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Shooting Manhunt in Oklahoma; Cain to Announce Presidential Bid; River Cresting Again in Natchez; Tracing President Obama's Roots; Town Builds up with Roundabouts; Cheap Summer Travel; Family Versus Flood; Hurricane Season Days Away; How Are You Spending End of Days; Three More Shows Left For Oprah

Aired May 21, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello, everybody. From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you for spending part of your weekend here with us.

Now, up first here, suicide bombers hitting a hospital in Afghanistan as the U.S. coalition commander warns more high-profile attacks are likely in the coming weeks.

Also here in the U.S., severe storms making a bad situation even worse along parts of the flooded Mississippi.

Also, the 2012 presidential race getting more crowded. In exactly an hour, we will tell you who is announcing a bid today.

But we do have a developing situation in Oklahoma City to tell you about. A manhunt under way for two men wanted for shooting an off- duty sheriff deputy as he worked as a security guard at a restaurant. Investigators say he was shot without warning, but the shooting was caught on videotape, which may help identify at least one of the suspects.

Major John Waldenville is a 25-year veteran is now listed in critical, but stable condition.

Also on the same day, General David Petraeus predicted a summer surge in high profile Taliban attacks. There has been a deadly bombing in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber attacking a hospital in Kabul, a Taliban spokesman claims 51 people died including foreigners. But the Afghan government puts the death toll at six with 26 others injured.

Also, President Obama seeking congressional support for the military mission in Libya, under the 1973 War Powers Act the President has 60 days to get congressional authorization for military action, if not, the mission must stop within 30 days.

Well, yesterday marked 60 days since President Obama formally notified Congress about the mission; a bipartisan resolution now in the works.

Also, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, out of jail this morning. Dominique Strauss-Kahn left Riker's Island yesterday, now under 24-hour guard at an apartment in New York. Police in New York say he tried to rape a maid in his luxury hotel suite last week. Strauss-Kahn proclaimed his innocence in his resignation letter to the IMF executive board on Wednesday.

Also in Mexico, he is behind bars. They have been looking for him for a while and wanted him badly. An alleged leader of one of that country's most notorious drug rings, the Gulf Cartel. The U.S. had offered a $5 million reward for the capture of 41-year-old Gilberto Barragan Balderas. You're seeing here in that picture but also you'll see him in this picture in the red, this was after his arrest. He was nabbed at a Mexican town across the border from Texas during what authorities believed was his own birthday party.

Also, retired pro-wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage has died. Investigators say his jeep jumped a median and hit a tree in Seminole, (ph) California. Savage's wife was also in that vehicle; she was injured but has since been released from the hospital. Police say the 50-year-old Savage may have suffered a medical event before the wreck. His brother was telling TMZ it was a heart attack. Autopsy will be performed.

And it's one of the stories, one of the biggest out there that people are talking about. And many are saying it's a non-event. An apocalyptic Christian radio network says today is the day, Judgment Day. You're seeing the Web site right there. It shows zero days are left.

Now, how did this all get started? Harold Camping and his followers believe the rapture will happen today when followers of Jesus will be called up in the air to meet him. Camping also made a similar prediction back in 1994; we are still waiting on that prediction to come true.

Now, let's get back to this story. A developing story still out of Oklahoma, police today are on a manhunt for two gunmen who shot and wounded a sheriff's deputy overnight. His name was Major John Waldenville and he was working as an off-duty security guard for a restaurant in Oklahoma City. He is now in the hospital.

We understand he is in critical, but stable condition. Sheriff John Whetsel of Oklahoma County is on the line with me now.

Sir, can you give me an update on your deputy? You told me a little while ago that he was going to be going into surgery. Has that been the case?

JOHN WHETSEL, SHERIFF, OKLAHOMA COUNTY: Yes, he went into surgery at about 8:00 a.m. this morning. They expect that to be a very lengthy surgery as they work to repair. So at this point in time we're just, our thoughts and, of course, we're praying for the best as he, as he is in there.

HOLMES: And I know at this point, someone has shot and injured one of your own. I could imagine a lot of resources being put into this. Do you have good leads about where these two suspects might be or maybe might be headed? WHETSEL: Well, I mean, we're just, we have teams, Oklahoma City police have teams out and we're coordinating our efforts with law enforcement throughout this entire region and in trying to make a good identification of these two people.

HOLMES: And is it fair to say sir, it sounds like, sheriff, you're not sure of the identities of who you're after just yet. Is that right?

WHETSEL: At this point, we're just not sure of the people that we're looking for.

HOLMES: And Sir, you had some evidence because there were surveillance videos around. What were you able to see in that surveillance video?

WHETSEL: All I can tell you at this point in time is that it's going to be able to give us a good, a good look with which to compare an individual with. So it's going to be very helpful to us.

HOLMES: And Sir --

WHETSEL: To get someone identified.

HOLMES: Also in this video describe as best you can how this went down. You explained to me a little earlier that they really did not give your deputy even a chance.

WHETSEL: No. The indication is that he was walking northbound from the restaurant to the bank. Apparently heard the two individuals coming up from behind him, turned and apparently right after he turned was just summarily shot in the head. So never had the opportunity to even unbuckle his gun.

HOLMES: All right. And if people have any information, they should get a hold of the Oklahoma County sheriff's department. Is that correct?

WHETSEL: Yes, the Oklahoma County sheriff office or the Oklahoma City Police Department.

HOLMES: Sheriff Whetsel, we appreciate your time this morning. And certainly a lot of our viewers concerned about what's happening there. Their hearts go out and they certainly they want to help. And I know it's a busy night, we appreciate you giving us an update and letting us pass this information along to our viewers. Sir thank you so much.

WHETSEL: Thank you for sharing your concerns.

HOLMES: All right. Well, we're going to turn now at six past the hour to Taliban. A spokesman there claiming responsibility for today's deadly blast at a military hospital in Afghanistan.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom is standing by for us in Kabul and, Mohammed, we are hearing different opinions out there, or not necessarily opinions, but different reports about how many people were actually killed in this attack. Let's start there.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, T.J.

According to defense ministry sources here today, one suicide bomber from the Taliban entered a military hospital here in Kabul, entered the cafeteria area and detonated his explosives killed at least six people, injured 23. They expect those casualty figures may rise.

But, according to the Taliban, the Taliban spokesman here told CNN that, in fact, it was two suicide bombers who carried out this attack. One of them went in, same area, they said, detonated their explosives. They said the other one was actually shot by security forces when they raided the area after the first one detonated his explosives.

According to the Taliban, 51 people were killed in that attack. But according to all the government officials we have spoken with here, they are maintaining that the death toll at this point is six, although they do expect it to -- to go higher as the evening progresses -- T.J.

HOLMES: And Mohammed, this comes as General David Petraeus is actually warning about the possibility of an increase in high-profile attacks this summer.

JAMJOOM: That's right, T.J. He really underscores this memorandum that was released by General Petraeus today to NATO's Security Assistance Force in which he basically warned that we should be on the lookout for more attacks of this nature because the Taliban is trying and insurgents here are trying to prove that they can carry out these kinds of attacks.

In this memorandum, General Petraeus called the international forces to balance their tactical needs with those of the civilian population saying these attacks may increase the risk of civilian casualties and put Afghan and ISAF forces in difficult situations.

The concern here right now, the Taliban, even though there are many forces within the government that are trying to get the Taliban to get into these peace talks, these reconciliation efforts here in Afghanistan. The Taliban is saying no way, we're going to continue our fight trying to get foreign troops out of here, attacking the government.

They're in the midst of what the call their spring offensive, there have been several high-profile attacks against security targets in the past couple of weeks and they're vowing to continue these attacks and that really has the security forces here both the international forces and local forces quite concerned -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Mohammed Jamjoom for us in Kabul, Mohammed it's always good to have you. Thank you so much for the update.

Let's now turn to the race for the White House and the growing, the ever-growing GOP presidential field. It's a pleasure to have our CNN political producer, Shannon Travis here with us. And you only come to town when something big is going on. So what is it this time?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Something big like doomsday or something --

HOLMES: Well, there's that.

(CROSSTALK)

TRAVIS: No Herman Cain.

HOLMES: Yes.

TRAVIS: Herman Cain, right across the street from us is expected to announce he's -- that he's jumping into the race. He's been exploring since January and now he's going to make it official that he will be a presidential candidate.

Who is he? Herman Cain is a former -- is a former big-time executive in the restaurant industry. He's the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He has an extensive background in the business world.

He's also a huge Tea Party favorite. So a lot of conservative activist really like this guy. He is a radio talk show host. And just a fiery anti-Obama, anti-Democrat fire brand. So --

HOLMES: Because he still trying to get that name out there, though. Herman Cain. Nobody knows him just yet.

TRAVIS: You and I know a lot about him, dude. Does the rest of America know about him? He certainly hopes to change that today. I mean, the campaign is saying that they might have thousands of people gathered in Centennial Park across the street. It's anyone's guess if they will have that much but he's trying to make some traction against some better known names like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. So we'll see how much traction that he actually makes after this announcement.

HOLMES: That traction, what about that money? Does he have, we have seen candidates oftentimes, he was Godfather Pizza's executive.

TRAVIS: Right.

HOLMES: Does he have a good chunk of change in his own account that he can fund himself for awhile?

TRAVIS: That's right, I actually asked him about that. And I said, hey, you probably made a pretty decent living being CEO of Godfather's Pizza and other places. How much are you willing to put your money where your mouth is on this run? And he said, you know what, I'm willing to throw in some money, but, obviously, I like to use other people's money, meaning donations to finance my campaign.

Another thing that's really interesting about Herman Cain is he will be running on this common theme of CEOs can kind of right the ship, right the economy. It's something that we've seen before. Remember George W. Bush was the first MBA president. I mean, also have been Texas governor, of course, but he will be running on his solid business credentials. Hey, I've got some solid business bona fides and I can help fix the economy.

HOLMES: And check off a few other names who have recently gotten in. It sounds like the field is now getting officially crowded.

TRAVIS: Absolutely. It's getting more crowded by the day.

HOLMES: Yes.

TRAVIS: We've already got Newt Gingrich officially declared, we've got a man named Gary Johnson who is the former governor of New Mexico officially declared, and we've got Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul officially declared. Monday we expect for Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, to officially declare.

So it's starting to gel and there are some other names that we expect to hear something from in the coming days like Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels and a few other people.

HOLMES: Is he ok? He got hit in the head by a door when he was working out. They said he had to get 16 stitches.

TRAVIS: Yes, yes we're told that he's ok.

HOLMES: Yes.

TRAVIS: That it was like, when he was working out, it was a little bit of a mishap, but nothing super serious.

HOLMES: All right, Travis it's good to have you here in town, buddy.

TRAVIS: Absolutely.

HOLMES: Let us know -- we saw that picture, they're starting to collect across the street there at Centennial Olympic Park.

TRAVIS: Oh yes.

HOLMES: So we're starting to get a crowd there. We'll see if he gets to thousands, there it is, the event. Again, we can look out our window here at the CNN Center and look down and see this happening.

So again, we're just about 45 minutes or so away from Herman Cain officially getting into the race. Shannon, I appreciate you as always, it's good to have you in Atlanta.

Well at 12 past the hour now, let me turn to this rising water. Rising water and more rain is leaving a muddy mess all along the Mississippi River Valley. We're taking you live to the river bank in two minutes. Stay here.

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HOLMES: Well, a quarter past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

People all along the Mississippi delta are watching the water levels and they're watching those rain gauges. It's pouring in some areas and making it an even muddier mess. The Mississippi River has already crested in places like Vicksburg but it continues to flood areas south of there after the Army Corps of Engineers opened more than a dozen gates on the Morganza Spillway. That's designed to take pressure off the levees in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. But, of course, the water has to go somewhere and it's going to other communities.

What about the levees around Natchez, Mississippi? Jeanne Meserve is on the river bank for us there. One part they're dealing with -- of course, it looks nice right there right now -- they're dealing with those flood waters, but now we're talking about rain that's supposed to be coming into your area.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, nobody is looking forward to that, at all. Speaking of the levees, there's a makeshift one that's been built right behind me by homeowners here, by business owners to try and protect these historic properties. You go around the bend down at the end of the street, there is about 11 feet of water covering the road and the casino that's in that river bank has been shut down for business because of the high waters.

The water here now at about 61.8 feet. That's way above previous records here. But this city because so much of it is at a high elevation is largely protected. Across the river, is Vidalia, Louisiana; you can't see it very well right now because there is a barge going up the river, series of barges, but there are some properties on the river side of the levee that are dealing with some water issues.

They have had some levee issues there. They have had to do some maintenance on them, but, so far, things are holding.

Now, if you look at the situation from the air, all you see is water. Yesterday our cameraman Dave Russ had a chance to go up in a Coast Guard plane and take a look at the damage. You see a lot of farmland inundated and, of course, a lot of homes and businesses inundated, as well.

The hope was that for parts of the river, the worst was past, but all this rain that's forecast, some people are talking about the possibility of three, four, five inches of rain. That's all going to be flowing into the river system. It's going to make this system potentially even worse. T.J., back to you.

HOLMES: Jeanne can you tell me one thing in the 30 seconds or so I have here left. Where is everybody right now? Are there mandatory evacuations in that area or are some people riding it out, from what you can tell?

MESERVE: No, no mandatory evacuations here. In fact, if Dave swings around with me. You can see that some of the local residents have come down here with their cameras and what not precisely. They've never seen the river this high in their lives and may not, again. So around here, it's -- you know, it's a subject of some curiosity.

Of course, there are some homes and some businesses that are affected, but the numbers here in Natchez are far lower than they have been elsewhere along the river. Back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: Well, I'm sure they appreciate -- I'm sure they appreciate that fact. Jeanne Meserve, we appreciate you. Thank you so much.

I want to turn immediately now to our Karen Maginnis. We've been talking about more rain. How much more are we talking about?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, this is going to be a little further upstream. But also in the southern Mississippi, they are looking at rain, as well. The Ohio River Valley and central Mississippi River Valley all expecting about three to six inches of rainfall within the next five days. But some of these areas are going to pick up a lot more than that.

But let's show you what's happening as far as the river is concerned. Here's the precipitation forecast as we look into the next five days. As I mentioned, the heaviest is going to be for the Ohio River Valley, extending towards St. Louis.

How does this affect people downstream? Well, it's exasperating to say the least. And I think we're not going to see any significant fluctuation that takes place in places like Natchez and Vicksburg and in Baton Rouge. I think it's just going to be the frustration factor more than anything. We'll see these little crests every now and again. It will kind of ebb and flow.

It's going to stay high for the next several weeks. We're looking even into mid-June where some of these rivers are still going to be way above flood stage.

I just updated these. These look to be just about it for most of these areas. Right around the Red River Landing, it is now 15 feet above flood stage. If you can imagine that. You know, 15 feet above where you would normally see a flood stage for the Mississippi River and that's why it is such an attraction for people to go down to the river and take a look at what's happening there. But today could see thunderstorms rumbling across the Mississippi River Valley and Ohio Valley.

HOLMES: All right, Karen Maginnis with us; always a pleasure to have you here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING. Thank you so much.

20 past the hour now. A small town has discovered a roundabout way to build up the town's economy and save the residents in gas money. Got your attention there. You'll hear it, next.

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HOLMES: Well, 23 minutes past the hour now.

President Obama leaves for Europe tomorrow night. Monday he'll hold meetings in Dublin, Ireland. On Tuesday it's on to London; he'll have lunch there with the Queen. He'll also meet with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and will spend the night at Buckingham. Wednesday it's another day with David Cameron before speaking to parliament. And then Thursday to France for the G-8 summit. And then the president wraps up the week with more G-8 business and a brief trip to Poland.

Well, maybe one of the high points of the President's trip will likely be one of the first stops he makes. While in Ireland he'll visit a small town of Moneygall. Why would he stop there? That is where Obama's great, great, great-grandfather lived before he immigrated to America.

The President really had no clue about his Irish roots until it was discovered by a genealogist by the name of Megan Smolenyak; that was back in 2007.

I had a chance to speak to her this week. She says it took a few months and two tombstones to connect the dots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN SMOLENYAK, GENEALOGIST: It was pretty easy to march back the first few generations and find out ok, there was this fellow named Fulmoth Kearney who came from Ireland in 1850.

The challenge was finding the exact location. Irish genealogy can be quite challenging and it took a bit of luck. It took two months of research, but it also a pair of tombstones in Ohio to tell me where to look in Ireland. That's how I discovered it was Moneygall.

HOLMES: Ok. Make that connection for me because, Moneygall, like you just said. Tombstone to Moneygall, how did you do that?

SMOLENYAK: They found this other Kearney family and it seemed like he fit into them. And I wanted him to belong to that family because the father, Joseph's tombstone and the brother, William's tombstone both said that they were from Moneygall.

And so it's a matter of fitting the puzzle piece into this family. Once I was able to do that, I knew that that is where he was also from. And then I did some work across the pond. Reached out to a number of churches over there to find out who had the corresponding marriage and baptism records for this family that wound up in America.

HOLMES: Now, how sure are you that you've got this right and you've got this town and they're not over there celebrating for not?

SMOLENYAK: 100 percent. Other people who have piggy backed off that research and taken his roots back further and so you'll find roots also in Shinrone and Kilkenny and Dublin. Everybody, of course, wants to claim their piece of Obama.

Yes, but, Moneygall is the most immediate destination, I'm absolutely sure of it.

HOLMES: Ok. Are you sure it's warranted, as well? We see how they're celebrating now and people are writing songs about him and putting up American. He's 1/32nd Irish, so do you still -- do you still get it and say they have a right to celebrate over there?

SMOLENYAK: You know, I'm half Irish-American myself, so I may have a bit of a bias. But I think it's almost a tradition, isn't it, for American presidents to claim their Irish heritage and Ireland loves to claim their native sons as well. So it works both ways. I think it's a win/win situation.

HOLMES: All right. And you plan on heading over, do you have any plans to meet up with the President? He is going to Ireland. We think he's going to stop by Moneygall. We believe, or a lot of people hope he will. Do you plan on seeing the President and saying, hey, I'm the one that put it together for you.

SMOLENYAK: I sure hope so. I have one of the treasured passes into Moneygall so my odds are pretty good. I sure hope so.

HOLMES: You sure hope so. Well, ma'am congratulations on the work you were able to do in putting this together. You enjoy your time over in Ireland and we appreciate you taking the time out with us.

SMOLENYAN: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

HOLMES: Let's turn now to "Building up America" and an Indiana town that's building up its economy by making the daily commute faster and more efficient.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North of Indianapolis in the suburb of Carmel, Mayor James Brainard has been going around in circles for years over traffic jams.

MAYOR JAMES BRAINARD, CARMEL, INDIANA: Roundabouts work everywhere.

FOREMAN: He has done away with traffic lights at 80 percent of his town's major intersections, replacing them with roundabouts, whirlpools of traffic that keep people moving.

BRAINARD: It's made a huge difference in the way our city looks and feels and the way people get around.

FOREMAN: Roundabouts -- not to be confused with bigger more intimidating rotaries on the East Coast -- are designed to smoothly sweep drivers in from any direction, slowly guide them around, and just as easily let them out and on their way.

Since cars don't stop, commuters save time and officials say use 30 percent less gas at intersections.

BRAINARD: A roundabout can handle about four to five times the amount of traffic in the same amount of time that a stop light intersection can have.

FOREMAN: The mayor says intersection accidents are also way down, improving insurance rates and the city saves money, too.

BRAINARD: We don't have to buy a $150,000 signal. We don't have to buy electricity every year. We don't have to replace it after 15 years when all that mechanical equipment wears out.

FOREMAN: Some drivers and pedestrians don't like roundabouts, but local officials insist this simple idea is building up the quality of life here, and that's building up the business climate all around.

Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, it's that time, folks. It's time for a vacation. Can't you feel it? You need one, don't you? A lot of people planning that summer vacation and maybe even something as soon as Memorial Day. I will show you after the break how to get the most bang for your travel buck.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We're at the bottom of the hour here now. A lot of you probably - maybe even packing up right now getting ready for a road trip of some kind. Some advice now on finding the best deal for your money. I talked to a lady by the name of Laura Michonski earlier today. She is the Deputy Director - or Digital Editor, I should say, of Budget Travel magazine. She the best possible time to get a deal is coming up very soon. Yes, there's a specific date. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA MICHONSKI, DIGITAL EDITOR, BUDGET TRAVEL MAGAZINE: The cheapest time to travel is actually coming right up. It's going to be over Memorial Day weekend, May 30th through June 5th. On the other hand, the most expensive time to travel is going to be the heart of the summer, it's going to be late June, early July.

HOLMES: Now, you said price prediction algorithm, I didn't even know that existed. Is there anything - what's the logic behind that? Why June 5th? Is that an arbitrary date or like on June 6th you might see prices go up?

MICHONSKI: Well, believe it or not, Bing has this amazing technology. They've used an algorithm that draws on historical data and as well as current data to determine what kind of prices you're going to see when. So, they've put a lot of thought into this. I couldn't explain to you how it works, but I do trust their numbers.

HOLMES: That's alright. Now it's also not just when you travel, where you travel can make a difference and you can get the best deals. We have the list of cities. We've got five here where you can actually get good deals. Let's start with Orlando. Why Orlando?

MICHONSKI: Well, Orlando is a great destination. There's something for everyone there. You've got all the major parks. You've got Disney, Harry Potter, Sea World, not to mention great dining, nightlife. Plus not all kids are out of school yet. So, you're not going to see the same kind of crowds you see later in the summer.

HOLMES: Okay, that makes perfect sense. Now my favorite, Vegas is next. Why Vegas? Vegas is always a good place to go, right?

MICHONSKI: Vegas is always a good place to go, and believe it or not, this is the time of year when many places across the U.S. are starting to kick off beach season, peak season or, as in Las Vegas, Memorial Day marks the end of comfortable temperatures in the desert. Resorts and casinos know this. They want to get you out there. So, they're rolling out specials, pool parties for the holidays. The whole nine yards.

HOLMES: You don't have to twist my arm. Alright D.C. Why D.C.?

MICHONSKI: Well, D.C. is always a great destination for families. It's especially timely for Memorial Day. I mean where better to celebrate our veterans than in our nation's capital. Plenty of pomp and circumstance. You've got the National Day Parade. You've got the wreath laying ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery as well as concerts happening across the city.

HOLMES: Alright and our last two, San Diego and Cancun.

MICHONSKI: That's right. Two beach destinations. San Diego is incredibly affordable right now. Hotels are averaging just $100. That's in the city and near the beach. If you wanted to save a little bit more, you can stay in nearby Mission Valley for just $69 a night. Cancun, if you want to go international, is also looking good right now. Airfares averaging around $450 and you can get a three-star hotel on a beach for just $145.

HOLMES: Okay, quickly here for me, people always debate, of course you'd have to fly to Cancun, but people trying to figure out, should I fly or should I drive? What should you debate about? What should help you decide whether or not one is better than the other?

MICHONSKI: Well, that -- the answer to that question depends on a number of different factors, including how fuel efficient is your car, how many people are traveling with you. How far are you traveling and, finally, whether or not there's a low-cost airline that flies to your destination. So, what I tell people is the things that you want to do to answer that question for yourself, first, you want to figure out what kind of gas mileage does your vehicle get? Most people have a pretty good sense of that already. If you don't, the government has a great website, fueleconomy.gov. They'll break it all down for you. The second thing you want to do is to check current gas prices. Plan out your route. Figure out what makes sense for you. And, finally, you want to check airfares and do a little price comparison.

HOLMES: All right, so, we're at 35 minutes past the hour now. We're going to get back to these flood waters. Slow-rising flood waters reaching parts of Natchez, Mississippi. We're going to take you inside one family's fight to keep that water away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWARD JONES, VICE PRESIDENT, JM JONES LUMBER: ...our primary tarp was ripped.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Compounding the problem, river traffic, boats pushing barges upstream stir up waves that Jones says has been doing some real damage. Pounding away fragile dirt out of these levees. He calls it a battle of attrition because this water is going to stay high for weeks. The coast guard stepped in slowing boats down to a crawl. Keeping them to the middle of the channel and spacing them far apart. A small bit of comfort for a family with five generations of success and a proud legacy at the mercy of a river.

LEE JONES, PRESIDENT, JM JONES LUMBER: Very, very humbling. Very humbling and I think about this all the time. And that's why we are doing everything we can to find it. And if we fail, we'll just say, well, we tried.

MATTINGLY: so far, a $500,000 of company cash has gone into the levee. If it fails, the Jones Lumber Company will probably not be able to recover. So, there's nothing left to do but work, watch and worry. David Mattingly, CNN, Natchez, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, 41 minutes past the hour. A lot of people talking about doomsday today. The prediction that one California pastor made. While you might not be expecting the rapture the CDC is actually trying to get you ready for zombies. This is not a joke. It's there on their website and the man behind it. You'll meet him after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We're about a quarter of the top of the hour. With all the tornadoes and flooding and everything else, would you believe it's time for us to start worrying about hurricanes. Karen - a reminder here-Karen Maginnis, as I bring you in. Yes, Hurricane season is upon us.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know, we've dealt with a lot this year. An awful lot.

HOLMES: Yes.

MAGINNIS: And, these folks have -- along the gulf coast -- we dealt with an oil spill last year. They were hoping nothing would develop in the Gulf of Mexico. A couple things did. But, the steering currents drove those hurricanes in more so into Mexico, in Yucatan and Central America. So, in the United States, we were spared for the most part. Well, coming up, it -- over a 60-year average, about two category three hurricanes per year. Well, it looks like for NOAA they're saying three to six. So, they're kind of upping the chances that we're going to see more than just a couple of strong hurricanes over this time period. This particular hurricane season. How many do we typically average? Usually we see about six named or six hurricanes form and they're saying six to ten. Colorado State also puts out their own forecast and back in April they said, we think we're going to see nine hurricanes. If we do, it's already be an active season. You know what T.J. last year, we saw 12 hurricanes, but none of them just made landfall here in the United States. They were steered away.

HOLMES: But that's still considered an active season, even if they don't hit us right.

MAGINNIS: Very active, yes.

Karen Maginnis, we appreciate you, as always. Thank you so much.

HOLMES: Well, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency, you know, that's charged with protecting the public's health and safety. This week they put up a website and they think a part of your health and safety is getting you prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse. I am not kidding with you, that's a real website you are seeing. And, if you happen to learn about how to prepare for hurricanes, earthquakes or other natural disasters in the meantime, then that's just fine. You see what they tried to do here. I talked to the CDC spokesman David Daigle. He was part of the group that came up with the plan. I asked how this came all to fruition in the first place.

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DAVID DAIGLE, SPOKESMAN, CDC: We thought every year we do this campaign and we're wondering, does anybody listen or read or pick up on it?

HOLMES: Yes.

DAIGLE: And so, one of my colleagues mentioned during a Twitter session on Japan and the reactors, someone asked about zombies and radiation and the interest seemed to spike. So, I thought zombie preparedness. And I walked into my boss' office and I said, we're going to do something with zombie preparedness. And he didn't throw me up.

HOLMES: I hate to - okay and, let me share. I'm going to put up a graphic here that gives people and idea of what you all are actually doing. And, it's important to say, the CDC is -- does not think that zombies are about to take over the earth, correct?

DAIGLE: No, we do not.

HOLMES: Okay, let me switch - now that gives some of your zombie emergency kits people -- things people should have. But I have a quote if you can Deidra (ph), switch to the other graphic that I want to put up and show. And it says, I'm pulling this directly from your website, it says, once you've made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake or other emergency. This is just an attention grabber and then they get the good information once they get there.

DAIGLE: That was our goal.

HOLMES: Is that what it takes? Are we so immune - and we just tune it out so much that it takes you to bring up zombies?

DAIGLE: We don't know for sure. But, we also knew that we would reach a new audience through the social media demographic with - and that's -- it has been astounding.

HOLMES: Okay, help us understand just how astounding. What has the reaction been like?

DAIGLE: So, we typically get one to three hits on his blog over a ten-day span. On Wednesday, the server crashed with 30,000. We have now over a million hits to that blog. And we're just amazed.

HOLMES: Okay, now, I have to say here, as well, you didn't get permission, necessarily, before you did this from the folks you're supposed to get permission from. The higher ups. What are they saying now? I think - we got a note from our director. He said well done. Everybody else seems to be very encouraging and supportive.

HOLMES: What do you do with this now? I guess you've learned a lesson here in how, maybe, you should get your message out?

DAIGLE: We've -- we're learning a lot. And we're - and actually we're going to sit down and take a hard look at this afterwards. One of the things we want to do is evaluate. Did we actually affect behavior? Did more people do plans, make kits? So we're going to take a hard look at this, because it's been a wild ride.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Folks, well, here we are, almost noon on the East Coast. I'm still here. But coming up after the break, our last shot together, me and Fredricka Whitfield on the end of days. Fredricka. Let's make this one a good one, Fredricka. We're coming up after the break.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're trying.

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HOLMES: All right. This -- I've been waiting on this all morning.

Fredricka Whitfield, it is good -- you have no idea how good it is to see you this morning.

WHITFIELD: Oh really.

HOLMES: Yes, it's good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Well it's always great to see you, under any circumstances.

HOLMES: Good to have you here on this doomsday. This might be it for us.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's what they say. And you know, I know you've been hearing from a lot of people about how they are spending their last day, this end of days.

HOLMES: Now if you want to have a good time today on Twitter, she's at @fwhitfield.

WHITFIELD: Having fun already.

HOLMES: Okay, ask people what they would do in their final hours?

WHITFIELD: in fact, we have done just that -

HOLMES: Oh my goodness -

WHITFIELD: We have done just that because I know that you've been doing it all morning, I figure, you know what I know you're going to hand the baton over to me. So, in tweeterdom the same applies. So, I'm asking for tweetness. I like that.

HOLMES: Are you making these up or are those real words.

WHITFIELD: I'm making it up.

HOLMES: Okay.

WHITFIELD: It's what I do. I like to play with words every now and then. Last time we were talking about calling upon our tweeps? Well, we're doing the same thing, calling upon our tweeps, to find out how exactly how you're spending this last day. You know, last day, let's put it that way.

HOLMES: Yes.

WHITFILED: And we're going to get your comments on the air just as T.J. has done all day long. Because you know, I am following your lead on being in tweeterdom.

HOLMES: Oh Boy, it's the blind leading the blind right here.

WHITFIELD: No, no, I think you've got it. Okay, and then we're also calling upon our legal guys because they've got some interesting things to say about Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger and what might be at stake if there were Pre-nups involved. Likely there were, how might that impact the fact that she is already acquired a divorce attorney, what will happen. And then what will happen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and his business propositions? He has, of course, proposals in place and promises in place. But many of those things have been put on hold. What's at stake for him legally.

HOLMES: They've been together a while.

WHITFIELD: 25 years.

HOLMES: 25 years. Now, that's interesting. I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about that.

WHITFIELD: Exactly. And you know California is a 50/50 state, no- fault divorce. So, what's going to happen here. Meantime, when you were graduating, wearing that cap and gown, were you thinking about finances and planning and long-term --

HOLMES: At that age, you're thinking one thing, I'm broke. That's the extent of your finances.

WHITFIELD: Exactly. Our financial expert Karen Lee says it's time to rethink if you're a graduating senior, you need to start thinking about your finances, how to plan for the days ahead, what to do about your money right now even if you have none. Maybe that play money, Monopoly money.

HOLEMS: How is she going to tell you about your money when you don't have no money?

WHITFIELD: She's going to explain how and why. That's what she does. And then you recall Venus Williams face to face, earlier this month, we wanted to bring you most of that conversation face to face with Venus. She's on the injury list. She's not playing in the French Open which is getting under way. But at the time of this interview, she was still contemplating French Open as well as Wimbledon. We're going to try and bring you that face to face with Venus Williams beginning Noon Eastern Time, barring breaking news because that's what happened last time. Breaking news got in the way, and so it sidelined our wonderful Venus Williams segment. But that's okay. We're going to give it another shot beginning today.

HOLMES: All right, 6:00 p.m. Eastern time is when the whole apocalypse and the rapture is supposed to start with the earthquakes.

WHITFIELD: You tweet me and let me know what you're doing after you get off the air today.

HOLMES: You don't want to see these tweets.

WHITFIELD: Oh, okay. Never mind then, keep it clean. And that's another thing, keep it clean as you send me those tweets, okay. HOLMES: Good luck with that.

WHITFIELD: Keep it clean please.

HOLMES: We'll (INAUDBLE) her in just about five minutes. Quick break and I'm right back. Stay with us.

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