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Floodwaters Falling Slowly in Fargo; President Obama Prepares For First Presidential Overseas Trip

Aired March 29, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in North Carolina. A gunman opens fire inside a nursing home, and six people, at least, are dead.

The fight to save Fargo, North Dakota from floodwaters; overnight a levee breach.

And a family's vacation to Mexico takes a terrifying turn, kidnapped. I'm Fredericka Whitfield, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're following these breaking developments coming out of central North Carolina. As I mentioned, six people are dead now following a shooting at a nursing home in Carthage. The town is between Charlotte and Raleigh. As you see there, in central North Carolina, at least three people have also been injured, including the gunman. And all of them have been taken to an area hospital.

It happened at the Pine Lake Health and Rehab center. Here now is the Carthage police chief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CHRIS T. MCKENZIE, CARTHAGE, NORTH CAROLINA POLICE: Everyone that was present in the health care facility, in one way or another, certainly was involved. It's hard. It's my town. This is my small town. I was born and raised here. So yes, I take it to heart a little bit. All you can do is move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: On the line with us right now, Emily Sloane from Pinehurst, North Carolina. She's with the First Health Moore, a regional hospital where the shooting victims have been taken. Emily, what can you tell us about getting that first initial call that you were going to have multiple gunshot wounds?

EMILY SLOANE, HOSPITAL SPOKESWOMAN: I can tell you that at about 10:30 this morning, we had six patients brought into the emergency department at First Health Moore Regional Hospital from the incident in Carthage. So far, one of those patients has been discharged. We still have the other five patients in the hospital.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, the -- we reported at the top six people died in this. Were the six people transported to the hospital and they were dead on arrival or died at the hospital? Can you offer some clarity? SLOANE: No. The six patients that were brought into the hospital were alive. And one of those has discharged. So the six deaths must have been a report from the scene.

WHITFIELD: OK. And of the five now continuing to be treated there at your hospital, give me an idea what kind of injuries you're having to tackle.

SLOANE: I can tell you that they're all being treated here in the emergency department. There's one patient that was taken to surgery. That patient's in surgery right now. The others are still in the emergency department being treated.

WHITFIELD: OK. What was the notification that the hospital received immediately following the shooting, that yours would be the hospital where a number of the patients would be brought?

SLOANE: Well, we are the only hospital in Moore County. So it was natural that those patients would be transferred here to the hospital. We activated our emergency plan when we got the notification. We did put the hospital on lockdown, just given the nature of the incident.

WHITFIELD: Is it still under lockdown?

SLOANE: It is still under lockdown. And like I said, just given the nature of the incident, and at the request of law enforcement, we implemented that lockdown.

WHITFIELD: Can you give me a brief description of what Carthage is like? What kind of community are we talking about? And clearly this is very unusual for you to have to deal with this kind of gunshot wound trauma all at once, dealing with multiple victims.

SLOANE: Yes. Carthage is a small community in Moore County in central North Carolina, a quiet community, a close-knit community. So yes, anytime something like this happens, it's definitely shocking. And it's just as shocking in Carthage, North Carolina.

WHITFIELD: OK. And among the five, then -- just for more clarity here, among the five that are being treated for injuries, is the gunman, suspected gunman, part of the five that you're still treating?

SLOANE: I do not know that.

WHITFIELD: OK. Emily Sloane, thanks so much, with the First Health Moore Regional Hospital, treating now five people who have been wounded as a result of a gunman opening fire at a nursing home nearby. As you heard from Emily Sloane, it's the only hospital in the region. So they are dealing with a very tragic and very grave situation there. Thanks so much, Emily. I appreciate it.

Meantime, water, snow and wind. March is going out like a lion across middle America. Despite this early-morning sandbag effort, the Red River breached a dike in Fargo, North Dakota, flooding a school. The mayor says that's a reminder of why the city has to stay vigilant. Further south, a spring blizzard is blamed for two deaths in Kansas. Power outages affect thousands of utility customers.

And in Texas, they're cleaning up from destructive winds. North of Houston, in Cleveland, Texas, a 100-mile-an-hour gust ripped the roof off a physical therapy clinic.

And here's a closer look now at where things stand back in Fargo, North Dakota. Forecasters say the Red River has started a slow decline, after cresting at a lower-than-expected 40.82 feet earlier yesterday. The river fell to 40.15 feet by this morning. While that trend is expected to continue, officials warn that the river will remain at dangerous levels for the next week and fluctuations are still possible.

North Dakota State University has closed its Fargo campus until April 6th. The University of North Dakota has postponed spring football practice so that coaches and athletes can actually help in fighting these floods.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Ted Rowlands is there in Fargo. So now that the river is falling just a little bit, Ted, I'm dying to know what people are thinking. But ever so slightly in terms of the drop that they've seen on the Red River.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Yes, Fredericka. Actually, we're in Moorhead, Minnesota, across from Fargo. We've got a great perspective of what people are dealing with here. This is the Red River. Or it's not supposed to be here. It's actually some 300 feet back here. This is river front property now, more than ever for the folks here.

And this is the struggle that they're going up against. You can see that they have built these sandbag levees that have been added to the top of the existing levees. They're pumping out water as water seeps into the basement. It's a constant process.

There have been some homes lost. The one three down from here there's significant flooding and then another couple down at the end of the street. This way, there's a home that is filled with water, at least in the basement, about two houses down.

Look at this level here. This is the -- this ice on the tree here, that was the high water mark. And since we've been here this morning, it's actually gone down even more. According to the weather service, the latest number, 40.05. So it is dropping significantly today, which is, of course, good news.

But when you look at that and all the pressure up there, it's not over yet for residents here, obviously. Kathy Vanyo is one of those residents that has had some long nights. How you feeling now?

KATHY VANYO, MOORHEAD, MINN. RESIDENT: You kind of get your second wind. So I'm OK. We're all OK. We're hanging in there. ROWLANDS: You have lost some homes on the streets. Some of your neighbors not so lucky.

VANYO: No. A woman who works for my husband down the road has lost her home. It's very sad. You know, you fight the long fight, and you're at it for a week, and then you figure if you could have made 12 more hours, you might have lived through it. Then your basement fills up with water. So it's very sad. It's very emotionally draining.

ROWLANDS: A lot of help, though, on the other side. Emotionally uplifting, I would think.

VANYO: It's a great community. All you have to do is show up and people are coming out of the woodwork to help. We can't even begin to tell how many volunteers have just shown up and helped and said, what do you need? What do we do? And they just dig in. They don't ask -- they don't say, you know, what do we have to do? They just do it. It's amazing.

ROWLANDS: Kathy was saying, Fredericka, that they built this -- after they had said good-bye to their home, they had a little cry session, left, because they were evacuated. Then they came back and built this sandbag addition to their existing dike with the help of a lot of volunteers, especially some kids. And they've been able to save their home. The neighbors, not so lucky.

Boy, what a great story here. Crossing their fingers, however, that the river will continue to drop and the dike will continue to hold.

WHITFIELD: Yes, extraordinary community effort there. And, you know, apologies, not being in Fargo, but you explained it well. It really is just across the bridge, across the river from Fargo there in Moorhead, Minnesota.

ROWLANDS: But it is a touchy subject.

WHITFIELD: I'm sure it is. The folks in Fargo are like, this is where we are. We're not in Moorhead. Get it right. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Well, our i-Reporters are there as well. And they're sending us some pretty great picture says of the flooding. I-Reporter Greg Cook took these images of the sandbagging effort in Fargo, North Dakota. He lives about seven blocks away. When Greg wasn't taking the pictures, he says he was helping to fill up sandbags, an exhausting job for everyone. Once again, underscoring that community effort taking place either side of the bridge.

I-Reporter David Diebel (ph) took these pictures of Main Avenue, a major thorough-fair between Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota. Right now, it is under water.

There are a number of organizations that are providing volunteers, food and supplies for residents in the flood's path. You'll find the links to them on our impact your world page. That's at CNN.com/Impact.

All right, President Obama is revealing more details now about his strategy in Afghanistan. Earlier this week, the president unveiled plans to send more troops and civilian experts to that country. Today, he insisted the U.S. commitment there is not open- ended. And he says the U.S. needs to refocus attention on defeating al Qaeda.

Mr. Obama also says his administration is prepared to order strikes against suspected terrorists in Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we have a high- value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The president's new strategy in Afghanistan is getting high marks from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us from Washington. Barbara, what kind of changes are included in the new plan?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the president is talking about is making changes both on the Afghan side of the border and across the border in Pakistan, Fredericka. He's talking about really the additional U.S. troops that are going. We already know 17,000 additional U.S. troops.

He's adding another 4,000 new additional U.S. troops to the fight. They will be military trainers. And their job is going to be to train the Afghan military, because a key part of this is trying to expand Afghan security forces; U.S. forces, not going to stay forever, can't do it all. The Afghans really have to take on their share of the burden.

And, of course, the president's also talking about Pakistan. Billions of dollars in new aid to Pakistan and a renewed effort to try and get Pakistan to crack down on that safe haven for the al Qaeda and Taliban on their side of the border. That may be the toughest thing to accomplish here.

WHITFIELD: And Barbara, I wonder if a tough thing to accomplish, too, is going to be the U.S. troops training the Afghan troops. This is sounding a little familiar, from the prior administration, in terms of the U.S. troops training of Iraqi forces. So is this administration looking at this as potentially a big challenge, or do they feel like, with the cooperation from the president of Afghanistan, that this might be a little easier?

STARR: Well, it's an interesting question, Fredericka, because for the Afghan Army, on a national level across Afghanistan, they're doing pretty well. They need more of them. They need a bigger force. But they're doing OK. Experts will tell you it's the Afghan police force that is the most problematic, the police that go into local towns and villages. There is, by all accounts, serious corruption in that force. And those are the real boots on the ground, if you will, that are protecting individual Afghan villages and towns, these rural areas. And unless you can really get a handle on security there, it's hard to make any kind of national strategy really work.

So look over the next several months for a lot of focus on those Afghan police.

WHITFIELD: All right. Interesting stuff. Thanks so much, Barbara Starr in Washington.

All right. Meantime, President Obama is getting ready to travel overseas. But before he leaves, he is expected to announce tomorrow his plan to help save the U.S. auto industry.

On Tuesday, he's traveling to London ahead of the G-20 summit. There, Mr. Obama and other leaders will talk about the global economic crisis.

And when all that's over, Mr. Obama is off to France for a NATO summit on Friday.

President Barack Obama faces quite a challenge when he heads to London on Tuesday. What has so outraged the protesters there?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Hope is dwindling that more survivors will be found after a dam burst in Jakarta, Indonesia. Nearly 100 people are dead; dozens more are still missing. Rescuers say they are likely buried under a ton of mud and debris. Heavy rains Friday sparked flooding, which breached the dam, unleashing a torrent of water that smashed right into hundreds of homes there.

A Spanish court is weighing in on torture allegations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The judge is considering whether to launch a criminal investigation of ex-Bush administration officials. At issue is whether they violated international law by giving legal cover for the alleged mistreatment of prisoners at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay.

And several former top officials in the Bush administration, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, are actually named in the complaint. Spain is claiming that it has jurisdiction since several Gitmo detainees were Spaniards.

The U.S. has no plans to shoot down a North Korean long-range missile scheduled to launch next month. That's the word from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. North Korea says it's launching a communications satellite in early April. But Gates says most U.S. military officials believe the mission is a cover for the development of an inter-continental ballistic missile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think it's very troubling. The reality is that the six-party talks really have not made any headway any time recently. There has certainly been no -- if this is Kim Jong-il's welcoming present to a new president, launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Gates says that right now he doesn't think the North Koreans have the ability to fire a missile that could reach Alaska or the U.S. West Coast.

A show of support for the Pope's controversial position on condoms. Today about 100 African Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square, backing the Pope's statements that condoms aggravate the AIDS crisis. The pontiff made that comment during his recent trip to Africa.

Thousands of protesters ready to face President Obama and other world leaders in London on Tuesday. So what has so many protesters so outraged?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama will likely face his biggest test yet on the international scene when he travels to London Tuesday for the G-20 summit. Thousands of protesters, outraged by issues from climate change to the economic crisis, took to the streets of Berlin yesterday. And they vow to be on the streets in London when the G-20 summit opens.

CNN's Phil Black looks at what the president can expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crowds that set out along the Thames was almost twice as big as predicted. The police estimate 35,000 people. You could see the many colors of the many groups taking part.

Around 150 organizations joined the Coalition to Put People First. Unions played a big part.

(on camera): Why are you here today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the reality is these bankers have been holding the public ransom for decades, haven't they? It's about time the government got a grip on them.

BLACK (voice-over): Environmental campaigners also marched, along with anti-war groups, charities, churches, and the Bananas for Justice.

(on camera): What justice do bananas seek, exactly?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We seek justice for those farmers in places like the Winward Islands that slave away to grow us, and then they don't get a fair price.

BLACK (voice-over): A very diverse lineup of protesters who had lots of different things to chant about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chant a lie, people die! Chant a life, people die.

(CROSS TALK)

BLACK: Despite their many differences, the groups marched on common ground. Outraged by the economic crisis, they wanted to send a message to the Group of 20 world leaders meeting in London on Thursday: jobs, justice, climate.

(on camera): Of all the G-20 protest events planned for the week ahead, the organizers believe this one, with its broad alliance of groups involved, is the most representative of the anger and frustration being felt across mainstream Britain.

(voice-over): The march often felt like a street party. Only one person was arrested. That's because he was drunk. But the police clearly had concerns about these guys. Most faces covered, marching with red and black flags. These are the anarchists, and the police didn't leave their side.

(on camera): Why do you think they are nervous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to voice and they stay there to protect themselves with massive amounts of press.

BLACK (voice-over): This march was always promoted as a family day out. Police are far more worried about the protests still to come in the lead up to the G-20.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And he we're getting new information about that deadly nursing home shooting in North Carolina. We'll have the latest on the alleged shooter and the wounded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now back on our top story. Breaking news about a deadly rampage at a North Carolina nursing home. Police say a gunman killed six people at the Pine Lake Health and Rehabilitation Center in Carthage, North Carolina this morning, which is roughly between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. Several other people were also injured, including a police officer, and the suspected gunman, who is said to be in custody. There is no word yet on what led to the rampage. Carthage is located midway in the central part of North Carolina. The nursing home has 90 beds, and specializes in providing care for Alzheimer's patients.

Now an update on the Red River flood in the Fargo, North Dakota area. After cresting earlier today, the river has started a slow decline. Forecasters say it will remain dangerous for about a week.

The river breached a dike early this morning, flooding a Fargo school. Fargo's mayor, meantime, says he has resisted pressure to evacuate the city. And he wants to strengthen the levees to protect Fargo's future. CNN radio's Steve Kastenbaum is in Fargo and joins us now by phone.

Steve, does the mayor plan to lobby outside the state of North Dakota for this kind of funding?

STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO REPORTER: He absolutely does. He made that clear at this morning's situation meeting. He said that the city has been under tremendous pressure to evacuate the 90,000-plus residents of the city, that the Department of Homeland security would like them to do that. They don't feel it's necessary. In fact, they say they need the people here because those are the folks who are actually fighting the floodwaters right now.

The other thing the mayor said was that they need 800 million dollars to create permanent protection against floodwaters like this. They feel, given the amount of money that Washington is handing out these days, that that's just a drop in the bucket. They think it should come out of the stimulus funds. It's something they're going to be thinking about very strongly once these floodwaters recede.

WHITFIELD: And is there any more details on why right now the mayor says mandatory evacuations? He's standing by the fact that he and no one else really called for the mandatory evacuations, or rather didn't put them in place?

KASTENBAUM: Yes, he's really standing strong behind that because, you know, you evacuate 90,000 people at once, and that creates a major problem in and of itself, and the potential for injuries and damage to take place while there's a massive evacuation like that. And they apparently believe that that would bring more risk than good if they were to do that right now. And given the fact that the waters are receding, even though very slowly, they feel that it's not necessary to evacuate the city here.

So that's -- they're standing by their decision there. There are just a few areas where they have been strongly urging folks in those vulnerable spots to leave their homes. But otherwise, everybody else is being told they can stay put.

WHITFIELD: CNN Radio's Steve Kastenbaum, thanks so much.

Snow and high winds in the forecast for Fargo, North Dakota.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, back to what's taking place in the upper Midwest and the flooding. Well, there are a number of organizations that are actually providing volunteers, food and supplies for the residents in the flood's path. So you can actually find the links to them on our impact your world page, just in case you want to find out how else you might be able to help. That's at CNN.com/Impact.

All right, lights went out across the globe for Earth Hour. Let's take a look at some of the best-known sites around the world as they observed the Third Annual Earth Hour. The event is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to draw attention to climate change.

So this year, millions of people in 88 countries actually turned off their lights. Maybe you recognized a couple of cities before the lights went out. We happened to be one of them.

All right, looking for the best college education for your buck? Well, these folks are looking north for what they believe is a real tuition buster. We'll tell you what they found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Americans looking for cheaper college deals are turning more and more to Canada. Here's a reason: four years at a Canadian university can cost one-third of what a similar education may cost in the U.S. Well, close to 150 students and families actually showed up at a college fair that featured only Canadian schools this weekend in Vermont. It is part of a growing trend of American families looking for ways to afford college.

Tackling Tuition 101, we dedicated a full hour yesterday to helping families find solutions to their college tuition dilemma. I spoke with leaders from both private and public universities about what students should do if they're in need of tuition help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALVIN THORNTON, HOWARD UNIVERSITY INTERIM PROVOST: The principal at Howard University is that if you can get in, which is very difficult to do, we will help to finance your education. The important thing is to qualify to get into the university.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Dr. Frank, how about for you? I know that you've already said that, you know, this is still the country that offers the best education and an affordable way. But when you hear averages like 20,000 and 30,000 dollars, gosh, that doesn't sound affordable. What do you tell people? What do you advise parents? What are the key phrases or words they need to ask for to get assistance?

DR. ANTHONY FRANK, INTERIM PRES., COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY: There's a full spectrum of programs, as you've pointed out, starting with community colleges to state schools, all the way up through privates. Even the state schools are contributing large amounts into financial aid. The single largest discretionary portion of our budget is traditionally toward financial aid. And the amount of that budget is increasing at a much more dramatic pace than our tuition increases have been.

WHITFIELD: OK. I've got another e-mail, if I could just ask of you. I think we have time for that, right? OK. My daughter has already earned her undergraduate degree and has been accepted into law school. Do you have any advice as to how she might find the maximum funding available for this endeavor?

Dr. Thornton, I'm going to ask you because Howard University has a very line law school.

THORNTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: And so she might be posing a question for someone else who's interested in Howard Law.

THORNTON: Howard law, the source of Thurgood Marshall. We have very attractive scholarships at Howard Law School. But I'm sure most of the law schools do. So a student should certainly apply directly to the financial aid office at Howard Law School or any other law school. Normally, if the student gets in, a student has a certain LSAT score, the student will be offered scholarship assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thanks again to Dr. Albert Thornton and Dr. Anthony Frank, who you saw there. We also had a family who was struggling with this dilemma for the fall season, as well as a financial planner. So we got so many e-mail questions from you concerning this issue that we're bringing back financial planner June Walbert today to answer some of your questions that went unanswered yesterday. She'll be here during our 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, tackling tuition 101.

And perhaps you were with us last weekend when we focused on those jobless not hopeless. The numbers have been staggering; five million people have lost their jobs in the past 12 months nationwide alone. In today's installment of our series, we look at what's often the first step to recovery. Many know it as the dreaded unemployment office. But don't call it an unemployment office in Georgia. It is now called a career center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): The doors don't open until 7:30 a.m. But lines start forming at this suburban Atlanta career center sometimes an hour before, even in the rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning to you, sir. Good morning to you.

WHITFIELD: Nationwide, it's at centers like this where that road back to employment often starts. First, there's the request for benefits. Not always a guarantee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will my claim start as of today? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. If I choose to walk out the door now and wait until the severance pay comes back, that's when my claim starts?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the severance ends.

WHITFIELD: And in Georgia, where the unemployment rate was 9.3 percent for February, in some cases, no benefits allowed unless you attend seminars and workshops geared toward finding work, even if that means a new career.

That's OK with Don Sanders. He's already learning something new. Sanders was laid off after 17 years with the same company. He's now studying to become a Gwinnett County police officer.

DON SANDERS, LAID OFF AFTER 17 YEARS: It didn't bother me much, because I think I had been -- 17 years for me was long enough. It was motivation for me to do what I wanted to do, not what I -- we could say what I needed to do. And I guess because I wasn't very happy at that job, you know. But I'm pretty excited about becoming a law enforcement officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many would you say you filled out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say about 20, using some of the job sites that people know. And there are some new ones that I had never heard of that are more local. Hopefully, that will be good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any positive feedback or call backs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not as of yet.

WHITFIELD: First day in the center for a very nervous Dominick Renata (ph), laid off two weeks earlier after 16 years with a telecommunications firm. That nervousness, he says, is for his two daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toughest part is not for you. I could live on peanut butter sandwiches. The toughest part is for the kids. It's just they haven't seen tough times. So it's a bit of an adjustment for them, but they're resilient.

WHITFIELD: People like Renata are getting help through centers like these nationwide, offering things like resume critiques, interviewing tips, free access to computers and copying machines.

And help comes in several languages. This was also the first day at the career center for Rone Tucker (ph), laid off in January.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did you apply for unemployment immediately after that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I didn't apply for unemployment until the middle of February. I thought for sure I could find a job within a month.

WHITFIELD: His plan didn't work. Now, he, too, needs help from the Department of Labor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 40 years old. I do have a college degree. But to go back and relearn something is something that I don't know if it's -- right now, I'll do what I have to. But I would prefer not to.

WHITFIELD: And he might not have to. Georgia has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor as one of the more efficient in the nation. Innovative projects like the Georgia Works Program allows businesses to try out an applicant for up to eight weeks. It's the state of Georgia doling out the paycheck.

That's right. The business pays nothing for up to eight weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's really exciting about the program is that the success rate for individuals who participate, 80 percent of them lead to full-time employment with the employers with which they train.

WHITFIELD: Kimberly Cowen say the program is so popular that their offices are fielding calls from other states asking for more information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we're committed to continuing to follow the people that we met at the career center, as well as the jobs fairs, to see how they fare in their search for a job.

Meantime, this just in, recognize this guy right here? You've gotten to know him really kind of via telephone. We've been talking to Paul Ridley for the past few weeks now. He's a rower. You're looking at images right now. He's been on an incredible journey, 3,000 miles over three months to help raise money for the research of cancer, all in honor of his mother, who died years ago of cancer.

Now we're hearing his 3,000-mile journey has ended. He has finally reached Antigua. We're going to be talking to him live from Antigua in the 4:00 p.m. Hour. You see there the blisters he's suffered from in the rowing. He started in the Canary Islands and now finally the journey over in Antigua. He's going to check back with us in about an hour or so from now, in the 4:00 eastern hour. We hope you'll join it as well.

Meantime, the U.S. Postal Service says it is swimming in red ink. So what's this buying and selling -- why, rather, is it buying and selling million-dollar homes for relocated employees?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: U.S. Postal Service is slashing jobs and shutting down offices. So why is it buying million-dollar homes? That's the question CNN special investigations unit correspondent Abby Boudreau tried to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBY BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Excuse me, Mr. Potter? Hi, my name is Abby Boudreau. I'm with CNN.

(voice-over): Postmaster General John Potter was in no mood to talk. We've been asking to interview him for weeks but were turned down. We caught up with him in the hallway after the hearing.

(on camera): You've been talking about cutting back.

(voice-over): But then, on a dime, he stopped dead in his tracks, pushed me aside, and slipped into a side door.

(on camera): Like slamming the door on me.

(voice-over:) Just moments before that, Potter was before the House Oversight Committee talking about the Postal Service's financial crisis and his idea to cut back delivery from six days to five.

JOHN POTTER, US POSTMASTER GENERAL: Based on current volume projections, we'll come up approximately six billion dollars short of breaking even this year.

BOUDREAU: Reporter: Committee members and the Postal Service inspector general also responded to CNN's recent investigation into the postal service's relocation policy.

DAVID WILLIAMS, USPS INSPECTOR GENERAL: CNN first broke the story. We began -- Senator Grassley called us, and we worked out a request for an audit.

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: It seems like it's too lucrative and too expensive. The question is about giving out bonuses to an organization that is operating in the red. It doesn't pass the basic sniff test.

BOUDREAU: Earlier this month, CNN reported the Postal Service, through Cartus Relocation, a government contractor, purchased more than 1,000 employee homes in just two years. The average cost of those homes, 257,000 dollars. The Postal Service also bought 14 homes that were one million dollars or more. A Postal Service spokesman said all but one of those houses, this six-bedroom, lake-front mansion with an indoor swimming pool and spa, were sold.

On average, the postal service says it lost about 58,000 dollars for each home purchased and later resold. But when we asked the Postal Service about how much it lost on those million-dollar homes, we learned the average loss was a whopping 582,000 dollars per house. A spokesman blames that high number on a house purchased at the height of the Florida real estate bubble, which skewed the average.

A few hours after our brief hallway encounter, Potter changed his mind and wanted to talk.

(on camera): Postmaster general, nice to see you again. Why did you avoid my questions today in the hallway?

POTTER: I wasn't avoiding your questions. I was being ushered out of the Congress by my staff.

BOUDREAU (voice-over): Surprisingly, Potter said he had no idea about the million-dollar houses.

POTTER: When you brought it to our attention, I was really amazed. And we spent time to look into that policy. We found out that we did have an uncapped value on the price of a house that could participate. We have since gone back and reviewed that entire policy.

BOUDREAU: Abby Boudreau, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A family's vacation to Mexico turns terrifying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An American family caught up in the surging violence in Mexico. Their annual vacation turned to horror. CNN's Randi Kaye has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA HALL, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: We're not anyone to them.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Debra and Chris Hall don't sleep very well. Though it's better now, nightmares that used to keep them awake for days now keep them up for hours.

D. HALL: They first got in the truck and opened the backdoor. Our son said, oh, my god; please, no, god! And if I live to be 100, I will always hear that tone in his voice.

KAYE: Debra and her husband live near San Diego. And for years, since their teens, they've been driving into Mexico to vacation. But they'll never go back again. Not now, not after their last trip.

(on camera): The Halls were driving along this road in Mexico, just about seven miles from the U.S. border. It was a cold, foggy November night, shortly before midnight, when they suddenly saw flashing lights in their rearview mirror. They thought it was police, so they pulled over.

Within seconds, they were surrounded by ten masked gunmen, all dressed in black, pointing guns at their heads.

D. HALL: And they said, we're getting in. Shut up. Put your heads down. We're going to kill you.

KAYE: The Halls were pulling a camper that was covered with race car stickers. And the gunmen demanded to know where the race car was, a prize that could have been traded for cash or drugs. (on camera): The Halls say their abductors drove them about a mile or so into the hills. They demanded jewelry, including Debra's wedding ring. And they ripped the radio and navigation system out of their truck. Then they told them all to kneel face down in a ditch.

(voice-over): The gunmen covered them with a sleeping bag.

D. HALL: I thought they were going to kill us then. They were covering us with the sleeping bags so that they wouldn't get blood on them.

CHRIS HALL, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: I tried to cover my daughter with my body, to protect her.

KAYE (on camera): Did you talk to her?

C. HALL: Yes.

KAYE: What did you say?

C. HALL: Just kept telling her, I'm sorry.

D. HALL: I really thought we weren't coming home. And I was kind of facing my own mortality. I was OK with the fact that I was with them and that if it was my time to go, it was my time to go. At least I was with my family. And I knew that they knew I loved them, and that I knew that they loved me, too.

KAYE: They were face down in a ditch, waiting to be executed. Time passed slowly, until suddenly the Halls realized they were alone. The gunmen had left in their truck. It took them two hours to walk to a town. Baja Police drove them back across the border.

(on camera): The Halls had no money and no I.D. when they got to this McDonald's on the U.S. side of the border. They told me someone gave them a quarter so they could use a pay phone and call a relative to pick them up.

(voice-over): They filed a report with the San Diego Police and this one with the Mexican Consulate. But the men who terrorized the family were never caught. Even worse, the gunmen know where they live. They stole their driver's licenses. Aware that cartel hit men are striking on the U.S. side of the border, they don't feel safe. It's as if fear's always stalking them. And still, they feel like they lost much more.

(on camera): You'll never go back?

D. HALL: No. No way. No way. And that's sad.

KAYE: The country they loved stolen from them in the middle of the night on a Mexican highway.

Randi Kaye, CNN, on the U.S./Mexico border.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Coming up in the NEWSROOM and the 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, the latest developments from the deadly nursing home shooting in North Carolina.

Plus, a burglary victim's story appears on Facebook and an incredible thing happened.

So many of you e-mailed us during our special hour yesterday about paying for college, tackling tuition 101. We're bringing back a financial planner to answer more of your questions.

Meantime, "YOUR MONEY" starts right now.