Trouble in Tennessee; CNN Hero of the Week
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: It did not take long at all. I'm Ali Velshi. The documents found inside Osama bin Laden's house have already triggered a new alert about security here in the United States.</s>KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Mississippi Rivers still rising this morning. I'm Kiran Chetry. They're dealing with epic flooding. Thousands have had to flee their homes, hundreds are in shelters in parts of the south. And by the time it's all over, this could turn out to be a disaster for the ages.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. Whether you're heading to work or you're just hoping for work, everyone has a stake in the jobs market. We're standing by for the very latest jobs report this morning. What it means for the economic recovery -- for your economic recovery on this AMERICAN MORNING.</s>VELSHI: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Friday, May 6th. A great deal going on across the country right now, we are carefully watching this flooding that is going on along the Mississippi.</s>CHETRY: And this jobs report coming out in just 30 minutes from now.</s>ROMANS: That's right.</s>CHETRY: They are expecting to add 185,000, but that's still not enough.</s>VELSHI: Not the pace at which we need. But let's hope we at least get to that. We'll be talking about that in detail this hour.</s>ROMANS: But up, first, a reminder that the war goes on after bin Laden. The Homeland Security Department has issued an alert by rail security. A law enforcement source says al Qaeda was plotting to attack trains, one possible date mentioned, 9/11/2011.</s>CHETRY: And officials say this information came right from bin Laden's own files, those very files that were recovered by the Navy SEALs after the raid on the compound that killed him. The source tells us that other information found in the house shows that al Qaeda was interested still in targeting Washington and New York, as well as other big cities like Los Angeles and Chicago.</s>ROMANS: Other possible target dates were July 4th, Christmas and U.N. opening day when world leaders are gathered in New York. The first homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge, talked about this new threat last night with John King.</s>TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's a head's up. It's a warning. I don't think it's necessarily actionable but it's appropriate to send this information out to those responsible for that infrastructure. They just wanted to remind people that there's still a potential target, take notice, but use the information that we have, but don't make any -- don't make any changes now. There's no necessity for it.</s>VELSHI: Also new this morning, Osama bin Laden wife is talking. She is in Pakistani custody and tells interrogators she did not leave her walled-in compound for five years. The woman charged Navy SEALs and was shot in the leg during the raid, according to U.S. officials. But Pakistan took her into custody after Navy SEALs lost a chopper and were forced to live without her. They are reportedly refusing to give her up. Today, President Obama will travel to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to personally thank members of the U.S. Navy SEAL team that took down bin Laden. Yesterday, he was at Ground Zero, meeting with families and first responders.</s>CHETRY: Well, to the South now where floodwaters have thousands fleeing and the Mississippi is not expected to crest for at least another week. State police, as well as the National Guard, helping hundreds of residents evacuate in eastern Arkansas. There are three towns under mandatory evacuation right now, McClelland, Gregory and Cotton Plant. Residents there are being told to get out.</s>ROMANS: Further east in Memphis, Tennessee, floodwaters are threatening hundreds of homes. Emergency officials predict nearly 3,000 properties in this area could be affected by flooding if the Mississippi crests at 48 feet this weekend. I mean, that would be the river's highest level since 1937. Right now, the river is approaching 46 feet.</s>VELSHI: So, at least, another two feet to go. David Mattingly is live in Memphis this morning. David, where do things stand right now? And give us some sense, because this is a slow-moving type of flood. Is there a sense of urgency there?</s>DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a sense of urgency. Even though this flood is moving inch by inch, this river is still on the move, a high watermark being set all up and down the river. And now, Memphis is one very large city working very hard to hold back a very large flood.</s>MATTINGLY (voice-over): City parks already flooded and water creeping closer to houses by the day. People of Memphis watch the rising Mississippi River and wonder.</s>LEE STREATER, MEMPHIS RESIDENT: How high will the water get, you know? Who is most at risk? Which land sits lower?</s>MATTINGLY: The Mississippi River floods of 2011 are expected to break records to the north of Memphis this weekend, and then continue setting high watermarks as far south as Baton Rouge. The river is expected to crest in Memphis at 48 feet above flood stage, the highest it's been in generations. (on camera): Memphis hasn't seen that much water since the disastrous floods of 1937. Back then, city officials tell me the river rose all the way to here, where I'm standing, which is four blocks away from the river banks. (voice-over): But there have been big changes since to keep the river back. A system of flood walls, gates and levees developed since the 1950s should keep the city dry. But it's a system that's never been hit with this much water.</s>BOB NATIONS, SHELBY COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: They have never been tested. All of the subject matter experts are telling us, we can have a high confidence level.</s>MATTINGLY: Army Corps of Engineers blowing levees to divert floodwaters into Missouri farmland slowed the water's arrival downriver. Officials around Memphis are using the time to prepare. A call has gone out to volunteers to fill sandbags for government buildings and hospitals. The hope is they won't be needed.</s>MATTINGLY: And, right now, the big threat around Memphis is actually in the tributaries, the rivers that flow around Memphis into the Mississippi River, because this river is rising. It's pushing water back up into those rivers. Communities along those tributaries and properties along those tributaries are going to see some flooding. And officials today are going out, making calls, knocking on doors and letting people know in the problem areas that it's time to pack up. Don't wait for this river to get into your backyard before you make a decision to leave.</s>CHETRY: Very smart, because it happens so fast.</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>CHETRY: I mean, we talk about the slow but when it is rising and when it overtakes your home, it happens in what seems like a split second. David Mattingly, thanks so much. So, there are a lot of people, as we said, along the Mississippi River, that are in harm's way. If you take a look -- this is the map for the potential of flooding, the flood zone.</s>VELSHI: Right. These are places in danger.</s>CHETRY: Yes, under watches or warnings. Exactly. And you see what it looks like. I mean, it stretches throughout the entire country's midsection from the Upper Midwest, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of people in homes are threatened. And everywhere you look, you see blue rivers flowing over levees, evacuations being ordered or the floodwaters, as we said, potentially, could hit.</s>ROMANS: And they seem more like lakes, almost, when we see these reporters and the live shots. You know, there's not a river flowing behind them. It's just a massive water.</s>VELSHI: Rob Marciano in Mississippi County, Missouri --</s>ROMANS: Right.</s>VELSHI: -- it looked like he was standing on the shore of the lake. Reynolds is with us following this in the extreme weather center -- Reynolds.</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, you guys are right, you really touched on something. How, if you're not used to seeing that area, it does have a very serene appearance, like where Rob was the other days, as you mentioned it. So, we are going to go back in time with the use of some of these satellite images to give you an idea of how things look before and how they look now and what we can expect in days to come. First of foremost, we're going to go back to April 29th of 2010 -- easy for me to say -- here is the Mississippi Valley, you got parts of the Ohio River, even the Wabash and Black River thrown in for good measure. Things are as they should be. Now, as we fast-forward to April 29th, you see things beginning to fill up. Now, the river is swelling the banks, especially along parts of the Mississippi. And then as you zoom in in places like Cairo, you can see -- rather Cairo, you can see it really spilling the banks, the flood way, of course, crossing some of the</s>VELSHI: Can I ask you a quick question?</s>WOLF: You may ask me anything.</s>VELSHI: Thank you, Reynolds. We've been told by everybody, our own reporters and others we talk about, talk to, that it's going to crest in some cases, next week, maybe next Wednesday, and it will take a long time to drain. Is there anything that can happen in the environment that can change that?</s>WOLF: That could cause conditions to be worse?</s>VELSHI: Or better?</s>WOLF: Worse -- definitely if you have more rainfall.</s>VELSHI: Right.</s>WOLF: If you have a lull that develops in the Gulf of Mexico, comes up in parks over parts of the Delta, that would be a horrible situation. What we need is a nice dry trend of weather. Things are already bad as they are. We need a little bit of a very calming effect on the atmosphere. That looks like that's going to be the case, especially over the next week or so.</s>CHETRY: Right.</s>WOLF: At least we got that going for us.</s>CHETRY: Yes. I mean, the hard thing is, as you are saying, we are reporting on this, we're seeing it and we're wondering, is there any way to make this better and turn back time. And it just -- you have to sit here and know that they are saying it might not go down until June. So, that's tough to hear.</s>WOLF: That's very true. But, guys, we need to also keep in mind. I'm not -- I don't want to sound like I am being callused to the people who are being terribly affected by this. It is heart-wrenching to watch this. But keep in mind that much of this is forming on what is called a flood plain. This is supposed to happen. You are supposed to se it in this part of the world -- not horribly, obviously. And, obviously, we don't want any cost to human life or property. But this happens to be a flood point. It's occurred.</s>ROMANS: Before we bottled it up with locks and dams and levees, the Mississippi River used to meander and turn and curve and spill. And that was --</s>VELSHI: And that's what created that rich farmland.</s>ROMANS: That's what helped create --</s>WOLF: Guys, we have wildfires out in the West, we have earthquakes, we have tornadoes in central plains, and yes, we have flooding in parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley. It happens.</s>VELSHI: Nonstop. All right. Thanks for staying on top of it for us.</s>WOLF: Thanks. ROMANS; With the royal wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden dominating the headlines for the past 10 days, the disaster relief efforts for tornado-ravaged Alabama have fallen off of some people's radar screens. That's why some of the biggest names in country music feel inclined to come out. They want to really help out. They want to put it back in there in the public conscious. Hank Williams Jr., Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, these are kind of a headliner, will perform a 90-minute benefit concert next Thursday night. It will air live on CMT at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And all the proceeds are going to go to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund for Alabama.</s>CHETRY: Wow.</s>ROMANS: You can donate 10 bucks right now to the Red Cross relief fund by texting 90999. Or for other ways to help, you can logon to CNN.com/Impact. You can visit our "Impact your World" Web site.</s>CHETRY: You know, it just had me thinking last year, I mean, the Grand Ole Opry flooded, right? They had flooding in Nashville.</s>VELSHI: That's right.</s>CHETRY: And they had relief concerts. I know Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney and all of them were trying to get attention and money to that cause as well. So, it's been a rough couple of years definitely for that area.</s>VELSHI: Right.</s>CHETRY: Well, a leading conservative voice in the House now running for Indiana governor. We're talking about Republican Mike Pence, who made it official yesterday. He once split with current GOP governor, Mitch Daniels, who famously called for a truce on social issues.</s>VELSHI: And former Olympian, Carl Lewis, back in the race for a New Jersey state Senate seat. A federal appeals court issued an injunction allowing Lewis' name to appear as a Democratic contender for now. The case is going to go back to New Jersey federal court to decide whether he meets the residency requirements needed to run. You think they're going to pull Rahm Emanuel's transcripts from -- it sounds like the same battle was going on Chicago.</s>CHETRY: Yes.</s>ROMANS: Also, you won't see Donald Trump driving the pace car after all at the Indianapolis 500 later this month. Trump's selection came under fire because of his birther remarks. But the Donald backed out of the Indy race on his own, telling race officials he appreciates this honor but time and business constraints will make it impossible for him to attend.</s>VELSHI: He's has been busy.</s>CHETRY: Yes. Plus, the wind is blowing through your hair, and you know what I mean? As you ride through the track. He likes to keep his a certain way.</s>VELSHI: Now, this is one of those stories where do not change the channel when I say this.</s>ROMANS: It's really important.</s>VELSHI: There's been a major, major day on the markets yesterday you need to know about, because the cost of everything going up that we've been telling you about, all those commodities, they took a big hit yesterday. Oil went down, silver, all sorts of things. The dollar got stronger. We're going to tell you how this all matters to you when we come back.</s>ROMANS: And it's continuing this morning. So, it looks like a bubble bursting in all those high prices.</s>CHETRY: Also, how about this for amazing? A 15-year-old girl from New Jersey, she heading to Harvard in the fall, turning down 13 other schools who wanted her. What's her secret? We'll tell you, coming up. Twelve minutes past the hour.