robert gibbs about that he's scheduled to have a briefing with the reporters at 2:00 p.m. but eric hold her a briefing earlier today and was asked about this charge. and he basically said, that the criminal investigation is walled off from the separate issue of compensation. now we obviously need to press and see exactly how it is walled off and where they see those distinctions. but they are not backing away at all in saying that eric hold saer critical player in all of these negotiations and they're not going to keep him out of it. very interesting, the white house wants to jump on what they see as a big miscue by republican, joe barton. because the heat has been on president obama if all of a sudden they can shift some of the attention away to the hill, they see it as a political bonus. >> the heat is obviously going to be intense. let's go to louisiana right now. cnn's ed lavendera has been watching this proceeding with the folks down there. as much as the washington intrigue excites folks in the beltway. i suppose the folks down there want to see the oil go away down here. >> that's what everyone wants to see, the oil spill controlled and cleaned up in the weeks and months ahead. i must say, the expectations for what people are expecting to hear from tony hayward are extremely low and i guess based 0en what we've seen so far this kind of plays into why people kind of feel that way. we're going to talk to the manager, we're here in dot's diner in louisiana. how frustrating is it to hear tony hayward say over and over again, i don't recall, i didn't know what was going on. is that frustrating? >> tgs frustrating. whether they were negligent or not, there's a lot of people that are suffering for it, their livelihood. i mean, they just -- they've got to be some kind of accountability and they need to start the process. it's been 60 days and they're not seeing much help. >> i imagine every morning when you come to work this is the talk. >> oh, yeah. >> it went from the super bowl real quick to the oil spill. it's been like two months now. >> and how has that changed here in the last few weeks? anger? did it start off different way? >> anger because it seems like there's not a lot being done about it. i mean it's just, it's a slow process. and they're not seeming to get anywhere. and the coastline, the wildlife, these people depend on to live to survive off the gulf coast. and they can't pay their bills. they're not, not getting money or reimbursed in any way to continue on. i mean, they're just now recovering from katrina. and now they're hit with this. >> do you think we'll hear more from tony hayward? or are you expecting any kind of answers that might kind of help satisfy what you'd like to hear? >> i think it's just going to be that they're sorry and it was an accident. and whether it was or it wasn't, they need to start some action and do something about it. >> a lot of frustration i think with the clean-up process as well now are you sensing that starting to set in among people? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. yeah. >> what do they say? >> because it doesn't seem like there's, they're doing enough. i guess or being proactive on the situation. it just -- kind of like a waiting game. >> and i imagine every morning you come here and you see people every day, you're seeing firsthand how directly people are affected and how devastated people are. >> yeah, absolutely. these people, i mean to eat and live and have a roof over their heads and electricity, i mean they -- where are they going to get their money from now? you know, they're not -- >> thanks so much, melissa. wolf, kind of a good sense, we're talking to several people here this morning and kind of what melissa said, the expectations of what they expected tony hayward here to say is actually kind of falling exactly based on what we've seen so far, falling right in line with what they want. they know it was perhaps an opportunity to win over some hearts here and convince some people that bp was on the right track. but based on what we're hearing so far, that doesn't seem to be getting through. wolf? >> tony hayward, so far doesn't have a whole lot to say, except expressing regret, apology, contrition. yesterday they did commit $20 billion to help in the recovery and another $100 million to help with the unemployed oil workers. so that is clearly something that bp is doing as opposed to saying. let's go back to dana bash up on the hill. >> we've got the ranking republican, michael burgess again with us. you started out your questioning by distancing yourself from something that your republican colleagues said, which he, he made an apology to bp. why was that necessary? >> mr. barton made it clear his apology was on the part of himself, not the party, not the congress. but i did feel it was important to make certain that everyone knows that not every member of the committee feels that mr. hayward was owed an apology. mr. hayward was the one in charge, the men who were on the well that could have caused that well to stop production before the accident happened, mr. hayward was the one who ultimately could have made that call. and didn't. and for that reason, i don't feel he's owed an apology at all. i don't like the appearance of what happened at the white house yesterday, that's a separate issue and i hope our committee will be involved in the oversight of that process as well. >> some democrats are already saying that what mr. barton did was politically tone deaf to apologize to bp. do you agree? >> i can't comment on that. >> one last question. how did you feel about what you got out of tony hayward? i sensed a lot of frustration from members of the committee on both sides of the aisle that he wasn't answering the questions. >> he's clearly not answering questions. and yeah, you understand the legal implications for some of the answers that he gives. but at the same time, we're all here trying to get answers. as he pointed out, there are many other wells that they have going on in the gulf right now. that's one of the things that concerns me, mr. hayward, is how can you assure us that those wells aren't the potential danger that the deepwater horizon was? >> thank you very much. i know you have to go for a vote. thank you for stopping. so wolf, very interesting subplot here. maybe actually it's the big plot that's going on. you just heard, that was the republican who started out, the top republican on the committee started out his questioning to distance himself from joe barton who of course used his time at the beginning to apologize to bp as he called the $20 billion fund a slush fund. and said that it really from his perspective, stuff that happened inside the white house with the attorney general there. so very, very interesting dynamic not necessarily expected as to what was and is an investigative hearing into what happened in the days and weeks leading up to the explosion of the deepwater horizon rig. >> tony hayward, dana is going to have a little more, less than an hour now to regroup with his advisers and see what strategy, what he's going to be saying when he comes back at the top of the hour. we'll have extensive coverage obviously of that as well. dana, thanks very much. we'll take, we'll continue to watch what's going on here in washington. but ali velshi is standing by on the gulf coast now. >> that was a bit like some of the food i eat sometimes, a lot of empty calories. there was some expectation that there might be some good discussion there. as dana pointed out, the number of times that tony hayward, the ceo of bp said, i cannot recall, i was not there when that decision was made, i cannot give that answer -- i have to say, wolf, we're waiting after the recess for more to happen this afternoon. but one can only hope it gets a little more satisfying than it's been so far. >> it's true, ali -- he's going to have to come up with some answers. it's not enough for him to say, i don't know, i wasn't involved in the meeting. i have no recollection. he's the ceo of this company. he's been involved for years at bp. he's got to have better answers than that. but the point that ed henry made and others have made, he's been lawyered up. they've got a lot of excellent lawyers advising bp right now. there's a criminal investigation under way. anything he says right now could be used against bp if there are criminal or civil lawsuits that they have to face. so that's one of the issues that they're dealing with. >> it's not a pr win for them today. remember years ago when we were both covering the collapse of american companies under suspicion of activities by their ceos. and then laws came in, regulation, fd and the sarbanes-oxley bill to say if you're the ceo of a company, it's no longer acceptable on a financial side of things, to say you weren't there or you didn't know. when you sign the financials of that company, you've got to agree that you're the boss. that doesn't apply to other sorts of decisions in companies. and this is exactly why. it's these kinds of things that frustrate people who say, if you're the boss, if you're at the top. accountability, whether it's the president of the united states or the president of bp, these are very, very big concerns and it's a lot of what i've been hearing down here in the gulf, wolf, from people who are saying, we want to know who's the boss, who's taking charge and why this is going to be different the next time. you don't get that, if you don't get answers. >> and it's not just the ceo and the top executives. members of the board are being held accountable as well when things go wrong as a result of the legislation that became the law of the land. >> hopefully you can get something in the next hour that's more satisfying than the empty calories you're going to be back with when the testimony continues and we'll take it over for a little while. here's where we're going with today's show. nearly two months into the gulf oil disaster, bp's top executive, wolf and i were just talking about it, tony hayward gets grilled on capitol hill. tony hayward has apologized for the 11 lives lost and the gusher that continues to spew uncertainty for an entire region. lawmakers want to know if the company puts profit over safety. along the gulf, my firsthand look at efforts to keep the oil from reaching shore, i headed out with the coast guard to see how they are burning some of the oil off the surface of the gulf of mexico. and as the world cup captures the world's attention, a soccer ball that's not just for kicking around. it is also designed to provide light for children in nations like south africa. you'll meet the harvard grad who is created it right here. all right. it's day 59. tony hayward, the ceo of bp getting hammered in congress. let me show awe little bit of what was just going on. first of all, by the way, i'm going to tell you, josh levs is going to join us and we're going to talk about what's happening in the gulf of mexico in terms of siphoning. but tony hayward is before congress, testifying. he opened with some very short, contrite testimony. he's not come across as a particularly emotional fellow. he started with some short testimony and then the q&a started. and that's where it started to get hot. now this is just a day after bp committed to $20 billion to put $20 billion into a slep separately-administered fund to deal with compensation and claims that arise out of the spill. now this morning, when the congressman started talking, there was a real shocker right out of the gate. republican representative joe barton of texas referred to the deal that was made yesterday, for the $20 billion, you will remember, a couple of nights ago, president obama made a speech from the oval office in which he said he is going to ask bp to put aside a fund administered by someone else, for compensation. so what happened then is the chairman of bp comes into the white house, there's a big meeting and next thing, bp has agreed to the whole deal. joe barton called that a shakedown. he said the attorney general was looking into criminal investigation of bp and knowing that was happening for the president to make that demand amounted to a $20 billion shakedown. listen to what joe barton had to say about it? >> i'm ashamed of what happened in the white house yesterday. i think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what i would characterize as a shakedown. in this case, a $20 billion shakedown. with the attorney general of the united states, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the interests of the american people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that's unpress deathed in our nation's history. it's got no legal standing. and which i think sets a terrible precedent for the future. >> just for a little context, joe barton is from texas, he's been a friend of the oil industry because he believes it brings a lot of wealth to his district. here's the response from democrat ed markey to joe barton's comments, listen to this. >> not only is the compensation fund that was created yesterday at the white house in a agreement reached between bp and president obama not a slush fund and not a shakedown. rather, it was the government of the united states working to protect the most vulnerable citizens that we have in our country right now. the residents of the gulf. it is bp's spill, but it is america's ocean. and it is american citizens who are being harmed. >> okay, that's not where it ended. before tony hayward, the ceo of bp even started talking, he was heckled. heckler came up, not entirely uncommon in these sorts of things. dana bash was telling us as an unusual amount of security, more son that i would typically see for a ceo at congress. but here's a little of what was happening then. >> ma'am -- ma'am -- [ inaudible ] >> they did, this is typically what happens. they ask somebody to be remoofd. they took a little bit of a recess, then the cross-examination begins. as it always is at these house testimonies, the stuff really gets going when the cross-examination starts. i want to show you, an exchange between bart stupak, congressman bart stupak and bp's ceo, tony hayward. >> you're the ceo of this company. you said you were here to answer the questions of the american people. you were an exploration manager, exploration manager with bp. you were the director of bp's exploration. you were vice president of bp's exploration and production. you hold a ph.d. from the university of edinborough. based on -- may 12th hearing, the may 25th memo, our june 14th letter to you, based on all of those facts, have you trying to tell me you have not reached a conclusion that bp really cut corners here? >> i think it's too early to reach conclusions with respect, mr. chairman. the investigations are ongoing, they've identified seven key areas. and when they're complete -- >> every one of those seven key areas, sir, dealt with saving time and saving money and accepting the risk. so if we use your own words, if you're going to hold bp accountable, then we have to manage the risk. shouldn't leadership at bp be held accountable here? >> there is no doubt that i've focused on safe, reliable operations. we've made major changes in everything we do over the last three years. we changed people -- >> what changes have you made since april 20th when the bp deepwater horizon exploded? what changes were made then? >> based on what we know so far, we have made changes with respect to the testing and evaluation of blow-out preventers. we've made changes with respect to insuring that people who are likely to be dealing with well control are up to date and fully validated for well control procedures. and as we learn more about what happened here, we will continue to make changes. >> okay, that's sort of been the tenor of the discussion. we'll continue to follow that they're on a break right now i hope they get a little more done, when we come back. there's a lot being done in the gulf of mexico right by where i am now. in fact, yesterday i spent the day out there with the coast guard and with the team that are burning the oil off the surface of the gulf of mexico. i have seen fires in my life. i have seen oil in my life. i have never seen anything like this. when we come back, i'm going to show you some pictures you are not going to forget. 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[ female announcer ] eggland's best. better taste -- and now even better nutrition -- make the better egg. frustration by so many people that not enough is being done, the hole hasn't been capped yet. they're just needs to be more done. well there is a lot going on right now. outside of the hole that is leaking all the oil, there is a lot of oil clumped up around the area. you know some of it is washing onshore. but some of it is sort of within three to 12 miles of the site of the deepwater horizon disaster. and that is being pooled and burned. they've determined that that's the most efficient way to get rid of it because if not, it washes up on to shore, kills animals, affects wildlife, affects fishing. although a lot of that is already done. i went out with coast guard, the federal supervisor of this effort. it's a private effort that uses contractors and fishermen who are not working, i spent a fascinating day watching these fires burning off the oil. let me share it with you. what we're going to be witnessing is a controlled burn. we know they've been able to burn some of the oil off a little earlier today. we'll evaluate what the situation is when we get there. this is duly oil that you're seeing on the surface of the water. our fishing vessels come along, we collect it. when we get an appropriate amount of oil in the boom we will bring an ignition boat over and we will ignite it. >> that's what you want to see. that's -- >> it is, we call those our megaburns or our very successful burns. >> if you follow this thing up, and see it up to there, it's like a weather system being created there. and if you see the bottom of the burn, the smoke is white, that's the steam. >> that's the steam from the adjacent water, yes. >> you'll see as we come up, there are shrimpers on either side of the fire, that's where the boom is connected. we have them pulling a u-configuration. they gather the oil into the boom. and they just keep working real slow. >> they corral the oil basically that is then set on fire. >> today we're averaging two to 5,000 bar