Reality Check: How Much Will BP Pay, and How Did Faisal Shazad Get Through Security?

AP

The president at first made it sound quite simple. BP has to clean up all the oil.

"BP was responsible. BP will be paying the bill," said Mr. Obama on April 30.

It also has to pay for the harm it might do. BP said it would finance the cleanup and promised to pay damages for what its CEO called "business interruption," presumably starting with the millions of dollar lost by a whole fleet of fishermen.

"What I said is what I mean," said BP CEO Tony Heyward. "All legitimate claims will be honored."

Special Section: Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Maybe BP will pay all claims, but in a one word, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said, "Baloney." With damages expected in the billions, Nelson pointed out by law BP is only required to pay economic damages of $75 million. Nelson asked the CEO about the limit.

"[Heyward] said that is something we will have to work out in the future," said Nelson.

All of a sudden, it's not so simple.

The White House began scrambling, hoping lawmakers will find a way raise liability to $10 billion.

"Our administration will work with Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to change that cap," said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

www.orkut.com

It wasn't even the biggest change of the week. Thanks to suspected Times Square bomber Faisal Shazad, we now know the No Fly list is the "no instant alarm" list. Shazad had been on the No Fly list for seven hours and still bought a ticket and still cleared security.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said the "TSA should have gone on red alert."

Congress is already asking why. If computers can instantly screen workers at the office, can reject a stolen credit card in seconds and raise the alerts that put innocent travelers through extra airport security -- including U.S. senators -- how could Shazad have been on that plane while also on the list of the most feared travelers?

Attorney General Eric Holder said, "There are things that we need to calibrate...in a different way."

Special Section: Terrorism in the U.S.

It turns out the airlines were only required to update the No Fly list every 24 hours.

Agents finally captured Shazad by catching his name on the final passenger manifest. In that sense the No Fly system worked, but the same officials who claimed success then ordered the airlines to update the No Fly every two hours, closing the time gap that Shazad slipped through.

Read about oil spill liability in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Read about the Oil Spill Trust Fund.

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Wyatt Andrews is a CBS News correspondent.

[Turbidite]

Is this a new economy move by CBS? Having a reporter switch topics in the middle of a story? Goofy and unprofessional are the words to be used here. Neither comment shed any light or news on either subject. You get a "D" (and I'm being generous)!

[polaral]

Not once did BP say they would refrain from bumping up pump prices. So, the question ought to be "How much will WE pay?" A corporation's only fudiciary obligation is to their stock holders, NOT to their consumers. Sad, but true.

[kenhamlett]

The cost of the oil spill is quite simple. If the executive says they will pay all legitimate claims, then that should be a waiver of the limits of the law. It is a specific agreement. He did not say "ALL" claims he said "all legitimate claims". That implies it was not an off the cuff remark but a reasoned offer.
It's just that simple. If the stockholders gripe then that is between them and management. He spoke for the company as he was hired to do .

[Overruled1]

It also implies he rehearsed what he was going to say in public.
I imagine the whole board probably had a training session to avoid admitting certain liabilities.

Boycott EXXON and British Petroleum

[polaral]

Right, boycott... Just like we did after the gas crisis in the 70's and following 9/11... You may as well ask a junkie to boycott herion. Instead of attacking Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush could have used the nation's anger and reslove to get us off the oil bandwagon. But NO... It's "Drill baby, Drill"! OPEC us eating out of their hands!

[troutndew]

BP won't pay, just like with Hurricane Katrina, they will raise the price
of GAS and OIL and make the customers pay. That's just not right. They should pay insurance like every other business. If a Restaurant in a fast food chain burns down, the chain don't raise the prices all over the world, they file an insurance claim. That is what the ENERGY companies should do, rather than have their customers pay the price.

[Overruled1]

That is exactly what they did in 1990. To this day Exxon has not paid a dime in liability. This is corruption at its finest, and I said so then, and I say so now.

You see with the 1990 law, our gas price went up 8 cents for it. So it is us that are paying for it, not any oil industry.

[Observer1504]

Sorry to tell those who have lost income due to the oil spill but any money that you sue for will take years to collect. The only people who will profit from the hundreds of lawsuits being filed are the lawyers.

[Overruled1]

Yes that is true. The economic stranglehold big oil will place in the region is like the mafia moving into your restaurant. They run a tab, never pay.