>> we're going to talk more about that too, huh? >> yes, we are. >> thanks, carol. happy friday. live from studio 7, i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed for may 20th. dominique strauss-kahn is set to swap rikers island jail for his luxury manhattan apartment. that's happening today. the former head of the international monetary fund must remain inside his house and wear an electronic monitor. strauss-kahn, who is charged with sexually assaulting a hotel house keeper, must post $1 million bail. he denies any wrongdoing. the mississippi river flood claims its first victim. a 69-year-old man drowned in vicksburg, where the mississippi is at a historic high. the river is beginning to crest today at natchez, about 70 miles south of vicksburg. some people have built levees around their homes, durning them into islands. >> are you confident you can hold the river back? >> absolutely not. no. i mean i'm confident that it's

not going to go over my levees, but i'm not confident that enough of this is going to cave off and i'm going to have a breach. i'd say it's 50-50. president obama is face to face with israeli prime minister be benjamin netanyahu. the president wants the 1967 borders to be the starting point for negotiations on a palestinian state. netanyahu is said to be furious over the president's proposal. shouts of "god is great" peppered with gunfire. anti-government protests followed friday prayers in cities across syria today. activists and witnesses say that security forces have killed at least 12 protesters today. and today marks 60 days since the u.s. and other nato allies launched air strikes on libyan forces.

the war powers resolution requires that the president get congressional approval to continue or u.s. troops have to stand down. the obama administration has not said how it plans to handle this deadline. well, the man who kidnapped and raped utah teenager elizabeth smart will be sentenced next week. prosecutors want brian david mitchell to spend the rest of his life in prison. his lawyers say he should go to a mental facility. smart, now 23, says she will speak at that sentencing hearing. >> i have forgiven him. i don't think that means that i would invite him over to my house to stay. but that is a part of my life that i lived, have been there and i have a lot in front of me that i haven't lived yet, so i'm looking forward to the part that i haven't lived yet. arnold's movie comeback is now on hold as he focuses on his

personal life. schwarzenegger confirmed this week that he fathered a child outside his marriage. he was set to begin shooting a film based on the novel "cry macho" in september. and a fifth terminator movie was also in the works. this view of drew from the helmet cam of greg. >> two "endeavour" astronauts went space walking for six hours today, check it out, totally cool. doing chores outside the international space station. they have already finished their main task, that is installing a physics experiment that will look at evidence or for evidence of the big bang. tomorrow is going to be a first. the pope is going to call the space station. more details now on today's release of the former international monetary fund chief facing sexual assault charges. a judge granted bail for dominique strauss-kahn after he agreed to some pretty strict

conditions. strauss-kahn is accused of attacking a hotel housekeeper and yesterday a grand jury indicted him on seven charges, including attempted rape. on the phone with us is cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. tell us about the conditions of strauss-kahn's release. it's an extraordinary development when you think about it. >> reporter: these are very tight restrictions. first of all, there's a million dollars in cash that he's putting up. plus a $5 million bond that he promises to pay $5 million if he disappears. he has given up all his travel documents, his french passport, his international passport that he gets as head of the imf, and most importantly he will be under home detention. he will have an ankle bracelet that will issue a sound if he doesn't -- if he strays more than a certain distance from it. there will be a 24-hour guard.

these are very strict bail conditions and i think the chance of his fleeing are extremely, extremely remote. >> so, jeff, what is the significance of the decision to grand him bail in the first place? >> it's of enormous significance. this trial is not going to happen any time soon. i think six months is a realistic assessment. spending six months in a new york city apartment with access to your family, eating your own food, sleeping in a comfortable bed, versus living in rikers island, to say the contrast is night and day understates it. it is a much, much better scenario for strauss-kahn to do -- to be where he is going to be and his lawyers won an enormous victory for him today. >> jeff, what about the grand jury indictment, talk about that. what does it say about the case that's being made against him right now? >> well, it's a very, very serious case. the top felony that he has been

charged with could easily result in a lengthy prison sentence. this is a serious violent crime. people do five years for this, people do ten years for this. again, we don't know a lot about how this case will play out, but he is in a world of trouble. and we'll see if the government can prove its case. >> all right, jeff, thank you so much. jeff will be back with us the next hour to talk about the possible defense strategies in this particular case. here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. what would you do if today the world would end? come to an end tomorrow? kara costello was talking about doom's day. i hope you have some great weekend plans. >> i do. i'll tell you this, i won't be at work. in case you haven't heard the end of the world starts

tomorrow. saturday, may 21st will be the beginning of the end of the world. the 89-year-old and his followers predict worldwide earthquakes followed by the rapture, with 200 million true christians joining jesus in the sky. camping says for the next five months there will be, quote, a world of horror and chaos beyond description and god will destroy the earth on october 21st. preacher also predicted the end of times in 1994 and yet we're all still here. that is also predictable, says the president of the american atheist, david silverman. he says "this weekend we bill giggle at the fools who follow the preachers that earn their living spreading happy lies. religion will have been proven wrong yet again." so never mind him and never mind the jokes. let's really think about this. some people truly believe in doom's day. they have given up their life savings, their homes, even left their children to spread the word and we're obviously

fascinated with the topic. hollywood made a movie about it, you know, 2012. there have been dozens of tv documentaries and umpteen articles about it. if no one was reading or watching you wouldn't see any of that stuff. could it be that deep down the thought has actually crossed our minds? maybe the world will end some day and who's to say when that will be? which leads us to ponder, what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow? facebook.com/carolcnn, i'll read your comments later this hour. >> and i want your answer later this hour. >> i'm still thinking. >> i love this question. all right, thanks, carol. some breaking news we want to go to. we are getting some information now former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, and i want to go to gloria who has a little more about what is going to take place later today. >> it's going to actually he's going to formally announce his candidacy on monday. he's going to do it in iowa.

this is somebody who's former governor. he is somebody that we've seen form an exploratory committee a couple of months ago so it's no real surprise. but lots of people are now looking at tim pawlenty as a very serious candidate. he's been toiling out there in the vineyards. we've seen some other candidates like mike huckabee drop out. pawlenty could really be a beneficiary of that. he's an evangelical christian. he has a great family story. first person in his family to graduate from college, known as a fiscal conservative, so there are lots more republicans sort of taking a serious look at this governor and saying, you know what, from the state of minnesota, not too brash, not too out there, just serious, was consider eed for the vice presidency by john mccain, so this is a serious candidate to

announce he's going to be in the race. >> anything that he's fighting against? anything that's a downfall for him? they all have their downfall. >> well, they do, but this is somebody who's been in public life, who has a great public story, and, again, obviously when you run for the presidency, you never know what the press is going to uncover. but he seems to have a very unblemished career and is somebody that has been quite successful and a fiscal conservative, which is something that really appeals to those tea party voters. so i think you're going to see people give tim pawlenty a really serious look. the downside of him is that he's not mr. excitement. but you know what, the republicans have had enough excitement, don't you think? >> and president obama hears that a lot too as well. so there you go. thank you very much for the breaking news. we'll be following that very closely. thank you, gloria. here is a rundown of some of the stories we're covering.

testing the test. how it helps determine when flood gates should be opened. also behind the wheel of a stolen police car. we'll show you how this high-speed chase ended. plus, house majority leader eric cantor, we're going to ask him what he thinks about president obama's middle east speech and america's job hunt. we're going to go where those jobs are. and finally, dr. sanjay gupta investigates a red flag for cell phone users. >> if you've ever put a cell phone to your ear, you should listen to what neurosurgeon dr. keith black has to say. >> there's no way to say that cell phone use is safe. i think that the public has a right to know that there could be a potential risk. copd makes it hard to breathe

so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i've got the leading part. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair

could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. curtis: welcome back to geico it's savings, on the radio. gecko: and the next caller is doug from chico. doug: oh...hey thereey...! gecko: you sound like a happy n. i wrote a song about it. gecko: alright, let's hear it! curtis: yeah jam session! doug: one, two... ♪ (singing) i got my motorcycle ♪ ♪ and my rv now i gotmore money. ♪ vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. the mississippi river flooding is about to hit the three-week mark. experts warn it's going to take until the middle of next month before floodwaters recede in some of those areas. rob marciano has found that there actually may be some good that comes out of this flooding. he takes us along in another boat, this time with government scientists to sample the swamp water. >> we're going to be going pretty fast to get you out to the river. >> hold on. this is the intercoastal waterway. >> reporter: cruising the swamp, a spectacular slice of nature where majestic wide birds stand guard along the swollen bayous. we're out in the basin and going to take a couple of measurements.

we'll figure out the stream flow, where the sediments and newt yets are going to the lower basin. we're not even to the basin and already this current is ripping through. this is dry land over here. the river has already come up 12 feet and it's coming up another 7 feet. that's over my head. >> all right. it's 12.5 feet right here. this is normally exposed. >> yeah, this is normally dry land. >> reporter: these scientists are testing the waters. some of their gear is already submerged. >> i take it that instrument is not supposed to be totally under water? >> no. that's pretty much ruined right there. >> reporter: they're trying to understand what the river really does during a flood. >> temperature, 19.3. turbibity, 29. the river is cold enough and the oxygen is high enough that we're hoping what it will do is just flush all that stuff out without losing a whole lot of oxygen in the water. >> reporter: flush bad stuff like invasive algas, pesticides

and debris out. >> this is a really unique area. look at all the cypress around you. >> reporter: while feeding in the good stuff with nutrients and sediments. >> this is the kind of thing we want to see happen. we want to see water flowing through these swamps. >> reporter: so if there's a silver lining when we see these people packing up and moving out of their houses, nature is benefitting in some way? >> nature is benefitting from this, the fish are benefitting from it, the trees are going to get good and there's probably going to be a little cap of silt put on top of the organic matter so we might see better dissolved oxygen for the next few years. >> reporter: happy swamp. >> a happy swamp. a happy, healthy swamp. >> reporter: rob marciano, cnn in louisiana's basin. >> it's been a tense 24 hours for america's relationship with israel. today the president is set to meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu after making clear that he wants to see israel's border change. and before you pull out your cell phone again, you may want to hear this.

>> the type of radiation coming out of your cell phone is called non-ionizing. it's not like an x-ray but like a low-powered microwave oven. >> what microwave radiation does in the most simplistic term is very similar to what happens to your food when you put your food in a microwave oven. it's essentially cooking the brain. >> more and more doctors are sounding alarms about cell phones and brain tumors. but the government and industries say there is no cause for concern. our dr. sanjay gupta joins us live with his investigation. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people

in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. pure... and also delicious. like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious.

here are your choices for today's choose the news. first, president obama may be on the brink of breaking the law. the deadline he is facing today concerns the war in libya and why representatives from both parties are angered by what he's not doing. second, from the infamous hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses to the bow and arrows he used to hunt, personal items from unabomber ted kaczynski are now on the auction block. we'll look at more of the unique items up for sale and some who say the auction shouldn't happen in the first place. third, it's the olympic games for injured u.s. veterans. an uplifting story showing the strength and determination of our service members as they go for the gold.

so you can vote by texting 22360. text 1 for president may break law, 2 for unabomber auction and 3 for warrior games. the winning story will air in the next hour. we're now taking a look at live pictures of the white house. we are waiting for president obama to meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. it is certain to be a tense conversation. after the president's address yesterday, mr. obama made clear his belief that peace in the middle east could be reached, but if israel would agree to a land swap with the palestinians. and that plan would return israel's borders to what they looked like before the war there in 19 67. ali velshi took a closer look at these hotly disputed boundaries. take a look. >> when the president talks about returning israel to its pre-1967 borders, let me give you a sense of what he's talking about. now, this might look nice and neat when you look at it like this, until you zoom in on the

west bank where jewish settlements started cropping up in the 1960s. you can see those little diamonds. and then more started cropping up in the '70s. and then in the '80s they were supposed to stop after the oslo 2 agreement in 1995, but they continued growing, as you can see. the red and the orange round circles are all the extra settlements. those are unauthorized settlements. 300,000 people, jewish people, have now populated that area outside of israel's official boundaries. then you've also got jerusalem, which you can see right over there. well, that -- both israel and the palestinians see that as their capital city. that is a point of great contention. it's a city that the palestinians hope to get some claim to in the two-state vision and it's something that president obama alluded to in his comments yesterday. that is certainly going to be a hot button issue in his meeting with prime minister netanyahu of israel later today. >> mr. netanyahu immediately rejected president obama's

proposal, even as the president spoke, the israeli government was approving plans for the construction of new homes in east jerusalem. i recently had a chance to speak to a former president who has been trying to bring peace to the middle east for more than 30 years. he is jimmy carter, and he says that progress is impossible without all parties at the table, and that means including what is considered a terrorist organization, hamas. >> is there something that the obama administration is not recognizing hamas that you see in terms of their assurances going forward and recognizing israel or denouncing terror? >> well, we meet with hamas regularly. both in gaza and also the headquarters in syria. and they have assured us that they would accept a two-state solution that recognizes the existence of israel, provided the agreement is worked out bite fatah wing, and if it's approved in a referendum by the

palestinians. >> have they told you they will renounce terrorism as well? >> they obviously don't admit that they are conducting terrorism because there are a lot more palestinians killed in the altercations than there are other people. so, no, they don't acknowledge that they are terrorists, of course. >> do you believe they are? >> they commit some terrible acts of violence against civilians and so do other people involved in those altercations in the middle east. >> stay with us as we continue to monitor all sides of this high level meeting between the president and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis.

i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you.

but afraid you can't afford it? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day. selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for under $18 a month. even though dave, 43, takes meds to control his blood pressure, selectquote got him a $500,000 policy for under $28 a month. ellen, 47, got a $250,000 policy for under $20 a month. all it takes is a phone call. your personal selectquote agent will answer all your questions ... and impartially shop the highly rated term life companies selectquote represents for your best rates. give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford. call this number or go to selectquote dot com. selectquote.

we shop. you save. we have heard a lot in recent years about a possible link between cell phones, brain tumors and cancer. it is a critical issue since so many of us and our children spend hours every day with our cell phones virtually attached to our ears. the government and cell phone industry says don't worry about it, but some doctors and scientists disagree, so we're keeping them honest. dr. sanjay gupta conducted his own investigation. >> all right, i'm on my way. >> reporter: if you've ever put a cell phone to your ear, you should listen to what neurosurgeon dr. keith black has to say. >> there is no way to say that cell phone use is safe. i think that the public has a right to know that there could be a potential risk. the public generally assumes that if one is selling something on the market, that we have had

assurances that that device is safe. >> reporter: to be clear, dr. black's message is at odds with headlines from the largest international study on cell phones and cancer. their conclusion, little or no evidence cell phones are associated with brain tumors. but if you look just one layer deeper into the appendix of that same study and you'll see something unsettling. it turns out participants in the study who used a cell phone for ten years or more had double the rate of brain glioma, a type of tumor. and keep in mind, cell phone use in the united states has only been popular for around 15 years. back in 1996, there were 34 million cell phone users. today, nearly 300 million in use according to industry figures. >> environmental factors take decades to see their effect, not a few years. >> reporter: so if it may take decades to get a clear answer, what can we say about cell phone safety now? scientists here in san jose,

california, are trying to answer that very question. >> so one of the things we have to do first is literally put the brain inside the head. >> exactly. it's very light now. >> reporter: the fcc requires all cell phones emit below 1.6 watts of radiation. in order to test for that, scientists here try to mimic the human brain, with salt, sugar and water. >> let me show you precisely how they do this test. this is a model. this is supposed to approximate the human skull in an adult male. this is actually my phone connected at the angle most people speak with. inside over here, this bubbly liquid inside, that's what represents liquid brain. what's going to happen is the phone is making a call. after a period of time, this device will come over here and start to measure radiation at all sorts of different points in the brain. after that, they'll take all of those numbers, basically put it

on a computer screen and tell us where the hot spots are and just how high the levels got. my cell phone measured within fcc limits. but the whole process was, well, surprisingly low tech. and what about difference size skulls, or children? >> in children, their skull is thinner, their scap is thinner so the microwave radiation can penetrate deeper into the brain of children and young adults, and their cells are dividing at a much faster rate so the impact of the microwave radiation can be much larger. >> reporter: but there have been no studies on children and cell phone safety. here's something else that might surprise you. the cell manufacturers themselves actually advice against putting the cell phone right next to your head. take a look for the iphone 4. the instructions say when using the iphone near your body, keep it 15 millimeters or 5/8 of an inch away from your body. what if you're a blackberry

user? they say keep it 0.9 inches or 25 millimeters away from your body. dr. keith black has been talking about this longer than many, but the voices joining him are becoming louder and more prominent. the city of san francisco pushed for radiation warning labels on cell phones. the head of a prominent cancer research institute sent a memo to all employees urging them to limit cell phone use because of possible risk of cancer. and the european environmental agency has pushed for more studies, saying cell phones could be as big a public health risk as smoking, asbestos and leaded gasoline. the federal communications commission, the fcc, they set the guidelines for how much radiation a cell phone can emit and they say cell phones are safe. but how can they be so sure? keeping them honest, we decided to come here to try to find out for ourselves, but they declined an on-camera interview. the type of radiation coming out

of your cell phone is called non-ionnizing. it's like a very low-powered microwave oven. >> what microwave radiation does, in the most simplistic term, is very similar to what happens to your food when you put your food in a microwave oven. it's essentially cooking the brain. >> reporter: but based on their past statements, the fcc isn't convinced there's a real risk and maintain they, quote, do not endorse the need for consumers to take any precautions to reduce exposure. >> so the government says no precautions are necessary. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, is with us live. he's going to give us his advice and tell us what he does to play it safe with cell phones. when she decided to get her masters in healthcare administration. by choosing a university that connects working students to faculty who are also leaders in their fields... she was able to apply her studies to the real world...

and help more people, much quicker. ♪ my name is diane wilson, i deliver the best gifts on earth, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] learn more about the college of nursing at phoenix.edu. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

we're looking at whether cell phones cause cancer. the government and industries say that there is no evidence of that, but the fine print on the cell phone packaging says use carefully, and there's some leading scientists and doctors that say you should be very concerned. well, keeping them honest, our cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta conducted his own investigation and he joins us live. good to see you, first of all. >> thanks, good to be here. >> this was a little alarming when i saw this report here, particularly the instance where

it says the doctor says potentially this is like a microwave cooking your brain. what do we know? >> well, that was dr. keith black, who is a brain tumor surgeon. he's been talking about this for some time. what we know is this is non-ionizing radiation. non-ionizing radiation is more like microwaves and cell phones are like low powered microwaves. holding a low-powered microwave signal to your head for long periods of time, years, you know, for a lot of people, many minutes a day, what is that doing to the brain? it's not busting dna like x-rays would do, but it could heat up the brain to some extent and that could cause damage. that's what dr. black's concern is and that what he's raising when he talks about the potential health effects. >> so are we seeing an increase at all over brain tumors the last 10 or 15 years when cell phone use has really increased? is there a connection? >> it's a harder question to

answer than you think. you have different ebbs and flows of brain tumors based on all sorts of different things. what dr. black says is that the types of patients he's seeing who has brain tumors is starting to change. think about who was using cell phones several years ago. typically wealthier people, people who had jobs that required them to be on the job a lot. a lot of people in their 30s, 40s, typically men. dr. black is seeing more patients that fit that demographic with brain tumors. so the numbers are still small. the chance of anyone developing a brain tumor is still going to be small, which is good news, but who is developing the brain tumors? that's what the doctor is pointing out as well. >> i've got to call you out here. i know you've got a cell phone but we see you with an ear piece. is that important? >> i've got it right here, in fact. >> you don't want to be exposed to radiation? what should we do? >> yeah, and i've said this to a lot of my friends, i'll tell you as well. you can have this. but the ear pieces i think are -- look, it's easy to lower your risk here.

it's going to be another 10, 20 years before we have more definitive answers. in the meantime you're not asking people to change their world, just put in the ear piece and you can talk on the phone, plus it's safer in many ways. if you're moving around, you can even check your blackberry on it so i'm often doing two things at once. simply holding the phone away from your body and i don't saying the ear piece makes it a lot safer. >> well, i'm keeping this ear piece. >> it's a gift. >> i'll call you later. all right, thanks a lot. appreciate it. sanjay will bring you more details on his in-depth investigation on cell phone safety. tune in tomorrow for "is your cell phone really safe?" that is 7:30 a.m. eastern, again at 2:30 p.m. eastern on dr. sanjay gupta m.d. plus you can also see his special, "patrick kennedy coming clean" this sunday evening 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. the number two republican in the house is going to join us to talk about some political hot

topics. eric cantor weighs in on mideast peace. the 2012 presidential race and much more. in 2011, at&t is at , building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. ♪ things are gonna get easier ♪ ooh-oo, child, things will get brighter ♪ ♪ ♪ someday, yeah [ male announcer ] wherever you are, whatever it takes, like a good neighbor, state farm is there.

♪ [ female announcer ] no time to plan? there's still time to whiten. introducing crest whitestrips 2-hour express. now, in just two hours you can have a noticeably whiter smile. two hour whitestrips from crest. life opens up when you do. [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like.

i want to bring in some breaking news here. we have some information coming from the department of homeland security as well as the fbi. they are warning police across the country now that al qaeda has a continuing interest, what they say in attacking oil and natural gas targets. that is what the homeland

security department is saying. they have gone on to say this warning has come as a result of information that they have actually received from that bin laden raid that happened on may the 2nd and a homeland security spokesman saying we're not aware of any indications of specific or imminent terror attack plotting against oil or natural gas sector overseas or the united states, but they certainly want police to be aware of al qaeda's interest in these particular sectors. this is coming directly from homeland security and the fbi. we may get additional information from our pentagon folks as well. in our political update today, we are talking with republican leader about some of the hot issues, from the middle east to the 2012 presidential race. joining us live in studio 7, house majority leader eric cantor. it's nice to see you outside of washington, you can loosen the tie a little in atlanta here. thanks for joining us. i want to talk about a couple of things, first of all, middle east peace. we saw the president outline the israeli-palestinian peace process.

one of the things that is making waves here is the idea of the 1967 borders, israeli-palestinian borders as a starting place for negotiations. do you agree? do you think that's a good idea? >> i strongly disagree with the president in the notion that somehow the '67 lines should be a starting point for any discussion having to do with the arab-israeli conflict. i think that had prior administration had said all along that the '67 lines really don't reflect realities on the ground, and that's one of the reasons why i disagree with it. i also think that the fundamental problem in the arab-israeli conflict is that you have parties around israel that frankly refuse to recognize its right to exist as a jewish state. and until that recognition is there, it's very difficult to see how israel can accomplish any lasting peace. >> how do they do that, though? how does the president manage that? we know that you have benjamin netanyahu who's meeting with president obama at the white house today as we speak and we

know that neither side, neither one of them want to recognize hamas, but certainly the palestinians have been talking with hamas and egypt too is now talking with hamas. >> that's why i think the starting point is to make sure that there is security for our ally, israel. i mean let's face facts. israel is on the front lines of the same ideological struggle that we're on against radical islam. and that ought to be our focus in our foreign policy mission in the middle east. i mean we have a regime in iran that continues to say it wants to annihilate our only democratic ally in the region, israel. we have the same regime in iran who continues to point to us seeking to do whatever it can to stop america and everything we stand for. >> so what does the president need to do when he sits down with netanyahu today? obviously israel very concerned that they're on their own in dealing with iran. >> i think the president needs to join a bipartisan majority in congress and say that the united

states security in the region goes hand in hand with israel's, and that this country of ours is going to stand with our democratic ally, is going to provide the resources necessary for israel to secure itself while the parties around israel try and work out somehow how they're going to come to the table and recognize israel's right to exist. let's turn to health care if we could, medicare. two things that were very interesting that happened this week. you had newt gingrich obviously who's joining in the 2012 race apologizing to paul ryan saying that his plan was too radical, but this is something many republicans had signed off on. at the same time, you had mitt romney trying to explain his own previous mandate, health care mandate. this was an issue for you guys, and it enabled you to win the majority. and now it looks like 2012, it's not really registering. >> well, look, obviously i disagree with the original characterization by newt gingrich of the ryan plan and

what we in the house are focusing on. and, look, suzanne, any type of reform to the medicare program has always been difficult. but the reality is congressional budget office says that the plan is going to go broke if we don't do anything. >> but how do you get on the same page here? it was a winning issue for you in midterm elections. >> the winning issue in the midterm election was that the country began to see a republican majority that was actually interested in solving problems and delivering results. so we put a plan on the table to address the fiscal imbalance in washington and to get our fiscal house in order and we also say, you know what, we've got a vision for how we're going to start to grow the country again so we can see small businesses finally begin to create jobs, something that i know that a lot of americans are waiting for. >> and real quick because we're running out of time. you got a favorite for 2012? we know that pawlenty just entered the race here. anybody that stands out? >> well, you know, suzanne, i'm going to dodge that question and

say this. >> why am i not surprised? >> we as house republicans believe that we can contribute greatly to the debate by setting the agenda in washington. and typically it's been that many of our candidates would run from what goes on in washington. we believe we're putting forth a very common sense prescription for how to take the country forward so we can started to grow again and have a better future. >> all right, great to see you here in atlanta and obviously we'll be following all the developments and what you guys are doing out of d.c. >> terrific. thanks for having me. well, have you heard? tomorrow marks the end of the world as we know it. our jeannie moos talks to doom's day believers who say that you have until saturday, 6:00 p.m. eastern, to get your affairs in order. building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call

to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. festival of shrimp for just $11.99. create your own combination of two of our most tempting selections from favorites to new creations for just $11.99 during the festival of shrimp. ending soon at red lobster. he was all like "oh no, i cannot do investing." next thing you know he's got a stunning portfolio. shhhh, you're welcome. [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed. ok. [ cellphone rings ] hey. you haven't left yet. no. i'm boarding now... what's up? um...would you mind doing it again? last time. [ engine turns over ] oooohhhh...sweet.

[ male announcer ] the chevy cruze with the my chevrolet app. the remote control car is finally here. well, now she's just playing with us. oh. [ horn honks ]

today's "chootz news." president obama facing a deadline today concerning the war in libya. text 2 for unabomber auction, infamous items of ted kaczynski hitting the auction block. text 3 for warrior games. injured u.s. veterans showing their roosemarkable resolve by

competing in olympic style events. the winning story is going to air in the next hour. a preacher in california believes that the beginning of the end of the world is starting tomorrow. that's right. tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. eastern to be exact. he is not the only one. cnn's jeanne moos finds out exactly what's supposed to happen. >> reporter: i hate to be judgemental, but when you keep seeing judgment day this saturday, the end of the world is almost here. it doesn't improve the daily commute. here's what's supposed to happen around 6:00 p.m. eastern time saturday. >> the largest earthquake the world has ever seen. buildings are going to collapse. it is going to be quite awful. >> reporter: like the disaster movie 2012, arriving early, earthquakes worldwide. believers will experience rapture, heavenly ascent. while non-believers will stay for a few hellish months until the fire yend of time. >> 97% of the people god will

destroy. >> i don't believe in such [ bleep ]. >> reporter: the generally low-key and polite folks who believe this need tough skin as they hand out their leaflets. >> yeah, right! >> see you this time next year. >> reporter: and you're convinced, you're absolutely convinced? >> yes, because the bible guarantees it. >> reporter: the bible as interpreted by this california preacher, harold camping, head of family radio. lately he's been getting some flack. >> buddy, you are one of the worst. >> reporter: camping miscalculated his last end times prediction for 1994. what happens if on sunday we're all still here and there's no earthquake and -- >> well, there will be an earthquake. >> reporter: this retired new york city transit engineer spent $140,000 for subway and bus shelter, adds warning of judgment day -- that's your life savings. >> good chunk of it. >> reporter: on saturday, where

will robert fitzpatrick be? >> as of now, i'm planning to be in times square. >> reporter: with media tagging along expecting to see him with egg on his face, or in rapture. and if those in heaven need someone to take care of the pets they leave behind -- you can arrange with services like after the rapture pet care and eternal earth bound pets to have non-christians take care of your animals. one non-believer wants to celebrate we're still here day on the 22nd. fom f for some of us the 21st is problematic. >> reporter: but this is my birthday. this is just weird. >> reporter: so if my birthday is on the 21st, what do you recommend i do? >> pray. >> reporter: and maybe celebrate early. ♪ happy doomsday dear jeanne ♪ happy birthday to you >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> oh, my god.

jeanne's celebrating a birthday early! what would you do if you knew that today -- that the world was ending tomorrow. carol? >> it had to be the "talk back" question today. >> absolutely. i'm throwing a party. you're invited. >> really? >> yeah. tonight. >> the last doom's day party. and it will be a blast. the "talk back" question. what would you do if today -- what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow? this from matthew -- i would apologize where needed, ask forgiveness where needed, let go of the past, forgive and forget where needed, remind those that matter to me how much love i have for them, and lastly, a few delicious frozen cocktails. this from melissa -- i don't think i'd do much different. i'd live my life the way i do every day simply because no man knows the time nor day. this from robert -- see the new "pirates" movie before they sell out. this from michael -- i'd play golf as i usually do from

fridays but i'd triple the bets and pay them off with ious. this from angel -- i would sit on facebook all day and comment on carol costello's cnn posts. i like that one the best. please continue the conversation, facebook.com/carolcnn. >> i heard you got a number of responses that said i'd have lunch or take carol costello out for coffee. is that right? i heard that was the case. >> that's very nice. thank you. >> i love it, too. because it feeds my ego which could be a dangerous thing. >> you'll have to tell me what you would do before the day ends. >> i'll have a plan for myself in the noon hour. >> okay. we'll wait. we're counting down. we only have 12 -- how many hours? >> i got to go. bye! >> bye! even astronauts have a to-do list. we'll find out what they were up to on a six-hour spacewalk inside the international space station. [ male announcer ] to the seekers of things which are one of a kind.

the authentic, the rare, the hard to define. to those always searching for what's pure and what's real from we who believe we know just how you feel.

haagen-dazs. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to ? 20 million men already have. with every age comes respons. ask your doctor if your heart. do not take viagra if you tak, as it may cause an unsafe dro. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss

in vision or hearing. this is the age of tak. viagra. talk to . see if america's most prescribed ed treatment is right for you. [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. mucho macho man was the first horse to ride in baltimore this week to race in tomorrow's preakne preakness, coming off a third place finish at the kentucky derby and his trainer had the second-best finish ever for a female trainer. it is pretty remarkable when you

consider what she had to overcome to make horse racing history. our cnn's dr. sanjay gupta has today's "human factor." >> reporter: kathy's heart was racing during the kentucky derby. well, not her heart, but the one that she received in a transplant two years ago. she made it to her first run for the roses at the trainer of mucho macho man, but it was she, not the horse, that was the long shot in this race. >> it would take forever to get over my colds an any time i got sick, it seemed like i had to go to the doctor. just seemed like my system was overweight. >> reporter: diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, inflammation of the heart muscle in 2001, she had to stop training horses for nearly six years as her condition deteriorated. >> tiredness. i was sick to my stomach. everything hurt. my feet hurt. my head hurt. i was miserable. i was miserable to be around. >> reporter: and there was no

rest in sleep. >> i would sleep mostly like with my knees on the floor leaning over the bed, just because i didn't -- it was too uncomfortable too lay flat because i would cough too much because my heart was not good at all. >> reporter: she watched the 2008 kentucky derby from her hospital bed waiting for a heart transplant. it took nearly seven months. one more of which her doctors didn't think she would survive. >> sws such a poor quality of life that i was living and i wanted to stop what i was doing to my family and either, you know, have a chance of living a good life or, you know, just stop. >> reporter: she left the hospital seven days after her transplant and returned to work six months later. she says while she is extra careful around the dirty barn and unpredictable horses, her only real alteration is taking some 30 pills a day. >> i am surprised. i'm surprised that i can do everything. you know? i really have a normal life. >> reporter: a life she hopes others with her condition can see is just bursting out of the

starting gate. >> i hope that they see it and say that not only did i get a heart transplant, but i held on. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. top of the hour. i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed. we are learning about a new terror alert the department of homeland security is warning police nationwide that al qaeda remains interested in striking oil and gas targets. that could include oil tankers, at sea, gasoline tankers on america's highways, the alert stats from information that was discovered in the raid that killed bin laden. homeland security says it is not aware of any imminent plot. we are waiting for former imf chief dominique strauss-khan to make bail. he's going to leave rikers island jail for his luxury apartment in new york. strict conditions of this $1 million bail require him to stay in his house, where electronic

monitoring device as well. a grand jury has indicted strauss-khan on seven counts, but he adamantly denies sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper. we expect to hear from president obama and his guest as israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu very shortly. the two are having lunch and there is a tense disagreement that's hanging over the room. the president wants israel's 1967 borders to be a starting point for negotiations on a palestinian state. when netanyahu says that would leave major israeli population centers at risk. new anti-government protests follow friday prayers in cities across syria today. activists and witnesses say that security forces have killed at least 23 protesters today. the mississippi river is holding steady at vicksburg today. the river is a foot above the record level there.

probably is not going to start falling until after saturday. now the next major crest is building today. that is happening downstream at natchez. this businessman is actually building his own levee system to protect his property. >> are you confident you can hold the river back? >> absolutely not. no. i mean i'm confident that it's not going to go over my levees, but i'm not confident that enough of this is going to cave off and i'm going to have a breach. i'd say it's 50%-50%. here's a movie preview. terminator 5 is going to have to wait. arnold schwarzenegger is putting his movie comeback on hold while he works on his personal crisis. the former governor admitted this week he fathered a child outside his marriage to maria shriver. no surprise here but republicans are about to get another official presidential candidate. a source tells cnn former minnesota governor tim pawlenty will announce his bid for the gop nomination. that is going to happen on

monday and the rally comes in iowa. that's the first state to hold caucuses next winter. a couple of "endeavour" astronauts take a six-hour spacewalk today. take a look. >> this view of drew foistle from the helmet cam. >> like any home, the international space station needs some regular keep-up. so astronauts have their main job behind them now. they installed a physics experiment that will scour the universe for evidence of the big bang. while we watch for the release of the former international monetary fund chief on bail, we want to take a closer look at the case involving dominique strauss-khan. he faces several charges, including attempted rape, for allegedly attacking a hotel housekeeper. our cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin joins us from new york. a lot of questions here. what do you think is likely going to be the strategy here for strauss-khan's defense team? >> well, they have to make one big decision first.

the decision is what is the defense. because it could be 1 of 2 main choices. one is, it simply didn't happen. he wasn't there, there was no contact between them. that's what's known as an alibi defense. the other possibility is, some sort of defense that said, yes, there was sexual contact but it was consensual. a consent defense. those defenses are inconsistent with each other and after the defense lawyers talk to their client and, most importantly, look at all the evidence that comes in, the scientific test, the dna test, then they have to decide which direction they're going to go. >> and stick around, because we're going to have more on this case in just a few minutes. we're going to talk about some of those gray areas whether it comes to the allegations as well as the defense. here's your chance to "talk back." one of the big stories of the day, what would you do today if the world would end tomorrow? carol costello talking about

doomsday. >> we're going to party! >> come over. we'll celebrate together. >> well in case you have not heard, the end of the world actually starts tomorrow. if you believe christian fundamental harold camping. saturday, may 21st, will be the beginning of the end of the world. the 89-year-old and his followers predict worldwide earthquakes, followed by rapture with 200 million true christians joining jesus in the sky. camping says for the next five months there will be "a world of horror and chaos beyond description and god will destroy the earth in its entirety on october 21st." the preacher also predicted the end of times in 1994, and yes, we are still here. that is, also predictable, says the president of the american atheists david silverman who says this weekend we will giggle at the fools who follow the preachers who earn their living

spreading happy lies. religion will have been proved wrong yet again. well, never mind him and never mind the jokes. let's really think about this. some people truly believe in doomsday. they've given up their life savings, their homes, even let their children spread the word and we are obviously fascinated with the topic. hollywood made a movie about it, "2012." there have been dozens of tv documentaries and umpteen articles written about it. if no one was reading or watching, you wouldn't see that stuff. could it be that deep down, the thought has crossed our minds? maybe the world will end some day and who's to say when that will be? which leads us to ponder, what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow? facebook.com/carolcnn. >> okay, carol. well, let's just have a good weekend, shall we? and i will see if you show up on monday. well, i guess if you're not here, i'm not here. >> of course i'd be one of the ones left on earth. >> oh, no. i don't think so.

>> i hope not. i'm going to go pray now. >> i'll see you, carol. well, we are getting some news here. intelligence from the raid that killed osama bin laden is now resulting in a warning about potential terrorist targets. we're getting some more information just in now about al qaeda's continued interest in striking certain targets. i want to go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence who's joining us. chris, what kind of targets are we talking about specifically? >> well, suzanne, we're talking about oil and natural gas targets. the department of homeland security and the fbi have put out a warning to police departments all across the united states just telling them that al qaeda has a continuing interest in trying to strike oil and natural gas targets here in the u.s. what that means is, last year, 2010, they got some intelligence that al qaeda was perhaps targeting or looking for targets at oil tankers, commercial oil infrastructure in the united

states, and what this is saying is, based on what they found in osama bin laden's compound, that interest has not abated. there is a continuing interest by al qaeda to go after those targets. now, in the intelligence circles they've got something what they call actionable intelligence. they don't have that here. there's no specific date. there's no specific time. there's no person that they can point to to say they have a plan in motion. there's nothing imminent so they're not going to put out a full alert. but what they're doing is putting a warning out to all these police officers across the country to say, look, remember your procedures for reporting suspicious activity. also, you know, random screenings to continue those. remember to keep briefing your personnel on ways to describe potential threats. >> all right, chris, thanks for that update. nothing imminent there but clearly a warning to people to keep that on their radar. here's what's ahead this

hour. first, dominique strauss-khan is soon to be a free man but in a limbed way. and keeping the floodwaters out, a family takes matters into their own hands. then high speed cruising in a stolen police car. going to show you how this chase ended. and elizabeth smart's kidnapper is about to be sentenced. has she forgiven him? and finally, from a campus dorm now to boot camp. >> i've even tried to apply at local banks as just a basic teller. and because i haven't ever been given that experience of anything more than handling a restaurant cash register, i can't even get those jobs right now in this market. >> why college grads are considering the military. a lot of times, things are right underneath our feet,

and all we need to do is change the way we're thinking about them. a couple decades ago, we didn't even realize just how much natural gas was trapped in rocks thousands of feet below us. technology has made it possible to safely unlock this cleanly burning natural gas. this deposits can provide us with fuel for a hundred years, providing energy security and economic growth all across this country. it just takes somebody having the idea, and that's where the discovery comes from. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. -my car did. -thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust.

the e-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. for exceptional offers host: could switching to geico or more on car insurance? host: would foghleghorn make a really bad boonaor? foghn (stammerg): it was the best of time it was the wor - y worst of times. and by worst i'm talkin athat stuffl yone.ad asau nny' p engineer: ok that was a little... foghorn: you gettin' all this in there son? i just added that last part it's called "adlibbin..."anyway...it was, i say it was... vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurae.

the former international monetary fund chief facing sexual assault charges gets out on bail today. we are looking ahead at the defense strategies in the case involving dominique strauss-khan. our cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin joins us again from new york. jeff, if you could, we were talking about a lot of different points on this, but legal observers point to some gray areas in this case. what are we talking about here? >> well, there are a lot of them potentially. just for example, this case is not a rape case. it is a sexual assault case. and apparently the issue -- the claim in this case was that the defendant, dominique strauss-khan, forced oral sex on the maid, the victim.

that is something that is someone -- not entirely, but a somewhat unusual claim in a sexual assault case. how will that work? will there be proof? obviously one of the big issues here is dna tests. will they be able to find dominique strauss's dna in that room in some way. that would be a very important piece of evidence that we don't know whether it exists yet. >> the grand jury has indicted strauss-khan on seven counts now. what does that say about the case that is being made against him? does it mean it is a strong case? >> not really. i don't think you can draw much of a conclusion from the fact that there's seven counts. underlying facts here are a sexual assault. just given the way new york law is written -- and this is true in most states -- you can describe that conduct under various different laws -- assault, sexual assault, sexual misconduct. it's called different things in different states but the fact is the underlying conduct here is a

sexual assault. what that does raise the possibility of is possibly a plea bargain down the road. not pleading guilty to a sexual assault, what's known as the top count, the most important count, but perhaps one of the lesser counts. that is the kind of thing that the parties might want to discuss but only well down the road and only if the defendant is willing to admit some sort of misconduct. again, we don't want to prejudge any of this. >> sure. >> that's for later. but that's how a seven-count indictment sometimes plays out. >> just to be clear, you are saying because it was the allegations of oral sex, that that makes it more difficult to prove that it was nonconsensual? >> potentially. again, it's not all that uncommon. oftentimes if there's a forced oral sex claim there is a weapon involved, a gun, a knife. as far as we know, that's not part of the case so far. i think it's important to emphasize just how early this is in the process. you know, we're in the news business, we want all the answers right away.

i am certain that the tests, scientific tests, that were going to be performed in this case haven't even been performed yet. we don't know if there's dna tests. we don't know if there's hair and fiber. we don't know if there are photographs of scratches on either one of those folks's bodies. is there dna under the fingernails of either person. these are the kind of things that could loom very large in a trial. but given that this just happened in the last week, there is no way these tests could be done. also, the defense might want to do its own tests on the evidence. that's why a trial in this case is almost certainly months away. >> okay, jeffrey toobin, thank you so much. we'll be following this case very closely. a family in the flood zone is going to take matters into their own hands to save their home. we are going to go live to a homemade levee. that report up next. k, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites...

increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible.

here are your choices for today's "choose the news." first, president obama may be on the brink of breaking the law. the deadline he is facing today concerning the war in libya and why representatives from both parties are angered by what he's not doing. second, from the infamous hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses to the bow an arrows he used to hunt. personal items from unabomber ted kaczynski are now on the auction block. we're going to look at more of the unique items up for sale and hear from some folks who say the auction should never happen in the first place.

and third, it's the olympic games for injured american veterans. an uplifting story showing the strength and determination of our service members as they go for the gold. vote by texting 22360, text 1 for president may break law, 2 for unabomber auction, or 3 for warrior games. winning story will air later this hour. the mississippi river flood has claimed now its first victim, a 69-year-old man drowned in vicksburg. that is where the mississippi is at a historic high. the river is beginning to crest today at natchez. that is about 70 miles south of vicksburg. some people have even built levees around their homes now turning them virtually into islands. our martin savidge is on one of those islands in yazoo county, mississippi. just give us a sense, what is it like out there? are people panicking? what are you seeing? >> reporter: nope, no panic

here. welcome to heapart island, essentially. out there it should be acre after acre of cotton. i'm declaring it heart lake. though that is water from the yazoo and mississippi river. that had completely surrounded not only this home but every other home that is out here. the difference of course is that this family is deciding not to take flooding lying down. take a look at the house over there. that actually belongs to todd hart. his home is surrounded by an earthen levee. it is probably about 12 feet high and it is keeping his home completely dry despite the fact the water's all around it. then take a look at what we're standing on here. it would make the army corp of engineers jealous. the family was able to put this earthen dike all the way around. it is about 2,200 feet here. they are saving three acres, that includes their house and the out buildings. not the big barn, but that side is just a barn.

but they constructed all of this in about two weeks. and here's the real mind blower. up until last sunday there was no water here. absolutely dry. and then on tuesday is when the water came rolling in. five family members and they were also helped out by a construction crew were able to do all of this, and it is high and dry. they've got electricity. they've got television. they moved all their furniture out just to be as precaution, to be safe. but right now they are riding out the storm. the only thing they are a limit concerned about as they look out on their lake -- former cotton field -- is that there is a strong wind blowing and you're actually getting wave a action out here. waves are probably six inches to a foot in some cases and that tends to beat down on any levee system. but they've got plastic so hopefully it will hold up. >> wow, martin. that is unbelievable. that one family was able to do that with some help here. obviously they're taking matters into their own hands. do they think ultimately that they're going to be able to ride

this thing out? >> reporter: well, they're certainly hoping that they are, suzanne. one thing they have realized is that for two weeks, 12 hours a day, frenetic activity. once it is in place, there's not a thing you can do. you sort of sit here and you wait and you watch the water and the problem is this water's going to be around a long time. there was some projections that it could be the middle of june before it goes away. and so you can't do anything about it. they shuttle back and forth when they need to get to town by a small boat. but otherwise they stay out here on hart island and the levee is doing a very, very good job. there's no sign of weakness yet. but of course there's still a long way to go. >> we certainly hope that they're okay and that they ride this out best they can. thank you, appreciate it. here's a look at some possible storm days ahead. noaa now predicting three to six major hurricanes over the atlantic ocean this year. the national oceanic and

atmospheric administration issued its annual hurricane season forecast yesterday and it says it expects 12 to 18 named storms. 1967 israel took control of key portions of the west bank. now president obama says that land should be given back to the palestinians in the name of peace. our jill dougherty is taking a closer look at a deeply disputed borderline. of two of our most tempting selections from favorites to new creations for just $11.99 during the festival of shrimp. ending soon at red lobster.

t adwiwiout food al t here's a rundown on some of

the stories we're working on. first, elizabeth smart's kidnapper will be sentenced next week and she plans to speak at that hearing. plus, we're going to show you what led up to this. then from campus to boot camp, why recent college grads are considering a military career. we are also now looking at live pictures of the white house where president obama is meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. that is the day after laying out his vision for the middle east. could be a tense conversation. in his speech mr. obama made clear his belief that peace could be reached if israel would agree to a land swap with the palestinians. our jill dougherty reports. >> reporter: it's an idea the u.s. has supported unofficially for years, but no president has ever before stated it as policy. >> the borders of israel and palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps so that secure and recognized borders are

established for both states. >> reporter: in return, obama called on the palestinians to guarantee israel's security and recognize its identity as a jewish state. those 1967 borders were in place before the six-day war in which israel captured the golan heights, the sinai peninsula, the west bank and gaza strip from its neighbors. since then, nearly half a million israeli-jews have settled in those areas and giving that land back to create a palestinian state is an idea israel rejects. mr. obama's statement puts pressure on israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on eve of a high-profile visit to the united states. immediately after the speech, netanyahu called the idea indefensible. but mr. obama had plenty to anger the palestinians, too. calling for a non-militarized palestinian state, criticizing the palestinian unity agreement between fatah and extremist group hamas, and trying to head off their plans to seek

recognition at the u.n. general assembly. >> symbolic actions to isolate israel at the united nations in september won't create an independent state. >> reporter: the initial palestinian reaction was positive, but they had a key question -- >> what will be the american role in getting mr. netanyahu to accept this? >> reporter: the president's balancing act gave a little to each side, but one observer says mr. obama may have been too careful not to stick his neck out. >> i think he didn't want to displease any particular constituency, but what that meant was that he wasn't going to take a lot of risks, and when you're not willing to take risks on the middle east, you're probably not going to make a lot of news. >> president obama is hardly the first american president to try to brokary peace plan in the middle east. cnn's wolf blitzer joins us now. wolf, you have seen this before. you have seen it with president clinton, with president bush, we've covered these presidents and they have tried, and failed. what makes us think that this is

going to be a successful round with president obama, his approach? >> i don't know a whole lot of people who think it is going to be a successful round of israeli-palestinian peace negotiations right now. there are so many issues, so many sensitivities. neither of these parties, the israelis nor the palestinians, have the confidence in the other to really think that negotiations are going to get off the ground. it's been two years since there has been any substantive negotiations. really the most serious substantive negotiations were at end of the bush administration when condoleezza rice tried in her final months in office to get something going. mahmoud abbas was the president of the palestinian authority. they got a little bit of traction but it didn't wind up with a deal. as you remember and a lot of our viewers remember, they tried very har during the final months of the clinton administration, the end of 2000, to get a deal, the israel prime minister at that time ehud barak and

palestinian leader yasser arafat. they got close. bill clinton has always said he was so frustrated that in the end they didn't get that deal. but i'm not convinced anybody's really upbeat that no matter what the president said yesterday, no matter what he says to prime minister netanyahu at the white house today, that this is going to -- in the short term at least jump-start the negotiations. >> wolf, what do you think needs to happen? i know these two leaders are talking about these issues. you bring up a good point, this is just the initial phase of talks, there's a lot of work that needs to be done. do you see that there's any way, any path of a break-through from the impasse that we're seeing regarding either israeli settlements, the border, anything? >> it's not going to happen unless either the president, the vice president, or the secretary of state personally get involved. they try with george mitchell for two years-plus for him to broker some sort of negotiation and he's a high-level guy, former top senator and a lot of experience. he worked out the northern

ireland agreement. he had a lot of credibility. everyone knew he was speaking for the president, the vice president and the secretary of state. but his mission didn't go anywhere. it collapsed to have some junior assistant secretary of state try to move this peace process forward is not going to do anything. if it's going to move forward, i suspect the president personally, along the lines of what jimmy carter may have done in '77, '78, '79, or what president clinton did when he brokered that israeli-jordanian agreement and the home camp david accords that were almost successful at the end of his term. you got to get that high-level involvement with the israelis and palestinians. and right now, suzanne, as you know with the palestinians just forging an alliance, fatah, the mainstream of the plo, mahmoud abbas' group, together with hamas, which still doesn't recognize israel's right to

exist, the israelis are not going to negotiate with them and even the u.s. regards hamas as a terrorist organization. it's not going to negotiate with them either. so i don't think anyone should be under any illusions that this peace process is moving forward. if the president is serious about it, what he's going to do have to do in my opinion is personally get involved, have the secretary of state personally get involved, maybe joe biden, the vice president, he's got a lot of credibility. maybe he wants to do it. someone at that level and the president's going to have to go to the region personally. i know there's some talk he'll go to israel, for example, this summer. he hasn't been to israel yet since taking office. he's been to egypt. he's been elsewhere in the region. he hasn't been to israel. he's going to have to convince the israelis, the public at large, that he's their friend, he's their supporter. there's a lot of suspicion right now about this president and israel and certainly within the israeli government and prime minister netanyahu. i suspect we'll see president obama at some point finally visit jerusalem, go to tel aviv, deliver a big speech, try to do

something to convince them that, you know what? it's in israel's own best interests to make these kinds of territorial concessions in order to get this peace process going. >> all right, wolf. thank you so much for your perspective. obviously we'll be taking a close look to see what president obama and netanyahu have to say after the meetings. as soon as we get that tape, we'll turn it around for you. thanks again, wolf. reminder to vote for today's "choose the news" winner. text 1 for president may break law, president obama facing a deadline today concerning the war in libya. text 2 for unabomber auction, the infamous items of ted kaczynski now hitting the auction block. and text 3 for warrior games. these are injured u.s. veterans who show the remarkable resolve by competing in olympic style events. the winning story will air later in the hour. police dashcam video keeps a record of what goes on in an officer's day. so, for instance, take this -- high-speed chase, for example. this case though is not the police officer who's behind the

wheel. your advertising mail campaign is paying off! business is good! it must be if you're doing all that overnight shipping. that must cost a fortune. it sure does. well, if it doesn't have to get there overnight, you can save a lot with priority mail flat rate envelopes. one flat rate to any state, just $4.95. that's cool and all... but it ain't my money. i seriously do not care... so, you don't care what anyone says, you want to save this company money! that's exactly what i was saying. hmmm... priority mail flat rate envelopes, just $4.95 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke.

sentencing is scheduled next week for the man convicted of kidnapping and raping utah child elizabeth smart. his lawyers want him committed to a federal mental health facility. smart is now 23 and says she's

moved on with her life. >> whether he gets his just punishment here, it will come one day. >> have you forgiven him? >> i certainly have moved on with my life and i don't dwell on it. and i have forgiven him. i have forgiven him. i don't think that means that i would invite him over to my house to stay. but that is a part of my life that i lived, i've been there and i have a lot in front of me that i haven't lived yet so i am looking forward to the part that i haven't lived yet. >> elizabeth smart says she plans to speak at mitchell's may 25th sentencing hearing. time to go cross-country for stories cnn affiliates are covering. first stop, pennsylvania where firefighters had to rescue a man

who got stuck between a log and a dam after falling into a creek in allentown. they say the man was under the influence of some kind of substance. in south carolina, incredible dashcam video. check it out. a police officer is unable to take down an armed robbery suspect who then steals the officer's cruiser, takes it on a high-speed chase. the chase ends with the cash crashi i car crashing into a truck, landing on top of a tree. the suspect told hospital officials did he it to get on the news. in utah, what would you do if you found a home and found $40,000 in the attic? a man in the town of bountiful put. the money in garbage bags, found the previous homeowner's family and gave it to them. unbelievable. they're trading in their caps, their gowns for military fatigues. we'll tell you about the growing number of college grads going from campus to now boot camp. , ,

building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. better than any other luxury brand. ♪ intellichoice proclaims that lexus has the best overall value of any brand. ♪ and j.d. power and associates ranks lexus the highest in customer satisfaction. no wonder more people have chosen lexus over any other luxury brand 11 years in a row. see your lexus dealer. [ woman speaking chinese ]

thank you. do you have an english menu? no english. [ speaking chinese ] [ gasps, speaks chinese ] do you guys like dumplings? i love dumplings. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual -- let our financial professionals help you reach your goals. male announcer: be kind to your eyes with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see a whole day comfortably and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. female announcer: through the transitions healthy sight for life fund, we support the education efforts of prevent blindness america. learn about protecting your vision at preventblindness.org.

all this week, cnn "in-depth" has been focusing on americans' job hunt. today we look at college graduates considering careers in the military because of the economy. they say it not only provides a job but a chance to serve their country. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has more on the growing number of grads going from

campus to boot camp. >> reporter: ben harris left campus thinking, i'll get a good job and a place of my own. but he graduated ohio state in 2008, smack dab in the middle of an economic meltdown. >> for the past couple years, i've been finding myself mainly working in the food service industry. >> reporter: did you have any idea it was going to be this hard to get a job when you graduated? >> no. that's the thing. i've even tried to apply at local banks as just a basic teller, and because i haven't ever been given that experience of anything more than handling a restaurant cash register, i can't even get those jobs right now in this market. >> reporter: so ben talked to a recruiter and enlisted. >> now do you plan on trying to use that degree in the u.s. army? >> yes, i do. >> reporter: he's not alone. some of these recruits are also trading campus for boot camp.

>> 13:37. >> reporter: in 2007, just before the economy tanked, about 3,500 soldiers joined the army with bachelor's and master's degrees. by last year, well over 6,000 were signing up. the air force and navy have seen increases, too. >> the average age is 24 years old. >> reporter: that recruiters say is making the military smarter. >> they come into the army with more experience, hands-on practice on some of the technologies that we're using that a high school kid wouldn't. >> reporter: sounds good -- except when you compare the u.s. to china. their defense minister says more than 100,000 college students apply to enlist. last year alone. he says the educated students have improved the combat power of china's increasingly high-tech army and help bring less educated enlistees up to speed. america's numbers are naturally lower. but u.s. army recruiters say they've got enough quality

college grads like ben. >> i just want to place myself in the best position for me as far as what my education will allow, which would also, in turn, probably help me most benefit my country. >> for more of cnn "in-depth, america's job hunt," check out time.com and the all-new cnn money.com powered by cnn, driven by you. a lot of you are weighing in on our "talk back" question. what would you do today if you knew that the world would end tomorrow? here's one from snow. he writes, i would hug my momma. more of your responses just moments away. time for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me this hour, ma necia is a personal finance author and doug flynn is a certified financial planner and founder of flynn zichlt to. our first question comes from crystal in tucson, arizona. she asks, i've been paying on private student loans for over three years now.

my loans have doubled in amount. the company won't let me consolidate the three loans and i can't get a private loan to consolidate them either. what should i do? . >> manisha. >> crystal is in a pickle as are a lot of people with current private loans. there's just not one easy answer. when crystal says her loans have doubled in the last three years which shocks me. that tells me either she has an incredibly high interest rate or maybe there was some late payments in there that caused some penalty charges. the other thing that struck me she wants to consolidate, i want to make sure she knows that doesn't make the payments collect -- it -- monthly payments will be smaller but over the long run she'll pay the same amount. bottom line, talk to your lender, see if you can work out some kind of pseudo income base for repayment plan. two, investigate jobs that may as an employee benefit have some kind of debt reduction type bonus program. or three, bite the bullet,

financial triage, move in with mom and dad. tighten that belt and pay off that debt. >> do it the hard way. but it is a good way. great, thank you so much. robert in columbia, missouri asks -- i'm 70 years old and have to withdraw money from an i.r.a. where should i put the money that i don't need at this time. there's some rules once are you 70. >> there are. once you are 70 1/2 you have to take the required distribution from your i.r.a. that's probably what he's talking about. assuming he already likes what he's invested in inside the i.r.a., call your investment provider and say open up a regular account for me in my name and transfer shares of what you already are in from the i.r.a. to the non-i.r.a., keep what you already invested in assuming that's what you -- ♪ you love money ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪

♪ you love money ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪ ♪ i work so hard at my job ♪ and then i bring it home to you ♪ ♪ i love money in my pocket at a university with 20 years of experience combining classroom and online teaching.

and a 15 to 1 student to faculty ratio... to make learning more... personal. today, she runs a thriving tutoring company that offers kids the same individualized attention she had. my name is beatrice hair, i teach hundreds of kids one on one, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] learn more about the college of education at phoenix.edu.

what would do you today if you knew the world was ending tomorrow? a pastor with a lot of followers says that tomorrow is the beginning of the end of the

world. carol. what are we going to do? this weekend what are we going to do? >> i know what i'm going do. but we decided this would be the best "talk back" question today since doomsday is supposed to begin tomorrow. so what would you do today if the world ended tomorrow? >> i'd order an extra side of bacon for breakfast and not go to the gym. >> tonight is my 25th birthday party. i have undergone heart surgery, chemo, radiation and have a pacemaker/defibrillator. i have learned to live every day as my last. anita -- i would be good to everyone, not holding any dispute with anyone. oh, how my soul shall rejoice to see my maker. >> as long as we do not lose internet connection, i'm fine with it. >> i would cancel my big expensive august wedding and fly to vegas today and marry my

love. at least i will get to call her my wife for a few hours. i'm going to cry. at least i will get to call her my wife for a few hours and be able to say i married the most loving, kind and beautiful woman in the world. oh, my god, potter. i want to marry you -- no, i have a nice husband. >> thank my wife for not paying off our credit cards. isn't that nice? >> that's so sweet. >> she is one lucky woman. potter's fiance, you are one lucky woman. >> i hear you have a couple offers. people want to have lunch with you? they want to take you out, carol. you're very popular. >> hey, we have very interesting facebook friends. it would be very interesting to have lunch with some of them. >> let's just have a party this weekend and just invite them. >> seriously, i've been thinking about what i would do. i would try to get my whole family on the phone somehow because they're all over the country. right? then i would sit with my husband, we would sip a nice glass of wine and we would just wait. that would be enough for me. >> that's nice. that's very nice. i like the idea of a little bit

of the wine there. and a beach. >> you have to drink. the world is going to end! >> chardonnay on the beach will do it for me. with friends and family. >> yeah. okay. you get your twin sister. >> absolutely. i'll see if i'm going to see you on monday then, huh? >> i hope i do. >> i hope so, too. carol, take a look at this story though. if 2012 manages to arrive, big traffic lights going to start flashing outside. many restaurants in germany -- nothing to do with cars -- a new law requiring color coated lights to announce the results in a restaurant's latest safety inspection. green lights mean no worries, safe food, eat all you want. amber light means proceed with caution. restaurant hit or miss. sometimes you get a full meal, sometimes a bellyache. red light means eat at your own risk. this restaurant may and culinary armageddon for your tummy. just go out and eat whatever the heck you want to eat at any of

those restaurants. >> is there a real story? >> that is a real story! >> i think that's a great idea. wouldn't you want to know? >> you would. you just hope the restaurant is not open. right? >> they would be shut down. right? >> all right, hopefully i'll see you on monday, carol. >> i'm hoping so, suzanne. but if not, it's been real. >> it's been great. >> thank you, carol. you told us what you wanted to see. your "choose the news" story just moments away. [ male announcer ] have you pushed your onstar button yet? time is running out to be one of the 10 people to win the chevrolet, buick, gmc

or cadillac of your choice. just push your blue button and tell the advisor you want to enter to win a car. ♪ you don't even have to be an active subscriber. so push it now. before all 10 cars are gone. no purchase necessary. see rules at onstar.com to enter without a blue onstar button. sweepstakes ends may 31st. to enter without a blue onstar button.

[ tires squeal ] an accident doesn't have to slow you down. introducing better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model year newer, with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

keep our eye on the white house. president obama meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu there for discussions and statements. we'll have that as soon as that tape comes out of their very important meeting. you also told us what you wanted to see. here's your "choose the news" winner. president obama may be on the brink of breaking the law for what he's not doing concerning the war in libya. cnn's dana bash explains. >> reporter: now the president may be on the brink of breaking the law if he continues the mission without congressional approval. >> bring democracy to libya while shredding the constitution of the united states. >> reporter: at issue, the 1973 war powers act which says if the president does not get congressional authorization 60 days after military action, the mission must stop within 30 days. the president formally notified congress about the libya mission in this letter march 21st, which

makes friday the 60-day deadline. inaction is roiling lawmakers on the left -- >> he cannot continue what he's doing in libya without congressional authorization. and when a president defiantly violates the law, that really y undercuts our efforts to urge countries to have the rule of law. >> reporter: with rare agreement from the right. >> no more important decision than sending someone to wore who can lose their life, yet we'll have no debate on it? the people's representatives would not be allowed a debate on it? i find that really appalling and it is a terrible precedent. >> reporter: to be sure, presidents in both parties often ignored another part of the war powers act, that the commander in chief should get congressional approval before military action. but it's virtually unprecedented for a president to continue a mission beyond 60 days without a resolution from congress. the administration is deliberating what to do. >> we are actively reviewing our role going forward.

throughout the president has been mindful of the provisions of the war powers resolution and has acted in a manner consistent with it. he will continue to do so. >> reporter: angry lawmakers in both parties say part of the problem is their own congressional leaders are not raising a stink. >> very few people are talking about this. they're just letting the president do whatever he wants and i think that's congress abdicating the rule of law and abdicating constitutional restraints. >> some of my colleagues would just as soon not do our job because this is a difficult part of it. >> reporter: the administration could try to get around violating the 60-day deadline for congressional action in libya. they could argue that the u.s. only has a minor role in a nato mission, ask for an extension, or even temporarily stop military action to restart the 60-day countdown. but some republicans say they want to take this issue to the supreme court which is never ruled on the war powers act. dana bash, cnn, capitol hill. if your choice did not win or just want to check out