Stearns Presses BP's CEO, Tony Hayward, on Dodging Questions — Transcript

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1. 0:02Again, thank you for allowing me to ask
2. 0:05these questions. Mr. Hayward, I've
3. 0:08watched this hearing and uh time and
4. 0:10time again, you've indicated this.
5. 0:14You've responded with this statement. I
6. 0:16can't give you a legitimate answer to
7. 0:17that question. Said it over and over
8. 0:19again. They've asked you for details you
9. 0:22didn't know. Did you bring anybody with
10. 0:24you who has the detailed information
11. 0:26that could help you answer a lot of
12. 0:28these questions?
13. 0:29Is there anybody else? I have I have a
14. 0:31technical expert with me because I don't
15. 0:33see you go back to that technical expert
16. 0:36and you just continue to say I just
17. 0:38can't answer that question. So my
18. 0:41question for you today is today
19. 0:44Thursday. Yes or no? It is Thursday.
20. 0:47Okay. Next question. The people of
21. 0:50Florida when I talk to them and they say
22. 0:52there's oil spilling on the
23. 0:55coast, would it be appropriate to say
24. 0:57that's because of BP's reckless
25. 0:58behavior? Yes or no? It is a consequence
26. 1:01of a big accident. No. Yes or no?
27. 1:03Reckless behavior or not? The there is
28. 1:06no evidence of reckless behavior. So
29. 1:07you're standing here, you're saying here
30. 1:09today that BP had no reckless behavior.
31. 1:11That's your position. Yes. I there is no
32. 1:14evidence of reckless behavior. Yes or
33. 1:16no? You're saying BP has had no reckless
34. 1:18behavior is what you're saying to us. I
35. 1:20have seen no evidence of reckless
36. 1:21behavior. Okay. So, you're on record
37. 1:23saying there's been no reckless
38. 1:24behavior. We had a hearing. Mr. McKay
39. 1:27was here. We had the CEO of Exxon,
40. 1:31Chevron, Kico Phillips, and Shell. We
41. 1:34asked some questions. Knowing what we
42. 1:36know today about the inconsistent well
43. 1:38pressure test readings, would you have
44. 1:40proceeded with withdrawing the drilling
45. 1:42fluid from the well? Every one of them
46. 1:44said no.
47. 1:46Then the next question was asked to
48. 1:48them about safety measures. Are there
49. 1:51safety measures that your company could
50. 1:52have taken to prevent this incident?
51. 1:54Every one of them said yes. So you're
52. 1:58here this morning saying your company
53. 2:00had no reckless behavior. Yet all your
54. 2:03peers, the CEO of Exxon, Chevron, Kico,
55. 2:06Phillips, and Shell all pointed out your
56. 2:09reckless behavior. Later on,
57. 2:11Hallebertton warned your company that
58. 2:13the well could have a severe gas flow
59. 2:16problem. Were you aware of
60. 2:17Hallebertton's warning? Yes or no? I was
61. 2:21not involved in any of the dis around
62. 2:23this. I mean, this is the same thing
63. 2:24you've been saying all day. What I want
64. 2:26to know is you in your position, has
65. 2:30anyone on your staff briefed you about
66. 2:32Halab Hallebertton warning your company
67. 2:35we could have a severe gas flow problem?
68. 2:38Were you ever notified or briefed on
69. 2:40this? Yes or no? No. Prior to the
70. 2:43incident. So, you're up at this top of
71. 2:45echelon and you didn't did you hear
72. 2:47about the emails that occurred later
73. 2:50that day? A BP official involved in a
74. 2:51decision who recognized the risks of
75. 2:55proceeding with insufficient
76. 2:56centralizers through caution to the wind
77. 2:58in an email just four days four days
78. 3:01before the disaster stating, "Who cares?
79. 3:04It's done. End of story. We'll probably
80. 3:06be fine." Did you know about that email?
81. 3:09I had no prior knowledge of this well
82. 3:12prior to the incident. What do you
83. 3:14think? In in light of what your four
84. 3:17peers have said dealing with safety,
85. 3:20dealing with the precautions with the
86. 3:23press pressure test reading and dealing
87. 3:25with Hallebertton, don't you think
88. 3:27there's reckless behavior indication
89. 3:30based upon I just if what I told you is
90. 3:32true, do you think BP has reckless
91. 3:35behavior? I believe all accidents are
92. 3:37preventable. The investigation will
93. 3:39determine how this accident occurred.
94. 3:41And so you're you're saying right now
95. 3:44based upon all the information I gave
96. 3:45you, you do not think BP had any
97. 3:48reckless behavior. That's your position
98. 3:50this morning, this afternoon. Is that
99. 3:51correct? Yes. That is I I have seen I
100. 3:53want you to say that you don't think BP
101. 3:55has reckless behavior. I have seen no
102. 3:57evidence of reckless behavior. Okay. All
103. 3:58right. Now, let's say you were on a ship
104. 4:01and you ran into the New Orleans and you
105. 4:04spewed all this oil and you killed 11
106. 4:07people. Do you think the captain of that
107. 4:09ship should be
108. 4:12fired? Has anyone in BP been fired
109. 4:15because of this incident? Anybody?
110. 4:18Not. Yes or no? No. So far, no people
111. 4:21have been fired. So your captain of the
112. 4:24ship runs into New Orleans, spews all
113. 4:26this oil because all this damage from
114. 4:28Alabama, Mississippi, Florida,
115. 4:30Louisiana, and no one's been fired.
116. 4:34Our investigation is ongoing.
117. 4:37So let's say the investigation goes for
118. 4:40three years. Does that mean you wouldn't
119. 4:42fire anybody?
120. 4:44As the investigation draws conclusions,
121. 4:46we'll take the necessary action. Okay?
122. 4:49So, in light of all the environmental
123. 4:50damage, the human damage, and just the
124. 4:53information from your peers saying that
125. 4:54you were indeed reckless, and this these
126. 4:58emails I've told you, you still are
127. 5:00going to stonewall us this morning, this
128. 5:02afternoon, and you're saying basically
129. 5:04we did nothing wrong, and we're going to
130. 5:05wait till the evidence to prove we
131. 5:08whether we did wrong or right. Is that
132. 5:10correct? I believe we should wait for
133. 5:12the conclusions of the various
134. 5:14investigations before we make decisions
135. 5:17based on those conclusions. Well, Mr.
136. 5:19Chairman, he did answer that today's
137. 5:20Thursday.