>>
here in the
gulf coast
is the equivalent of an "
exxon valdez
" spill.
>>
we're looking at all the different angles live from
pensacola
, the impact on small and big businesses, the impact on the environment and also the impact on the political landscape. we've got an incredible cast here for this block the top of the 8:00 hour on the
east coast
. we're joined by
pensacola
mayoral candidate
ashton
hayward and science and environmental expert for nbc news
jeff corwin
and
marco rubio
running against
charlie crist
running for the
u.s. senate
. he joins us via satellite. good to have you on board.
>>
marco, there are obviously a lot of concerns about what washington can and what washington cannot do. this has gone from a
gulf crisis
to an
international incident
, obviously, a lot of battles right nowritish pinch hitters actually and
gulf coast
residents and residents of the
state of florida
, mississippi, alabama,
louisiana
. what's your take on it? should the
united states
' leaders, should the president continue to lean in hard on
british petroleum
? into first, let me thank you. first of all,
welcome home
. i want to thank you guys for doing this program.
>>
it's really great to be here.
>>
thank you for doing the program from
pensacola
. the attention you're giving to thissing is an extraordinary i think boost to the spirits of the people in
northwest florida
and they can visit
pensacola
.com and get live pictures of what's happening there after you're off the air. as far as what this means, a couple things are going on. unfortunately this this spill has confirmed our worst fierce about government and its inability to deal with major crises such as this. we've never seen anything like what we're witnessing now, the frustration level grows every day as the
federal government
seems unable to deal with its obligations under this issue. as far as leaning on bp and all those kinds of things, look, it's important that the responsible party do everything it can. pay for the damage it's causing both ecollagecally and environmentally and economically. at the
end of the day
, the other thing the people want is this to be dealt with as quickly as possible. we don't want this to get worse than it is. we lost a lot of time early on and we're going to pay a big price for that.
>>
marco, we'll talk to you over the next couple segments and also, there are people, and i have
ashton
here and
ann
hayward on because friends of ours, but you guys have lived in new york. you've lived all over the place. but you decided to come back home to
pensacola
,
florida
. in part because of the environment here. this is just devastating for people in
pensacola
, isn't it? and across the
gulf coast
, the specter of this
oil spill
.
>>
definitely, know. it's a major challenge we have right now. you're definitely right. people live here for the
quality of life
, the environment we have here. we want to protect that. what's happened recently, we're climbing out of major recession, probably the worst since the great depression and it's been difficult. but hotelyers, businesses on the beach are suffering right now. we're trying to make the best we can of this. it's all about accountability from the federal, state and local level, we want to get our businesses open and we need to get back to profitability.
>>
and
ann
, you and i brought you up here because, my wife told me to bring you up here. that's one reason. you can
live anywhere
. obviously, like me, you're a model. i'm a hand model. you're a model and you fly all over the place.
>>
i do.
>>
but you all made a very conscious decision, we want to be here in
pensacola
,
florida
. there are a lot of people that could
live anywhere
but decide to live here in part because of the environment. yet, our environment is under attack this morning.
>>
i know. and you know, we love new
york city
and we were ready 0 come home and you know, live in
pensacola
,
florida
.
ashton
is from here is, third generation pen sa colian and we figure it had would be a nice place to raise a child. our son is now 6 years old. we're very concerned for his future and you know, playing on the beach is not an option.
>>
and
ann
and
ashton
and jeff, everyone we talked to when we got here last night, everybody is coming together and really trying to make the best of this and move forward. it's very difficult, the circumstances. but we've got
small businesses
that are teaming up with "
morning joe
" offering discounts, trying to get people here as people should come here because there is still many beautiful sights to see. the beach looks beautiful.
jeff corwin
, the sheen.
>>
let me ask jeff though, we're focusing on the beach, obviously.
everybody loves
going to the beach. as
marco rubio
and i know, as anybody knows that's represented
florida
,
wetlands
are critical to our entire ecosystem. and it's the
wetlands
like the beaches that are going to be ravaged. as you saw in
louisiana
with all of your reporting, it's going to be a lot easier cleaning up these beaches than cleaning up the devastation that have entire ecosystem.
>>
you look out and see this beautiful ivory powder beach. the truth is, that can be cleaned. but how do you take crude that snaked its way through the tendrils and through the roots of a fragile grassland ecosystem? i pray that what i have been seeing in
louisiana
does not find its way to the shores of
florida
. if it does, it will then become a part of what many believe is the most unprecedented environmental catastrophe in
modern history
. it is quite remarkable and profound. you get out in the water and as far as you can see, you can see this oil. and the creatures that are being salvaged from this experience really do get a fighting chance. that's a point that i want to make. a lot of people asked me, are we wasting our time trying to save these birds.
>>
some people are saying let's put down the birds. it would be more humane. i think i heard somebody ask you that question.
>>
it would be a terrible decision. the truth is we know if we get to these birds in time, we clean them, stabilize them, they can survive. the first pelican that was caught up in the spill has been released successfully. unfortunately not in its home. there's so many unknowns. when these first responders go to the front libs to rescue these animals, they're dealing with the toxicity of the oil. this oil contains more than 100 hydrocarbons including benzene causes cancer, mercury. so it's a deadly environment out there.
>>
it is a deadly environment. you know, mika, everything's interrelated. you know this growing up, obviously, i'm not an
environmental scientist
. i am a model but not an
environmental scientist
. people that grow up in
florida
around the water understand that everything's linked. everything's connected together. if you destroy an echo system, if you destroy
wetlands
, guess what happens there is a reason why nature has
wetlands
and
barrier islands
. it's all interconnected. these
wetlands
get destroyed, then what happens in those areas is what happens over in new orleans in the ninth ward. that should all be
wetlands
over there. when these
wetlands
are destroyed, people need to understand this. it's not just about the white beaches. you destroy
wetlands
, then suddenly a hurricane that's a category three has the same impact that a five used to have.
>>
the bear yes islands that hug this coastline basically are the last stop for hurricanes. they actually can break up the impact that have storm. the
barrier islands
along the
louisiana
coast have decreased since katrina by 50%. but the
big story
is these marshes, these swamps and bayous are the places where young animals come in to grow up to get the strength they need to survive. every
bluefin tuna
, every adult
bluefin tuna
from
nova scotia
to here all of them come together and spann spawn within miles of this spill.
>>
we're going to stay with
