Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) suggested on Sunday that raising the cap was unnecessary because BP had given him it's word that it would cover the costs of the spill in the Gulf.

"I've offered supportive legislation to expand it also," the Senator said on ABC's "This Week." "But BP people repeatedly stated at the hearing and have told me personally, they are going to be responsible for all legitimate claims that are made against them. So I think we need to watch that closely. [snip]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made much the same case as Sessions on Sunday. During an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," he argued that BP would "be held to" its promise to pay for all damages.

"They ought to pay for it and they will pay for it," McConnell said.

Yet even as the company reported the success after weeks of fruitless efforts, scientists warned oil that has already spewed into the Gulf could have dire consequences for the environment. Computer models show the black ooze may have already entered a major current flowing toward the Florida Keys, a researcher told the Associated Press on Sunday.

The contraption used by BP was hooked up successfully and sucking oil from a pipe at the blown well Sunday afternoon after being hindered by several setbacks. Engineers remotely guiding robot submersibles had worked since Friday to place the tube into a 21-inch pipe nearly a mile below the sea.

BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles says a mile-long tube has been collecting more than one-fifth of the oil that's spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a blown-out well.

Speaking Monday on NBC's "Today" show, Suttles said the tube has been siphoning more than 1,000 barrels a day, or 42,000 gallons. BP has estimated about 5,000 barrels a day, or 210,000 gallons a day, has been leaking out.

He says they hope to be able to collect more oil as they ramp up the effort but they won't be able to get all of it.

They signed as the responsible party, in other words, when they got the privilege to drill in the gulf, they said 'we will be responsible for all damage to the beaches, all clean-up costs.' Then the question is how far beyond that do they go, and other consequential economic or other damages. They have said they will be responsible for paying them. They should have more than enough money to pay them. And we expect them to pay every cent."

Oil has been spewing since the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and sinking two days later. The government shortly afterward estimated the spill at 210,000 gallons — or 5,000 barrels — a day, a figure that has since been questioned by some scientists who fear it could be far more. BP executives have stood by the estimate while acknowledging there's no way to know for sure.

Working on a research vessel called the Pelican, scientists have found enormous plumes of oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Some are more than 10 miles long and 300 feet deep. To find out why the oil is lurking below the surface, host Guy Raz talks with Vernon Asper, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi, from aboard the boat.

In a statement, the White House said President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had spoken by video link on Thursday, when they had agreed "that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals – such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq."