senate has said that, after coming back from the recess, one of the things that they will do is likely take up energy. We think that's the right thing to do. 13:51:25 The president had a good meeting a couple of days ago with bipartisan -- with senators from both parties that have led on this issue. We've not made any final determinations about the size and scope of the legislation except to say that the president believes and continues to believe that putting a price on carbon has to be part of our comprehensive energy reform (ph). QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) GIBBS: No, again, this is -- whether this is energy or immigration, this is going to have to be something that's discussed with Democrats and Republicans alike. Yes, sir? QUESTION: Thanks. First to the admiral, do you believe -- will skimming operations start again this weekend, or do you know when that will start again? 13:52:13 ALLEN: Well, it depends on the type of skimming equipment and the sea state. Some of the larger vessels that operate offshore will be able to get out quicker. When you get over three to five feet, some of the smaller skimmers, say, 30, 40 feet in length, have a very difficult time operating and being effective, so it will be weather- based. QUESTION: And there were some rumors in the financial markets today that the well had been capped, which is obviously not true. Is there any information that we haven't gotten about progress... GIBBS: Including me? (LAUGHTER) ALLEN: Nothing that I'm aware of. I would say this: As they get closer to the wellbore, getting into the position to make that final drilling into the wellbore and the casing itself, there is a chance, a slight chance they could nick the wellbore. Because of that, they have a vessel up there that's full of mud waiting to be able to shoot it in if they have a problem there, but nothing to my knowledge. QUESTION: Robert, along the same lines, can you give us an idea as to when the administration will be releasing its new report on -- or its new decision on offshore drilling moratorium? GIBBS: I -- I think that will come from the Department of Interior I would expect in the next few days. QUESTION: In the next few days? GIBBS: Yes. QUESTION: Great. And one non-oil spill-related question. There is growing fear among economists and financial markets about the possibility of a double-dip recession. The president met with Chairman Bernanke earlier this week. Is that a concern that the president has? And is there -- are you preparing plans or a way to address that now? GIBBS: Well -- well, look, we -- we continue to work towards improving our economy, creating an environment for job creation. The Senate took up, I think two days ago, a cloture vote on our small- business lending initiative that the House had previously passed. Obviously, we believe financial reform is -- is a big part of our economic recovery so that we don't find ourselves in the same situation this September that we did two years ago. 13:54:08 So I would just simply say we continue each and every day to look at and to monitor events here, and obviously we now understand over the course of the past several months, the news that -- from overseas, how much that can affect our markets here and economic prospects here. So the economic team continues to look at and advise the president on -- on anything that they believe would be important to continuing our economic recovery. You heard the vice president a week or so ago come in here and describe the ramping up of projects inside the Recovery Act that's taking place this summer. We'll get new jobs numbers obviously tomorrow, and we'll get a chance to evaluate, sort of, where we are. QUESTION: But does that word "double-dip" come up in those morning economic briefings? 13:55:15 GIBBS: Look, that's -- our economic conditions and the plight that we face based on the fact that what we're -- the pothole that we're in, if you will, if you look at that chart -- what I mean by that is the chart that I show you guys on the amount of job loss of 8.5 million jobs. Obviously, you're always concerned about the trajectory of and the fragility of that recovery. That's been the case, though, honestly, since the moment we walked in here. So it's - 13:55:51 the state of the economy is constantly on our mind. QUESTION: Hey, Robert, on immigration reform, what are the chances that enough Republicans will come on board and that this will get done this year, in 2010? 13:55:59 GIBBS: Well, look, if you had, as you heard the president say -- look -- well, let me start this way. 13:56:04 I think where there's a will there's a way, right? If there's a will among Democrats and Republicans, specifically Republicans on this issue, then there's a way. We know that's true. We have, as you heard the president talk about, Republicans that have supported this in the past that haven't been as supportive or as vocal in their support of comprehensive reform as they have been in the past, 13:56:33 as they were when -- as the president lauded former President Bush for dealing with this issue. We know this: that the issue of immigration and immigration reform has been in news a lot lately because of the steps that were taken in Arizona. We understand that we can't have each state have its own immigration law, and that it's up to those in Washington to solve the problems that have existed, quite frankly, for many, many years. 13:57:02 So where there's a will on the Republican side of the aisle there will be a way forward on comprehensive immigration reform. QUESTION: And on the oil spill, if I may, House Republicans today released a report that's critical of the administration's cleanup efforts. Specifically, they say that they have evidence that administration officials, quote, "have misrepresented key facts, including the number of assets dedicated to cleaning up the spill, the timing of when officials knew about the oil leak." What is your response? ALLEN: Well, I think we've been pretty transparent throughout this response. I've stood up here and talked to you all very frankly. I've given you the numbers that we have. The numbers are rolled up from the reports we get from the folks that are downrange there. I've been downrange myself. I've been to all four states. I go frequently, travel both -- both the president and the vice president this week. Every indication I have that the numbers are coming up are the numbers that are there. You can always find a place where there's somebody on the beach not cleaning, where it's empty and you can find a piece of water where there's no skimmer. It's just that big an area down there. But this thing has evolved from the start and from a massive monolithic oil spill into thousands and hundreds of thousands of small patches of oil, which required us to change our tactics, move to a more skimmer-based approach from the boom approach that was originally requested by the governors. But I think throughout the entire life cycle of the event we've been pretty up front with the resources that have been out there. QUESTION: So it's more about the complexity of this operation rather than transparency? ALLEN: Well, there's no doubt it's the most complex thing we've ever been involved in. It's transformed itself way beyond a normal oil spill response. And early on the governors were very concerned about protecting their resources with boom, and we've put a lot of boom out, and we're at the point now where we're double and triple booming places. And our goal is to approach 200 percent of the basic boom requirement, to just continue to do that to make sure we're protecting everything as much as we can. But the fact of the nature of the spill has changed. We have new flow rate numbers several weeks ago, as you know. That's put a premium on skimming capability, all kinds of skimming capability, very shallow skimming capability into the back areas, like Barataria Bay, to the very heavy duty skimmers offshore. And we're very aggressively acquiring those right now. And that's -- the spill has evolved and we've evolved with it. GIBBS: Let me -- let me just add to this (inaudible). I scanned a portion of this. Part of it address -- or part of what he purports to address is that somehow it took -- it took the command 70 days to accept international help. That is -- it's a myth that has been debunked literally hundreds of times. There were already 24 foreign vessels that were operating in the Gulf before the State Department announced two days ago additional international assistance. As early as May 11th, boom had arrived from Mexico, Norway and Brazil. Part of the report mentions that -- you know, our failure to waive the Jones Act has been a problem. GIBBS: That, again, a myth that has I think been debunked on any number of occasions. And I would say one thing to Congressman Issa: Plaquemines is spelled P-L-A-Q-U-E-M-I-N-E-S. (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: The first one is to Admiral Allen about the skimmers. I understand that there is somewhat of a super-skimmer, a mega- ship called the whale, from the Taiwanese. I just wonder what is the status of approval on that, and how effective do you think that ship will also -- will prove to be. ALLEN: I'm not sure I'd call it a skimmer. That's -- I think that's a developmental project. We want to see how it works. The owner's made an offer to bring it down at their expense and have it operate in the Gulf area to see if it could be effective. We have worked with EPA and other regulatory agencies to give it a go, and it's down in the area. It'll be ready to operate in a couple of days. We're anxious to find out how effective it will be. But it is a very large ship that's been converted to be able to recover oil, and we'll see how it goes. GIBBS: If we could get a comment in, I think it came from Portugal, was retrofitted until mid-June in Lisbon and then made its way down to the Gulf. QUESTION: Do you have high hopes for that? ALLEN: We have high hopes for anything that can be effective down there. As you realize, this is all-hands-on-deck evolution. We get to mass our forces and anything that's effective, we will look forward to using. QUESTION: And Robert, to follow on the question about immigration reform, I just wondered, the president is famous for saying that nothing in D.C. happens without a deadline. Why not set one? 14:01:32 GIBBS: Well, again, we -- this is -- we've made progress on this before. We know Washington can do this. But unless or until Republicans that have been doing this before, that have been supportive of immigration reform, that have spoken out eloquently about the need for it 14:01:53 -- until they get back into this game -- and, by that I mean into the legislative arena to solve this problem, it's not going to get solved. And that -- that -- people should understand that. You know, we all know that, 14:02:12 despite what you learned on "Schoolhouse Rock," it's not 50, it's 60 votes in the Senate, right? Probably to rename a courthouse, it takes 60 votes, right? There aren't 60 Democrats left in the Senate, and they're not necessarily -- of the 59 that are there, or that normally vote with the Democrats, they may not all support it. You have to have the support of the many Republicans that have in the past believed that comprehensive immigration reform was the only way to move forward. QUESTION: So if this doesn't get done, it's the president's fault, or is it the Republicans' failure? 14:02:42 GIBBS: I think it is clear that -- if it wasn't clear before today, the president laid out exactly what the problem was that we've been facing for years. He laid out very specific solutions for what needs to happen. 14:03:00 He is ready, willing and able to work with anybody. But unless or until those on the Republican side come back into this arena and decide this is a situation that they want to solve, it won't be solved. (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: (inaudible) what are -- what is the percentage chance that the relief well project is going to work? Is it close to 100 percent? And what do you think now, can you -- can you pick a date to say when it is really going to happen? ALLEN: I'm not sure I'm willing to attach a percentage to anything we're doing in the spill. I will tell you this: Contrary -- unlike some other things that have been done on the seabed out there at 5,000 feet, you heard me say before, we're doing something we've never done before, relief wells are things that these companies have done before; not just B.P., but all the companies. ALLEN: The methods they're using, the technology they're using, it's all been proven in the water, on land. So I think we have a little bit better basis by which to understand the potential for this to be successful. In fact, they're not reinventing the wheel, if you will; it's something they've done before. We've mitigated the risk by having the second well be dug. I've had a lot of detailed briefings, and I've -- I've discussed this quite in detail, the technical issues associated with this ranging and how they do that. And this is a very precise method for locating that -- that wellbore. So I think we stand a good chance. I'm not sure I'm going to put a number on it. The current dead - 14:04:26 the current goal is by mid- August. We're slightly ahead of schedule, but I don't think we ought to say -- we shouldn't come off that mid-August date until we know they've actually gone to the wellbore. QUESTION: "Good chance" doesn't sound very optimistic. It sounds like you're... 14:04:34 ALLEN: I'd rather under-promise and over-deliver with you folks. (LAUGHTER) QUESTION: OK. (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: Same with us. On the whale, a little more on that. The 21 million gallons it can scoop up a day; I mean, it sounds like it can be the closest thing you've had to a silver bullet yet if it works. I mean, is this -- do you see it that way? ALLEN: Well, we've talked before about modifying tankers and wanted to know how we could do that. This -- this is one where they actually went out and modified it. The others, we were waiting to have them modified. That's the reason this one's in the fight. A couple of unusual things about working around this well site. First of all, it's very congested. We have anywhere between 20 and 30 vessels, a number of ROVs operating around there. Industry would call that simultaneous operations or SIMOPs. The oil is only suitable for that type of collection within a few miles of the wellhead itself because that's when it comes up as a pretty good size slick. It becomes disaggregated after that. So if you have a, you know, a huge tanker capable of 21 million gallon capacity chasing down half-mile slick, that's probably a different type of platform you want to use for it. So we're going to have to use it right around the well site where it's got the greatest economy of effort in dealing with the oil and where it can give us the greatest return on investment. I think we just need to see how it works. QUESTION: Robert, if I could ask you about unemployment insurance, who's to blame for Congress leaving town without passing this? And how much of a role did the president play? Did the president aggressively get in there and push for this or did he leave it in Congress? GIBBS: Well -- well this is -- this is -- I think last night's effort was the fourth -- the fourth effort to -- this one was a scaled-back version of unemployment insurance through -- through, I believe, November, with I think a home tax credit added as well. 14:06:24 GIBBS: Look, again, this is -- it's an example of -- it takes -- it takes 60 votes to get something done. It shouldn't take 60 votes to get -- to get the long-term unemployed -- to make sure that the long-term unemployed do not suffer an interruption in what they need to keep going. It certainly doesn't make any economic sense, and we will continue to push Congress and to work with them. Obviously, we'll -- Senator Byrd's replacement will be, at some point, back into the voting of all this, as well, which, obviously, is one of the things that we're going to need. But we'll continue to push forward on this so that -- again, I think, if you just 14:07:13 look at the economic sense of, if you're an unemployed -- if you're somebody who's employed; if you've -- we now, obviously, have the type of chronic long-term unemployment that greatly exceeds the previous worst case, which was in the early '80s. We've -- we're well, well past that. If you're worried about long- term economic growth, you have to be worried about the long-term unemployed. They are -- I think it's obvious that, if you're unemployed, you're far more likely to take your benefits and use them to keep going. That money obviously gets into the economy rather quickly. GIBBS: So we will continue to push forward on this and try to convince 60 senators. We got good help last night from two senators from Maine to try to get what shouldn't be hard to get done for the American people. QUESTION: Some Republicans say Democrats are just using this as a political issue: They want the issue more than they want the vote, and that the White House is involved in that, too. GIBBS: We have, again, I think if you read any article about the -- the plight of those who are unemployed and have been unemployed for really long periods of time, we're seeing that -- like we've never seen it before, we're seeing it -- we're seeing that impacting not just lower-wage, lower-skill jobs. It's impacting those with -- that have been employed for long periods of time prior to this; that have college educations; folks, quite frankly, that are not used to being in the pool of what would be in a normal recession considered likely to be long-term unemployed. But we're seeing that in a way that we've never seen it before. If they're worried about the politics of this issue, it seems to me it just makes common sense to ensure that people that cannot find work because the recession that we're dealing with is greater than anything we've dealt with since the Great Depression -- why on Earth would you take a group that has been chronically unemployed and for some reason stop their unemployment benefits? It just -- economically, it makes absolutely no sense at all. QUESTION: A few weeks ago, one percentage figure that had been used by the president, and I believe you, Admiral Allen, was 90 percent. A few weeks ago, the president said that in a few weeks, 90 percent of whatever it is -- the gas and the oil and the carbons coming up from the floor -- would be capped. Where are we on that -- 90 percent of what? ALLEN: Ninety percent of the flow coming out of the wellbore right now. QUESTION: Which is what? ALLEN: Well, the current estimate is that 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day from the last flow-rate estimate. Let me walk you through the sequence. It's a good question. Right now, we have three ways to remove oil from that wellbore: the riser pipe that goes up to the Discoverer Explorer, and the choke and the kill lines. Those are the lines that we tried to push the mud down during the top kill exercise. We are taking oil out of two of those right now. We intend to take oil out of the third, the kill line, with the Helix Producer once the weather calms down. That will take us to a capacity of 53,000 barrels a day. Now, we don't know what that's going to do to that picture you see, of the imagery with the vents open and the oil. We would like to get that down where there's a minimum amount of oil escaping as possible, but it's never going to be zero because if it goes to zero, that means water could intrude and we'd have a hydrate problem with the capping device. B.P. has proposed, and we are reviewing right now, the placement of a new cap on it, which they would actually unbolt that stub section of pipe that was cut off, and that's what we call that white area -- it's called a flange; actually unbolt the flange and actually put another containment device on it -- we bolt it on -- that would assure a complete seal. And when the president talks of achieving a greater than 90 percent recovery rate, he's talking about with the new capping device. They'll be in a position to do that in about two to three weeks, and also provide redundant production capability on the surface. It will take us to 60,000 to 80,000 barrels a day production capacity. They did that at our direction because we wanted two things. 14:11:32 We wanted redundancy, so if there's light (ph) in the area and somebody has to shut down, we could keep producing. We wanted additional flexibility to be able to unhook and hook-up faster in the event of a hurricane. And we also wanted a risk mitigator against equipment failure. QUESTION: So this new device essentially replaced the three that you have on-line or about to have on-line? GIBBS: That has happened based on the incentive of these investments. We do not believe that taking money out of that important investment makes any sense at all. The president's been clear with Congress about the fact that that doesn't make any sense at all. I believe we can come to a conclusion on this as we've -- we've given them additional places to look for -- to look for cuts that shouldn't require taking away from that important investment that has led to fundamental education reform in this country. QUESTION: Could it lead to a veto (inaudible)? 14:14:56 GIBBS: I don't think it'll get to that. But the president has been very clear with the leaders in Congress that that money is a -- is important and is a big priority for this administration. QUESTION: You and the president both on immigration have made clear that it's the Republicans who are blocking this from moving forward. Was one of the purposes of the speech today to make it crystal clear to people who care about this issue that it's the Republicans' fault this hasn't moved? 14:15:22 GIBBS: Well, look, I think that's just the legislative reality that we live in. Again, if -- if you had given that speech three or four years ago, 14:15:33 you would likely have -- you all could name the Republicans that you were likely to have seen statements from that supported comprehensive immigration reform. 14:15:43 I mean, the reality is that you can't -- again, you got to get 60 votes. There aren't that many Democrats and you've got to get Republicans involved. There's -- this is a problem of national significance and it is going to require Republicans to be part of that solution. QUESTION: But was this a political purpose in the sense that you're hoping to direct the anger from the Hispanic community elsewhere? GIBBS: I don't think -- well, keep in mind, I don't think it's just the Hispanic community that cares about immigration. And this is not about directing anybody's anger; this is about working toward a comprehensive solution. 14:16:24 We can't -- we can't find ourselves having a series of patchwork immigration laws that change every time you see a sign that says welcome to a different state. It has to be done in a comprehensive way, and we have to do this together. QUESTION: But given everything he said this morning, he has said in one place or another time -- granted, not all in one speech -- but has said before, and that you've said before, in fact, how did the speech advance anything? 14:16:51 GIBBS: Well, this is -- because I think we are -- we have talked about immigration reform over the course of the last several weeks, mostly as it relates to what is happening in one state, right? You're not going to solve the immigration problem, again, one state a time or a series of states at a time. This is -- this is a topic that has been talked about for many weeks now. And the only way to solve it is once again for Congress to come together, Democrats and Republicans, and pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform. QUESTION: Robert, is the homebuyers' tax break extension going to be signed today as well? GIBBS: I -- I don't know the answer to that. Let me check on... QUESTION: Also, were you able to get an answer from last week, when you were asked about Steny Hoyer suggesting considering the possibility of raising the retirement age for Social Security? GIBBS: Steny Hoyer or -- that was -- I thought I was -- I was asked about Alan Simpson, wasn't I? QUESTION: It was Hoyer, also last week. QUESTION: Hoyer said (inaudible) also. GIBBS: I... QUESTION: I went back in the transcript. You asked about Hoyer. GIBBS: Oh, I don't remember being asked about Hoyer. I -- I don't know the answer to that, but I'll try to look into it. QUESTION: Anything on the five Democrats that voted for the new oil spill commission? Do you think that undercuts the president's oil spill commission? GIBBS: No, I -- look, I -- there are -- there has been some suggestion -- I don't think it's -- I don't think it's well placed -- that somehow the commission that the president set up is too -- is made up of too many, sort of, pro-environment members. We've got a commission member from Alaska who -- who has supported drilling in ANWR. The co-director, the former EPA administrator under George Bush, is on leave from the board of ConocoPhillips. There's no way to look at what has happened and what has to move forward, in terms of the type of regulatory structure, without including voices from industry, and -- and that's what we've done. QUESTION: You're not worried about doing commissions or... GIBBS: No, again, I think we'll -- we'll get this in a place that makes sense moving forward and it gives us a strong report and a good framework, again, for the type of regulation that's needed to make this type of activity safe again. QUESTION: Admiral Allen, with the State Department announcement a couple of days ago, what can you do now that you couldn't do before with the assets that you are now bringing in from outside? ALLEN: Well, actually, four to six weeks ago when we saw the skimmers start to emerge, and we saw a shifting landscape from booming requirements to skimming requirement, we talked to the State Department. They sent a cable out I believe it was around the 13th of June actually soliciting input from the countries. A lot of that has come back now. We're in the process where we can screen it, actually do letters of acceptance, and we're moving on that right now. We have well over a hundred offers. We're going through them right now. Roughly about 40 of those have been accepted and we're reviewing all those right now. But we're looking at everything very, very seriously. QUESTION: So mostly you're increasing skimmer capacity? ALLEN: It will come from three areas, basically. Obviously, we're looking for any foreign assistance that can be provided. We're actually -- almost all the skimmer production capability in this country now is tied up in the orders we've placed out for the next four to six weeks. We have emergency rulemaking that was announced yesterday that would ease some of the requirements for standby equipment around the country for other operations that could flow those to the Gulf as well. So the combination of those three together are allowing us to mass our skimming forces in the next four weeks. QUESTION: And if I read the EPA announcement on dispersants correctly yesterday, they said they are safe, but that there still needs to be more testing of the way the dispersants are interacting with the oil and its composition as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Is that correct? 14:20:53 ALLEN: The two big deals on dispersants are we've never used them in this quantity before, whether its sub-surface or surface, and we've never used them sub-surface. And I know Lisa Jackson. We're very good friends. We talk about this almost daily. She is concerned. She understands when there's an operational imperative and why you need them. And there are times when you do need to do that. But there also is an imperative to do sampling and testing and understand the impacts of the dispersants while they're being used. And it's a tradeoff. It's a tradeoff operationally, and sometimes it's a tradeoff on safety because dispersants reduce volatile organic compounds which are a workplace problem for the folks that are working on the ships out there. So what we are trying to do is understand more about the dispersants, use this as a learning situation to get more data on where we're going. And we all generally agree if we can ratchet down the use of dispersants, focus more on skimming and in situ burning, that's a good thing. But there's a floor to which we're probably going to get to because there are opportunities we can't achieve to mitigate the impact of the well other than using dispersants. The question is where is that right spot. QUESTION: So we don't know yet exactly how safe or unsafe, and whether there's a significant environmental... (CROSSTALK) ALLEN: Well, we know the dispersants are less toxic than the oil, and we also know that when you make a decision to use dispersants, you're deciding to have the fate of the oil and the ultimate impact of the oil be absorbed in the water column, not the shore. GIBBS: But I would just say that's why we continue to do that type of testing. QUESTION: I just want to make sure I understood. GIBBS: Yes, right, to ensure that, as the Admiral said, you're using this in quantities not previously seen. ALLEN: The same would apply to -- to air quality monitoring around in situ burnings and the flaring that's going on out there. QUESTION: A couple of questions for you, Robert. You have said, the last time I was able to ask you about this, that the final legal language with B.P. about the $20 billion fund and the $100 million for the offshore wasn't finalized. QUESTION: Has it been finalized yet? And... GIBBS: I don't know. I can check with (inaudible) can check with DOJ. QUESTION: Bill had said that you'll release it when it is finalized. Is it finalized? GIBBS: Let me check. I don't know the answer. QUESTION: OK. A couple other non-oil spill things. Are you comfortable, Robert, with the way the Romanoff endorsement from former President Clinton went down? And would you be encouraged if there were more direct communication between the former president and the political arm of the White House about things going forward? GIBBS: Good try. 14:23:10 Look, the president -- President Clinton has relationships that extend a long time back and will make endorsement for a whole host of reasons, including that. So, look, I was asked if we had -- if we heard from them prior to that endorsement and the answer to that was no. QUESTION: (inaudible) GIBBS: Before you guys? Sure. (LAUGHTER) QUESTION: Do you feel the need in any way, shape or form to coordinate these things or to at least discuss them informally before they're publicly acknowledged (ph)? GIBBS: I think I answered that, despite your many attempts... (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: The president wants the Bush tax cuts that apply to the middle class to be extended. What is the mechanism by which he's going to have Congress achieve that before the end of (inaudible)? GIBBS: I -- let me check with Legislative Affairs on that. QUESTION: OK. Lastly, do you expect the supplemental funding to be resolved this week? At least on the House side. GIBBS: I -- look, certainly our hope is that -- I don't... (CROSSTALK) GIBBS: Right. There were -- there are conversations that have been had even today on that. I'm not going to get into whether it's this week or the first week they're back. But, again, we think this is something that can be worked out, giving the president and our troops the funding that they need in Afghanistan without taking money away from important investments like Race to the Top. QUESTION: Robert, can you talk about the president's meeting today with Senator Reid? Is that about the immigration... GIBBS: Well, look, they're going to have an opportunity to talk about what is going to be on the Senate's agenda moving forward when they get back. Obviously, between now and the end of the year the Senate will take up, and I believe approve, Elena Kagan to be the next Supreme Court justice. I think we're makind continues to be in contact through Legislative Affairs and the chief of staff's office on how we move forward. QUESTION: Lastly, the president's going to sign this afternoon or this evening the Iran Sanctions Act. Can you talk a little about what he expects that to do or why -- what his assessment of that... GIBBS: Well, look, this, I think, and we have seen -- over the course of this year, we have seen Treasury make designations regarding activities and doing business with Iran. The United Nations has passed the strongest sanctions on Iran that we've ever had. We have our -- our allies in Europe are working on continuing to make progress. The Congress has weighed in, and I know that the Treasury will continue to work on designations so that we can increase, quite frankly, the pressure on the government of Iran to live up to its commitments and give up its nuclear program. And this is -- none of this stuff is a silver bullet. But all of it continues to make progress to give what we believe is far more than sufficient incentive to start to comply. QUESTION: That means you want the allies to mirror what the Congress has done in that regard? GIBBS: Well, look, I don't want to speak directly for them, but I know they continue to work on that. QUESTION: Financial regulatory reform, just briefly. The president hoped to sign it this week. It's now going over to next week (inaudible) till after next week's break. Is there a danger that you lose votes over that break? Are you confident that you'll have another Democratic senator back in place in time to get something done? GIBBS: Well, the next question -- to the last question, yes. Look, the -- obviously, the events of the passing of Senator Byrd certainly have delayed for the time being the passage of financial reform. I do think it's important that if you go back to January or February or even a few weeks ago, it wasn't -- it was a question of whether this was ever going to come to be. I don't think that's now up for any debate. It's just a matter of when. And I think when we -- when we get back, the president will -- or when the Senate and House get back, I think the president will very quickly have an opportunity to sign the strongest regulations dealing with the financial industry that we've seen put in place since right after the Great Depression. QUESTION: Admiral, very quickly, have you decided -- are you going to be going back down to the Gulf or have you decided where you can now be most effective at this point in this spill, that it's better used in Washington or it's better for you to be down in the Gulf area? ALLEN: I think it's been about a 50/50 split thus far, things going on in Washington this week having to do with the meetings with the Cabinet secretaries and B.P. officials regarding the transition of the -- for the systems we talked about earlier. I'll be down there next week. I'll be traveling around. I hope to get out to the Helix Producer as it's hooked up. But I'll -- I'll move back and forth. QUESTION: OK. And, Robert, can you give us an idea what the president will be doing over the holiday weekend? GIBBS: They -- when he returns tomorrow from the funeral, he and the family will travel to Camp David, and then be back for fireworks and such here on Sunday. We'll have more details, in terms of... QUESTION: Will he have guests on the lawn? GIBBS: Yes. QUESTION: Will we see the president tomorrow in the (inaudible)? GIBBS: Yes. Yes, we'll have guests there, yes. QUESTION: Can you talk about... GIBBS: Ethan will be here on... QUESTION: Like military or something? GIBBS: Yes. QUESTION: Can you talk about the Netanyahu visit on Tuesday and what it will involve, how public it will be? GIBBS: Right. Look, the president obviously looks forward to hosting the prime minister, who had to cancel a meeting, obviously, last time. I think they'll host -- discuss a series of important bilateral issues, 14:30:00 the implementation of Israel's recent policy changes in Gaza; regional security; our ongoing proximity talks; and the need and the hope to get quickly to direct talks. The visit, I think, is scheduled for the 6th, and we -- we do have a -- will have pool spray there, yes. QUESTION: Some Jewish groups are disappointed that the president hasn't been to visit Israel yet. Is anything along those lines in the works? GIBBS: None that I'm aware of. QUESTION: On immigration, one thing the president didn't mention in his speech this morning was a temporary guest worker program, which, obviously, was a big sticking point the last time around and something that business groups say must be part of any compromise now. Why didn't he address the idea? Does he support a temporary guest worker program that would allow immigrants to come here without being put on an eventual path to citizenship? 14:30:48 GIBBS: Well, I think what you just mentioned is -- are certainly part of the details that are ultimately going to have to be worked out because there are different ways -- if you go back into the debate in '05, '06, and even '07, there were different ways to structure guest worker programs. Some, as I think you just alluded to in your question, structured it in a way that, come here for a certain amount of time and then go back before coming into the process of potentially staying here. So obviously, that is certainly one of the aspects that have to be worked through. The president sat down with Senator Graham and Senator Schumer and applauded their framework in moving forward. And obviously, this is part of what would be important for Democrats, Republicans and the president to sit down and start working through. QUESTION: So he's open to different approaches? GIBBS: Well, I'm not going to close the president's options. What we need is a group on the other side that's willing and ready to have that meeting. QUESTION: For both of you, to get back to the House Republicans' report about the federal government's response, spelling aside, their bottom line is that they don't believe they can get -- they're getting straight answers from the government with regard to the positioning of assets, to the point where some are suggesting that the government make available GPS information about where things are down there. 14:32:22 ALLEN: We have put Coast Guard officers with every parish president. We have Coast Guard liaisons for Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Those liaisons are working down to the county level. I visited there earlier this week with the vice president. We met with Governor Crist in Florida. These officers are there to cut down on decision time, to deploy resources. We've had a tremendous response on vessels of opportunity that have signed up to get their boats out there. We are putting locating devices on that, providing tactical communications and integrating that with air surveillance. We have partnered with the First Air Force, and we've taken control of the airspace in the Gulf, especially the temporary flight restrictions zone over the wellsite, so we can integrate all that together to make it more effective. Any local leader down there who has a question on asset deployment and priorities just needs to turn to his Coast Guard liaison officer. QUESTION: Is it in a sense real-time information? ALLEN: Well, what ultimately what we're going to have is just displayed on a -- what we call a common operating picture. And anything that's (inaudible) a locating device can be seen on a website. And hopefully this data will become more available as we get it up and operating. QUESTION: Thank you, Robert. Question for the admiral and question for you. Admiral, when you spoke to us at the end of May, along with Ms. Browner, you mentioned that a science summit was going to be held the beginning of June at Louisiana State University. Have they released a report, a white paper, from that summit? Or can you summarize any of the results that came... (CROSSTALK) ALLEN: It is done. The report is out. If can follow up and tell you where that's at, I would be happy to do it. QUESTION: OK. And, Robert, recently Senator Durbin and Congressman Don Manzullo from the president's home state of Illinois wrote the Pentagon complaining about the bidding process for the contract. It seems as though IDT, a company in Belvidere, Illinois, had been asked to bid on a contract to make protective barriers for troops. And they were turned down and the Defense Logistics Agency promptly asked a British company, Hesco, to rebill (ph). They filed a complaint with the General Accounting Office and, as I said, two Illinois members of Congress have complained. Is this something the administration is following? GIBBS: I don't know if you've talked to DOD on this. I -- I have not seen the correspondence on this, but I'm happy to look into this with -- with DOD. QUESTION: Thank you, Robert. QUESTION: One for the admiral. You said that the onshore skimming activities have been significantly disrupted by this heavy weather. Does that mean that more oil than you would normally expect has been coming ashore in the last few days? And given the fact that this was a fairly, sort of, moderate storm as to what you might expect from hurricane season, has the disruption it's caused caused you to, sort of, reexamine the contingencies you might face if there was a more direct hit from a hurricane? ALLEN: Well, the surge we've had in and around Louisiana's been two to three feet, so there's some areas where the oil will probably be further in to the beaches or the marsh areas than it would be before. On the other hand, whether the -- it gets violent like that it has an emulsifying effect and actually breaks up the spill. I'm not sure they counterbalance each other that well. But we'll be out there and be able to assess that very, very quickly. As it relates to hurricane preparedness, this is something we've been working on for -- for well over two months. We understand there are going to be challenges associated with that, especially with evacuating the wellhead site and the production units that are out there. The number one priority will be safety of life and moving those people far enough ahead of the storm so they don't get involved with the evacuation of citizens. Our general timeline for dealing with a storm will start at about 120 hours away from when we predict gale force winds will be at the well site. QUESTION: Admiral Allen, the last time you -- you were here, I asked you a question about the dispersants and the oil, and you said over time it would biodegrade. And you said you would get back to me as to how long it would take for the biodegrading to occur. Do you have that timeline? ALLEN: We do. And if we didn't get back to you, it's my apologies. We'll get that to you. We have -- Jane Lubchenko and NOAA are the ones that are developing that information. We get it from them. And we'll make sure you get it. QUESTION: Do you remember any kind of roundabout time? ALLEN: So it would have to do with actually how the oil's been treated, the fate of the oil. Dispersed oil will biodegrade quicker. Undispersed oil will weather. And ultimately, it all biodegrades, part of the metabolic process of the Earth. It's a question of how fast it happens. QUESTION: What I was asking at the time, Van Jones, the former green czar here, said that it's about -- dispersants are not disappearing. And he said it goes down -- more toxins that go down to the bottom of the ocean. But you said over time it would -- it would biodegrade. ALLEN: Over time the oil will biodegrade. Yes, it will. It will. QUESTION: In maybe 10, 20 years, or... ALLEN: Oh, no. It's much sooner than that. And if we didn't get you the response, we'll get it to you. QUESTION: OK. And, also, Robert, on immigration, the work visa issue has been a contentious point for many, many, many years, even going back to Vicente Fox when he was president of Mexico. What is the president's stance on the work visa issue? GIBBS: I think this was one of the questions that we had earlier. Obviously, there are a number of different proposals that -- timelines, differences about how long you're here, whether you go back before you become part of the line. All of those are issues that would need to be worked through Democrats and Republicans. QUESTION: And what kind of safeguards would be -- what kind of safeguards will be put in place to make sure that some Americans will not be without a job for other people from other countries to get those jobs? GIBBS: Those are the types of things that have been addressed in previous legislation. Obviously, one of the things that the president worked on with the Senator Grassley was, as you get -- obviously, as you get work permitting done, you've got to create a database to ensure that there are not -- you're not -- you're not having undocumented workers and you don't have businesses that are hiring those. ALLEN: Once he closed down, there were 30-some vessels that would not have a place to bring their catch. The vice president spent almost two hours listening to them, talking to them. Some of them choose to try and stay in the fishery and fish where they can. Others want to come into the vessel of opportunity system where they get paid and then we use them to deploy boom and do the things out there that we're trying to do for spill response. And it's a little bit mixed about what they really want to do. Right now, a very small percentage are trying to still fish where you can fish. Most of them are opting to go to the vessel of opportunity program. QUESTION: Thank you. And, Robert, on health care reform, there are some reports -- there's some evidence that, as some of the provisions are getting ready to be rolled out that in some parts of the country, quite frankly, local offices, state, regional offices are not prepared to handle some of this. Have you -- have you heard these reports? Is this something that's on the radar screen? GIBBS: I have not -- I have not myself have heard it. I will -- I can certainly see if -- if any of the folks downstairs have. Obviously, we rolled out a new website today that allows consumers to get -- put themselves back in control of their own health care through a lot more transparency, at healthcare.gov, which -- which provides a ton of information for -- for consumers that are interested. I'll check on the specifics (ph). Thanks, guys. 14:42:44 END ROVING CUTS: 14:43:44 Pull from monitor pan to side of Allen and Gibbs at podium 14:45:03 WS head on 14:45:42 MS Allen listening - pull wide 14:47:09 pan over press to MS side shot of Allen and Gibbs at podium