Static Kill A Success, According to Officials

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

“Static kill,” an attempt by the Joint Oil Spill Response Team to plug the Macondo deepwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, has effectively stopped the leak, according to Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander.

“We now have equalized … the hydrostatic pressure of the seawater with the pressure inside the capping stack,” said Allen during a press briefing at the White House Wednesday. Allen added that he is confident, “that there will be no oil leaking into the environment.”

“We have significantly improved our chances to finally kill the well with the relief wells,” Allen said.

BP released a statement earlier in the day calling the success, “a significant milestone.”

Although the mile-deep well off the coast of Louisiana has not leaked a significant amount of oil in almost three weeks, thanks to a “stacking cap” that was placed on the leak on July 15th, many are elated that the response command has made such a crucial step in sealing the well off for good.  President Obama told a conference of AFL-CIO union leaders in Washington on Wednesday, “The long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end.”

The static kill began as a series of tests Tuesday afternoon, with heavy drilling mud being pumped from about 3 pm CDT until 11 pm CDT through a maze of equipment until the pressure inside the well equalized with the pressure on the sea floor, according to a statement by BP.

Workers are attempting to determine whether to follow the mud with a concrete cap for added security, or to simply move ahead with the relief wells. Either way, Allen told reporters, the next step is to complete the relief wells, as the static kill is only the preliminary portion of the final end to the leak. 

“This job will not be complete until we finish the relief well,” said Allen. 

Sherrod Puts Ball In Obama's Court

Former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee Shirley Sherrod, forced to resign this week after a video was leaked to the press that appeared to show her making racially biased remarks, told ABC’s Good Morning America today that she is not sure whether she has the full support of President Barack Obama.

“I can’t say that the President is fully behind me,” Sherrod told anchor George Stephanopoulos. “I would hope that he is…I would love to talk to him,” she added.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters yesterday that he acted alone in making the decision to fire Sherrod. However, she told Stephanopoulos this morning that this was not the case.

“The first call I received said, ‘We’re putting you on administrative leave’….The next call was, ‘Shirley, we’re going to have to ask you to resign.’ And then, ‘The White House wants you to resign.’”

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a formal apology to Sherrod, and new reports suggested that the President was putting pressure on Vilsack to offer Sherrod her job back, which he did.

White House Apologizes to Sherrod

Today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs apologized to former USDA official Shirley Sherrod “on behalf of the administration,” and said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack would also apologize. Sherrod had been ousted based on an edited video clip that portrayed her as being racist. Gibbs refused to speculate on whether or not Sherrod would get her job back.

A lot of people were involved in this situation and acted without having all the facts, Gibbs said. He offered Sherrod an apology on behalf of the administration.  “A disservice was done,” for which we apologize.

Sherrod has stated that the someone from the White House urged her to resign, but Gibbs said that he knows of no conversations from the White House. “The White House was informed but not consulted,” Gibbs said.

The President was briefed yesterday mid-morning and has been getting updates about it throughout the day. According to Gibbs, this was a decision solely made by the Department of Agriculture. When asked about Secretary Vilsak and whether his job is safe, Gibbs said
that he is doing a terrific job at the USDA.

Gibbs also talked about living in a culture where you want fast responses. The rapid advancement of technology has also created the world that we are living in today, and this ties in with politics, race and media events, he added, calling the situation a “teachable moment.”

Additional reporting by Philip Bunnell

Israel Will Conduct "Credible Investigation;" BP To Pay Gov't $69 Mil, Says Gibbs

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs delivered remarks Thursday afternoon on Israeli-Palestinian relations, the Deepwater Horizon Disaster, and immigration reform.

Gibbs was questioned on the heated and controversial conflict between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian supporters on the Gaza flotilla Monday. He addressed the death of the pro-Palestinian American citizen who was killed in the attack.

"We have called for... a full and credible investigation so that we have all the facts about what happened; that is tremendously important."

However, Gibbs later conceded that, "It's an Israeli investigation ... that could include international participation," leaving some questioning the accountability of the report.

When asked about the government's response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf, Gibbs assured reporters that the Federal government will, "hold BP responsible throughout this process."

"The Federal government will, at some point today, send...a bill for 69 million dollars of expenses incurred up to this point to BP," Gibbs said.

Gibbs expressed the President's position that states' individual handling of immigration law has been the result of a lack of action on the part of the Federal government to reform its own laws, but stated that he doesn't think the nation can, "deal with comprehensive immigration reform and the circumstances around the border without dealing with Arizona."

The Press Secretary touted Senator John McCain (R-AZ) as being "instrumental" in bringing immigration reform into the spotlight and stated that he doubts the U.S. can develop comprehensive immigration reform legislation without McCain "doing what he did" in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Notes From Today's White House Press Briefing

White House Press Briefing
With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs


NORTH KOREA ATTACK

Gibbs said the US is involved in reviewing South Korea’s claim that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its vessels back in March. Gibbs says the White House “strongly condemned” the attack when it happened, and said the administration is in consultations with the South Koreans and other nations, as well as the UN Security Council. Gibbs called the attack an “act of aggression” and said if in fact, North Korea was behind the attack, their actions will have isolated them even more from the rest of the world. Gibbs said the US is committed to South Korea’s defense. Gibbs called the alleged attack “extremely troubling.”


OIL SPILL

Gibbs said that the EPA supports BP’s use of an underwater dispersant to deal with the oil that is spilling 5,000 feet below the sea surface in the Gulf. Gibbs said that POTUS, however, would like BP to make its clean up efforts a bit more transparent. Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to send a letter to BP putting pressure on the company to speed up its clean-up efforts and informing the company that it will be held liable for all clean-up costs associated with the giant spill. Gibbs said Coast Guard Commander Adm. Thad Allen told him that he hasn’t seen a situation as bad as this in over 30 years. Gibbs said Allen has agreed to stay on as the White House’s point man on the spill even after he retires later this year. Gibbs said he wasn’t bothered that BP CEO Tony Hayward will be traveling to Europe to attend meetings. Gibbs refuted the notion that BP cares more about preventing a public relations crisis then fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Gibbs repeated the White House’s assertion that BP will be forced to pay for all the cleanup fees. “They will get the bill,” he said. “The taxpayers won’t.” Gibbs said everything that can be done to stop the leak is being done. Gibbs also said that the five Gulf state Governors have been participating in morning conference calls about the spill every day.


SESTAK/WHITE HOUSE RUMOR

Gibbs refused to address reports that the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in the administration earlier this year to keep him from running for the Senate against Arlen Specter. Said Gibbs, “I don’t have anything to add to what I said in March.”


FINANCIAL REFORM

Gibbs said POTUS believes in putting strong rules in place in the financial system, and said that doing so would improve the condition of the country’s economy as a whole. Gibbs said financial reform would directly benefit folks on Main Street struggling to either keep their jobs or find new ones. When asked about the Senate bill, Gibbs said, “we’re coming to the end of the process.” Gibbs said that the mid-term elections this November will be a partial referendum on financial reform.


PRIMARIES

Gibbs said the primaries proved that the Democratic Party is truly the ‘big-tent’ party. Gibbs downplayed the fact that newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D) ran away from POTUS during his primary race, saying he doubted that there are many Democrats in Congress who agree with everything POTUS does or supports. Gibbs said the primaries showed that Republicans are “having an internal battle with themselves.” On the topic of Arlen Speter, Gibbs said only that the GOP kicked Specter out of their party after his years and years of service to them. He said the same for Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett, and agreed with the belief that this is a tough year for any incumbent in Congress. Gibbs said VPOTUS connected with Specter earlier today. Gibbs also said that Rand Paul’s remarks about not voting for the Civil Rights Act “should not have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”


SALAHIS

Gibbs was asked about a report which alleged that the Salahis were apparently stopped by Secret Service in their limo near the White House last night, and he responded that once again, they were not on the guest list. “I shook my head...once again,” he said while explaining that he was aware of the report. “It seems like their 15 minutes of fame were up six months ago,” he added.


CALDERON VISIT

Gibbs more or less sideswiped a question about POTUS’s feelings on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s remarks yesterday on the recently-passed immigration law in Arizona. Gibbs said only that both Presidents share the view that they disagree with the law. Gibbs did not specifically say whether or not POTUS agrees with Calderon’s call for a flat-out ban on assault weapons, Gibbs said he had not heard of a report yesterday that an elementary school student told FLOTUS, who was visiting the schoolchildren, that her mother was an illegal immigrant.


IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

Gibbs called Iran’s agreement with Turkey and Brazil over its uranium stockpile a “step in the right direction....assuming Iran keeps up its end of the deal.” Gibbs said the proposal between the three nations still does not fully address all the concerns that the P5 have about Iran’s nuclear program. Gibbs added that the agreement is less than what Iran agreed to eight months ago.