On Tuesday’s NewsHour…

OIL EXECUTIVES BEFORE CONGRESS | Top officers at BP and other oil companies defended offshore drilling during hearings in the House on Tuesday, as criticism of the response to the disaster continues to mount. Ray Suarez has an update on the hearings and the downgrading of BP’s credit rating.

OBAMA DELIVERS OVAL OFFICE ADDRESS ON SPILL | President Barack Obama vowed to do whatever is necessary to clean up the Gulf as he returned to Washington to address the nation, following his visit to survey damage from the blown out oil well. Judy Woodruff gets a preview of his remarks from White House Energy Adviser Carol Browner.

GULF RESIDENTS REACT TO SPILL | As criticism of BP and the Obama administration’s handling of the Gulf spill continues, Gwen Ifill talks to two local officials about the president’s visit and what it will take for the region to bounce back from environmental and economic devastation.

AFGHAN WAR UPDATE | General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. central command, appeared to faint while facing tough questions from a Senate panel about the progress of the war in Afghanistan. Maragaret Warner talks to Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post, Lt. Col. John Nagl, president of the Center for New American Security and Col. Andrew Bacevich, of Boston University.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY? | As part of his ongoing series of reports making sense of economic news, Paul Solman talks to economists Nassim Taleb and Nouriel Roubini, who remain pessimistic about the economic recovery, about the possibility of a double dip recession.

RISING COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION | Does the mounting cost of college mean students are getting a better education? Ray Suarez moderates a debate at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs about whether the higher education system is broken, with Brit Kirwan of the University System of Maryland; Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College; Richard Levin, president of Yale University; and Daniel Hamburger, president of DeVry Inc.

Tuesday’s anchors are Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff. Hari Sreenivasan will have the day’s other top news stories and a look at features on the Web, including reactions to President Obama’s remarks from experts on the oil industry, a full video of the Oval Office speech and updates to our Gulf oil leak meter.

Plus, send your questions to economists Nassim Taleb and Nouriel Roubini on Paul Solman’s Making Sense page.

We hope you join us.