ABC News interviews BP exec Tony Hayward in his deep misery over his oil — Transcript

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1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:03so what about the dispersant you appear
3. 0:05to have seen there and also the quantity
4. 0:07of oil with the very top of BP the
5. 0:09executive surfaced today on the beaches
6. 0:11Jeffrey Kaufman was right there with him
7. 0:13and he's here now Jeffrey that's right
8. 0:15Diane Tony Hayward the executive the
9. 0:16chief executive of BP hasn't spoken for
10. 0:18several weeks well today he granted Us
11. 0:20exclusive access as he came here to see
12. 0:22the oil up
13. 0:25close we met BP's top executive at the
14. 0:27heliport in hom Louisiana to join him
15. 0:30for his first trip to the coast in a
16. 0:31week we're going to fight it sub Sea on
17. 0:35the surface and on the shore sounds like
18. 0:37you're you're referring to to Churchill
19. 0:39who I know you like to
20. 0:41quote I believe we're fighting a battle
21. 0:43a battle the enemy is clearly winning
22. 0:46from the sky Hayward gazed down on thick
23. 0:48brown oil that now scars the coast we're
24. 0:52ultimately in This Disaster Does the
25. 0:54Buck stop I'm focused on the response
26. 0:57but you won't say I mean this was BP's
27. 0:59well you won't simply say to me the buck
28. 1:02stopped with me I think I said that all
29. 1:04along when you took over this company
30. 1:06one of the quotes that's often
31. 1:07attributed to you is that you were going
32. 1:09to focus on safety like a laser what
33. 1:12happened I have every day for the last
34. 1:15four years but it's all gone now well it
35. 1:18it's clear that maybe it wasn't
36. 1:21sufficient I feel great sorrow for all
37. 1:23of this 30 minutes later we arrived at
38. 1:25fuson beach where oil is everywhere and
39. 1:28Hazmat teams are struggling to stay
40. 1:30ahead of it that's your oil I know I'm
41. 1:33gutted I'm absolutely
42. 1:35devastated it's something I never wanted
43. 1:37to see it's something we fought really
44. 1:39hard not to have happen you have said
45. 1:42that the gulf is a very big ocean it can
46. 1:44handle this do you still feel that way I
47. 1:46said that in the context of about a week
48. 1:48ago when at that time we were being
49. 1:50successful in keeping the oil off the
50. 1:51shore clearly uh the defenses of the
51. 1:54shore have been breached we're not far
52. 1:55from Grand Isle and there are signs
53. 1:58there saying shame on you BP you I
54. 2:02understand have had some death threats
55. 2:04and I spoke to somebody from Mobile
56. 2:05Alabama last night and I when he heard I
57. 2:07was talking to you he was just fuming
58. 2:09Furious and he said ask him what it
59. 2:11feels like to be the man ultimately
60. 2:13responsible for destroying all of this
61. 2:15well I share his frustration and anger
62. 2:19and we can't change the past but we can
63. 2:21do everything in our power to make the
64. 2:23right make the future better and that's
65. 2:25what we're going to
66. 2:27do and on two more points on the subject
67. 2:30of dispersant Tony Hayward told me they
68. 2:32will continue to use correx it despite
69. 2:34the controversy he's convinced uh it is
70. 2:36no more harmful than dish soap and as
71. 2:38for secretary Salazar's comments Diane
72. 2:41uh that he may push BP aside Tony
73. 2:43Hayward simply wouldn't rise to it he
74. 2:44said we're part of a joint effort we're
75. 2:46sticking to it he said dish soap again
76. 2:48he did he says it's he says the science
77. 2:50just isn't there all right Jeffrey well
78. 2:53as you know anger is also reserved for
79. 2:55Washington we're going to head there now
80. 2:56because on our drive here this morning
81. 2:58we saw a pickup truck with a hand
82. 3:00painted sign in the window that said
83. 3:02simply BP Plus the feds equals another
84. 3:05Katrina White House is feeling the Heat
85. 3:08and here's Jake
86. 3:09Tapper all right from sending cabinet
87. 3:12secretaries to the gulf to releasing a
88. 3:14photograph of the president on the phone
89. 3:16with GF Coast Governors to Bringing
90. 3:18Coast Guard Admiral fat Allen to the
91. 3:20daily briefing the White House has had
92. 3:22one message today we are on the case we
93. 3:25are going to be tireless in working to
94. 3:27do everything we can uh to support the
95. 3:29community everybody whose livelihoods
96. 3:31have been imperiled down in the region
97. 3:33we are going to stay on this and stay on
98. 3:35BP till this gets done and it gets done
99. 3:39the right way but the White House is
100. 3:41walking a fine and at times
101. 3:43contradictory line in recent days even
102. 3:45some of the president's strongest
103. 3:47supporters have expressed concern at his
104. 3:49lack of leadership in stopping the leak
105. 3:52one of the problems I have with the
106. 3:53administration is that they're not Tough
107. 3:55Enough they are risking everything but
108. 3:57us go along with BP strategy they have
109. 4:00and and that seemed like laxidasical on
110. 4:03this the administration seemingly
111. 4:05threatened to command Deere the
112. 4:06operation at the bottom of the sea to
113. 4:08take control from BP if we find that
114. 4:11they're not doing what they're supposed
115. 4:12to be doing uh we'll push them out of
116. 4:14the way appropriately but pushing BP out
117. 4:17of the way is not the position of
118. 4:19Admiral Allen the man in charge of the
119. 4:21federal response I I would say that's
120. 4:23more of a metaphor Allen today said it
121. 4:24makes no sense to get rid of BP's
122. 4:26expertise equipment and Personnel other
123. 4:29oil companies he's checked with would be
124. 4:31taking the same steps to push BP out of
125. 4:33the way would raise a question to
126. 4:34replace them with what Louisiana
127. 4:36Governor Bobby gindel isn't focused on
128. 4:38who's in charge he just wants help we've
129. 4:41been frustrated with a dinted effort to
130. 4:43date that is too often meant too little
131. 4:44too late for the oil hitting our Coast
132. 4:47so what's taking so long Admiral Allen
133. 4:49says simply the government doesn't have
134. 4:50everything it needs to deal with what he
135. 4:52called an unprecedented anomalous crisis
136. 4:56Diane all right check it