Read more on the oil spill at NOLAUpdate: Watch video of Obama's remarks here.
Watch BP America's Lamar McKay's remarks on This Week here.
Update: Standing in the pouring rain, Obama essentially said this could be a huge ecological catastrophe and that every federal resource is being put into stopping the leak and mitigating the spill. Obama reminded everyone that BP is responsible for the spill and for paying for the cleanup.
It's 4:25 eastern. Obama has arrived to speak. Live stream.
Obama arrived in Venice, Louisiana at 1:30 pm eastern and was greeted by Gov. Bobby Jindal. Obama appointed Thad Allen to spearhead cleanup. A live stream of Obama's update is expected at 4 pm eastern. Listen at the audio stream below or there could be live video at msnbc.com.
Ratcheting up its efforts Saturday to respond to the Gulf Coast oil slick that’s quickly approaching land, the Obama administration announced that it had appointed U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen as National Incident Commander with overall responsibility for the government-wide response.
In a conference call with reporters, Allen said that he had served in the same role during a 2002 planning exercise in New Orleans for an oil spill in the Gulf Coast, giving him unique insight into the tactics available to respond to the situation.
"The first thing is to stop this thing at the source," Admiral Allen said. He explained that Coast Guard, BP and others are working on a plan to drill what's known as a "relief well" to ease the flow of oil through the shaft that was breached after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. More at Politico
