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River Hits Record Level; Yazoo Backwater Levee; One Hour to Pack Up and Leave; IMF Head Accused of Attempted Rape; Violent Clashes in Israel; Anger Still High in Syria; U.N. Seeks Libya Ceasefire; Mubarak's Wife to Have Surgery; Arrest A Bombshell in France; Celebrating Civil Rights; Endeavour to Launch on Monday; Five Networking Tips for Careers; Celebrating Civil Rights; Gadget Ideas for Graduates
Aired May 15, 2011 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Vicksburg, Mississippi, a tense waiting game is playing out there. The Mississippi River reached a record level of 56.38 feet. The river is still rising.
Many worry that could compromise the Yazoo backwater levee, which protects the town of Vicsburg and that's where we find Martin Savidge watching the water level as it rises on one side. But what happens on the other?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's -- that's a really big question right now. I have to tell you, you know, there are about 700 miles of levees currently in the state of Mississippi that are struggling to hold back this historic flood from the Mississippi River.
But all eyes, when it comes to state officials are focused on this one 26-mile stretch of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It's actually the Yazoo Backwater Levee. What's crucial about this, take a look, see all the water out here, on the left hand side, that is all for the Yazoo River and the Mississippi river.
It's a huge volume of water that currently this levee is holding back. However, there's only about one foot left now between the level of the water and when it goes over the top of this levee. The prediction is it's going to go over the top.
In fact, we were talking with the secretary of state of Mississippi. They expect it to happen tonight. Water going over the top of this levee is not necessarily the end of the world unless it triggers the collapse of the levee.
If that does that, not the end of the world, but it is catastrophic. In fact, they don't want to guesstimate. I put the question of how bad it would be to Peter Nimrod. He is with the Mississippi Levee Board. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: If this levee were to fail, what are the consequences and who would be impacted and how far? PETER NIMROD, MISSISSIPPI LEVEEE BOARD: The town, Rolling Fork, is probably 30 to 35 miles from here. That town would be under water. You have numerous towns under water. All major highways would be under water. Thousands of people have to evacuate the area. Thousands of homes will be underwater. Hundreds of thousands of acres would be under water farmland. We would actually flood 1.2 million acres.
SAVIDGE: What do you think the chances are of failure?
NIMROD: There's a remote chance. We are pretty confident that this is going to hold as long as the forecast doesn't change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: And the forecast is that the water level is going to rise where it will go over the top of the levee. But here's what they have done, they have found four miles that they believe of this levee that is the most susceptible to that overtopping so they have armored it.
That's the term they used. They took a very heavy gauge plastic and they put it over the backside of the levee. So the idea is when the water comes over the top of the levee, it lands on the plastic and then runs down and dissipates into the farmland.
It doesn't erode the levee and thereby possibly trigger an all-out disaster, but here is the real point to all of this. It's never been tried before on this particular levee. This is all theory right now.
History is now well into realms that have never happened. You just mentioned, we are beyond the 1927 flood gates. That was the last real measure of how bad it could get. Once you're beyond that, no one really knows. For the next couple days, it's going to be extremely intense here, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Very nerve rocking. Martin Savidge, thanks so much. Appreciate that. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras. Nerve rocking for a lot of people along the Mississippi and beyond.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is all being pushed to the brink, you know, like Martin said this is the worst that we have ever seen it in our lifetimes and possibly in history as well. As long as everything continues to operate as it's designed, we are good.
But any little kink in that system and that really changes the ball game. So let's talk a little about what's been going on with the spillway. OK, so they opened up a couple of the gates yesterday.
They are going to continue to open up more gates in the days and weeks ahead as necessary to maintain the flow of water from the spillway southward from the Mississippi River to stay the same. OK, but it's going to take awhile for that water to move from the spillway extending all the way down towards the Gulf of Mexico.
So today, we have been watching that progression as it heads southward. We are looking at the area around I-10 and southward. That's where some of the highest water levels could be because of the low land, the low area here.
We'll take you southward and show you this is Monday, this is Graham Lake. That's where that water is expected to be by tomorrow and then as we head into Tuesday, we'll take you down towards Morgan City. And that of course, is a huge concern. This is a population of around 12,000 plus people who live here.
Some of which may have to be evacuated so these people are packing up their essential belongings, things like birth certificates, things like photos. You know, things that can't be replaced and getting ready for that water when it arrives on Tuesday.
We could see as much as five feet in this area. So let's talk about what kind of an impact opening the spillway has now along the Mississippi River. So we look at that river as a whole. Where the river is cresting right now is Arkansas City. That's in Arkansas.
Yes, this is the area that we are talking about right over here. Vicsburg, that's where Martin is and there you can see 14.5 feet is where it's supposed to reach above flood stage on Thursday. So we still have a long way to go and it's already at the record.
It's beaten the record now. All right, then we go down the line to Red River landing 16.5 feet that's expected to be a record on May 22nd. So we are talking seven to 10 days from now, but take a look at what's going on down here in New Orleans.
Look at that. It's cresting. Why is it cresting? Well, that's because we have opened the spillway. So the big thing then, we'll show you here on our graphic. There it is. The river gauge at New Orleans saying it's cresting, but this is a manmade controlled crest. Not a natural crest like what's going on up in Arkansas City.
So here is the 17 feet. The forecast brings you out five days showing it stays at that 17 feet so that's all based on controlling and opening up more of those spillway gates as necessary in the weeks ahead.
So keep in mind, you know, they are being pushed to the limit at 17 feet as well. That's right at flood stage. So as long, as we said, everything operates like it's supposed to, you know, everything is going to be OK.
But any little fan boil that could occur or any breakdown in the levee system could certainly change things for a whole lot of people down that river basin.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui Jeras. Thanks so much. Let's head downstream then and find out how people are doing in St. Landry Parish because that's where a mandatory evacuation is under way.
And that's where we also find CNN's Ed Lavandera. So Ed, what are people doing right now? Are they packing up and leaving? Are they heeding the call?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, there's no question in the areas where the specific mandatory evacuation orders were issued earlier today by the parish president here in St. Landry's Parish.
So people -- we have been seeing people all day long packing up what they can and loading them on trucks and trailers and into moving vans and seeking higher ground. We are in one particular subdivision with about 20 homes in it, which is just south of Cross Springs, Louisiana, which is right along the Chafalaya River.
This is one of those areas that were mandatory evacuated. There are about 20 homes here. As I turn around here and count, there are only three or four homes that I can tell where people are still packing up last minute things.
The evacuation that urged people to evacuate by 5:00 Central Time so that's getting very close. I just got off the phone with the parish president here in St. Landry's Parish and he has told me that they expect the water to start rising here around midnight into these areas that where people were told to evacuate.
So here, into the nighttime hours, they suspect things will start to change. He did say however that so far, the reports he's getting from officials at the National Weather Service and from the Army Corps of Engineers that there isn't as much water as anticipated.
They've been told that in some of these places to expect 10 to 15 feet of water. So far, they are not seeing that much, but he says that could easily change in the coming days if and when they do open more of the bays at the Morganza spillway, more of those flood gates.
That's expected to happen so this could all change. At least temporarily a little bit of good news, but it could quickly change. So in most of these places we have been in today, Fredricka, they have been told to expect 10 to 15 feet of water.
WHITFIELD: Boy, that's incredible. All right, Ed Lavandera, thanks so much from St. Landry Parish in Louisiana.
So on to New York now where a powerful voice in global economics is facing arraignment on sexual assault charges. The head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn is charged with attempting to rape a housekeeper at his luxury hotel in New York.
He was arrested after police pulled him off an Air France flight headed for Paris. CNN's Susan Candiotti is standing by live in front of the court house where Strauss-Khan is expected to enter a plea today. Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The plea is expected to be not guilty, to no one surprised. That's what the defense attorney says. The court hasn't begun yet and probably won't we are hearing for a few more hours.
But when it does, this will be the very first time that we see the IMF Chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He will appear before a judge. The judge will read the charges against him, which include attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment.
And then he will enter that plea and there's a possibility of discussion of bail and that's it. It will be a very short hearing. This after a very long night of questioning, however, police say he did not cooperate after they brought him in after this hotel maid accused him of trying to sexually assault her.
As you said, police pulled him off the plane and now, he's in legal limbo as this long system begins, this long legal road begins for him. Fred, we are learning a bit more about the maid in this case.
She is 32 years old. That's what police have told us and that's all they are telling us. But we know now from the Hotel Sofitel chain, the general manager that she worked at that luxury hotel for three years.
And in his words, he said that her work and behavior was very satisfactory. The criminal behavior of this defendant is on the line. Back to you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: And so Susan, what is alleged to have happened?
CANDIOTTI: I'm sorry, Fred, repeat that?
WHITFIELD: What is the allegation? I mean, this alleged victim told authorities that what happened, exactly?
CANDIOTTI: Well, the allegation is that she was going into the hotel room to clean it. She thought the room was empty. She was confronted, she told police by a man who is standing there naked. Attacked her, dragged her through the hotel suite.
She managed to get away and run for help. Police say that by the time they got there, he was gone and they say that Mr. Khan left in big hurry, leaving behind even his cell phone. That's when they caught up with him just before the door closed on that flight to Paris.
WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much for that. Appreciate that. And a little while ago actually talked to our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, he says the road ahead will be very rough for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): He's in a world of trouble. The issue of bail is the one that will come up first. But certainly the longer term and greater problem is, if he is convicted of sexual assault, which is a very serious crime in New York State as it is everywhere, he could be looking at multiple years in prison.
Obviously, we have to learn what the facts are and they ultimately have to be presented through court, but given these circumstances, he is looking at a lot of legal trouble for the foreseeable future.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Strauss-Khan's arrest is having a dramatic impact on French presidential politics. We'll explain why in just a few minutes.
Back in this country, now, space shuttle "Endeavour" is expected to launch on its final mission tomorrow morning. A faulty heater forced a postponement of last month's scheduled lift off. The shuttle commander is Mark Kelly. His wife, recovering Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is back at the Kennedy Space Center to watch that launch.
And CNN's John Zarella we'll joins us at the half hour with more on "Endeavour's" mission and a look at what the crew plans to deliver to the international space station.
All right, many Arabs in the Middle East calls this a day of catastrophe. They mark it every year with riots on Israel's borders. Today those riots are deadly. Details on the casualties, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A quick look at what's happening around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Israeli troops firing tear gas at crowds. This is the golden heights on the Syrian border, but similar clashes erupted on all of Israel's borders today. Several people are reported killed and many more hurt. This is a day set aside every year when Palestinians protest the creation of Israel.
Antigovernment sentiment continues to spread in Syria. Just take a look, people tearing down a poster of President Bashar al Assad. A couple days ago, this video was sent to us. We can't confirm the authenticity since CNN is still barred from reporting within the Syrian border.
A United Nations envoy is in Tripoli today. He's meeting with representatives of the opposition and forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi in trying to encourage a cease-fire. No word if Gadhafi himself took part in those talks.
And the wife of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is set to have open heart surgery tonight. Suzanne Mubarak reportedly suffered a heart attack two days ago while she was being questioned about her husband's corruption charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And now more on the arrest of the man who leads the International Monetary Fund. Police in New York say Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to rape a housekeeper at his luxury hotel in New York.
His arrest comes at a time when expectations were high in France that he would be a leading presidential candidate in next year's election. CNN's Jim Bittermann has more from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's difficult to overstate exactly what a bombshell the arrest of Dominic Strauss-Kahn has been. As director of the International Monetary Fund, he had dealings with heads of states.
He had a meeting this afternoon for example programmed with the chancellor of Germany and meetings this coming week about the Greek financial crisis up in Brussels and he was going to be at the table during the G-8 Summit here at the end of May.
From that point of view, it's a huge story. But also domestically here in France, it's a huge story because Dominic Strauss-Khan was the leading candidate for president.
He regularly out poll over the last few months out polled all the other candidates including incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy and for political analysts here this was huge.
CHRISTIAN MALLARD, FRANCE TV3 POLITICAL ANALYST: It's amazing. I think the word would be astounding, amazing. I would even use the word of the Socialist Party, it's a thunderstorm. I would say, if Strauss-Kahn is out of the political process for the presidential elections, definitely, we will be starting a political tsunami.
BITTERMANN: Many leading politicians here did not want to talk about the Strauss-Khan case until more is known about it. But one did, the leader of the far right party. She said she wasn't particularly surprised because rumors have circulated for years about Strauss- Khan's sexual indiscretions.
Especially after a 2008 case in which he was tried with sexual harassment by one of his subordinates at the International Monetary Fund. He was later cleared of those charges, but he had to apologize to the fund. It said that in fact he chose very bad judgment. We talked to people on the street and they were in no hurry to pass judgment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If it's true and he's proven innocent, it will leave a mark in the months to come. It will be a decider. Yes, I think it's all over for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think, like most people, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is innocent until proven guilty. Indeed everybody has in mind a certain history. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a French citizen who must be judged like all the others so we hastily await the outcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Firstly, it's a question of responsibility. The fact that he fled speaks for itself. It's not the situation itself, a situation is dealt with. A crisis situation should be managed. He should have strong shoulders to manage a government and must be able to face this situation and not run away. It's obvious. BITTERMANN: The well-known television anchor woman wife of Dominique Strauss-Khan is telling reporters that she doesn't believe for one second the charges that had been levelled against her husband.
Irrespective of whether those charges are ultimately proven to be true or false, a great deal of damage has already been done to one of the world's highest flying political personalities. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Coming up, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig answers your question about instant replay. And then "Star Wars" producer and Director George Lucas trying to improve education in America, is the force with him?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Major League Baseball has been celebrating its Civil Rights history this weekend right here in Atlanta. Among those reflecting is Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
In an exclusive interview, I had a chance to ask him about the future of the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Lot of viewers who had questions as well. One viewer asking why not expand the use of instant replay?
BUD SELIG, COMMISSIONER, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Well, we are talking about that, as a matter of fact, special committee I created has been dealing with that.
We have four managers and general managers and owners on it. We don't want too much -- I find the resistance among baseball people is really intense because, you know, baseball is a game of pace. You just can't keep interrupting it, but we are looking at some modest additions to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, later this hour, the commissioner talks about the number of African-Americans or lack thereof in baseball as players and the front office, et cetera.
All right, let's talk a little chat now, kind of the lighter side of news items. Jacqui Jeras and I like to sit on the sofa and have our little therapy.
It's prom season, graduation season. Here is yet another, I don't know, sticky situation that pertains to prom season.
JERAS: They have been doing this for a couple years. It never ceases to amaze me what you can do with duct tape. How creative the students get. WHITFIELD: I certainly wouldn't think of making a prom dress or tuxedo with duct tape.
JERAS: I can't believe that's duct tape. I bet it's noisy, too.
WHITFIELD: I thought they were testing it out to see how noisy it is. But apparently her date wasn't that thrilled. He wasn't totally stuck on the idea. He's sporting it. He's wearing it. This was in Kansas, by the way. She got the idea from her physics teacher.
JERAS: Don Lemon had one on last night too, some students from Georgia. Somewhere in Georgia. They did it, too. There's a contest through home depot to earn a scholarship.
WHITFIELD: Remember way back when, we talked about the candy wrappers.
JERAS: That's right.
WHITFIELD: People are inventive.
JERAS: Recycling the candy wrappers, even better.
WHITFIELD: Here's a story of a very lucky little kitty cat. She got stuck under the hood of a car. The car travelled some 20 miles.
JERAS: Can you believe it?
WHITFIELD: Her paw pads got burned and part of the belly. Lucky for her, someone came to her rescue, spotted her and pulled her out of the hood. She's all right.
JERAS: She was adopted by one of the vets.
WHITFIELD: What's the name?
JERAS: Axel.
WHITFIELD: I love it. I love it. Do you love it when you go into a business and there's like among the hosts there, might be a canine? Maybe a dog.
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I always love that.
JERAS: There's a store right next to mine that has a dog. It's there every day. It lays there and sleeps.
WHITFIELD: I have a favorite flower shop in D.C. and the dog was at the front door greeting you. This is a Sheriton. They have a dog. Petting pets, dogs and animals can be very relaxing and soothing.
JERAS: Can you check it out for a walk?
WHITFIELD: Can your dog help me with my morning run. WHITFIELD: The bed is there. A paw pad print, very cute.
JERAS: I like that.
WHITFIELD: So what happens when you are on Facebook and it just so happens that your name is the same as the founder?
JERAS: Yes, you get booted, right?
WHITFIELD: Yes. Mark Zuckerberg. There's another one out there. This one is an attorney. He'd been on Facebook for awhile, then all of a sudden, he wasn't able to be on. He was kind of defriended by Facebook.
JERAS: Well, they think identity it's a fraudulent account. It happened to Kate Middleton as well by the way. They took her page away. They thought she was a fake.
WHITFIELD: Apparently, they investigated. They dug into it a bit. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg number two might be back on Facebook one of these days so --
JERAS: Try to explain to your friends, no, I really still love you. I didn't unfriend you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui. Thanks for being in the chat room. We'll talk with you again a bit later on, all the flooding --
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, digital technology is all around us, your phone, computer camera, all that. Now a legendary filmmaker George Lucas is making sure that it gets into your schools. Here's this week's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Star Wars" creator George Lucas conquered the empire with the power of the force. Now he's conquering education with the power of the internet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Education is the single most important job that the human race has.
PERRY: Edutopia.org is a free, non-profit site that highlights what works in schools with blogs and articles and videos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking for way for them to be authors of their own learning.
CINDY JOHANSON, THE GEORGE LUCAS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: So often you find people that know their education system could be better. But they are not sure in what way. What we have tried to do with edutopia.org is to shine a spotlight on innovation and show people with the power of video what it looks like and how it's taking place. PERRY (on camera): One of the challenges I see in education is that when a school is successful, people begin to say that can't be replicated.
JOHANSON: We try in our coverage to show tips and strategies that can be adapted and extended to other environments.
PERRY (voice-over): Like in Southern California where Michele Smith lives.
MICHELE SMITH, PARENT: My son is dyslexic. There were a lot of challenges that he was facing in a traditional school setting. So I started self-educating myself on the charter schools.
PERRY: Using clips from Edutopia, Smith produced a video illustrating the vision she had for new charter school and won over the school board.
SMITH: This is our school site. This is context middle school, 2011.
JOHANSON: So often with education it's about what's wrong. The problems in education, yet there's a force of people out there on the front lines.
PERRY: Steve Perry, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, take a look right now, live pictures of the Kennedy Space Center. A pair of teen chefs are educating NASA on nutrition by the way. Their chow will be aboard the shuttle "endeavour," which is scheduled for launch tomorrow. But don't you wonder how that chow might taste, details straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories this hour.
Two thousand people in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, are being told to pack it up and get out. A mandatory evacuation order is under way as the Mississippi River's floodwaters surged through the Morganza Spillway. The deadline to leave is at the top of the hour.
And right now, four floodgates on the spillway are open. More openings are planned in the days ahead.
The head of the International Monetary Fund is in a New York City Police custody, charged with attempted rape. Police pulled Dominique Strauss-Kahn off a Paris-bound flight shortly after a hotel employee reported that he attacked her in his Manhattan suite. He will face a judge later this evening. Strauss-Kahn's attorney says he will plead not guilty.
And two spiritual leaders, imams of two separate mosques in South Florida are due in court tomorrow. The father and son were arrested yesterday on charges of aiding the Pakistani Taliban. Four others have also been indicted.
Authorities say the charges relate to alleged crimes committed between 2008 and 2010 and had nothing to do with the recent killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Space shuttle Endeavour's crew has just a few hours left with their family before tomorrow's schedule shuttle launch. It will be Endeavour's final mission. Commander Mark Kelly's wife, Congressman Gabrielle Giffords is in Florida to watch.
And so is our John Zarrella. He joins us right now from the Kennedy Space Center.
John, how are things looking?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Hey, Fredricka. Real good. No real issues, certainly none with the vehicle that NASA is working. Endeavour is scheduled to make its 25th and final flight, this one of course to the International Space Station, carrying a scientific Palo called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer which if it works could revolutionize our understanding of the creation of the universe.
Right now, of course, all NASA is worried about is getting Endeavour off the ground. We know about 2 1/2 weeks ago last month it was delayed when critical heating units failed.
Well, when you look at this video, we talk about how complex the space shuttle vehicles are. NASA traced the problem back to a control box. Inside that box, are -- just that one box are hundreds and hundreds of connections and cables. And they found that there was an open circuit in that box. And that's what was causing the problem.
So they've changed that entire box out. And they say they're good to go. No other issues with Endeavor. Weather looks good as well.
And as you mentioned, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords here again. She'll be watching the launch from right over there in the launch control center, as her husband Mark Kelly and the other astronauts hopefully lift off here tomorrow. She tweeted out today that she had come back so returned here to Florida today.
And she, along with everyone else, Fredricka, hoping that Endeavour can get off the ground tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then what about part of this Palo which comes in the form of some sort of nutritional bar made by some students?
ZARRELLA: Yes, it's a fascinating feel-good kind of story. Two high school --sisters -- one 14 and one 16, Shannon and Mikayla Diesch, they got -- entered a contest called the Conrad Foundation Awards. And they won in the nutrition category.
They're from Battle Creek, Michigan. So they got some help from the folks at Kellogg. But they did all the work. And they literally came up with a nutrition bar that fit the NASA requirements and they were able to go ahead and fly that bar, hopefully tomorrow on Endeavour. It's on there. It's packed away. And the astronauts are going to be able to chow down as a nutritional supplement on that nutrition bar. So they're all excited about it.
And you know one other quick note, Fredricka, the giant external tank here?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
ZARRELLA: That tank that's on Endeavour was actually damaged during Katrina and refurbished and it is flying. So an interesting tidbit.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, hopefully it's all systems are go tomorrow.
John Zarrella, thanks so much.
ZARRELLA: Yes, indeed.
WHITFIELD: All right, now to building up your career. The key to finding a new job could be just a phone call or e-mail away. We'll explain after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: If you're looking for a new job or trying to advance the position you already have, there's one word you should never forget. Networking.
Earlier I talked to Valorie Burton. She's the author of "Where Will You Go from Here?" And she gives five networking tips to use every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALORIE BURTON, LIFE COACH: Why is it that I'm trying to build my network? For some people it might be a career transformation they're trying to make into a whole different field so they want to build connections in that field.
Some people are this but they're looking for a job. And others, you know, they realized in the next year so they like to be doing something different. So understand your why because the helps you narrow your activities and your focus.
WHITFIELD: OK. And to know your target audience.
BURTON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean by that?
BURTON: So understand, who is it that you're trying to reach? And you need to ask yourself, who am I trying to connect with? And where do they congregate? Where am I going to find those people?
So you want to make sure you're not doing activities where you're not going to find the -- any of the people that are actually in your target audience. So look at professional associations. It might be sporting activities, you know, things that allow you to actually connect with people in a real way.
WHITFIELD: So you have to be strategic. Don't waste time is the word.
BURTON: That's right. That's right.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Don't go to come -- you know, places you may not be able to benefit from.
BURTON: Yes. There's so many things you could do so you want to be strategic.
WHITFIELD: And then you need to just simply ask around.
BURTON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: A lot of times people, when they're looking, they want to keep it close, they don't want to kind of reveal their cards, they don't want to let you know that they are looking for something else.
BURTON: That's tight.
WHITFIELD: So they tend to be quiet about it. You say no. Publicize it.
BURTON: Don't be quiet.
WHITFIELD: Just let the world know.
BURTON: And everybody has a network. And a lot of times, when people have a small network, you feel like well, I don't really know anyone.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
BURTON: Well, you know someone and the people that you do know, let them know, I'm trying to meet new people, I want to make new connections. You know, what are you involved in? What do you think I should get involved in?
WHITFIELD: And then focus on connecting. Well, how is that different from the whole networking?
BURTON: Well, you want to focus on connecting, and not just getting. And so when you get involved, and I would say, you know, if you're involved in association, take on a project, do some volunteer work. That allows people to see how you work, how timely you are, you know, what kind of a worker you are.
WHITFIELD: Gosh.
BURTON: So that they understand better what you might really have to offer beyond just your elevator speech or your business card.
WHITFIELD: And these are all things that really generally are not going to cost you anything.
BURTON: That's right.
WHITFIELD: People start to think about, you know, sharpening tools it means -- or a translation to them means, you've got to -- you know go, get new courses, or buy new hardware. You're saying, you know, it's all right there and accessible. You need to get organized.
BURTON: You need to get organized. So you're going out, you're doing all these new things, you're collecting business cards, you're collecting names, and a lot of times they're just scattered all over the place. So have your own personal data base.
You might even use some of the online tools like LinkedIn to make sure you are connecting on a regular basis and you've got everybody in one cohesive place. So that when you're ready to reach out, it's easy to do.
WHITFIELD: Is e-mail still considered formal or is that OK? Because for a long time it was the letter-writing. That was most important.
BURTON: Yes, that has changed. That's changed a lot. I mean, especially in the '90s, people thought everything needs to be handwritten. I still think a handwritten note is a great idea. And you might set aside once a week to do that.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
BURTON: But e-mail is so instant. And if you --
WHITFIELD: And phone calls?
BURTON: That's right. Great --
WHITFIELD: Not texters?
BURTON: For some people. Know how people want to be communicated with. And e-mail is a great way to ask. Some people prefer e-mail. Others would love for you to pick up the phone and call them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Valorie Burton, helping you to reclaim your career.
All right. Let's talk movies now. Two new DVDs are -- including the Natalie Portman star and Ashton Kutcher, romantic comedy, "No Strings Attached," and the Justin Bieber movie, "Never Say Never."
I talked to Matt Atchity of Rottentomatoes.com. And he told me that he was pleasantly surprised with the Justin Bieber movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT ATCHITY, ROTTENTOMATOES.COM: If you want to rent it, like, this is a decent movie. I'm not a big Justin Bieber fan. But I came away with this with a real appreciation for his talent and how hard he works. And I thought this was a decent -- you know, I thought it was actually a pretty good movie. I really enjoyed myself watching it.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then "No Strings Attached" -- we're confusing people. We see that at the bottom but really we're looking at Bieber. So real quick. "No Strings Attached." Like it. There he goes, the new star of "Two and a Half Men." But for now, on DVD.
ATCHITY: Yes, for now, on DVD, this movie is not great. It's another example of an Ashton Kutcher movie that's not particularly good. I hope to see better things out of him on "Two and a Half Men." I didn't really enjoy this one.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. Putting it bluntly.
All right, we'll here's something you'll really enjoy. A political round-up of who is in and who is out of the race for the White House.
And stay tuned for more of my conversation with the baseball commissioner, Bud Selig. Who does he want to see on the field and in the front offices?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A political update now. Mike Huckabee had decided not to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The former Arkansas governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate made the announcement last night on his FOX News show.
And it's a busy week ahead for Republicans who are running or considering a bid. And an even busier week for a former senior aid to President Obama.
Here is CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Fred.
Rahm Emanuel starts his new job tomorrow. The former White House chief of staff and congressman is sworn in as Chicago's new mayor.
Also tomorrow, Newt Gingrich kicks off a weeklong 17-city and town tour of Iowa. The former House speaker announced a few years ago that he's running for the Republican presidential nomination and Iowa's caucus is go-first in the road to the White House.
It's a week for raising money for some presidential contenders. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney mans the phone bank at an event in Las Vegas, while former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty is the main attraction at a fundraiser in Minneapolis.
And the man they want to beat, President Barack Obama, he headlines a fundraiser in Boston for his reelection campaign.
Former Utah governor John Huntsman who just stepped down as our ambassador to China, he looks more and more like a presidential candidate. This Thursday and Friday, he meets voters in New Hampshire which holds the fist primary in the presidential calendar.
And Thursday, Donald Trump is in South Carolina, which is the first southern state to vote in the primaries. The billionaire business man and real estate mogul and reality TV star says he'll decide by June if he's running for the White House -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Baseball's Fifth Annual Civil Rights Game has just ended here in Atlanta with the Braves beating the Phillies.
Commissioner Bud Selig said Atlanta is the perfect setting to celebrate civil rights history in baseball given Atlanta's history in the movement overall.
So, is Major League Baseball keeping pace with past progress?
Here's more of my exclusive interview with the commissioner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: You are celebrating the civil rights of baseball and as it pertains to baseball, noticeably the number of African-American players is very low, same goes for the number of black managers and ownership among blacks.
How important is it to you to change that part of history?
BUD SELIG, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL COMMISSIONER: Well, we made a lot progress. I honestly -- first of all, we have seven or eight minority managers now, which is -- we got up to 10 but in that area we're doing all right. We're doing great in front offices.
In fact, Richard Lapchick gave us a grade of A this year on all that. And we were little deficient in terms of hiring of women.
As for the African-American players, we are working on that. We have -- we're building academies all over America. We're building an academy in Compton, California. We have one in Houston. We're going to build one in Miami. We're going to build one in Philadelphia.
So we're really working. And I think you'll see that there will be great progress in coming years. You know you just don't solve that problem overnight.
WHITFIELD: Well, what is at the root of the deficiency in your view?
SELIG: If you remember, I've always said the most powerful and greatest moment in our history was Jackie Robinson coming to the big leagues. And it produced great players like Henry Aaron, who's sitting over there, and Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson and -- and on an on and on. Ernie Banks. Tremendous.
And somehow in the '60s and into the '70s, we lost that. I don't know why. Nobody seems to know why. But we're going to get it back. And we're really working hard. We're in the inner cities. Our RBI program is 150,000 kids playing baseball. So I like where we are.
As for the front offices, we have three or four minority general managers, but we have assistance and farm directors and scouting directors, so I think in the coming four, five, six years you're going to see a lot of progress.
WHITFIELD: You see room for improvement?
SELIG: No question about it and there will be improvement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
All right, it's graduation season, so what do you buy the grad who has everything? Some suggestions next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. It's graduation season. And while many college and high school seniors seem to have it all these days, our gaming and gadgets expert Marc Saltzman has a few more gift ideas starting with a boom box that is much smaller than you probably think or remember.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: Look at this. It's about the size of a stick of butter, but it can blare about 85 decibels worth of audio wirelessly from your favorite nearby device. Any Bluetooth device, it can be a laptop, it could be a tablet or a smartphone like this BlackBerry.
It wirelessly connects with whatever is nearby and it is a portable fashion conscious speaker, if you will. Four different colors and styles to choose from. It's hard to get an idea of the texture on it, but it is really funky.
And then when a call comes in, if you are tethering it to -- wirelessly tethering it to a smartphone or tablet, when a call comes in it has a built-in microphone so it lets you take a call through this speaker. And it lasts about nine hours on a single charge, by the way.
WHITFIELD: Insane. This is insane. OK and --
SALTZMAN: And it's called the Jambox -- yes.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Jambox?
SALTZMAN: Sorry, I wanted to say it's called the Jambox from Jawbone. The folks that make those trendy Bluetooth headsets.
WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. Cool. And now Kindle. Everybody loves their Kindles.
SALTZMAN: Right.
WHITFIELD: You've got something special about this Kindle.
SALTZMAN: Right. So this is a new one. I think it's great for grads. It's called the Amazon Kindle with special offers. This is a discounted or subsidized Kindle that gives you all the same functionally as the $140 one or $139, but it's $114 because there are a few adds that you'll see.
One is in the screensaver mode instead of -- or along with showing artwork and famous quotes and all that. You'll see some ads. And then there's a little banner as well at the bottom of the screen. But for $114 to get an Amazon Kindle, it's a Wi-Fi version, it's a great deal.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
SALTZMAN: And you know the drill. You can store up to 3500 digital books on here. Something that's thinner than most magazines and weighs about the same as a tube of toothpaste. And it also has digital newspapers and magazines as well. So a great, great gift idea for a grad who loves to read.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Our other tech guy probably has all of that, Don Lemon.
He loves gadgets. You see him sometimes walking.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I still have a boom box.
WHITFIELD: And you know you don't --
LEMON: Remember people used to walk around with a boom box. Right?
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: I know. That always looks so uncomfortable.
LEMON: And they were huge.
WHITFIELD: Huge.
LEMON: What was the purpose of that? What was the point?
WHITFIELD: To be seen and heard.
So Don Lemon is coming up with much more in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Yes. We have a lot coming up. We're going to be talking a lot about New Orleans, Fred, because this mandatory evacuation goes into effect in just a few minutes in one is St. Louisiana parish.
And I'm going to talk with a lady who is evacuating from St. Landry Parish. And these people are just heart broken. They don't know what they're going to do. WHITFIELD: It's terrible.
LEMON: And you know they are right in the path of the water released from the Morganza Spillway. And we saw those dramatic picture Saturday when the Army Corps of Engineer open that spillway.
Also, you know, I'm always in the hunt. You've been talking about new technology, especially something portable.
WHITFIELD: There you go.
LEMON: Right? Our tech expert Katie Linendoll is going to join me. She's going to be talking about the new Google Chromebook.
WHITFIELD: What is that?
LEMON: Yes. It boosts in seconds. It doesn't need an anti-virus software and it runs completely a different way than other laptops before. She's going to have to explain. And I'll probably end up with one. Yes.
WHITFIELD: I think all these tech companies should give us a commission.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Because we are really, you know, helping --
LEMON: Yes. Yes.
WHITFIELD: -- to spread the word for a lot of these gadgets.
LEMON: It's the hot thing. And speaking of hot things, you guys were talking about the duct tape prom.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Yes.
LEMON: We had some students on yesterday last nigh from (INAUDIBLE) High School on Saturday.
WHITFIELD: It's really catching on.
LEMON: Look at their outfits. Weren't they cool?
WHITFIELD: Yes. Very cute.
LEMON: They were really cool, very colorful and creative.
WHITFIELD: I know.
LEMON: They did a fashion show.
WHITFIELD: So is it sticking with you?
LEMON: It's -- oh, it is sticking. I wanted that outfit for Mardi Gras. (LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: You would certainly standout. Very fun stuff.
All right, Don, we'll be watching and listening.
LEMON: Good to see you, Fred. Always.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, too.
LEMON: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with Don Lemon.
I'm Fredericka Whitfield. I'll see you again next weekend. Have a great week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us.
And we begin with developing news in Louisiana where rising water from the flooded Mississippi River uprooting thousands and thousands of lives.
New video just in to CNN. This is from our affiliate WBRC. Earlier today two more gates of the Morganza Spillway --
