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Here Comes the Flood; IMF Head Accused of Attempted Rape; "The Food Stamp President"; Carlos Santana Speaks Out; Endeavour's Last Launch; River Lapping at Top Levee; Uproar over Common's W.H. Invite
Aired May 15, 2011 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on CNN, misery along the Mississippi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're flying over Lake Providence, Louisiana. This is the old levee, not the new one, where water is pouring out of the Mississippi over the top of the levee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Billions of gallons of water unleashed on purpose, crushing property, memories and dreams in its wake, wrecking the lives of people rushing to escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's worse than we thought. It's really worse than we thought. We thought maybe we might have water in our yard, and instead this is - it came into our homes. This is going to take every - everything we've got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Plus, a global business bigwig charged with attempted rape, a posh New York City hotel the venue. Police say he was naked, forcing himself on a maid, and - get this - he almost got away on a plane to France.
We're live at the courthouse where he's facing a judge right now.
Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS SANTANA, MUSICIAN: And to the people in Arizona, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Atlanta, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Musician Carlos Santana blasting Georgia's new immigration law, fanning the flames in the upcoming presidential election. I'll examine with CNN's Errol Louis.
I'm Don Lemon. The news starts right now.
And we begin with this. Tonight, thousands of people in Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin are packing up and leaving. There might be nothing left when they return.
Billions of gallons of water now pouring through the Morganza Spillway the first time in nearly 40 years. Today, two more gates were opened, doubling the amount of water diverted from the swollen Mississippi River. Over the coming weeks, it will flood an area half the size of Connecticut.
The incoming water extremely dangerous. Alligators, snakes and other wild animals are being flushed out of their habitats. It was a troubling thought for one evacuated resident I spoke to earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIDGET ROBIN, ST. LANDRY PARISH RESIDENT (voice-over): And you're going to have so much sand you piled up, you don't know if you're going ever to go back with the snakes and - and, you know, everything else, the alligators. You don't even know if you'll be able to go back to - to salvage anything, you know? It's very depressing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN's Ed Lavandera was with residents as they - as they quickly loaded up their belongings and fled, knowing they might not see their homes again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, officials here in St. Landry's Parish in Louisiana issued mandatory evacuation orders earlier today, especially in some of these low-lying areas. This is significant because after the floodgates of the Morganza Spillway were opened, this is really one of the first significant areas where we're going to see the flooding as that water continues to make its way down the Atchafalaya River toward Morgan City.
This small neighborhood, made up of about 20 or so homes, got the evacuation orders this morning. National Guard soldiers and sheriff's deputies going door to door. We've seen literally some people picking up their trailer homes and having them hauled away to higher ground, and throughout the areas that have been ordered to evacuate, some 250 homes, affecting almost 800 people, we've seen those in this specific area literally packing everything they can into trucks, moving vans, friends' trailers, whatever they can to move to those higher grounds.
And they say that they're anticipating being away for almost a month because they've been told that in this area, where we're standing, to expect as much as 10 to 15 feet of water.
A little while ago I spoke with the parish president here in St. Landry's. He says they expect the water to start flowing into some of these neighborhoods and creeping into some of these neighborhoods around midnight tonight, so in the coming days the scene around here will be changing very dramatically.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Krotz Springs, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Ed.
This natural disaster involves miles of river towns, and it means weeks more of watching the Mississippi. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras tracking it all from the CNN Severe Weather Center. When will it all end, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, June sometime.
LEMON: Yes?
JERAS: Certainly weeks ahead, and that's, you know, keeping those gates open, not to mention how long it's going to take for the river to recede and get navigation back working again.
Let's go ahead and show you the area that Ed's talking about where some of these evacuations took place today in St. Landry Parish. Here's the Morganza floodgates that were open, so this is the area that we're talking about. Some of the cities are spared. They have these little circle levees that go around them, like Melville, but you can see how the spillway was designed and how everything's leading its way down towards the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, it takes time for this to happen. It doesn't all happen at once, so by tomorrow we're expecting that water to move in towards the Grand Lake area over towards Baldwin, and then Morgan City, which is a great concern. About 12,000 plus people live in this area. That water should be arriving here on Tuesday and some of those forecast bringing maybe as much as five feet of water into part of this city.
Now, it's all about control at this point, OK? This is some pictures from the Army Corps of Engineers, showing you the spillway, and there you can see the water as it's rushing through, as those four gates opened up, and there you can see it spilling in.
Now, as we zoom in, we'll show you that these are all just a series of gates here and there's about 125 of them. Only four are open right now and in the days and the weeks ahead they're going to have to open up more of those gates to let out more water because they're trying to maintain the flow south of these floodgates.
Now, we'll switch over to the river gates for New Orleans, and what that means is that the river now is at 17 feet, and they're going to try and keep it at 17 feet throughout the entire crest of this wave of water. And so that forecast at 17 feet is being controlled by man, basically, and it's going to stay there. They think it's going to take maybe 10 days to get through that entire process.
Now let's look at the river as a whole. The natural crest of this river right now taking place up here, into Arkansas City. Vicksburg exceed the record crest today or the record height today, but they're still going to top that because they're going to still be rising until Thursday, and then it's going to move downstream, down towards Natchez, and then you can see we're cresting down here in New Orleans.
So that's all the control stuff of what's going on right now. So a long way to go. It's operating (ph) done exactly as it was designed to, but, you know, knock on wood because we could see any breached of these levees or these sand (INAUDIBLE) that happens to make these things kind of fall apart in between here and there.
LEMON: The Mississippi has a mind of its own. We never know. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Thank you, Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui's going to be with us a little bit later on with your morning commute forecast.
Also ahead here on CNN, we'll check out the situation upriver from Louisiana in just a few minutes. Redwood, Mississippi is one town near the mighty Mississippi keeping a close eye on the water level. There's a levee there that - get this - has folks more than 30 miles away very concerned.
But first, new developments. Just in tonight in the story of a global business bigwig charged with forcing himself on a hotel maid while naked. He's responsible for billions of dollars of the world's money, and his arrest could make a pretty good movie.
We'll have a live report for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So we know what the lead story - flooding, but what are the -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flooding is number one on news polls. Also, they've got Gabby Giffords and the shuttle launch. We've got that in the newscast. And the IMF story's amazing.
LEMON: That's on CNN.com, but then on Twitter people are talking about our conversation about Common yesterday, and also the same thing on our blog, at CNN.Com/Don, and we're going to play it in our newscast. We're going to see it, coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The story's in about 10 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Even if it's real or not, even if he's proven innocent, it will definitely leave a mark in the months to come and it will be a decider. So, yes, I think it's all over for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: French citizens reacting to the shocking arrest of the man many believed could be their next president.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to be arraigned in New York at any moment now. He's accused of attempting to rape a maid at a luxury hotel near Times Square.
Strauss-Kahn is in charge of hundreds of billions of the world's money as the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Let's go to CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's outside the courthouse right now. Susan, has he made his appearance yet?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. It's been an extraordinary day.
Remember, Don, he was formally charged by the police - formally arrested, at 2:15 Sunday morning, and we expected this arraignment to happen sometime Sunday afternoon, but this is like a real life version of that old TV show, "Night Court."
We're still waiting. He hasn't made an appearance yet. All kinds of delays and rumors flying. We don't know why it's taken so long, but all we do know is this - court wraps up at 1:00 in the morning.
LEMON: So, Susan, what about this new detail about - about a police lineup?
CANDIOTTI: That's right. A law enforcement source tells CNN that police did have a - a lineup to show this defendant, the accused, to the alleged victim, the woman who's making the claims that he tried to rape her. And then, in fact, she was able to identify, according to the source, that this is the man who attacked her, Dominique Strauss- Kahn.
And at this hour we are waiting at any moment for a news conference to happen, we believe, by the attorneys representing him.
LEMON: Yes. And we know in cases like this that the victim is not usually identified, so we don't know a great deal. We know a great deal about the suspect, but what about the victim in this case, Susan?
CANDIOTTI: Yes, of course. Officially police don't - say very little, rather, about an alleged sexual assault victim. They said that she's 32 years old. That's all they've said.
However, we have learned from the general manager of the Sofitel Hotel, where she works as a maid, that she has worked there for three years, here in Manhattan. And, in the words of the general manager, he said, "We find both her work and her behavior," in his words, "to be very satisfactory," - Don.
LEMON: All right, Susan Candiotti, in front of the courthouse now where she expected it be arraigned shortly. Susan, if it happens in this broadcast, we'll get back to you. Thank you very much.
You know, this case has a lot of thorny legal angles. Strauss-Kahn is a French citizen, and he's the head of the international organization - international organization. So I asked CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin whether he could get immunity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): That seems very unlikely. In the first place, as I understand it, the - the treaty that covers diplomatic immunity between France and the United States does not cover IMF officials, so I don't think he is a relevant party as far as diplomatic immunity is concerned.
And, second, when you look at what diplomatic immunity usually covers, a crime of violence like this generally is not covered, so I really think diplomatic immunity is unlikely to be an issue in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Jeffrey also says if bail is set, it will probably be very high because of the potential flight risk, and he also says if Strauss-Kahn had even gone to a consulate, he doesn't believe that he would have gotten diplomatic immunity. He says that he doesn't believe that it would apply to this case.
But he does say if he had gotten on that plane - if he had gotten on that plane, he probably would have been home free for many years. For many years.
So Strauss-Kahn's arrest is a total bombshell in his native France, but allegations of sexual indiscretion are nothing new for him. Emmanuel Saint-Martin is the New York correspondent for "France 24." Emmanuel, thank you for joining us.
You have covered Dominique Strauss-Kahn. What does his arrest mean back home for the French?
EMMANUEL SAINT-MARTIN, NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT, FRANCE 24: Don, it's huge. Imagine a - a few years back, three years back, here in the U.S., so John McCain and Barack Obama having been accused of something like that. Because it's what it is about.
I mean, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was really ahead in all the polls for next year, 2012 election in France, so it's really a huge event for French people and for the French media, obviously, because it means that there is one less candidate in the race and it was the candidate that was really ahead in all the polls.
LEMON: So, Emmanuel, rumors have flown for years about Strauss-Kahn, haven't they?
SAINT-MARTIN: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear your question, Don.
LEMON: I said rumors have flown around for years about him. What are those rumors?
SAINT-MARTIN: Yes. There have been rumors about him for - for years, but nothing like that. You know, there have been rumors of, obviously, him being very - how could I say that? Sexually active (ph), and him really having a lot of, you know, stories about - about him and women.
And of course there - there was one at the IMF in 2008, which was really a big problem because he was actually accused of having abuse of his position to have a sexual - sexual relation with a woman, but that was nothing like a rape accusation, like this is the case, no? So even by French standards, I would say, that has nothing to do with, you know, a French - a French womanizer or something like that. It's someone who is accused of having attempted rape on a woman in a hotel room, so it's -
LEMON: Yes. And that -
SAINT-MARTIN: -- it's a different scale. Yes.
LEMON: Yes. That 2008 case he had to apologize for. He is a family man, though.
SAINT-MARTIN: He had to apologize for that, yes. And he had all the stories in - in France also, you know, and a lot of rumors about - about his - his actions with women. So - so it's really - even in France, there is a lot of - of people who are, you know, in doubt about what - what happened here in New York about - about that, but - but I think a lot of people are ready to believe that about Strauss- Kahn more than about any - anyone else, because of - because of all these rumors from the past.
LEMON: Emmanuel Saint-Martin, New York correspondent for "France 24." Thank you very much for your time, sir.
Carlos Santana is speaking out on immigration. That's right, the Carlos Santana, and you wouldn't believe where he decided to take his stand.
Plus, Newt Gingrich makes his presidential plans official and has to defend himself over comments he made about President Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Breaking news. There you see Strauss-Kahn's attorneys speaking now. Let's listen in.
They just - it was a very short statement that they said they are going to postpone the arraignment. You heard Susan Candiotti saying that they had been there for quite some time. He had been arrested last night and nothing - so far he had not made an appearance.
But, again, this is live. This is raw coming in to CNN. Those were his attorneys speaking, William Taylor and then also Benjamin Brafman, saying that they are going to delay his arraignment again. Did they give a reason, Andreas (ph)? OK, apparently they did not give a reason why they were going to postpone his arraignment.
But, again, it's going to be delayed, and as soon as we get more information on that, we will bring it to you. Stand by.
I want you to hold on a bit because I want to play what the attorney said, if we can get it up for our viewers, about this diplomat - or I should say global bigwig. Let's listen in now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM TAYLOR, STRAUSS-KAHN'S ATTORNEY: That's being done in light of the hour. We've agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning, and we expect to be here in court within tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your client doing?
TAYLOR: He's tired, but he's fine. Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not before 11:00 tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So that's his attorneys again, speaking and - sorry about the - it's a little shaky here, but breaking news. That's how it happens. We're coming out of the break. They were just finishing up their press conference, and I wanted you to hear it. We're going to move on.
Again, make sure you stay tuned here to CNN for more information on that. "AMERICAN MORNING" begins at 6:00 A.M. Eastern time here on CNN, and they will be covering that story.
In the meantime, let's go to politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama is the most successful food stamp president in American history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's new GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich on NBC's "Meet The Press," going after the president for failing to create more jobs, but now he's having to defend his curious choice of words against charges of racism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: This kind of automatic reference to racism, this is the president of the United States. The president of the United States has to be held accountable.
Now the idea that - and I - what I said is factually true. Forty- seven million Americans are on food stamps. One out of every six Americans is on food stamps. And to hide behind the charge of racism, I have - I have never said anything about President Obama which is racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. CNN contributor Errol Louis is here. Errol, is Newt Gingrich right about referencing food stamps here, or does this remind you of the candidates who used to talk about the so- called - you remember the Welfare Queens?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, sure. Well, Newt Gingrich was one of those candidates. I mean, it's part of political history. It's in black and white, literally in writing. In the early '90s his PAC - GOPAC - circulated a document called "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control," in which he recommended to Republican candidates that they use certain words to make their case, and it - it included words like cheat, lie, deceive, steal. I mean, so of - of all the people in the country who don't have a right to complain about their words being taken out of context, this is somebody who built a career on specifically using rough, antagonistic language to achieve power.
He made no secret of it in the '90s. I don't know if he gets the benefit of the doubt this time.
LEMON: Is this going to have an effect on him at all? Is it - positive or negatively?
LOUIS: No. I mean, the - the initial response seems to be - seems to have blown up in his face. It does - it seems to have backfired.
You know, you have to be very careful about how you do this stuff. We have a much more sophisticated public now, in part because we've seen what people like Newt Gingrich did in the 1990s, and a lot of it was caustic and divisive, and a lot of people didn't like it. And I think people's ears are maybe a little bit more attuned in the modern internet and cable television age to when somebody is trying to sort of slip a fast one past them.
LEMON: OK. Errol, let's talk about immigration, sure to be a factor for Newt Gingrich and every other potential White House candidate. So here's legendary guitarist Carlos Santana today at Turner Field here in Atlanta, where he was receiving an award from Major League Baseball. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANTANA: I'd like to say, very clearly, I am here to represent the immigrants. And to the people in Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia and Atlanta, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Peace. We love you. God bless you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, Errol. What's your reaction to this? Is this an unusual time and place to - to speak out about this issue?
LOUIS: Well, it's a bit of a wake-up call. I mean, for viewers who don't know what he was talking about, there's this new Arizona-type, arguably crackdown on immigration, this law that just got passed, and when - the reference to Atlanta is the capital. It's a state law now in Georgia. And, look, 40 conventions cancelled in Arizona after they passed their very tough law. There's a sign that something similar could happen in Georgia.
Among the groups that were opposed to this new tough crackdown on immigrations was the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. They - they know what could happen, and there's already talk about organizing boycotts. So - and - and, by the way, your state there, Don, is 8.3 percent Latino. The first city councilwoman who is of Latino descent was just elected last year.
So, you know, the political reality is changing, and if the national Republicans don't pick up on this - this was a - a very big hint that was dropped in their laps today. They should almost thank Carlos Santana for it - Santana for it, provided they actually take it to heart politically.
LEMON: Oh, very interesting take, Errol. All right. Good to hear that.
Let's take a look at the week ahead, though, for the president. He has a big speech planned on the Middle East. What can we expect to hear, especially what's going on in the Middle East?
LOUIS: You know, it's - it's unclear. I mean, we're in a time of great flux. His political stock, the president's political stock has never been higher. His credibility is at an all-time high just because of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
For him to talk now about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other aspects of this long-standing snarl of - of interest in the Middle East, maybe he's going to unveil his new Obama doctrine, or maybe another piece of that puzzle is going to be made clear. But this is a president who when he has political capital likes to spend it or invest it, depending on how you want to think of it, and he's - it's clear that - that he's about to do that on the Middle East.
I think he's going to double down on his process of trying to get the parties to the table, trying to make conditions right for some kind of a breakthrough in the Middle East.
LEMON: Errol Louis, thanks as always.
One more White House note, in case you missed it this weekend, Republican Mike Huckabee says he's not going to run for president this time around. The former Arkansas governor made a lot of noise with a surprisingly strong run during the 2008 campaign. In his words, "All factors say go, but the heart says no."
Countdown to launch. Space Shuttle "Endeavour" just a few hours away from its last flight. Among half a million people expected to watch the launch in person, at least one very special guest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Look at that. Live pictures of the shuttle. The next to the last space shuttle mission scheduled to blast off less than 12 hours from now, and, once again, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona will be there. And, as you know, her husband is mission commander Mark Kelly.
Our John Zarrella has a preview from the Kennedy Space Center - John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The shuttle "Endeavour" is again poised to lift off from here at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida tomorrow morning. NASA says everything is looking good. The vehicle is in good shape. The weather looks good as well.
Now, two and a half weeks ago, the launch was scrubbed after some critical heaters, heating units actually failed. NASA went back and traced the problem to an electrical box that contained hundreds and hundreds of circuits, and they found that one of those circuits was literally open, so they changed out the box and they say everything is good to go as far as - as far as the vehicle is concerned.
Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was critically wounded in a shooting back in January, is back again to watch this launch. Her husband, Mark Kelly, is the commander of "Endeavour."
Now, not only is the "Endeavour" carrying a critical science payload called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which could revolutionize our understanding of the creation of the universe, it is also carrying some nutrition bars. And these nutrition bars were created by two sisters, a 14 and 16-year-old, Shannon and Mikayla Diesch from Battle Creek, Michigan. They won a contest that allowed them to go ahead and an make this bar, and then they went to NASA with it and NASA approved it to fly on the shuttle "Endeavour" as a supplement for the astronauts. So, again, everything looking good here at the Kennedy Space Center.
John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. John, thank you.
And we're following a developing story tonight. The discovery of more than two dozen bodies, many of whom were beheaded.
And the (INAUDIBLE) Mississippi River. Tonight, all eyes are on a four-mile stretch of levee. If it blows, water could swallow a town more than 30 miles away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: To get you up to date now on your top stories.
Two more gates were opened today at the Morganza spillway north of Baton Rouge. It doubled the rate of water from the swollen Mississippi River is pouring into the Atchafalaya Basin. About 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate. It's too late for some residents in St. Francisville across the river where the Mississippi has invaded the town. Even though many homes are on stilts, no one had ever seen the water get this high.
Arraignment has been postponed until Monday for the top French politician who's charged with attempted rape in New York City. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel. Strauss-Kahn is a head of the International Monetary Fund, an organization that oversees the world economy. He'll plead not guilty according to his attorneys. Here's what they had to say just moments ago outside the courthouse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM TAYLOR, ATTORNEY FOR DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN: Mr. Brett (ph) and I have a very short thing to say. Our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't hear what you're saying, sir.
TAYLOR: Our client consented to an examination tonight at the request of the government. That's being done. In light of the hour we've agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning and we expect to be here in court with him tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your client doing?
TAYLOR: He's tired but he's fine. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Again, Mr. Strauss-Kahn's appearance tomorrow morning, tomorrow morning. Make sure you stay tuned to CNN.
In the Middle East, Israeli troops fired tear gas at crowds of Palestinian protesters. This is the Golan Heights on the Syrian border. Similar clashes erupted on all of Israel's border today. At least 12 people were killed. Many more hurt. This is a day set aside every year when Palestinians angrily protested the creation of Israel.
Evangelist Billy Graham is now home in North Carolina after five days in the hospital. The 92-year-old evangelist is recovering from pneumonia. Doctors say while he responded well to treatment, his recovery will be slow. Graham has inspired millions over his 60 years of preaching and is now working on a book on aging.
A morbid discovery has made some wonder if the drug violence in Mexico has spread to Guatemala. Today security forces found 27 bodies at a farm in the northern region of Peten, according to an army colonel. Now, he did not speculate on what was behind the killings, but did not rule out drug trafficking. The colonel said most of the bodies had no heads, and two of the victims were women.
The flooding along the Mississippi River includes a lot of major tributaries such as the Yazoo River and Mississippi, all of that water is putting an enormous strain on local levees.
And CNN's Martin Savidge is on Redwood, Mississippi north of Vicksburg where one levee in particular is keeping everyone awake at night - Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, so far the story in Mississippi at least has actually been a success story in the ability of the levees to prevent an all-out flooding disaster, but if there's going to be a failure of any levee, this is that levee, and this is the time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): We're driving on top of a potential disaster. Of the 700 miles of Mississippi levees struggling to hold back the record flooding, none are in greater jeopardy than the Yazoo backwater levee.
Look at that boat just outside the window. It's floating at almost the same level we're driving. The water here is less than a foot from pouring over the top. On the flooded side it's at least 16 feet deep. The only thing preventing the flood from inundating thousands of homes on the other side is 28 miles of earth works completed in 1978.
But never has this levee had to endure the stress it's under now. Peter Nimrod knows if the State of Mississippi were to have a catastrophic levee failure, this is most likely the place and time.
PETER NIMROD, CHIEF ENGINEER, MISSISSIPPI LEVEE BOARD: They've just never seen water this high and so it's hard to predict actually what's going to happen.
SAVIDGE: Boats from the Army Corps of Engineers regularly patrol looking for the first signs of weakness or failure. Rapid deployment levee plugs are prepositioned to quickly fill any breach.
NIMROD: They would take this thing, deploy it out there, fill it with water and would actually roll it in the place up against the levee.
SAVIDGE: And this is thought to be the weakest point where the water is expected to come over the top. In just a week and a half, work cruise covered four miles of this stretch with heavy plastic armor to try and prevent the overtopping water from washing the levee away, but there are no guarantees.
SAVIDGE (on camera): If this levee were to fail, what are the consequences and who would be impacted and how far?
NIMROD: The town Rolling Fork is probably 30 - 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 would have to evacuate the area. Thousands of homes would be under water. Hundreds of thousands of acres would be under water farmland. We'd actually flood about 1.2 million acres.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Officials are hoping and praying the possibility of an all-out levee failure is small, but they can't rule it out. Until the water recedes, these will be very nervous days and nights, all along the levee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: The projections are that the water will rise exactly a foot and that is how much free space there is right now. Will it go over the top? Officials think pretty much it will and probably within the next 24 hours - Don.
LEMON: Martin, thank you.
A flood threat of a different kind in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states this coming week that will impact your travel.
Jacqui Jeras is here with more and what's going to happen with tomorrow's commute tonight?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It's going to affect a lot of people. Millions in fact, Don.
We've got an area of low pressure that's kind of stalled out here in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states, so we're going to have some coastal flooding, which means that high tide along with strong winds is going to bring water up into the coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic as well as into the Potomac Region. And then addition to that, we'll see some heavy rain in the interior parts of the Northeast. So it's going to be a very slick commute.
If you're traveling by the airways tomorrow, we're expecting the heaviest delays in New York City and the metro airports there. Rain and thunderstorms will be the issue. Washington, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia expecting delays because of that system as well.
Now, in terms of traveling by the roadways, we picked a couple of four cities for you. Baltimore expecting problems because of the wet weather. Portland, Maine and Oregon both will put for the top as spot at number three there because of the rain and the fog. Seattle expecting rain delays, so leave early, as well as for San Francisco. You probably have a few delays at the airports, too, because you have the low clouds. So a lot of wet weather, Don, especially on both coasts of the country.
LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
Ahead, one reporter is no doubt thankful for a lot of luck.
In Spain this week, it felt like the sky was falling. We'll show you how one town is picking up the pieces.
But first, retail sales are up. China is getting more of our money, and you may want to keep that old car another year.
Alison Kosik has the details in this week's "Getting Down To Business."
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Retail sales continue to climb, but the pace is a bit slower than expected. Sales rose half a percent in April slowing from the March increase that was almost double that. One reason for the penny pinching could be the soaring price of gasoline. AAA says the average price for a gallon of gas is at almost $4.
Also growing, the trade gap between the U.S. and China. China's overall trade surplus tops $11 billion in April. That's almost $10 billion higher than the surplus recorded a year ago.
Finally, your old car may now be worth more than you think. Conventional Wisdom says cars are worth less and less every year, but used car values actually increase by 16 percent from last year, according to RBI Group Used Car Price Index. It says one reason for the higher value is limited supply. Fewer cars were traded in for new ones during the recession.
That's this week's "Getting Down To Business." Allison Kosik, CNN, New York.
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LEMON: Some heart-stopping moments near - near - this is in Spain this week from a 5.3 earthquake. It's an earthquake in 30 years in the country. Wow. Four out of five homes in the City of Lorca suffered damage.
Now to the big national stories that will be grabbing the headlines in the week ahead from the White House to Wall Street.
We begin tonight with the president's plans for the week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House, where this week the president turns his attention to the Mideast. The big speech Thursday trying to explain U.S. policy in the wake of all the tumult in the region. Tuesday he meets with the King of Jordan. Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister all aimed at restarting the stalled peace process, but that will be difficult, especially after his enjoy George Mitchell resigned.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill.
Members of the House are back in their home district next week as the House is in recess. Meanwhile, highlighting the Senate's week ahead is the gas price debate, including a vote on a Democratic-backed measure to repeal tax breaks for big oil companies whose executives face some pretty tough questioning up here on Capitol Hill this week.
The measure has little chance of passing since Republicans and some Democrats from oil-producing states oppose the measure, but that's almost beside the point as Democrats see advantage in forcing Republicans to vote on this issue and then being able to paint them as protecting big oil afterwards.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. The housing market will be a big focus this week. We'll get the latest report on new home construction in these housing starts have been sitting in extremely low levels for months, and there's not much hope for immediate improvement.
Same goes for the sale of existing homes which make up about 90 percent of the entire U.S. housing market. Home sales rebounded in March but remain at depressed levels. We'll get the April existing housing report coming out on Thursday.
Meantime, Dow components Wal-Mart and Home Depot set to report their earnings this week. Hewlett-Packard and Dell also set to report their quarterly numbers. Of course, we'll follow it all for you on CNNMoney.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": On "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," I'm A.J. Hammer, and here's what we're watching this week.
It's a big week for TV. This is when the networks announce which shows made the cut for next season and which shows are cancelled. And it's a huge week for Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. "Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides" opens. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is TV's most provocative entertainment show exclusively at 11:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
LEMON: It was a performance that was under fire before he even took the stage.
Rapper Common at the recent White House Poetry Reading. What's really behind the conservative uproar over his invitation?
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LEMON: Hip-hop star Common in a 2007 performance on HBO's Def Poetry Jam. That line about burning a bush is one of the reasons that Conservatives are up in arms after the White House invited Common to a poetry reading on Wednesday. So was the White House wrong? Or do Conservatives have a fundamental fear of or a misunderstanding of rap and hip hop?
We had an amazing panel on to talk about it. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT WATSON, RECORD PRODUCER: They have nothing to go on. This is the cleanest rapper we have in the game. Common says - I mean, he makes conscious raps. He speaks to the people. He's anti (INAUDIBLE). He's anti-everything. This guy is a good guy. If he's bad, there's nothing left in rap.
LEMON: Yes.
WATSON: I mean, he's the best we got.
LEMON: I know, that you know, Fox will play this and say, oh, you know, look what CNN did. They invited these people on and what have you, just asking the questions. Is there some racial undertones here?
TIM WISE, AUTHOR, "COLORBLIND": There's a definite racial disparity in the treatment of different types of music. And I think the reason is because for a lot of white Americans, they believe that when black people talk about violence, it's autobiographical and they're going to get ready to kill somebody. And they realize that when white folks do it, oh, they're just talking. Except, of course, you know, the real thing, Bill O'Reilly had a clip of him and he said, you know, the White House doesn't understand a lot of America.
I think the bigger issue is that these critics don't understand that there are millions of Americans whose understanding and experience in this country is not the Lee Greenwood, you know, thank God, I'm free, proud to be an American version. It's a version of the folks who live in the South Bronx, who live on Pine Ridge Reservation. Brown-skinned folks in Arizona right now who don't feel free, and when they write about it either in a rhyme or in a poem, I think that's what scares these Conservative white folks. They don't accept the fact that there are millions of people for whom the experience of America is different than theirs and they certainly don't want to have to confront it.
LEMON: Don't most whites buy hip-hop and rap by the bulk of it?
DAN CHARNAS, AUTHOR, "THE BIG PAYBACK": Absolutely. Absolutely.
And you just have to remember, this is - this is all strategy, you know? In my book, I actually tell the cop side of that 1992 cop killer controversy and Ron DeLord, who ran CLEAT down in Texas. He knew consciously that this was something that the cops needed to do, after the L.A. cops beat down Rodney King and the ensuing riots is that the police had egg on their face and that this is something that Republicans and police needed to do to sort of turn cops into victims, when in actuality it's people like Rodney King and, you know, folks who were brutalized by police that are, you know, much more the victims of this kind of thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know, the uproar isn't over. Jon Stewart has accepted an invitation from Bill O'Reilly to debate this issue.
And you would have thought Elvis was in the house in Atlanta today. Listen.
These crazed fans are college grads and the object of their frenzy is Michelle Obama coming up the lasting impression the First Lady made.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Deafening display of appreciation for the First Lady at Spelman College in Atlanta today. Michelle Obama gave the commencement speech at historically black school for women. She told more than 550 graduates their degree was not an entitlement nor a gift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It is a commitment that comes with a certain set of obligations, obligations that don't end when you march through that arch today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the first lady then asked the graduates to make commitments to their communities.
I want to give you the (ph) top stories one more time. Two more gates were opened today at the Morganza spillway north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It doubled the rate of water from the swollen Mississippi River that is pouring into Achafalaya Basin. About 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
Arraignment has been postponed until Monday for a top French politician who's charged with attempted rape in New York City. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel. Strauss-Kahn is the head of the International Monetary Fund, an organization that oversees the world economy. He'll plead not guilty according to his attorneys. Here's what they had to say just moments ago outside the courthouse in Manhattan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR: Our client willingly consented to a scientific and forensic examination tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't hear what you're saying, sir.
TAYLOR: Our client consented to an examination tonight at the request of the government. That's being done. In light of the hour, we've agreed to postpone the arraignment until tomorrow morning and we expect to be here in court with him tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is - how is your client doing?
TAYLOR: He's tired but he's fine. Thank you very much. Not before 11:00 tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not before 11:00?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)?
TAYLOR: Yes. He intends to vigorously defend his charges and he denies any wrongdoing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: In the Middle East, Israeli troops fired tear gas at crowds of Palestinian protesters. This is the Golan Heights. It's on the Syrian border. Similar clashes erupted on all of Israel's borders today. At least 12 people were killed, many more hurt. This is a day set aside every year when Palestinians angrily protest the creation of Israel. Evangelist Billy Graham now at home in North Carolina. Five days he spent in the hospital. The 92-year-old evangelist is recovering from pneumonia. Doctors say while he responded well to the treatment, his recovery is going to be slow. Graham has inspired millions over his 60 years preaching about working - and he's working at a new book, I should say, on aging. We wish him the very best.
A morbid discovery has been made and some wonder if the drug violence in Mexico has spread to Guatemala. Today security forces found 27 bodies at a farm in the northern region of Peten according to an army colonel. He did not speculate on what was behind the killings, but did not rule out drug trafficking. The colonel said most of the bodies had no heads, and two of the victims were women.
I'm Don Lemon at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great week. I'll see you back here next weekend. Good night.
