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Shelters to Replace Tent City; President Obama Will Lobby Democrats on Budget; Drug Violence at the Border; UAE: Alternative Energy Source; Turkey Less Affected By Crisis; China Worried About U.S. Debt

Aired March 25, 2009 - 11:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this right here is Sacramento's tent city. The once-vacant lot is home to about 200 homeless men, women and children, but it may not be for that much longer. The city took a big step toward shutting it down yesterday. Officials voting to spend almost a million dollars to expand shelter programs throughout the city.

Here's the mayor of Sacramento on why he believes it needs to be closed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KEVIN JOHNSON, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Everyone deserves dignity and respect, and we have people living in conditions that are third world conditions and just not acceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So with the expansion of the shelter program, the tent city, rather, would be closed by the end of next month.

So Mayor Johnson actually joins us live right now.

All right, Mayor Johnson, you know, you grew up in Sacramento. And initially, just give me your reaction to what you saw. That this was taking place in a city that you grew up to know and to love.

JOHNSON: This is my hometown. I'm a third generation Sacramenton. I had no idea there were so many homeless people living along the river in conditions that are just not humane. There's no running water, there's no sanitation. There's public safety, there's health issues and it just is not acceptable.

For far too long our city has ignored the homeless population. We've kind of swept it under the rug. It's been a dirty little secret that no one wanted to deal with. And once I became mayor, I thought it was very important to deal with the least among us, which is the homeless population.

WHITFIELD: Because this wasn't the first revealed evidence of homelessness. Sacramento has something in the range of about - what? - 1,200 homeless people? And this was one location with a concentration of about 200? Did I get that right? JOHNSON: Yes, about 150 people is our latest count that are living along the river in campsites. These people deserve dignity, they deserve respect, and we had to do something immediately.

And I'm very proud of council. We brought in a very broad-based group of people and all key stakeholders that came together in a two-week period of time and we found a resolution. We found 150 beds that we're going to be able to relocate people to immediately.

WHITFIELD: OK, does that mean the existing shelters will get these 150 beds or are you saying an entirely new facility is going to be opened up in time for the people to be relocated?

JOHNSON: There's going to be three different shelters that are going to take the people that are currently living in the homeless community, as well as there's going to be permanent housing. We found 40 permanent housing units, which is very significant. And we're going to revisit whether or not our city should sanction a tent city, but that won't happen in this phase. That will be something that we'll look to in terms of a longer-term solution for the city of Sacramento.

WHITFIELD: Any idea the direct reaction from some of the people who have been staying in the tent city? Is there any resistance from some of those who have now called this home for who knows how long? Any resistance from them to go into an organized shelter? Because I've heard from a lot of people who are homeless, who have their reasons to be reluctant or reticent about going to shelters -- crime being one.

JOHNSON: Let me just tell you, I went out to these campsites on a dozen occasions. I talked to tons of people out there. And the majority of people said to me very clearly, you give us a bed, you give us shelter, we will go.

Now, there will always be a minority of people who do not want to go for various reasons. Some of the barriers that people said they did not want to go to shelter were they want a place to store their pets. So we provided kennels. Other people said they wanted a place to store their private property. We provided storage bins.

And then, lastly, there were couples and families out there. And one of the shelters is going to allow private areas for families to commune. So I think that we did a good job of addressing all the key barriers that were told to me at this point.

WHITFIELD: That had to be heartbreaking for you, too, to see that there were children in the picture here.

JOHNSON: I'll tell what you what. You know, any time you see people living in those type of conditions, it is very difficult. But when you bring in young people, who unfortunately don't have a whole lot to do with their lot in life, and it's some other decisions that are made that have put them in situations that aren't ideal, it really made us as a local government have to step up.

WHITFIELD: So this is a whole new ballgame, so to speak, for you. Folks are used to seeing you as part of the Phoenix Suns for so many years, after retiring in 2000, but now you're in the hot seat as mayor.

Equally as comfortable for you? How are you enjoying your post?

JOHNSON: I'm enjoying it. I'm living the dream. Every day I get out of bed and I can't wait to get to the office.

And my job as mayor is to solve problems and to help make Sacramento a great city. And this is a problem that we've ignored for far too long, and I think we're well on our way of taking a very significant first step in dealing with our homeless challenge in Sacramento.

WHITFIELD: Mayor Kevin Johnson, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, happening right now in North Dakota, a race against the rivers and the elements. Heavy rain, melting snow and huge ice jams forcing the water over riverbanks, and it's still rising, apparently.

The Red River is in the worst shape of them all. Officials fear that perhaps they could be looking at record flooding as early as Friday, with the water rising to 40 feet or more in its path.

In one of North Dakota's biggest cities, Fargo, that's where about 10,000 volunteers, including busloads of children from neighboring communities, are helping to fill some two million sandbags, which is quite impressive. Is it not?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we have just learned that a river dike has broken south of the city. Several people are in need of rescue.

And on the phone with us right now is CNN Radio's Steve Kastenbaum, with us again from Fargo.

Steve, what do you know?

STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO: Well, we understand this is happening in the community of Oxbow, about 10 miles south of Fargo, give or take a few. There is a really twisty part of the Red River in this location there, and apparently the river has either spilled over part of a dike, or part of a dike has given way. I'm not 100 percent clear on that yet, but they are effecting some rescues in that area.

It's not a heavily populated area, but there are some private homes around this area where the Oxbow Golf and Country Club is, and right on the border with Minnesota. So they are effecting a few, a handful of water rescues there this morning, local time. They've been out there for some time, so this is an ongoing operation right now.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Scary stuff. We'll keep checking with you, Steve. Appreciate it. All right. Well, it may be a tough sell for President Obama, trying to build support for his $3.6 trillion budget blueprint. The president made his appeal directly to the public during his prime-time news conference last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And in this budget, we have to make tough choices necessary to cut our deficit 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)

WHITFIELD: White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us live now.

So, Suzanne, President Obama using his prime-time conference to try to push for his budget. At the same time, a pretty busy day, because now he's going to be heading to Capitol Hill to try to convince not Republicans, but Democrats.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And we're also getting the spin already. I was actually on a conference call with the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag. And he was saying, essentially, that they're getting about 98 percent of what they want, that the four main principles of the president's budget actually really reflect what lawmakers are doing. Those four areas being in health care reform, energy, education, and actually cutting the budget deficit in half.

But he's not getting everything he wants, Fred. One thing that he's not getting, you've got this $400 tax credit for singles, $800 for couples. That is going to expire the end of next year. So that is really just two years.

That is a disappointment to the Obama administration. He campaigned hard on that. He promised that that was something that he was going to bring the American people.

Peter Orszag spinning it, saying, well, that gives us two more years in the administration to all work it out. Perhaps we'll get it the next two years. But he describes it as this legislation between the administration and members of Congress, not as twins but as brothers who look very similar -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, some high points and some low points. That being perhaps one of the low points of the day.

A high point, his meeting with the NATO secretary-general. Their message on point -- they were in unison and in concert about their continued commitment. MALVEAUX: And Fred, one of the things that we're actually seeing is that they are using a different kind of media. What they're doing is whitehouse.gov. They're going to be holding this live town hall meeting, if you will.

They're asking people to actually come to this site, submit a question to the president, vote on the most popular question, the one you like the best. And then the president is actually going to respond to those questions. That's starting tomorrow morning.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

MALVEAUX: So it's going to be very interesting. And so far, I'm getting the very latest hit, and it's 11,000. Eleven thousand people who have actually gone online and say they have questions for the president.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And then they'll be able to have bragging rights to say they actually spoke directly with the president as part of the lure.

All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much from the White House. Appreciate it.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Day 65 for President Obama. Earlier today, he met with the NATO secretary-general. You heard their comments from that meeting last hour.

Next hour, he meets with the Senate Democratic Caucus to lobby for that budget proposal. And then tonight, he will be making remarks at a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser.

So it's the war next door that could spill right into the streets of the U.S. Some say, in fact, it already has.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be landing in Mexico City this hour.

But meantime, what we're seeing taking place out of Maryland. You're looking at live pictures right now of a fire in Riverdale at a grocery store. It's unclear if there are any people inside or what kind of business may have been going, if business was going on in the grocery story. It's unclear, of course, then the cause of the fire.

But you see -- I believe this is going to Riverdale in Prince George's County, Maryland, because we're looking at our affiliate shots from WJLA. There is another Riverdale in another part of Maryland. But it looks like we're in the Prince George's County area.

And this grocery store, we know very little about it. I'm just reading some information that was just handed to me that essentially reiterates what I've already told you, is that this fire is indeed under way. It's unclear whether anybody was in this grocery story. And of course, you can see, it's a pretty densely populated area.

This taking place near many businesses, as well as residences. So we'll share the information with you as we get it.

All right. Meantime, back now to this other story we're following. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Mexico City this hour. She'll highlight the escalating battles between Mexico's drug cartels that threaten to spill over into the U.S. The violence is blamed for 7,000 deaths in the last 15 months.

Secretary Clinton sits down with President Felipe Calderon later on this afternoon.

So, will more money and manpower actually keep the battle next door in check? President Obama hopes so. His administration is revamping his predecessor's strategy.

So here are key details.

Mexico gets $700 million to battle drug cartels. The Mexican army will use some of that money to buy five helicopters and new surveillance aircraft. Here at home, hundreds of federal agents will be added to the southwest border to stem the flow of money, drugs and guns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: As I said, 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 into 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. The border city of Juarez, Mexico, has been terrorized by drug gangs.

CNN's Michael Ware traveled to the front lines for his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is how American Jose Molinar knew his wife was dead. He saw these television pictures and her bullet-riddled car broadcast from just across the border in Juarez City, Mexico, minutes from his Texas home.

JOSE MOLINAR, WIFE MURDERED: As soon as the image came up, I saw her truck and I knew what had happened right then and there.

WARE: His wife, Marisela, a U.S. resident and mother of two, was gunned down, doing a last-minute favor, giving a Juarez government lawyer a ride to go shopping. MOLINAR: Wrong place, wrong time. That's the only way I can describe that.

WARE: Marisela died close to the border crossing, just yards from U.S. soil. It was her passenger who was the gunman's target. He was shot multiple times. She was killed by a single shot to the chest.

This is the cartel war in Mexico, a conflict raging on America's doorstep. A conflict in which Juarez police officers like this one, under attack from a drug gang, are fighting for their lives, while the drug cartels are battling throughout the city for control of a lucrative drug route into the United States.

Sixteen hundred people killed in this city last year. That's three times more than the most murderous city in America, and 50 of them were police officers. This year, in just two months, 400 more already murdered. We saw the most recent victims laying in the city's morgue, overflowing with bodies.

Many unidentified cartel members destined for mass graves. They had been brutally killed by rivals, beheaded, tortured, sprayed with bullets. But now the cartels are renewing a favorite tactic -- intimidating government leaders. This time they're doing it by killing cops one by one.

MAYOR JOSE REYES FERRIZ, CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO: They have started killing police officers and not while they were doing police work, but when they were coming out of their homes and getting into their cars to go to the police station.

WARE: This sign says it all. A cartel vowing to kill one person every 48 hours until this man, the chief of police, stands down. At first he refused to go, until on one of the days when we were there, and he finally had enough after the cartel had killed eight of his officers in less than a week.

In the hours following his resignation, we rode on patrol with police officers out on the streets. The entire force on high alert. The cartel war grinding on.

(on camera): And it's going to be a long war, with most of the advantages in the cartel's favor. Their gunmen outnumber these police and they are better armed, and the body count continues to rise.

(voice-over): Now, the mayor's family is being targeted. A cartel threatening to behead them wherever they are. Police in the U.S. suspect the cartel is planning to cross into Texas to get to the family where they are hiding.

Meanwhile, over the past year, the Mexican army has moved into Juarez. Over 2,000 soldiers sent as part of a huge operation that has 45,000 troops across combating the cartels across Mexico.

"This is not going to be won quickly," says Mexican spokesman Enrique Torres. "While we know the monster is big, we don't have any idea just how big it is." And though the U.S. this year is giving Mexico about $400 million to combat the cartels, officials on both sides of the border privately agree, the war as its fought now cannot be won, which is something Jose Molinar's wife probably knew before she was gunned down.

(on camera): This drug war in Juarez robbed you of a mother. I mean, how do you carry that?

ALBA PRIETO, MOTHER MURDERED: Day by day. Just -- I always think she's at work.

WARE (voice over): And the unwinnable war that killed her mother rages on.

Michael Ware, CNN, Juarez, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Tough questions for those covering the tragic story. How did it get so bad? And what's the concern for people living along the U.S. border with Mexico?

My next guest may have some answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The "Los Angeles Times" has been tracking the number of drug-related deaths in Mexico -- 7,337, and counting, according to the Web site. That's how many people were killed since 2007, so just over a 12-month period -- just about a 14-month period after Mexico's president declared war on drug traffickers. That's when we saw those numbers spike.

Mexico's bloody drug war took a dramatic turn in 2007. So why did the number of killings suddenly skyrocket?

Richard Marosi is a San Diego-based reporter for the "Los Angeles Times."

You also cover Tijuana. And before I ask you about the spike in numbers, we saw the piece by Michael Ware talking about Juarez, which is directly across the way from El Paso, Texas.

You, primarily, or the San Diego bureau, are concentrating on what's taking place in Tijuana. How does Tijuana compare to what's taking place in Juarez?

RICHARD MAROSI, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, Tijuana last year was almost as bad as Juarez. You had major (INAUDIBLE) war going on with the Arellano-Felix cartel. Since about December, it's calmed down a bit here. We are not seeing the gruesome killings from last year, like beheadings and rampant kidnappings.

It could be because there is a truce between the rival factions of the Arellano-Felix cartel. The military, also here, has been effective. There is about 1,000 soldiers in Tijuana and the northern Baja, California, area. And recently, they've taken out some pretty important crime bosses. So it's not nearly as intense right now here in Tijuana as it is over in Juarez.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about the issue of being outnumbered. Police, government outnumbered in Mexico in terms of the drug cartel. I had a conversation earlier this month with Sam Caniones (ph), your colleague. And you have been reporting on this extensively for a long time too.

Is it simply an issue of the forces against these drug cartels simply outnumbered by drug cartels?

MAROSI: It's not so much outnumbered as it is outgunned. There's a lot of military on the ground here.

In Tijuana, for instance, the rival factions of the cartel are estimated to have maybe 200 to 300 members, gunmen. They can also get maybe a few hundred more off the streets. But the soldiers apparently outnumber them. The problem is they can't keep up with the kind of weaponry that the gunmen have.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And we're talking about what? Ninety percent of the weapons that they are using actually come from the U.S. So this administration has said we want to clamp down on inspections of the vehicles leaving the U.S. into Mexico so that perhaps any kind of trafficking of weapons can be detected.

Will that make a dent? Could it?

MAROSI: It could make a dent. I mean, I talked to a colonel in the Mexican military last week. Sometimes they make seizures, and the receipts from the U.S. gun shops are still on the weapons.

They're going to have to -- it looks like they're going to increase the number of southbound checkpoints of cars going into Mexico and doing more searches of cars. They do turn up a lot of weapons sometimes. They also turn up a lot of drug money heading south. Last week, in Laredo, they turned up $3 million in a bus heading south.

So that's the main way that the cartels arm themselves and keep the profits moving back down to Mexico. It does create problems though, because this is a big regional economy down here, and if you create checkpoints on the southbound lanes, it's going to snarl traffic and it's going to hurt the local economy.

WHITFIELD: And further complicating matters is the whole NAFTA agreement allowing Mexican vehicles to come into the U.S. with products for trade.

MAROSI: Yes, exactly. The Obama administration, the last couple of weeks ago, stopped -- banned long-haul trucks from entering -- Mexican trucks from entering the United States, and the Mexicans slapped trade tariffs on the U.S.

WHITFIELD: Now, when you talk about police officers, police chiefs, they are under fire, they are targets, easy targets for drug cartels. I wonder if it's difficult to retain them, those who manage to survive, and if they indeed have lost incentive to stay in Mexico.

MAROSI: Well, it's a mixed bag. A lot of these guys are under tremendous stress. You know? Even if you're honest, you're going to have a tough time.

I've had sources of mine, you know, shot, killed. Some of them fight the good fight. A lot of the most effective law enforcement official now in Mexico are ex-military, and they're deemed to be more honest. They are allowed to live on the army bases, which provides them and their family great protection.

WHITFIELD: Oh, their families as well?

MAROSI: Yes, exactly. And that's huge, because if you're a local police officer in Tijuana, and the cartels want to go after you, if they can't get to you, they'll go to your -- they'll kill your family. And there is no protection. And these guys feel exposed.

WHITFIELD: So this is a huge message to anyone who doubted Mexico's commitment to the drug war. There were accusations -- we've seen it from so many different areas -- that the Mexican government may be complicit in this drug activity. But if there are these measures being taken to try and protect perhaps police, or former military personnel and their families, then maybe the message has been misconstrued?

MAROSI: No, not misconstrued. What happens is, is you've got different levels on the offensive against these cartels.

The most effective has been the military. Because Mexico's a strong institution, deemed to be less corruptible than local law enforcement, and they do have these army bases where the soldiers are housed, which insulates them, which protects them, they can be a lot more aggressive and not as easily got to by the cartels.

If you're a local police officer in Tijuana, you come off your shift, you go home, and you are deemed not to be cooperating with the cartels, you're exposed. You're completely exposed and you're unarmed. You're not allowed to bring your weapon home after work.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, how difficult is it for you to report on this subject matter? Because I imagine you get a lot of folks who say, uh- uh, I am not talking.

MAROSI: Yes, that happens a lot. And you have to be very careful in sourcing folks in Mexico. A lot of these folks, if they see their names in print, or if the cartels know they're talking, you know, they might be targets. So you definitely have to keep people's identities in confidence.

WHITFIELD: And realistically, what can come out of Secretary of State Clinton's meeting with Calderon, if anything, or is this really kind of baby steps towards something that really could be a breakthrough?

MAROSI: It's not clear if the Obama administration's steps now are going to be a game-changer. I mean, the secretary's in Mexico as a show of support right now. They do like -- it appears that they're taking concrete measures here to combat the problem, at least try and stem the flow of weapons and cash south. Whether it will work, whether it will have a big impact, it's still not clear.

WHITFIELD: Richard Marosi of the "Los Angeles Times," San Diego base.

And also, as you all continue in your series of "Mexico Under Siege," people can go to latimes.com/siege.

All right. Richard, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

MAROSI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Anderson Cooper is heading to the border as well. Be sure to catch his "AC 360" special, "The War Next Door," live from the Mexican border, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Filling two million sandbags take thousands of volunteers and an impressive round-the-clock operation. I'll show you some incredible time-lapsed video of the work being done, plus the latest on the flooding in the Dakotas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following the numbers for you on Wall Street. The Dow up 138 points. Good news there. And this on a day when this country is seeing the lowest 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 4.68 percent. The lowest it's seen in six decades.

We're also watching the weather for you. CNN is covering the flooding situation from all angles. Meteorologist Chad Myers is in the weather center and Josh Levs will show us some pretty fascinating technology that could help save lives in the flood zone.

Let's beginning with you, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what, the irony is here, Fred, that the windchill factor in Fargo right now is about 5 degrees and the temperature is 23. You think, how can I have a flood? How can I have a flood when the temperatures are here, snow is flying? But you know what this is doing? You've got 100,000 people out there trying to put 2 million sandbags out on a river to try to stop it from flooding. And they have to do it in conditions like this. I mean it just doesn't seem fair.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and that is too cold for snow to be melting, but the snow began melting when the temperatures were higher, right?

MYERS: Right. And when the rain happened, too. It rained on to the snow. The snow melted. And then there was a big problem. And now we're still seeing the snow melt.

I have to tell you though, if you're watching or if you have loved ones in this area, you can't count on your life being saved by a sandbag. If you're in a position then you say, well, if that sandbag doesn't hold, I'm going to be in trouble, then you just need to just be out of there.

WHITFIELD: Yes, riding it out, never smart, period.

MYERS: Work it. Love it. You know, do everything you can for your neighbors and your neighborhood, but don't sit there behind a sandbag flood wall at night an hope that it doesn't break because this is going to be a long, hard flood for very many people, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well you've convinced me and I know you convinced others, too. It's all about safety. You want to be very careful.

All right. Our Josh Levs is also watching this story, but with the use of a pretty snazzy device that could be very instrumental in helping people out significantly.

Josh.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey there, Fred.

You know something? The same advice comes from me, really. I'm going to show you a piece of the picture here that's important and relevant and interesting, but it doesn't mean that therefore -- we're not sending the message to people you're safe, obviously. Be incredibly careful.

Let's zoom in because I want to show everyone what we're talking about. It's called the invisible flood control wall. This is a website that talks about it here from Flood Control America. It's floodcontrolam.com. Want I want to do is start off with some video of what we saw back in 1997 in North Dakota because I want everyone to understand here in this video. This is how bad it got at the time. And we're told that in that area, between North Dakota and Minnesota, 11 people were killed. More than $4 billion in damages.

This next video will show you -- this invisible flood control wall that's been put up in parts of the state after that, Fargo. And, Fred, that's it that you're seeing there. Here's how it works. The horizontal slabs lift out an they can be dropped in when a flood is coming. The only thing that's permanently there, you've got reinforced concrete foundation and a metal steel plate.

They call it invisible because the rest of the year you have an unobstructed view. But they're able to build those to any different size and drop them in. And we know that they're up right now. In fact, we have an i-report that came to us today from the other side over in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, which is just by Grand Forks, North Dakota. And we're seeing them there. That's actually those that he's passing by right there. Rick Kurtz pointed them out to us. Those invisible walls that he says have now been put up because they know that the flooding is coming.

WHITFIELD: That is so brilliant.

LEVS: It is. Yes. And you know what's interesting to see -- lets come back to the board for a second. I want to show everyone the different places in the country that have this. Because it's not just there. Let's see if we can zoom into this map. This map from floodcontrolam.com shows you all these different places that they have them, including Fargo and East Grand Forks right there, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so do we know that it works really well? Because I'm just envisioning now, no engineer clearly, but, you know, as they put those slats down, something has to seal it at the bottom.

LEVS: Right.

WHITFIELD: Do we know all of those kinds of details as to why it does work so well or does it work well?

LEVS: Well, the Army Corp of Engineers has approved it for use in five of their projects. So it does have that kind of stamp of approval. And there's something interesting here that I'll show you. I found a link from FEMA's website, fema.gov, to this independent study about mitigation success stories in flooding situations around the country. And they do say that in -- actually in North Dakota, this kind of wall has since been credited with protecting a school and part of a neighborhood. So it can do something. Whether it's enough to withstand what we could be seeing coming there right now, we don't know. Either way, it's a piece of the puzzle.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks so much. Well, it's good to know there are some reinforcements that perhaps could help.

LEVS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Josh, appreciate it.

President Barack Obama's financial policies are "a way to hell." Those are the words of a world leader who has his own money problems.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Cutting carbon emissions is one of President Obama's top priorities. But the devil is in the details. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Hello to you, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hi, Fredricka.

That's right, something that the president talked about last night, we've heard him talking about caps and trade since he was on the campaign trail, now in the White House, talking a lot about it. He wants it included in the budget that Congress is considering today. But last night he indicated he might have to make some concessions, namely because of the potential cost that is associated with cap and trade. And it is high. Take a quick listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The way it's structured has to take into account regional differences, it has to protect consumers from huge spikes in electricity prices. So there are a lot of technical issues that are going to have to be sorted through. Our point in the budget is, let's get started now. We can't wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right. But last month, when the president addressed the nation, his tone on cap and trade was a bit different. He stressed the importance of cutting carbon emissions from an environment and a national security standpoint.

As for the costs involved with cap and trade. Well, since the government essentially sells permits to companies allowing them to emit only a certain amount of pollution, if they emit more, then they have to pay other companies for more permits. There's the fear that that cost would be passed down right to the consumer, Fredricka. So that's a big fear right now about all of this.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So what's the president's plan to protect consumers from high energy bills?

HARLOW: Yes, the plan there is basically cushion the blow, if you will. His budget proposal assumes the cap and trade system would raise more than $645 billion in tax revenue by the year 2019. Most of that at this point is planned to be used for middle class tax cuts. The hope is that would offset those rising electricity bills. But the cap and trade proposal will certainly be very, very controversial. We just got the Democratic version of the budget. We're going to look at that now and see what they have done with cap and trade in the budget. We'll bring that to you in the 2:00 hour.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, we'll look forward to that. Thanks so much, Poppy.

President Obama says the global economic crisis will require global solutions. At his press conference last night, he was asked about concerns that other countries may be a little less confident in the U.S. dollar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as confidence in the U.S. economy or the dollar, I would just point out that the dollar is extraordinarily strong right now. And the reason the dollar is strong right now is because investors consider the United States the strongest economy in the world and -- with the most stable political system in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In fact, harsh criticism of President Obama's economic plans from the president of the European Union. He's also the Czech. prime minister. And he says the huge financial injections into the economy are a repeat of mistakes from the depression era.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MIREK TOPOLANEK, CZECH PRIME MINISTER, (through translator): Timothy Geithner, the Treasury secretary of the United States, talks about permanent action and we were quite alarmed by that at the spring council. He talks about a large stimulus and the buy-American campaign. All of these steps, their combination, and their permanency, is a way to hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And, incidentally, the Czech government collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote over its handling of the economic crisis.

So we're putting our global resources to work so you can see how the U.S. recession is impacting the rest of the world. Here's a look at CNN correspondents in four major capital cities.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're looking at what makes Japan's economy tick -- the gizmos and the gadgets. I'm Kyung Lah in Tokyo where the economic engine is the electronics and the cars that Japan produces. And the number one customer is the U.S. consumer. But with the credit crunch, that consumer is no longer buying and that effects everyone you see here on the streets.

Japan's economy is getting hammered as a result. Exports from Japan to the U.S. for the month of January fell 53 percent. The country now posting a record trade deficit. And the GDP is shrinking by the double digits.

So what is going to fix all this? Well, to get the U.S. economy back on track and the U.S. consumer buying those "made in Japan" products again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stan Grant at Nasdar (ph) City, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.

When this is completed, it will be the world's first zero carbon, zero waste city, powered by the sun, and home to about 50,000 residents. Now as President Obama looks at alternative energy, weaning America off oil and pumping billions of dollars into wind and solar research, he may well get some answers here. Ironically, a place that right now provides about 10 percent of the world's oil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The banners decorating these streets means it's election season here in Turkey, with municipal elections just a few days away. Opposition parties are hammering the government and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the issue of the economy. Industrial production's down more than 20 percent and unemployment's hit a record high.

In a recent interview with CNN, Prime Minister Erdogan claimed that Turkey would be one of the country's least affected by the global economic crisis. And he's got a point. Turkey experienced its own financial crisis in 2001. And the banks here had to clean up their act after that. So they were less affected by the financial crisis that's recently hit the west.

While trying to spin positive about the economy, Prime Mime Erdogan added that Turkey does need a loan from the International Monetary Fund to attract much needed foreign investment to jumpstart this economy.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm John Vause in Beijing.

Perhaps no other country will be watching the U.S. recovery plan as closely as China, which has lent the Americans more money than any other nation. In fact, recently the communist government made a rare public statement, worried about the long-term value of the greenback. And when U.S. consumers dramatically cut back their spending, the pain was felt here by exporters and by millions of workers who lost their jobs. And so, in many ways, as the U.S. goes, so, too, does China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we heard the president address the nation last night in his second prime time news conference. And he obviously chose his word carefully. Nicole Lapin is here to do a little word play with us.

So explain. All those words behind you.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm your personal wordsmith for the hour, Fred. I'm working on this word cloud. I'll tell you what word the president used most last night coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You know the old phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words." But did you know a thousand words can actually paint a picture? Huh? Listen to a little bit of President Obama's remarks at the top of his news conference last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've 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)

WHITFIELD: All right. Sound pretty simple speak to me. But what's the big image behind the president's words last night? Nicole Lapin has been digging. And you've got a message for us.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what did we hear in that sound? We heard economy. We heard jobs. We heard crisis. There's actually a full transcript online, Fred. So what I did was I wanted to see how much he actually focused on the economy, because he was expected, of course, to focus on issue number one. Cnnpolitics.com is where you can find exactly what the president said in those prepared remarks and in the Q&A session.

So I copied that. I pasted it in this website called wordal.net (ph).

WHITFIELD: Wordal.

LAPIN: Wordal. It's a site that makes word clouds based on the frequency of the word used. So I took out the common words. And take a look at what I got. We found the top words here, recover or recovery 13 times, work 16 times, plan or plans 22 times. Because a lot of reporters asked the president, Mr. President, do you have a plan? Also, the economy or economic, 39 times. Tied with jobs, 39 times as well.

I was expecting that to be number one. But, Fred, we actually found that the most often -- the most frequent word used was people, 42 times. So taking a more populous tone.

WHITFIELD: OK. He was talking to the people. And had to keep reminding people of that.

LAPIN: Yes, and right off the bat, teachers, firefighters, police officers, you know how those words, money, jobs and the economy, humanized -- can be humanized and relate to people. Of course, let's juxtapose that . . .

WHITFIELD: So anyone can kind of play this?

LAPIN: Anyone can play this.

WHITFIELD: Or you just got crafty because this is your thing?

LAPIN: I did get a little crafty. Let me play with one more. Let's juxtapose that to President Bush's first prime time news conference a month after 9/11. On October 11, 2001, justice was used 20 times there. Terror, terrorist or terrorism was used 28 times. And America was the big word, 56 times.

And, yes, like you said, you can put any text in this website. It's a great tool for us in the CNN NEWSROOM to paint a picture with a thousand words, as you said, or 8,590, like I just did. Not that I'm counting.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) counting. Right. OK. All right. Well that's good. And it becomes a good research tool for us. Sometimes we need to find out what someone -- a president particularly -- said, you know, 12 months ago and to see if there's some repetition. But for everybody else, they just want to play along and have fun with it.

LAPIN: It's the subtle difference. We know generally what they're saying, but this really proves it.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Nicole Lapin, thanks so much.

LAPIN: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: I was hoping we're going to hear a little cameo music there. A little word up.

LAPIN: Word up? Word up

WHITFIELD: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) that music. OK, there it is!

LAPIN: There it is! That was the big plan, blow (ph) it up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very good. I've been singing it all day since hearing about this segment.

All right. Well, it's a race against a rising river in Fargo, North Dakota. What can kids do to help? You'll see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's race against time and a rising river in Fargo, North Dakota. Volunteers are pitching in to try to hold back the water. Hundreds have joined forces to fill and stack the sandbags. Even school children are lending a hand. The story from Martina Del Bonta of our affiliate KVRR in Fargo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTINA DEL BONTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's an army of volunteers, going to war against mother nature.

AARON KNUDSON, VOLUNTEER FROM BISMARCK: I'm pretty strong. I can last all day.

DEL BONTA: And this regime is attracting North Dakotans from all over the state.

KNUDSON: It's pretty good to see all the people come out and do their part to help out. Try to save everyone's houses.

DEL BONTA: With the river rising to 30 feet and beyond, the waters are quickly creeping up to these houses along River Drive. The area's about 60 percent complete with a five-foot dike that is going to defend these homes, pushing sand baggers into high gear as they try to beat mother nature. JESSICA SMITH, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR: Because they need a lot of people, as you can see, and the river's getting really high. And I think it shows a great sense of community that we're all willing to help.

DEL BONTA: Just yesterday, this dike was barely complete. But thanks to the help of hundreds of volunteers, this dike will be completed in no time.

Up the river, along Lilac Lane in north Fargo hundreds of people are rolling up their sleeves, lending a helping hand.

CARMEN ROSS, 5TH GRADER: It's like a good thing because then you know that you're like saving kind of like Fargo almost. Because if one dike goes out, they all go out.

DEL BONTA: And if they can't push the river down, they'll build a sand fort.

KNUDSON: Just here to do whatever I can now to help people not lose their houses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, everyone involved. Volunteers are racing to fill 2 million sandbags. In addition to the students, football players, soldiers an even a Microsoft engineer have actually joined in.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kyra Phillips.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Fred.