News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-05-28/news-roundup-hour-1
President Barack Obama discusses the response to the BP oil spill, during a phone call with Gulf Coast governors in the Oval Office, May 24, 2010
Pete Souza/Official White House Photo via Flickr
The Friday News Roundup. B.P. attempts to cap its leaking oil well. The president announces a moratorium on deep water drilling. And the Senate takes up the future of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Susan Page
Washington bureau chief for "USA Today."
Juan Williams
NPR news analyst, FOX News political analyst, and author of numerous books, including "Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It."
Sheryl Gay Stolberg
White House correspondent, "The New York Times."
News Roundup Extra
The panelists discuss this week's vote in the House of Representatives to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell;" what may be ahead for the Senate vote; and how attitudes towards gays in the military have changed since the early days of the Clinton administration:
Critics of the Obama administration this week mounted allegations that the White House had approached Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa, 7th District), who beat Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa) earlier this month in Pennsylvania's primary election with a job offer in the administration if he chose not to run against Specter. The White House has denied any wrongdoing; today new reports emerged that the White House may have asked former President Bill Clinton to intervene with Sestak prior to the primary:
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Estimates of the oil flow rate in the BP oil spill are raised again. Is it possible that, compounding early under-estimates, the spill rate has actually increased over time?
- kara
I guess it's too much to hope for, but it'd be nice if the cliche question "Is this Obama's Katrina?" could be left unspoken.
Oh the hysteria? Diane, the coral reefs in the Florida Keys are mostly gone due to septic systems, boat groundings and the tourists, hotels and divers who have reduced the quality of the water there. Corals require absolutely pristine clear water and those conditions haven't existed for decades now. In WWII over 650 ships, including tankers were sunk in the Gulf and S. Atlantic coastal waters of the USA. A lot of oil, fuel and pollutants were introduced and those wrecks continue to leak today. (Read Michael Gannon's book Operation Drumbeat about this.)
The media seem to be babes in the woods regarding the Gulf waters. The Gulf has an annual "dead spot" caused by the pollutants draining from the Mississippi (pesticides, heavy metals and oil). In some cases, oil leaking into the "dead spot" isn't really too bad!
I live in Florida. We don't want oil on our beaches. However, the media behave as if oil is touching a pristine area for the first time. Educate listeners about the 70 year tragedy in Gulf pollution before we put all the blame on BP please!
Even if you are not an environmentalist, I believe most people are horrified by the devastion caused by the BP Oil Spill disaster. I think we can assume that this will hit all the Gulf Coast areas from LA to FL. Is there anything the average person can do to help? Are there any groups contemplating raising funds to help withe the cleanup? I feel so helpless.
I have not heard anything for last 6 weeks about the security of off shore oil rigs. If I was wanting to disrupt and damage the U.S. targeting oil rigs with planes or boats full of explosives would seem to do the trick. Are we ready to defend these open targets?
Jason Ferrer
Carrollton, TX
I am an African-America independent that votes democrat. I don't agree with repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. I played college football and was a team co-captain. Having gays serve openingly would affect the cohesiveness and chemistry of the organisation. I am 100% sure it would negatively affect the organisation. As a football player, I may have showered with a gay guy, but I didn't know about it. Had I known, it would have not happened. The conversation in the locker room and chemistry of team would have been negatively impacted.
A friend of mine has posted on FB that someone she knows was involvled in the gigantic Arabia spill years back and they used tankers to suck up 80% of the spill!! Why are we not using tankers in the Gulf? Or all the other ideas that people have come up with?
Aren't oil and gas workers every unionized? It seems that workers in such a dangerous industry would need unions to protect them.
I just wanted to add that I didn't appreciate the mocking laughter over Mr. Zuckerberg's age. Just because he's young (26), being surprised that he's accomplished so much is extremely offensive.
I'm 27 and an avid listener of this program. That particular section of this show made me feel very unwanted.