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Major Flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota is Causing Thousands to Evacuate; Interview with Mayor Dennis Walaker of Fargo, North Dakota; Where to Look for Jobs

Aired March 28, 2009 - 12:00   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, good day, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Wild weather continues to tear across the country from the north to the south. Major flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota is forcing thousands of people to evacuate and the military to mobilize. Fifteen helicopters have been deployed as the Red River continues to rise.

Tornadoes are also ripping through the South. A twister touched down in North Carolina and Alabama and Georgia. All of those areas are under the gun, right now. And a late winter blast is pounding the southern plains. Up to 11 feet of snow has been reported in some places.

Let's head first to the flood zone. All week we've been watching the heroic efforts to save cities on both sides of the Red River. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in Moorhead, Minnesota, right across from Fargo, North Dakota. We're hearing the river is leveling off.

Can that be true -- Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is, and that is certainly some great news. I can tell you there is certainly a sigh of relief in this part of the country. Many people are happy, but at the same time, that river is still mighty high, it's at record levels and the last thing they want to do is let down their guard. So they're staying vigilant.

And we're talking about two cities, there. Over here this is of course, Moorhead, and as you can see, we've got great conditions here, the sun is coming down, temperatures right around 31 degrees. And I'm standing on a bridge that leads us back over to Fargo.

So, we're talking about two cities, one bridge, one river and, of course, one big issue. You know, it's a busy day want only for people putting up those sandbags and keeping a sharp eye on the water, it's very busy for hydrologists like my friends over my shoulder.

Let's move over here for just a moment, I'd like to show you, Fred, and the rest of America, what these guys are doing. You notice they've got a specially-configured pickup truck and in that pick up the got something that looks very similar to a fishing rod, maybe a, I don't know a Zebco 202 or something.

Well, right at the end of that pole you can see there's like an orange end to it, there's a line that extends down to the water. I'm with CNN photojournalist, Steve Sorben (ph), I don't know if you can lean over to see or show America the shot. I'm going to get out of the way. And Steve, i you fall in, your wife is going to kill me. So, just be very careful, there.

And what they're doing with the instrumentation, Fredricka, that they're putting in there is basically to measure the stream flow and also give us a better idea of the depth in certain parts of the river as this water is coming through.

See, but this really doesn't tell the story to the viewers. If you look a little bit farther and see those trees down there, just about a week or so ago, people were able to stand by there, Fredricka, where the water was only up to 17 feet, they could sit down there and watch the water go by.

Obviously since then it's come up. If you look over here at this trestle, right over here at this railroad trestle, you're going to see a yellow sign. Boy, I'm making Steve jump through hoops. It says 14 feet and three inches. That, my friend, is the difference between the level of the street -- Third Avenue actually goes right underneath that, Third Street, and the base of the third street to the railroad trestle is 14.3 feet.

So certainly some rough times. The water as we mentioned, leveling off. We are expecting it to go down, certainly some great news, but people are still standing guard being prepared for whatever the river may bring to them. Let's send it back to you -- Fred. It's cold.

WHITFIELD: So, Reynolds, good news. Yeah, I know it's cold, get some gloves on. So, I know you just said that they expect the river to go down a little bit. You showed us that 14.3 there, but at the same time, if it does, indeed crest like initially feared of three feet above flood stage, then that road that we just saw would be under water?

WOLF: Well, actually, I mean, about a week ago, about eight days ago, the river level was right around 17 feet. Now we're talking well above 40 feet at this time. So, again, I would imagine that just at regular flood stage you'd have some issues, but certainly not the magnitude of what we're seeing here. They broke that record that was set back in 1897, just yesterday, since then we've surpassed that and now it doesn't look like we're not going to get to the magic number of 42, but still it's a major flood, certainly historic, nonetheless.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, scary stuff. All right, thanks so much for keeping us posted on that, Reynolds, appreciate it. And try to stay warm. Get some gloves for starters.

All right, well, President Obama devotes his weekly address to that flooding in the Midwest. He says that he's paying tribute to the volunteers and he says that his administration is working closely with officials from the Dakotas and Minnesota to respond to this situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll continue to monitor the situation carefully. We will do what must be done to help in concert with state and local agencies and non-profit organizations and volunteers who are doing so much to aid the response effort.

For moments like these, we are reminded of the power of nature to disrupt lives and endanger communities, but we're also reminded of the power of individuals to make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And coming up later this afternoon, we'll talk more about the president's commitment to the flood zone. Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, joins us to talk about the situation in Fargo. That comes your way at 2:00 Eastern.

Meantime, on the phone with us right now, the man who has been leading this tireless effort to save Fargo, Mayor Dennis Walaker.

Mr. Mayor, I know you have gotten very little sleep over the past few days. At the same time, you, I guess, got a little pick-me-up when you had a one-on-one conversation with the president of the United States. Tell me how that conversation was like and how that galvanized your efforts.

MAYOR DENNIS WALAKER, FARGO, ND: Well, it's genuinely woke me up, I'll tell you what. It was unbelievable, I mean, I became the "Energy Bunny" at least for the rest of the day, speaking to him and having him share his concerns and making sure that we have what we think we need to be successful.

It was certainly good to know and I just heard on your station that he's going to continue to monitor the situation. And so, we're getting all of the federal, state and local efforts so that we can probably handle, here.

WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Mayor, you and I spoke last weekend and at the time we were talking about how Fargo has been through this before, just as soon as 10 years ago when you had flood stages near this level. You have a lot of equipment, a lot of personnel, a lot of volunteers, the community that is preparing for this, but now that you are at that point of the river cresting, do you feel like you have managed as best as you could or are you worried about the dikes? Do you have any grave worries right now about anything else?

WALAKER: Well, the period of time is a concern. You know, we've done more in seven or eight days than we accomplished in three-and-a- half weeks of 1997 and if we wouldn't have made some improvements after that I don't think we could be where we are today. We have -- our biggest concern right now, just because the river crests and we're not sure we're at the final figures yet, we're just approaching 41 feet now, but the NASA weather service is talking maybe 41.5 and we agree with that, somewhere around 41.5 and if it gets there and then it will stay high for some time. And just because it crests doesn't mean that the threat is over. We have a tremendous amount of devices out there that we've never tried before. OK? They're called Haskell (ph) barriers; we have other devices here and there. We've never protected as much of the city as we are in this particular effort.

WHITFIELD: Well, that is indeed good news. Let's hope that everything does indeed hold. Mayor Dennis Walaker, the mayor of Fargo, North Dakota. Thanks so much and best of luck. And if you can, try and sneak in a couple more hours of rest, because I know it's still going be a very long weekend for you and everyone else there.

All right, well, later this hour, our Susan Roesgen is actually joining us, as well, from the flood zone. She has been in Fargo most of the week with all the volunteers that we've been talking about who came to keep the river at bay and try to protect a lot of those properties and lives.

Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is in the Severe Weather Center.

I guess it's a bit encouraging, right, that in certain parts and along the Red River it is going down? But no one is out of the woods yet.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fred, you have succinctly put what is happening there. The trend is downward. That's the good news. We've watched it the last several hours steadily go down, little by little, just little increments and we may see these little minor fluctuations, but I think the overall trend is downward.

There you see the former record. It's been at record-setting levels now for the past 24 hours, but the trend is definitely downward, that's good news.

Well, let's go ahead and show you what's happening on Google Earth, and these are the rain gauges or the river gauges and if you see the purple that tells us that there is major flooding. You can go ahead and zoom that in, Taylor.

I will tell you that on Thursday the river rose two-and-a-half feet. On Friday it rose one foot, so we seen a substantial decrease in how fast that river was rising at Fargo.

Now, Fargo has about 90 to 95,000 folks, over 90,000. Moorhead, Minnesota has 30, 35,000 people that live there. lots of evacuations. They have built those levees to 43 feet, Fred, and it looks like it's going to be substantially below that, but we're still seeing a record. Never thought they would even see this.

WHITFIELD: Right, I mean, this is amazing that these records were set, what, a hundred years ago and then again 10 years ago and to prepare for something else just has to be really mind-boggling and frightening, for a lot of people. All right, Karen Maginnis, thanks so much, appreciate. We'll check back in with you, of course.

All right, well, a number of organizations a actually providing volunteers, food and even supplies for the people in the flood's path. You'll find the links to them on our "Impact Your World" page, that's CNN.com/impact.

A strong blizzard has slammed into the Texas Panhandle. Several highways are closed because of the snow and the wind. A blizzard warning is in effect until this afternoon. There could be as much as a foot of snow in some areas. The same storm system dumped more than a foot of snow on Denver, by the way. Some Colorado highways are also still closed. Very strange to be talking about Texas as it relates to that kind of weather.

Meantime, Oklahoma, another state dealing with that spring blizzard, the very same one, parts are buried in two feet of snow, today. The snow has coated trees and branch-breaking ice. As you can see right there and it's also coating the power lines, always very dangerous. Several major highways have also been closed. We're keeping a close watch on Oklahoma, as well.

All right. This was a pretty scary scene for motorists in Hope Mills, North Carolina. Two tornadoes touched down in the area yesterday damaging several homes, one woman is injured when her mobile home was destroyed. Part of Interstate 95 through North Carolina was closed because of downed trees, of course.

All right, 260 professional jobs that need to be filled, right now. Sounds enticing, right? Well, in a few minutes we'll take you to a town where unemployment is not a problem. You may want to move there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, perhaps you're looking for a good-paying job. Well, maybe you should consider Morgantown, West Virginia or Ames, Iowa, or perhaps Logan, Utah.

Kelly Evans is a reporter with the "Wall Street Journal" and recently wrote about one of the only bright spots in the U.S. job market out there, college towns. And Ron Justice is the mayor of Morgantown, the home of West Virginia University. Good to see both of you.

KELLY EVANS, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Hi, thanks for having me.

MAYOR RON JUSTICE, MORGANTOWN, WV: Good afternoon.

WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Mayor, let me begin with you. So, why are there so many jobs in your town of Morgantown?

JUSTICE: I think, obviously, having a major research institution, Lange (ph) institution is the engine of Morgantown, and I think having a diverse economy around that major university, very much helps. I think education, health care and technology are the leading sectors today and we've been able to take advantage of that and having partnerships with the university has certainly helped us maintain our high level of jobs and certainly the unemployment rate continues to be low.

WHITFIELD: So, you mean as it pertains to education, health care and then technology, those are the types of jobs that are available in Morgantown, as well as being the types of industries that you have a lot of your students focus on camp us?

JUSTICE: That's correct. We have a really diverse sector in the economy, diverse sectors and certainly education, health care and technology lead the way, but we also have manufacturing, retail and service that continue to be strong as well. So, I think one thing that's benefited Morgantown has been the ability to keep a diverse economy.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, so Kelly, let's broaden this out. It's not just Morgantown, but you did extensive research and I mentioned, we were finding this in parts of Utah and really across the country, as it pertains to colleges and where they're located. So, I guess one would automatically think, all right, college town, that means service industry, for sure, housing industry as well. What else did you find? What are the common denominators of job availability?

EVANS: The key thing to keep in mind is that when we talk about a college town, the data we had on this only goes down to metropolitan areas, but I think people are familiar with the college towns in their part of the country. And what it means is that a large share of the city's unemployment is directly related to the college town. That's why you don't see the same effect in places like New York, places like Boston or Los Angeles that have great universities, maybe several of them, but it's really not the primary industry.

And so, in some cases, what's tricky for other cities is they look and say, OK clearly, this is the model that right now is working, but it's not something we can do overnight.

WHITFIELD: So, how do you find -- if you're looking for a job, and there are a whole lot of people, millions, in fact, how do you go about targeting particular cities and or looking in the book saying, OK, where are the colleges, how do I find the town that has the jobs?

EVANS: Well, what we wanted to do with this is say, look, you know, there are a handful of places where there seems to be a better economy than usual. I cover this unemployment stuff all of the time. The national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, so to see places that have under four percent, even if they're heading higher, right now, at least, is kind of a reprieve.

So, what we wanted to say to people is look, you know, as you're looking in your area, certainly it's difficult for people who are unemployed to afford to move or go somewhere, but keep somewhere like Morgantown, West Virginia, in mind, somewhere like Ames, Iowa, somewhere that you may not have had on your list, otherwise.

WHITFIELD: OK, and so, Mr. Mayor, give me a tough sell on Morgantown. Why would I want to pack up my bags and move to Morgantown in search for a job, but what about the quality of life? Why would I like it?

JUSTICE: That's a very important issue because the balance of the quality of life, I think, is the thing that really attracts people to Morgantown and we've spent a lot of time trying to improve the quality of life and certainly we feel we have a great opportunity in our state, to not only showcase a great quality of life, but to offer something that people wouldn't find in other places.

WHITFIELD: What about cost of living?

JUSTICE: The cost of living has maintained at a very good level. Again, you know, our housing costs are a little bit higher than the rest of the state, but other than that, this is a very affordable place to live, and certainly I think the university gives us a lot that we can offer in cultural activities as well as wellness and health issues, so it's very good living in Morgantown, right now.

WHITFIELD: All right, Morgantown mayor, Ron Justice, Kelly Evans with the "Wall Street Journal," thanks so much, appreciate it.

And while we are, of course, on the topic of colleges, it's not just a place that might attract jobs, but, of course, education. So, 4:00 p.m. hour today, we're taking a special look at how you can actually pay for college tuition. We're calling it "Tackling Tuition 101."

We know you've got lots of questions and interest about this, so send us your questions to weekends@CNN.com and yeah, finally, Facebook Fredricka Whitfield CNN and send your iReports, as well. We want to hear about your concerns, how you're going to be able to afford to pay for college or perhaps save up for your wee-one who is far away from college. If you have 18 years in which to start saving. How do you do it? We're accepting your questions and comments today for the 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour.

All right, a traffic stop in Dallas, this week, raises the question of common sense and the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother-in-law is dying, right now!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, everyone is talking about this. Now our legal guys are going to be weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we've been telling you all morning about the scheduled space shuttle "Discovery" landing, expected for 1:30, roughly this afternoon. Well, now because of cloudy and windy weather NASA is saying we need to delay that. The second try now will take place -- it's scheduled to, that is, at 3:13 p.m.

Seven astronauts hoping to come back aboard the shuttle "Discovery" after what is believed to be a fairly successful construction mission at the International Space Station. And of course, as that landing takes place, you'll be able to catch it live right here on CNN and of course, we will keep you posted whether there are any other weather-related delays. But, for now, instead of 1:39 p.m., now a scheduled attempt at 3:19 p.m. all right, mark your clocks.

All right, well, if you haven't seen this police Dashcam video from Texas, take a minute to just watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN MOATS, NFL PLAYER: My mother-in-law is dying.

OFFICER: Listen to me.

MOATS: Right now! You're wasting my time.

OFFICER: If I can't on verify you have insurance I'm going to take the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so what you're seeing here is a Dallas police officer pulling over NFL running back Ryan Moats as he races to see his dying mother-in-law at the hospital. Sadly, she actually died before he could reach her inside. The police officer involved has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation and the Dallas police chief is now apologizing for what he calls an embarrassing incident.

So, we turn to our legal guys. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor.

Good to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see you as well.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, Richard, let's begin with you. Criminal law, you know, your forte and I don't know whether this falls into that category because not only do the police feel like they or at least this police officer feel like he did the right thing, now Ryan Moats himself may be pursuing something. What are the options?

HERMAN: Well, Fred, you know, this was a police officer barely three years on the force. I mean, he didn't have the expertise to know or to distinguish whether he should go by the book or he should show some leniency. He didn't have that experience, again, barely three years. Nah, he was horrible, Fred. He was horrible in his conduct, there.

WHITFIELD: It's just an issue of human compassion.

FRIEDMAN: All right, well, wait.

HERMAN: What would have helped if he could have walked him into the hospital?

FRIEDMAN: Wait a minute.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. OK, well Avery, good point. Why not investigate a little further. OK, say let me double check this...

FRIEDMAN: I think it has to be, Fredricka. I mean, to be honest with you, we have to be careful, the first part of the stop seems absolutely legitimate. Once -- and I trained police departments, I have over the years, once the officer understood that it was a matter of life and death, especially you'll see on the video, Fredricka, that the security guard and the nurse come out to help him.

WHITFIELD: Oh, but, yeah, but I thought even then, I mean, it's been reported that he was reticent to that, even. Even when the nurse came out to explain, the officer was holding his ground.

FRIEDMAN: Right, well, and that's what was out of line. Actually, the chief of police in Dallas did the right thing for apologizing, but I think the question you're asking is Robert Powell in trouble and the answer is probably not. He's probably going to get away with it, why? Because of the discretion that are given to police officers in these kind of calls. Except...

WHITFIELD: Robert Powell is the police officer. Go ahead.

HERMAN: Except one of the family members said he pointed his gun at them and if that's the case he will have a problem.

FRIEDMAN: Actually, I agree with that. I was unaware of that. If that's true, there's a problem.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, here's another problem that people have with sexting. Kind of a new lexicon entering our world, pictures being conveyed via your cell phones and mostly involving young people and now we're talking about criminal prosecution. Avery, why, how, can you?

FRIEDMAN: Well, this is a wild one because the parents of these teenagers, Fredricka, are going to federal court...

WHITFIELD: And this is out of Pennsylvania.

FRIEDMAN: Right. To stop the county prosecutor from bringing criminal charges on the grounds that these pre-teens took pictures on their cell phones and it is not a crime. The question is who should punish these young people? Should it be mom or dad or should it be the government?

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK, go ahead, Richard.

HERMAN: The issue is, is this irresponsible and careless behavior by young women or did they do it with some sort of criminal intent. But either way, if this prosecution goes, there's a potential that these girls can be labeled registered sex offenders for their lives and that should not be the case. WHITFIELD: Over what they thought was playful activity.

HERMAN: Exactly.

FRIEDMAN: Well, but you know, the reason it's important is that there was a national survey by "CosmoGirl" that suggests that 22 percent of young women in America are doing these sort of things. So, we have an epidemic problem that nobody knows how to solve.

WHITFIELD: I mean, are there not other things to do? Oh, we can get into that later, but you know, come on.

FRIEDMAN: Should it be the government telling young women what to do or should it be mom and dad?

HERMAN: But the girls sitting there just with bras on, bathing suit season's coming, where do you draw the line?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, all right, good point. Well, we've got many more cases that we want to delve in on later on in the hour including Michael Vick. Yeah, his name is back into the field of legal cases and I know, Richard, you can't wait.

HERMAN: Oh, I like this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Avery and Richard, thanks so much, appreciate it, see you in a few minutes.

FRIEDMAN: OK.

WHITFIELD: All right, so it's not "Grey's Anatomy" and no Dr. McDreamy, but it is a new way to teaching medical students using virtual reality. Our Becky Anderson takes us into Second Life Medical School in today's "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Imperial College, London, in real life. And this is Imperial College, London, in Second Life. An online community located in the virtual world. These medical students are checking on patients in this online hospital respiratory ward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't talk to each other here in the physical world.

ANDERSON: Students roam the hospital wards as digital characters called "Avatars." Once inside, they act just like real doctors in a real hospital, washing their hands before seeing patients and checking x-rays.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you can order the tests and it puts it all together, nicely.

ANDERSON: This program takes medical training to another dimension, quite literally. PROF. MARTYN PARTRIDGE, IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON: This sort of research is vital if we're going to make sure that tomorrow's doctors are as well trained as you and I want them to be.

ANDERSON: For now, It's not part of the official curriculum. And the program isn't meant to replace face-to-face training with real patients, but it interests an interesting diversion to the road to a medical career.

JIEXIN ZHENG, MEDICAL STUDENT: I hope it's a bit like playing a game and less like learning.

ANDERSON: Becky Anderson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thousands of people in North Dakota and Minnesota are racing to salvage what they can. How fast floodwaters are rising and when the Red River, is expected to crest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, thirty-two minutes after the hour. Here's what's happening right now. A blizzard warning for parts of Oklahoma have expired, but not before a storm dumped up to a foot of snow from Oklahoma to Kansas and the Texas panhandle. At least two weather- related traffic accidents were reported. Deaths, consequently, in Kansas and Oklahoma. Oklahoma's governor has declared a state of emergency for much of the state.

And just across the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota, some homes in Moorhead, Minnesota were lost to the river when it was still rising. Some Moorhead residents were asked to evacuate and we expect a press conference from Moorhead momentarily. We'll bring that to you live as it happens.

So, no one is saying for certain the Red River has actually crested, but it's clear the river has leveled off a bit, it's even falling in some places and the National Weather Service is no longer predicting the river to crest at 42 feet. It hit 40.82 feet overnight and has dropped slightly since then.

CNN's Susan Roesgen is in Fargo. So, that's a little bit of some relief, but is anyone really sighing a breath of relief?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Absolutely, it's a relief. You know, this thing is going to be measured in inches in the end, and as you mentioned, let's see, 40.82, not quite 41 feet. That's still higher than it was a 100 years ago when it leveled off at 40.1 feet. So, Fredricka, inches can make all the difference between success and disaster here.

And we're in this particular Fargo, North Dakota, neighborhood where we're looking at Fargo's last stand right there. It's just a simple mud dike, it's about six or seven feet, but this is the last stand for the homeowners in this area. Now, the guy that's actually running the backhoe there, he's from East Grand Forks. You know, Grand Forks got hit really badly back in 1997. They believe that they have the town pretty fortified, but Fargo didn't get it so bad and so, they weren't entirely ready for this kind of high river. And what they've done here is they have the mud dike here, then beyond that, you'll see just one row of homes and they back up right against the Red River itself.

That's where they have the primary dike and what happens, of course, is if for some reason the Red River should breach the primary dikes, it would flow, they think, no farther than this mud dike here and that would flood the homes on that side, the no-man's-land on that side, but it would save all the homes in this part of the neighborhood.

So, I talked to one of the homeowners over there before they walled him off there, the Berlin wall of Fargo, the Fargo wall, before they walled him off and said, what do you think about that? The city is basically saying your home and the homes of all your neighbors and that single line against the river are going to be flooded if this water comes through the first dike.

Here's what he said, Fredricka.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN SOISETH, FARGO HOMEOWNER: Well, there's not much of an alternate. There's not much we can do about that. They obviously can't build a quay dike back here. There's no time to do that. So, they've -- if, you know, we lose our homes for the sake of the city and the rest of the city, that's the way it has to be. You know, I don't want the rest of the city to suffer because of where we're located.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: Don't you love Midwesterners, Fredricka? They're so humble. And they're saying, look, you know, this is for the greater good. But once again, with what you started this afternoon, that is good news that the river may not crest any higher than 41, 42 feet max. In which case, their homes in the no-man's-land ...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ROESGEN: ...these homes in the rest of the neighborhood would be OK -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that would be so great, wouldn't it? All right, Susan Roesgen, appreciate it. Thanks so much. We'll check back with you as news merit.

All right, well, as much as we'd like them to, our cameras can't simply see everything. So, that's where our iReporters come in, helping to tell the story in places like Fargo. So, here are some of the pictures sent us to by John Kenney. Take a look right there. He was at a friend's house in nearby Briarwood, North Dakota, when a wooden levee simply gave way. The home was quickly flooded as you see right there. The family scrambled to the roof where they awaited a rescue helicopter.

As always, if you have pictures or video to share, go to iReport.com and help us tell your story, but do so in a safe manner.

So, we're hearing a bit of good news for the Midwest at this juncture. Let's get the latest on the flooding situation from meteorologist Karen McGinnis. OK, so, maybe it won't crest as high as expected, but 40 feet and some is nothing to sneeze at.

MCGINNIS: No, and we've seen those pictures and you can see a whole lot more at ireport.com. A lot of folks have been very generous in sending us some pictures and have -- it's devastating to see something like that.

However, this is the glimmer of hope. The river right now, the Red River, that flows north into Canada and goes through that Grand Forks area which they spent $400 million several years ago to bring those levees up so they could be fortified, well now at Fargo, 40.69 feet. Well, that's only a little bit below 41 feet.

We were looking at 42 or 43, cresting on Sunday evening, but now, we're starting to see this slight, but steady drop and it looks like the river still remains high, still above that 1897 crest that we had been looking at. But then it should fall below that record throughout the week.

Now, part of the reason we dodged this bullet, at least in some sense is because the temperatures have remained below freezing. If we had this rapid warm-up, you would see something significantly different.

All right, the southeast has been battered by these huge storms. Let's take a look at what happened earlier in Mobile, Alabama. They got deluged with heavy rainfall. Take a look at that. They closed 15 to 20 roads around the area. Some trees, some power lines down. Well, right now, we have a tornado watch which extends across southwestern Georgia and into a portion of the panhandle of Georgia.

Still, some pretty strong storms. We haven't really seen any tornado warnings as of yet, and then, Fredricka, if you can believe this, they did see -- I think earlier, you talked about the blizzard conditions in Oklahoma and two feet in some cases.

WHITFIELD: I know, that is huge.

MCGINNIS: It's great (ph).

WHITFIELD: And in parts of Texas.

MCGINNIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Not that, you know, snow is completely foreign to Texans, but that's a big amount.

MCGINNIS: Brownsville, Texas, yesterday was 101, 102, record high, but in the panhandle, they were seeing a blizzard.

WHITFIELD: Oh, OK, cool.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Karen.

MCGINNIS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We'll check back with you. Appreciate it.

All right, well, there was a storm of controversy at the start. Now, weapons charges send a rapper to jail. Our legal guys are standing by to argue this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to return to some of our legal topics with our faves right here. Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor. Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, even though today you're joining us from Las Vegas.

FRIEDMAN: Boy oh boy.

WHITFIELD: Glad you squeezed in a little work with that fun. Appreciate it. All right, first on the docket, rapper T.I. convicted on weapons charges and now, facing jail time.

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So, Avery, was this harsh? Initially, he could have gotten 30 years, is that right, but now ...

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ...a year.

FRIEDMAN: Thirty -- you know what, this guy had such a good criminal defense, I thought Richard Herman flew to represent him. That's how good this result was. T.I. I think stood for total idiot, but the result is totally incredible. A spectacular defense. The judge says he's experimenting. If this guy steps out of line one iota ...

WHITFIELD: Oh.

FRIEDMAN: ...he's going to be spending a long time.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, you like this word experiment the judge used?

Uh-uh, we cannot hear Richard. What is going on?

FRIEDMAN: Oh, OK. Well, that's OK by me.

WHITFIELD: Let's try it again, no? OK, we're still working it out.

FRIEDMAN: Well, no, actually, I'm interested in what he has to say because the truth is ...

WHITFIELD: Me too.

FRIEDMAN: ...this was really excellent criminal defense work here.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRIEDMAN: The fact is that T.I. really should have spent substantial time behind bars because of the offense. If he weren't T.I., Fredricka, there's no question about it.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRIEDMAN: This was a tremendous effort on the part of his defense team, tremendous.

WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible. All right, well, let's talk about former NFL player Michael Vick. How we know he has spent some time in a state penitentiary in Virginia and so now, he's been transferred to another location because why?

FRIEDMAN: Well, he came out of the federal pen in Kansas, and he came back to Virginia, because there was a hearing, Fredricka, in bankruptcy court. Now, another lawsuit has been brought by the Department of Labor saying, the trustee of the Michael Vick Trust ...

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK.

FRIEDMAN: ...wrongfully took money out of the trust.

WHITFIELD: He made some withdrawal -- a huge withdrawal, right, $1 million.

FRIEDMAN: $1.3 million.

WHITFIELD: I guess it's all relative. I say huge, but you know, to them (ph), it's not a lot of money.

FRIEDMAN: And the fact is, it was a trust for nine other people, so now, he's going have to explain that away. Is -- are the problems ever going to end for this guy? I don't think so.

WHITFIELD: OK, Richard, I think we have you now.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, it was an employee pension fund and the Department of Labor said he made prohibited transfers.

WHITFIELD: So, it wasn't really his money?

HERMAN: One -- yes, it's not his money. He used it as a piggy bank to pay his lawyers in a bankruptcy case ... FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: ...and pay restitution in the criminal case. And so, they're now going to go to bankruptcy court. It's going to be a whole thing. But the news is in June, Michael Vick gets out of prison in this June. And so ...

WHITFIELD: Yes, but you know, Avery did clarify. That was for the federal, but he still could face some state charges which could mean maybe he's really not a free man.

FRIEDMAN: Yes, I don't think Suffolk County, Virginia, is going to let this guy go. I don't think it's over.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK.

HERMAN: I think he's going to be in the NFL real soon.

WHITFIELD: Wow. OK, well, let's move on to federal judges and an increase in threats against them. Why, Richard?

HERMAN: Well, Fred, the -- I mean, just look at the newspaper any day. People are just going crazy and they're just dissatisfied with everything.

WHITFIELD: Why now and why federal judges?

HERMAN: I don't know.

WHITFIELD: I mean, we know, you know, that judges often get threats -- sadly, that kind of comes with the territory.

FRIEDMAN: Sure.

WHITFIELD: But there's an increase now.

HERMAN: Well, look ...

WHITFIELD: People are mad because of the economy and they're taking it out on the federal judges?

HERMAN: I think so. I think that ...

WHITFIELD: Really?

FRIEDMAN: Yes (ph).

HERMAN: ...times are really hard right now. People are just falling apart and ...

FRIEDMAN: No, no. I -- with all respect, I think the problem is, and I think the U.S. Marshal's Office confirmed this, 89 percent increase, why? Because of the internet. People think that because they have access to the federal court, they can somehow threaten these federal judges.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

FRIEDMAN: They have been murdered, they have been threatened, this is a very serious problem. They are threatening the essential, key part of our criminal justice system in the federal courts and it is scary. It's a serious problem.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Avery and Richard, well, surely, there are probably going to be some other precautions being put into place ...

FRIEDMAN: Hope so.

WHITFIELD: ...and make sure that these federal judges get the protection that they need.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Always good to see you and roll a little dice out there, Richard.

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

HERMAN: No, I don't do that. Just resting.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, you're in Vegas, what are you going to do?

HERMAN: Just resting.

WHITFIELD: OK, just resting. OK, I'm happy. All right, good to see you guys. Enjoy.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

HERMAN: Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, if you need a passport, today is a great day in which to get one. The U.S. Passport Services has offices open across the country. The special Saturday hours are meant to win people back after a tough two years. Long delays dogged the Passport Office in 2007 and today, it is waiving expediting fees for people who need to travel soon. So, it's also cutting fees by more than 50 percent on some passports altogether. So, they really want people to get to traveling.

All right, more than 30,000 people gathered to protest the shrinking global economy, but what they're demanding on the eve of the G-20 Summit in London just might surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Cold, wet weather couldn't keep thousands of protestors from hitting the streets of London today in advance of next week's G-20 Summit. Police say more than 30,000 people took part in the Put People First March. They want the leaders of the world of the top industrialized and emerging economies to hear their concerns loud and clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(YELLING)

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WHITFIELD: Protestors are calling for jobs, fair distribution of wealth and a low-carbon future. Trade unions organized the march with support from other groups, including environmentalists and the Salvation Army.

Federal regulators have closed down another bank. This time, it's Omni National Bank based in Atlanta. SunTrust Bank will take over and run Omni's branches in four states until the end of April. This is the 21st bank failure this year. Twenty-five banks failed all of last year.

All right, not even the happiest place on earth is immune from the bad economy. Disney is cutting jobs and sources tell us that Walt Disney World in Orlando has been hit the hardest. The company won't say how many people are going to be let go, but it does say that its theme parks, cruise line and vacation clubs will, indeed, be affected.

Some governors who thought that they might turn down federal stimulus funds for expanded unemployment benefits are now thinking twice. They were concerned about what happens when the federal money runs out, but then state lawmakers put pressure on governors like Republican Jim Gibbons of Nevada. And now, Nevada will take its $77 million share.

Tennessee will also accept its $141 million, even though Democratic Governor Phil Breseden initially expressed reservations. And Texas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida are among states that still say they will not take the stimulus funds.

All right, so time now to update you on some of the people that you met in our "Jobless, Not Hopeless" series last week. Last week, we introduced you to these unemployed job seekers that we met at a job fair and at one of the Georgia Career Centers. So, all of them were very optimistic about their chances of finding work at the time.

Remember Kim Summerour, right there on the upper left? Well, she is a graphic artist who was laid off after 19 years at the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper. We met Kim at a job fair two weeks ago and then checked in with her again yesterday. Kim tells us that she went to yet another job fair and did not get -- or did, rather, get a few calls about some commission-based position, but they wanted her to pay them a $300 start-up fee, so she simply walked out.

And then, there is Amber Cargen right there who we also met at that same job fair. She says that her car was broken into while at the fair, causing more than $2,000 damage, plus she has received no leads and she got no interviews from that job fair. Amber says she's very discouraged and disappointed because some of the companies at the fair were not actually hiring or taking applications on the spot. So, not all the news about our job seekers is, however, dismal. Coming up at 2:00 Eastern, we'll take you inside what used to be called an unemployment office. Now, it's called a career center. And again, we are committed to keep tabs with the people that we met who are unemployed and hopefully in this very lengthy process, we'll be able to give you some good news and that they have been hired.

All right. Then of course at 4:00 Eastern today, some laid-off workers are opting to go back to school, but how do you pay for it? That's the big question plaguing so many parents as well as they plan for their child's education. We're calling it "Tackling Tuition 101" and we're accepting your e-mails at weekends@CNN.com and we also want you to weigh in at Fredricka Whitfield CNN, that's at the Facebook page and iReports. We want to hear from you. What kind of questions do you have for our experts on hand, as well as how to pay tuition? 4:00 Eastern time today.

All right, a big night for CNN hero Jorge Munoz. Munoz was presented with the City Spirit Award during the New York Knicks game last night at Madison Square Garden. CNN named Munoz a hero just last week for his work feeding the hungry every day in Queens. You can find how Munoz and other CNN heroes impact your world by going to CNN.com/impact.

All right, you can take part in an effort to protect the environment tonight, and it's as easy as flipping the switch. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, everybody knows that bad weather certainly can spoil your travel plans, especially if you're heading overseas. Our Richelle Carey has some tips on handling the unknown in today's "On the Go" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Severe weather, medical emergency, getting lost. Travelers need to be prepared for anything.

SARAH KANTROWITZ, TRAVEL + LEISURE: There are many unexpected things that can happen when you're traveling, in particular in regards to the weather. Travel insurance will help reimburse you for your expenses and helps to bring you home.

CAREY: You should take extra care when traveling overseas.

KANTROWITZ: Many people worry about losing their passport when they're traveling. A great tip is to make a color copy of your passport and leave it in your hotel safe. This way, if you lose your passport, you'll be able to prove your citizenship at the U.S. Embassy with less hassle.

CAREY: And make sure you can get cash when you need it. KANTROWITZ: Before you leave for a trip abroad, change your ATM pin to a four-digit code. Most foreign ATMs only accept four-digit codes and this will help if you need cash while you're traveling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, we will continue to follow the latest stories throughout the day, particularly the upper Midwest floodings. We'll have Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano who'll be joining us in the 2:00 p.m. Eastern hour. So, please join us for that.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great afternoon. See you again at 2:00.