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North Dakota Bracing for 40 Feet of Water; Invisible Flood Control Wall; Senate Hearing on U.S.-Mexico Border Violence
Aired March 25, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Preparing for disaster. Thousands of volunteers are filling and stacking sandbags as fast as they can, Fargo, North Dakota, facing floods that could swamp the area.
$3.5 trillion sales job. President Obama pitching his spending plan to the nation. Today he lobbies on Capitol Hill, where even Democrats have doubts.
Plus, mortgage rates are the best they've been in years, but before you do a refi, listen to what our expert says about potential pitfalls.
It's Wednesday, March 25th. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Thousands of people have rushed to Fargo, North Dakota, shovels in hand to save that city and others. They're filling sandbags, more than a million so far, in fact, and stacking them as high as they can, hoping to keep the Red River at bay.
The fear is the water will overtake the levees which are 38 feet high. The river's already 33 feet swollen from all the rain and melting snow. It's expected to crest sometime Friday or Saturday.
We are watching all of this very closely for you today. But Fargo's not the only city at risk.
Let's get over to CNN's Rob Marciano now who's keeping an eye on all of the river levels. Boy, this is getting to be just a huge problem. What are you seeing?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. Well, also Bismarck and Missouri River, obviously, a big river. They're having flooding issues as well.
Let's go to the map and tell you all the counties that are highlighted here. Talking about flooding that's incorporating almost -- over 90 percent of the state here. So this is not a good situation. And on top of that, the weather has kind of turned for the worse.
I want to show you some things on Google Earth here. These are river-stage gauges that anything that you see in purple is a river that's in major flood stage. And we could very well see historic flood stages before this is done. So we're in through Fargo. There's the river gauge there. Still forecast to crest somewhere around 40 feet during the day on Friday.
And, again, if it gets to 41 feet that would be the all-time record set back in the 1800s. It looks like we'll at least get very close to, at the minimum, what happened back in 1997.
All right, over to the Missouri River where potential for flooding exists here as well. Not so much for the runoff but they've got ice-jam problems there and there have been a few communities that are being urged to get out of their homes because of the potential for seeing some flooding.
Up river is one of the largest reservoirs that we have here in the United States and the Garrison Dam here is one of the larger dams as well. That's being shut off in anticipation of the potential for flooding here.
So the situation not all that great. And then this white is snow. I mean, two days ago it was just rain. Now it's snow with temperatures that are in the lower 20s. So, you want to talk about a miserable situation? And on top of that, sandbags do not work nearly as well when they're frozen.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Low pressure getting rainfall on the eastern side of this. And now we're looking at the potential for flooding on the southeast. So a couple of areas to watch, not only across the northern plains but the southeast as well.
A live shot from Atlanta, Georgia, where temperatures are in the 50s, we'll stay in the 60s. Rain will begin today. Flood watch in effect, Heidi, until Saturday night so...
COLLINS: Boy.
MARCIANO: ... focus may very well be shifting at some point. But I think the flooding situation across North Dakota certainly much more serious there.
COLLINS: OK, well, thanks, Rob. We're going to stick around and keep talking to you about this as the morning goes on.
Rob Marciano, thanks so much.
President Obama has already declared North Dakota a federal disaster area. CNN Radio's Steve Kastenbaum is on the phone with us now from Fargo.
Steve, we want to know how that flood battle is going on. We've been hearing so much all of the sandbagging going on.
STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, they've had thousands of people here answer the call for volunteers. The sandbagging operation was going on around the clock and officials were so pleased with the progress that they were making that they actually suspended it overnight. They didn't want people out on the dikes, in the darkness and in the snow that fell here overnight.
But the sandbagging is resuming this morning at this hour. They have filled over a million sandbags so far at the Fargo Dome here. They plan to fill one million more. And the goal here, to meet the eventual crest of the Red River at 41 feet or more.
COLLINS: Wow. I have to wonder, you know, as we're watching all this video right now of people doing the sandbagging and actually what I believe to be the National Guard that's come in as well? How is it affecting things, though, as you talk to people, Steve, what are they telling you?
KASTENBAUM: You know there's cautious optimism here. Because the temperature dropped, that means the ice melt and snowmelt, the rate of that is slowing down right now. So, the river swelling will slow down somewhat but it's a mixed blessing here, that they've had this snow overnight, because eventually later in the week as the temperatures warm up, that's going to melt and that's going to swell the Red River even further.
COLLINS: Yes.
KASTENBAUM: So, you know, there's cautious optimism here that they can build up the tops of these dikes in enough time to meet the crest. But nobody is willing to place any bets on that.
COLLINS: Yes. Understandably so. All right, we're going to keep a very close eye on all of this.
Steve Kastenbaum for CNN Radio, sure do appreciate that.
Ten years ago, you know, we were worried about Grand Forks, North Dakota. And a little bit later Josh Levs is going to show us the city's invisible plan to keep the water out this time. Very interesting. Check out that in just a few minutes.
The economy, though, issue number one for President Obama, and topic number one at his prime-time news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll recover from this recession, but it will take time. It will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have towards each other, that's when we succeed. That's when we prosper.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Obama offers encouraging words and a spirit of compromise, both may be put to the test.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now with a closer look.
So, Suzanne, did the president seem to get his message out effectively last night?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Heidi, it's interesting because it certainly was a very cautious and a very serious tone that we heard from president. And he talked about his budget. He talked about the recession, but he also said things like it may take many months and many different solutions to actually get beyond the recession. That there's no silver bullet or quick fixes, that kind of thing.
So, obviously, he is trying to give a sense of hope to the American people, but at the same time asking for some patience. He's also trying to reach out directly to as many people as possible. He's using a new form of media, Heidi, this is an online, town-hall meeting that the White House is actually hosting.
If you go to Whitehouse.gov you can actually submit questions and then vote on the ones that are most popular. The president is going to get back and answer the most popular questions. That's going to happen tomorrow morning. And, Heidi, we've been on the site already. 9,000 people, more than 9,000 people...
COLLINS: Wow.
MALVEAUX: ... have already logged on with questions for the president.
COLLINS: Yes, I've seen it. It's pretty interesting. But, you know, the president is facing criticism from both parties now. That his budget that's proposed for next year, it's just too big. But he says it is a vital part of the overall plan to heal the economy. In fact, here's what he had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation. So that we don't face another crisis like this 10 or 20 years from now. We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and less dependence on foreign oil.
We invest in our schools, in our teachers, so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world. We invest in reform that will bring down the cost for health care for families, businesses, and our government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Suzanne, the president meets with Senate Democrats to discuss that budget issue today. Is he going to get everything that he's asking for?
MALVEAUX: I seriously doubt it, Heidi. I mean, this is going to be a very tough sell for the president. There are a couple things that he outlined yesterday that were first his priorities that were most important. He talked about health care reform. He also talked about education, energy as well as reducing the deficit. One of the things that he did not say definitively when asked and pressed on this is whether or not he would sign a bill that included a middle-class tax cut. That was the signature issue for his campaign. He's been very aggressive about getting that through. But he didn't say that he would rule out signing that legislation if that was not included.
That is certainly a point that is being debated on the Hill, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we're watching closely. Suzanne Malveaux outside the White House for us this morning. Thanks, Suzanne.
You know, one terse moment of President Obama's news conference came from a question. CNN's Ed Henry asked the president why he didn't immediately speak out against the bonuses at failed insurance giant AIG.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Why did you wait -- why did you wait days to come out and express that outrage? It seems like the actions coming out of New York and the attorney general's office. It took you days to come public with Secretary Geithner and say, look, we're outraged. Why did it take so long?
OBAMA: It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak. All right?
ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The first hint, Anderson, and it's only a small hint, of a president who could be one- termer. We saw some impatience beneath the surface. On this Ed Henry question, which I thought was entirely fair, you know, evidently our educational system is not in as good a shape as we thought, because neither Congress, the Democrats there, or the president could actually read the stimulus bill.
This is language that they wrote, that Congress voted for, and the president signed, and they still seem to be shocked and outraged and angry even tonight that these executives at AIG took the bonuses that the Democrats and the president gave them.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: So -- I see David Gergen shaking his head and I see Paul Begala grinding his back teeth.
(LAUGHTER)
Paul, what do you think about what Alex just said?
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, the guy's 64 days into the job. He's got about a 64 percent approval rating and Alex is proposing that he's a one-term president.
Look, how about we give him what the American people gave him. Four-year, no cut contract and then if he's a miserable failure at the end of four years, it will be like we with Bush and re-elect him anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
CASTELLANOS: But you know, George Bush -- when George Bush said, when George Bush said it's hard, it wasn't -- it was a laughing. I think that we could laugh about. Tonight this president says, you know, it's hard work. It's OK when those things reach his desk.
COOPER: All right. We...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Obama has brushed off Republican critics saying they have not proposed an alternative budget.
Day 65 of the Obama administration now. Here's a look at the president's day. Next hour he meets with secretary-general of NATO. This afternoon, President Obama travels to Capitol Hill for budget talks with Democrats in the House and Senate. And tonight, he delivers remarks at two Democratic Party fund-raisers. The first one begins at 8:15.
The president steering the economic recovery and tossing around trillions of dollars. Is he moving in the right direction? We're checking the facts in just a moment.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: President Obama on the offense, pitching his $3.5 trillion budget plan. He insists there are no quick fixes to the economic mess. But he is right -- on the right track, that is.
CNN's Christine Romans joining us now with the reality check here.
So, Christine, let's start with the deficit. I mean, anytime you hear numbers like $3.5 trillion, I'm sure a lot of people equate that, don't they, directly with the deficit?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, what the president is trying to do, Heidi, is he's trying to say that it's not just big spending they're doing here. But these are investments in the future. These are investments that are going to be critical for getting us out of this economic mess, and he says he's doing it with an eye to fiscal responsibility. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: In this budget, we ask -- we have to make the tough choices necessary to cut our deficits in half by the end of my first term. Even under the most pessimistic estimates. At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run, is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led us to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. It's with a budget that leads to broad economic growth. By moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Heidi, here is the reality check. Can he cut the deficit in half, you know, by 2013? Well, the answer to that is, it won't be easy. And many economists are saying that, quite frankly, whether he can or not, you're still looking at a deficit that would be almost unimaginable just a few years ago.
And even cutting the deficit in half doesn't do anything to cut the national debt. The national debt is still growing. Many pointing out that $7 to $9 trillion of new debt will be added under these projections.
COLLINS: Yes. Such a big distinction to make between those two terms.
ROMANS: Sure.
COLLINS: The national debt and the deficit, definitely. What about the assumptions, though, that they're making in this budget? The president says they are consistent with what blue-chip forecasters are saying. Is that true?
ROMANS: Actually, there are many forecasters who are saying, quite frankly, that the president and his team's assumptions are too rosy and that Congressional Budget Office also says that they're too rosy and uses a different set of numbers. Lawmakers are required to use the numbers that the Congressional Budget Office comes up with, and those are more pessimistic, quite frankly, about growth and employment and a few other things as well.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: The president's team making the case, Heidi, that if they can get the -- if stimulus things work and their budget works, then there will be better growth. And so, they are slightly more optimistic.
COLLINS: All right. Well, a little bit of good news. I want to make sure we get this out, too.
ROMANS: I know.
COLLINS: We're talking about durable goods. Explain that - explain why it's important, these numbers.
ROMANS: It's important. These are things that are built to last three years or longer. For six months this number has been declining, it rose, Heidi, up 3.4 percent. Economists were looking for a decline of 2 percent.
What this tells us is that people and companies are reaching into their checkbooks, reaching into their pockets and bought things like furniture and washers and dryers and airplanes and things like that.
COLLINS: Yes, yes.
ROMANS: Things that last more than three years, and so that shows that those purchases went up. And that is a sign of somewhere some activity in the economy.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right. CNN's Christine Romans. Appreciate that. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
COLLINS: Secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, heading to Mexico this morning. While there, she'll be meeting with Mexico's president to discuss drug violence. A new security plan for the U.S./Mexico border and rising tensions over trade between the two countries.
CNN's foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, is joining us now live from Mexico City this morning.
So, Jill, we heard a little bit from the homeland security secretary yesterday about this new plan. The whole trip, though, for the secretary of state seems to be dominated by this issue of drug violence. Is she trying to change the subject here a little bit?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it would be almost impossible, because after all, if you're up on Capitol Hill or in the U.S. media, there's no question that drug violence is really, really on the top of the agenda. And that is why the administration just on the eve of this trip, announced this new plan to add more money, to get more forces, let's say federal agents, to the border to help the government of Felipe Calderon to fight these drug cartels.
But they're also trying to give a slightly different message, which is, this is a two-way street.
COLLINS: Right.
DOUGHERTY: That some of this is being fueled precisely by the drug money, being laundered in the United States and coming back, and also weapons coming in to Mexico from the United States. So they have to get to that in order to solve the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: President Calderon has been very courageous in taking on these drug cartels. We've got to also take some steps, even as he is doing more to deal with the drug cartels, sending drugs in the United States, we need to do more to make sure that illegal guns and cash aren't flowing back to these cartels. That's part of what's financing their operations. That's part of what's arming them.
That's what makes them so dangerous, and this is something that we take very seriously. And we're going to continue to work on diligently in the months to come. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: But they want to make sure, at least on this trip, the secretary's going to be trying to make sure that it's not focused exclusively on that drug issue. They'll be talking about trade. After all, it's the second largest trade partner, export market for the United States.
And the -- clean energy, many other subjects that are on the agenda. They want to broaden it - Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, we'll be watching. Jill Dougherty, thanks so much, live from Mexico City, appreciate that.
Questions now on Capitol Hill this morning. A conformation hearing begins this hour for the man President Obama picked to be the new ambassador to Iraq. Christopher Hill will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hill is a veteran diplomat, perhaps best known as President Bush's point man on the North Korea nuclear issue.
Many Republicans have criticized Hill's nomination because he lacked Middle East credentials.
Mortgage rates are down, and banks are lending money again. Is this the right time to refinance your home?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mortgage rates are now lower than 5 percent and that has a lot of homeowners wondering how they go about getting the best deal?
Personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here now with some answers on that.
So Gerri, what have you been hearing from people out there?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, everybody wants to lock in these low, low rates, in some cases, below 5 percent. They are frustrated. I'm trying to do it myself. They're telling me that the bankers not really picking up the phone.
So, I called last night, Fannie Mae, the chief economist there, Doug Duncan, he told me that it's going to take as much as three months for the mortgage industry...
COLLINS: Really?
WILLIS: ... to start working at full capacity because they had so many layoffs during the mortgage bust. So they've got to hire people. Really staff up. The good news here, his full-year outlook for mortgage rates is 4.8 percent to 5 percent. These are great rates.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes. WILLIS: Moral of the story here, you're going to have to be patient.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, nobody wants to be patient when we're talking saving money, either, do they?
WILLIS: No.
COLLINS: What exactly does it mean for consumers?
WILLIS: It's opportunity, simply put. Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages at 4.6 percent. Historically, the rate is 8 percent.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: This is very significant. So, let's take a look at how much money you can save on a monthly basis, comparing if you took out a 30-year, fixed-rate loan at 5 percent, your monthly payment would be $915. If like an 8 percent, you would pay $1,250 a month, the savings $335 a month, $4,000 a year. You can see how significant it is.
While this is a great opportunity, there are pitfalls you'll want to be aware of. According to Bankrate, Fannie and Freddie have increased their fees. So, you could be paying extra fees of 1 percent of the loan, 2 percent of the loan, and sometimes even more on top of other closing costs.
Now they've charged some of this in the past, not quite this amount, so the irony here, rates are low, but fees are going to be higher.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. Well, so how do you go about getting the best rate, then?
WILLIS: Well, having enough equity is one of the biggest obstacles. These days you're going to need 20 percent equity to get the best rates. Make sure you keep your credit scores as high as possible. Get copies of your credit report. Make sure there are no errors.
You can do this at annualcreditreport.com for free. Make sure you shop around. Start with your original lender first. Get all your paperwork together now. And here's the data you'll want to collect -- you'll want your application obviously, two years of tax returns, a month of pay stubs, three months of asset statements, and that means checking, savings, mutual funds, and a most recent mortgage statement and a copy of your deed if you're refinancing.
So that's what you need to get it together. Let me tell you, you're going to have to be really persistent with your banker because they are slammed with requests.
COLLINS: Yes, and maybe your firstborn, too.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Geez.
COLLINS: All right, Gerri Willis, thanks. Some great information there.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Appreciate that.
It surprised the office manager, not just the broken window, but the coincidence of a glass repairman showing up soon afterwards. Apparently not a coincidence. Fifteen windows were broken at the building in Sacramento County, California over several months. And now the glass repairman has been arrested accused of breaking windows to, yes, drum up business. His van was caught on surveillance video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HOGAN, VIDEO SERVICES MANAGER: You'll see the van coming right across here. So give it a second. There he goes. There's the van. Now watch the glass. See it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.
HOGAN: You see the glass break right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Pretty fishy. The repairman is accused of targeting several other businesses with this scam. He now faces six felony counts of vandalism.
Monumental task for what could be a flood of historic proportions. Volunteers rush to fill and stack two million sandbags. We got the very latest from North Dakota.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Some unexpectedly upbeat reports on the economy this week. Both existing home sales and home prices went up. And today there's another positive surprise.
Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with that and how it could play into investors' sentiment.
Good morning to you, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
President Obama said last night that slow and steady is the key when it comes to fixing our economy. And as you mentioned, Heidi, we've seen a few glimmers of hope this week and that's continuing today.
A report released about an hour ago shows orders for big-ticket items like computers, cars, and refrigerators increased last month after a record fixed-rate decline. Not only that, the increase was sizable, nearly 3.5 percent. Some analysts caution that big swings in procurements by the Pentagon, largely responsible for the gain.
But the report is encouraging, because consumers certainly have postponed big purchases in the recession. And that trend has prompted Dial-A-Mattress to file for bankruptcy. The company planned to sell the business to its rival, Sleepy's.
And we're seeing a little sleepiness in the first few seconds of trading. But we're seeing some gains after the selloff that we saw yesterday. Dow Industrials up 35 points or 0.50 percent. The NASDAQ'S up 0.75 percent. In less than 30 minutes, we get the latest read on new home sales. They're expected to fall in February to a record low, but we have defied Wall Street's estimates twice this week when it comes to housing numbers. And, of course, housing is sort of the -- where it all began.
COLLINS: Yes. Existing home sales, you're talking about.
LISOVICZ: We got existing home sales earlier this week. And we had house prices rise.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: So, we had good stuff. And, yes, we get new home sales at the top of the hour.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Susan, we'll be watching. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Residents of Fargo, North Dakota, preparing for what could be the city's worst flooding ever. We want to give you the latest now. Swollen by snowmelt and recent rain, the Red River expected to crest Friday, possibly passing the record of 41 feet set back in 1897. Can you believe that?
Hundreds of volunteers have been working around the clock, filling sandbags. Officials hope the total of 2 million sandbags will be ready by tomorrow.
President Obama has declared North Dakota a federal disaster already. That means Washington will pay three-quarters of the state and local government flooding costs. A total of eight rivers statewide are now at flood levels.
Meteorologist Rob Marciano has been watching the whole thing for us, for several days, in fact.
The Red River, obviously, major flood stage. But we're talking about records here. And then all of the other rivers are in bad shape, too.
MARCIANO: And on top of that, the weather has turned to the worst there with snow melting in the area.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: We're zooming in, Heidi, and show you what we're talking about. A storm that brought a lot of the rain, a lot of the warm-up is now moving into Canada. The back side of this storm is very, very cold. Temperatures are hovering in the 20s in through parts of Fargo, and you see all that snow coming out of the north.
Winter storm warning and a flood warning. I don't think you see that, too, very often. Between 5 and 8 inches of snow potentially before the day is done. And we're getting word from our sources via Twitter that some of the sand trucks are having a hard time getting to the depot areas, because the roads aren't all that great because of the snow.
All right, so, add insult to injury there. I guess the only good news is, when it is below freezing, and it's forecasted to be below freezing before Saturday, that does lock up some of the moisture. That locks up some of the water that would otherwise have flowed into that river and that theoretically should slow some of the flooding. But at the rate it's going it doesn't look like it's going to help all that much.
All right. Into the flood gauges we go. The purple are major flooding flood gauges that are happening right now into Fargo. And we'll pop up where the stage is right now. It is at major flood stage. The pink area here, major flood stage. That's over 30 feet. We're at about 35 feet. And this green line is the forecast. And notice that the blue line, which is where we are right now, is actually a little bit above where this forecast is.
So, that means that maybe the 40-foot forecast which is supposed to happen Friday or Saturday, may very well be underestimating. Hopefully that's not the case.
Ireport.com, send us your iReports if you're in that area. Certainly, we want to see what you're seeing as well.
COLLINS: Yes. We really would appreciate that, definitely. Rob, stick around, too, because we're going to talk to this gentleman now.
Leon Schlafmann is the emergency manager for the city of Fargo. He's joining us now by telephone.
So, Leon, I understand that you just came of the meeting with emergency management teams. We wonder what the plan of attack today is, because, as Rob just said, geez, you guys are under a winter storm warning and a flood warning. It's 20 degrees there. It's cold. It's snowing. And the rivers are flooding. What can you guys do about it?
VOICE OF LEON SCHLAFMANN, EMERGENCY MANAGER, FARGO, N.D.: Well, what we're doing is we're grabbing the snow shovels fairly fast so we can start putting sandbags out. It is kind of a predicament today as far as the weather in North Dakota. But that's the nice thing about North Dakota, wait five minutes, and it will change, so...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: All right. We are -- sorry, Leon. We're looking at video of all of these sandbags. We first started covering this story, you guys were saying that you probably needed about a million. And then that doubled to two million. What's the progress? How far along are you?
SCHLAFMANN: When we started production on sandbags, we were hoping to produce about 100,000, 150,000 a day. And as of yesterday, we're producing just over 500,000 sandbags a day.
COLLINS: Wow!
SCHLAFMANN: We're looking to probably be in that three million range in the metro area. And we've got miles and miles of sandbags and earthen dikes and flood barrier systems going up as we speak. And we're in pretty good shape today. We were looking at our neighborhoods and we're right at 90 percent to 100 percent completion range, so things are looking fair.
COLLINS: OK. Well, you do sound very, very calm. But that's why you are the emergency manager there, because you know how to handle this. How many people do you have -- do you have working on the project? We're looking at some video now coming in from the National Guard. I know they are there.
SCHLAFMANN: Well, we have the guards here. We have about 800 to 1,000 guard members from the state of North Dakota. We have the Corps of Engineers out of the St. Paul and Omaha offices, and they brought in tons of people. And we've got many, many private contractors working on the earthen levees and working with us (INAUDIBLE).
COLLINS: OK.
SCHLAFMANN: And then you start to see hundreds of volunteers, I almost have to stress, we have thousands of volunteers, all the way from Minneapolis, just all over.
COLLINS: Oh, yes.
SCHLAFMANN: It's just phenomenal.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: I'm sure of that.
SCHLAFMANN: Wonderful.
COLLINS: Yes. We're looking at actually the Fargodome, I think, right now. Quickly, before we let you go, Leon, Rob was mentioning some issues with the sand trucks being able to get out or possibly people going to the depot to try to get more sand to make these bags. Roads are so bad; they're having trouble doing that. Is that becoming a challenge for you as well? SCHLAFMANN: It's all a challenge. But our biggest problem is going to be the ice and the wet conditions causes the clay dikes and the clay that we're hauling to make the roads slippery. So, it will slow things down a little bit. But we're staying ahead of it. And we're going to be on task here in a few minutes as far as getting back out there.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Well, Leon Schlafmann, we sure do appreciate your time here today. I know it's a busy time for you. We certainly wish the people of North Dakota all the best in this.
In fact, there's a device that could help protect some people in North Dakota from flooding. It's found in many parts of the country, but most people have never heard of it. It's called the Invisible Flood Control Wall. How does it work? What exactly makes it invisible? Our Josh Levs is here now to tell us a little bit more about that.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi, it's really interesting. And I'll show you how they're kind of getting away with the word invisible. But it could be a key part of what we're about to see. This is actually a Web site about it right here from Flood Control America, from floodcontrolam.com.
(INAUDIBLE) it's about, but I wanted -- I would like to start off with some video from North Dakota in 1997. Let's go to that. Because I want everyone to see how serious this is what we're talking about. This is how bad it got at the time. And, you know, we're told about 11 people died in the Dakotas and Minnesota. More than $4 billion in damages. Something needed to be done. That's why that area was one of the first in the country to get, what you see in the next video, which is this invisible flood control wall. We have some photos there.
And what you're seeing there is the horizontal planks actually lift out. So at any time when the area is expecting to get a flood, you are able to take this horizontal planks, Heidi, and drop them into the base. It's a concrete foundation and a metal-filled plate, and then they can make those horizontal planks in a length, and apparently, it can be enough to help sometimes withstand the flooding.
We have one more video here that shows you how it's put on. And all this is coming from this Web site. It's very interesting. And as you said, Heidi, being used around the country now.
COLLINS: Yes. Do we know how well it works? I would imagine that there's been success with this that they certainly wouldn't be doing it, right?
LEVS: Exactly. Yes, there has been some success. In fact, quickly, let's zoom in on the board. I want to show everyone one thing, right here. This was an independent study here called Mitigation Success Stories. FEMA links to this. And they do say that there are parts of the Dakotas, for example, in Fargo, where it was credited with protecting a high school, protecting part of a neighborhood as well. Now, ultimately, how bad it could get in this case, I can't tell you. I don't want to send out the message, OK, everybody you're safe.
COLLINS: Right.
LEVS: But the fact is this invisible flood control wall, that lifts out, lets you have a view, some of the floods coming, they drop in those planks, that has been credited with helping in the past.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we are watching very closely. Really interesting stuff. Josh, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: A series of mini earthquakes and tremors in the southern California desert, getting some attention this morning. Seismologists say since yesterday, dozens of small earthquakes rumbled through the Salton Sea area. We told you about it here yesterday in the CNN NEWSROOM. That's about 90 miles northeast of San Diego. And small earthquakes happen that close together, seismologists call them earthquake swarms. Scientists are keeping a close eye on the increased earthquake activity, because it's near a section of the San Andreas Fault that has not broken loose in more than 300 years.
8.1 percent of Americans are out of work. Was the president's press conference anything more than just words to them? We're talking to some of them to find out.
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COLLINS: Asking for patience. President Obama warning against any quick fixes on the economy last night. He says the nation will recover from this recession, but it will take time. The president promising to go after economic problems at every level.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We put in place a comprehensive strategy designed to attack this crisis on all fronts. It's a strategy to create jobs, to help responsible homeowners, to restart lending, and to grow our economy over the long term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Today, President Obama will continue the push for his budget proposal on Capitol Hill. He's meeting with lawmakers about his plans.
With the president taking the long view on many pressing problems, how are people who are out of work right now reacting to that? Our Jason Carroll talked to some of them to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's way too honest. You know, I feel like our economy is built a lot on perception.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Josh Ikenstein (ph), he's 24, a former TV producer, out of work since December.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It reminds me of a guy who knocked into a cabinet and he's, like, on the floor trying to catch everything that's falling. That's kind of what he's doing right now.
TRACEY FISHER, UNEMPLOYED SINCE APRIL: Exuded confidence, and so that made me feel a little better.
CARROLL: Tracy Fisher, 41, former booker at a modeling agency, out of work for a year.
FISHER: If he knew exactly what he could do like from point A to point B to point C or what have you, we'd all be working right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think honesty is necessary at this point.
CARROLL: Gretchen Dechelles (ph), 33, worked at Saks Fifth Avenue, unemployed since January.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think honesty is important and I think more people want to hear honesty because we're dealing with the reality. And this is our reality and we're living it. We don't have a job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm all for honesty and I'm all for him telling us, you know, the truth about situations but I feel like he needed to inspire.
CARROLL: Dustin Diato (ph), 32, former Web site producer, he's been looking for work for a year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went on hope and change, and now, OK, give me some of that hope. You know, I mean, if that's going to be your slogan, like, then sell me some hope, you know.
FISHER: But what kind of hope are you looking for? What kind of change...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, what I'm...
FISHER: What is it you're looking for specifically?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came up with all of these plans about, you know, well four years down the road and education and all that. OK, well, I don't have four years down the road. I have a few months down the road.
CARROLL: Adam Perlis, former marketing associate and TV producer, unemployed since last September. Perlis says the president should have done more to inspire the business community.
ADAM PERLIS, UNEMPLOYED SINCE SEPTEMBER: I feel like he needs to instill in the companies, not just in the American people, that the companies should have more faith.
CARROLL (on camera): The three men at the table wanted more inspiration. The two women at the table said basically he's speaking in realistic terms and I understand that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sell it to me a little bit more than you're doing it. It made me feel as though you believe that we're all in this together as opposed to we're all miserable together.
FISHER: I would love for him to be a cheerleader for me and say hey, you know what? Let's stick together. We can do it, rah, rah, rah, sis boom bah. The bottom line is and sad as it is to say, we're in a mess. Everybody knows it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Jason Carroll joining us now, live, from New York.
Hey, Jason, bottom line, do this people think President Obama's plan will actually put people back to work?
CARROLL: You know what, Heidi, they do. The question is, when? You heard Dustin, one of the participants there, saying, he doesn't have a few years to get financially back on his feet.
COLLINS: Sure.
CARROLL: Something needs to happen for him right now. And I think that's some of what they wanted to hear from this president.
COLLINS: Yes. That's understandable. It seems the group kind of wanted two things.
CARROLL: Yes.
COLLINS: One side wanted -- and you kind of mentioned it -- the president to be more inspirational.
CARROLL: Yes.
COLLINS: The other wanted him to reflect reality of what lies ahead. They really want to know what the problems are and how they are going to be fixed.
CARROLL: It really is a fine line for the president, isn't it? I mean, you do have some people out there who definitely want to hear more of the inspiration from this president, but then again, you also hear from some of those who say, look, we know the situation is bad. You heard Tracy say, we know things are really bad out there. We want you to be honest with us. So, the question is, how does the president, you know, dance that fine line between, you know, selling hope, but also selling some of the specifics that it's going to take to get this country out of this financial crisis.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. And interesting. We're going to be doing a little bit more of this, too, Jason. Thanks so much for that.
Outside of the Washington Beltway, how did the president's news conference play with average Americans? Did they like what he had to say? Did he boost their confidence? That's coming up next hour right here in our "Snapshot across America."
With the economy taking center stage in the president's conference -- press conference last night, other important topics got little or no attention from the Press Corps. But chief-of-staff, Rahm Emanuel, tells CNN's Larry King, the narrow focus didn't really come as a surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Was there anything he wasn't asked tonight that you expected him? I know when you do briefings before, to come up, that didn't come up?
RAHM EMANUEL, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: You noted it a little earlier, as I was listening in. You know, it wasn't any questions about Iraq. We still have about 140,000, 150,000 American troops there. It wasn't a question about Afghanistan. He brought up Iran. There was a question about Mexico. There were other questions on other topics that could have been asked that obviously we do preparation.
But the reason the questions were so focused on the economy is because that's the number one focus for the American people and that's the number one focus for the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Speaking of Mexico, a cross-border battle with that country. U.S. officials fearing the spill of drug violence into the U.S. Now, reacting to calls for more border security. Those plans causing more tension between the countries.
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COLLINS: We've got our crews out all over today to bring you the very latest developing stories. Here's a sneak peek.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN weather center, watching the flooding in North Dakota. And on top of that today, we've got winter storm warnings and temperatures in the 20s, 5 to 8 inches of snow on top of the rising river. Details coming up at the top of the hour.
LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where we're seeing positive numbers on the big board. This as we get another unexpected positive economic report. Heidi, more on that in the next hour.
COLLINS: Huh? Positive report? All right, Susan, Rob, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Looking forward to it all. And we will travel across the country to find out what some people are saying about President Obama's latest comment on the economy.
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COLLINS: Mexico's drug war on the agenda right now in Capitol Hill. In fact, you're looking live at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing going on right now. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is talking to the committee about violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and a new security plan being put forth by the White House. I just want to let you know that that is happening right now.
Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Mexico City later today for talks with Mexico's president. She's taking with her a promise of shared responsibility from the Obama administration. CNN's Casey Wian has more on growing tensions between the two countries.
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CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Mexican government says it has captured the man suspected of orchestrating a grenade attack on a U.S. consulate last fall. He is an alleged drug cartel hit man known as the Big Marble.
GEN. LUIS ARTURO BOLIVAR, MEXICAN ARMY SPOKESMAN (through translator): He was also the mastermind behind the torture and killing of nine soldiers, part of the Seventh Army Regional Command in Monterrey, Nuevo Leone, that took place October 22nd, 2008.
WIAN: As Mexican President Felipe Calderon praised his army for catching the suspect, the Mexican Navy helped the U.S. Coast Guard seize eight tons of marijuana in the waters off the Baja California. Despite those signs of cooperation, tensions are rising between the United States and Mexico. Some American lawmakers and the governor of Texas want President Obama to deploy the military to the Mexican border to stop drug cartel violence from spreading across.
REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: I think the situation is becoming so chronic that the administration doesn't have time to try to play it safe and this argument of all, we want time to look at it. Look, the people in Mexico are fighting for their sovereignty right now and sometimes doing the safe thing is not the right thing to do with Mexico. Calderon's brave enough to do the right thing. I'd call on both the secretary of homeland security and especially the president to step forward and do the right thing even if it looks politically risky.
WIAN: The Mexican government is opposed to the United States moving troops to the border. It continues to accuse its northern neighbor of helping to fuel the drug war by not doing more to stop drug use and weapons trafficking, it's a view the Obama administration echoes.
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Number one is to support President Calderon. One of the ways that we can do that is to recognize that a lot of this violence is fueled by guns and cash that is coming from the United States.
WIAN: Mexico has also retaliated against a U.S. decision to halt a cross border trucking program, by imposing tariffs on more than $2 billion in U.S. exports.
Against this backdrop, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week will visit Monterrey, Mexico, the site of last year's consulate attack, in an effort to ease those tensions.
(on camera): She will be followed by Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and next month by President Barack Obama.
Casey Wian, CNN, San Diego.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: We are going to have more on Mexico in just a moment, but we also want to let you know CNN's Anderson Cooper is headed to the border for an AC360 special report, "The War Next Door". That comes your way tonight, 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well in Fargo, North Dakota. Thousands of people are there, filling two million sandbags in hopes of keeping flood waters back. The city is bracing for the Red River to overflow its banks from melting snow and heavy, heavy rains. The river was already at 33 feet this morning. Just to let you know, that's about 15 feet above flood stage. Officials predict it could exceed a record 41.1 feet set back in 1897.
President Obama takes his economic message to Capitol Hill today. He faced a lot of questions about the economy and his proposed $3.5 trillion budget at a prime-time news conference last night. Today, he'll lobby support from congressional Democrats. One key Democratic leader is already proposing big cuts.
A deadly roadside bombing in eastern Afghanistan. Eight civilians are dead. Eight others were hurt in the attack on a mini bus in Khost Province. NATO officials say it was a, quote, "callous attack on innocent people by insurgents." Afghanistan's host region borders Pakistan.
Dealing with Mexico's drug problem. The issue taking center stage on Capitol Hill right now. In fact, you're looking at live pictures of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. They're hearing testimony now from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She's talking to the committee about the growing violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Here's a bit of what she said just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAPOLITANO: We have seen the violence in Mexico spike. We have seen it spike because of the efforts of the Calderon government to take on these cartels, and we have seen it spike because we are increasingly trying to shut down the avenues by which the drug trade can move drugs into the United States, and therefore the cartels are fighting each other for turf and for precedence.
