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CNN Saturday Morning News
Remembering Tim Russert; Des Moines Struggling with Levee Breach; Massive Flooding in the Midwest
Aired June 14, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news this hour: A levee breach in Birdland Park, Iowa -- an area on the north side of Des Moines. Mandatory evacuations -- they are happening right now and CNN is live on the scene.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also, a death that has touched the newsmakers and news launchers (ph) in this country and around the world. Veteran journalist and host of NBC's "Meet the Press," Tim Russert, dead at the age of 58. And this morning, you'll hear from many people who respected and loved this man who's regarded really as one of the best in the business.
From the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING, June 14th, good morning. Hi, I'm T.J.
NGUYEN: T.J., I'm so glad to see you back.
HOLMES: Glad to meet you.
NGUYEN: We've got a lot of news. And I know we will get to it but you have been gone on a trip to Africa. We're going to be talking about that today.
HOLMES: But you were gone before that. It's the first time in a month that you and I have actually worked on a show together.
NGUYEN: Finally, we're back together again.
HOLMES: And Reynolds is here. So, we're together.
NGUYEN: The whole team.
HOLMES: Yes. We've got a lot to get to but we want to begin with that breaking news that we've been talking about -- the Midwest flooding. You were there in the middle of all that just yesterday. But we've just heard this morning about rising waters that have breached a levee in Des Moines, Iowa.
We'll get you there live in just a minute. Just look at some of these pictures. First, we want to get you up to speed on the situation.
NGUYEN: Yes. The rivers and streams in several Midwest states are threatening to overflow this morning. Cedar Rapids, Iowa has seen historic flooding of epic proportions. More than 400 blocks are underwater this morning. Thousands of people have been forced to run for higher ground. And CNN has learned that troops and military equipment may soon be deployed to the region to help people recover from the floods.
HOLMES: Federal emergency officials are all over the Midwest map, they're helping the victims in several places. Not just flooding. If you remember, the region has been hit by tornadoes as well. FEMA workers have spread out in the states you're seeing there. They're sandbagging (ph) homes, they're putting up emergency shelters, also passing out food and clean water.
NGUYEN: All day long, we are monitoring the situation in the Midwest. We do have teams spread out. You see them there. Dan Simon is in Des Moines, Iowa, Sean Callebs in Cedar Rapids, and Reynolds Wolf is tracking the storms from the weather center right here in Atlanta.
HOLMES: Yes, Sean and Reynolds, stand by, we want to start with Dan Simon this morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, let's get right through him. He is in the northern part of Des Moines, Iowa where a levee, we understand, has breached.
Dan, what's the latest in where you are?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty, we've just got word of this levee breach, we'd just raised out to this neighborhood called, Birdland. The water as you can see is a -- just behind over here, you can see a school in the background. There are no neighborhoods actually, but the concern is that the water could spread and actually get past this barrier right here, which has just been put up. You can see the sand that the city has just laid right here.
There are about 200 homes under a mandatory evacuation order. The good news, the river has already crested here, the Des Moines River. Folks were concerned that with the water rising, that there was a chance that something like this could happen. Overnight, the river did crest.
There was a concern for downtown in particular. But downtown seems to have fared just fine. The concern now for this area called Birdland where there has been a levee breach of about a 50-foot levee breach and now, the race is on to try to protect these homes and make sure that the water doesn't get past this barrier, which again, has just been put up -- Betty and T.J.
HOLMES: Well, what's the chance that that barrier you're talking about is going to hold? They are pretty good confidence that they've got this thing under control, it always sounds bad when you here a levee breach or a levee break but you said they got another barrier, they feel pretty good that they've, at least, going to be able to stop this thing from getting any worse?
SIMON: Let's hope. You know, we've been out here for about 30 minutes or so. And the water has crept up ever so slightly there. You can see the road, it's just sort of creeping along. You can see it's not gushing or really in danger at this point of getting past this barrier.
But the fact that you do have this breach and it is a sizable breach, the concern is that the water could somehow get past this area and start getting into some of these homes. But right now, it appears they've got the situation under the control, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And the people in that area certainly heeding the warnings and doing what they need to do and not necessarily sticking around. Are they getting out of there right now?
SIMON: It is mandatory evacuation order. It's hard to tell if people are really heeding the warnings but because of happened back in 1993, they know the devastation that these floods can create. We know yesterday they were taking the warnings quite seriously, putting sandbags up their house, trying to fortify their properties. So, one would think they would be taking this pretty seriously, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Dan Simon for us. We appreciate it. We'll be talking again with you this morning. Thanks so much.
NGUYEN: Yes. You can't afford not to take it seriously at this point. Well, you know though, the worst of Midwest flooding is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Some residents there say they never took out flood insurance because they before told that they were not going to need it. Not the case today, our Sean Callebs is in Cedar Rapids this morning.
I heard that from homeowners, you know, over the course of yesterday and the day previous, as one after the other said -- look I'm in the 500-year floodplain, I didn't need insurance.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly, there is no shortage of very sad, very disappointing, very -- the kind of stories that really talk of the heart strings here in Cedar Rapids. The state's second largest city is really facing the largest problem in the state right now.
I want to step by the way just a little bit here. You can see the downtown area and you can see now the water has pulled back somewhat significantly. We are here on First Avenue. Let's move back about a block and a half, in the distance, you can see the river actually moving pretty rapidly, the Cedar River carving its way right through the heart of this city and certainly not without its problems.
They're very concerned about the water supply here in this area. The city has put a monitoring (ph), just telling people only use water for drinking purposes. The hotel where we're working at says it's not going to change linens, hand out new towels, really heeding that order because only about half the pumps are working in this area. So, a very significant problem here.
We're still coping with all of the evacuation. Some 3,000 homes have been evacuated, plus, the big hospital in the downtown area and this is historic flooding.
The state's governor put in perspective, comparing this flooding to the historic flooding 15 years ago. Listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHET CULVER, IOWA: The one thing that we haven't talked about, which I'm very concerned about, and is critically important is the damage that has been done to our agricultural sector. It is possible we are talking about $1 billion -- just to our ag sector in terms of loss. For example, if have as many plains, I actually expect there will be more than the flood of 1993, just in terms of crop loss that would we equate to roughly $1 billion today in today's dollars versus 1993.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: It's just staggering when he puts it in those terms. And, of course, the leading crop here in the state, corn and that has taken an absolute beating (ph). Corn, also, becoming so much more important this year because so many crops are also being used for various biofuels as well. That's the story here, Betty. The water has -- the river has crested. It is receding. That's the good news.
Today, they are expecting absolutely beautiful conditions in the 80s. Not a chance of rain, and only a 40 percent chance of rain tomorrow. So, that's some news this area really needed -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. I was out there yesterday and talking with residents who'd just wanted to get back in their homes and see what kind of damage they were dealing with.
But let me ask you this, personally, Sean, because you cover the floods of 1993. How does this compare in your eyes?
CALLEBS: Well, I remember being here in 1993, virtually all summer.
NGUYEN: Wow, look at you back then.
CALLEBS: I know, less of a waistline, more of a hairline. How about that?
Being here all summer, it was just unbelievably hot. We spent a lot of time down in the St. Louis area where a couple of major rivers, the whole county (ph) has changed for much of the summer. But if it rains continually in the next several days, next several weeks, we could see the same kind of circumstances we saw back then which, it's just memorable. I mean, this kind of stuff you never forget.
There are a lot of concerns here in this area. Chiefly, if it continues to pour, because that water has to come down from somewhere, and virtually nowhere else for it to go. It has been a very, very wet summer here in the Midwest -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Sean Callebs joining us live. Hey, you don't look that much different, but boy, it's the area where you are looked a lot the same as well compared to '93, although, we are looking at even worse flooding his time around unfortunately. Sean Callebs, thank you. Well, for more information on how to help the victims of this massive floods, log on to CNN.com/impactyourworld.
HOLMES: We want to turn to weather now. Reynolds Wolf is standing by in the severe weather center for us.
People are wondering, is it going to get any worse for the people who are already under water but also folks, you know, not quite under water, still under the gun -- a threat that some of this stuff get in that direction, some of that water?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. I mean, all of this is going to move downstream. Each of these rivers we've been talking about is a tributary that flows into the biggest one in the North America continent. We're talking about the Mississippi River. And there is the possibility that some 200 miles, the Mississippi River, communities in that area will have that water rising right up to flood stage between now and Thursday.
So, think of it. This is Saturday, we're talking about Thursday. So, we've got a lot more of this to deal with over the next coming days.
Just to give you an idea of how widespread this is. You can see just a pocket that we have in this area on the computer. Everything that you see that is shaded in green indicates a watch or warning including much of Iowa, throughout the Corn Belt. So, certainly, a bad news there.
The good news, as Sean Callebs just mentioning earlier, is that we're not expecting any precipitation in the state of Iowa today. There are going to get a welcome break.
All the heavy rainfall are moving much further to the south in places like Arkansas, back to Oklahoma City, that we had some severe thunderstorm watches earlier, those have since gone. But what we're going to be dealing with is still the run-off. The run-off is going to be the big story, flowing from Iowa, flowing from places like Illinois, right into the Mississippi River.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens in St. Louis. They are already getting sandbags ready for this big bubble of water that's going to make its way down to places like St. Louis, eventually through Memphis, places like Vicksburg, Mississippi, and then, as it gets close to the places like New Orleans, it's going to raise lots of concerns.
However, keep in mind, the farther it goes down towards the Delta, it's going to fan out, it's going to begin to drop considerably. So, the threat for places like New Orleans is nowhere close to being as great as the threat we'll have in spots like St. Louis.
Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right. Still, to a lot of people, the threat is there.
WOLF: No question.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate you.
WOLF: Anytime.
HOLMES: We're going to get to some other stories that are making news and another weather-related story but much different weather.
NGUYEN: Yes, we are talking 17 deaths have been linked to Philadelphia's recent heat wave. The latest two victims are elderly residents found in their homes. The windows have been closed and there was no air conditioning. Twenty-one people died during a four- day heat wave in Philadelphia back in 2006.
HOLMES: Well, not another day in Paradise at all. Roads there are closed in Paradise. The wildfire has destroyed 50 homes in this northern California town. Thousands of people there have been evacuated. The town of Paradise is about 50 miles north of Sacramento. The fire has burned almost 23,000 acres.
NGUYEN: Condolences are pouring in to the family of television broadcaster, Tim Russert. The NBC newsman died yesterday after suffering an apparent heart attack at work. Russert was praised for this tough but fair interviewing style on "Meet the Press." He is survived by his wife, journalist Maureen Orth and their son Luke. Tim Russert was just 58 years old.
HOLMES: And we are going to have a whole lot more on the life as well as the career of Tim Russert. We'll be talking with our own Soledad O'Brien who's a former colleague of Tim Russert.
NGUYEN: We want to tell you about this -- shaken in Japan. A major earthquake strikes, is triggering landslides and knocking out roads.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's hard to believe he is gone. Respected by news makers and news competitors alike, NBC's Tim Russert certainly will be missed. He died yesterday at the age of 58.
NGUYEN: CNN's Tom Foreman has this report on the newsman, and the family man.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is "Meet the Press," with Tim Russert.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tim Russert took on political reporting with Irish tenacity and zeal, and along the way, he changed politics itself. Each Sunday morning, news makers lined up to join him on the longest-running TV show ever. The program that he took over in 1991 -- "Meet the Press."
TIM RUSSERT, NBC NEWSMAN: But first, with us for an exclusive Sunday morning interview...
FOREMAN: Born in Buffalo in 1950, Russert was steeped in old- fashioned Irish Catholic beliefs about hard work, friends and family. He went to law school and then straight to the frontlines of politics, working with legendary politicians Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mario Cuomo. That's when Bill Schneider met him.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: He wasn't a grim ideological warrior. He didn't fight for causes. He believed in basic human decency and believed that politics was there to serve people's interests. But he made it his business to know what the interest was of everybody around the table and who was brilliant at it.
FOREMAN: In 1984, he was hired by NBC. In just a few years, becoming the Washington bureau chief. He's been a force in every phase of that network's political coverage ever since.
Wolf Blitzer...
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": You know, he could come across and ask a very tough question in a very polite, honest, almost amicable way and it would disarm a lot of the politicians who came on the show and they wouldn't realize that -- whoa, you know, he's clobbering them.
FOREMAN: His incisive, meticulously researched interviews set the standard for political reporting. Virtually, every big news maker of the past 20 years at some point sat with Tim Russert. Along the way, Russert opened doors for many other journalists. He gave Joe Johns his first network job ever.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The thing Tim did so well, a lot of us always tried to emulate, was the sort of prosecutorial interview without a sharp edge. So, here was Tim, on "Meet the Press," asking very tough questions, but not making himself the focus of the questions.
FOREMAN: In this town, where contacts are everything, Russert seemed to know everyone. And he was an innovator. With a marker and a white board, he reduced the complexities of an election to something everyone could understand.
Red states, blue states, he came up with that ideas as a way of measuring America, according to the "Washington Post." And his influence went beyond politics to ground-breaking coverage of the world's religious, economic and social issues.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: He was one of the journalists who managed to have a very popular show that also dug deeply into the issues and really illuminated not only the issues themselves but often pierced the balloons of some of the people who are appearing on the shows who came in with the certain arrogance or a view that they'd just sort of put one over on the American people.
FOREMAN: His awards are too numerous to mention. "Time" magazine called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. And yet spending time with his family and helping his community were among his deepest passions. Married for 25 years to Maureen Orth, who writes for "Vanity Fair," he talked with endless pride of his son Luke, and his father, Big Russ, immortalized in two books, and, of course, there was sports.
BLITZER: He loved the Buffalo Bills. That was his real passion. And how many times did he end his show with, "Go Bills."
FOREMAN: Tim Russert was a big man, not only in size, he was well over 6 feet tall, but also in his presence, in his passions, his determination to get things right as a journalist, a citizen, a friend, a father and son.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: That is a man that -- I don't think you can ask a journalist in this business and not hear that they admired him.
HOLMES: He was one of those rare birds, I guess, that everybody respected. He would kick butt with his competitors, every single Sunday, but they respected him for it and everybody is trying to do it the way he did.
NGUYEN: The way he did it.
HOLMES: Well, we are going to have a whole lot more on Tim Russert this morning. We're going to be talking with someone who worked with Tim Russert and then later ended up interviewing him.
NGUYEN: Yes, our Soledad O'Brien is here next with her reflections on Russert.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: An earthquake shook northeastern Japan this morning. Three people are killed and five are missing. At least 84 others are injured.
Take a look though. Billions -- not billions, but buildings instead swayed the city of Sendai. Highways buckled in some areas and a few bridges even collapsed. We're looking at the rubble right now. The Japan's famed bullet trains, they were also stopped. Officials say the magnitude 7 quake was centered about 60 miles north of Sendai.
Well, the French connection. President Bush is meeting today with French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Mr. Bush is focusing on his vision of a new era and relations between the U.S. and Europe. But the president took time during a news conference to reflect on the death of journalist, Tim Russert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America lost a really fine citizen yesterday, when Tim Russert passed away. I've had the privilege of being interviewed by Tim Russert. I found him to be a hard-working, thorough, decent man.
And Tim Russert, you know, loved his country. He loved his family and he loved his job a lot. And we're going to miss him all and we send our deepest sympathies to Maureen, his wife, and Luke, his son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So many (ph) are also remembering Tim Russert today. Those who worked with him, and our Soledad O'Brien is one of them. She's the colleague at NBC of Russert and later interviewed him on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING. Soledad is on the phone with us right now.
We appreciate your being with us. Soledad, I mean, how tough was it? I mean, just the shock of it all, when we first got the word, it took a second for it just to register, what the news we were getting.
VOICE OF SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, awful. I mean, it's really true, Tim Russert was incredibly -- he's young. He's young, and I think, you know, he's one of those people when you meet him whether it was, when I was working with him at NBC or have across the table interviewing the master interviewer. He was so full of life. I mean, it's impossible to imagine someone like that actually, ever dying. So, it was a huge shock.
And you know, I was so nervous when I was interviewing him back in 2004. He had written his book, "Big Russ," which would go on to be a "Big Russ and Me" which go on to be in bestseller, one of his two books that became bestsellers. And you know, I was surprised because it was an election year, like this year, and instead of writing a book about the campaign or the election, he chose to write about his father, and that was a real surprise to me.
HOLMES: Well, what is the tone he set around the office? You talk there, I mean, you've been around this business plenty and you're sitting across from someone who makes you nervous about interviewing. That says a whole lot. But what was the tone he set around NBC when anybody else might try to complain about their schedule and what was going on? This man was certainly one who was always upbeat by all accounts and he worked harder than anybody.
O'BRIEN: That's what I loved about Tim Russert. And you know, he was very -- he took very good care of the people he worked with at the Washington bureau as Washington bureau chief. So, for people like me who worked in the New York bureau who didn't really worked for him or under him but see him a lot certainly when it came to do "The Today Show," you know, he was so incredibly kind and generous. And we didn't really work in his peer (ph). We were just happy to see him.
But what I loved most about him, and one of the best lessons he has left for journalists, you know, who are coming up behind him, is that he had always have a sense of gratitude about his job -- all ways. I mean, here was a guy who consistently telling you -- I am the luckiest guy in the world, oh, I love what I'm doing, I'm the luckiest guy in the world -- and always smiling. And never a moment -- can you believe I have to do this, can you believe I have to do that. And I think for those of us in this business, what a wonderful lesson -- of remembering to be blest. A lot of that came from, you know, the things that he wrote about in his book about his father. That you have to remember that life doesn't owe you anything, that hard work and good values take you a long way and that was a really wonderful thing.
HOLMES: And you talked about him saying he was the luckiest man in the world. We were certainly lucky to be able to watch him every Sunday. And those of us, competitors, you know, different networks, still, everybody that I know --
O'BRIEN: Of course.
HOLMES: We tuned in. We all, you had to see Tim Russert on Sunday. He was appointing viewing. And talk to me now, how big of a void do we have -- I mean, I was, a lot of us, looking forward to having his voice during this historic presidential election season. We don't have him now.
O'BRIEN: You're absolutely right. And I think for, whether you're working with him, and certainly it's a huge loss for NBC News, or working, competing against him, you know, a good competitor raises the bar and he set the bar, he really did. So, I think it's a huge loss. It's a huge loss for journalism. It's a huge loss for people who are trying to get information about the campaigns, frankly.
So, it's a tremendous void. And it's hugely disappointing and it must be an incredible heartbreak for his family as Father's Day approaches tomorrow. I mean, what a terrible loss just all around, I think.
HOLMES: All right. Our Soledad O'Brien, again, spent time and years working with Tim Russert at NBC, also interviewed him here with us at CNN. Soledad, we appreciate your giving us some time this morning and sharing your thoughts and reflections on the guy, like you said, was the master. Thank you so much, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: My pleasure, T.J.
NGUYEN: And Soledad does bring up a really good point. I mean, you'd just think about the sorrow that this family has to be feeling. And we are upset, and then we'd watched him on television but these are the people that knew and loved him.
Tomorrow is Father's Day, his son, his father. He had such a good relationship with both of them. Again, it's a tremendous void in their lives.
HOLMES: And the family, unfortunately, was in Italy. They were coming ahead to come back. On vacation he came back to do his show and they were still behind when they got word, then came back. So, tough all around.
NGUYEN: But she did point out something that, I think, is very important for all of us to note. He died doing what he loved, he was at work. He died doing what he loved. And while we all are going to miss him, boy, he has left an impact on us, no doubt.
Well, our viewers also are sharing their thoughts on Tim Russert. Josh Levs is here with that.
Hey, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you.
That's right, folks. We have your chance to tell other CNN viewers about the significance of Tim Russert's work to you. That's coming up -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you, Josh. We'll talk to you here shortly. Also, our other top story, the Midwest flooding happening. Our Reynolds Wolf is in the severe weather center for us this morning.
Hello to you again, Reynolds.
WOLF: That's right, T.J. And even though the heaviest rainfall is moving out of the Midwest, flood waters continue to rise. Coming up, I'll tell you how long this flooding is going to last, who's going to get affected next. It's coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody on this Saturday, and welcome back. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello, everyone. I'm T.J. Holmes. We're so glad you could start your day here with us.
And we're going to start this half hour talking again the major story, a flooding that's happening in the Midwest. Cedar Rapids is already in dire straits from the massive flooding. Cities and towns downstream apparently are next and they know they might be next. Grafton, Illinois, a small town on the Mississippi River, just north of St. Louis, the river is quickly rising there.
Senator Dick Durbin visited Grafton yesterday to urge the town to get ready now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KPLR)
SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: This time we are looking ahead. We're really moving aggressively.
STEVE STEVENSON, HOMEOWNER: I'm going to take that truck with all my belongings just about a mile away and take all my clothes and stuff to my parents and go from there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Until next week (ph), it's just over 30 feet. But local merchants say they don't think the high water will reach their shops. We hope they are right. Meanwhile, in Michigan, heavy downpours washed out a road in a western part of that state, sending a car under water, as you can see there. No reports of any one being hurt or killed however. Take a look at that. Officials declared a local state of emergency after nearly a foot of rain fell in that area.
Also in Iowa City, the Iowa River rose much higher and much faster than expected yesterday. That set off a mad scramble to fill and stack sand bags. Classes had been canceled at the University of Iowa, students and faculty, even prison inmates were enlisted to try to protect the campus from rising flood waters.
NGUYEN: By far, some of the worst flooding right now in Cedar Rapids. I reported there live yesterday. And you know, seeing it first-hand, it was truly overwhelming.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: To help you understand just the magnitude of this flood here, I'm standing in someone's backyard, the garage is right there. Luckily, there's no car in it. But when I walk toward the street, you can see, there's a vast number of homes that are just simply submerged in water and the current is still flowing through.
This is a flood of epic proportions here in Cedar Rapids because when we talk about the numbers, the Cedar River is expected to crest at 32 feet. Looking back in history, the highest that it's ever been is at 20 feet. That was set back in 1851 and then again reached in 1929.
But if you will look down this neighborhood, and I can see from where I'm standing right now, there is a tire that is just floating down what normally would be a street. It's an area where families had to evacuate with just whatever they could gather at the moment. There have been some 7,000 homes and businesses evacuated, affecting at least 19,000 people.
So, they're seeing just a large portion of the population here become affected by this flood. And on top of that, it's going to cost a lot of money. Early estimates are putting it somewhere around $500 million. So, in many ways, this is a flood of epic proportions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: $500 million and we have learned from the governor, T.J., that that number has, indeed, been increased to around $1 billion. They are dealing with so many different problems from not only homes that have been flooded to crops that have been destroyed. And then the water system is really having a strain on it. As we heard in early reports, people are being forced not to use the water for drinking purposes only. So, they are putting some major restrictions in place.
HOLMES: You know, it's amazing. We're talking about historic flooding here and we're talking about not just records being broken but shattered with some of this rainfall (INAUDIBLE). Betty, we thank you for that.
And our meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf, in the severe weather center, is back here with us now.
Reynolds, we're talking about those people who are in trouble now, they're worried about the water continue to rise where they are, they're getting flooded, but people downstream got some issues. They need to be worried about, too. Even though they might not be getting the rainwater itself, they still have to worry about those rivers.
WOLF: Yes, you bring up an excellent point. I mean, to give this water kind of humanistic characteristic, kind of humanizing it, this water wants to do something. It wants to get to the Gulf of Mexico. So, to do that, it's going to have to go in those tributaries, feed into the Mississippi River and then go downstream and eventually end up in the gulf.
And to do that, it's going to pass a lot of these communities, places like Cedar Rapids. Obviously, you have the heaviest flood waters but those are beginning to recede. Certainly, some good news. But in places like this community, take a look, this is Keokuk, and you've got a couple of rivers that feed in here. And here it comes flowing (ph), you've got the Mississippi River here, you have the Des Moines River that flows in right here. So, this big wall of water, this bubble of water is going to flow right towards this community.
And take a look at the effects. To give you an idea of the effects, we're going to show some river gauges. This gauge, this chart that you see, it indicates where the river is now, where the flood stage should be, a modern stage and a major stage.
Now, first, just to lay this out. For just the time of flooding, it would have to get right around 16 feet, OK? That's this bar you see here, the yellow bar. Present stage is at 22.4 feet. That's where we are right now. And if you follow this graph, you'll notice that the water level is only going to get higher up to 26.2 feet, is what they forecast it.
They forecast it to still be right near that level. As we get into Thursday and into Friday, folks it's Saturday. It gives you the idea of how much more we're going to be dealing with as this water pushes its way down the Mississippi River. So, it's going to be a tremendous mess for millions of Americans.
Right now, thankfully, we've got a little bit of a break in the action in terms of the weather for Iowa. They're not expecting rain for tomorrow. We could see some later tomorrow afternoon and evening, even into Monday. But thankfully, the greatest precipitation point well to the south. So, they will get a break in the Corn Belt today.
OK, that's the latest we've got for you.
HOLMES: Oh, great.
NGUYEN: That's a lot. WOLF: Yes, crazy times.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: And we know a lot of people out there, you're eager to help flood victims any way you can. Well, we can help you help them. Go to CNN.com/impact, you can find several options for making a difference in a time of great need.
NGUYEN: Longtime NBC newsman, Tim Russert, died unexpectedly yesterday while preparing for his flagship program, "Meet the Press." And as soon as the news broke, flowers began appearing outside the NBC studios in Washington. Doctors determined he died of a massive heart attack. Tim Russert was just 58 years old.
His death had resonated across the country, even the world. And our Josh Levs joins us now with more.
I've already gotten e-mails from people who knew him, who watched him that were just really shocked by this death.
LEVS: Sure. And, Betty, you know, in the last days, certainly throughout last night, we'd heard a lot from VIPs. We heard from a lot of politicians, a lot of fellow broadcasters which is important. These are people who knew him.
But, obviously, in our industry, our work is for the viewers and his work was for the viewers. And we've seen tremendous outpouring over to CNN.com.
I want to show you quickly what we've got on CNN.com, then what our I-reporters are telling us. Let's close in here. First of all, this is our main page right now. We have the story about Tim Russert. This is the main page of his story. People are all over this.
Also, if you look, I want to let people know, you can learn about him. We have here a series of photos that take you through a timeline of his life, talk to you about his early work in government and then later on some things that he did when he moved into broadcasting. You can follow that at CNN.com.
One of our most popular pages today is from I-reporters in which they're sharing their memories here. You can see it here. I- reporters share condolences and memories of Tim Russert. And I'm going to read you a couple of them right now. Just to show you the emotions people have.
This woman writes, "Politics used to intimidate the daylights out of me, it was one subject that seemed significantly larger than what my brain could handle. In 2000, I began watching Russert. I haven't been the same person since."
Let's take a look at one more quickly. Well, we have this one here. Here you go.
"My husband and I agree that Tim Russert was one of the best journalists of our time and we always looked forward to watching him on "Meet the Press" and particularly during the debates and analysis during this election year. We, like many others in the general public, will miss his reporting deeply."
Now, those who had the chance to meet him, Betty, are also sending us photos. Let me show you one right here. We've got this, I think we have in our control room, too, and get a closer shot. There you go.
Thanks to Kevin Eckhoff who sent us this. He said he went to a place where Tim Russert was talking after releasing his book about his father and got Tim Russert to sign his compact disc. And Kevin writes us how much it meant to him, to have that opportunity to meet Tim and get his signature on the CD of the book. In fact, he says, Tim didn't realize the CD was out at that point. So, it's an interesting little story.
One more thing I want to show here. This is a picture we've got from Buffalo. And we'll tell you more about that next hour. That right there is being called a statue. Cynthia Dwyer sent us this. She's in Florida, used to live in Buffalo. There was a forest area in Buffalo that had to be filled and they created that wooden statue of Tim Russert in his hometown of Buffalo there.
We'll tell you a lot more from Buffalonians next hour. But there you go, Betty, there's a taste of kinds of things people are writing us, how much he meant to them, throughout, for many people for decades.
NGUYEN: And Buffalo meant a whole lot to Tim Russert. He loved where he is from. He loved the Bills. This was a man so full of life. And that's why it is so sad to know that he's gone.
HOLMES: It was fun to hear him talking about the Bills, because they haven't been good for a while but he believes. He stuck with them.
NGUYEN: Sometimes he would even close out the show with, "Go Bills."
HOLMES: And they would lose again, but still, he was with them the whole time.
Well, a lot more on Russert this morning. Also, stay here. We're going to be talking about talks over a long-term security agreement for Iraq now facing a new threat.
NGUYEN: Iraqi officials are threatening to go their own way. And we have details from Baghdad right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We're getting word this morning about the deaths of four U.S. soldiers today in Afghanistan. The military says they were killed by a roadside bomb in the Farah province. Now, another soldier was seriously injured in that incident as well. Let's go to the Kandahar province which is about 400 Taliban prisoners, this is where they are on the loose this morning. This is video of that. They escaped during a brazen attack of a prison. Militants blast at holes in the prison using truckloads with explosives. A gun and rocket battle between the attackers and prison guards lasted several hours. And Afghan authority say nine guards, seven prisoners and a civilian were killed.
HOLMES: Well, a major setback to tell you about this morning. It could be shaping up of the U.S. military in Iraq.
NGUYEN: Yes. Iraqi officials say the Baghdad government is considering pulling out of talks with the Bush administration over security agreement.
Our Michael Ware is in the Iraqi capital with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a potentially make or break development for the U.S. mission in Iraq, the Iraqi government is considering passing its own laws dictating what U.S. forces will and will not be able to do, rather than signing a U.S. agreement. With the United Nations mandate for the war soon expiring, Washington and Baghdad are intensely negotiating an agreement to regulate the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq.
But in a move likely to impact upon the race for the U.S. presidency, Iraqi lawmaker, Haidar al-Abadi, senior aide to Iraq's prime minister says Baghdad may choose to not make an agreement at all.
HAIDAR ABADI, MALIK ADVISER: (INAUDIBLE) make an administration. We're saying now, we don't have to sign this. We can do without it. But, we need something in place to regulate the existence of U.S. forces on the Iraqi land.
WARE: Effectively blunting the U.S. war effort and possibly ramming unpalatable terms down the throat of the next American president. With indications from Iraq's prime minister that the talks are deadlocked, American leverage in the negotiations may be under threat as its regional rival, Iran, is standing by to replace Washington's training, equipping, and intelligent-sharing in Iraq.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, from Iraq to Africa. Guess who's back after a long trip?
HOLMES: It's been a while.
NGUYEN: What an amazing trip? You're going to be reporting on the journey that you took over there (INAUDIBLE). HOLMES: It was an amazing journey. It's all centered around something called Leon Sullivan Summit. It brings together world leaders, political leaders, really to talk about and focus on the betterment of Africa, but as part of a U.S. delegation, I got to do some outreach around the community there. You're seeing these pictures, I've got to visit a few schools, and see what's really happening there in Tanzania.
What we're going to do is our focus tomorrow on students in Tanzania. This was one school I visited at the Maniata (ph) village outside Arusha, Tanzania and this is where, for many of these students, it sounds crazy, but they are competing to essentially get out of elementary school. I mean, we compete here to go to college and go to universities. They have to compete just to go onto secondary school.
NGUYEN: And what do you mean by that -- if they don't get good enough grades, they can't go on?
HOLMES: Because the system is set up, the public school system is such that they don't have enough schools for everybody, that only the very best of the best, you can be a B student and still not be able to go on to secondary schools. So, essentially, for a lot of these kids, education and, essentially, life, in some instances, ends at the age of 12, 13, 14 years old. They're just sent home to work for the rest of their lives with their parents.
So, an eye-opening trip, a long journey. It's good to finally back. You and I haven't worked together for sometime like...
NGUYEN: It's good work, too, because you brought supplies, mosquito nets and other things into these villages.
HOLMES: Yes. School supplies, the mosquito nets that save lives because malaria is such a big problem there. But, really, it gives you a new professional and personal perspective on life.
NGUYEN: We are so glad that you're back and we're looking forward to those reports tomorrow.
HOLMES: Yes. And it has some (ph) on the next several weeks, actually we're going to be using and we get to say hello to somebody I certainly missed while I was gone -- Rick Horrow.
NGUYEN: Oh, no. You're kidding me.
HOLMES: You know, I missed him.
NGUYEN: It must have been a long trip if you missed Rick.
HOLMES: A long trip. But, Rick, hello, good to see you again, Rick.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALSYT: Hole in one, pal. Hole in one, here you go. Good to see you. NGUYEN: He has been talking about this. He cannot wait to tell us. We're actually going to you, Rick, in a kilt. That is coming up. I know it's a new look for you but I don't know about the -- yes.
HORROW: Be careful.
NGUYEN: It's almost frightening, isn't it?
HORROW: Sometimes you'll get what you wished for. Be careful.
NGUYEN: Check out those legs.
HOLMES: We didn't wish for that.
NGUYEN: We'll have much more coming up. Talk to you soon, Rick.
HORROW: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The Boston Celtics, it's been a while. But they are now just one win away from taking their first NBA title in decades. And our sports business analyst, Rick Horrow, joins us from West Palm Beach to talk about the NBA and also talk about a little bit of golf.
Rick, the NBA was happy, you've got this historic Lakers-Celtics rivalry back again. But now, it's turned out not be much of a series, some disappointments maybe at the NBA head offices?
HORROW: Well, disappointment that I was there for three periods and left before the monumental comeback. The NBA offices are looking at a banner year, tradition, first time in 21 years with this rivalry teed up again, and they were ready for a two-two series tie going into Father's Day. The Lakers did not cooperate. They're worth about $150 million more than the Celtics are according to "Forbes" but they didn't play that way on Thursday night.
HOLMES: Now, tell me this, we had all of this Tim Donaughey (ph) stuff, the NBA official who came out and said that a couple of games were rigged, over the past several years. He pointed to games in'02 and so '05. Two glaring instances of bad officiating but if it had people thinking -- you know what, maybe there's something to what this official is saying.
Well now, if we see the Lakers come back and find a way to get this to seven games, were going to hear those conspiracy theories come back if people think that this thing is rigged?
HORROW: That is an amazingly coherent point, my friend, because the bottom line, the conspiracy theories, like the lunar landing film that a Hollywood set, you never can prove them wrong. Bad call fixed, good call fixed.
But, you know, David Stern's comment about this that the rogue (ph) official, we'll just have to see, over time. It's been a great year for the NBA. We've got the showcase guys again, the glitz and the glamour. And let's hope that they overcome this conspiracy theory issue.
HOLMES: All right. Let's move quickly to golf and not you playing golf yet. We'll get to that in a second. We're talking about the U.S. Open and everything is talking about Tiger. Everybody is talking that knee, and is he going to be able to do this and that, well, he is right in the hunt. Here we are going into the weekend. So, this is another great golf tour that people getting tired of Tiger winning all the time?
HORROW: Well, you know, Tiger's got to cooperate and not win. And so far, he's not because he's playing very well. You don't need your knee to putt apparently and he did a great job yesterday. Prime time tonight, tomorrow, nothing better on Father's Day than watching the U.S. Open in prime time. The ratings will be better than any tournament in the history of golf. It's a $62 billion business and, of course, Tiger causes 30 percent to 40 percent of that, I would guess, here and across of time (ph).
HOLMES: All right. We've got some more golf to talk about here. A little golf fashion and for this, I'm going to have to bring in my colleague, Betty Nguyen.
NGUYEN: So, you'll deal with the sports, I'll deal with the facts in this. Is that what you're trying to say here?
HOLMES: This man is wearing, you know, let's call it the skirt.
NGUYEN: Is that what it is? Well, yes.
HORROW: It's a kilt.
NGUYEN: And I was little disappointed in the legs, Rick, I mean look at that.
HORROW: It's a kilt. That's what's it called, it's a kilt.
HOLMES: Sure. It's a skirt, it's a man's skirt.
HORROW: There you go.
And by the way, why we're doing this, Betty, you don't have to ask me questions, I'll just narrate. 1567, Mussel burg, a course in Scotland, oldest in the world, finished my 11 rounds and in a course called Carrick (ph) in a hole-in-one. First one...
NGUYEN: OK, hold up, hole-in-one.
HORROW: Here it is again. That's me there.
NGUYEN: In this pro shop? Who cares about that?
HORROW: I have to buy, I have to buy Scotch for 30 Scotsman (ph), it costs me a lot of money right there. But, you know what? I'll do that any time.
NGUYEN: All right. No, let's get back to what you just said, very quickly because we're almost out of time, this hole-in-one. Can anyone else vouch for it?
HORROW: I'd got three people on this ball, I'd got two caddies and the guy that I paid for to go on the trip with me. So, he's going to have to sign anything obviously.
NGUYEN: Yes. And you'd probably pay them all off, too, as well. All right.
HORROW: Thank you very much.
NGUYEN: Thank you, nice pictures. You did look nice in your kilt and I will say that.
HORROW: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And don't expect me saying anything else nice to you.
All right. Well, cities and towns -- this is definitely a story that we've been following. They have been swamped in the Midwest.
Thousands of people forced from their homes by rising water.
HOLMES: And now, a levee breach to tell you about in Des Moines, Iowa. The latest from the flood zone, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Let's get you a quick look now at some of the other stories making headlines today.
HOLMES: And the FDA says tomatoes linked to a salmonella outbreak may have come from Mexico or Florida. But they have yet to rule out other possible sources. Last night, authorities in Ohio reported their first salmonella cases linked to the tainted tomatoes. The federal government counts 228 illnesses in 23 states.
NGUYEN: Well, investigators in Oklahoma have released a sketch of a man they want to talk to. It was seen near the spot where two young girls were killed. The bodies of 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Placker were found last Sunday along a road near Weleetka, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation says several witnesses say they saw a man in the area.
HOLMES: Well, shuttle Discovery is heading home this morning ending a two week mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle is heading home after a two-week mission. That's a piece of debris spotted floating outside the shuttle will not affect this morning's landing. Discovery and it's seven member crew is scheduled to touch down at Kennedy's Space Center in Florida at 11:15 a.m. Eastern Time. CNN will bring you live coverage.
We are watching breaking developments this morning. Reports of a levee breech in Des Moines, Iowa, mandatory evacuations happening right now. We're live on the scene.
NGUYEN: Also remembering veteran journalist Tim Russert. This morning his legacy and lasting impact on politics and journalism. We're going to hear from the people who loved and admired him.
Good morning, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta. It is Saturday, June 14th. I'm Betty Nguyen and guess who's back?
HOLMES: It has been a while. You were gone for a while too.
NGUYEN: Yes, this is true.
HOLMES: For about a month since we worked together. Hello, I'm T.J. and introduce myself to you as well.
NGUYEN: I remember you, that's for sure.
HOLMES: Good morning. Glad you all could be with us.
NGUYEN: And we do want to begin with extreme weather all across the country. Just a short time ago we learned there has been another levee breech in Iowa, this time in Des Moines. The governor has already declared much of the state a disaster. Cedar Rapids has seen the worst of the flooding. Thousands of residents there have been forced to leave everything and run for higher ground.
Meanwhile, the Northeast, there's a record heat wave going on. Seventeen deaths in Philadelphia have been linked to the soaring temperatures. And on the West Coast, firefighters are battling a wildfire just north of Sacramento. So far, 50 homes have been damaged.
CNN is monitoring the catastrophic flooding in the Midwest. And we do have crews on the ground in Iowa. You see them there. Sean Callebs is in Cedar Rapids and Dan Simon in Des Moines.
Let's begin with you, Dan. And speak to us specifically about this levee that we understand has been breached.
SIMON: Yeah, hi Betty, we're talking about a 50 to 100 foot levee breach. Let me show you what it looks like. You can see the water behind me. There is a high school back there and the levee is just beyond that high school, again about 50 to 100 feet.
And you can see the water sort of progressing this way. Crews in the last couple of hours have built what really amounts to a wall of sand and so far the water has not gotten up to that sand. The hope is that if it does reach that point, that that barrier will protect the homes that are behind here.
There are about 250 homes that are at risk of being flooded should the water actually get over to this area. There is a mandatory evacuation. We just went through some of these neighborhoods. We saw some people packing up some belongings.
At this point, though, most people are staying put because the risk at this point is not imminent. The good news, the river has already crested so you're not dealing with that situation, not dealing with rising water on the river and at this point no neighborhoods have flooded. But, again, keeping a close eye on the situation here in northern Des Moines -- Betty.
NGUYEN: I have to ask you when it comes to securing that levee, do they feel pretty confident that this is going to stick?
SIMON: It is a really good question. It is a sizable breach. The fact that the river did crest bodes well. So the question is will the water keep progressing this way and if it does, is this wall of sand going to be sufficient? At this point they feel like they got it under control but we'll be out here for a while keeping a close eye on things, Betty.
NGUYEN: Dan Simon joining us live as we see the pictures of people still working there to deal with the flooding in that area.
HOLMES: The floodwaters are starting to recede in parts of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this morning but the damage is of epic proportions. We want to head now to our Sean Callebs who is live there for us now.
Good morning to you again, Sean.
CALLEBS: Good morning, T.J..
I want to step out of the way just a minute in downtown Cedar Rapids. You can look behind me, you can see how much the Cedar River has actually receded, moved back in the last 24 hours or so. There is some train tracks just here and actually the water has pulled back about a block and a half. That's pretty significant and that's good information. There are about 120,000 people who live in the city. Get this, 24,000 have been evacuated.
We're actually in a neighborhood, actually with Betty Nguyen yesterday. I want to show you a guy, 77-year old John Vrba. He had been hold up in his house. He's lived there his entire life. He said he didn't expect the floodwater would get anywhere near this high. He was up there by himself with his cat. He was eating dry macaroni and cheese for two days. A couple of neighbors, good Samaritans pulled up in their boat. They got him out. They brought him and now he's either going to be in a shelter or staying with friends. But he was ready to tough it out.
Listen to what John Vrba has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER: One thing that we haven't talked about which I'm very concerned about and is critically important is the damage that has been done to our agricultural sector. It is possible you're talking about a billion dollars just to our ag sector in terms of loss. If, for example, if we have as many claims I actually expect there will be more than the flood of '93 just in terms of crop loss that would equate to roughly a billion dollars today, in today's dollars versus 1993.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Well, that obviously was not 77-year-old John Vrba. That's Iowa's governor. We know it; now you know it. He's talking about the significant damage to the cop industry here in Iowa. He's actually compared it back to 1993. Many people thought that '93 would be the benchmark they used for perhaps a generation, but it turned out not to be the case.
Quickly T.J., I want to also talk about the drinking water situation here in Cedar Rapids. It is a really tough situation. They're telling people only use public water supply for drinking. No showers, no washing clothes. That is until this water moves back. And they expect it's going to be four or five days before that happens and they can begin pumping water. So really a very tough situation, even though the weather is absolutely beautiful here today.
HOLMES: It does look beautiful there. Yes we did hear from the governor there. But we were itching to hear from that 77-year-old man you told us, surviving on that macaroni and cheese. We do have it now.
Let's go ahead and take a listen to him here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN VRBA, CEDAR RAPIDS EVACUEE: Somebody came to get me. I said I'm staying here. No, he says, you're going to come with us. You're not staying here. Well, you're not supposed to stay here anyway. So they got the law on their side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: They got the law on their side. Are you finding a lot of people -- they want to stick close to their homes.
CALLEBS: Exactly. That is a mixed blessing for people out here, the emergency officials here in Iowa because this water moves back, with the weekend temperatures like this, they're really concerned people are going to wade into this water, try to get back to their homes but that stuff is just nasty. It is filled with sewage, fuel oil. There are rotting animals in there. So really officials are being quite militant about keeping people out.
At every corner, I can look down, I can see National Guard troops, police here and they have done a great job of protecting people in this area. No injuries here in Cedar Rapids. Two deaths that we do know of, one sadly, a farmer tried to go out and check his crops and he got swept away. That's exactly what people are worried about.
HOLMES: And like you said, probably good reason they're kind of being militant about it and like the 77-year-old said, they got the law on their side maybe a good thing.
Sean Callebs, we appreciate you this morning. Thanks so much.
NGUYEN: Sean does make a very good point about people being swept away. In the neighborhood that I was in yesterday, I thankfully had a yardstick not only to show you how deep the water was where I was standing but to help get your balance because there is a current that is running through.
Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf has been watching all of this in the severe weather center. Reynolds, is it going to get any better anytime soon for those folks?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Yep. No doubt. Thank you, Reynolds, for that.
HOLMES: Stay here. He wouldn't play on Joe Johns basketball team. But he certainly played a big, big role in his career.
NGUYEN: NBC's Tim Russert remembered by a former colleague and current CNN correspondent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It's still kind of hard to believe. He scaled the heights of political journalism, but didn't forget those climbing behind him.
HOLMES: Fellow journalists and newsmakers are remembering Tim Russert along his death yesterday. And CNN's Joe Johns worked with Russert at NBC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: First time I met, Tim, actually, I was asking him to be a player on the local NBC basketball team. He laughed and said no. As I think back, he was much better suited to be a coach and what a coach he was. In a lot of ways Tim Russert was the defining figure in my career.
As the NBC news bureau chief, he basically took me out of local TV and put me into my first network news job covering Congress for the peacock back in 1993. On top of that, while I was working for the "Today" show, I went to him with this crazy idea about going to law school which any other news executive would have outright refused. Tim said why not, go do it, it will be good for you. He was like that.
If you wanted to take a chance that was going to involve a lot of hard work, he probably would say OK. He had his own incredible work ethic. He would come to work early in the morning, do the "Today" show, then he was back at night for "Nightly News." And it sort of set a standard, when the boss comes in early, works all day and then goes on to do the evening news, it was pretty hard for anyone else to grumble about the long hours.
The other thing about Tim was his Boy Scout loyalty and sense of family. He was loyal to NBC. He once told me he had every intention of spending his life there. He was also loyal to the people he worked with. When NBC anchor and correspondent David Bloom died suddenly in the Iraq war, Tim called me up and said, we have got to start an award in David's honor. So, we pulled some strings, did some cajoling and twisted some arms with our colleagues on Capitol Hill and now there is a David Bloom award, given every year by the radio, TV correspondents association.
Here to present the first David Bloom award are Melanie Bloom and Tim Russert of NBC News.
But probably the most important thing about Russert was that he was a role model, especially to broadcast journalists who cover politics. The rules were very simple, be prepared, be polite and always, always ask the tough questions. Once after the million man march in Washington, Tim invited me to be on his interview show on CNBC.
And for some reason, I thought it was going to be a polite, academic discussion. Before I knew it, Tim had thrown in a couple of zingers that frankly I didn't know how to answer. And he was so nice about it. And that's how I found out what it was like to be interviewed by Tim Russert.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: President Bush also pausing to reflect on Tim Russert. The president took time out during a news conference to share his thoughts about Russert.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: America lost a really fine citizen yesterday when Tim Russert passed away. I've had the privilege of being interviewed by Tim Russert. I found him to be a hard-working, thorough, decent man. And Tim Russert loved his country, he loved his family and he loved his job a lot. And we're going miss him all and we send our deepest sympathies to Maureen, his wife, and Luke, his son.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The president making those comments during a news conference with the French president. Paris is President Bush's latest stop on his European trip. He met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier today. On that agenda, concern over Iran's nuclear program and the war in Afghanistan. The president is also urging European help in promoting democracy in the Middle East.
NGUYEN: To presidential politics now. Both Barack Obama and John McCain will be meeting with voters today one face to face, the other online. Obama holds a town hall meeting in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. That is scheduled to start about two hours from now and he hopes to sway voters who helped Hillary Clinton win the Pennsylvania primary in April. McCain is hosting what his campaign calls a virtual town hall meeting. The online gathering targets independent voters and Democrats including Clinton supporters.
HOLMES: There is a possible break in the death of two young girls in Oklahoma. NGUYEN: Just ahead, authorities release a sketch of a man wanted for questioning in the deaths of 11-year-old and a 13-year-old girl. We're going to show you that person of interest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Midwest flooding caught some concertgoers off guard. People leaving a Kanye West concert in Moline, Illinois had to wade through waist deep water. Heavy rain during the concert flooded the parking lot. And towns as well as cities in Iowa, they have been hit hard by the flooding. With us on the phone is the mayor of Marion, Iowa Paul Renn, actually we're working to get him. We're having a little bit of difficulty this morning. But as soon as we do, we'll bring that straight to you live.
HOLMES: We need to tell you as well about that earthquake that rattled northeastern Japan this morning. Associated Press now reporting at least six people killed, eight missing. Dozens more injured. Buildings shook in a city of Sendi (ph). Highways buckled in some areas and a few bridges did collapse as well. Japan's famed bullet trains also had to be stopped.
NGUYEN: We are getting word this morning about the deaths of four U.S. soldiers today in Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Military says they were killed by roadside bomb in Farah province. Afghanistan's Kandahar province also the other day, about 400 Taliban prisoners escaped during a brazen attack on a prison there. Militants blasted holes in the prison using trucks loaded with explosives. Afghan authorities say nine guards, seven prisoners as well as a civilian were killed.
NGUYEN: Investigators in Oklahoma, they are looking for a man they're calling a person of interest in the death of two young girls. The bodies of 11-year-old Skyla Whitaker and 13-year-old Taylor Placker were discovered last Sunday along a road near Waleka (ph) Oklahoma. Funeral services for the girls were held yesterday in Henrietta, Oklahoma. Investigators released a sketch of a man they want to talk to and several witnesses saw the man near the spot where the girls' bodies were discovered.
HOLMES: We have been talking about that massive flooding, certainly a nightmare for everyone, especially for a lot of town officials.
NGUYEN: Just ahead, we're going to speak to the mayor with of Marion, Iowa, with the latest on what is happening there and how the city is coping.
LEVS: I'm Josh Levs, also ahead, the Tim Russert you knew and the Tim Russert you didn't know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Get you back to one of our top stories today, towns and cities in Iowa hit hard by the flooding. With us on the phone now is the mayor of Marion, Iowa, Paul Renn.
Mayor, first of all, let me ask you about the flooding situation where you are. How bad is it at this hour?
VOICE OF MAYOR PAUL RENN, MARION, IOWA: We're in pretty good shape right now. The flooding that we had was due to the two creeks in our own town came up very fast. But as of last night, the creek was pretty much back in its banks. And now we have the debris and the mess to clean up afterwards.
NGUYEN: No doubt. I was in Cedar Rapids which is just north of Marion yesterday to the northeast of Marion. And they were dealing with a lot of evacuations as well in their city. Have you had to do any of that?
RENN: No, we haven't had to have any evacuations at all.
NGUYEN: What about water problems? I know in Cedar Rapids they were asking people not to use the water except for drinking purposes only.
RENN: We don't have any water problems as such. However, we're cooperating with Cedar Rapids. We're pumping water from our system into the Cedar Rapids system. And we're asking our residents to cut back primarily because of the fact that all the sewer treatment in this whole area goes down to the one Cedar Rapids sewage plant.
And, of course, with all the floodwater in the system, that plant is at capacity. Besides the fact that we want to be able to donate water to Cedar Rapids, we all need to cut back on the use of water because of the sewage treatment plant.
NGUYEN: I know a lot of people have been worried about their homes and the floodwaters that have entered in and just getting around no doubt to be able to get back into the neighborhood and really take a look at the damage has been difficult. And the fact that many roads have been shut down. Are you seeing that in your area as well?
RENN: We only had to close down, I believe, one road and it is still closed because of a washout. However, we'll be able -- I'm told we'll be able to fix that on Monday and that road will be back open. We don't have any road closures that I'm aware of in the city of Marion.
NGUYEN: Sounds like that your city is pretty much on the mend. What are you doing to help surrounding cities that really aren't at this hour?
RENN: We provided as much aid as we can and we're prepared to provide more. We provided sandbags. We provided barricades. Our police department is the headquarters for all of the operations for (INAUDIBLE) county sheriff. They're also the dispatch center for the Cedar Rapids police department in addition to our own police. So we have got all of our facilities and capabilities are available to help our neighbors. NGUYEN: That's a good thing. They're going to need it as we're talking 25 people have been evacuated in Cedar Rapids alone, just over the past couple of days.
Mayor Marion, Iowa, Paul Renn on the phone with us today. Mayor, we do appreciate it.
RENN: Thank you.
HOLMES: Tim Russert and Buffalo, New York, they go hand in hand. Our Josh Levs here to tell us why these two go together so well.
Good morning to you again.
LEVS: I'm glad you specified New York as opposed the animal buffalo, wouldn't want to confuse people, right.
HOLMES: Sure thing, I think everybody understood.
LEVS: I think they got it. We got some special photos of Tim Russert and one of his favorite hometown hangouts, that plus a college pics that's going to make you do a double take. It's all ahead right here, CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
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HOLMES: NBC's Tim Russert likely going to be missed in a whole lot of living rooms across America, but perhaps nowhere more so than his hometown of Buffalo, New York.
NGUYEN: It is a place that he loved and they loved Tim Russert. Josh Levs has a very special look at some of the pictures of Russert in one of his favorite places, of course that being Buffalo, Josh.
LEVS: My fellow upstate New Yorker and he was very proud of Buffalo. We have some pictures that you're not going to see anywhere else. These come from the Lolly (ph) family. This is from a pub up there, an Irish-American pub in Buffalo called the Black Thorn pub.
What we can show you if we can get to it, I know we have one right here, is him being up in Buffalo, able to visit some people there. He was doing a book signing. While he was there, he decided to spend some time. That's his dad big Russ who came with him to the Irish pub there in town and he spent time with people who were at the pub.
He's a star in Buffalo. So we received these from that family. They were saying how exciting it was for so many people that day when he visited that pub. (INAUDIBLE) People lined up to see him. They couldn't wait to see him there.
Let me show you something else in Buffalo that celebrates Tim Russert and his life there. This is an interesting one. You never have seen anything like this. They're calling it a statue. It is more of a wood carving if we can go to that from Cynthia Dwyer. She sent us these I-report photos in our I-report system. Now here's what happened there. This is in October 2006. It was a terrible storm that devastated the region and destroyed all these trees so a public art project was launched. What do you do with a lot of these trees?
Well, someone created that carving of Tim Russert in Buffalo. It really caught on, and a lot of people apparently really enjoy it. There's even a plaque right next to it -- there you go -- celebrating Tim Russert. A lot of people have apparently visited that.
Now, one more thing I want to show you. This one's actually not from Buffalo. This is his college picture. Take a look at this. We got this from his college year book, and you might have to stare at it for a second to realize that it's really him. There you go, the Tim Russert you never know.
We have a little information on this. He went to John Carroll University in Cleveland. If you look closely enough, you can see it's his face and that was the style of the time, but there you go. But Tim Russert you never knew, his college picture.
We at CNN.com are getting i-Reports throughout the day. We're going to keep bringing you photos, videos, and your chance to share your stories and your thoughts about his death, all day long. CNN.com, you can't miss it. Link to the main page -- Betty, T.J.?
NGUYEN: I guess it's a good thing he got rid of those chops. That was a great picture there back in the day.
LEVS: He did pretty well, yes, it's great.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's popular back then, it was in style.
All right, thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Yes, we will have more on Tim Russert's life and legacy in the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: But first, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
