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CNN Saturday Morning News
Fargo, North Dakota Facing Some Dangerous Flooding; Volcano Erupts in Alaska; President Obama Announcing More Support for the War in Afghanistan
Aired March 28, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there from the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is 8:00 here on the East Coast in Atlanta, Georgia where we sit. It is 5:00 out in where, Santa Clara, California. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: A good city on the west coast. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
Thanks so much for starting your day with us. We want you to take a look at this, the big story today, weather. From the far north to the deep south, North Dakota is facing some dangerous flooding.
HOLMES: Also, a dangerous situation for some folks potentially in Alaska. Five eruptions to tell you about now. That happened in the volcano, just happened in the past 24 hours.
Also to tell you about, it's springtime. We got a blizzard to tell you about in the southwest and some serious storm damage happening as well in the southeast so a lot of weather stories happening.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Miles and miles of sandbags, they are in place, but thousands of residents are now heading for higher ground this hour in Fargo, North Dakota.
HOLMES: Yeah. It's cold there this morning, a little too cold for some of that snow to be melting so that is actually giving the residents there a little bit of a reprieve. They get a little extra time to discuss, is it melting and causing this flooding?
The Red River is what we've been talking about the past few days, expected to crest now between 42 and 43 feet sometime tomorrow afternoon. Now, that's a lot. That's a record, but here's the deal. They think if it's at 42 feet they're OK and some of those sandbags and everything they stacked up is going to hold. Gets to 43, we might have problems.
NGUYEN: Exactly. Emergency crews, they are bracing for the worst. They say they have never seen the Red River this high around the city, but thousands aren't waiting around to see what happens next. They are getting out of town.
Our Susan Roesgen though, she's staying right in place there in Fargo following all of it for us. Susan, with all of these people evacuating, how many people are worried right now that they may not get out in time?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, actually I think that everybody's worried. If you're not worried, that's not a good thing here. Yes, they're worried. They're concerned. But the evacuation so far has only been the most vulnerable people in the most vulnerable areas. Senior citizens of several nursing homes have left. A local hospital here in Fargo has been evacuated just as a precaution, not in any imminent danger.
There are as I'm sure you've seen, we have lots of videos of homes that were swamped in the suburbs of Fargo and Moorhead, Minnesota right across the Red River in Minnesota. Right now they are still working. No one's giving up. No one's saying let's just get out and abandon our cities.
You can see over my shoulder there, they have actually forklifts digging up dirt to fortify a secondary dike. Let me show you what we have got here, walk across the street. There is the Red River. It's about 200 yards away from where I am and then they have sandbags there right along the river and what you see here is the secondary dike. It's about six feet tall. It's just mud. There's not a lot of sophisticated technology in it.
That's what they're building up now, a secondary dike. As you can tell, uh-oh. There's a line of houses between the first dike and the second dike and that means those are the houses that would be in no-man's-land, if the Red River does flow over the first dike, then water will be stopped, prevented from going into this neighborhood even further and so those homes would be at risk.
But you see the lights on over there. I think people are still there. Again, this is a precaution, Betty. They think that if they just fortify the first dike as much as they can and fortify the second dike as much as they can, that they will be OK.
They believe that the Red River is already beginning to crest and they believe that it may stay now, as you mentioned, you and T.J. mentioned, with the cold weather here it may not continue to rise as quickly. It may stay right around 41, 42 feet. If that's the case and in this case inches make a difference, Betty. If that's the case, if it doesn't go on to 43 or 44 feet, they think they'll be OK.
NGUYEN: Yeah, but for those in no-man's-land, that's a bit of a gamble. Let me ask you this. Once the river does crest, it's cresting now, how long before it starts to subside?
ROESGEN: That's the surprising thing. I hadn't realized this before, but they believe that the river will stay at that level, stay at like 42 or 43 feet for as much as a week. So these dikes plus the sandbag dikes and the earthen dikes have to be secure. They have to be stabilized and in fact, they're having teams go out. Two-man teams go out every two hours and check miles and miles of dikes to make sure there aren't any leaks or worse yet, any kind of hole that would let the water in.
NGUYEN: What about other cities in jeopardy? Are they worried as well?
ROESGEN: Yeah, they are worried, Betty. You know, in 1997 which is the big flood period that everybody talks about, it was Grand Forks, North Dakota and east Grand Forks, Minnesota that really got swamped. You may remember those incredible pictures of the fire in downtown Grand Forks. Water all around these burning buildings and no way for anyone to put out the big fires, terrible situation.
What you actually have here is, the Red River flows north. It's not like the Mississippi. The water does not flow down to the Gulf of Mexico, because of the way the land is here. There's sort of a mini continental divide in this area and the Red River actually flows north. Now, Fargo is here. Grand Gorks is here. Canada is above that. So Grand Forks would be the next city in the possible danger zone. It was built up quite a bit after the big flood of 1997, but, shoot, these are record levels.
You talk about the flood levels here, Betty, the Red River normally is 4 feet. I think we can all conceptualize 14 feet. Normal flood stage for the Red River here in Fargo is 18 feet. We're talking about 42 feet. So in Grand Forks area they're expecting the Red River to crest at 52 feet.
NGUYEN: Goodness.
ROESGEN: It could be a little dicey situation for them and even on up into Canada, if the Red River continues to rise.
NGUYEN: All right. We will be watching very closely. I know will you there bring us live reports throughout the day. Thank you, Susan. We do appreciate that.
I want to let you the viewer know this, the mayor of Fargo, Dennis (INAUDIBLE) joins us live in just a few minutes. Plus, he has scheduled a news conference for 9:00 a.m. Eastern. We will have that for you live when it happens.
HOLMES: We've got great resources here at CNN, but sometimes I can't catch everything, so we need your help out there. That's where the iReporters come in, help us tell the stories in places just like Fargo. Here are pictures that we got from Peter Fry (ph), one of our iReporters. Good shot there, Peter. The levee in front of Peter's home gave way. The house pretty a loss, much a total loss. The family rode out the emergency on the roof waiting for that rescue helicopter to arrive. As you saw, it had to stop to pick up others along the way as well.
Again, we do appreciate you all, as always, our iReporter sharing you stories with us and sometimes sharing your tough times, your tragedies in your own lives and that's just a mess.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. I want to get the latest on what the weather is going to be like in Fargo. Karen, one thing we know it is awfully cold and they are worried as they watch that river crest.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and as you probably heard Susan mention, the temperatures are very cold, and, in fact, we thought that that was going to slow the river down from rising and, in fact it looks like it had. We had anticipated a crest of around 42 feet on Friday, then 42 or 43 feet today. Now it looks like it may be 42 feet coming up late in the day on Sunday going in through Monday. So it's definitely just kind of eased off as far as that rapid rise. Now we're seeing kind of a steady flow, if you will, across the area.
This is our Google earth view. Where you see these purple indicated areas, those are the river gauges and the purple indicates major flooding even into Grand Forks. They're looking at major flooding, maybe not record flooding but major flooding. Also into Moorhead, Minnesota, lots of evacuations across this area as well. Take a look. Fargo's here. Moorhead just right across the river. There you can see the river winding across this region.
In this red shaded area, that is where we've got the evacuations that have taken place, colleges, universities as well. Lots of folks have volunteered. Now, remember, they're showing up, they're volunteering, and the temperature has been single digits and 20s. It is absolutely miserable, but it is also absolutely vital.
We have a view of what the river gauge is doing as we speak. Let's go back and hopefully I can show that, but the river gauge right now is about 40.79. This is a different picture. There can you see just how it's kind of leveled off. We've taken a peek late Sunday into Monday at a record setting, perhaps 42. Already it's at a record setting level right now, broken 112-year-old record and now we're looking at it climbing maybe another foot or so, half a foot to a foot, possibly 43 feet.
We'll keep you updated. Another update coming up in about 25 minutes. Back to you.
NGUYEN: OK. Thanks, Karen.
HOLMES: Thank you.
We'll turn to the southeast now. We're talking about thunderstorms and tornadoes there causing all kinds of issue. You see this video here. Two tornadoes hit eastern North Carolina last night and one particular county, Robinson County as it's called one of those twisters damaged a number of homes.
One man now describes for you this scene out of "Wizard of Oz" when his wife got swept up by this thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN KINGSBERRY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I went to the front door and I busted it open. When I busted it open I saw her flying in the air and it set her down in the field and luckily, because where you see that stick sticking up, that box in front, she landed, then that stick landed right next to her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You are a lucky woman.
HOLMES: Can you imagine seeing your spouse fly through the air.
Well, further north, parts of a tornado, downed trees and temporarily forced the closing of interstate 95. Springtime, yes, blizzard, no. That's not supposed to be happening. Is it? It's making things a little miserable in Oklahoma this morning. A snowstorm pounded the state yesterday dumping more than a foot of snow in some places. The highway patrol reported more than 30 weather- related accidents in the northwest of the state. The governor there has declared a state of emergency for much of Oklahoma.
NGUYEN: Over in Alaska it might look like snow, but instead it is ash. We're talking about Mount Redoubt in southern Alaska. It is putting on quite a show. Scientists say the volcano erupted five times Friday. This latest in a series of eruptions that started last Sunday. Alaska Airlines limiting flights into and out of Anchorage because of ash that the volcano is spewing. Maybe we can get some pictures of that for you shortly.
But joining me by phone to talk about the situation is the scientist in charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. This volcano, let me ask you, is it in danger of really blowing its top or have we seen the worst already?
VOICE OF TOM MURRAY, ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY: It's probably not going to do a whole lot more than this, but it might continue doing what it is doing now for another couple days and maybe perhaps in the order of a week or something like that. I doubt that we'd be seeing anything dramatically more eruptive, more energetic than the current activity.
NGUYEN: Tom, let me ask you this, what about communities nearby? Are any of them threatened because this?
MURRAY: Well, the main impact is volcanic ashes, the ash falling down on them. So far there hasn't been many major impacts. But I've heard about, there's some inconvenience a little bit here and there. The type of thing even for me personally, getting -- yesterday morning there was a little thin layer of ash on my car type of thing where you just rub your finger across the top of it and then you look at your finger and go, OK. That happened. So ...
NGUYEN: The thing we're looking at Tom, it doesn't look like a thin layer. That looks like -- if you didn't know any better it looks like snow almost.
MURRAY: Depending where you are. There are towns and some of the villages closer in that have gotten more of it. Still I haven't heard of anybody having any major problem. The major problem so far, too, one it's the aviation industry, as you guys eluded to and then there's also the threat to the (INAUDIBLE) oil terminal.
NGUYEN: But right now, not a major threat? It's something that is under control?
MURRAY: Yes. Yes.
NGUYEN: Very good to hear. Tom Murray, the scientist in charge of the Alaska volcano observatory. Thank you for that update and we do invite you to stay with us, because we're going to keep you updated on the flooding situation in Fargo throughout the hour. We got a lot on our hands today.
HOLMES: A lot this morning.
Also the president's plan talking about Afghanistan is to send more troops there. Well the president of Afghanistan what he has to say about the plan. There it is. He liked it because it's a little better than he was expecting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There is praise for President Obama this morning coming from the Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. He is reacting to the president's announcement of more support for the war in Afghanistan including 4,000 more U.S. troops. That's on top of the 17,000 extra troops approved last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: This what -- this is better than we were expecting, as a matter of fact and we back it and we hope to go forward to full implementation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The troop increase is just part of the commitment to Afghanistan. The president calling the war there quote an international security challenge of the highest order.
Let's bring in now CNN's Kate Bolduan joining us live from the White House. Kate, so along with troop increase, what are some of the other priorities?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're talking about, the troop increase is a key element here Betty, but they're also talking about hundreds of civilian and diplomatic experts to go over there and really help on the ground level of getting involved in the Afghan communities. You heard right there from Afghanistan's president, but President Obama when he unveiled his plan yesterday, he really was trying to make the case to the American public for why they need more additional manpower there and why they need additional resources.
Mr. Obama saying that the situation is becoming increasingly perilous in that region. Listen here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal, to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their return to either country in the future. That's the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same. We will defeat you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: We will defeat you, he says. The big question is, how. Beyond the 17,000 additional troops that President Obama authorized last month, you mentioned it, Betty, talking about 4,000 more troops with their primary goal will be in training Afghan security forces to defend themselves against the Taliban. He's also asking Congress for $1.5 billion a year for the next five years in aid to Pakistan.
Now, that, he says, is an essential part, because Pakistan is inextricably linked to the security situation in that region. Why? Well, President Obama as well as his military advisers say the border region in between Afghanistan and Pakistan is where many of al Qaeda's leaders are lying low and hiding out right now.
NGUYEN: All right. Kate Bolduan joining us live from the White House. Kate we do thank you.
BOLDUAN: Of course.
HOLMES: And a story we are following this morning, we'll continue to follow the flooding situation in Fargo. Stay with us. Continue to give you live updates.
NGUYEN: We're going to be talking with the mayor about how the evacuation efforts are going and what their biggest concern is today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The Bush family isn't the only family that has a vacation home in Maine. As Reynolds Wolf shows, it's not just a destination reserve for the elite.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pristine beaches and dramatic views, Maine's classic New England scenery has a small price tag and right now in the lower mid-season places to stay are cheaper. Rooms at some of the B&Bs in Kennebunkport are about 25 percent off and two-bedroom suites in your beach (ph) costs about half of what you'd pay in the summer. To eat on the cheap, skip the dining room and try the bar menu.
DON RIVERS, BLUE SKY RESTAURANT: You can actually go in the bar and have a crusted pork chop for $7 and it's delicious.
WOLF: And for a sweet treat.
ADRIEN GLOVER, TRAVEL + LEISURE: (INAUDIBLE) are insanely delicious.
WOLF: You can walk off those calories with a visit to the Nevel (ph) lighthouse near York, a hike through the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells or even a tour of Maine's pristine beaches and classic New England scenery.
GLOVER: Maine has dramatic rocky coast, history, charming New England towns and, of course, the seafood. There's a reason they call it vacation land.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, despite progress, African-Americans not faring as well as whites. And it's all there in black and white. Scroll across the pages of a report that the National Urban League just released. The findings has people talking and we want to talk about it this morning with the president and CEO of the National Urban League joining us this morning, Marc Morial. Sir, good to see you as always. Thank you for being here.
We're going to show some of the things here up on the screen that you all looked at, some of the measures, the five things you looked at, the five measures: the economy, education, health, civic engagements, social injustice. And just some of the things that you found. Go through one here, one says blacks are twice as likely to be unemployed. Fewer than 50 percent of African-Americans graduate from high school.
Now, there were several findings that you did have in here, but you point out, if you had the nation's ear like you have right now what is the one thing you would point to in this report to get everybody's attention and let them know they need to be paying attention to this report?
MARC MORIAL, PRES. AND CEO, NATL. URBAN LEAGUE: I think the low graduation rate amongst African-American children is an area that really affects the nation at large, because African-American children, Latino children, are going to make up a larger part of the workforce in the 21st century. So we've got to make sure we invest in them, we lead them, we lift them up. We create the best schools in the world in order to be able to have an economy in the 21st century.
HOLMES: A couple of other findings. African-Americans three times as likely to live in poverty, also more than six times as likely to be incarcerated. This report, this is an annual report by the National Urban League. Over the years are things, is the state of black America getting better or do you see it getting worse?
MORIAL: For a period in the '90s, things did get better. The gap narrowed. The unemployment rate went down, the poverty rate decreased.
HOLMES: And what happened, what happened?
MORIAL: And beginning around 2001, the gap began to widen again and African-Americans have lost ground as the nation has lost ground in the last eight years and the findings this year, we went back and looked at an almost 20-year window, in addition to how things have fared in the last year and there was some interesting information about both blacks and whites.
In the '90s, median income for both races increased, poverty for both races decreased. Since 2001, the median income for both races has decreased and the poverty rate for both races has increased and I think it's an important and interesting set of findings which points to the fact that the kind of economic resurgence, I think that the president is trying to engineer is exactly what the doctor has ordered.
HOLMES: You bring up the president and I want to ask you here. Last couple of things by one of them certainly about the president. This new era, new administration and new president, give new reason for hope and of course, he's everybody's president. He's all of our president but, of course, black people have a very keen sense of pride and connection to this president. So would you say rightly or wrongly, black Americans are expecting more from this president?
MORIAL: I think black Americans are expecting him to help to level the playing field and in that sense, I think black Americans do expect more, but it's important to place it in perspective.
I think what black Americans are expecting is the president will recognize, as I think he does, that lifting those at the bottom of the economic ladder helps the entire nation and that the destinies of all communities are inextricably linked and we should not leave any community behind. And so, there's a great deal of pride, not only in the president's, because he's African-American, but also it's a great deal of pride in his great ability.
HOLMES: But I got to get out of here, but have to ask you this question. I know you get a lot and it oftentimes comes up. Where is the sense of personal responsibility? Yes, it helps to get, to get help from, from the government, to get help from other entities to help build communities up. Where does the responsibility lies with the black community?
MORIAL: It ranks right up there with the government's responsibility, with the community's responsibility and with personal responsibility. We embrace the idea that it's not either/or, T.J. It's a combination of both to make this nation and to make black America stronger and more self-sufficient.
HOLMES: All right. Again, National Urban League, the annual report. The state of black America, some disturbing, some eye-popping stuff in there. Let's us know, we got a long way to go, a lot work to do. Marc Morial, always good to see you, my brother.
MORIAL: My pleasure.
HOLMES: We have an update on the flooding as we know, in North Dakota, keeping an eye on that, hard to keep up. You keep trying to look at those numbers where this thing is. The magic number seems to be 43.
NGUYEN: Exactly and they say if it gets over 42, we're going to see a lot of flooding in the area. We'll be talking with the mayor of Fargo about evacuations and what people are going to be dealing with today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, we have all watched this week as residents of Fargo frantically stacked sandbag after sandbag and waited on the Red River to hit record levels.
HOLMES: Yes, the situation this morning is pretty fluid. It's been changing moment by moment. So let's get the latest from the mayor of Fargo. He has been doing a lot of interviews and he has not been getting a lot of sleep. So we appreciate you taking the time out with us here. Dennis Walaker is his name.
Mr. Mayor, you give us the update here. Everybody's talking about these numbers, waiting for this river to crest, talking about this 43 number. Where is that river?
DENNIS WALAKER, MAYOR, FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA: There's a simple process to understand. Normally, the river at this time would be around 14, 14.5 feet. Right now this morning, we're just right under 41 feet.
NGUYEN: OK.
WALAKER: So no matter how you look at it, that's a huge, huge increase. And we have exceeded the floods of record. So there is no -- nobody in this valley, no matter how old they are, over 115 years, has ever seen levels like this.
NGUYEN: Now, I understand that you've said as long as that river stays under 42 feet, you've got a chance. Is that still true?
WALAKER: Yes, that's still true. Basically, our sandbag protection on the south side and along the river is basically at 43 feet. And we just do not have enough time to go to 44 feet. We want some freeboard. And that's the distance between where the river's going to be and the top. We want at least one foot of that. And so if we can get this river to crest where around, no less than 41 would be great. 42 would be the maximum level after that. We've got some serious problems.
NGUYEN: You don't have a lot to work with, though, because it's rising, it seems.
WALAKER: They evacuated my mother from the nursing home to Bismarck yesterday by airplane. And I mean, she's having the time of her life, you know. So we have taken most of the -- hospitals are in -- evacuated 200 people from critical care, from the biggest hospital in the area, but they will continue to provide services and so forth. And they can contain themselves no matter what happens for another week. So that's not the problem.
The problem is containing the river within the area we've allowed it to be. And breaches and so forth can happen. So we have about eight days of significant concerns.
NGUYEN: Goodness.
WALAKER: And then maybe we can start breathing a little easier.
HOLMES: Well, sir, in the meantime, you're talking about that eight days. In the meantime, do you think you'll have a need to get more people out? Or do you think that that's not necessary? Anymore evacuations?
WALAKER: Well, we've already advised people with small children, people that have difficulty traveling and so forth, to remove themselves from harm's way on a voluntary basis. We've had two evacuations right now from two peninsulas in the river. And those breaches were fixed. And right now, those people are back in their neighborhoods, but we're asking for the assistance of the public again to maintain their sandbag dikes, and to continue watching them to see what happens.
And so, we can cut down on the response time. We have materials that are stationed throughout the city that can respond, but we need their vigilance. We have the National Guard walking the dikes. We have some of our engineers walking the dikes and so forth, but they can't do it on a continuous basis. And we need the help. That's why we have not evacuated the city.
NGUYEN: Well, the president even called you to make sure that you have everything you need. How is that conversation?
WALAKER: Well, I'll tell you what, I'm a small boy, or a big boy from a small town here.
(LAUGHTER)
WALAKER: It was a big deal for me. A big deal. And I was at his inauguration and so forth. And what he wanted to convey to the people that are fighting the flood on the Red River, that we had everything that was humanly possible. And we do. We have the support of the federal agencies. Of course, long term, we want some permanent flood protection. And I've used the term, it's our turn. I don't know how many more of these things -- we've never lost, and...
NGUYEN: Hopefully you won't this time around.
WALAKER: That's the attitude we're taking right now. And we've had so much support from a large area, and not just in the our city. In our sister city Moorhead, the universities, the schools, the high schools from as far away as St. Cloud, Minneapolis to Bismarck so...
NGUYEN: Oh, that's good to hear.
WALAKER: ...it isn't because we're not battling this thing.
HOLMES: OK.
WALAKER: And it's basically emotional to walk in and see these people that do not want to give up in the north.
NGUYEN: Oh, yeah.
HOLMES: Well, can't imagine. Well, like you say, he's a big guy in a small town. He's trying to save his place. Mayor Walaker, everybody's keeping an eye on it and certainly pulling for you. Best of luck to you there. We'll be actually checking you out. I think you have a press conference coming up at 9:00. We'll probably be tuning in to that as well. So we appreciate you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much and good luck.
WALAKER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And as we mentioned, we will bring you that news conference at 9:00 Eastern. We have a crew on site. And you will watch it right here on CNN.
You know, we have talked a lot about the desperate situation in Fargo, but they're not the only ones. Lying right across the Red river is Moorhead. About a third of the people who live there have been asked to evacuate. That's a couple thousand homes. And there are about 500 Minnesota National Guard troops right there on flood watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray is all you can do. You know? And hope, and you're a wreck, is what you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Let's move back across the river to Fargo now. State and federal troops are there to help the people deal with the floods and the evacuations. We heard the mayor talk about that. Well, CNN Radio Steve Kastenbaum joins us now on the phone from Fargo, where freezing temperatures are making it harder to predict what will happen. Talk to me about the situation and what you're seeing right now.
STEVE KASTENBAUM, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it really is unprecedented. And that's an understatement right now. Overnight, the temperature dropped to down around 7 degrees in Fargo. And that caused the surface of the Red River in many locations to freeze. And people are worried about the pressure against the dike walls as a result of that.
But on the other hand, the cold temperature is certainly aiding the situation here. It means all this snow and ice on the ground isn't melting and flowing into the Red River, making matters worse.
So it's a mixed blessing here. I've also been in touch with some of the homeowners in those really low-lying vulnerable areas that the city of Fargo would really like to evacuate. They're staying. They're still there. They're at their homes. They've been sleeping in shifts, manning their pumps, their sump pumps to pump out any of that water that seeps through the dike wall. And they told me that they're doing fine. They think the wall is holding. And they're going to stay for as long as they possibly can.
NGUYEN: Well, Steve, let me ask you this. They say they're doing fine right now, but as we just heard the mayor say, this thing could last up to eight days. Are they ready to ride it out for that long?
KASTENBAUM: That's the really big question here. Can the dike walls, and in many areas it's really just sandbags, we're looking at pictures of some more technically advanced walls. But in most of the area, it's sandbags holding it back. Can they withstand this pressure for seven, eight, nine days here? Nobody really knows, because they've never had to do that before.
So, the homeowners I spoke with, they're very much of the opinion that it will hold. They've stocked supplies. You know, yesterday, I was on the phone with one of the guys around dinnertime. And he said, yeah, they're doing fine. We're grilling steaks. So you know, that's the attitude they're taking here. They're trying to be cavalier, but they know how serious and dangerous this is. And they're not you know, taking this light heartedly, but...
NGUYEN: Yeah, boy, you're looking at freezing temperatures and floodwaters. That can be a deadly combination. CNN Radio Steve Kastenbaum joining us live on the phone from Fargo. Thank you, Steve.
KASTENBAUM: My pleasure.
NGUYEN: OK, there is obviously, a lot of crazy weather out there. We've got storms, tornadoes, flooding.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: All right. You probably did not stay up late and watch the games last night?
NGUYEN: No. We have to get up quite early for the show, although I'm sure you stayed up late to watch it as you always do.
HOLMES: Well, this is my time of year. Yes, we are down to eight. And they call it the elite eight of course.
NGUYEN: Yeah, and for some teams in the NCAA tournament, it has been a tough road both on and off the court. Just ahead, we're going to look at how the tough economy has created trouble for some of the teams.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We are down to eight in the NCAA tournament. How's your bracket looking? These teams that are left, and to be on some of the country's most promising players. They had to fight a recession as well.
Rick, sounds like a lot's going on with these teams. Our sports and business analyst, Rick Horrow, always good to see you, kind sir. Always nice to know where your loyalties lie. Good morning to you.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: I'll take off my Carolina hat, OK? Just so...
HOLMES: We appreciate it, because we love to see that hair.
HORROW: OK.
HOLMES: Rick, tell us, man, no, the, the economics of this thing. The recession hits everybody. The tough times hit everybody. Are these schools, is this tournament, NCAA, is everybody being hit right now?
HORROW: Well, everybody's being hit, but CBS could be hit even more, that other network. $6 billion 11-year deal. Advertising revenue makes it up, though. And about 95 percent, 96 percent of all the revenue for college sports is fueled by that contract. So they have a lot riding on it.
HOLMES: A lot riding on it. What other schools have riding on this as well?
HORROW: Well, they've got to get out of a hole. You know, the average Division I basketball program losing about 800 grand a year. Loses just like any other department of a school would lose.
Now, how do they make that up? Sponsorships, naming a whole bunch of other stuff, but every win in the tournament is about 150 grand, because then you go to the next round. So the 18 to go deeper in the tournament than anybody else, they're making more money on a per game basis than anybody else.
HOLMES: What's the Final Four, the championship game, be worth to some of these schools, you know?
HORROW: Well, yeah, I mean, it'll be worth at least an extra 150 to play in the game, but it's also increased enrollment, increased admissions, increased donations. You know, for example, Duke's donations are down by about a million and a half. We'll cover that next week in the Final Four in Detroit, but these schools need not only the dollars from playing the game, but the stroke and the excitement that goes with it.
HOLMES: All right, and we talk about these -- a lot riding on the line. I mean, some of us, we just watch the games and think a lot's on the line. The coach needs to win to keep his job and all kinds of stuff. The kids want to win.
But also, what are they up against and also have to accomplish as far as getting these kids out of school? Do people still pay attention? Are things getting better in that area? You know, sometimes you think kids just go in and just leave. Graduation rates down. So are coaches producing in that way as well?
HORROW: Well, the graduation rates for the schools that are in the tournament are a bit up, which is a good thing. And seven of the teams graduated 100 percent of their kids. Unfortunately, those are not the teams in the elite eight. So you can draw your own conclusions as far as that is concerned.
Most of those kids are majoring in business administration, which is probably the right thing in this economy. There's a Russian literature major who's left. There's even a nuclear engineering major who's left. I hope he's going to a higher calling than just dunking a basketball. We'll have to see.
HOLMES: It sounds -- nuclear engineering? Did I hear that right?
HORROW: Yes, sir, you did.
HOLMES: What was your major, Rick?
HORROW: I hope he can read that. I majored in a lot of stuff, communication studies, politics...
HOLMES: I really did -- I wasn't...
HORROW: Well, then but why are you asking a question?
HOLMES: I don't know. I just thought -- I didn't know you went to college. Rick...
NGUYEN: Did he get a degree in any of those majors?
HOLMES: He got a degree.
NGUYEN: Oh.
HOLMES: A degree, a small degree.
NGUYEN: Just making sure.
HOLMES: Rick, always a pleasure, my man.
HORROW: Yeah, next week, we'll be in Detroit for the final four.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Looking forward to it. OK, stay with us, because we are going to update you on the situation in Fargo, North Dakota in just a moment.
HOLMES: Also coming up, one of the biggest stars on the planet. He goes by two letters, a T and I. I go by two letters as well. So we're a good match, I guess, sitting down talking to each other. Yes, he has been sentenced now on a federal weapons charge. I sit down with him for a candid interview, one of the last he did before his sentencing. Stay here.
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NGUYEN: Well, rapper T.I. will spend a year and one day in prison on a federal weapons violation.
HOLMES: Yeah, a huge star in the music industry. He was sentenced yesterday after he pleaded guilty to buying machine guns and silencers in a sting operation. That guilty plea came a year ago.
Well, after his sentencing yesterday, he apologized outside the courthouse for disappointing everybody who looks up to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
T.I., RECORDING ARTIST: Apologies to my family, to the young men, young women that I mentor. And I just hope everyone can learn from my situation. And I hope that I can keep one, at least one, if not a million or more from going down a similar path as mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, that was yesterday outside the courthouse. I was in the courtroom yesterday...
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: ...when he was sentenced. It got real, and it got real real quick when the judge finally said this is your sentence.
In addition to the year and a day, also had to pay a $100,000 fine. Also a part of that plea agreement, he had to spend more time in home confinement. He had already spent some of that time.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: So he has about a few more months when he does get out of jail. Also, more community service he's going to do.
NGUYEN: That he's been doing.
HOLMES: He did 1,000 hours already. Now we talked. One of his last interviews, here at the studio, this was not too long after the Grammys, came here to talk about his sentencing date. It was an interesting chat.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): This is Clifford Harris as a free man. Better known at rapper T.I., he's been at the top of the music world for years now. His sixth album, "Paper Trail" was one of the top selling albums of 2008 and his fourth straight to go platinum.
He picked up his most recent Grammy award in February. And he's also won fourth list of highest paid hip-hop stars. So what's next for T.I.?
Chris, how many times have you been arrested?
T.I.: Whew. HOLMES: Do you have a good count?
T.I.: You know what? I don't have an actual -- factual number.
HOLMES: OK, OK.
T.I.: So I won't, you know, I won't just throw speculative, you know, numbers.
HOLMES: OK. We'll throw one out there that I read, that somebody decided to do a count.
T.I.: OK.
HOLMES: And they said 32. Would you argue with that? Too much one way or another?
T.I.: I cannot confirm nor deny.
HOLMES: Right. But it's been more than once or twice.
But his latest arrest in 2007 threatened to end his career and put him in jail for up to 30 years. He was busted in his hometown of Atlanta trying to buy machine guns and silencers hours before he was sent to perform at the BET Awards.
Are you ever going to feel a sense of safety that you don't feel like you need to protect yourself or carry gun?
T.I.: I've made it through some very extreme circumstances. And I didn't always have firearms to protect me and I'm still here. So if I was supposed to be gone, I'd have been gone then.
HOLMES: So you're telling me you've come to a place of peace and that paranoia has subsided?
T.I.: Absolutely.
HOLMES: And you don't feel the need for it anymore?
T.I.: Absolutely.
HOLMES: To be here and gone?
T.I.: Absolutely.
HOLMES: He pleaded guilty to weapons charges in March of last year. His plea deal allowed him to delay his jail sentence for 12 months, but he's been far from a free man.
T.I.: I'm actually doing an interview with CNN. As soon as I'm finished, I'll change the battery.
HOLMES: Our conversation was interrupted by his ankle monitor telling him he had five minutes to change the battery. Also a part of his plea deal, 1,000 hours of community service, much of that community service taking to kids around the country about his success and failures.
A lot of the young people you know, of course, idolize you, look up to you in a lot of ways. Should they? Should they look up to you?
T.I.: You shouldn't take the things that I've gone through, and the negative parts of my life, and you know, admire me for that. You know. If anything, admire me for how I've accepted responsibility for the part I played in placing myself in these situations and what I've done to recover from it.
HOLMES: What assurance can you give that over time, once you get out of jail, you can prove to people you have changed? This is totally different.
T.I.: Yeah.
HOLMES: But right now, what can you say to people to let them know that, OK, he's learned his lesson?
T.I.: I can't say any words to convince you, you know, that I have changed, that I have learned a lesson. That comes with time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. You hear him talk about the guns and the paranoia there.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: A little perspective. A lot of people don't know this. His best friend was shot and killed, died in his arms, several years back. And he has always said, and they were together in the vehicle together. And T.I. was uninjured. He always said since that moment what would have happened if I had a gun? Maybe things could have been different. Since that moment, he has felt the need to protect himself and those around him even though he has security and can pay for it, always this stuff...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: He always felt that paranoia. He said that's gone now.
NGUYEN: And his sentencing, though, is very interesting because it was a year and one day when he could have been facing 30 years behind bars.
HOLMES: 30 years. Extraordinary plea agreement.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Extraordinary. A lot of people criticized and said, hey, he's a superstar, he got some special treatment. No, the judge defended it in court yesterday, saying this is an experiment. And I wanted to try instead of just...
NGUYEN: An experiment?
HOLMES: He called it that. He called it that, an experiment. And I didn't want to just throw this young man in jail. Maybe some good can come of it. So what he did, 1,000 hours of community service all over this country talking to young people. Captive audience. And he has a -- he can hey, bring them in with my music.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: And he's a fan. But when he sits him in a room, starts talking to him about the mistakes he's made and again, arrested some 30-plus times. Don't have an accurate count.
NGUYEN: Well, because of his celebrity, they hold on to every word.
HOLMES: They will listen. So the judge wanted to do some good. He did. Called it an experiment. And a lot of people, prosecutors, the judge, if he gotten in trouble again, they would have -- I mean, they would have really been facing scrutiny for even allowing him out on the street again.
NGUYEN: Right, right.
HOLMES: So they say it worked out.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, from that, and we want to show you this, because we do enjoy our implosions on this show.
HOLMES: Haven't had one in a while.
NGUYEN: No, it's -- we've been in a drought in the implosion department, but this one coming to us from the University of Charleston. Do we have it?
HOLMES: What's happening with that picture?
NGUYEN: I thought we had the video.
HOLMES: There we go.
NGUYEN: OK, there it is.
HOLMES: This is a live picture, I do believe. A live picture. We understand this is happening any moment now.
NGUYEN: Supposed to happen at 8:25. So they're a little bit behind this morning. But hey, implosions don't happen every day.
HOLMES: It's tough bring a building down.
NGUYEN: Exactly. Especially when they try to rope off a 700- foot safety perimeter. Again, this building at the University of Charleston.
HOLMES: In West Virginia here, apparently this building is pretty old. It's been around since 1948. Now we are listening in. Again, I think they're just getting rid of this building. Time to do it. Actually had a raffle...
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: ...to see who can hit the button, I believe, to get the honor of bringing this thing down, but we've been keeping an eye on it. We were hoping we could bring it to you live. We're not able to. Then we will rerack the tape and show it you in just a second. But right now, we keep talking to you. You're just looking through your TV right and see a building, you might not stop and see what's going on.
NGUYEN: It's going to come down. We promise at some point very shortly. But to tell you a little about the building, not only has it been raffled, the opportunity to press the button and cause it to come crumbling to the ground, this building was constructed back in 1948. And it contains about, I don't know, 100,000 square feet of space. Dow Chemical actually purchased the Union Carbide in 2001 and donated the 11-story brick building in South Charleston to the university in 2006. So they are going to make way for some new construction.
HOLMES: And like we said, we have -- implosions are us on CNN Saturday and Sunday mornings oftentimes. We -- every time we see one's coming, we try to bring it to you. But these are fascinating. Most of the time, they do work.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Sometimes they don't work so well.
NGUYEN: It takes a little extra...
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: ...to get that building to come down.
HOLMES: Maybe hit the button twice.
NGUYEN: I think we've seen one time when someone came out there with a hammer to knock down one portion.
HOLMES: Oh, yeah.
NGUYEN: Yeah, hey, you've got to do what you've got to do. But these are live events. And when it does happen, we'll bring it to you. But in the meantime, you are watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: And hello to you again on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. 9:00 here in Atlanta, Georgia. It's 8:00 in Fargo, North Dakota and the work just goes around the clock, there actually.
And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us.
OK, let's get you to North Dakota because it is bracing for some massive flooding. Hundreds of residents have already evacuated Fargo neighborhoods. The Obama administration keeping a close watch on it, as well.
HOLMES: And a volcano is erupting in Alaska. Five eruptions we saw in the past 24 hours.
Also, a rare blizzard you see in that picture in the bottom left of your screen. That's happening in the southwest and also, serious storm damage to to tell you about in the southeast. A lot of things to show you this morning. Stay here right here with us. Let's do this.
NGUYEN: OK, so here's the latest on the developing flood emergency in Fargo, North Dakota. U.S. troops and aircraft have been sent to the area to help the flooding preparations and evacuations. As many as 15 helicopters, part of the contingency force, thousands of people in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota, have evacuated. Hospitals, nursing homes, they were evacuated as well.
Now, the massive sandbagging operations have pretty much come to an end. The sand was used to bolster dikes and levees holding back the Red River. And as we've been mentioning this morning, even an interview with the mayor, well he is going to be having a news conference very shortly. The mayor of Fargo. It's supposed to start momentarily. And when it does, we will bring you his comments live.
HOLMES: Meantime, we're going to speak to the governor of North Dakota. John Hoeven, Governor Hoeven is with us, keeping an eye on the people of his state. Governor, we appreciate you being here.
Let's start. We've been talking so much about Fargo. Is that the only area of your state right now that's under this immediate threat from this river or are there other towns and we're not just giving them a lot of attention?
GOV. JOHN HOEVEN, NORTH DAKOTA: Good morning. Fargo is the area of greatest concern. The Fargo cast county area, the Red River valley here is the area of greatest concern right now. We're looking at a crest tomorrow, and so it's at a very high point now. An incredible amount of work spent on. We've had flooding around the state. Earlier this week, we are blowing up ice jams on the Missouri River to prevent flooding in the capital city, Bismarck.
Right now, all eyes are on this area, the Cast County, Fargo area. The river level is up around 40.8 feet. Potentially a crest of 42 feet. Incredible amount of work done here by local officials, state official, federal officials. Tremendous -- along with just a tremendous volunteer effort to fight this flood.
HOLMES: So do you -- has everything to this point that can be done, has it been done? And also I want to ask you about things that are in place. The reaction. Are you in place, have everything waiting in case this thing does go from bad to worse? Everything in place to help those citizens, to get help to them if that place does completely flood? HOEVEN: Everybody is doing all they can on the flood protection. Local officials, state officials, federal officials, a tremendous number of volunteers. Forty-eight miles of levees, dikes, sandbag barriers, (inaudible) barriers, now it's being monitored. We have on the order of 1,700, to 1,800 National Guardsmen in here helping our citizens monitor the dikes, man pumps and we have quick response teams in case a breach develops.
And at the same time, as you mentioned at the outset there, we've also put things in place not only to evacuate, some people already, some of our vulnerable populations, for example, nursing homes, hospitals, housing authority, developmentally disabled as well as people in low-lying areas, certain neighborhoods and so forth.
And then we have transportation assets positioned just west of town. We have a staging area in town. The Red River valley fairground, to help people that may need help getting out if they have a problem in their neighborhood. So all of those things are going on right now, and with this crest, this flooding, it's not a one or two- day event.
HOLMES: Yes.
HOEVEN: This will go on or continue to go on for a number of days. So we have to continue to deal with it.
HOLMES: That is scary to think. We were talking to the mayor of Fargo not too long ago. And he said this could be sitting around for eight days even after this river possibly crests. You all are not out of the woods, won't be for some time. Governor Hoeven, I appreciate you taking the time out. I know you're a busy man, lots going on there in your state. Well, good luck to you and your citizens there. Thank you so much.
HOEVERN: Thanks.
NGUYEN: And as we've been talking, the mayor of Fargo is going to be holding a news conference, we expected at the top of the hour but we understand it's running a little behind. So probably in the next 20 to 25 minutes, he will take to the microphones and when that does happen, we will bring that to you live.
In the meantime though, got to tell you about this. The situation is bad on the other side of the Red River. Where about one- third of the homes have already been evacuated. Our Reynolds Wolf joins us now, this morning from Moorhead, Minnesota.
Reynolds, it's awfully cold out there, the water still rising. How are the levees and dikes holding up?
WOLF: Well, for the time being, Betty, things are doing OK. The National Guard is actually going out inspecting many of the levees and many of the dikes. They are a little bit suspect. So they are watching those very carefully. Again, they are trying to do at least twice an hour and in some cases, they're looking at them a bit more. I tell you, for the time being, everything is steady, and in some parts of the river, the scene is actually, well, it's actually quite pretty. Take a look over my shoulder. You're going to notice one of the bridges that goes across the way from here and Moorhead over into Fargo. Notice the bridge, notice the water. It looks pretty, but it is just unbelievable how, incredible this flood is.
This is a record flood, Betty. We mentioned, broke the record that was set over a century ago. And there is a -- actually a road that goes underneath that bridge. And the water just over the last eight days, has gone from 17 feet to over 40 feet. Let me show you something else, I'm with CNN photojournalist Steve (INAUDIBLE), and we're going to move around these branches.
Steve, watch for your eyeballs. We don't want to get your eyes poked out with these things. We cross over the snow, right over this little piece of concrete here. It's a little patch of ice. Here we're going to watch over. Almost buzzing a little while ago. I don't want that to happen.
And then, I want you to look over here in the distance. Here's something else, Betty, we got a railroad trestle that goes across the Red River. That is something that's pretty interesting, because normally, freight brake cars go right over that. Sometimes up to 50, 100, 150 car freights go across this expansive railway. Usually at a rate of around 40, 45 miles an hour. Now they've dropped that speed to about 20 miles an hour.
And if you look over here, Steve. Take a look. We got a couple of trucks here, some white pickup trucks. These are actually railroad officials. They are keeping a sharp eye on how fast the trains go over. Reason being, in case there happens to be any kind of buckling, any kind of stress that is on that railroad, the last thing they want in this kind of rough condition is for those railcars to go right into the river.
A situation here, again, very dire. We're talking about the river that could be, even higher. Some forecasts have it going to 42 feet, Betty. 42 feet. Some even going to 43 by early next week, but I have to tell you, the latest we've seen is it does appear that the river is beginning to level off. And that would be some great news. So, again, everyone's keeping a very sharp eye on what's happening here in Fargo. And obviously in Moorhead for hundreds of miles up and down the spans of the Red River. A lot of people concerned but they remained hopeful and very optimistic.
NGUYEN: Yes. They are very concerned. Because even the mayor of Fargo says as long as it stays as 42 they've got a chance. But if it goes too much over that, they're going to see some devastating flooding there. Reynolds, let me ask you this very quickly, do you think all ...
WOLF: Sure, Betty.
NGUYEN: ...the evacuations are said and done? Have people gotten out of harm's way, those who are willing to leave? WOLF: You know, there were some actually mandatory evacuations just a few days ago. Some of those evacuations, again, say a hospital, there's one of a nursing home over here in Moorhead. I'll tell you right now. Oh, by the way, let's show you what we have here. A couple railroad officials, they are actually going out. You'll notice the instruments, I guess the viewers at home, it would be on your left. That's one of the gauges that they actually use and test the tracks to make sure that everything is up to standards.
And so far so good. We saw a train go over just a short time away. So again, Commerce does not stop here in parts of North Dakota. But Betty, again, there have been some mandatory evacuations. The others have been voluntary. We're in a neighborhood just yesterday where millions of people have chosen to stay. It is a midwest can-do attitude, the survival mentality and many of them plan or staying put to see this thing through.
NGUYEN: All right. You're going to be staying put at least for a little while for us. We'll be talking with you throughout the day. Reynolds, as always, we'll join you shortly. Thank you.
WOLF: You bet, Betty.
HOLMES: Let's head right over from Moorhead where our Reynolds is over to Fargo. We go back there to where our Susan Roesgen is keeping an eye on things in a particular neighborhood there. So you have somebody with you. You go ahead and take it away there.
ROESGEN: Hey, T.J., I'm with Jim Shaw. He is one of the people who lives in this neighborhood. Jim, you just said to me a moment ago as we walked towards your house, that you actually saw a fork lift here pulling the mud up for the secondary dike is good for you?
JIM SHAW, HOMEOWNER: Very comforting. This is a second line of defense for us, if these first dikes, which are right in the backyards here if they fail, which is a real possibility, then we'll count on these to save our homes. So it's an extra effort. Extra comfort in a very scary situation.
ROESGEN: Now about the people in this one line of homes here? We're saying that they're sort of in a no-man's-land, in front of the primary dike, behind the secondary dike and if water tops over the first dike, they may be sunk, wouldn't they?
SHAW: They would, and the city has told them to evacuate. And to the best of my knowledge, none of them are leaving.
ROESGEN: Yes, why is it, Jim, you've lived in this neighborhood 17 years. People after 1997 always would say, as they say down in New Orleans now after Katrina, why stay? You've been through a terrible thing. Why do you stay in a place where the Red River could flood again and again and again?
SHAW: Logically, it makes no sense. Actually, you know, everybody thought after '97 that we had seen the worst possible situation. It could never get that bad again. They told us it was a 500 year flood. So we thought we were safe. If we survived that one, then we're go for the rest of our lives. So believe it or not, even though this area is prone to flooding, this is a big shock. This is a real stunner. And it's probably a wake-up call. Some people might reconsider wanting to stay here.
ROESGEN: You won't. Somehow I have a feeling you won't, Jim. Why not?
SHAW: No. Believe it or not, even though I'm nervous. I'm apprehensive, I have great confidence in what the city and the state are doing right at this very moment, in protecting us. I think they're on top of the situation, and I think with all of the volunteers that have been out here, we've done everything we possibly can do, and I'm cautiously optimistic we're going to be saved.
ROESGEN: What do you think of the president and the federal help? We've been here several days now. I know everybody has been looking around the clock here locally. Was the president too late in sending federal help here?
SHAW: In some respects, yes. What this area needs is what happened to Grand Forks in 1997, when that town basically was destroyed by a flood. We need permanent flood protection, and the reason we don't have it here is because we didn't get destroyed. But this needs to be a wakeup call to those in the federal government that we need permanent help so we didn't have to go through this again.
They can stop this danger from doing if they give us the proper funding and make life a whole safer for the people in this neighborhood.
ROESGEN: Well, in terms of what's happening just this week as you prepare for a disaster, do you think the National Guard troops, the 15 federal helicopters, do you think they all should have been here sooner?
SHAW: No. They've been great. They've been great. You've got to remember, this has all been happening over the last few days. It was nothing like this -- the last horrible flood in '97 we had about three weeks to prepare. Here, this came out of nowhere, and so look where we've come in such a short period of time is but nothing short of amazing. I'm delighted with the response we've had.
ROESGEN: You know, you have children, you have a wife here. You said you're not leaving your home just beyond the camera, T.J. and Betty. I know that some people are evacuating up, they are moving from a first floor up. Have you done that? Have you moved some things from your first floor up to the second floor just in case?
SHAW: We have. And by the way, I tried to talk my wife into going to her father's place which is about 50 miles from here.
ROESGEN: Forget it?
SHAW: No way. She said she's staying. So hopefully that will be a smart decision. Yes. We changed our sleeping arrangements last night. My daughters sleep downstairs have now moved upstairs. My son changed to another location. We've moved some of the more sentimental stuff for us upstairs to the highest part of the house. Photo albums, home videos. The stuff I could never replace. If there's flooding and it's furniture or other items ...
ROESGEN: Hope not.
SHAW: All right. That's gone. That can be replaced but I can never replace my memories.
ROESGEN: All right. Jim, well we hope that all this work here helps, certainly Jim Shaw here and a lot of people in Fargo, just over 100,000 people in this town, T.J. and Betty. They hope that what they've done so far will hold.
HOLMES: We will know pretty soon, I do believe, whether or not it does. WE appreciate it. Thank you so much. Susan Roesgen there in Fargo. Interesting to hear from him and even he says, hey, doesn't make a lot of sense to be here, given -- that's home.
NGUYEN: We have watched it time and time again with national disasters. A lot of people thinking, this is not the big one. This is not the one that's going to cause major destruction. Unfortunately sometimes it happens. Hopefully this time around they are safe. It doesn't get above the 42 feet when it comes to the flood stage there, but we are watching very closely.
And someone else who is watching, CNN Radio Steve Kastenbaum. He is there in Fargo. So Steve, you know, there have been volunteers working for days on end, in trying to make sure that everything is in place so that the dikes hold, that the levees hold. How are those volunteers holding up?
KASTENBAUM: They are an incredible army of people. They've been here for a week now sandbagging and those bags weigh 40, 50 pounds, yet they keep doing it day after day, hour after hour. You listen to the local radio stations here, which have been a very effective way of getting out information quickly, and you occasionally hear these calls.
They need volunteers immediately at a certain location because there's been a minor leak, and within a half hour, 150, 200 people will show up, and they start sandbagging, despite the fact that their backs are aching. Their arms are really sore. They just keep going at it, because they realize that they are the first and the most effective line of defense against the Red River right now.
NGUYEN: But as all the sandbagging done at this point? Is it just a waiting game? What else can these volunteers do?
KASTENBAUM: It is pretty much a monitoring situation right now. They have hundreds of thousands of sandbags now on reserve that are being used in those emergency situations when they need to get to a breach right away. Other than that, you're right. There is no more wholesale sandbagging going on right now. What you're seeing is what Susan just showed. The secondary dikes going in all over Fargo's residential communities.
But those people whose homes are in between the primary dikes and the secondary dikes, those folks, they don't want to leave. They've been told, they've been urged very strongly that they should get behind the secondary dike, but if they do that, they don't feel that the folks that will be charged with manning the sump pumps will be able to do so as well and as regularly as they are doing it right now. Basically, they're sleeping in shifts and doing it 24 hours a day.
NGUYEN: And they feel like there is going to be some protection out there. They're going to be the ones who need to be on the front line to make that happen. All right. Steve, we appreciate your time this morning. We'll be checking in with you.
KASTENBAUM: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Let's check back in with Karen Maginnis over at the weather center talking about the mess in Fargo. What are they looking at?
MAGINNIS: Well, you probably already heard that it looks like the river rising there, the Red River, is rising more slowly than anticipated. We thought on Friday we would see that 42, or 43-foot crest and then we thought today. Now it looks like that's going to stall until overnight on Sunday, going into the early morning hours, of course, of Monday.
It could hit 42 feet. Right now we're just sitting under 41 feet and so it looks like all that sandbagging and some of the permanent dikes and the levees are holding. Now, this is going to be a week- long event, at least. It looks like this water's going to be a very slow rise to crest, maybe late on Sunday. And then we'll gradually see it go down, barely, as we head towards Friday.
Fargo, Moorhead more schools closed. Interstate 94 extending from Fargo to Jamestown, that's just before you get to Bismarck, that has shut down. That's about 100 miles of interstate that's closed. Let's go ahead and zoom in and show you a few quick areas. Where you see these purple and red shaded areas, those are river gauges. The purple indicates major flooding. Let's go ahead and show you some of the evacuations across Fargo.
Here's Moorhead. Moorhead, Minnesota right around 35,000 folks. In this red shaded area, those are all the evacuations. Now there's a high rise just beyond one of the major levees that has about 100 people in it. 60 percent of them are in wheelchairs. So they are forgoing an effort there to take care of those folks, but let's go ahead and show you what's happening as far as our river gauge is concerned.
Now, we told you typically would be around 14, 15 feet. Now we're at a record level. However, we think it's just slowly going to peak, maybe overnight Sunday going into Monday, maybe at 42 feet or so. Could be 43, but right now it looks like it's slowing down a little bit. So that is the good news, but it's been delayed just a little bit. But here is the record, and there you can see it, just about all week long it is going to be above that record flood stage.
Lots to tell you about and keep you updated on. Back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. Thanks, Karen.
MAGINNIS: Thanks.
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn back now, never far away from it, the economy. How tough it can be out there to find a job as a lot of folks know.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Now for the past few weeks here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, we have been talking with the experts at careerbuilder.com and offering viewers some help with their resumes, tweaking those resume to get that job. So e-mail us your resume at weekends@CNN.com and we're going to have a look at some of them live right here on the air just ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, fire.
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HOLMES: Wait for it. What was that, Betty?
NGUYEN: That was a building there. The University of Charleston. It's Been around since the 1940s, an 11-story brick building. Oh my goodness. Somebody is excited about that ...
HOLMES: We thought we got excited about the implosion.
NGUYEN: I mean, we love an implosion around here, but, my goodness. And they already had, what, a 700-foot safety perimeter and yet you could hear this scream.
HOLMES: Sounds like a brick in the head.
NGUYEN: Listen for the scream, though. This time around. When the building does start crumbling down. Oh, my goodness! That has to be some kid or something who's really excited about it. Probably his first implosion ever, and you can tell ...
HOLMES: Or maybe he needs his bottle.
NGUYEN: Yes or maybe some medication. I don't know. Anyways, the building has come down and is making way for some new construction, as the child continues to scream.
HOLMES: I just want to show the picture. We didn't know we had the wonderful audio to go with it.
NGUYEN: It's great though. HOLMES: There you go. All right. Coming up, job seekers out there, yes, we are still hooking you up, getting you some help with your resume. With hooking folks up with those career builder experts live on air. Going to do it again in just a second. Stay with us.
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NGUYEN: OK. So for the past several weeks we have invited resume experts from careerbuilder.com to talk directly with some of you, our viewers.
HOLMES: Yes, you can e-mail in your resumes and our expert hooks you up right here, live on the air and today we're doing it again.
Mary Delaney is the expert we have in. Hello to you and also Patrician Oliver-Africano is on the line and who needs some help with her resume. I know you've reviewed it. Patricia, you go ahead and directly ask you question to Mary. Go right ahead.
PATRICIA OLIVER- AFRICANO, JOB SEEKER: Good morning, Mary.
MARY DELANEY, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Good morning.
AFRICANO: I'm a developmental disability researcher. And I've found that universities at present are doing less hiring in this area because of budget cuts and also they have very few research funding opportunities at this time. I have also targeted nonprofit organizations, which are involved in the developmental disability activities and I'm thinking are there any other areas that can you advise me on to target?
DELANEY: Well, I think you potentially could look into health care and the government area, and some of the businesses are focused in this area to see if there might be an interest. I also looked at your resume, so I thought I'd walk through some of the areas that I'd recommend potentially tweaking for the different opportunities that you find and apply to.
First, your strengths and ability is very strong, and it highlights your achievement so much so that I think your profile area on top, you could change, and you could expand upon. And what I'd recommend is for you to focus on the opportunity for which you're applying and highlight specifically how that company or organization would be able to benefit from your background.
Tell a story about yourself where they can see immediately how they'd be able to have results based on having you with their organization. The second thing I'd have you look at is just the base part of your resume. I would encourage you to add more statistical and quantifiable results where they see your tremendous experience, but let's also show them what happened based on what you did for those organizations.
And finally, you have bullets that are more paragraph formed on the second page. I would encourage you to have no more than three sentences per bullet and ideally two. So I'd try and shorten those up, which might mean you'll increase your bullets. If you know, a recruiter looks for 15 to 20 seconds before they're able to say whether or not it would be a fit. So we need to shorten it up a bit and make it just punchier.
NGUYEN: Well, hopefully, for Patricia, you got your questions answered. We do appreciate both of you this morning.
OLIVER-AFRICANO: Thank you very much.
NGUYEN: Very good. And best of luck to you as you're out there searching for that job. Hopefully this will get you that edge little edge that's needed to snag the job of your dreams. Thank you to both of you. And I know that we'll have much more of this in the coming hours right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
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NGUYEN: All right. We'll be back at 10:00 with more advice for job seekers and complete coverage of the flood waters in Fargo.
HOLMES: Meantime, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Gerri Willis starts right now.
