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Bin Laden's Final Gas Bill; 'Treasure Trove' of Intelligence From Osama bin Laden Raid; Energy Independence as a Weapon; Mississippi & Ohio River Flood; Rally on Wall Street; Floods Rising In Tennessee; The Help Desk; The Boys Of Autumn

Aired May 06, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

We have a lot going on, including my exclusive interview with former President Jimmy Carter. But first, I want to get you up to speed.

Al Qaeda today acknowledged the death of Osama bin Laden and promised revenge against the United States. A post in a jihadist Web site said bin Laden's blood will be a curse upon Americans that follows them everywhere. Al Qaeda called on Pakistanis to rise up and cleanse their country of "the filthy Americans."

(CHANTING)

MALVEAUX: Anti-American furor in Pakistan today. An influential Islamist party demanding the United States end military raids in Pakistan. Protesters say the bin Laden assault violated Pakistan's sovereignty.

Well, even a terrorist mastermind has household bills to pay, right, just like the rest of us? Well, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Pakistan and he got his hands on the proof.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the last gas bill sent to the bin Laden compound. It's due date is about five days' time.

Interestingly, the details on this do show a man called Mohammed Ashad (ph) as being the bill payee. That is, we presume, the fake name given to the two men referred to as the Maziri (ph) brothers who appear to have hired (ph) that compound on behalf of the bin Laden family and others who were living there.

More interestingly, too, it says the installation date for the meters in question was in April, 2007. So that would suggest, perhaps, that utilities were put in place for whoever lived there from that date, perhaps dating the arrival of the bin Laden family from around about then.

Another interesting piece of information we're hearing from a government official here, too, is that, actually, there were local property taxes owed on that property of about $700, about 60,000 Pakistani rupees. Not an enormous amount and, frankly, tax evasion in Pakistan is commonplace. So you could even argue, frankly, they would have stood out had they paid up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: This may be a new glimpse of the U.S. commando raid that killed bin Laden. Amateur video obtained by a Turkish news agency shows fires and a possible explosion, presumably U.S. troops blowing up the crippled helicopter.

CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this video.

President Obama is in Indianapolis right now, focusing on the economy. He's going to head to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, this afternoon to thank Special Ops forces involved in the bin Laden raid. The White House won't directly say if the president will meet with the Navy SEAL team that actually got bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And everybody is on edge. We have never experienced anything like this. We are stuck. We can get in and we can't get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The Mississippi River flood surge rolled into Memphis today, spilling water into the downtown and airport areas. The Coast Guard just announced it will close the Mississippi at Caruthersville, Missouri, to commercial traffic due to that high water.

High water also shut a 20-mile stretch of westbound I-40 in Arkansas. Now, the crest at Memphis earlier next week may be the highest since 1937.

So, the question, why is this spring shaping up to be one of the worst flood seasons in decades?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Information seized at Osama bin Laden's compound, prompting a national terror alert. Officials say that al Qaeda wanted to sabotage trains around the United States on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The U.S. security agencies, they are wading through what is described now as a treasure trove of intelligence recovered at the bin Laden compound during that raid.

Joining us to us talk about that is former FBI assistant director and CNN contributor Tom Fuentes.

Tom, thank you very much. First of all, when you take a look at this, how do they organize, prioritize this process when they have so much information that's just thrown at them? And it could be very useful information, yes?

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Hi, Suzanne.

The first step in this is going to be to determine if any of the files on the computers were encrypted and defeat the encryption. Then they're going to need to determine what languages the various files are in.

You would expect Arabic, being bin Laden's native language, but it could be other languages involved with some of the files. So they would have to have the translators lined up for that analysis. And then, of course, the key is, is there any direct threat, attack information that needs to be acted on immediately?

MALVEAUX: Tom, we want you to stick around. We're going to have all of that, and we're going to talk more about it in detail later this hour.

FUENTES: I will.

MALVEAUX: Want to bring in your chance to "Talk Back." One of the big stories of the day, the administration saying that Osama bin Laden's killing was an act of national self-defense. But the question today: does it matter if bin Laden's killing was legal?

Our Carol Costello, here with all the provocative questions and controversy -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, the question came from Michael Moore.

OK, I know what you're thinking -- it's Michael Moore. And we know how he can get under your skin, at least some of you.

He is extremely left wing, considered an ideologue. But what he said on CNN's "PIERS MORGAN" about the killing of Osama bin Laden is getting a lot of attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: We're at a point now where we don't -- yes. What do we need a trial for? Just get rid of him.

Well, the second you say that, you're saying that you hate being American. You hate what we stand for. You hate what our Constitution stands for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Moore thinks we should have put bin Laden on trial like we did with the top Nazis after World War II. But before you blow him off, consider this -- we also have a conservative, the guy who defended enhanced interrogation like waterboarding during the Bush administration, who kind of agrees with Michael Moore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN YOO, FMR. DEPT. ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL: If they were going in with no options other than to kill him, then I do think that's a problem. They really don't want to capture al Qaeda leaders.

I mean, I think the record seems pretty clear on that. They've done everything they could to try in the past to transfer this over into a law enforcement operation. And so they don't want to face those kinds of legal questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress the military operation was lawful, an act of national self-defense. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says the U.S. has banned political assassinations since the 1970s. So it's not entirely clear whether the killing was legal.

Now the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights wants to know whether the U.S. even planned to capture, not just kill, Osama bin Laden.

So the "Talk Back" question today: Does it matter if bin Laden's killing was legal?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read some of your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. Thank you.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Here's a look at what's ahead this hour "On the Rundown."

First, energy independence -- another way to beat al Qaeda? President Obama talks clean energy to wean the U.S. off foreign oil.

Then, dangerous flooding. The Mississippi River forces thousands out of their homes.

And April's jobs report. Economists, pleasantly surprised.

Finally, in addition to being the nation's 39th president, he played a pretty mean game of softball. You've got to check this out. More of my exclusive conversation with Jimmy Carter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Right now President Obama, spotlighting efforts to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil. He's at the Allison Transmission plant in Indianapolis. You're taking a look. We're seeing these live pictures that are happening here. The White House says that President Obama chose this company because it is a leader in hybrid technology used in medium-and-heavy- duty commercial vehicles such as buses and military vehicles. The president is discussing his plan to invest in clean energy technologies. It's something he's been stressing for the last several months.

Also, his next stop is going to be Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He's going to be thanking those who are part of the mission in getting bin Laden. A senior administration official telling us that he is also going to be meeting with the Navy SEALs directly involved in getting bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks.

We don't know if all the SEALs will be there, but dozens of them will be there. And the president will spend a fair amount of time, we are told, with them, adding that it is not a formal debriefing. They can certainly share with him any of the details of the operation, but the president just wanting to thank those members, the Navy SEALs, involved in that operation.

Many terrorism experts say the killing of bin Laden could be a fatal blow to al Qaeda. Add to that the growing belief that U.S. energy independence, it could help seal the fate of that terrorist organization.

Our CNN's Jim Acosta has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The man behind the wheel of this new electric car can't stand the sight of a gas station.

(on camera): How do you like the car?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I like it a lot.

ACOSTA: That's because former CIA Director James Woolsey sees the nation's addiction to foreign oil as its Achilles heel and the war on al Qaeda.

On every fuel-efficient vehicle he drives, Woolsey posts this bumper sticker, "Bin Laden hates this car."

JIM WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: There we go.

ACOSTA: Woolsey points to past appeals made by Bin Laden for jihadists to bring chaos to the Middle East. The push up gas prices and hurt the American economy. The only solution, Woolsey says, is to break the region's dominance of global energy supplies.

WOOLSEY: So, we really in the interest of everybody, need to undermine oil's strategic role, even if they have a monopoly of oil, they don't have a monopoly over transportation. We need to break that link.

ACOSTA: And so, you want to stick it to these guys? Simply put? WOOLSEY: Absolutely.

ACOSTA: Instead, Americans are the ones feeling stuck. At a congressional town hall in Florida --

EILEEN GAINES, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: My gas bill for my three vans in the last three months have gone up hundreds of dollars a month.

ACOSTA: Small business owner, Eileen Gaines, explained how the bill to fill up her commercial vehicles stopped her from hiring a new employee.

And so, had the gas prices not gone up, you would have been hiring?

GAINES: Oh, I would have hired someone two months ago. I really need that much help right now.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: We have to produce more of it ourselves.

ACOSTA: Republican Senator Marco Rubio, like many in his party, wants more offshore drilling.

RUBIO: We have to figure out a way to become more efficient in our use of energy. We also have to figure out how to produce more of it domestically.

ACOSTA: This thing pops open when you press a button.

For James Woolsey, plugging your car into your house isn't just going green.

WOOLSEY: I think it would be a very embracing message. It would say that the United States will get its act together.

ACOSTA: Sending one more signal to al Qaeda that they're running on empty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Jim Acosta joins us live from Washington.

Jim, good to see you.

Getting off foreign oil, obviously it's going to take some time. What is the thinking here?

ACOSTA: Yes. You know, there are no expressways on the road to energy independence, Suzanne.

Consider the electric car. If you have millions of new electric cars on the road, you're going to need lots of new charging stations, and that infrastructure is just not in place yet. And if you go to the answer that Republicans are putting forward, and even some Democrats, that we need more offshore domestic oil drilling, energy analysts will tell you that that will not have an impact on gas prices for years down the road.

So there are no quick fixes. But Jim Woolsey, the former director of the CIA, says we have got to get going one of these days, because at this point, he says we're funding both sides in the war on terror.

You're paying for those American soldiers who are in the Middle East fighting these wars, and at the same time, you're sending your money to oil-rich states that aren't too friendly to the United States and may be trying to help some of these terrorist organizations. So he says it's time to get this off the ground and get it rolling.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jim Acosta, out of Washington.

Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet.

Jimmy Carter has received some flak for criticizing the U.S. government when it comes to its policy on North Korean food aid. Hear what he has to say about it in my exclusive interview with the former president from his office in Plains, Georgia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Jimmy Carter is a busy man these days. At 86, he is still highly relevant trying to make diplomatic breakthroughs with other countries. He's writing books, he's working on his farm in Plains, Georgia.

Well, this week I had a chance to sit down with the former president after he got back from trying to secure a deal in North Korea. He is making news over a controversial accusation saying that the current U.S. policy of withholding food aid from the country to pressure Kim Jong-il is a human rights violation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARTER: And so the United States imposes on them an absence of food aid because we are trying to punish Kim Jong-il. We're actually punishing the people.

MALVEAUX: Those are very serious allegations though. To say that the Obama administration is using this as a political tool, to not provide food aid --

CARTER: Well, I think that's accurate. You know, we're obviously and publicly officially not providing any food aid to North Korea right now because we disagree with the policies of Kim Jong-il --

MALVEAUX: But the State Department says --

CARTER: -- and the people are suffering. MALVEAUX: Surely. The State Department says you know better because they know that Kim Jong-il is the one who is in charge of distributing the food and denying the food.

CARTER: Well, so what? So we just stop giving the people food?

MALVEAUX: Who should be held responsible? Should it be President Obama?

CARTER: I'm not trying to hold anybody responsible. I'm just trying to convince the administration, including the State Department to USAID, to give food aid to the people who are starving in North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So why exactly is President Jimmy Carter criticizing U.S. policy? And why did the United States decide to withhold food aid from North Korea?

Well, our own Michael Holmes, he is joining us to go beyond the headlines here.

And Michael, Carter went to North Korea with two other former leaders. This was part of Nelson Mandela's group, independent group they call The Elders --

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, yes.

MALVEAUX: -- to try to highlight concerns around the world.

What do we know about the current U.S. policy when it comes to North Korea and food aid?

HOLMES: Well, let's give a little bit of background, first of all.

The U.S. suspended aid to North Korea a couple of years ago because, as we heard Jimmy Carter talk about there, it was suspected that the donated food was actually being diverted to the military, or the elite, and not reaching those most in need. And some U.S.-based charities have said that North Korea is now going to run out of food by the middle of next month.

And this is why Jimmy Carter is so concerned. The time frame is frightening, really.

North Korea has had another very harsh weather year, another poor harvest, leaving them severely vulnerable to starvation. That's a big word, "starvation." And you know what? It's not the first time.

Food has been a major issue for North Korea since the mid-1990s. That's when a million people died, starved to death. You know, we often hear reports these days of the effects caused by malnutrition there. Stories are people are eating grass to survive. And, you know, Suzanne, I was reading a "Foreign Policy" magazine report that said a North Korean child can expect to be seven inches shorter than his or her counterpart in South Korea. Seven inches shorter.

MALVEAUX: That is so dramatic --

HOLMES: Malnutrition.

MALVEAUX: -- and very discouraging.

You know, I remember covering President Bush. He hated Kim Jong- il. I mean, he said he was evil for starving his own people, didn't really want to have anything to do with him. But the Bush administration provided a lot of aid.

How is the Obama administration hitting back here?

HOLMES: Yes. Well, the U.S. State Department has basically refuted all of Jimmy Carter's comments. Officials saying that the U.S. is not withholding food aid for political motives, blames the shortages on the North Korean government.

And the State director of policy planning, Jacob Sullivan, he told us this -- we've got a graphic and I'll show you what he said -- "As you know" -- this is his words -- "the North Koreans were the ones who abruptly suspended the aid program in 2009, ordering our humanitarian personnel to leave the country and leave behind 20,000 metric tons of food."

Now, that may be the case, but North Korea is asking for food now. The United Nations has already announced plans to begin emergency food distribution to 3.5 million North Koreans, primarily women and children, who are starving because of the decimated crop situation in the country.

But others, like humanitarian groups banned from delivering food, say it's cruel. And a few hours ago, Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who has dealt a lot with North Korea, he jumped into this and he agreed with Jimmy Carter that the U.S. should be allowing food aid. It's a desperate situation.

And by the way, the State Department says it's still considering the North Korean request for food based on what they say, need, resources, availability, and the ability to monitor food distribution, where it goes. At the end of the day, though, you're talking about people. You have got a regime that you can love or hate, but the people, eating grass to survive.

MALVEAUX: And it seems like they're running out of time. I mean, they are just talking about days away.

HOLMES: Yes.

MALVEAUX: I mean, this is a very, very serious problem. It's good to see that the Obama administration, Bill Richardson, others getting involved and seeing if there is some sort of way of getting food to the folks who need it.

HOLMES: This is looming. This is looming, yes.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

Well, digging through a "treasure trove" of information. We're going to talk with a former FBI assistant director about wading through the intelligence from that bin Laden compound.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on.

What does the U.S. do with all of the information that it got from Osama bin Laden's compound? We're going to hear what a former assistant director of the FBI has to say.

Plus, record flooding threatens communities along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. We're going to go live to Memphis.

And matters of faith for Jimmy Carter. In my exclusive interview with the former president, we're going to hear what he has to say about religion and gay rights.

U.S. security agencies already uncovered one potential plot by al Qaeda in the information that they got from the bin Laden raid. Well, now they are racing the clock, looking for more threats.

Tom Fuentes is a former FBI director and CNN contributor.

Tom, thanks again for joining us to talk about this data mining process.

Officials are calling this a "treasure trove" of information. Why do they believe this is so available?

FUENTES: Well, I think it's because it was in bin Laden's personal custody, Suzanne. I mean, it's not something from an underling. This is the material that he deemed important enough to have at his hand, to be right with him. So, that's why it's so important.

MALVEAUX: Are there some language difficulties that intelligence officials will have in dealing with this kind of information? What are they actually looking at, do you suppose?

FUENTES: Well, there are several challenges. As I mentioned earlier, they have to get through the encryption. So, whatever password systems are encrypted, methods he used to protect the data, that has to be defeated. The original material was turned over to the FBI for evidence and duplicated. So, all of the analysts in the U.S. intelligence community and law enforcement community and trusted other partners around the world will be working from duplicate copies of the material seized.

MALVEAUX: I assume it's in Arabic as well. Is that correct?

FUENTES: Well, you would assume Arabic, being bin Laden's native language. But there could be several other languages.

Al Qaeda is a global organization, so there could be other files in other languages present. They will need to identify what those languages are, get the appropriate translators and intel analysts to look at the different files that are maintained there.

MALVEAUX: And Tom, what about the financial trail? I imagine that they are trying to follow the money and figure out who is financing al Qaeda.

FUENTES: Well, following the money has always been ongoing for decades with them, and particularly after 9/11. The difficulty is that if they were using the hawala (ph) system --

MALVEAUX: What is the hawala (ph) system?

FUENTES: Well, the hawala (ph) system is a method of taking cash and just transporting it, or making a promise to pay someone, and then at the other end, whether it be in Pakistan or another country, then the money is actually paid to the person it's owed to. And therefore, by avoiding the banking system, there's no electronic trail.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any sense of whether or not they can tell if there's a successor to bin Laden? How could this help identify potential folks who are in the pipeline just waiting to take over?

FUENTES: Well, just by having the pipeline. If they look at the thumb drives and the CDs and DVDs, which were portable data storage pieces, who was he communicating with? Who were the couriers going to?

So, obviously, if there were attacks in progress, who was going to carry those attacks out? Are there records of that in that data? And that would tell you who he trusts, who are the most operational people still in al Qaeda central.

Additionally, it would show the relationship -- there's a lot of speculation about how much control al Qaeda has with regard to the splinter groups. You have al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Awlaki and others, how connected are they to bin Laden. You have al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in North Africa, particularly Algeria, how connected are they to bin Laden.

MALVEAUX: Right, right.

FUENTES: You have Jemaah Islamiyah in Asia, Indonesia, how tied are they?

So, this will give a great picture for the analysts and take a long time to get through the material to determine exactly what's the corporate structure of al Qaeda -- how do they communicate with their members, affiliates and other splinter groups?

MALVEAUX: OK. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for your perspective. Obviously, there's going to be a lot of information as all of this is digested and released. Thank you, Tom.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: Floodwaters surging down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. I want you to take a look at some live pictures now of one of the hardest hit areas. That is Memphis, Tennessee. Thousands of people are now on alert.

We will go live there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Cities and towns along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are bracing for what could be the worst flooding since the 1930s.

Today, the Coast Guard is closing the Mississippi to commercial traffic, that is happening at Caruthersville, Missouri.

Our CNN's David Mattingly is in one of the most threatened areas, that is in Memphis, Tennessee.

And, David, tell us where you are -- just how serious of a situation are folks dealing with.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, this is a riverfront park and it's completely underwater right. But just to illustrate how this flood is moving, this spot where I'm standing, just a little over a day ago was dry land. You can see how deep it is here.

That lake behind me was a parking lot. If there were cars parked in it, the water would be up to the windows and possibly even higher.

What we're seeing right now in the Memphis area, officials have identified the houses and businesses that are going to be vulnerable as this floodwater continues to rise. It may come up about another two feet and crest on Wednesday.

They are going to those properties, finding the people who live, the people who work there and they're letting them know today that now is the time to pack up and plan to move, because by the time the water gets to your front yard, like it has right here, then it's going to be too late.

But the city has a vast system of flood walls and levees, and they have been calling in volunteers develop sandbags to place around important buildings just in case one of those levees might fail, to be prepared for anything that the flood might throw its way. Granted, back in 1937, they had a flood that went four blocks into the city.

But with all the protection they have now, they're hoping to hold this massive historic flood at bay and keep the city relatively dry, except for those few low-lying areas, a couple thousand parcels of property that they've identified.

So, right now, everyone watching -- and I can't tell you how many times I've heard that we have never seen the water this high. And it's hard to look at just at any one place around here along the river to really grasp the enormity of what's happening here. You have to step back almost somewhere way up in the atmosphere and look down on the Mississippi.

This is absolutely a vast event, affecting everyone along the banks, from the top of the Mississippi all the way down to the bottom. And this is only beginning. We're still looking at a crest here on Wednesday. That's going to be about two feet higher than it is now. And then the places down below us are all expecting high watermarks to occur in the weeks that follow -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, David, we do know -- are people heeding the warnings now? Are they -- are people trapped in their homes? Are they getting out of their homes? Have they gone to shelters?

MATTINGLY: No one is trapped. There are some situations around in this county where a road might be cut off and people may not be able to get to their homes or get from their homes. But that hasn't happened yet.

What we're seeing is that they have been very out in front of this flood. They have been watching it all the way. It's only moving -- just inching its way up. But, nevertheless, it is coming up.

They do have plenty of time. They identified where the trouble spots are going to be. They concentrated on those and they are making sure everybody knows they have to get out of there.

MALVEAUX: All right. David, be safe. Obviously, we're going to be watching that very closely.

The unemployment rate jumps in April, but that's not the number that Wall Street is actually looking at today. We're going to check with the CNN Money Team, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Focusing now on your money concerns.

The latest CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that 82 percent of you feel the economy is in poor shape, 17 percent say the economy is somewhat good, only 1 percent say it is very good. And that's pretty much the same way Americans have answered since September of 2008. That was on the eve of President Obama's election.

But, right now, stocks are rallying big time, I understand.

We want to go live to New York Stock Exchange and our own Alison Kosik, who joins us.

Alison, the rally -- tell us about it. Is it based on the jobs report? What do we know about this?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it has everything to do with the jobs report. And it took Wall Street by surprise. It was a pleasant surprise, because all week, Wall Street had been expecting a downbeat report, because we got a few weak economic reports all week as well.

But the headline number was strong: 244,000 jobs added in April. That's why we're seeing this rally. The Dow right now is up 100 points. It is off its highs today, but we are still in rally mode. And we saw stocks pop immediately after this report came out, those futures came out.

So, these gains are being held here. It really is good news. Even when you look at the fine print, it's strong as well.

You look at the details of this report -- wages are up, the number of people unemployed for six months, that number dropped. Every sector added jobs except for government. Talking about professional services like accounting positions, manufacturing positions added positions, leisure and hospitality like food services. Those areas we saw job additions.

This really is an all-around good report and Wall Street can't really -- can't find many holes in it at this point -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Wow! So, stocks are up. The economy added, what, 244,000 jobs last month. But the unemployment level rose to 9 percent.

So, explain the disconnect. How do you square that?

KOSIK: Oh, sure, because in this case, Suzanne, it's really not a sign of weakness to see the unemployment rate go from 8.8 percent to 9 percent because the fact is, more people got back into the workforce. There were a lot of people, and still are, people who have given up looking for work, they're not pounding the pavement. So, they're not counted at all in this unemployment rate.

But, now, confidence is coming back. People are getting back in the saddle and sending resumes out. They're being counted in the workforce, and that's why you're seeing this number go up. So, it's not really a weak spot, it's really a spot of hope because, you know, at some point, the labor force has to grow. And that is exactly what we're seeing, at least with this situation when we see the unemployment rate go up -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: A little bit of good news. Thanks for bringing a bit of good news as we start our weekend -- thank you, Alison.

More of my exclusive interview with Jimmy Carter. The former president revealed a number of personal decisions that he made that quite frankly surprised us, including his own decision in 2000 to separate his affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. He said he and the former first lady, Rosalynn, did so because they were disturbed with the church's treatment of women.

Carter also weighed in on gay rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Can I ask you a question about your faith?

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of course.

MALVEAUX: The role of Southern Baptist, and you say you teach Sunday school. You have openly -- you promoted same-sex marriage, the allowing gays to serve openly in the military. How do you square that with your -- with your faith?

CARTER: Well, our church in Plains is a more moderate church.

But I don't endorse or advocate same sex-marriage in every case. What I say is that there should be unlimited ability for same-sex couples to be married in a legal ceremony, not a church ceremony. I think that decision should be up to each individual church congregation.

And I do hope -- and they will expedite the end of "don't ask, don't tell" and let gays serve equally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Coming up, Jimmy Carter talks about the best years of his life and the legacy that he hopes to leave behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Carter was ahead of the curve when it came to social media. In 1977, he was part of a radio show called "President Carter." During the broadcast, he had 7 million callers clamoring to ask him questions. We asked him what he's doing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Do you tweet?

CARTER: No, I don't tweet, but I --

MALVEAUX: Would you consider it?

CARTER: I don't think so. I don't want to open myself up in private. It would take all my time just to answer, you know, Twitter questions. But I stay on -- I spend a lot of my time now on the Internet.

MALVEAUX: Do you surf or what do you spend your time doing?

CARTER: I write. I research on the Internet. For instance, when I used to write a book -- I've just finished -- I've written 26 books. And it used to be when I wrote a book, I had to make -- I'd check out maybe 50 books from the library at Emory University or the University of Georgia or something.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

CARTER: Now I don't have to check out any books because I just punch -- you know, punch Google and look up the answer.

MALVEAUX: There you go.

CARTER: It's a lot easier.

MALVEAUX: It's a lot faster.

CARTER: And it makes my library a lot more manageable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: No longer has to check out books. Good for him. We're going to have more of my interview with President Carter. How being out of the White House has given him the freedom to speak freely.

You've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question today. Carol Costello has your responses.

Carol, lots.

COSTELLO: Oh, quite a few responses. A lot of anger, a lot of emotions today.

The "Talk Back" question: Does it matter if bin Laden's killing was legal?

This from Scott. "I don't believe there was a choice. If he had been captured to be put on trial, bin Laden would have most likely become prime ransom demand to a potential rash of American kidnappings or as a means to end an outbreak of related terrorist attacks against the United States, its allies and assets."

This from Tavaras (ph). "As kids we are taught to lead by example. So we should not become the beast but show we are better."

This from Roger. "Where would we have put him before trial? How would you go about picking a fair jury? How would it feel to know we're housing and caring for the man that's responsible for the worst attack on America to date? Come on whine-bags, be realistic."

This from Rick. "Are you kidding me right now? Of course it matters. Saddam has millions of peoples blood on his hands. How many soldiers died during the Gulf War? We didn't just shoot him. He was tried and hanged."

This from Zakk (ph). "At what cost did his death come? Because of the actions of this madman, we have learned to suspect a culture, contradict our principles and embrace death. In this regard, did bin Laden ultimately win?"

Please continue the conversation, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. And thank you, as always, for your insight.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Carol. Have a great weekend.

COSTELLO: You too.

MALVEAUX: All right. I understand we're getting some amazing pictures from Memphis, Tennessee.

Chad, what do we know?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, pictures of a junkyard with all of the cars under water, literally. It was a pull it -- it was called the U-Pull-It It. So you go out there and you pull your own parts and all that. And though all of those cars are now completely under water. Completely useless junkyard. There it is. There's the pictures there. The video. This is right there along the water. You know, the water is still going to come up another four feet. So all of these junk cars are all going to be completely under water at this U-Pull-It.

From WMC, our affiliate there. And this is going to be -- this is going to play out. If you are not protected by the levee, your home is going to look like this. Your yard, your field, your farm will look just like this.

Now, all of the cities so far will be all protected. We're talking about Memphis. We're talking about Nashis (ph). We're talking about all the big cities. They are protected by levees. But not everybody lives inside those levees. And if you live outside, you are in the flood plain. And it's going to be an ugly couple of -- this is going to be a couple of weeks maybe before all this water ends -- before it all ends up in the Gulf of Mexico, it could be a month.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Chad. Please keep us posted.

MYERS: OK.

MALVEAUX: One thing you may not know about President Carter, he used to play softball and people came to watch him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: (INAUDIBLE) had a hard-fought softball competition every day. I pitched for my team. He pitched for his team. And sometimes we had 5,000 people who came to watch us play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Check it out. '80s video of the former president in shorts on the diamond. We're going to tell you what he had to say about his game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Time now for "The Help Desk." We want to get answers to your financial questions. So with me this hour, Gary Schatsky is the president of objectiveadvice.com and Ryan Mack is the president of Optimum Capital Management.

Gentlemen, glad you are here.

Our first question comes from Cindy in Chula Vista, California. "I have an upside-down mortgage. My mortgage loan is not owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Is there any hope that I can refinance in this condition?" -- Ryan.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: I mean, well, first of all, it's one out of four individuals who are going through this situation. So it's definitely very common these days. If her -- the price of her home, the appraisal price of her home is less than 5 percent of her total mortgage, it's going to be very hard to have a lender take on that additional risk. So she wants to look at current interest rates to see if it's even worth refinancing. Hopefully she can get at least a 1 percent deduction if she were to refinance.

Check out the FHA. They might be able to give her a second mortgage. And if they give her a second mortgage that compensates for the difference between the price of her house and the amount that she gets the loan for, she might be able to get her original loan refinanced initially. And the fourth option, really, is just to wait it out. I mean a lot of individuals in this situation right now. Hopefully you'll be responsible in saving up a lot of your money. Hopefully the housing market increases soon and she might be able to get additional equity and be able to refinance her loan eventually.

ELAM: Yes, so she may just have to hunker down.

MACK: Yes.

ELAM: All right, next question comes from Richard in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He writes in, "I am 59 years old, married and have about $75,000 in cash and about $100,000 in various 401(k) and IRA accounts. My credit is excellent. My spouse and I are currently renting a house and are think about buying. At this stage in our lives, should we buy or continue to rent?"

What do you think, Gary?

GARY SCHATSKY, PRESIDENT, OBJECTIVEADVICE.COM: Well, the answer is absolutely depends.

ELAM: Nice.

SCHATSKY: You know it really depends on a few things. Are you going to stay in the -- first of all, the classic. Are you going to stay in the property for a long period of time? You've got to be in it three, four, five years at a minimum. After that, it depends on the market. It depends on how much you're paying in rent. And doing the calculation of how much homeownership after taking into account the tax advantages will cost you. And depending on the mortgage you're in, in some cases renting makes a lot of sense and in other cases buying makes a lot of sense.

Now, there are non-financial issues. Some people say, I want to own my home.

ELAM: The psyche.

SCHATSKY: And you got to value that somewhere along the way.

ELAM: All right, thank you, gentlemen, for the advice.

Of course, if you have a question you want to get answered, send us an e-mail any time to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Former President Jimmy Carter loves to farm peanuts, paint oil portraits and as well as go fly fishing and turkey hunting. He is most proud of what he's accomplished in his 30 years outside of the White House through his humanitarian work at the Carter Foundation. We spent about an hour with President Carter in Plains, Georgia, where he said he felt free after his presidency to talk openly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: And as a non-politician, I can go where I wish and I can meet with whom I choose and I can say what I really believe. So that's a pretty good element of freedom, right?

MALVEAUX: Yes, freedom. That's a lot of freedom.

What would you like to be remembered in terms of your legacy for your presidency?

CARTER: Well, we always told the truth. We kept our country at peace. We've brought peace to other people around the world. And we promoted human rights. I never deviated from that commitment. Those are some of the things of which I'm proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Something you may have not known. Jimmy Carter and his brother Billy, they used to have very competitive softball games. They were pitchers on opposing teams in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. And I want you to check out this video from 1980. This is Carter wearing now the vintage shorts. At one point the former president said he and his brother played before 5,000 fans. Pretty great video there that we dug up.

Now, want you to meet a group of softball seniors from south Florida. The crack the bat about twice a week. The youngest, 67. The oldest, 93. Making them the Boys of Autumn. CNN photojournalist Mike Miller captured the story in Coral Gables.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY SNETRO, SENIOR SOFTBALL PLAYER: This started about 15 years ago. Started getting -- try to get all the older fellows (ph), 65 and older. So little by little, as we built up, we had enough men to make two teams.

I was born December 19, 1917. I'm hanging in there. And I feel all right, you know.

He's afraid of me.

I still can run a little bit and, you know, hit once in a while.

A lot of them ask me how I got this old. So I tell them, eat hot peppers, because I eat hot peppers almost every day since I was a kid raised in Connecticut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you do us a favor and take him out of here, please.

SNETRO: They all kid around me and joke. I hope I mean something to them.

JUAN MONTES, 74 YEARS OLD, SHORTSTOP: Tony is an inspiration. We look at him and that gives us a challenge to continue to play.

SNETRO: If you feel good, just don't sit in a rocking chair. Get up and move around. Got married September 13, 1947. Sixty-four years married to the same woman.

I don't know how long we're going to keep going. Who knows, maybe another year or two, if I feel like this. I don't feel good every day. I get up with aches and pains. But you got to get up and get moving around. Seven more years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SNETRO: Got to play until I'm 100 years old.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: We're going to be watching for that.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, T.J.