Jack Welch: Europe's Debt Crisis Will NOT Hurt America (VIDEO)

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch was nothing if not optimistic in an interview with CNBC early Wednesday. Welch, appearing on "Squak Box," said the European debt crisis won't make its way to America.

"You'll see a Europe with plus or minus 1% GDP, around zero," he said. "But Europe is not cratering."

But Welch is convinced the EU heads of state will take extreme measures to keep their currency from falling further. Welch says he spoke to a female EU head of state who said she would rather resign than lose the Euro. "They will do anything," he says. "The issue for Europe is how do they get sick countries into the game--do they let them out of the Euro? It's very tough to have a unified currency and un-unified political system."

Moivng onto BP, a day after Obama's address, Welch chastised oil companies for crucifying BP at yesterday's testimony. "Oil guy after oil guy said 'Well I don't think BP did this right or that right.' Well if they know all that stuff, maybe they know how to fix this!"

And before BP forks over any more money to the government, Welch also advised the company to look carefully at the Gulf victims' claims.

"I guarantee you, when add up all the claims of how much they made last year, it'll be close to the gross domestic product of the United States. And then you'll ask for their tax forms, and it will be 1/50th of what they claim their damages are. I saw it on the Hudson river. You see it everywhere."

WATCH the whole video here: