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GM Chief to Resign; Gunman kills 8 at North Carolina Nursing Home; Red River Still Dangerous; Selling Obama's Strategy; Geithner Defends Banking Plan; Washington Mutual Shareholders File Suit

Aired March 29, 2009 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon and breaking news tonight, the head of General Motors is resigning. We have learned his exit is directly related to the government's latest attempt to rescue and restructure the U.S. auto industry.

We have CNN's Susan Candiotti standing by. But Susan, I have some information and before I get to you, I'm getting it from our John King. He says that Fritz Henderson the current COO of General Motors will take over in the interim. That's according to sources, John King's sources at GM.

Now, we want to go to Susan Candiotti. She's in Detroit. She has been following the breaking developments on this auto industry story. And when this came out, Susan, we said we had to get to you fast. What's going on?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's stunning news to, of course, every member of the company who works for GM. And we had occasion both yesterday and today to talk with one worker and he's an assembly line worker here, worked on proto-types of GM.

We wanted to talk to him in advance of the bailout announcement that we are expecting tomorrow. His name is Stan Ream. And Stan is going to tell us now what he thinks about really this -- this shocking news that came just at the last minute here.

What do you think about the Wagoner's decision to resign really at the behest of the White House?

STAN REAM, 28-YEAR GM VETERAN: I'm very outraged and extremely outraged because I don't think it was Wagoner's decision. It was obviously the administration's decision and still I cannot understand how our government can dictate who will be the CEO of my company.

CANDIOTTI: Do you think he's done a good job?

REAM: I think he's done a fine job. I mean everybody makes mistakes in their job but we've had some really, really good times with Wagoner at our helm and I'm going to definitely miss him.

CANDIOTTI: Well, thank you very much for joining us.

Of course, we'll be getting more reaction this evening and tomorrow as workers turn up for work tomorrow. Although I did talked with someone else at the union rep actually Don, who said quite the opposite of what Mr. Ream said.

In his view, Wagoner's departure is a good thing or could be a good thing for GM. He said it's kind of like changing the base -- the baseball or football coach of a losing team. Things could be improved just like he said.

LEMON: Susan Candiotti is following this breaking story in Detroit and she's going to continue to follow it for us. Again, our breaking news at the top of this hour is the head of General Motors is resigning and we have learned his exit is directly related to the government's latest attempt to rescue and restructure the U.S. auto industry.

And according to CNN's John King, John King who hosts "State of the Union," he says Fritz Henderson -- Fritz Henderson who's the current COO -- will step in, in the interim. Details to come on this story and if it happens in this broadcast we'll bring it to you.

And as we have reported, President Obama will announce that updated government rescue plan for GM and Chrysler.

He'll do that tomorrow in an interview that aired this morning, Mr. Obama said the automakers still have to work -- have a lot of work to do when it comes to restructuring their own operations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we're trying to let them know is that we want to have a successful auto industry, U.S. auto industry. We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry, but it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge at the other end much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is.

And that's going to mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved -- management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody is going to have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Not everyone in Washington is convinced the automakers can or should survive in their current form. Republican Senator and former presidential candidate, John McCain says pouring more government money into GM and Chrysler is not worth it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: The auto industry ought to go into pre-packaged bankruptcy, into Chapter 11 from which they can emerge and they can emerge and be competitive with manufactures that manufacture in the United States of America.

They should be put into bankruptcy in a pre-packaged fashion which they can emerge and then be viable and competitive. To keep feeding them billions of American taxpayers' dollars is a gross misuse of American taxpayer's dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: GM and Chrysler have burned through almost all of the $17 billion they received back in December. GM wants another $16 billion. Chrysler has requested another $5 billion.

We go now to the breaking news out of Carthage, North Carolina. A gunman walked in to a nursing home and killed seven elderly patients and a nurse. A police officer was wounded apprehending that suspect. Local officials say his actions prevented even more bloodsheds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAUREEN KRUEGER, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The police were called and Justin Garner, who is an officer with the Carthage Police Department, he acted in nothing short of a heroic way today. And but for his actions, we certainly could have had a worse tragedy.

So the importing thing is that we had an officer, a well-trained officer, who performed his job the way he was supposed to and prevented this from getting even worse than it is now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Police have identified the suspect as 45-year-old Robert Stewart. The Pine Lake Health and Rehab Center can accommodate up to 110 patients including those with Alzheimer's. The police say the alleged gunman was not a patient, nor an employee.

And for the latest now, Dan Bowens of our Raleigh affiliate WRLA; he joins us now live from Carthage with the very latest. What are you finding out?

DAN BOWENS, WRAL: Good evening Don, this small town of 2,000 people here in Cartage, North Carolina, still very much in shock about the day's events. The suspect, as you've mentioned identified as 45-year- old Robert Stewart. We're told he is from this area.

Early this morning, police tell us he walked into that nursing home. He was heavily armed and just started firing. This evening, he is in custody and faces eight counts of murder.

As for a motive, the police department here not saying much about that. But the police chief tells us he's never seen anything like what's happened here today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOWENS: Pine Lake Health and Rehab Center turned into a homicide scene early Sunday. Carthage Police say the heavily armed shooter entered the facility around 10:00 a.m. and started firing. Tammy Clark's mother was inside when it happens.

TAMMY CLARK, MOTHER OF RESIDENT: He started shooting -- to my understanding he was shooting at the residents and the workers. BOWENS: He was shooting everywhere and at everybody I mean just shooting at everything?

CLARK: Because he had -- to my understanding, he went into some of the rooms and shot some of the people right there in the bed.

BOWENS: Her mother wasn't injured. Eleven people at the nursing home were shot, 8 are dead. Many of the victims were patients at the facility and were in their 80's and 90's. Family members of the victims hugged and cried after hearing the news at a nearby church.

HARRIS BLAKE, NORTH CAROLINA STATE SENATE: And in the day in which we live we hear about it everywhere else and now its here. And for this to happen in a nursing home is just beyond description of how sad it is.

BOWENS: State Senator Harris Blake, met with families afterwards. He said this small town of 2,000 people is still trying to understand exactly what's happened.

BLAKE: This gentleman, he had about four to five different weapons. He came in with a shotgun, a rifle and a couple of other kinds of weapons and he just went around and shooting people, people in wheelchairs and this type of thing -- this could not be any more barbaric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOWENS: And again, this is a nursing home and rehab facility. Many of the patients here are in their 80's and 90's and suffer from Alzheimer's. And as for the patients, as for the victims, we're told that seven of them were patients and one was an employee at the facility there. We're told he was a nurse.

Back to you.

LEMON: Dan Bowens, we appreciate you join us, thank you very much, sir.

The weather has been wild across much of the country this weekend. In the Red River Valley and in the upper Midwest, flood waters are slowly receding but it is still dangerously high.

To the South, the Great Plains are dealing with the aftermath of a major blizzard. Now the storm is blamed for two deaths in Kansas and in Tennessee, we take you now. Locals say the sky turned strange colors as powerful winds rift through Murphy's Burrow. No serious injuries were reported there though.

Jacqui Jeras is standing by in the CNN's Severe Weather Center with the details of your forecast. And our Ted Rowlands is on the scene in Moorhead, Minnesota; he has the very latest for you.

Ted, some of the homes there that are lost in Moorhead, but overall, the folks have got a little bit of breathing room for now but still keeping their fingers crossed. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes absolutely Don, a little bit of breathing room but the fight definitely goes on and here's a classic example of what's going on 24/7.

This is a home that is basically pumping water constantly out of the lower level -- that's what all this tubes are -- and then holding back the Red River is this mound of sandbags which have been put on top of an existing levee.

The river actually is about 300 feet away normally. This is not supposed to be the way it is right now, by any stretch of the imagination. But it has been obviously like this for the last few days.

Look at this tree over here and this bit of ice coming off of it. What that represents is the high water mark. And you could see how much the water level has dropped over the last day or day and a half.

In fact, since we've been here, we've seen a drop of it, so that is good news.

Kathy Vanyo is the homeowner here. And Kathy you've got an incredible story. You guys actually shed some tears, said good-bye to you're home Thursday night. Got a call from a neighbor and they said, "Hey, get back here, we think we can pull this off." And with the help of volunteers, constructed this and here you are and you still have your home.

KATHY VANYO, FLOOD SURVIVOR: Its still is hard to believe that this is true because we really, we wept, we worked our little buns off and we just thought it's toast. We can't save it and we gave it up and thought we were done and we came back and it was still going. And someone had primed the pumps and turned on the circuit breakers and got it going again.

And you know, we're not out of the woods yet, but we're hopeful that we've been through the worst of it.

ROWLANDS: A lot of you're neighbors have lost their homes and you're thoughts with them obviously.

VANYO: Yes, we -- three down on that end and one on this end and several others in different parts of Moorhead have gone under. They haven't assessed all the damage but your heart goes out to everyone who has lost their home and you just -- and you know what they do, they turn around and come help you save yours. That's what Moorhead's like and it's just mind boggling and humbling.

ROWLANDS: Now, we've heard a lot of stories of that nature. And Don, they continue to work their buns off and they will until the flood waters recede, Don, to a more -- level where it's below these sandbag barriers because right now if they're vigilant and any crack here and any compromise and of course they could lose homes.

So, good news that the waters are down but the fight continues. LEMON: It is good news and Ted, thank you so much for talking to people. A lot of times in these stories, we show the pictures and we don't to talk to folks. And you're doing that and we really appreciate hearing from them. So thank you very much, sir.

Our Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Severe Weather Center now to tell us what's going on. Sort of a sigh of relief Jacqui, but we don't want to get too ahead of ourselves here.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you don't because that's a lot of stress on those guys.

LEMON: Yes.

JERAS: And it's been days that that water has been pushing against them and it going to be a good week plus that we're going to see that stress. And anytime you get around those little curves of the river, is especially you can get those weak spots. They've been dumping one- ton sandbags down in the weak area to try and reinforce it.

Now, this is going to complicate things is that we've got another storm system moving on through. And here you can see the track of the low moving in through the day tomorrow and into Tuesday.

The worst of the conditions will be south and west of the Red River Valley. However, we've got winter storm warnings in effect for Fargo and Moorhead six to 12-inches of snow is going to be possible.

Now the snow, while it's somewhat significant, we're worried about the winds. The winds are going to be gusting between 25 and 30 miles per hour. So near whiteout conditions and those strong winds will also be pushing the waves and adding more pressure up against those dikes.

Now, these temperatures throughout the week, pretty much staying cold enough that we're not real worried about any additional melting or runoff.

Now, we talked about blizzard conditions and severe storms yesterday. That system is now across the northeastern quarter and is really causing problems at the airports. If you're trying to travel you've got thunderstorms and low clouds causing delays at LaGuardia, JFF, Newark, Philadelphia, Teterboro and Boston as well.

Now, the Anchorage Airport is open again after nearly being shut down for 24 hours. Mt. Redoubt erupted twice yesterday, bringing a plume of smoke and ash about 50,000 feet up in the atmosphere. That was carried more than 100 miles and there was a little ash-fall in the Anchorage area. Just a dust steam but it was enough to add that precaution and shut down the airport because that ash can choke off an airplane engine and cause it to stall.

So back open; things are looking good and we'll let you know if there's anymore activity.

LEMON: I told you I saw a documentary on that. And it was very frightening. JERAS: I know. And isn't that your worst fear?

LEMON: I'm looking behind you, though, and the only major airports in the northeast that's not up there were Boston and probably D.C. Everything else -- travel alert. Oh no Boston is up there.

JERAS: Yes it's not good. Yes Boston is up there, over an hour. And they're just not ground-stopped. They're just late.

LEMON: Ok, yes, you were standing in front of it, sorry. Thank you Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes.

And you know what? We were talking about those storms and here's how you can help out. A number of organizations are providing volunteers, food, supplies to people in the flood's path.

Here's how you can find those links and help out. Go to our Impact Your World page; it's at cnn.com/impact. Again, cnn.com/impact. You, too, can help out.

President Barack Obama reveals more about his new strategy for Afghanistan and what he says the U.S. needs to re-focus there.

And in London, thousands of protesters are ready to take on the world leaders. They're outraged. We will tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to update you on what the president is doing. He's getting ready to travel overseas, but before he leaves, he's expected to announce tomorrow his plan to save the auto industry.

And then on Tuesday, he's traveling to London ahead of the G20 summit. There, Mr. Obama and other leaders will talk about the global economic crisis.

And when that is over, the president is off to France for a NATO summit on Friday.

Reviving the global economy will surely dominate Mr. Obama's agenda, but he'll also be selling his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. This morning, he said the strategy reflects a much wider objective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: What we want to do is re-focus attention on Al Qaeda. We are going to root out their networks, their bases. We are going to make sure that they cannot attack U.S. citizens, U.S. soil, U.S. interests and our allies' interests around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Well, President Obama's trip to the G20 Economic Summit is shaping up as a rallying point for protesters. Take a look.

Rallies like these are being held all over Europe. G20 summit leaders will represent 85 percent of the world's economic output, making them an easy target for groups angered by the global melt down and frustrated by what they see as misguided solutions.

All right, time for your feedback now.

Lmpotter weighing in. He says, "The automaker CEOs have been mismanaging for a long time. The time has come to step down and hand the business over to others."

Delchoness says, "I think Obama's taking charge. Good for him (and us)."

Marcus says, "Good to see that the chief of GM has resigned at Obama's behest. We don't want money poured into a failing venture."

We're getting some really good ones here.

Also some about the newspapers. One person says, "Maybe the newspapers should go the way of the eight-track and the cassette." Wow, you guys remember eight-tracks and cassettes? Remember 78's too?

It's about time for a change. There needs to be. GM, now AIG, still to come.

Lots of stuff; Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, iReport.com -- did you hear, almost said "Twacebook." Maybe that'll be one soon. I should coin that one -- "twacebook.com" merged too.

From a meteoric rise to an unbelievable failure -- the lawsuit now facing Washington Mutual Bank and what it could mean for WAMU's former top executive.

Also, the spotlight on RNC chairman Michael Steele. This week, I talked to him about political aspirations, whether he thinks Dr. King would be proud of him. His answers and much, much more in our exclusive conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, you can back on this -- the treasury secretary will get a lot more questions about his big plan to shore up the banking sector. Timothy Geithner said this morning that tight credit and vanishing jobs have forced the government to take the lead because the market will not solve the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: This is a piece of a broad framework of initiative we're undertaking to help restore the strength of the financial system. Part of our plan, a core part of our plan involves making sure banks have enough capital to provide the lending we're going to need to get recovery back on track.

Now banks are going to need, some banks are going to need some large amounts of assistance and we're going to make sure that that assistance comes with conditions, designed to make sure they restructure, provide accountability for the management, that these institutions emerge cleaner, stronger going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The plan calls for a public-private partnership to buy up to a trillion dollars in so-called toxic assets from banks. And Geithner also said there's about $135 billion left in the bank bailout fund and it might need more money.

Shareholders who lost billions in the collapse of Washington Mutual last year are fighting back. They say top bank executives share most of the blame for what happened, so they are suing them.

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It was one of the fastest growing banks in the country, spreading from its home in Seattle to the streets of Manhattan, acquiring more than 20 other banks along the way.

Washington Mutual fueled the housing boom, but ended up as the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

At its peak in May, 2006 the banks market cap was valued at nearly $45 billion, but as home prices fell and borrowers defaulted, WAMU stock took a nose dive.

In September, it was taken over by the FDIC and sold to JPMorgan. Shareholders who were wiped out have filed a class action lawsuit to recover billions in damages, alleging WAMU's former CEO Kerry Killinger and other top executives defrauded investors.

Chad Johnson is the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

CHAD JOHNSON, LEAD ATTORNEY FOR WAMU SHAREHOLDERS: This company was like Swiss cheese and when the housing market turned, they weren't ready for -- at all.

HARLOW: Attorneys for the defendant have declined to comment, but have moved to dismiss the suit. The motion on behalf of Killinger calls the plaintiff's allegations, quote, "a classic claim of fraud by hindsight," saying the former CEO statements were not made with knowledge that they were false or with intent to defraud investors.

JOHNSON: What Kerry Killinger and the other executives of WAMU did was totally irresponsible. They turned what had been a conservative, dependable company into a very risky enterprise and they didn't tell investors about that. In fact, they deceived them about it.

SUSAN M. MANGIERO, PRESIDENT & CEO PENSION GOVERNANCE, INC: It's essentially the same thing that we saw a couple of years ago with Enron and WorldCom, who knew what, when and on what basis and what was the obligation of senior management to disclose information to the shareholders.

HARLOW: WAMU's former chief credit officer Lee Lannoye is not a party in the lawsuit, but he worked side by side with Killinger for ten years before retiring in 1998.

LEE LANNOYE, FORMER CHIEF CREDIT OFFICER, WASHINGTON MUTUAL: He said to me many, many times that the only thing that will destroy a bank -- take a bank down is bad lending. And that's exactly what happened. But that was something he was well aware of for many years. It was almost a mantra for him.

HARLOW: Killinger who pocketed more than $40 million in compensation between 2003 and 2007 was ousted from WAMU just weeks before it was sold to JPMorgan.

At WAMU's 2008 shareholder meeting, Lannoye directly addressed Killinger and his executive team, saying they had destroyed the bank.

The lawsuit seeks to hold those executives personally liable. But the burden of proof for the investors is high. A 2008 Supreme Court decision set precedent requiring the plaintiffs prove shareholders were misled intentionally and that any economic loss was directly linked to fraud as opposed to a bad mistake.

LANNOYE: They obviously didn't do this deliberately to end the bank. They did it to grow the bank, but they did it without controls and probably some greed involved and the thinking that they could do no wrong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: But the first hurdle for shareholders is going to be getting this case in front of a jury. Don, the motion to dismiss will be heard in court this spring and even if investors get their day in court, the bankruptcy of Washington Mutual really impairs the likelihood that shareholders will get their money back -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Poppy. Thank you very much.

The military is mobilized tonight in Fargo, North Dakota, the efforts to stop the flooding there.

And the very latest from the breaking news out of North Carolina where a shooting at a nursing home has left at least eight people dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. If you're just joining us, we want to tell you we're following several breaking stories here today. A White House source tells CNN that GM CEO Rick Wagoner will step down. It's part of a massive restructuring plan for struggling U.S. automakers, the source tells us the Obama administration asked Wagoner to resign. The president announces his auto industry rescue plan tomorrow.

Seven patients and a nurse have been shot dead at a nursing home in Carthage, about 60 miles outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say they shot the 45-year-old suspect. We don't know his condition yet. The patients range in age from 78 to 98. We'll continue following that breaking story for you.

I want to take you now to the midwest, where the Red River, it's still receding, but officials caution people in North Dakota and in Minnesota not to let their guard down especially with snow on the way. We also have i-reporters who are sending in their videos from the Red River Valley. Here's one from our I-reported David Diebel. He filed this report via Skype from Bismark, North Dakota, where college students are rolling up their sleeves to try to help out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID DIEBEL, IREPORTER: College students out there were an incredible resource for the efforts to save the city and the neighborhoods in Fargo and Moorhead. We put in about three or four hours every single day, starting on Monday until Thursday. A lot of the work would be in a line passing sandbags from one person to another person just to try to get it to the location where they are needed to build the dike.

Some of them spent time on the back of like a semi just unloading the sandbags into people's hands, just grabbing them off as fast as we could. I talked to a few people while I was sandbagging in line in trying to build those dikes. And they were coming from miles around. People who hadn't even been to Fargo or Moorhead before where they were trying to help out in places in Minnesota, all the way to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

I met a couple of people from there. People extending, welcoming people into their houses from, you know, outlying communities. And so it was really inspiring to see all these people coming together for, you know, to try to help out. It seems like there's still a little bit of tension, but I think we're being, you know, cautiously optimistic about the whole situation. And we worked really hard and at this point it's just, you know, kind of have to sit back and just see what happens.

Hopefully my house is still safe. I didn't get a chance to grab a lot of my possessions. I mean, I got my clothes and my computer and my camera. Definitely a chance to capture history in the making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: As we mentioned said earlier, the Red River has crested in Fargo, but downriver, people are still fighting to keep the high water out of their homes, specifically in Moorehead, Minnesota, just a few miles north of Fargo. The state doesn't have a mandatory evacuation law. So residents are simply being urged to leave. For now, sandbags are being put in place to ward off the water until the threats subside. Jacqui Jeras from the CNN Severe Weather Center, you heard the i-reporter there say cautiously optimistic. That's a good way of putting it.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It is. You know, this isn't just a Fargo, Moorehead thing too. By the way, there are lots of little towns down the way that could be in jeopardy as well. And you were just talking about the evacuation. And if evacuations are necessary tomorrow, that's when we could run into trouble. So if you're being told now to get out and you haven't done it yet, you really need to do it and here's why. Because our next storm system that coming in is going to create near-blizzard conditions at times tomorrow with strong winds.

It might be difficult to get a helicopter out to rescue you from the roof of your house, not to mention if you get stuck in the water. How very, very cold that water is. All right. Let's talk about some of the levels on some of the rivers along the Red River basin right here. We got a river gauge in Fargo and so we'll show you the latest is here. There was that crest early in the weekend and we've made a nice, steady drop southward. One foot though. That's it. You know, this much. That isn't a whole heck of a lot, but we're going to see that increase a little bit in the official forecast in the next week.

Keep in mind this is still a major flood. So that's a lot of stress along those dikes and those levees, not to mention these winds coming in pushing the wave up against the levees as well. So cautiously optimistic is good, but we have to be real careful. And we've been doing a lot of reinforcements throughout the day today in some of the weak spots on some of the dikes.

Let's talk about that next storm system coming through, our low pressure is going to be moving down to the south and there you can see the snow which is going to be moving in. But right now, you know, it doesn't look like it's going to be so much of a problem with the snow impacting the river as it will be the wind.

Now down stream rather which is also up north in Grand Forks, North Dakota, we told you a story a story a few days ago about how Grand Forks built a new dike system to protect their city, but there is still some overland flooding in and around the area. There's a great time lapse I want to show you, which should kind of gives you an idea of what happens and how a river behaves. And really take note of that little pillar, that little statue there in the middle.

There you can see the ice in the river and how just that whole area got swallowed up, just incredible video. And now, we got some pictures we want to show you out of the Fargo area as well as just, you know, people making those efforts. And there you can see the force of the water, kind of pushing along that flag pole. There you can see people making these efforts. Look at that icy water. Yes, you don't want to get stuck in that. Temperature right around freezing. And look at the levels on how they just swallowed and just engulfed this entire area, unfortunately.

About 90,000 people live in Fargo. About 30,000 live in the Moorehead area and they're all going to be impacted by this winter storm. Most of the morning, we think it's going to be OK, Don, but by the afternoon, we'll watch that snow start to fall. We could see six to 12 inches in the Red River Valley right here. The blizzard itself though and the heaviest accumulations should stay just to the south and west of there.

LEMON: Hey, Jacqui. That video you were showing just now, man, you had flooding, and then on top of the flooding, freezing. I mean, it's really insult to injury. You can just imagine how cold it is. Wow.

JERAS: Survival in water like that isn't going to be good. Hypothermia will set in pretty quickly. You know, some of these waters there look kind of calm, but Don, the force of the water, as we interviewed an i-reporter earlier today and one yesterday who did get caught after a little breach in their dike, and they were talking about how powerful the water is and they couldn't get out of their homes by themselves because the force of the water was just too strong. They couldn't make it.

LEMON: Boy, oh, boy. Man. All right. Jacqui, thank you very much for that. Make sure you stick with CNN throughout the evening. We'll follow the very latest on the water log and you see that ice as well logged midwest. We'll bring you the breaking details and developments right as they come in here.

Meantime, heavy rains are now blamed for the deaths of nearly 100 people in Indonesia. Volunteers spent most of the weekends searching for dozens of people still missing following a Friday damn breach near the capital, Jakarta. But that search has now been suspended until tomorrow. Some survivors described the breach that sent flood waters into their neighborhoods as a suburban tsunami.

Well, Michael Steele makes history in January when he became the first African-American to chair the national republican committee. Now in an exclusive interview with CNN, he talks about how he overcame major setbacks in his life. And you'll want to hear what he says about it. The human side, the personal side of Michael Steele.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, this week I spoke with the republican national committee chairman Michael Steele. We talked about a lot. Did you know that his mom when his dad died refused to on welfare and raised them and his sisters and his brother without having to go on welfare. Did you know that he got kicked out of John Hopkins University and then earned his way back in the school. He says his mom really , besides his wife is really the love of his life. We talked about that and also his family.

And part of our continuing series called African-American firsts, "Up from the past." Here's Michael Steele's personal story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The cornerstone in your life? Your mother?

MICHAEL STEELE, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Yes, she's the one who made it happen. You know, she kind put the markers in place and sort of set the pathway. LEMON: Second chances. I know you believe in them because of what happened at Johns Hopkins. How much does that mean - I mean, actually, you almost lost it.

STEELE: I did lose it. I got kicked out of school when I was a freshman in Hopkins. Absolutely. They were like, I'm sorry, this isn't going to work. I was like, no, you don't understand. I got to go tell Mabelle. You don't understand. I have a black mom. You do not understand. I cannot have this conversation. Mom, I got something to tell you. What? Well, I just got kicked out of Hopkins. Nothing. She didn't say the word. She's still stirring the grits. Puts the food on the table. Her back is to me. She turns her back, starts cleaning the kitchen.

LEMON: So you know you're in trouble.

STEELE: I know. I just know that this is not good. That no good is going to come from this at this point. And so she just looks at me and she was leaving the kitchen, the only time she looked at me and said well baby, I don't know what you're going to do, but come September, you're going to be at Hopkins and she left the kitchen.

I thought, maybe she didn't quite understand. I went back every single day to meet with this dean and to plead my case -

LEMON: Persistent.

STEELE: And let him now, look, I get it. I know where I blew it. Because look, I went to Hopkins and you know, my first day, I'm running for class president.

LEMON: Were you partying?

STEELE: Was I partying? Absolutely. I'm like look, I'm not going to play - I was a very studious kid. No, I was like - hey, look at her, what's up? I was doing the whole thing.

LEMON: That's probably the reason you didn't become a priest as well.

STEELE: No, actually I entered the monastery after I graduated college.

LEMON: OK. It still could be the same reason, the same motivation behind -

STEELE: The same motivation -

LEMON: But I say that to say that you believe in second chances.

STEELE: Sure, absolutely. I believe in the (inaudible) of power that comes from that and that everyone at some point has something or some circumstance in which they want to redeem themselves because they know themselves better than how they performed.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Always outspoken, never holding back. More on my exclusive interview with republican national committee chair Michael Steele. He talks about his sons and his family coming up in just a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

LEMON: You like that music, don't you? The floor director is just kind of dancing to the music and bopping his head. That music is for our continuing series here, "African American Firsts: Up from the Past." I talked with RNC chair, Michael Steele. He is the first African-American to lead the GOP in it's history.

Speaking of history, we talked about the importance of family and being in the public eye. Steele also talked about his own legacy, the legacy footprint of Dr. King and why it's still important today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I know that you're very committed to your work, but what about your family? Your sons and wife?

STEELE: They're my life's blood. I mean, you know, the tough thing about doing what I do and what a lot of men and women like me, and I'm sure even true for the president, whether you're running for higher office or running for dogcatcher. If you put yourself out in the public, in any measurable way, there's a huge toll on the family. It's time taken away from them. There are conversations that are missed. There's things that happen that you look back on and go, man.

LEMON: It sounds like your one regret-

STEELE: Pardon me.

LEMON: It sounds like your one regret is not being able to spend as much time.

STEELE: Yes, it is. And I don't regret much. I'm not a regretful person. I'm going to look back and second guess. Do you think Dr. King would be proud of you?

LEMON: I would like to think so. I would like to think so that Dr. King would sit back and go, he's a republican, therefore - that's not right, particularly given that this great debate that he was a republican. At least we know his daddy was, you know. So what does it matter what his political affiliation? What matters was what the man tried to do with his actions. And he tried to create a world in which there could be a Barack Obama and a Michael Steele. Think about it.

43 years after he told us of his dream. You have two African-American men sitting at the pinnacle of political power in this country. One running the country and a democratic party, the other running the republican -- the national republican party, the loyal opposition. How cool is that? I think that's - that to me is just a testament to King's dream. It's a testament to the resilience of the black community. And something I hope we appreciate about ourselves is that from within our community can come two competing ideals, visions, directions that empower us to make a choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Michael Steele. Our series, "Up from the Past, African- American firsts continues next week right here on CNN Sundays, at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. Hey, here's what some of you guys are saying. Chiqueendiva says, "seeing just how I got laid off from the "Chicago Sun Times." Yes, bail out the newspapers, too and a lot of exclamation points, too. Bbgrl says it's easier to get the news electronically, plus it cuts down on paper waste. Freedom lover says, freedomlover1 says, we need a media that's fair and balanced, not left nor right were, not black or white, just report the truth. What say you, Don?

I say that you are absolutely right. And that's what we try to do here on this broadcast. As a matter of fact, a lot of you have been saying, we didn't realize that you know there are conservative viewers here and lots of liberal viewers here. And people say I'm tired of seeing Michael Steele. Guess what he's the chair of the republican national committee. He's an African-American first and he deserves as much air time as anyone else we put on the air.

And here's what cassady2euca with the last of it that says, I don't know but I know I Michael Steele better after hearing part of your interview with him. Good. We like that. All right. Twitter, myspace, i-report.com. That's how you can get Facebook as well.

Forget about DNA, just get out the laptop. We'll tell you how Facebook caught a thief. Speaking of online sites. And the final four is shaping up as I speak. We're going to hit the court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: And then there were four. The final four. The stage is set for North Carolina - North Carolina, I have that on my mind. NCAA men's national championship semifinals, Michigan State will play UConn, North Carolina will play Villanova. Who's in your bracket? March madness about to spill into April and on the air of CNN, what is that hat you're wearing, mister? Where's your Villanova hat.

RICK HORROW, FMR. CONSULTANT FOR NFL, PGA AND NASCAR: I don't have a Villanova hat because my daughter went to North Carolina. I'm in your head all right.

LEMON: North Carolina tar heels.

HORROW: By the way, the president has a bracket that's busted like mine is except we both have one thing in common. We both pick North Carolina to win next week. We'll see. March madness -

(CROSSTALK)

HORROW: That's OK. I still April 6th. LEMON: I think you are nice guys either way, even if you're not voting for Villanova. Let's talk seriously about the economics of this tournament. How does it work out here? Explain it to us, Rick.

HORROW: Well, here is how it works. CBS spends $6 billion over 11 years for the privilege. That's nearly 96 percent of all the college revenues. That's really important. And so what happens is, schools, the average college basketball program loses about $800,000 a year in this economy that's terrible. $150,000 for each win in the tournament. So the teams that win more and go deeper in the tournament, they look like they're getting out of the hole and they make more money.

Like North Carolina, Villanova, Michigan State and Connecticut, all destined for the final four.

LEMON: So then what does that mean for the schools? I mean, what is it? How does it help? Does it help with recruiting, or endowment, or anything like that.

HORROW: Recruiting, endowment, clearly enrollment, donations. All of that is really important. The buzz that's created by going to the final four. And by the way, Michigan State, 70 miles from Ford Field to Detroit, they're going to have busloads of people, alumni, students, going to the final four next week. I predict that the attendance record for all-time final four attendance will be set next week in Detroit.

LEMON: That's interesting. Because the president, it's going to be a big week for Detroit. Because the president is going to be there tomorrow dealing with the bailout. We've been reporting on that, you know, all day today. The end of the week, the final four. How will the tournament impact the city positively, I guess everyone hopes because Detroit is having some trouble right now.

HORROW: Well, clearly everybody hopes that it will positively impact Detroit. But you know, there's one way of looking at it which is everybody is going to be excited. There's another way, Michigan State is only as I said, an hour away. So they may drive, people from Raleigh may drive. Hartford, Connecticut may drive the four teams. So we will have a lot of buzz but we may not have the impact that you would have when teams come from all over the country to participate. Notwithstanding that, nearly $80 million, $90 million, $100 million maybe over that weekend of festivities.

By the way, it's something that Detroit really, really needs. We'll be there next weekend at Ford Field by the way, which is very important to understand. Ford's spent $70 million naming that building. And that's another issue we ought to talk about next week.

LEMON: All right. What did you do with the Goofy hat?

HORROW: I threw it down there. We'll wear it next week. I can guarantee you that.

LEMON: Yes. I'm sorry. I will probably be in a good spot down there. Make sure you leave it there. Thank you, Rick, we appreciate it. Glad you're a Villanova fan. For all of you who think social networking sites are all fun and games, not so. The Facebook community helped snag a crook. A man in Brunswick, Georgia, had two of his company trucks broken into. And the items were stolen from them. He told his wife who immediately posted the news on Facebook. And her post led to other posts that eventually led police to their man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL CHAPMAN, THEFT VICTIM: She had fingerprints, she had a suspect but Facebook went just like fireworks, straight to the crime and got our criminal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, here's what Al Chapman says, he says he wasn't a fan of Facebook until it helped solve his crime. Don't knock it until you try it, sir.

OK. I've asked to see if the final four will help Detroit and here is what some of you have said. Poeticpisces says I don't think it could hurt though the money tourists pay won't go to the auto industry. It will go to the hotels, resorts and travel industry there. Brock25 says it will help it for the days it is there some. Wow. But after that things will go back to how they are. We only have like 147 characters, right? Make sure you keep them short.

I'm Don Lemon here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. John King, "STATE OF THE UNION" right now.