WASHINGTON -- After wrapping up a two-day tour of the Gulf Coast, President Obama is poised to deliver a prime time Oval Office address with the goal of giving Americans a clearer picture of where matters stand regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The televised address comes amid new information that British Petroleum had been cutting corners to save time and money.
Taking the Reigns
Tuesday night's speech sets the stage for a potentially tense White House meeting with BP executives on Wednesday.
"We're gathering up facts, stories right now so that we have an absolutely clear understanding about how we can best present to BP the need to make sure that individuals and businesses are dealt with in a fair manner and a prompt manner," Obama said.
Click play for comments from CBN News White House Correspondent David Brody on what can be expected from President Obama's speech Tuesday night.
The president's address will spell out a plan for compensation, along with a commitment to restore the Gulf Coast after the nation's worst environmental crisis.
The speech will also signal a renewed call for Congress to pass sweeping climate and energy legislation.
After more than 50 days, the ruptured well has dumped as much as 114 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. The impact? Much deeper than what can be seen with the naked eye.
"We smelled it when we pulled into Pensacola," one vacationer said. "We smelled it right as you come up to the bay."
Anger has been fuming from in and around the coast all the way to Capitol Hill.
"I fished all my life for a living. I'd like for my kids be able to grow up and fish," commercial fisherman Chris Ryan said.
"What's going to happen to the stuff that rolls up on the beach for the next 5, 10, 15 years?" charter boat captain Paul Redman asked. "Are we ever going to bounce back from it? Who knows?"
The Smoking Gun
Meanwhile, Washington has been gearing up for a showdown with BP'S top executives.
"I believe that BP is not doing enough," Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., charged. "I believe they've minimized safety. I believed they've minimized what it would take to stop and plug the oil and now I think they're minimizing what it would take to contain it."
Following meetings with the White House, BP officials were also scheduled to head down Pennsylvania Avenue for congressional hearings.
And they're likely to get an earful after the recent discovery of internal company e-mails have revealed that the oil giant cut corners in the days before the accident.
According to a congressional investigation, BP took safety risks to save time and money, resulting in an environmental nightmare from which the Gulf and coastal residents have yet to wake up.