instead, telling cnn, they are just beginning phase one of their long-term restoration plan. our jim acosta is live in new orleans this morning. jim, it s good news, indeed, that bp may be pumping cement down to that wellbore today. reporter: it absolutely is, john. you ll have to forgive the folks down here in louisiana, they re not popping open the champagne just yet. even though the national incident commander, thad allen, has given bp the go-ahead to go ahead and put cement down into that well, you would think that would be greeted with optimism down here. but i have to tell you, for people down here in the gulf coast of louisiana. this has become a question of who to trust. government officials who say all of that oil is disappearing out on the gulf. or the local people down here who say it s still coming ashore. yes. the people of louisiana have seen the latest video. mostly clear blue waters in the gulf of mexico. and, yes, they ve heard the latest government report. all but r
wasn t. does that mean a significant new core group of americans believes he s not eligible to be president? cnn polling director keating holland doesn t think so. he says those who think mr. obama probably wasn t born in america are not so committed. they re probably not obama fans. it s conceivable they might wind up voting for obama, it s conceivable they might end up voting for other democrats as well. reporter: but holland says it s fuelled by some like rush limbaugh who aired it on his show this week. i asked steve rothenburg what happens if the tepid voters stay believes in the president s american birth. what does it mean for him from 30,000 feet? well, look, his re-election date is still a number of years away. these people didn t support him before, they re not going to support him again. he just needs a majority.
well despite all the proof disputing their theory there s a new cnn poll finding that a lot of americans still believe that president obama is not a natural-born u.s. citizen. brian todd is taking a look at the numbers and laying out the facts this morning. reporter: there s no credible dispute. officials in hawaii released a copy of president obama s birth certificate. it was authenticated by the state s republican governor. a honolulu hospital posted newspaper announcements of his birth. cnn and other news outletters have thoroughly debunked the rumors. and the white house has squarely addressed those who doubt that mr. obama was born in the u.s. i have news for them and all of us, the president was born in honolulu, hawaii. reporter: but despite the overwhelming evidence, a quarter of americans remain skeptical. a new cnn research corporation poll shows 11% says president obama was definitely not born in the u.s. another 16% saying he probably
smart and suffered a lot of abuse while in the military. we are live at the pentagon with details. end of a disaster drawing near. right now bp is gearing up for the next. with so much optimism beneath the gulf hear why so many residents along the gulf remain worried. a virtual strip search. we were told the full-body scans security checkpoints would not be stored. now comes word the fed were doing just that. a live report with details. the a.m. fix blog is up and running. a lot of people reacting to prop 8 decision. you can join in and go to cnn.com/amfix. there s new details ee mrnlging about the 22-year-old army private that s accused of leaking a mountain of private intelligence from the afghanistan war. bradley manning, opinioned and smart. the former hacker who tipped off the pentagon about manning had received a text message from the army private back in may
much depends on the dynamics in the next couple of years, if the republicans take over the house. reporter: in their quest for that, some candidates are often getting slapped down by federal are ep cans. targeting comments made by j.d. hayward. and until president obama signs his name and in fact has the records revealed, the questions will remain. the only difference between these people only one is run for the u.s. senate. reporter: hayworth has since back tracked on that, as have senator david bitter and others who have voiced solidarity with the birther movement. as for those with the possible primaries in the midterms they certainly don t want to be identified as being part of that movement. brian todd, cnn. coming up at 33 minutes after the hour, so, remember,