good news from the bottom of the gulf of mexico, bp says it has permanently capped its ruptured oil well. tests confirmed that the seal from the bottom kill operation is holding. it s been nearly five months since the first drop of oil spilled following that deadly explosion in the gulf. admiral thad allen is the man overseeing the efforts and the man who ultimately pronounced the well dead. great to see you this morning. thanks so much for joining us. there has been so much mistrust in the gulf both of bp and of the government. what assurances, admiral, can you give people along the gulf coast there that this well is, indeed dead? it s the last we re going to hear from it? well, john, we followed a very deliberate process. and, in fact, we stretched the time line out to make sure we did not take any risk at all that the well integrity would be compromised and that we did everything possible to make sure there d be no hydrocarbons or oil in the gulf.
townsend and nic robertson for this. fran, you re a for tmer meland security adviser. is there any value it sounds idealistichy but learninghy alawlaki has gone from a scholar to a radicalterrorist? of course there s some interesting in understanding that. i musttwell you that has far outweighed by the threat this man represents. he s not new to intelligence and law enforcement officials. they have been tracking him for the betrte part of the last nine years. he has playedcr an increasingly operational role, as you heard from tom fuentes and i disagree with tom. look, he is a veryeal and persistent threat. he is among the leaders in the and we have a la solemn duty and obligation to protect the american people from future attacks when we know where they re coming from and he s one of those places and so he is an absolutely legitimate national security target for a caure or kill operation. this was the obama administration s call to turn him into a military target, not
from tom fuentes, ani disagree with tom. look, he is a very real and persistent threat. he is now among the leaders in the arabian peninsula, and we have a duty, a solemn duty and obligation to protect the american people from future attas when we know where they re coming from. d he s one of those places. and so he is an absolutely legitimate national security target for capture or kill operation. this was the obama administration s call to turn him into a military target, not the bush administration, which you worked for, fran. is it a tough call? a u.s. citizen we re talking about. it s allri- you re absolutely right, drew. t and it is always a tough call. there s an entire process that one goes through, weighing this matter. and lawyers are involved to make sure there s sufficient evidence that he isn imminent and real threat to the american people. but look, on al awlaki i don t think it s a close call. i think it s pretty clear that he warrants and i think the administration
somewhere to shore to begin their investigation. slow going for sure. reporter: yep, it sure is. and once they get this done, they can begin the bottom kill operation. that s something we ve heard about all summer long. it could be performed as early as next week. get this thing sealed up permanently. over and dovenlt thank you very much. let s go now to the tops in flops. leaders and losers in today s list of number ones. first of the worst. motoring madness puts drivers on a collision course. washington, d.c., topping a list of the worst drivers. all-state finds d.c. drivers more than 95% more likely to get in a wreck than the average driver. he s the man behind pace book. for that, he tops the new vanity fair 100 list. he is known for his ability to recite homer from memory.
proceed with the bottom kill operation. it s an amazing thing, like performing surgery. it s not something they can rush. they dig a little bit, pull back and reassess and proceed. we hope by the time we get to this weekend they can finally finish up with the bottom kill and there s really no one that will be happier to have that over and done with than the mayor. we have with us robert craft, mayor 6 gulf shores. what will it mean for your community? it will be wonderful to have the community and the world know the problems are over from the standpoint of new oil coming to shore. reporter: with the oil coming ashore, i know you had some when tropical depression 5 came through the area, what does it mean to your business? when the well cass capped, you saw people coming back. is it too late for many communities along the gulf coast? we re clean and ready. the water is clear for swimming.