BP Extends Well Pressure Test
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, murder in a Texas town. The mayor, a mother, apparently kills her daughter and then herself, and no one seems to know why. We investigate. Is the toxic brew between the tea party and the NAACP setting race relations back? Hold your answer until after you hear about a letter one tea party activist wrote while pretending he's a black man. The man who released the Mel Gibson tapes to the public drops by and drops some hints about more recordings and what's on them. And the new celebrity couple, Bristol and Levi? What led to their reunion? "US Weekly" takes us behind the scenes. Good evening, everyone. It is day 89 of the gulf oil disaster, and day 2 of no oil gushing from the well. BP's integrity tests of its new cap will now go on until at least tomorrow afternoon. And meantime, BP says one of two relief wells is just a few feet from intercepting the crippled well. And there's still millions of gallons of oil to clean up. This controlled burn-out in the gulf was about 10 miles northeast of the well site. The huge converted cargo ship called A Whale won't be part of the skimming operation. The Coast Guard says it failed to collect much oil during testing. CNN's David Mattingly joins me now live from New Orleans with the details. David, why is BP extending the testing period?</s>DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it wasn't BP's decision to extend this. This was something that came up and was ordered by Admiral Thad Allen after that successful 48 hours where we saw no leaking from the well and no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico as the pressure continued to rise. Admiral Allen then ordered another 24 hours of testing, just to be sure. And after that point, he says they will then open this well back up. They will hook it up to those line and take that oil up to the surface for containment on vessels at the surface. Instead, they are looking at this well, this new cap and the way it's performing, as being able to close temporarily in case there is a hurricane and not having this well closed until the relief well is dug and intercepting some time later this month.</s>LEMON: OK, so what's the next -- what's next in this process?</s>MATTINGLY: Next in this process, once they get finished with the testing, they will then look at the data that they've come up and how this well is performing. If it's continued just as it has for the last 48 hours, they're going to be very pleased and much more confident even now that there's not going to be any leaking from this well. Once they do that, then they're going open the well up and relieve the pressure that's in there. So we're going to see oil for a short time spewing back into the Gulf of Mexico until they hook those lines up to bring it back up to the surface to the containment vessels up there, continuing their strategy of containment.</s>LEMON: And David, what about those relief wells?</s>MATTINGLY: The relief wells are going extremely well. The one that they started first is within feet of its mark, and they are now planning to make that final casing rod (ph) that will intersect and intercept where that leaking well has been. And what they're talking about there is having some time at the end of the month being able to intersect that well and start filling it up with cement. That process of cementing will take days, possibly weeks, and that will be the final nail in the coffin for this well.</s>LEMON: Our thanks to David Mattingly in New Orleans. Ken Feinberg, the man in charge of handling the BP compensation fund, recently met with about 200 people in Louisiana whose livelihoods have been impacted by the oil disaster and he got an earful. In response, Feinberg was compassionate, but he was tough. He made clear that money would not be paid out based on wishful thinking.</s>KENNETH FEINBERG, BP CLAIMS FUND ADMINISTRATOR: Very important.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we got the tickets to prove it. You know, we got the tickets to prove it.</s>FEINBERG: Now, here's the answer to this -- this claim (ph). This gentleman says it was going be a record year. Prove it. Come in, demonstrate that it was going be a record year, and get paid for it. But don't speculate. I can't be paying speculative claims. You've got to come in and show me not that you're a good fisherman, and you know, life treats your fairly. I want to know -- It's not speculation, Feinberg. We can show you what we lost because of this spill that is damaging, and I'll pay it. But you've got to show me.</s>LEMON: That was Ken Feinberg. Meantime, President Barack Obama and the first family are vacationing in Bar Harbor, Maine, this weekend. They're spending time on Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park. This is the Obama family's third family holiday since the oil disaster began in April, which is fueling criticism from his Republican critics. Some in the GOP say the president should be focused on the gulf instead of relaxing. Some unfinished business from the presidential election and a six-digit fine for Vice President Joe Biden's failed campaign for the White House. The Federal Election Commission has slapped a $219,000 fine on Biden's campaign for accepting contributions above legal limits, failing to pay market rates for use of a private jet, and for issuing checks that were never cashed. A Biden spokeswoman calls such fines commonplace after presidential campaign audits. Just ahead here on CNN...</s>MARK WILLIAMS, TEA PARTY EXPRESS: Racists have their own movement. It's called the NAACP.</s>LEMON: The war of words between the tea party and the NAACP. You heard that comment by Tea Party Express spokesman Mark Williams, but some black leaders disagree on how to fight back and whether it's even worth it. We'll hear from the Reverend Al Sharpton and activist Warren Ballentine. Plus this.</s>BRISTOL PALIN, SARAH PALIN'S DAUGHTER: There was flowers, like rose petals, in the shape of a heart on my bed with a box. And then he got down on one knee, asked me to marry him. There was no hesitation at all.</s>LEMON: Oh, the lovebirds! Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are engaged. "US Weekly" got the exclusive scoop, and we have an "US Weekly" bureau chief to talk about their interview. And don't just sit there. Make sure you become part of the conversation, part of the show. Send me a message on Twitter and Facebook, or check out my blog at CNN.com/don. You can also look for me on Foursquare (ph). I want to hear from you.